CNN US Politics

By Alayna Treene, Kristen Holmes, Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration has outlined a number of demands that Venezuela must agree to in order to resume oil production, two senior White House officials told CNN. During conversations led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Trump administration told Venezuela’s interim president Delcy

By Nic Robertson, Natasha Bertrand, CNN (CNN) — The US has seized an oil tanker linked to Venezuela after tracking it across the Atlantic, according to a social media post from US European Command. Originally called the Bella 1, the tanker was sanctioned by the US in 2024 for operating within a “shadow fleet” of

By Lex Harvey, CNN (CNN) — On the heels of the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, President Donald Trump has ramped up his rhetoric around his desire to acquire Greenland, once again raising the prospect of military intervention, sparking fears across Europe and widespread condemnation. But while American expansionism has regained steam under

WJLA, WUSA, CNN By Annie Grayer, Marshall Cohen, CNN (CNN) — Five years after the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol, the fundamental facts of that day continue to fuel deep divisions that have created dueling political realities. On Tuesday, members of the former January 6 select committee – whose final report concluded

By Adam Cancryn, Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — House Republicans crowded into the Kennedy Center on Tuesday to hear President Donald Trump lay out his vision for the consequential midterm year ahead. Instead, they got plenty of grievances — and little sense of a plan. Trump, in a meandering speech that stretched for over an

By Mary Kay Mallonee, CNN (CNN) — The Justice Department on Monday said it has released 12,285 documents – less than 1% – of its Jeffrey Epstein-related files, with more than 2 million documents still being reviewed. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told a federal judge in a Monday court

By Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — Trump administration officials told lawmakers on Monday that then Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were injured after hitting their heads as they were fleeing US forces trying to arrest them, sources familiar with the briefing told CNN. Maduro and Flores ran

By Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — Hours after ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro was formally charged with narcoterrorism and other offenses in New York, the Justice Department used the indictment at a federal courthouse 1,300 miles away in its effort to defend President Donald Trump’s ability to use a wartime authority to speed up some

By Sarah Ferris, Kate Bolduan, Alejandra Jaramillo, CNN (CNN) — Doug LaMalfa, a longtime Republican congressman from Northern California, has died, House GOP leadership announced Tuesday. He was 65. As a fourth-generation rice farmer and business owner, LaMalfa was a respected voice in Washington on agriculture and rural communities, including as chairman of the Congressional

By Alex Stambaugh, Tami Luhby, Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration is slashing $10 billion in funds for social services and child care in five Democratic-led states, according to a Health and Human Services official, with the agency suggesting without evidence that the funding has been used fraudulently. The freeze, first reported by

CNN By Jeff Zeleny, CNN (CNN) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz dropped his reelection bid for a third term Monday as a welfare-fraud scandal in his state has intensified and become a political flashpoint seized upon by President Donald Trump. “I can’t give a political campaign my all,” Walz told reporters at the state capitol

By Katelyn Polantz, CNN (CNN) — The case against ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro hasn’t been able to move forward in the past six years. Now with his capture and first appearance in Manhattan federal court behind him, getting to trial could take even more years, with rings of unusual political and legal battles to

By Gabe Cohen, CNN (CNN) — Federal Emergency Management Agency leaders were told to prepare for a possible gutting of their workforce — by as much as half — in the coming months, according to an internal email sent to top FEMA officials last month. On December 23, dozens of senior FEMA leaders received a

By Natasha Bertrand, Alayna Treene, Kylie Atwood, Zachary Cohen, Avery Schmitz, CNN (CNN) — The US is making plans to try to intercept a fleeing oil tanker that Russia has claimed jurisdiction over, according to four people familiar with the matter, setting up a possible confrontation between Washington and the Kremlin over the vessel’s fate.

By Eric Bradner, Jeff Zeleny, Ted Barrett, CNN (CNN) — Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Tuesday that she was actively weighing a bid for governor, a day after Gov. Tim Walz abandoned his re-election campaign as a welfare-fraud scandal in his state complicated his path to a third term. “I love my job, I love

By Lauren del Valle, Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — During the first hearing in New York in the case against ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, the defendants professed their innocence and accused the US government of abducting the two from their home. Both Maduro and his wife pleaded not guilty

By Zachary Cohen, CNN (CNN) — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced Monday that the Pentagon is taking administrative action to punish Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain, by moving to cut his retirement pay for participating in a video where he and other Democratic lawmakers reminded US service members of their duty to

By Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — One person is in custody and an investigation is under way following an incident that caused property damage at the Ohio residence of Vice President JD Vance, authorities said Monday. The Vance family was not in Ohio at the time of the incident, according to the US Secret Service.

CNN, POOL, OBTAINED BY CNN, OBTAINED BY X, RAPIDRESPONSE47, X, VTV, NBC, RapidResponse47/X By Piper HudspethBlackburn, CNN (CNN) — An emboldened President Donald Trump declared Sunday night that the US is “in charge” of Venezuela after detaining President Nicolás Maduro in a military raid over the weekend, as he issued stark warnings to other countries

CNN By Kevin Liptak, Kristen Holmes, Jennifer Hansler, CNN West Palm Beach, Florida (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s administration is working quickly to establish a pliant interim government in Venezuela following the dramatic capture of Nicolás Maduro, according to US officials, prioritizing administrative stability and repairing the country’s oil infrastructure over an immediate turn to

By Kevin Liptak, Kristen Holmes, Jennifer Hansler, CNN West Palm Beach, Florida (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s administration is working quickly to establish a pliant interim government in Venezuela following the dramatic capture of Nicolás Maduro, according to US officials, prioritizing administrative stability and repairing the country’s oil infrastructure over an immediate turn to democracy.

By Michael Williams, CNN (CNN) — “Wicked” composer Stephen Schwartz says he will not appear at the Kennedy Center after its board voted to attach President Donald Trump’s name to the venue — becoming the latest artist to push back against the president’s takeover of Washington’s most iconic performing arts center. The Oscar and Grammy-award

By Fredreka Schouten, CNN (CNN) — A super PAC aligned with President Donald Trump has built more than $304 million in cash reserves that it can deploy to help shape this year’s midterm elections, according to information released Friday by the political committee. MAGA Inc.’s massive stockpile underscores the unrivaled fundraising by a president who

By Adam Cancryn, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump spent his Friday morning perusing samples of stone in Florida for a new White House ballroom, as he pushes ahead on a controversial effort to replace the East Wing. Before his visit to Trump International Golf Club, the president made a detour to Arc Stone &

By Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — The man accused of being the Washington, DC, pipe bomber will remain in jail until he faces trial, a federal judge ruled Friday. The decision to keep Brian Cole Jr., who allegedly placed explosives outside the Democratic and Republican National Committee buildings on January 5, 2021, was made two

By Gloria Pazmino, CNN (CNN) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani used his executive powers to revoke a handful of orders put into place by his predecessor after the former mayor was federally indicted, including a directive that expanded the definition of antisemitism and another that barred city employees and agencies from boycotting or

By Gabe Cohen, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration is abruptly cutting dozens of staff who are at the forefront of disaster response and recovery at the Federal Emergency Management Agency this week, according to internal emails obtained by CNN and sources familiar with the plan. On New Year’s Eve, some employees received emails saying

By Kylie Atwood, Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — Venezuelan security forces have detained at least five Americans in recent months as the US has built a pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a US official familiar with the matter told CNN. The circumstances of the individual cases vary, and some could have been involved

By Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Thursday that he takes a higher dose of aspirin than his doctors have recommended, blaming that for the visible hand bruises that have generated renewed questions about his health. “They say aspirin is good for thinning out