The Headlines
Trump Threatens to Invoke Insurrection Act, and Grocery Prices Keep Going Up
16 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What does Trump's threat to invoke the Insurrection Act mean for Minnesota?
I'm Debra Kamen. I'm an investigative reporter at The New York Times.
From The New York Times, it's The Headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Friday, January 16th. Here's what we're covering.
Look, that's only a question, frankly, the president can answer. But the Insurrection Act is a tool at the president's disposal. As you know, it has been used sparingly, but it has been used by previous presidents in American history.
President Trump's social media post threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act in response to protests in Minnesota has set off a flurry of questions of can he, will he, and what would it mean? The act gives the president broad authority under some conditions to send troops into U.S. cities.
I will say if I feel it's important to invoke the Insurrection Act, which I have the right to do, That's a different thing because then I have the right to do pretty much what I want to do.
President Trump has brought it up multiple times this term, including just last week in the Oval Office in an interview with Times reporters.
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Chapter 2: How has the Insurrection Act been used in U.S. history?
This time, the White House is framing it as a warning to Democrats, who the administration has accused of egging on the protests. The Insurrection Act hasn't been invoked by a U.S. president since 1992, when troops were deployed in L.A. in response to riots that broke out after several white police officers were acquitted in the beating of an unarmed Black man, Rodney King.
In the last week, since an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good, thousands of people have been out in the streets in Minneapolis, protesting the killing and the immigration crackdown agents are carrying out there. At times, protesters have clashed with federal agents. There are now about 3,000 of them deployed there.
Local and state officials have said that deployment is creating an unsafe situation, with agents shoving people, smashing car windows, and pulling drivers out of their vehicles.
Any plans to pull out of Minnesota? No plans to pull out of Minnesota.
Clear. When asked about the situation and Trump's threat to use the Insurrection Act, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said they had been talking about it, but she said it would be up to Trump to decide what's next.
Oh, I think that the president has that opportunity in the future. It's his constitutional right and it's up to him if he wants to utilize it.
Do you think he's likely to do it?
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Chapter 3: What recent events led to protests in Minneapolis?
I don't know.
Now, two other developments on the administration's immigration crackdown. A federal judge in Boston issued a new rebuke to the administration over its efforts to deport college students who demonstrated against Israel.
Judge William Young, a Reagan appointee, called President Trump an authoritarian and said the administration had violated free speech protections when it tried to deport international students who'd been protesting over the war in Gaza. The administration said it had the authority to do so under an obscure legal provision, claiming the students were a threat to American foreign policy.
But in court yesterday, the judge said the deportation threats were an effort to, quote, twist the laws and pick off prominent activists to intimidate others. The judge said that next week he plans to issue a final order restricting the administration from deporting members of two academic groups that brought the case.
And he said that going forward, the government will have to show that any deportations are not retaliation. And what's your reaction to that stunning admission? I accept their apologies. And I hope that based on this apology, I'm able to return back to my studies and also to be home with my parents. The Trump administration has made a rare admission.
It said it made a mistake when it deported a college student who was trying to fly home for Thanksgiving. Nineteen-year-old Ani Lopez-Beloza, who was brought from Honduras to the U.S. when she was seven, was on her way to visit family in Texas when immigration agents detained her at the airport in Boston.
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Chapter 4: What are the implications of the judge's ruling on student deportations?
The next day, a judge signed an order saying she could not be removed from the U.S. while her case was pending. But the day after that, she was put on a flight to Honduras, one of multiple times that the administration has ignored court orders and pushed forward with deportations. In court this week, a judge said he would try and find a solution so that she can return to the U.S.
and get back to school, though the government hasn't dropped its case against her. Since she was deported, her family has faced intimidation from immigration authorities. Her parents said that last month, agents appeared outside their home in Texas in three unmarked cars. One agent rushed at her father, but he fled into the house and locked the door. at the White House yesterday.
I presented the President of the United States the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Maria Carino Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader who won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, gave her award to President Trump. She's been trying to curry favor with him since he ousted Nicolas Maduro, but he has not backed her efforts to lead Venezuela, saying she's a very nice woman, but she doesn't have the respect needed to be president.
It's not immediately clear what, if anything, she got out of her meeting with Trump yesterday. Afterward, the White House posted an image on social media showing Trump holding up an ornate framed plaque with the gold prize in the middle of it and an inscription recognizing his, quote, principled and decisive action to secure a free Venezuela.
Machado's highly unusual gesture came after Trump has spent months saying that he should have won the award.
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Chapter 5: How did the Trump administration respond to the deportation error?
In a recent statement, the Nobel Institute made clear that the award does not work like that, clarifying that it can't be shared, transferred, or revoked, saying that its decision is, quote, Despite that, a few Nobel Prizes, which are 18-carat gold, have been sold in the past. A few years ago, James Watson, who helped discover the structure of DNA, sold his for over $4 million.
And more recently, a Russian journalist who won the Peace Prize auctioned the award off for over $100 million to raise money for Ukrainian child refugees. And last update on the Trump administration, a quick fact check.
Our economy is falling. Unbelievable. And I'm bringing down the prices. Remember this. I did cause the high prices.
Recently, as affordability has become the topic in American politics.
Grocery prices are starting to go rapidly down.
President Trump has repeatedly claimed that grocery prices are falling under his administration. But new government data shows that prices are actually rising. Overall, in the past 12 months, grocery prices went up more than 2%. For certain foods, that number is way higher.
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Chapter 6: What factors are contributing to the rise in grocery prices?
Coffee is up almost 20%, and ground beef prices surged to a new record high last month. There are a wide range of reasons for the uptick, like fuel costs and extreme weather, and some of Trump's own policies. Tariffs have driven up the cost of aluminum for canned goods, for example, which could be contributing.
Plus, the administration's immigration crackdown has left some farms struggling to find workers. And while the prices of some products have come down, notably eggs and milk, shoppers are still being squeezed. Low-income Americans in particular are trading down to cheaper products and buying less, according to grocery executives.
They say they're starting to see the same behavior in middle-class consumers, too. And finally, if you use Gmail, like a billion-plus people worldwide do, you've likely seen AI showing up on the platform. Maybe it's offered to write some replies for you, so you don't have to type out, Thanks, that sounds great, yourself.
Now, Google is rolling out even more AI tools, some free, some not, that it says can help people manage their overwhelming inboxes. For example, you can now find an email by typing a question, like, what's the name of the job recruiter I talked to last month? But of course, to make the new features work, Google's AI assistant, Gemini, needs access to a user's entire inbox.
And that has raised questions about whether the new tools are worth the potential tradeoff in privacy. Times tech writer Brian Chen tested out Google's new Gmail for a week. It automatically generated a to-do list for him based on his emails.
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Chapter 7: How is AI being integrated into Gmail for users?
Get back to the pediatrician, fill out that preschool enrollment, which he found very useful. He didn't love the tools intended to help speed up writing email replies. One privacy and security expert he talked with said the AI rollout should be a reminder to people that nothing in your email is 100% private. Google, or whatever platform you use, has access to it.
So does law enforcement with a subpoena. So the more you start relying on it, chatting with it, telling it about your life and your plans, the more it has access to. One thing to note, a lot of the AI features Brian tried out are or will be turned on for Gmail users by default. But there is a way to opt out by going into your account settings. Those are the headlines.
If you'd like to play the Friday News Quiz, it is just after these credits. This show is made by Will Jarvis, Jan Stewart, and me, Tracy Mumford. Original theme by Dan Powell. Special thanks to Isabella Anderson, Larissa Anderson, Zoe Murphy, and Paula Schumann. Now time for the quiz. We've got a few questions for you about stories The Times has been covering.
Chapter 8: What are the privacy concerns related to AI tools in email management?
Let's see what you got. First question. Under a new law, which was signed by the president this week, one item could soon be back on the menu in school cafeterias across the U.S. Your question. What food or beverage is no longer banned from federally funded school nutrition programs? If you're racking your brain, this vintage ad may help you. Any ideas? It's milk.
Full fat and 2% milk were nixed from the National School Lunch Program back in 2011 under the Obama administration to help fight childhood obesity. Now milk is having a bit of a comeback. Milk consumption rose recently after years of decline. And Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has vowed to end what he called the attack on whole milk, cheese and yogurt. Next up.
For a real estate development company, we have big projects now, but we start out with little projects.
The billionaire real estate mogul Stan Kroenke is now the largest private landowner in the entire United States. If you're wondering, what does that take? It takes owning a total amount of land more than double the size of Delaware. He bought up almost a million acres just last month, which helped push him into the top spot. He also owns a lot of other stuff.
So this is a quick game of does he own it or not? The L.A. football team, the Rams. Yep, he moved it there from St. Louis. The $5 billion stadium the Rams play in. Yes, he owns that too. The largest contiguous ranch in Texas. The English football club Arsenal. Uh-huh. He bought out a Russian billionaire to get full control. And last one. Walmart. No, he does not own Walmart.
But his wife is an heiress to the Walton family fortune. And the final question of the quiz. This week, a major pop group announced that it's coming back after a three-year hiatus and launching a colossal new world tour this spring with almost 80 shows across five continents. Part of the reason for their long absence was that some of the band members had to complete mandatory military service.
Which pop group am I talking about? Hint?
Another hint?
Their fans refer to themselves as the Army. The answer? BTS, the super group from South Korea. Most men in the country have to serve for a time. And while there are exceptions for Olympic champions and some classical musicians, pop stars not exempt. That is it for the news quiz. You can tell us how you did at the headlines at NYTimes.com. The show will be back on Monday.
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