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On Insurrection Act, Trump says he doesn't think he 'needs it right now' in Minneapolis
While speaking to reporters today, Trump said that he would use the Insurrection Act in Minneapolis if he “needed it”.
“I don’t think there’s any reason right now to use it, but if I needed it, I’d use it,” he added.
Earlier this week, Trump threatened to invoke the centuries old law, that allows the use of military forces to quell a domestic rebellion or invasion, in response to the protests against federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.
A reminder that George HW Bush was the last president to use the act during the deadly 1992 Los Angeles riots.
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Despite the Nobel Institute’s statement earlier, the president said that Mariá Corina Machado’s offer to share her peace prize with him was “a very nice gesture”.
He said called Venezuela’s opposition leader a “very fine woman” and added that the two will be talking again.
When asked about why Trump is supporting the country’s interim leader Delcy Rodríguez, instead of Machado, the president referenced the repercussions of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
“Everybody was fired, every single person, the police, the generals, everybody was fired, and they ended up being ISIS. Instead of just getting down to business, they ended up being ISIS,” Trump said.
He added that he had a “great meeting” on Thursday with Machado. “I never met her before, and I was very, very impressed,” Trump said.
The president also pushed back against a reporter’s question about Israeli and Arab insistence that the US hold off on strikes against Iran.
“Nobody convinced me. I convinced myself,” Trump said. “You had, yesterday, scheduled over 800 hangings. They didn’t hang anyone. They canceled the hangings – that had a big impact.”
On Insurrection Act, Trump says he doesn't think he 'needs it right now' in Minneapolis
While speaking to reporters today, Trump said that he would use the Insurrection Act in Minneapolis if he “needed it”.
“I don’t think there’s any reason right now to use it, but if I needed it, I’d use it,” he added.
Earlier this week, Trump threatened to invoke the centuries old law, that allows the use of military forces to quell a domestic rebellion or invasion, in response to the protests against federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.
A reminder that George HW Bush was the last president to use the act during the deadly 1992 Los Angeles riots.
Speaking to reporters earlier before departing to Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump was asked if he would pull out of Nato if it didn’t help him acquire Greenland. He said:
Well, we’re going to see. Nato has been dealing with us on Greenland, we need Greenland for national security very badly.
Further to that, the Nobel Institute has issued another reminder that the peace prize remains inseparably linked to the person or organization designated as the laureate.
In a statement, the institute said:
Regardless of what may happen to the medal, the diploma, or the prize money, it is and remains the original laureate who is recorded in history as the recipient of the prize. Even if the medal or diploma later comes into someone else’s possession, this does not alter who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
The statement added that a laureate “cannot share the prize with others, nor transfer it once it has been announced. A Nobel Peace Prize can also never be revoked.”
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has said she is confident there would be an orderly transition in Venezuela after the US overthrow of Nicolás Maduro and that eventually there would be free and fair elections.
“Venezuela is going to be free, and that’s going to be achieved with the support of the people of the United States and President Donald Trump,” she told a press conference in Washington. “I am profoundly, profoundly confident that we will have an orderly transition [to elections].”
It comes a day after Machado presented Trump with her Nobel peace prize medal after meeting with him in the White House, as she sought to sway him to give the opposition a role in determining Venezuela’s future.
Trump has dismissed the idea of installing her as president of Venezuela (despite her movement being widely considered the winner of a 2024 election that Maduro was accused of having rigged in his favor), and has instead backed backed former Maduro loyalists, led by interim president Delcy Rodríguez, to govern Venezuela for now.
But Machado insisted she had faith in the US president’s plans. She told the audience:
I have no doubt that President Trump, his administration and the people of the United States support democracy, justice, freedom and the mandate of the people of Venezuela.
Once the regime is out and the transition is accomplished, the United States will not only be a safer nation, but one that will have more prosperity and strength in our hemisphere.
Supreme court to issue next rulings on 20 January
The US supreme court is expected to issue its next rulings on Tuesday as several major cases remain pending including the legality of Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs.
The court indicated on its website today that it may release decisions in argued cases at 9.30am ET on 20 January when the justices take the bench during a scheduled sitting. The court does not announce in advance what cases will be decided.
Callout: What is life like in the Twin Cities right now?
Thousands of federal immigration agents have been sent into Minneapolis in recent days, with protests taking place in Minnesota and across the country in response to last week’s shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer.
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing federal immigration authorities in Minnesota of racial profiling and unlawful arrests.
We want to hear from you. Are you based in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St Paul? Has your daily life been affected?
Have you changed the way you go about your days and nights? How do you feel about the lawsuit, and the presence of federal immigration agents in your area?
You can share your experience at the form below, or message the Guardian securely on WhatsApp or Signal at +447766780300.
Trump repeats threats to take action in Minneapolis
On Truth Social, Donald Trump continued to claim, baselessly, that people protesting against federal immigration enforcement in Minneapolis are “highly paid professionals”.
The president once again, criticized Minnesota’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, and the Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Frey, for losing “control” of the city, as tensions rise and demonstrations have resulted in arrests and the use of teargas.
“If, and when, I am forced to act, it will be solved, QUICKLY and EFFECTIVELY!” Trump wrote.
The president ended his rural healthcare roundtable without taking questions from reporters. As he went around the room and heard from various officials, including lawmakers and cabinet members, he said that “we’re going to have to go very fast” because they were “way behind schedule”.
Joseph Gedeon
Reporting from the White House
As the soft, elegant piano music played to a fade and Donald Trump walked into a packed East Room, he took to the microphone immediately to say this investment in rural healthcare is “the big one” and called it “the great healthcare plan”.
“That means low price and great healthcare,” the president said while adding that the administration was rolling out $50bn in rural healthcare funding,
He said of Obamacare: “This was a bill to make insurance companies wealthy.
“They put Band-Aids, literally Band-Aids, over the communities”, he added.
Trump threatens to impose tariffs on countries who 'don't go along' with plans to acquire Greenland
Speaking at the White House today, Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on countries who pushback against his moves to annex Greenland.
“I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland,” the president said. “Because we need Greenland for national security.”
