Trump set to meet Venezuelan opposition leader at White House today<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. My name is Tom Ambrose and I\u2019ll be bringing you the latest news lines over the next few hours.<\/p>\n
We start with news that president Donald Trump<\/a> is set to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader Mar\u00eda Corina Machado at the White House later today<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by then-president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro before the United States captured him in an audacious military raid this month, AP reported.<\/p>\n Less than two weeks after US forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges, Trump will host the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado, having already dismissed her credibility to run Venezuela<\/a> and raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in the country.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s a very nice woman,\u201d Trump told Reuters in an interview about Machado. \u201cI\u2019ve seen her on television. I think we\u2019re just going to talk basics.\u201d<\/p>\n The meeting comes as Trump and his top advisers have signaled their willingness to work with acting president Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, who was Maduro\u2019s vice-president and along with others in the deposed leader\u2019s inner circle remain in charge of day-to-day governmental operations.<\/p>\n Rodr\u00edguez herself has adopted a less strident position toward Trump and his \u2018America First\u2019 policies toward the Western Hemisphere, saying she plans to continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro – a move reportedly made at the behest of the Trump administration. Venezuela released several Americans this week.<\/p>\n Trump said Wednesday that he had a \u201cgreat conversation\u201d with Rodr\u00edguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,\u201d Trump told reporters. \u201cAnd I think we\u2019re getting along very well with Venezuela.\u201d<\/p>\n In other developments:<\/p>\n The US Senate has voted against a war powers resolution that would have prevented Donald Trump<\/a> from taking further military action against Venezuela without giving Congress advance notice.<\/strong> Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana, who had joined three other Republicans to advance the resolution alongside Democrats last week, flipped after they said they received assurances from the Trump administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The Trump administration<\/a> received approval from the justice department to use the military to seize Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> even as it declined to address whether the operation would violate international law, according to a legal memo.<\/strong> The dark-of-night raid to capture Venezuela\u2019s<\/a> president has raised a host of legal issues concerning the president\u2019s power to start an armed conflict without congressional approval and possible breaches of international law.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The Trump administration<\/a> has indefinitely suspended immigrant visa processing for people from 75 countries, marking one of its most expansive efforts yet to restrict legal pathways to the United States.<\/strong> The freeze, which takes effect on 21 January, targets applicants officials deem likely to become a \u201cpublic charge\u201d \u2013 who they describe as people who may rely on government benefits for basic needs.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Donald Trump has said it would be \u201cunacceptable\u201d for Greenland to be \u201cin the hands\u201d of any country other than the US, reiterating his demand to take over the arctic island, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.<\/strong> \u201cThe US needs Greenland for the purpose of national security. Nato should be leading the way for us to get it,\u201d the US president said on social media<\/a>. The alliance \u201cbecomes far more formidable and effective\u201d with the territory under US control, he said.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The Iranian government has signalled that detained protesters are to face speedy trials and executions<\/strong>, defying a threat by Trump<\/a> to intervene if authorities continue their crackdown.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The Democratic representative Robin Kelly on Wednesday formally introduced articles of impeachment against Trump\u2019s homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem<\/a><\/strong>, following the fatal shooting of a US citizen by an immigration agent in Minneapolis last week.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n\n