The President's Daily Brief
January 20th, 2026: Russia Targets Nuclear Power Plants & Secret Venezuela Talks
20 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
It's Tuesday, the 20th of January. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, new warnings that Russia may be preparing to strike the power lines feeding Europe's largest nuclear plant. Oh, that sounds like a solid idea.
A move that could obviously threaten reactor cooling systems and raise fears of a potential meltdown. Well done, Putin. It's almost like he's not interested in ending his four-year invasion of Ukraine. Later in the show, new reporting reveals the U.S. was quietly in talks with Venezuela's hardline interior minister months before the raid that removed Nicolas Maduro.
Plus, the FAA, the Federal Aviation Administration, issues new warnings urging caution for flights over parts of Latin America, citing potential military activity in the region. And in today's back of the brief, the Iranian regime faces diplomatic fallout as the World Economic Forum revokes its invitation to Iran's foreign minister after the mass protest killings.
Which begs the question, why were they inviting him in the first place? But first, today's PDB Spotlight. New reporting is prompting serious concern across Europe and beyond, as intelligence suggests Russia may be preparing a dangerous escalation in its war against Ukraine.
According to multiple reports, Moscow is considering strikes not on nuclear reactors themselves, but on the power lines and substations that keep them running safely. Specifically, attention is focused on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest nuclear facility, which has been under Russian control since early in the war.
This is part of a broader campaign targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure, particularly as winter conditions make electricity and heat even more critical for civilian life. But when nuclear facilities enter the equation, and of course here comes a statement of the obvious, the stakes change dramatically. And here's why.
Even when a nuclear reactor is shut down or operating at reduced capacity, it still generates heat.
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Chapter 2: What are the warnings about Russia's potential strikes on nuclear power plants?
And that heat has to be constantly managed by cooling systems, which rely on external electricity from the power grid. If those power lines are cut, plants are forced to switch to emergency diesel generators. Now, I'm not a nuclear scientist, and I know you're surprised by that, but forcing nuclear plants onto emergency power during a war... It usually falls into the bad idea category.
Those generators are designed as nothing more than a temporary fallback, not a long-term solution. Fuel supplies can be disrupted, equipment can fail, and in war zones, repairs are anything but guaranteed. If cooling systems falter, temperatures rise, and that's where the risk of a serious nuclear incident, including a meltdown, enters the picture.
Ukraine's military intelligence warns that Russia may be planning strikes on substations connected not just to Zaporizhia, but to all three of Ukraine's active nuclear plants. The goal, they say, would be to completely sever external power, plunging large portions of the country into darkness during a frigid winter while pushing nuclear facilities onto emergency systems.
This would represent not just another Russian attack on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure, but a move that would risk radioactive consequences far beyond Ukraine's borders. Zaporizhia has already lost external power multiple times since 2022, forcing operators to rely on backup generators, while international watchdogs scrambled to assess the danger.
Each incident triggered urgent warnings from nuclear experts and the International Atomic Energy Agency , which has repeatedly stressed that nuclear safety cannot be guaranteed in an active combat zone. That is also a statement of the obvious. And yet here we are again. For its part, Russia insists it's not targeting nuclear facilities. Well, if they say so.
But striking the infrastructure that keeps those facilities safe amounts to the same thing in practice. In effect, it's another form of nuclear blackmail, using the risk of a catastrophic accident as leverage. The pressure isn't just on Ukraine, of course, but on Europe and the broader international community.
Now, this fits into a wider pattern Russia's winter energy campaign has already battered Ukraine's grid, leaving millions without reliable heat or electricity Hospitals, water systems and transportation networks have all been affected Adding nuclear risk to that equation raises the possibility of a humanitarian and environmental crisis layered on top of an already brutal war
International concern, of course, is growing. European officials are watching closely, knowing that a serious incident at Zaporizhzhia wouldn't stop at Ukraine's borders.
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Chapter 3: How did the U.S. engage with Venezuela before Maduro's removal?
And, let's face it, memories of Chernobyl still loom large across the continent. For now, there's no confirmation that an attack is imminent, but the warnings are telling. It's a possible indication of just how far Moscow may be willing to push escalation. With consequences that could extend far beyond the battlefield. All right, coming up next, new reporting shows the U.S.
was quietly in talks with a senior Maduro regime leader and hardline Venezuelan power broker months before Maduro's removal. And the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, the FAA, warns airlines to exercise caution over parts of Latin America over concern for potential military activity. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here.
Let me take just a moment of your time to talk about personal finances and financial goals, right?
Chapter 4: What are the FAA's warnings regarding flights over Latin America?
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Chapter 5: What diplomatic fallout is Tehran facing after the World Economic Forum's decision?
And some are even delaying two mortgage payments. American Financing is America's home for home loans. Call today at 866-885-1881. That number again is 866-885-1881. Or just visit AmericanFinancing.net slash PDB. Welcome back to the PDB. We're now learning that months before the U.S. operation that ousted Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, backroom discussions were already underway.
The Trump administration opened talks with the regime's interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, and reportedly they've remained in contact ever since.
According to a Reuters exclusive report citing multiple people familiar with the matter, Trump administration officials warned Cabello not to deploy the security forces or militant ruling party supporters that he controls against Venezuela's opposition.
Now, I want to pause on that warning for a moment, because it explains the pressure point that Washington was already focused on, even before Maduro was removed from power. Cabello still controlled the security apparatus, including intelligence agencies, police units, and elements of the armed forces, and those services, of course, currently remain intact.
That means Cabello didn't just survive the operation. He emerged from it still holding the levers that could either steady the country or push it toward chaos. Trump administration officials say containing that risk is why the channel to Cabello was opened and why it remains active. From Washington's perspective, the goal is to prevent unrest during the fragile transition.
That concern leads directly to the figure that the White House is watching most carefully. While interim President Delcy Rodriguez is viewed in Washington as the linchpin of President Trump's approach to post-Maduro Venezuela, Cabello is seen as a potential spoiler, someone with enough coercive power to either stabilize or upend the moment. That influence is rooted in Cabello's role.
For background, he was and still is regarded as the country's second most powerful figure.
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Chapter 6: Why is the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant under threat from Russian actions?
Cabello is a former military officer and longtime loyalist of the former Venezuelan socialist leader Hugo Chavez and, of course, later Maduro.
For years, he's been feared as the central enforcer of repression, exerting influence over military intelligence, civilian counterintelligence agencies, and pro-regime militias, known as the colectivo, which are armed civilians deployed to intimidate or attack protesters. Cabello was named in the same U.S.
drug trafficking indictment that the Trump administration used to justify Maduro's arrest, but he was not targeted in that operation. Cabello has long been under U.S. sanctions for alleged drug trafficking. In 2020, the Justice Department indicted him as a senior figure in Cartel de los Soles, the narco terror network that Washington says is embedded in Venezuela's government.
Cabello denies the allegations. According to people familiar with the discussions, communications between U.S. officials and Cabello date to the early days of the current Trump administration. The discussions have touched on Cabello's U.S. sanctions designation and the indictment he faces, and notably, they have taken place both directly and through intermediaries.
Now, in the current post-Maduro landscape, Cabello has pledged his support for Rodriguez. But the Trump administration cautions that such pledges don't necessarily reflect the balance of power behind the scenes. Although Cabello and Rodriguez have both operated at the core of the Venezuelan state in their ruling United Socialist Party for years, They've never been considered close allies.
Trump officials seem to treat Cabello as one of several Maduro era figures tolerated as temporary power brokers during the undefined transition period as Washington moves to secure access to Venezuela's oil reserves. At the same time, those same officials worry about his history of repression to opposition groups.
In the hours after Maduro's capture, the question of why Cabello wasn't also picked up was raised repeatedly. And just days later, Cabello denounced the operation, declaring, quote, Venezuela will not surrender. But since then, it appears both Washington and Cabello are playing ball with each other.
Washington to avoid an eruption of the security forces that Cabello oversees, and Cabello to likely avoid arrest by the U.S., That relationship is playing out on the ground, as security forces that had been conducting searches at checkpoints have eased up, and both Trump and the Venezuelan government say political prisoners have been released, a process that Cabello is overseeing.
Human rights groups, however, say releases are slow, and hundreds remain unjustly detained, leaving open whether Cabello is truly steadying Venezuela's transition or is quietly preserving the leverage that he holds for his own purposes and survival. Staying in the region, the Federal Aviation Administration, the FAA in the U.S., is warning U.S.
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