Authoritarian rule without a plan looks like this.
The administration demanded the new head of Venezuela expel Iranians, stop selling oil to our enemies, and crack down on drug flows or face a “second strike.”
In Minneapolis, 2,100 federal agents are descending on a Somali community of 84,000, most of them American citizens, because of a YouTuber’s video that state inspectors already debunked. There was undoubtedly fraud and poor governance, but that doesn’t require a brigade-sized deployment of federal agents.
By evening, Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said “nobody is going to fight the United States militarily over Greenland.” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned it would end NATO.
No plans or doctrine, just the chaos of authoritarian rule.
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Trump shares debunked conspiracy theory that Minnesota Gov. Walz ordered killing of state lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband in their home as her children beg him to remove the post.
Today’s GovBrief News
Greenland prime minister warns Trump against annexation as European allies invoke NATO protections two days after US captured Venezuelan president.
Source: RTE
January 5, 2026
Stephen Miller says "nobody is going to fight the United States militarily over Greenland" one day after posting that Western nations should not have given up empires after WWII.
Source: The Independent
January 5, 2026
Trump administration demands Venezuela's interim leader expel Iranian and Cuban operatives, stop oil sales to adversaries, and crack down on drugs, warning of "second strike" if she refuses.
Source: Politico
January 5, 2026
CDC cuts recommended childhood vaccines after Kennedy overhaul, moving hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, COVID-19 and flu shots to "shared clinical decision-making" category.
Source: UPI
January 5, 2026
Corporation for Public Broadcasting board votes to dissolve 59-year-old organization five months after Congress clawed back $1.1 billion in allocated funds.
Source: USA Today
January 5, 2026
Pentagon moves to downgrade Senator Mark Kelly's Navy captain rank and retirement pay after he told troops they can refuse illegal orders.
Source: The Arizona Mirror
January 5, 2026
DOJ tells court less than 1% of Epstein files released 17 days past deadline, with 2 million documents under review and 1 million more "recently identified."
Source: Politico
January 5, 2026
Maduro pleads not guilty in Manhattan federal court, declares "I am a prisoner of war" as attorney challenges legality of military abduction.
Source: ABC New York
January 5, 2026
Ohio man with prior mental health treatment faces federal charges after breaking four windows at Vice President Vance's Cincinnati home hours after family returned to Washington.
Source: WLWT Cincinnati
January 5, 2026
Walz ends third-term bid as fraud investigations that have produced 78 indictments expand beyond $250 million child nutrition scandal to housing and autism services.
Source: KARE Minneapolis
January 5, 2026
DHS surging 2,100 agents to Minneapolis after YouTuber's viral fraud video, though state inspectors found children present at all nine facilities they checked.
Source: NBC News
January 5, 2026
Dominica and Antigua agree to accept US asylum-seekers days after Trump imposed visa restrictions on both Caribbean nations.
Source: The Associated Press
January 5, 2026
Federal judge rules ICE can use Medicaid enrollment data to locate undocumented immigrants for deportation, lifting injunction 20 Democratic attorneys general won in July.
Source: NPR
January 5, 2026
Florida detained 20,000 for immigration transfer in 2025, including over 7,000 with no prior arrests, as DeSantis announces third state detention facility.
Source: USA Today
January 5, 2026
Top intelligence Democrat says two-hour classified briefing on Venezuela "posed far more questions than it answered" as war powers resolution heads to Senate vote this week.
Source: The Associated Press
January 5, 2026
FEMA says 50% workforce reduction figure was "included in error" in leaked internal plan, but officials confirm administration discussing major cuts for 2026.
Source: CNN
January 5, 2026
Minneapolis Hilton employee canceled DHS reservations after finding "immigration work connected with your name," prompting Homeland Security to accuse chain of siding with "murderers and rapists."
Source: CNBC
January 5, 2026