Michelle Martin

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President Trump's critics say the American strike on a facility in Venezuela is drawing the U.S.

even closer into a more dangerous conflict.

NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordóñez is with us now from Palm Beach, where President Trump is spending the winter holidays.

Good morning, Franco.

Good morning, Michelle.

So just give us the big picture here.

What is the significance of these latest attacks?

Also, the lack of congressional input, let alone oversight, as this campaign has escalated, is something that has drawn attention, especially some members of Congress, as one might imagine.

Wouldn't it be considered sort of customary and appropriate to at least brief Congress ahead of a strike like this?

You know, one of the things that stands out for me is that if the president did not mention the strike last week, we might not have heard of this.

And the reason I point that out is that it's so much different than these public displays of the boat strikes where the administration issued, you know, video, not as much as some members of Congress and certainly members of the public want, but they did make a point of issuing video about it.

So what do you make of that?

So what are you watching for next, Franco?

That is NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez.

Franco, thank you.

Iran is seeing its biggest protests in years.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets in several cities across the country to protest the economy.