Trump says the U.S. may reimburse oil companies for rebuilding Venezuela's infrastructure

President Donald Trump said he believes the U.S. oil industry could get expanded operations in Venezuela "up and running" in fewer than 18 months.

"I think we can do it in less time than that, but it'll be a lot of money," Trump toldNBC News in an interviewMonday.

"A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent, and the oil companies will spend it, and then they'll get reimbursed by us or through revenue," he said.

Whether the U.S. government ultimately agrees to reimburse the oil industry's costs in Venezuela, or alternatively, decides that future revenue is sufficient repayment, will likely be a key factor for the oil companies as they consider their options.

Trump declined to say how much money he believes it would cost companies to repair and upgrade Venezuela'saging oil infrastructure.

"It'll be a very substantial amount of money will be spent" by the oil companies, Trump said. "But they'll do very well."

"And the country will do well," he added.

Despite Trump's optimism, oil companies have appeared skeptical of quickly entering, expanding or investing in Venezuela. A history of state asset seizures, the ongoing U.S. sanctions and thelatest political instabilityall feed into this caution.

Trump said he believed thattapping Venezuela's oil reservesis "going to reduce oil prices."

Gas prices are already at multiyear lows. The average retail gas price on Monday was $2.81,according to AAA. That's the lowest since March 2021.

"Having a Venezuela that's an oil producer is good for the United States because it keeps the price of oil down," Trump also added.

While lower oil prices could make gas cheaper at the pump, it would likely also mean lower revenues for the same big oil companies that Trump is counting on to bankroll the rebuilding of Venezuela's oil industry to the tune of billions of dollars in foreign investment.

Asked if the administration had briefed any oil companies ahead of Saturday's military operation to capture deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, Trump said, "No. But we've been talking to the concept of, 'what if we did it?'"

"The oil companies were absolutely aware that we were thinking about doing something," Trump said. "But we didn't tell them we were going to do it."

Trump told NBC News it was "too soon" to say whether he had personally spoken to top executives at America's three largest oil producers, Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips.

"I speak to everybody," he said.

ConocoPhillips declined to comment Monday on Trump's plans for Venezuela's oil reserves. Chevron told NBC News it does not comment "on commercial matters or speculate on future investments." Exxon did not immediately respond to questions.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright plans to meet with executives from Exxon and ConocoPhillips this week about Venezuela's oil industry, Bloomberg Newsreported Monday,citing people familiar with the matter.

Wright will be a point person for the Trump administration's broader campaign to rebuild Venezuela's oil infrastructure, a White House official said Monday.

The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that the U.S. oil industry is eager to return to Venezuela, nearly two decades after the country last nationalized billions of dollars' worth of oil company assets.

"They want to go in so badly," Trump told reporters Sunday evening.

Despite Venezuela's massive reserves of crude oil, large U.S. oil firms have a good reason to pause before committing to expand operations in Venezuela.

In the 1970s, the Venezuelan government nationalized energy assets there, including those owned by Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips. In the years since, the companies have tried unsuccessfully to recover billions of dollars.

In 2006 and 2007, the Venezuelan government nationalized even more assets. Then-President Hugo Chávez allowed foreign oil firms to remain, but on less favorable terms, leading to the full departure of Exxon and Conoco.

Chevron, however accepted the terms and remains to this day, thanks in large part to a limited waiver exempting it from U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan oil.

Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods recently expressed caution about re-entering Venezuela.

"We've been expropriated from Venezuela two different times," he toldBloomberg News in November,replying to a question about whether Exxon would be interested in Venezuela's oil or gas. "We'd have to see what the economics look like."

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

January 06, 2026

Trump says the U.S. may reimburse oil companies for rebuilding Venezuela's infrastructure

President Donald Trump said he believes the U.S. oil industry could get expanded operations in Venezuela "up and run...

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Danish prime minister says a US takeover of Greenland would mark the end of NATO

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Monday an American takeover ofGreenlandwould amount to the end of the NATO military alliance. Her comments came in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's renewed call for the strategic, mineral-rich Arctic island to come under U.S. control in the aftermath of the weekend military operation in Venezuela.

The dead-of-night operation by U.S. forces in Caracas to captureleader Nicolás Maduroand his wife early Saturday left the world stunned, and heightened concerns in Denmark and Greenland, which is a semiautonomous territory of the Danish kingdom and thus part of NATO.

Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart, Jens Frederik Nielsen, blasted the president's comments and warned of catastrophic consequences. Numerous European leaders expressed solidarity with them.

"If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops," Frederiksen told Danish broadcaster TV2 on Monday. "That is, including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War."

20-day timeline deepens fears

Trump called repeatedly during his presidential transition and the early months of his second term for U.S. jurisdiction over Greenland, and has not ruled out military force to take control of the island. His comments Sunday, including telling reporters "let's talk about Greenland in 20 days," further deepened fears that the U.S. was planning an intervention in Greenland in the near future.

Frederiksen also said Trump "should be taken seriously" when he says he wants Greenland. "We will not accept a situation where we and Greenland are threatened in this way," she added.

Nielsen, in a news conference Monday, said Greenland cannot be compared to Venezuela. He urged his constituents to stay calm and united.

"We are not in a situation where we think that there might be a takeover of the country overnight and that is why we are insisting that we want good cooperation," he said.

Nielsen added: "The situation is not such that the United States can simply conquer Greenland."

Ask Rostrup, a TV2 political journalist, wrote on the station's live blog Monday that Mette previously would have flatly rejected the idea of an American takeover of Greenland. But now, Rostrup wrote, the rhetoric has escalated so much that she has to acknowledge the possibility.

Trump slams Denmark's security efforts in Greenland

Trump on Sunday also mocked Denmark's efforts at boosting Greenland's national security posture, saying the Danes have added "one more dog sled" to the Arctic territory's arsenal.

"It's so strategic right now," Trump had told reporters Sunday as he flew back to Washington from his home in Florida. "Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place."

He added: "We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it."

But Ulrik Pram Gad, a global security expert from the Danish Institute for International Studies, wrote in a report last year that "there are indeed Russian and Chinese ships in the Arctic, but these vessels are too far away to see from Greenland with or without binoculars."

U.S. space base in northwestern Greenland

Greenlanders and Danes were further rankled this weekend by a social media post following the raid by a former Trump administration official turned podcaster, Katie Miller. The post shows an illustrated map of Greenland in the colors of the Stars and Stripes accompanied by the caption: "SOON."

"And yes, we expect full respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark," Ambassador Jesper Møller Sørensen, Denmark's chief envoy to Washington, said in a post responding to Miller, who is married to Trump's influential deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.

The U.S. Department of Defense operates the remote Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland. It was built following a 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. It supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.

On Denmark's mainland, the partnership between the U.S. and Denmark has been long-lasting. The Danes buy American F-35 fighter jets and just last year, Denmark's parliament approved a bill to allow U.S. military bases on Danish soil.

Critics say the vote ceded Danish sovereignty to the U.S. The legislation widens a previous military agreement, made in 2023 with the Biden administration, where U.S. troops had broad access to Danish air bases in the Scandinavian country.

Ciobanu reported from Warsaw, Poland, and Dazio from Berlin.

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

January 06, 2026

Danish prime minister says a US takeover of Greenland would mark the end of NATO

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Monday an American takeover ofGreenlandwould amou...

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Security forces clash with protesters in Iran's main market as at least 35 killed in demonstrations

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Protesters angry overIran's ailing economyconducted a sit-in Tuesday at Tehran's Grand Bazaar, witnesses said, with security forces ultimately firing tear gas and dispersing demonstrators as the rest of the market shut down.

The protest atthe Grand Bazaar, the beating heart for centuries of both Iran's economic and political life, represents the latest signal that the demonstrations likely are to continue as the country's rial currency fell to a record low Tuesday. Already, violence surrounding the protests has killed at least 35 people with authorities detaining more than 1,200 others, activists abroad say.

Meanwhile, the situation is likely to worsen as Iran's Central Bank drastically reduced the subsidized exchange rates for dollars it offers to importers and producers in the country. That likely will see merchants pass on price hikes in the coming days for goods directly onto consumers, whose life savings already have dwindled overyears of international sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic.

Iran's reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, while ordering a government investigation into one incident involving the protests, otherwise signaled Tuesday the crisis may be rapidly moving beyond the control of officials.

"We should not expect the government to handle all of this alone," Pezeshkian said in a televised speech. "The government simply does not have that capacity."

Turmoil shakes Grand Bazaar

In the Grand Bazaar, a labyrinth-like warren of covered passages and alleyways, demonstrators sat down in one passage in front of security forces as other shops nearby shut down on Tuesday, online videos showed and witnesses said. Other demonstrations similarly have seen people sit down in front of police after a photo circulated earlier of a man seen sitting alone in front of security forces.

Authorities later fired tear gas to disperse the protesters. Iranian state-run media did not immediately acknowledge the incident, which has been common in the days since the demonstrations began on Dec. 28.

Iran has faced rounds of nationwide protestsin recent years. Assanctions tightenedand Iran struggled aftera 12-day war with Israelin June, its rial currency collapsed in December, reaching 1.4 million to $1. Protests began soon after, with demonstrators chanting against Iran's theocracy.

On Tuesday, $1 traded at 1.46 million rials, a new low, with no signs of slowing. Prior to Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, the rial was broadly stable, trading at around 70 to $1. At the time of Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, $1 traded for 32,000 rials.

Exchange rate change points to more pain coming

More pain may be coming for Iranian consumers. Iran's Central Bank in recent days greatly reduced a preferential, subsidized dollar-rial exchange rate. Iran's government offer that rate to importers and producers to try to ensure the flow of food, medicine and other essential goods despite international sanctions over its nuclear program and other issues.

However, many of those firms took advantage of the difference in rates, pocketing ever-greater profits as normal Iranians watched their savings rapidly lose value against the dollar. That's led to the Central Bank drastically reducing that rate.

The currency and rate depreciation has directly impacted what's available in stores — and at what price. The average bottle of cooking oil just doubled in price, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. Many have complained about shelves being empty in stores, likely as suppliers and merchants fear selling cooking oil at a loss. Cheese and chicken prices also spiked, while imported rice hasn't been available in some shops.

Pezeshkian in his speech blamed inflation, sanctions and other woes for causing the depreciation — and warned tougher times may be coming.

"If we do not make realistic decisions, we ourselves will push the country toward crisis and then complain about the consequences," he warned.

Iran promises Ilam investigation

Late Monday, Pezeshkian assigned the interior ministry to form a special team for a "full-fledged investigation" of what had been happening in Ilam province. Protesters in Malekshahi County in Iran's Ilam province, some 515 kilometers (320 miles) southwest of Iran's capital, Tehran, were killed as online videos purported to show security forces firing on civilians.

The presidency also acknowledged an "incident in a hospital in the city of Ilam." Online video showed security forces wearing riot gear raiding a hospital, where activists said they were seeking demonstrators.

The hospital assault drew criticism from the U.S. State Department, which in Iran's Farsi language called the incident "a crime."

"Storming the wards, beating medical staff and attacking the wounded with tear gas and ammunition is an clear crime against humanity," a post on the social platform X read. "Hospitals are not battlefields."

A report by the semiofficial Fars news agency earlier alleged without offering evidence that demonstrators carried firearms and grenades.

Ilam province is mainly home to the country's Kurdish and Lur ethnic groups and faces severe economic hardship.

Protester deaths a focus of Trump

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency offered the latest death toll of 35 for the demonstrations. It said 29 protesters, four children and two members of Iran's security forces have been killed. Demonstrations have reached over 250 locations in 27 of Iran's 31 provinces,

The group, which relies on an activist network inside of Iran for its reporting, has been accurate in past unrest.

Fars, believed close to Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, reported late Monday that some 250 police officers and 45 members of the Guard's all-volunteer Basij force have been hurt in the demonstrations.

The growing death toll carries with it the chance of American intervention.U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iranon Friday that if Tehran "violently kills peaceful protesters," the United States "will come to their rescue."Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneion Saturday said "rioters must be put in their place."

While it remains unclear how and if Trump will intervene, his comments sparked an immediate, angry response, with officials within the theocracy threatening to target American troops in the Mideast. The comments took on new importance after the U.S. military on Saturday captured Venezuelan PresidentNicolás Maduro, a longtime ally of Tehran.

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

January 06, 2026

Security forces clash with protesters in Iran's main market as at least 35 killed in demonstrations

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Protesters angry overIran's ailing economyconducted a sit-in Tuesday at Tehran...

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Curfew imposed in southern Nepal border city after mosque vandalism sparks protests

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A curfew was imposed on a key border city in southern Nepal after Hindu and Muslim groups began protesting against each other following the vandalism of a mosque over the weekend, officials said Tuesday.

The curfew orders issued by the Parsa District Administration said that no one will be allowed in the streets and all gatherings and demonstrations are banned.

The notice also warned that violators could be shot by security forces.

Armed soldiers and police officers were patrolling the streets of Birgunj, located 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of the capital Kathmandu, which is the key border point for importing much of the oil, goods and supplies from neighboring India to Nepal.

Muslim groups began protesting in the streets of Birgunj on Sunday against the vandalism of a mosque in a nearby town, which was followed by a separate demonstration by Hindu followers on the same day. Protests have continued since.

There have been no major clashes between the two groups and no major injuries noted, with only scuffles with riot police reported.

Clashes between Hindus and Muslims are rare in the predominately Hindu nation of Nepal, where the Muslim population is found mostly in border regions in the southern part of the country.

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

January 06, 2026

Curfew imposed in southern Nepal border city after mosque vandalism sparks protests

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A curfew was imposed on a key border city in southern Nepal after Hindu and Muslim groups began p...

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Maduro pleads not guilty

Morning! Welcome to the Daily Briefing. Here's what's breaking this morning:

• A revised childhood vaccine schedule recommends fewer shots.

• Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth issued a formal censure to Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona.

• There's a new lightning capital of the U.S.

Nicole Fallerthere, bringing you the news to know on Tuesday, from the latest on Venezuela's deposed president, a culling of NFL coaches across the league and people are flocking to buy a public transit card they can't even use.

'Not guilty' plea for deposed Venezuelan leader

Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduropleaded "not guilty"Monday in federal court on U.S. drug trafficking charges, days after he and his wife were captured by U.S. forces in a surprise attack on the oil-rich country.

"I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country,"Maduro saidthrough an interpreter, before being cut off by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein. Hellerstein ordered Maduro held until a March 17 hearing.

Maduro, dressed in prison garb (a latest public clothing ensemble catching attention), entered his plea shortly after 12 p.m. ET. His wife, Cilia Flores (read more about herhere) also pleaded not guilty.

How do Americans feel about the U.S. taking military action against Venezuela?One in three Americans approve.

More news to know now

• Are federal stimulus checks coming this month? Experts have said revenue from Trump's tariff likely won't cover the cost of issuing $2,000 checks.

• "I can't give a political campaign my all": Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has ended his reelection bid amid mounting pressure over a fraud scandal that has engulfed his administration in recent weeks.

• USA TODAY got an up-close look at Roblox's new safety feature. Beginning this month, all users will be required to undergo an AI-powered age-estimator facial scan in order to continue using the platform's chat feature. The change, in many ways, is the company's answer to scrutiny it's faced over child safety on the app.

Take a look

The teams that cut ties

It was a dreaded day on the NFL calendar: "Black Monday" typically is the harbinger of significant upheaval throughout the league, with teams often taking swift action to shake up their coaching staffs and front offices with the season complete. USA TODAY Sportstrackedwho's going, who's looking to interview and who's begging to stay.

Something to talk about

What would you spend on a ticket to nowhere?

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) officially discontinued MetroCards, first introduced in 1994, on Dec. 31, making a full switch to contactless, tap-and-go payments. Though MetroCards are no longer available for purchase through the MTA, brand-new and well-loved MetroCardsare selling for thousands on resell siteslike eBay.

Before you go

• You can predict your future nursing home costs.

• What's the "Rama"?

• We're following Ashley Tisdale's celeb mom group drama.

Have feedback on the Daily Briefing? Shoot Nicole an email at NFallert@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Daily Briefing: Maduro pleads not guilty

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

January 06, 2026

Maduro pleads not guilty

Morning! Welcome to the Daily Briefing. Here's what's breaking this morning: A revised childhood vaccine...

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Trump says the US 'needs' Greenland for Arctic security. Here's why

Location, location, location: Greenland's key position above the Arctic Circle make the world's largest island a key part of security strategy in the High North. But for whom?

Increasing international tensions, global warming and the changing world economy have put Greenland at the heart of the debate over global trade and security, and U.S. President DonaldTrump wants to make surehis country controls this mineral-rich country that guards the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America.

Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark, a longtime U.S. ally that has rejected Trump's overtures. Greenland's own government also opposes U.S. designs on the island, saying the people of Greenland will decide their own future.

The island, 80% of which lies above the Arctic Circle, is home to about 56,000 mostly Inuit people who until now have been largely ignored by the rest of the world.

Here's why Greenland is strategically important to Arctic security:

Greenland's Arctic location is key

Greenland sits off the northeastern coast of Canada, with more than two-thirds of its territory lying within the Arctic Circle. That has made it crucial to the defense of North America since World War II, when the U.S. occupied Greenland to ensure it didn't fall into the hands of Nazi Germany and to protect crucial North Atlantic shipping lanes.

Following the Cold War, the Arctic was largely an area of international cooperation. But climate change is thinning the Arctic ice, promising to create a northwest passage for international trade and reigniting competition with Russia, China and other countries over access to the region's mineral resources.

Rare earth minerals

Greenland is also a rich source of the so-called rare earth minerals that are a key component of mobile phones, computers, batteries and other hi-tech gadgets that are expected to power the world's economy in the coming decades.

That has attracted the interest of the U.S. and other Western powers as they try to ease China's dominance of the market for these critical minerals.

Development of Greenland's mineral resources is challenging because of the island's harsh climate, while strict environmental controls have proved an additional hurdle for potential investors.

U.S. military presence in Greenland

The U.S. Department of Defense operates the remote Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, which was built after the U.S. and Denmark signed the Defense of Greenland Treaty in 1951. It supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.

Greenland also guards part of what is known as the GIUK (Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom) Gap, where NATO monitorsRussian naval movementsin the North Atlantic.

Danish armed forces in Greenland

Denmark is moving to strengthenits military presencearound Greenland and in the wider North Atlantic. Last year, the government announced a roughly 14.6 billion-kroner ($2.3 billion) agreement with parties including the governments of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, another self-governing territory of Denmark, to "improve capabilities for surveillance and maintaining sovereignty in the region."

The plan includes three new Arctic naval vessels, two additional long-range surveillance drones and satellite capacity.

Denmark's Joint Arctic Command is headquartered in Greenland's capital, Nuuk, and tasked with the "surveillance, assertion of sovereignty and military defense of Greenland and the Faroe Islands," according to its website. It has smaller satellite stations across the island.

The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, an elite Danish naval unit that conducts long-range reconnaissance and enforces Danish sovereignty in the Arctic wilderness, is also stationed in Greenland.

Security threats to the Arctic

In 2018, China declared itself a "near-Arctic state" in an effort to gain more influence in the region. China has also announced plans to build a "Polar Silk Road" as part of its global Belt and Road Initiative, which has created economic links with countries around the world.

Then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected China's move, saying: "Do we want the Arctic Ocean to transform into a new South China Sea, fraught with militarization and competing territorial claims?"

Meanwhile, Russian President VladimirPutinhas said Russia is worried about NATO's activities in the Arctic and will respond by strengthening itsmilitary capabilityin the polar region. European leaders' concerns were heightened following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

January 06, 2026

Trump says the US 'needs' Greenland for Arctic security. Here's why

Location, location, location: Greenland's key position above the Arctic Circle make the world's largest island a ...

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From Greenland to Iran: Trump’s threats stretch far and wide since his Venezuela strike

Sincethe seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduroby US forces at the weekend, US President Donald Trump and members of his administration have issued warnings to several other governments — including those of Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Iran and Greenland, a self-governing territory of Denmark.

Trump said Sunday: "We are in the business of having countries around us that are viable and successful and where the oil is allowed to freely come out."

"American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again," Trump said.

Here's what to know about what Trump has said in the last two days, and how some of those governments have responded.

Greenland

Trump repeated Sunday that the US needs the huge North Atlantic island of Greenland "from the standpoint of national security."

"We need Greenland. … It's so strategic right now. Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. "We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it."

Responding to Trump's latest comments, Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen,said in a statementMonday: "The current and repeated rhetoric coming from the United States is entirely unacceptable. When the President of the United States speaks of 'needing Greenland' and links us to Venezuela and military intervention, it is not only wrong. It is disrespectful."

"Our country is not an object in great-power rhetoric. We are a people. A country. A democracy," Nielsen added.

"We are not in the situation where we are thinking that a takeover of the country might happen overnight," he later said at a press conference, according to Reuters. "You cannot compare Greenland to Venezuela. We are a democratic country."

Trumphas repeatedly statedthat he wants to annex Greenland — a huge, resource-rich island of 836,000 square miles (2.16 million square kilometers) — claiming that theautonomous Danish territoryis needed for US national security, although he has also cited "economic security."

Both Greenland and Denmark, a NATO ally of the US, are staunchly opposed to the idea.

Colombia

Trump hadharsh wordsfor Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Sunday, describing him as "a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he's not going to be doing it very long."

When pressed by a reporter on whether those comments meant there could be an "operation" in Colombia in the future, Trump responded, "Sounds good to me."

Petro defended his government's track record on combating drug trafficking in a nearly 700-word post on X, touting what he described as "the largest cocaine seizure in the world's history."

He added: "I am not illegitimate, nor am I a narco. I only have as assets my family home that I still pay for with my salary."

Petro said he has ordered targeted bombings against drug-linked armed groups while adhering to humanitarian law.

However, cocaine production in Colombia has reach record highs,according to the the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Petro, a former member of the M19 guerrilla group, said later Monday that he would himself fight to defend Colombia.

"I swore not to touch a weapon again … but for the homeland I will take up arms again," he said.

Petro angered the Trump administration, whichcanceledhis US visa in September, after he called on US soldiers to disobey orders.

Cuba

Trump said Sunday that military intervention was unnecessary in Cuba, a key ally of Venezuela, because it was "ready to fall."

"I don't think we need any action," Trump said. "It looks like it's going down."

"I don't know if they're going to hold out, but Cuba now has no income," he added. "They got all their income from Venezuela, from the Venezuelan oil."

But his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, called the Cuban government "a huge problem."

"I think they're in a lot of trouble, yes," Rubio told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.

"I'm not going to talk to you about what our future steps are going to be and our policies are going to be right now, in this regard, but I don't think it's any mystery that we are not big fans of the Cuban regime."

"If I lived in Havana and I worked in the government, I'd be concerned," Rubio said.

At a rally Saturday in front of the US Embassy in Havana, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel promised not to let the Cuba-Venezuela alliance go down without a fight.

"For Venezuela, of course for Cuba, we are willing to give even our own life, but at a heavy cost," Díaz-Canel proclaimed.

Mexico

Trump has frequently accused Mexico of not doing enough to clamp down on drug cartels.

On Sunday, he said drugs were "pouring" through Mexico and that "we're going to have to do something."

Trump added that the cartels in Mexico are "very strong" and warned that "Mexico has to get their act together."

In a phone interview with Fox News, Trump said he has asked Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum if she wanted the US military's help in rooting out drug cartels.

Sheinbaum has repeatedly rejected the US intervention in Venezuela and the seizure of Maduro.

"Mexico reaffirms a principle that is neither new nor open to ambiguity," she said Monday in a news conference. "We categorically reject intervention in the internal affairs of other countries."

Responding to Trump's accusations that Mexico has not done enough to combat drug-trafficking cartels, Sheinbaum asserted: "Mexico cooperates with the United States, including for humanitarian reasons, to prevent fentanyl and other drugs from reaching its population, especially young people."

"We do not want fentanyl or any drug to get near any young person — whether in the United States, in Mexico, or anywhere else in the world."

Again rejecting the notion of US military action on Mexican soil, Sheinbaum said she did not think the United States was seriously considering an invasion of Mexico.

Iran

Trump also repeated his warnings to Iran, whereanti-government protestshave entered their second week.

"If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they're going to get hit very hard by the United States," Trump told reporters Sunday.

Last week, Trump said that if Iran "kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go."

One Iranian human rights group estimated Sunday that16 peoplehad been killed in the protests so far. CNN cannot verify that tally.

At the end of last month, Trump warned Iran against any attempt to rebuild its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. After meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said he had heard Iran is "behaving badly. … I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we're going to have to knock them down."

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Sunday the ‌Islamic Republic "will not yield to the enemy" and that rioters should be "put in their place."

The US bombed several of Iran'skey nuclear facilitiesin June, amid Israel's 12-day war against the country. The attack ended what had been a stuttering process of bilateral US-Iranian talks designed to rein in Tehran's nuclear program.

Hira Humayun contributed to this report.

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byCristiano Ronaldo

in

January 06, 2026

From Greenland to Iran: Trump’s threats stretch far and wide since his Venezuela strike

Sincethe seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduroby US forces at the weekend, US President Donald Trump and members of his administra...

Read More