NPR News: 01-04-2026 1PM EST
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Why did President Trump launch a military operation in Venezuela without consulting Congress?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Norah Rahm. President Trump did not consult Congress before the attack on Venezuela and the capture of Nicholas Maduro. A top Democrat on Capitol Hill is calling this illegal, but leading Republicans are backing Trump. NPR's Luke Garrett reports.
Republican Tom Cotton, Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the president doesn't need to give Congress a heads up on what he called quote an arrest. On CNN, Cotton defended Trump's mission to quote run Venezuela.
The Arkansas Senator called for new elections. But Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, told CNN the U.S. attack on Venezuela and the ensuing control of the country is illegal.
What does former Assistant Secretary Frederick Barton say about the challenges of occupying Venezuela?
The president cannot run a military operation of this size, cannot invade a foreign country without coming to Congress first, without allowing the American public to weigh in.
A Senate vote on presidential war powers is expected this week. Luke Garrett, NPR News, Washington.
Ambassador Frederick Barton was the first assistant secretary of state for conflict and stabilization operations under President Obama. He says the US has done the easiest part taking control. He says it won't be quite so easy from now on.
It's gonna be tough. In a way, they've done the easiest piece already, and we've seen that over and over again. Uh, these are huge tasks, a country of about thirty million people, twice the size of Iraq.
How is the UN Security Council responding to the U.S. strike and Maduro’s capture?
We haven't really been in the country in the way we should be to know it before we get into it. We have not engaged the American public.
The UN Security Council is to meet tomorrow on the US strike on Venezuela and the capture of the Venezuelan president in the UN Secretary General Antonio Katers said yesterday that he is alarmed by the operation. He's also concerned that the rules of international law were not respected. The deposed Venezuelan president is now in custody in New York City, where he's expected to face trial on federal drug trafficking charges. Trump's decision to oust Maduro came after he pardoned other high-level drug traffickers. NPR's Brian Mann reports.
Трамп закійная кампанаризм against the United States and its citizens.
Why is Trump pardoning high‑level drug traffickers and how does it relate to his Venezuela actions?
But Jeffrey Singer, a drug policy expert at the libertaріan think tank The Cato інститут, says Trump has pardoned or freed other major drug traffickers.
If this is what's a motivating, if it's stopping drug trafficking, then why is he pardoning? The Honduran president who was convicted of cocaine trafficking.
Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez was convicted last year of helping drug cartels smuggle more than four hundred tons of cocaine into the U.S., but Trump freed him in December. During Trump's first term, his administration also freed a senior Mexican general accused of aiding the drug cartels. Brian Mann, NPR News.
This is NPR News in Washington. A search is underway in northern Nigeria for fourteen people missing after their boat cap size last night are Twenty five people are confirmed dead.
What are the goals of the upcoming South Korea‑China summit amid U.S.–China tensions?
The boat was carrying people home after visiting a local market. The leaders of South Korea and China are set to meet tomorrow, their second summit in two months. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Seoul, the meeting comes amid tensions over regional flashpoints, including North Korea and Taiwan.
Ahead of his arrival in Beijing, South Korean President E. J. Myong said in an interview with Chinese state television. That South Korea's cooperation with its main ally, the U.S., does not mean ties with China should be confrontational. Indeed, finding ways for Seoul and Beijing to cooperate despite U.S.-China tensions appears to be a major goal of East Trip. In talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Yi is also expected to discuss North Korea's nuclear weapons.
Why is President Trump repeatedly claiming Greenland should be part of the United States?
North Korea launched its first ballistic missiles this year just hours before Yi headed to China. He also told CCTV that South Korea sticks to a one China policy on Taiwan days after China conducted large scale military drills around the island. Anthony Kune in PR News Soul
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Why did President Trump launch a military operation in Venezuela without consulting Congress?
0:00–0:46
2
What does former Assistant Secretary Frederick Barton say about the challenges of occupying Venezuela?
0:46–1:27
3
How is the UN Security Council responding to the U.S. strike and Maduro’s capture?
1:27–2:17
4
Why is Trump pardoning high‑level drug traffickers and how does it relate to his Venezuela actions?
2:17–3:09
5
What are the goals of the upcoming South Korea‑China summit amid U.S.–China tensions?
3:09–3:52
6
Why is President Trump repeatedly claiming Greenland should be part of the United States?
3:52–4:39