Marco Rubio

Jan. 12 (UPI) — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has responded harshly to public warnings issued by U.S. President Donald Trump as tensions between Havana and Washington escalated.

Trump issued an ultimatum on his social media platform saying there would be “no more oil or money” from Venezuela for Cuba and suggesting the island should “reach a deal before it is too late” — a move aimed at pressuring the Cuban government to negotiate or change course.

Díaz-Canel replied on X.

In a series of posts Sunday, the Cuban leader rejected the U.S. warnings and defended the country’s sovereignty.

“Cuba is a free, independent and sovereign nation. No one dictates what we do,” he wrote.

With that message, Díaz-Canel made clear the Cuban government will not accept external pressure or ultimatums to define its political or economic direction.

He also said the United States “has no moral authority to lecture Cuba about anything” and accused Washington of turning even human lives into a business and acting out of “rage” toward the political system chosen by the Cuban people.

Díaz-Canel said the island’s severe economic hardships are the result of “draconian measures of extreme suffocation” imposed by the United States for more than six decades and now being intensified.

He added that Cuba “does not attack anyone, it is attacked by the United States,” and said the Cuban people are prepared to defend the country “to the last drop of blood.”

Trump further escalated his rhetoric in a post on Truth Social, where he reacted positively to a joke suggesting Secretary of State Marco Rubio could become president of Cuba.

“Sounds good to me,” Trump wrote while sharing an X post by user @Cliff_Smith_1 that joked about a scenario in which “Marco Rubio will be president of Cuba.”

The Cuban response comes amid growing concern on the island over a possible interruption in Venezuelan oil supplies, which are critical for an economy already struggling with energy shortages and frequent blackouts.

Venezuela is Cuba’s largest oil supplier, but no shipments have departed Venezuelan ports for the Caribbean nation amid a strict U.S. oil blockade on the South American country, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, according to shipping data cited by France 24.

Although Venezuelan crude and fuel shipments to Cuba have declined in recent years, the country remained Cuba’s top supplier in 2025, exporting about 26,500 barrels a day, according to vessel tracking data and internal documents from state oil company PDVSA. That volume covered about 50% of Cuba’s oil deficit.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said in a separate X post Sunday that Cuba has the right to import fuel from any supplier willing to export it.

He also denied that Cuba received financial or material compensation in exchange for providing security services to any country.

In recent weeks, Mexico has emerged as a key alternative oil supplier for Cuba, though volumes remain limited, according to shipping data.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said last week that Mexico has not increased supply volumes but that, given recent political developments in Venezuela, the country has become an “important supplier” of crude to Cuba.

Trump’s decision to cut off that support has been widely seen as part of a broader pressure strategy against Havana, intensified after a U.S. military operation in Caracas that led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro.

Jan. 11 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said Sunday that Cuba must strike a deal with the United States or face deeper economic hardship as its access to Venezuelan oil diminishes.

On Truth Social, Trump posted: “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will. THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.”

Trump’s comments followed remarks he made on Jan. 4, when he said the Cuban government could collapse without direct U.S. intervention following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by American forces.

In addition, Trump reposted a Truth Social user’s message suggesting that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban American, should serve as Cuba’s president, responding, “Sounds good to me.”

Rubio has been vocal about Cuba’s political and economic situation in the wake of changes in Venezuela and has said Havana is in “serious trouble” and that its leaders have reason to be concerned.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel posted on X Sunday, “Cuba is a free, independent, and sovereign nation. No one dictates what we do. Cuba does not aggress; it is aggressed upon by the United States for 66 years, and it does not threaten; it prepares, ready to defend the Homeland to the last drop of blood.”

On Friday, the United States seized another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea, the Olina, as part of efforts to control Venezuelan oil that had been bound for the region, including Cuba.

U.S. Southern Command wrote on X that it’s “unwavering in its mission to defend our homeland by ending illicit activity and restoring security in the Western Hemisphere.”

Jan. 8 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro held their first phone call Wednesday since the U.S. leader started his second term — a conversation described as “constructive” that could open a path to rebuilding a historically close relationship shaped by decades of cooperation on security and a fight against drug trafficking.

The more-than-40-minute conversation followed months of verbal escalation and administrative sanctions between the two governments and against a regionally tense backdrop after a U.S. operation led to the Jan. 3 capture in Caracas of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Hours after the call, Petro addressed a rally in Bogotá’s Plaza de Bolívar, convened “in defense of sovereignty,” and acknowledged that he softened a previously tougher attitude after speaking with Trump.

“If there is no dialogue, there is war. Colombian history has taught us that,” Petro said, announcing he had requested the restoration of formal communication channels between Colombia’s Foreign Ministry and the U.S. State Department.

During his remarks, the Colombian president said the call covered counternarcotics cooperation and rejected accusations linking him to drug trafficking, stating that for more than two decades, he has confronted criminal organizations and allied politicians, according to Colombian outlet Noticias Caracol.

Petro said he presented Trump with official government figures, including drug seizure levels that he said reached 2,800 metric tons by year’s end, as well as the extradition of hundreds of narcotics leaders.

He also argued that, unlike previous administrations, his government halted the growth of coca crops, which he said doubled under former President Iván Duque, while increasing by no more than 10% during his tenure. Coca leaves are used to make cocaine.

Petro defended voluntary crop substitution over forced eradication, contending the latter increases violence in rural areas.

The Colombian leader added that he briefed Trump on coordination experiences with Venezuela in the fight against drug trafficking in border regions such as Catatumbo, one of the main illicit trafficking corridors, where guerrillas, dissidents and criminal gangs operate.

In a message posted on social media, Trump said it was “a great honor” to speak with Petro and that he looks forward to meeting him “soon.”

In the same message, he said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Colombia’s foreign minister, Rosa Villavicencio, already are working on arrangements for a White House meeting.

Colombia’s ambassador to the United States, Daniel García-Peña, told Noticias RCN that the communication was facilitated by Republican Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and that Trump extended the invitation to meet in Washington.

The diplomat described the exchange as “an extraordinary call” and said both leaders focused on issues of shared interest.

The conversation took place amid heightened domestic political tension in Colombia, marked by growing polarization and public confrontation on social media, fueled by earlier statements from Trump.

In the preceding days, the U.S. president suggested that an operation similar to the one carried out in Venezuela also “sounds good” for Colombia — rhetoric that drew strong official rebukes in Bogotá.

Petro has been a persistent critic of U.S. operations in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific, where U.S. forces have intercepted and sunk boats suspected of carrying drugs.

He has questioned that approach for its human cost, citing deaths reported during such operations.

In September, the U.S. government revoked Petro’s visa, and the Treasury Department later placed him, along with people in his inner circle, on the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s sanctions list, known as the “Clinton List,” following accusations made by Trump that the Colombian government rejected and that were not accompanied by public evidence.

Despite recent friction, bilateral ties rest on a solid historical foundation. Colombia has for decades been one of Washington’s main partners in Latin America on security and counternarcotics.

In the early 2000s, cooperation was consolidated under Plan Colombia with an initial U.S.-approved aid package of $1.3 billion in 2000, and in 2022 Washington designated Colombia a “Major Non-NATO Ally,” a status reserved for strategic partners outside the alliance.

Under Petro’s government, that partnership has faced political strain, particularly over differences on counternarcotics policy and bilateral rhetoric in a more volatile regional environment.

Jan. 7 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday night that he will withdraw the United States from dozens of international organizations and treaties, escalating the U.S. policy shift from multilateral engagement under his second administration.

The 66 international organizations, conventions and treaties affected were those deemed “contrary to the interests of the United States,” according to a statement from the White House.

The withdrawal was initiated via a presidential memorandum, which names 35 non-United Nations organizations and 31 U.N. entities. Among them are the landmark U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, established in 1992, and several others that fight climate change, the U.N. Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, U.N. Oceans and the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations.

“The Trump administration has found these institutions to be redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms and general prosperity,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

“President Trump is clear: It is no longer acceptable to be sending these institutions the blood, sweat and treasure of the American people, with little to nothing to show for it.”

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has used his executive powers to expunge left-leaning ideology and initiatives from U.S. domestic and foreign policy. Rubio argued that the dozens of organizations and treaties the United States was exiting are those where progressive ideology “detached from national interests.”

“From DEI mandates to ‘gender equity’ campaigns to climate orthodoxy, many international organizations now serve a globalist project rooted in the discredited fantasy of the ‘End of History,'” he said.

“These organizations actively seek to constrain American sovereignty,” he continued. “Their work is advanced by the same elite networks — the multilateral ‘NGO-plex’ — that we have begun dismantling through the closure of USAID.”

A fact sheet from the White House claims that many of the organizations named Wednesday “promote radical climate policies, global governance and ideological programs that conflict with U.S. sovereignty and economic strength.”

“By exiting these entities, President Trump is saving taxpayer money and refocusing resources on America First policies.”

Trump has frequently rallied against international organizations that have stood counter or even criticized his policies. He has twice removed the United States from the World Health Organization, first during his first term and again on his first day in office of his second after President Joe Biden reinstated the United States’ membership in the world’s leading health organization.

The same day he pulled the United States from the WHO he directed the withdrawal from the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, also known as the Paris Agreement.

He has also twice withdrawn the United States from The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, better known as UNESCO. He also withdrew the United States from the U.N. Human Rights Council and prohibited future funding to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for the Near East.

During his first term, he withdrew the United States from the landmark Obama-era multinational accord that aimed to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

“I’ve always felt that the U.N. has tremendous potential. It’s not living up to that potential right now — it really isn’t — hasn’t for a long time,” Trump said Wednesday before signing the memorandum in the Oval Office.

“There are great hopes for it, but it’s not being well run, to be honest.”

Jan. 7 (UPI) — The White House said military force was among a range of options it was looking at in an effort to “acquire” Greenland for the United States.

Doubling down on comments by the administration officials in the past few days that the United States has a stronger claim to the Arctic Island than Denmark, in a statement Tuesday carried by The Hill, ABC News and the BBC, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said using the military was “always an option.”

“President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region. The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the U.S. Military is always an option at the Commander-in-Chief’s disposal.”

The statement came hours after European leaders pushed back hard on the renewed claims emanating from the administration since the U.S. military action in Venezuela at the weekend that the United States needs Greenland for its security, and by extension NATO’s, and that Denmark was not up to the job of defending Greenland.

In a joint statement of solidarity with Denmark, the leaders of France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Poland and Spain said Greenland belonged to its people and that “it is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”

They insisted that security in the Arctic was a priority and that they were taking steps to boost their military “presence, investments and activities,” but stressed that security could only be achieved collectively and “sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders,” had to be upheld.

“These are universal principles, and we will not stop defending them,” read the statement.

In a closed-briefing on Capitol Hill on Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested to lawmakers that Trump’s talk of taking Greenland by force was just rhetoric to pressure Copenhagen to come to the table, and his actual goal was to buy Greenland from Denmark.

However, later Monday, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller reignited fears, telling CNN, military force was a non-question because America’s overwhelming military superiority meant “nobody is going to fight the United States militarily over Greenland.”

He also questioned the basis of Denmark’s territorial claim.

Greenland has been closely tied to Denmark since the 18th century, initially as a colony and then as an incorporated, semi-autonomous region with representation in the Danish Parliament.

Danish control of Greenland was recognized by the United States in 1916, as part of a deal for the purchase of what is now the U.S. Virgin Islands from Denmark.

The government in Nuuk said Tuesday it had asked for a meeting with Rubio.

Jan. 6 (UPI) — Venezuela will be turning over tens of millions of barrels of oil to the United States, President Donald Trump said Tuesday, days after the U.S. military seized the authoritarian president of the country, Nicolas Maduro.

Trump said Venezuela’s interim government, sworn in Monday, will be giving the United States between 30 million and 50 million barrels of “high quality, sanctioned oil.”

“This oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

It was unclear when the United States would receive the oil, but it will be brought to the United States aboard oil tankers.

Trump said Energy Secretary Chris Wright has been asked to “immediately” execute the plan.

“On it Mr. President,” Wright said in response on X.

“You have my attention to this matter.”

The U.S. military seized Maduro from Venezuela in an early morning operation on Saturday following months of military buildup around the country and an escalating Trump administration pressure campaign. He and his wife, Cilia Flores, were brought to the United States to face narcotrafficking and other drug-related charges.

The Trump administration has been enforcing a naval blockade on Venezuelan oil since mid-December, with Trump arguing the South American country’s oil and assets of U.S. companies were “stolen from us,” referring to Caracas’ decades-old nationalization of its oil industry.

Delcy Rodriguez, former vice president under Maduro, was sworn in as president of Venezuela on Monday. However, Trump has said that the United States will be “running” the South American nation, though other administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have attempted to soften that stance.

Rodriguez is “essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” Rubio said Monday.

Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the United States consumed an average of 20.25 million barrels of petroleum per day in 2023.

Jan. 5 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump issued a warning to Venezuela’s new president, Delcy Rodriguez, to “do what’s right,” or face a similar or worse fate than President Nicolas Maduro, who is in a U.S. prison after being seized by U.S. Special Forces over the weekend.

“If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” Trump told The Atlantic, adding that regime change remained on the table, saying that it was preferable to the present state of affairs and the situation “can’t get any worse.”

Rodriguez, who was due to be sworn in as president in Caracas at 7 a.m. EST with the support of the country’s military and the supreme court, has said she is willing to cooperate with the United States after initially condemning the arrest of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and demanding their release.

“We invite the U.S. government to collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation orientated towards shared development within the framework of international law,” she told her cabinet at her first meeting in charge on Sunday.

Trump said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken with Rodriguez and that she was “essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”

Amid conflicting messaging, it was unclear if that was Trump’s meaning when he said in his news conference Saturday announcing the military operation that the United States was “going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.”

“We’re going to be running it with a group, and we’re going to make sure it’s run properly,” Trump said.

Rubio clarified Sunday that Trump was talking about exerting control from outside the country to bring about major policy shifts.

He said sanctions were one of the tools at the administration’s disposal to ensure the cooperation of the acting leadership, saying in an American broadcast TV interview that a blockade on Venezuela’s oil exports, being enforced by the U.S. military, would remain in place.

“We continue with that quarantine and we expect to see that there will be changes not just in the way the oil industry is run for the benefit of the people, but also so that they stop the drug trafficking, so that we no longer have these gang problems, so that they kick the [Columbian insurgent groups] FARC and the ELN out, and that they no longer cozy up to Hizballah and Iran in our own hemisphere,” Rubio said.

Meanwhile, Maduro was due to make his first appearance in Federal Court in New York later Monday, where he and Flores will be read a 25-page indictment accusing the pair of accumulating vast wealth from a narco-terrorism conspiracy.

They also face three related charges of cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.

They are due to be transferred from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, which houses defendants accused of regular crimes, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in White Plains, N.Y., to appear at 12 p.m. EST.

Jan. 4 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said in an interview published Sunday that the United States needs to annex Greenland “for defense,” while his deputy chief of staff’s wife was reproached by Denmark’s ambassador to the U.S. for a social media post about the possible move.

Trump has consistently discussed annexing Greenland since before retaking office in January 2025, but has also long been rebuffed on the idea by officials in both Denmark and Greenland.

But at a news conference on Saturday morning after the U.S. apprehension of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio both alluded to the potential of U.S. military action elsewhere in the Americas.

When asked on Sunday if Maduro’s apprehension should be interpreted by other nations — for instance, Greenland, which does not want to be annexed — as a signal that his administration might consider military action to pursue more goals, Trump demurred.

“They are going to have to view it themselves,” Trump told The Atlantic in an interview on Sunday. “I really don’t know … But we do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defense.”

He also noted that the NATO ally is “surrounded by Russian and Chinese ships.”

Trump previously has refused to rule out military action to annex Greenland, saying in May that he wouldn’t “say I’m not going to do it but I don’t rule out anything … We need Greenland very badly,” The Guardian reported.

Greenland, which is the world’s largest island, is a self-governing territory of Denmark. It is largely covered with ice, though it has oil, natural gas and mineral resources, and already is home to the United States’ northernmost military base.

Trump said in a nationally televised speech in March that his administration was “working with everybody involved to try and get it.”

“We need it really for international world security,” he said during the speech, adding that he thought “we’re going to get it, one way or the other.”

At the time, Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede said in a Facebook post that Greenland would determine it’s own future and does not what to be Americans any more than they want to be Danish.

Trump’s recently named Greenland envoy, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, said in December that the United States is not going to “go in there trying to conquer anybody.”

Landry also said in December that he was thankful to Trump for the “honor to serve you in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the United States,” The Guardian reported.

Denmark’s ambassador to the United States, Jesper Moeller Soerensen, responded to a Saturday post on X by Katie Miller, wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, that depicted Greenland with a U.S. map overlaid on it with the word “SOON,” the BBC reported.

“Just a friendly reminder about the U.S. and Denmark: We are close allies and should continue to work together as such,” Soerensen said in a response on X.

“And yes, we expect full respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” Soerensen added.

Jan. 4 (UPI) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in interviews on Sunday that it is “premature” to discuss elections in Venezuela because higher priorities, including reinvigorating the country’s oil industry, must be addressed first.

In interviews with ABC, CBS and NBC, Rubio said that the United States will continue to strike drug boats and detain oil tankers as the Trump administration moves to stabilize and “run” Venezuela after the apprehension of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday.

The Trump administration plans to keep its “quarantine” of Venezuelan oil in place as it pressures the remainders of Maduro’s government to end their cooperation with South American drug gangs, as well as stop selling oil to the United States’ adversaries, Rubio said.

“As we move forward here, we’ll set the conditions so that we no longer have in our hemisphere a Venezuela that’s the crossroads for many of our adversaries around the world, including Iran and Hezbollah,” Rubio said on ABC News’ “This Week.”

Rubio added that Venezuela would also no longer be “a narcotrafficking paradise for all those drugs coming out of Colombia … and toward the United States.”

Offshore armada is ‘leverage’

In a press conference on Saturday, Trump told reporters that there was a second strike planned in the case that Venezuelan forces responded to Maduro’s capture or the plan was not successful, but U.S. military commanders decided against launching it.

Trump noted Saturday, and Rubio reiterated on Sunday, that the roughly 15,000 troops offshore of Venezuela spread across more than a dozen warships would remain in the Caribbean.

Their objectives, he told CBS’ “Face The Nation,” are striking drug trafficking boats, apprehending tankers suspected to be carrying sanctioned Venezuelan oil and using the armada, as Trump has referred to it, of U.S. military ships offshore to encourage the remaining members of Maduro’s administration to comply with U.S. demands.

“What’s going to happen here is that we have a quarantine on their oil,” Rubio said. “That the means that their economy will not be able to move forward until the conditions that are in the national interest of the United States and of the Venezuelan people are met.”

“So, that leverage remains,” he added. “That leverage is ongoing. And we expect that it’s going to lead to results here.”

No elections yet

Although the Trump administration “cares about elections, we care about democracy, we care about all of that,” the priority is the U.S.’ goals of stopping the flow of drugs into the United States and U.S. “safety, security, well-being and prosperity,” Rubio told NBC News’ “Meet The Press.”

At this point, he said, considering new elections in Venezuela “is premature at this point” as Trump has tasked Rubio with “running policy” in the South American country.

In the next several months, Rubio said that the main priorities are to end entanglements between the Venezuelan government and drug gangs, as well as to prevent Iran, Russia, China and Cuba, among other nations, from investing in the country and gaining a foothold in the Western Hemisphere.

Maduro and his wife, who are in a jail in New York City awaiting trial, along with four other people in the Venezuelan government who were not arrested in Saturday’s raid, have been indicted for allegedly working with Colombian drug gangs and rebel groups to assist them in trafficking cocaine.

The quarantine on ships transporting Venezuelan oil is linked to Trump’s goal of sending U.S. oil companies to inspect and reinvigorate Venezuela’s ailing oil industry, while keeping the oil in the Americas.

While noting that the United States, which is a net oil exporter, does not need the oil, he questioned why Iran, Russia or China should need Venezuelan oil considering all three are nowhere near South America.

“They’re not even in this continent,” Rubio said. “This is where we live, and we’re not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operations for adversaries, competitors and rivals of the United States.”

Dec. 29 (UPI) — The United States has pledged to contribute $2 billion to U.N. humanitarian efforts, slashing its funding to about one-fifth of its average annual financial commitment over the past decade, the U.S. State Department announced Monday.

The memorandum of understanding makes good on President Donald Trump‘s promises to dramatically reduce the amount of the United States’ foreign aid and save taxpayers’ money.

“The United States remains the most generous nation in the world for lifesaving humanitarian assistance — but under @POTUS’s leadership taxpayer dollars will never fund waste, anti-Americanism, or inefficiency,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X.

“This new model will better share the burden of U.N. humanitarian work with other developed countries and will require the U.N. to cut bloat, remove duplication, and commit to powerful new impact, accountability and oversight mechanisms.”

In addition to reducing funding, the agreement narrows what countries and projects benefit from the U.S. aid. The $2 billion will go into a fund administered by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Among the areas not receiving any of the U.S. funding are Gaza, Yemen and Afghanistan.

“These agreements will focus funding on hyper-prioritized life-saving activities; provide for powerful new impact, accountability, and oversight mechanisms; enhance the efficiency and flexibility of humanitarian operations; and better share the burden of humanitarian work across major donors,” a release from the U.S. State Department said.

Tom Fletcher, the U.N. under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs and coordinator for Emergency Relief, offered his thanks to the United States for the commitment as “a powerful act of leadership and generosity that will help save millions of lives.”

“At a moment of immense global strain, the United States is demonstrating that it is a humanitarian superpower, offering hope to people who have lost everything.”

The newly announced funding, though, is a dramatic decrease from annual U.S. contributions over the past decade — from $6.5 billion in 2017 to a high of $17.25 billion in 2022. The average yearly contribution over the decade ending in 2024 was around $10 billion, five times the size of the funding announced Monday, according to data on the OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service.

This reduction in U.S. aid comes weeks after the United Nations launched an appeal to raise $33 billion to support operations for 2026. OCHA said the total would provide aid to 135 million people in 23 countries, and six projects serving refugees and migrants.

“The highly prioritized appeal follows a year when humanitarian lifelines strained and, in some places, snapped due to brutal funding cuts,” a release from the OCHA on Dec. 7 said.

“Funding for the appeal in 2025 — $12 billion — was the lowest in a decade and humanitarians reached 25 million less people than in 2024. The consequences were immediate: Hunger surged, health systems came under crushing strain, education fell away, mine clearance stalled and families faced blow after blow: no shelter, no cash assistance, no protection services.”

Dec. 29 (UPI) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit with President Donald Trump Monday in Florida to discuss the peace plan with Gaza.

Netanyahu is also likely to lobby the president for help with Iran as it continues its work on nuclear weapons.

The meeting will happen at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla. On Sunday, Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the resort to continue working on a peace plan between Ukraine and Russia.

Local officials have said that more than 400 people have been killed in Gaza since the cease-fire, NBC News reported.

The Trump administration wants to see progress on the plan’s second phase in January. That means a Palestinian technocratic government would be created. Hamas would disarm, and the Israeli Defense Forces would pull out of Gaza.

But some believe that Netanyahu will stall the process and demand Hamas fully disarm before the IDF withdraws. Hamas has said it will disarm as progress moves toward an independent Palestinian state.

Netanyahu and his staff have repeatedly rejected Palestinian statehood since October.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said last week that Israel will build settlements in Gaza and “never fully withdraw” even as Hamas disarms, the BBC reported. This would violate the cease-fire agreement.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Netanyahu before Trump’s meeting.

Two other tenets of the cease-fire haven’t yet emerged: A “Board of Peace” led by Trump is planned for governance of Gaza, and the International Stabilization Force, led by the United Nations, which will help with peacekeeping in Gaza.

Rubio has said those measures will be in place “very soon.”

Israeli officials are concerned that Iran is moving forward with its plans for ballistic missiles, and Netanyahu is expected to discuss options with Trump at Monday’s meeting.

Israel damaged the operations in June, but it wants to attack again, NBC News reported.

WASHINGTON — When Charlie Kirk was killed by an assassin this fall, Republican leaders credited the organization he founded for enabling President Trump’s return to power.

Now that organization is mobilizing behind Vice President JD Vance.

Uninterested in a competitive Republican primary in 2028, Turning Point USA plans to deploy representatives across Iowa’s 99 counties in the coming months to build the campaign infrastructure it believes could deliver Vance, a Midwesterner from nearby Ohio, a decisive victory, potentially short-circuiting a fractious GOP race, insiders said.

It is the latest move in a quiet effort by some in Trump’s orbit to clear the field of viable competitors. Earlier this month, Marco Rubio, the secretary of State previously floated by Trump as a possible contender, appeared to take himself out of the running.

“If Vance runs for president, he’s going to be our nominee, and I’ll be one of the first people to support him,” Rubio told Vanity Fair.

After Kirk’s widow, Erika, endorsed Vance on stage at Turning Point USA’s annual conference in Arizona last week, a straw poll of attendees found that 84% would support Vance in the coming primaries. Yet, wider public polling offers a different picture.

A CNN poll conducted in early December found that Vance held a plurality of Republican support for 2028, at 22%, with all other potential candidates, such as Rubio and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, registering in single digits.

The remaining 64% told pollsters they had “no one specific in mind,” reflecting an open field with plenty of room for other figures to gain ground.

While a recent Gallup poll found that 91% of Republicans approve of Vance’s job performance as vice president — an encouraging number entering a partisan primary — only 39% of Americans across party lines view him positively in the role, setting Vance up for potential challenges should he win the nomination.

Potential presidential candidates on both sides of the political aisle are expected to assess their chances over the next year, before primary season officially kicks off, after the midterm elections in November.

Closing out the Turning Point USA conference, Vance called for party unity amid escalating conflicts among right-wing influencers over the acceptability of racism and antisemitism within Republican politics.

“President Trump did not build the greatest coalition in politics by running his supporters through endless, self-defeating purity tests,” Vance said. “Every American is invited. We don’t care if you’re white or Black, rich or poor, young or old, rural or urban, controversial or a little bit boring, or somewhere in between.”

Charlie Kirk, he added, “trusted all of you to make your own judgment. And we have far more important work to do than canceling each other.”

Vance’s remarks drew criticism from some on the right for appearing to tolerate bigotry within the party. The vice president himself has been subjected to racist rhetoric, with Nick Fuentes — a far-right podcaster who has praised Adolf Hitler — repeatedly directing attacks at Vance’s wife and children over their Indian ancestry.

“Let me be clear — anyone who attacks my wife, whether their name is Jen Psaki or Nick Fuentes, can eat s—,” Vance said in an interview last week, referring to President Biden’s former press secretary. “That’s my official policy as vice president of the United States.”

In the same interview, Vance praised Tucker Carlson, another far-right podcaster who has defended Fuentes on free speech grounds, as a “friend of mine,” noting that he supported Vance as Trump’s vice presidential pick in 2024.

Trump has floated Vance as his potential successor multiple times without ever explicitly endorsing his nomination, calling him “very capable” and the “most likely” choice for the party.

“He’s the vice president,” Trump said in August. “Certainly he’s doing a great job, and he would be probably favored at this point.”

Several of Trump’s most ardent supporters have pushed the president to seek a third term in 2028, despite a provision of the Constitution, in the 22nd Amendment, barring him from doing so.

Trump himself has said the Constitution appears clear on the matter. But Steve Bannon, an architect of Trump’s historic 2016 campaign and one of his first White House strategists, continues to advocate a path forward for another run, reportedly disparaging Vance as “not tough enough” to lead the party to victory.

“He knows he can’t run again,” Susie Wiles, the president’s White House chief of staff, told Vanity Fair in a recent profile of her. “It’s pretty unequivocal.”

Trump, who will be 82 when he is slated to leave office, has told Wiles he understands a third term isn’t possible “a couple times,” she added.

Alan Dershowitz, a prominent constitutional law professor and a lawyer to Trump during his Senate impeachment trial, recently presented Trump with a road map to a third term in an Oval Office meeting, which he will publish in a new book slated for release next year.

Even he came away from their meeting believing Trump would pass on another bid.

“That is my conclusion based on what he has said in public,” Dershowitz told The Times.

“He has said in the past,” he added, “that it’s too cute.”

Dec. 27 (UPI) — Weeks into a vicious border war that has killed dozens of people and displaced roughly half a million, Thailand and Cambodia agreed to a 72-hour cease-fire on Saturday.

The countries announced in a joint statement that they would not conduct any military activities along the border, although their troops can stay there, in an effort to have a prolonged period of peace to see if the cease-fire will hold, The New York Times and Financial Times reported.

The agreement comes after several days of negotiations to end renewed fighting that has plagued the border region for weeks, including Thai air strikes on Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey Province early Friday morning.

“The signing is not the end, but the beginning of proving sincerity through action,” Thailand’s Air Chief Marshal Prapas Sornchaidee said in a statement posted to X.

“Thailand will proceed based on the same principles it has consistently communicated to the international community,” said Sornchaidee, who is acting as director of the joint press center and principle spokesperson on the border negotiations.

The cease-fire was due to start at 12:00 p.m. local time, with all fighting and military activity halted and both sides avoiding “unprovoked firing or advancement or movement of troops toward the other side’s positions,” according to the agreement.

The agreement requires both sides to refrain from any type of provocative actions, to avoid disseminating “false information or fake news” and to commit to efforts for both countries to better work together.

Additionally, if the cease-fire holds for the full 72 hours, Thailand agreed to return 18 Cambodian soldiers — something it initially agreed to do in October — and both sides will start to allow civilians to return to their homes along the 500-mile border between the countries.

The soldiers were captured in July after weeks of fighting, which also had resulted in a cease-fire and an eventual peace accord signed in October in Kuala Lumpur.

That cease-fire and peace agreement rumbled in November when Thailand accused Cambodia of laying new landmines along its border — weapons that both countries have employed — Financial Times reported.

The new agreement, which was signed at 10:30 a.m. local time on Saturday morning, follows recent overtures from the United States and China to increase diplomatic efforts and end the conflict, the New York Times reported.

“The United States welcomes this announcement from Cambodia and Thailand on reaching a cease-fire that halts hostilities along their border,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “We urge Cambodia and Thailand to immediately honor this commitment and fully implement the terms of the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords.”

With a cease-fire agreed to after three days of negotiations, a trilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of Cambodia, Thailand and China will be held on Sunday and Monday to continue working toward a more lasting peace, Cambodian officials said.

Dec. 26 (UPI) — A federal judge has blocked the deportation of a British man targeted by President Donald Trump.

Imran Ahmed, founder and CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, was one of five people placed on a visa ban after the government accused him of censorship.

Ahmed filed suit against Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi to prevent “the imminent prospect of unconstitutional arrest.”

The suit said the case comes from “the federal government’s latest attempt to abuse the immigration system to punish and punitively detain noncitizens for protected speech and silence viewpoints with which it disagrees.”

Ahmed is a legal permanent resident of the United States, where he lives with his American wife and child. He praised the judge’s decision.

“I will not be bullied away from my life’s work of fighting to keep children safe from social media’s harm and stopping antisemitism online,” Ahmed said.

The speed of the judge’s decision was telling, said his lawyer Roberta Kaplan.

“The federal government can’t deport a green card holder like Imran Ahmed, with a wife and young child who are American, simply because it doesn’t like what he has to say,” the BBC reported she said.

Rubio said in a statement Tuesday that the five had “led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize and suppress” the views of Americans with whom they disagreed.

“These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states — in each case targeting American speakers and American companies,” Rubio said. He described the five as “agents of the global censorship-industrial complex.”

The others included in the ban are former European Union technology commissioner Thierry Breton; Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of Berlin-based non-profit HateAid; Clare Melford, co-founder of Global Disinformation Index.

Ahmed told The Guardian that it was another attempt to deflect accountability and transparency.

“This has never been about politics,” he said. “What it has been about is companies that simply do not want to be held accountable and, because of the influence of big money in Washington, are corrupting the system and trying to bend it to their will, and their will is to be unable to be held accountable. There is no other industry that acts with such arrogance, indifference and a lack of humility and sociopathic greed at the expense of people.”

Ahmed said he had not formally received any notification from the government.

“I’m very confident that our first amendment rights will be upheld by the court,” he told The Guardian.

He is expected to be in court Monday, when the protective order will be confirmed.

In 2023, Elon Musk‘s company X sued the CCDH after it reported on a rise in hate speech on the platform since Musk’s takeover. The case was dismissed but X appealed the decision.

Dec. 26 (UPI) — Nigerian President Bola Tinubu gave the U.S. government the “go-ahead” to carry out airstrikes on ISIS targets, Nigeria’s foreign minister said Friday.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced the strikes Thursday, calling them retaliation against “ISIS terrorist scum” for violence on “primarily, innocent Christians.”

Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar told Al Jazeera the country cooperated with the U.S. Defense Department on the “fight against terrorism” in the northwestern region.

Citing local news sources, the news outlet said at least one missile landed in the village of Jabo in Sokoto state. Residents told Al Jazeera there were no casualties in the village.

“The bomb fell and burst into many pieces. There were two big pieces of debris. One of them was carried by two people,” resident Abdulrahman Mainasara said.

Resident Ismail Umar told the outlet the village hadn’t received any armed attacks from ISIS in more than two years.

Tuggar said the Nigerian government provided intelligence to the U.S. government, and he spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the phone twice before the strikes. He added that Tinubu was also involved in the decision-making process.

“Now that the U.S. is cooperating, we would do it jointly, and we would ensure, just as the [Nigerian] president emphasized yesterday before he gave the go-ahead, that it must be made clear that it is a joint operation, and is not targeting any religion nor simply in the name of one religion or the other,” Tuggar said in an appearance on Channels Television‘s Sunrise Daily program.

Tuggar and other officials, though, took issue with Trump’s rhetoric saying that ISIS violence targets only Christians in Nigeria.

“We are a multi-religious country, and we are working with partners like the U.S. to fight terrorism and safeguard the lives and properties of Nigerians,” Tuggar said.

Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, the director of the non-profit organization Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, said suggestions that ISIS is primarily targeting people based on religion could incite ethnic and religious tensions in Nigeria.

“Muslims are being killed and harassed every day by the same criminals,” Rafsanjani said, according to the local news outlet Leadership. “This conversation should be about human life, not religion or geography.”

Dec. 24 (UPI) — Nasry Asfura, with backing by U.S. President Donald Trump, on Wednesday was declared the winner of Honduras’ presidential election that took place one month ago and included fraud allegations.

The 67-year-old right-wing candidate received 40.27% of the vote, with center-right Salvador Nasralla getting 39.53%. The margin was 28,000 votes out of 3.7 million for the election on Nov. 30.

Naralla, 72, served as vice president in the current Liberty and Refoundation, or Libre, but joined the right-wing Liberal Party in his fourth bid for president. Nasralla is a sportscaster and host of the long-running game show on television.

Asfura, nicknamed Tito and Papi, is a construction magnate and former mayor of Tegucigalpa, the capital, from 2014 to 2022.

“Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [electoral council],” he posted on X. “I recognise the great work carried out by the councillors and the entire team that ran the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras.

His four-year term will begin Jan. 27.

The electoral council declared him the winner before finishing an audit.

There was a review of all tally sheets under “special scrutiny” last week to recount ballots flagged as Inconsistent.”

The electoral council comprised three councillors: one aligned with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s and one with the party of the leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate finished third, Rixi Moncada, with 19.2%.

Only two councillors declared him the winner. The representative linked to the president’s party alleged that an “electoral coup” was underway and filed a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office.

Nasralla, refusing to concede, alleged fraud in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents,” claiming “the data from the original tally sheets were altered.” He made the allegations in a series of posts on X.

The results could be challenged in court.

“I have not found proof of widespread or large-scale fraud,” Hector Corrales, the director of the Honduran research institute NODO, who worked for the European Union’s electoral observer mission, said Tuesday.

But there already were doubts about the election integrity, he said.

“That will have an impact on the government’s credibility,” Corrales said. “And that is going to ruin his administration if he doesn’t know how to handle it.”

The top two candidates were different politically than the leftist Libre party, focusing on concerns about crime and corruption.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X: The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president. The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and looks forward to working with his administration to advance prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”

Like Asfura, Nasralla also tried to appeal to Trump. His wife was seen wearing a MAGA hat.

A few days before the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, and the United States would only support the next government if he won. He called the other leading candidates communists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolas Maduro.

On the day before the election, Trump pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was sentenced to 45 years in U.S. prison for allegedly creating a “cocaine superhighway to the United States.”

He was president for eight years until Jan. 27, 2022.

Dec. 24 (UPI) — The United States imposed travel bans on former European Union technology commissioner Thierry Breton and four other campaigners against online hate and disinformation, alleging they had forced U.S. social media platforms to limit Americans’ first amendment rights.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement Tuesday that the five had “led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize and suppress” the views of Americans with whom they disagreed.

“These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states — in each case targeting American speakers and American companies,” added Rubio who described the five as “agents of the global censorship-industrial complex.”

Beton was singled out by U.S. Under Secretary of State Sarah Rogers as the “mastermind” of European laws that require social media that operate in the 27-country bloc to adhere to content moderation and other standards to protect users, and children in particular, from harm.

That affects the big U.S. tech players, including Google and Meta, by requiring stricter monitoring of content or face fines up to 1% of global annual turnover.

Rogers named the others banned from entering the United States as Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of Berlin-based non-profit HateAid, Clare Melford, co-founder of the London-headquartered Global Disinformation Index, and Briton, Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate.

Breton, who served as the commissioner for the EU’s internal market from 2019 to 2024, likened the move to McCarthyism in the late 1940s and early 1950s and pointed out that the Digital Services Act was voted into law by 90% of MEPs.

“To our American friends: ‘Censorship isn’t where you think it is,” he said.

Brussels condemned the visa bans, saying Wednesday that freedom of expression was a core value that Europe shared in common with United States, but that the EU had sovereignty in regulating economic activity and that its digital laws were fairly applied without prejudice.

The visa bans also came under strong criticism from French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, who said that safeguards on Europe’s digital space, which had been adopted by democratic means in Europe, could not be dictated from the outside.

He insisted the legislation contained no extraterritorial provisions and therefore had no impact on the United States.

The dispute dates back to an August 2024 warning Breton issued to Elon Musk that an interview with then presidential candidate Donald Trump that he planned to stream on his X platform must not breach the Digital Services Act.

According to Rogers, Breton’s letter contained a sinister recap of X’s legal duties under the DSA and referenced ‘formal proceedings’ for alleged ‘illegal content’ and ‘disinformation.'”

Dec. 19 (UPI) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that U.S. negotiators have made “progress” attempting to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, but ultimately “it’s not our war.”

The Russian invasion of Ukraine was one of several global issues Rubio addressed during his 2-hour year-end news conference with reporters. He said despite the progress in negotiations, “we have a ways to go” to end the nearly four-year war in eastern Europe.

“And obviously, the hardest issues are always the last issues,” he said during the briefing.

“Maybe that happens this week, maybe that happens next month, maybe that’s not ready for a few months,” Rubio said of a deal.

His comments came ahead of a weekend meeting in Miami between U.S. and Russian negotiators. He said that while the United States is trying to work on a deal that would make both parties happy, he’s not willing to force a plan.

“It’s not our war. It’s a war on another continent.

“We can’t force Ukraine to make a deal. We can’t force Russia to make a deal. They have to want to make a deal.”

White House officials said they were optimistic this weekend’s meeting would result in an agreement. Previous talks resulted in about “90%” consensus on terms, the officials told The Hill.

Those terms included a multi-national force deployed to Ukraine to respond to acts of aggression against the country in the future. Earlier this week, European leaders pledged to provide military support to Ukraine in protection against Russia, however Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky conceded over the weekend his country may have to give up its dream of joining NATO to end the war.

As peace talks have gone on, U.S. negotiators have put pressure on Ukraine to make more concessions to Russia, which has remained staunch in its demands, which including giving up land. Politico reported that the Trump administration believes Russia will accept EU membership for Ukraine as well as offers of mutual defense from the United States and European countries.

Dec. 18 (UPI) — Paraguay signed a security cooperation agreement with the United States to strengthen efforts against organized crime, drug trafficking and other transnational threats, as Asuncion seeks to reinforce its role as a strategic partner of Washington in central South America.

The agreement was signed this week by Paraguayan Foreign Minister Ruben Ramirez Lezcano and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The document sets out general guidelines for joint work and must be sent to Paraguay’s Congress for review and approval.

Paraguay is a landlocked country between Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia. Its location has made it a key transit point for drug trafficking and smuggling routes across South America, which has led the government of President Santiago Pena to strengthen international security cooperation.

The agreement covers actions against transnational crime, training of military personnel, information sharing, humanitarian assistance and coordination in response to emergencies and natural disasters.

At the signing ceremony, Ramirez Lezcano highlighted the Paraguayan government’s commitment to shared goals with the United States.

“President Santiago Pena is deeply committed to continuing to work strongly on the relationship between our countries and on shared objectives such as fighting transnational organized crime, drug trafficking, human trafficking and corruption,” the foreign minister said.

He added that what is at stake “is not only security, but the freedom of people,” and said the agreement represents an important step to protect both values.

Rubio said the agreement also creates “the opportunity to train together, cooperate, exchange information directly and quickly, and respond to any humanitarian situation that may arise in the future, not only in Paraguay, but in the region.”

“It is a security agreement, but what also exists here is the opportunity to cooperate at the economic level, where there are many opportunities to use Paraguay’s potential so that it becomes a wealthier country,” Rubio said.

He added that Paraguayans are expected to have greater economic opportunities through cooperation with U.S. companies and interests “that are willing to invest responsibly and effectively in the economy and also help create jobs, work and sources of income for the citizens of your country.”

The United States and Paraguay have maintained decades of cooperation in areas such as security, counter-narcotics efforts, institutional strengthening and humanitarian assistance, according to official records from both governments.

Paraguay’s Foreign Ministry has said the relationship with the United States is strategic and has deepened in recent years amid a regional context marked by the advance of transnational organized crime.

The agreement signed in Washington adds to other bilateral instruments already in force and seeks to update cooperation mechanisms in response to emerging threats in South America.

Dec. 17 (UPI) — There are no legal or national security justifications for the Trump administration’s attacks on ships in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean Sea, Sen. Chris Murphy said following a bipartisan classified briefing on the strikes.

At least 95 people have been killed in 25 military strikes on ships the Trump administration accuses of being used by drug cartels and gangs designated as terrorist organizations since Sept. 2.

The strikes have drawn mounting domestic and international condemnation and questions over their legality by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

The administration defends the strikes as legal under both U.S. and international law, arguing the United States is at war with the drug cartels who are flooding the country with deadly substances.

State Secretary Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held a classified briefing on the strikes with members of Congress on Tuesday, with many Democrats, including Murphy, D-Conn., calling foul.

“While I obviously can’t tell you any classified information I learned, I can tell you this: that the administration had no legal justification for these strikes, and no national justification for these strikes,” Murphy said in a video posted to his X account.

On the national security front, the administration admitted to the lawmakers that there is no fentanyl coming to the United States from Venezuela and the cocaine that is coming from Venezuela is mostly going to Europe, he said.

“And so we are spending billions of your taxpayer dollars to wage a war in the Caribbean to stop cocaine from going from Venezuela to Europe,” he said. “That is a massive waste of national security resources and of your taxpayer dollars.”

On the legal front, the administration is justifying the strikes by stating they are targeting gangs and cartels that the Trump administration has designated as terrorist organizations.

Since February, President Donald Trump has designated 10 cartels and gangs as terrorist organizations, with Clan de Golfo blacklisted on Tuesday.

Murphy said that while the president has the power to designate groups as terrorist organizations, it does not give him the ability to carry out military strikes targeting them.

“A designated ‘terrorist organization’ allows the president to impose sanctions on those organizations and individuals,” he said. “Only Congress, only the American public, can authorize war. And there’s just no question that these are acts of war.”