A new survey suggests the public leans in favor of President Donald Trump’s decision to seize Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, while revealing deep divisions along party lines.
The Daily Mail poll, released Tuesday, indicates that the military action is broadly viewed as effective. A majority of respondents said the operation went well, while only a small minority labeled it a failure; a sizable share remained undecided.
Support and opposition varied dramatically by political affiliation. Republicans were overwhelmingly supportive of the move, while most Democrats rejected it. Independents were closely split, with backing and opposition nearly even.
The survey also probed reactions to Trump’s remark that the United States would be “running” Venezuela for the immediate future. That comment drew strong concern from Democrats, whereas Republicans were more divided, with just over half expressing little to no worry and a significant minority voicing unease about U.S. involvement in “running” the country.
Overall toplines showed that more registered voters supported the action than opposed it, with a notable portion still unsure. Specifically, 43% favored the decision to capture Maduro, compared with 36% who opposed it.
The poll was conducted by J.L. Partners among 999 registered voters on January 5–6, and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
{Matzav.com}
President Trump said an ICE agent who fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis narrowly escaped death and remains hospitalized after being struck by her vehicle during a confrontation that unfolded amid rising tensions over immigration enforcement.
In a post on Truth Social, the president described what he said led to the shooting and shared video footage of the encounter. “The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE officer, who seems to have shot her in self defense,” he wrote.
Trump emphasized the severity of the agent’s injuries, noting how close the incident came to ending differently. “It is hard to believe he is still alive, but is not recovering in the hospital,” he said, before turning his criticism toward what he described as an increasingly hostile climate toward immigration officers.
Blaming political rhetoric for fueling violence, Trump argued that law enforcement personnel are being placed in danger nationwide. “The situation is being studied, in its entirety, but the reason these incidents are happening is because the Radical Left is threatening, assaulting, and targeting our Law Enforcement Officers and ICE Agents on a daily basis,” he wrote.
He added a call for public support of officers carrying out immigration enforcement.
“They are just trying to do the job of MAKING AMERICA SAFE. We need to stand by and protect our Law Enforcement Officers from this Radical Left Movement of Violence and Hate!”
The shooting set off demonstrations across Minneapolis, with crowds gathering near the scene. The location is less than a mile from where George Floyd was killed in 2020 by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was later sentenced to 21 years in prison for murder.
{Matzav.com}
The Chassidishe Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudas Yisroel convened Wednesday evening in Yerushalayim to deliberate its position on the proposed draft law, amid heightened tension within the governing coalition and intense anticipation over whether a formal decision will emerge.
One by one, senior chassidic rebbes arrived at Beis Malka Hall, the Belzer venue on Brandeis Street, for the high-level meeting.
Among those present were the rebbes of Gur, Belz, Vizhnitz, Sanz, Boyan, Seret-Vizhnitz, and Modzitz.
The Slonimer Rebbe was absent, while the Biala Rebbe is currently abroad.
At the instruction of the Belzer Rebbe, Rav Pinchas Friedman also arrived and appeared before the Moetzes to present and clarify the Belzer Rebbe’s position regarding the draft law.
Behind the scenes, sources told Matzav.com that in the 24 hours preceding the meeting, messages were conveyed from Degel HaTorah to Agudas Yisroel in an effort to prevent the adoption of a decision opposing the draft law.
On Tuesday, a conversation reportedly took place between Rav Aharon Hirsch, son of Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, and Yaakov Veltz, secretary of Agudas Yisroel’s Moetzes. The message conveyed was a request that no decision be taken at this stage against the draft legislation.
Following that discussion, Veltz met with the Gerer Rebbe and relayed Degel HaTorah’s position. The Gerer Rebbe did not dismiss the argument and even raised a far-reaching proposal: to cancel Wednesday’s Moetzes meeting and instead convene a joint council of chassidishe and Litvishe gedolim in the coming days to reach a unified stance on the law.
The Moetzes meeting proceeded as scheduled, but it remains unclear whether a clear ruling against the law will be issued or whether the pressure from Degel HaTorah will ultimately shape the outcome. Coalition leaders are watching developments closely.
Present at the Moetzes meeting are Knesset members Yitzchak Goldknopf, Meir Porush, and Yisrael Eichler, as well as Bnei Brak Mayor Chanoch Zeibert. MK Yaakov Tessler is not attending, as he is currently abroad for a family simcha.
{Matzav.com}
Federal civil rights officials are closely monitoring New York City following a warning from the Justice Department that City Hall may be veering into unlawful discrimination.
The caution from Washington centers on Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s decision to appoint Cea Weaver, a far-left housing activist, as the city’s new tenant advocate, a role that influences housing policy and tenant protections across the city.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon publicly raised alarms after an old video of Weaver resurfaced online, reviving concerns about the ideological direction of the administration’s housing agenda and whether it aligns with equal protection under the law.
In that video, Weaver argued that the United States should abandon the idea of property as an individual right and instead reframe it as a “collective good,” promoting what she described as “shared equity.”
During the same remarks, Weaver said such a shift would require families — “especially white families” — to have a “different relationship to property” than the one they currently have.
Those comments quickly drew backlash on social media and from legal observers, who said the language raises red flags about racial bias being baked into policy discussions.
Dhillon responded directly on X, making clear that the Justice Department views discrimination as illegal regardless of who it targets.
“New York: Consider this your official notice from @TheJusticeDept,” Dhillon wrote, adding, “We will NOT tolerate discrimination based on skin color. It is ILLEGAL.” She also said the Civil Rights Division is “paying very close attention.”
The warning was reinforced in a subsequent interview on OANN’s “Fine Point with Chanel Rion,” where Dhillon said civil rights protections apply equally to all Americans and that federal intervention is possible if New York City crosses legal lines, according to the Washington Examiner.
“Just because you’re white doesn’t mean you have fewer rights in this country,” she said, adding that the administration is “on high scrutiny.”
Additional scrutiny intensified after the New York Post published a report highlighting Weaver’s past online activity, including posts that were later deleted. In those posts, Weaver urged supporters to “seize private property” and labeled homeownership “a weapon of white supremacy.”
The Post also reported that Weaver called on voters to “elect more communists” and sharply criticized law enforcement during the unrest that followed the 2020 death of George Floyd.
Weaver has been affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America and previously worked with Housing Justice for All, according to the report.
The Post further noted that she served as an adviser to Mamdani’s 2025 campaign and was heavily involved in pushing for stricter rent stabilization measures in 2019.
Opponents of the mayor warn that the appointment reflects a broader housing strategy they say could harm landlords and property owners, including Mamdani’s proposal to freeze rents on approximately one million rent-regulated apartments across the city.
Humberto Lopes, founder and CEO of the Gotham Housing Alliance, told the Post that such policies repeat the mistakes of government-run housing, which he described as a long-term failure.
For critics on the right, the controversy reaches beyond housing policy. They argue it raises fundamental questions about whether the nation’s largest city is moving toward race-based decision-making and anti-property ideology — and whether federal authorities will step in before those ideas are translated into law.
{Matzav.com}
Drivers inching along Route 9 may not be surprised, but new federal estimates now make it official: Lakewood, NJ contains the most heavily populated ZIP code in the United States.
Fresh rankings drawn from U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey estimates place ZIP code 08701 at the very top nationwide, with a population exceeding 140,000 residents, cementing Lakewood’s position ahead of every other ZIP code in the country.
The margin is not close. The second-place ZIP code, 92336 in Fontana, is home to 103,393 people.
The top 5 most populated ZIP codes in the U.S. are:
• 08701 (Lakewood, NJ): 136,784
• 92336 (Fontana, CA): 103,393
• 90650 (Norwalk, CA): 100,808
• 94565 (Pittsburg, CA): 99,933
• 77573 (League City, TX): 97,871
For decades, Newark and Jersey City have alternated as the state’s most populous cities, each hovering between roughly 300,000 and 317,000 residents. Lakewood’s total township population is about half that size, yet its concentration of residents is closing the gap with major cities at a rapid pace.
Current estimates place Lakewood’s population density at approximately 9,500 to 9,800 people per square mile. Although that remains below the “hyper-density” of Jersey City, which exceeds 17,000 residents per square mile, and Newark, which tops 12,000 per square mile, it dwarfs New Jersey’s statewide average of 1,263 people per square mile.
{Matzav.com}
As demonstrations across Iran stretched into an eleventh consecutive day, Senator Lindsey Graham issued a blunt message to the country’s leadership, suggesting that continued bloodshed against protesters could trigger the most severe response imaginable from Donald Trump.
Speaking during an interview on Fox News, Graham addressed Iran’s clerical rulers directly, urging them to halt the violent suppression of demonstrations that have spread nationwide. He framed the moment as a critical test of resolve, emphasizing that the current administration should not be underestimated.
Graham argued that Tehran’s leadership must “take Trump seriously,” warning that the use of lethal force against civilians demanding improved living conditions would provoke retaliation aimed at the very top of the regime.
The senator sharpened his remarks by issuing a direct threat toward the country’s highest authority, declaring, “If you keep killing your people who are demanding a better life, Donald J. Trump is going to kill you.”
Turning to recent events elsewhere, Graham cited Venezuela as a lesson for Iran, describing the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro as “a prime example of America at her best.” He said decisive American action abroad should serve as a clear signal to Tehran that Washington will not look the other way when governments open fire on their own citizens.
He further cautioned that allowing Maduro to stay in power after such a dramatic U.S. operation would be a “fatal mistake to our standing in the world,” portraying the Venezuela episode as a model for reestablishing global deterrence.
On the ground in Iran, unrest continued to widen. In the western city of Abdanan, video footage showed massive crowds filling the streets and chanting “Death to Khamenei,” a slogan aimed at Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Online reports also suggested that some local police officers may have broken ranks and aligned themselves with demonstrators.
International observers highlighted the momentum building in the streets. The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee pointed to what it described as protesters “claiming entire cities,” sharing footage of the Abdanan marches and the escalating anti-regime chants as evidence of the growing challenge to Iranian authorities.
According to circulating reports, the crackdown has already taken a heavy toll, with at least 34 protesters killed and 2,076 people detained across the country. The unrest has reportedly reached 92 cities spanning 27 provinces.
{Matzav.com}