Reuters interviews Trump, Greenland, Minnesota and Uganda
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Hi, I'm Kim Vinnell in Whanganui, New Zealand. It's Thursday, January 15th. Today, Reuters sits down with President Trump to talk Iran, Ukraine, Venezuela and the midterms. A White House meeting on Greenland ends with no agreement in sight. The FBI searches a Washington Post journalist's home.
What topics does Trump discuss in his interview with Reuters?
And Uganda votes in a tense election. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. Iran has reopened its airspace after a temporary closure amid warnings from European officials that a US military intervention is imminent. That's being backed up by an Israeli official, although the scope of any action is unclear. Some US military personnel are being withdrawn from bases in the Middle East because of, quote, heightened regional tensions. Iran has threatened to attack US military bases if Washington hits. But in a sit-down interview with Reuters reporter Steve Holland, U.S. President Donald Trump refused to be drawn on whether U.S.
action is indeed imminent in Iran.
What happened during the White House meeting about Greenland?
Here's Steve on how the interview in the Oval Office went down.
He was sitting, sipping a Diet Coke. He had a box of his magic markers embossed with his name on it. He was in a good mood.
Why did the FBI search a Washington Post journalist's home?
First up was the issue of Iran. He was very hesitant about talking about next steps in Iran. He was sort of taking a wait-and-see attitude. He was a bit cagey about that, in fact. He said that it's possible that the regime could fail there, but any regime can fail, and he was hesitant to make a prediction. He did not think that Reza Pahlavi, the opposition figure, has the support within Iran at this point to lead the country forward. But it's possible that he could. But at this point, he didn't sort of endorse Pahlavi as the next leader of Iran.
And on Ukraine, Steve says Trump's current rhetoric was in marked contrast to European allies.
Today, he was back to blaming Zelensky. I said, what's the holdup to a deal? He said, it's Zelensky. He says, Vladimir Putin is ready to make a deal. So he's back at that point. Now, what that means, nothing necessarily. He said he'd be willing to meet with Zelensky at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland next week, should that become apparent.
domestically, obviously, midterms are this year. Here's what Trump had to say about that.
He's very well aware of the history that the party in control of the White House usually will lose seats in a midterm election that comes after a presidential election. The Republicans control both houses of Congress. Many analysts will tell you that they think Democrats will make some big gains next November. Trump seemed to be conceding that that's possible.
And on Venezuela, Trump seems happy with progress since the capture of President Nicolas Maduro, but he is meeting with Venezuelan opposition leader in exile Maria Corina Machado later today.
I asked him about his meeting with the opposition leader of Venezuela, and he said that she seems like a nice person. But he also spoke expansively about the acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, said he had a fascinating talk with her earlier in the day and that he's working well with her.
But if things don't go to plan in Venezuela, Trump could use military force again if he chooses to. Senate Republicans have blocked a move which would have restricted Trump from taking further military action in Venezuela without congressional approval. staying in Washington, where a meeting between top Trump officials and the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland has ended in a standoff. The Wednesday meeting was meant to diffuse tensions over Trump's threats to take Greenland, but Danish Foreign Minister Lars-Lukke Rasmussen says that's not what happened.
Our perspectives continue to differ, I must say. The president has made his view clear and we have a different position.
Just 17% of Americans approve of Trump's effort to acquire Greenland, according to a new Reuters Ipsos poll. And when it comes to the idea of using military force to do so, that drops to 4%.
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