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An online entry edited within hours of the Trump administration’s dramatic operation against Venezuela took aim not at the mission’s outcome, but at its framing. A Wikipedia page devoted to Cilia Flores, the wife of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, was quickly updated to characterize the event as an “abduction,” drawing attention for its wording almost as soon as the news broke.

President Trump publicly confirmed that U.S. forces, working alongside American law enforcement agencies, had carried out the operation that removed Maduro from power. “The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

According to reporting by Breitbart News, the mission came against the backdrop of years of U.S. efforts to bring Maduro to justice. American authorities had placed a $50 million reward on information leading to his arrest or conviction, reflecting the seriousness of the charges leveled against him.

Those charges date back to a 2020 U.S. indictment accusing Maduro of playing a central role in the Cartel of the Suns, an alleged cocaine trafficking network tied to senior Venezuelan officials. Prosecutors said the organization sought to “flood” the United States with cocaine as part of a campaign to harm the country, according to Breitbart News correspondent Christian K. Caruzo.

Breitbart has also reported that Maduro retained control in Venezuela through what it described as a series of sham presidential elections, while remaining a fugitive from U.S. justice on multiple narco-terrorism counts.

The operation itself unfolded dramatically late Saturday, when explosions rocked Caracas. In the aftermath, Maduro and Flores were “captured and flown out of the country,” marking a decisive end to his rule and setting off a fresh political dispute — not only over the strike itself, but over how the episode is being described online.

{Matzav.com}

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security accused Hilton Hotels on Monday of refusing service to federal law enforcement officers, alleging that the hotel chain abruptly canceled room reservations made by DHS personnel using official government email addresses. In a statement posted to its official X account, DHS said Hilton had launched what it described as […]

On Motzei Shabbos, I flew to Israel from Newark on an 11:35 p.m. one-way flight. After being expelled from my graduate program in Florida for speaking out against the administration’s lackadaisical response to antisemitism on campus, I made the decision to return to yeshiva. I spent Shabbos with friends in Washington Heights and left around […]

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) voted to dissolve after 58 years, following Congress’ decision last year to eliminate federal funding previously allocated to NPR and PBS. CPB leaders said the loss of funding left them unable to continue operations. The organization said it will distribute its remaining funds before officially closing. The move comes […]

Cuban officials on Monday lowered flags before dawn to mourn 32 security officers they say were killed in the U.S. weekend strike in Venezuela, the island nation’s closest ally, as residents here wonder what the capture of President Nicolás Maduro means for their future. The two governments are so close that Cuban soldiers and security […]

A mystery trader made nearly $410,000 betting on Nicolás Maduro’s fall, placing a final wager on Polymarket at 9:58 p.m. ET on Friday, shortly before President Trump ordered the U.S. military operation. Using a brand-new account, the trader bought about $34,000 worth of contracts that would pay out if Maduro lost power by January 31, […]

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced that the company will begin shipping its new “Vera Rubin” AI chip later this year, saying it can perform more computing with less power and at a lower cost than previous models. The Rubin chip, already being manufactured for customers including Microsoft and Amazon, is designed to handle AI tasks […]

A federal appeals court has ruled that the Trump administration cannot move forward with steep cuts to federal research funding provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to universities. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction won by 22 Democratic state attorneys general, medical groups, and universities, finding that NIH’s February […]

Federal health authorities announced a sweeping change Monday to the nation’s childhood immunization guidance, cutting back the list of vaccines routinely recommended for children and leaving some shots, including those for influenza, to parental discretion without explicit federal direction.

According to the New York Times, “Federal health officials on Monday announced dramatic revisions to the slate of vaccines recommended for American children, reducing the number of diseases prevented by routine shots to 11 from 17.”

Officials involved in the revision stressed that the updated schedule does not eliminate access to any vaccines and will not affect insurance coverage, emphasizing that families can still obtain all recommended immunizations if they choose.

Despite those assurances, medical professionals reacted with alarm, warning that scaling back official recommendations could discourage vaccination, lower immunization rates, and lead to the return of preventable diseases.

“The announcement is a seismic shift in federal vaccine policy, and perhaps the most significant change yet in public health practice by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, who has long sought to reduce the number of shots American children receive.”

The move follows a directive issued in December by President Donald Trump, who asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to study how other countries structure their vaccine recommendations and to explore whether the U.S. schedule should be revised to more closely mirror international approaches.

{Matzav.com}

Aftermath in the city of Sidon in southern Lebanon following additional Israeli airstrikes.

LOS ANGELES — On Jan. 4, a security guard working for JK Patrol SVC, the security contractor for the Chinese Consulate, pepper-sprayed peaceful pro-democracy protesters outside the consulate. LAPD officers later detained at least one guard at the scene.

Sen. Lindsey Graham: Unlike Obama, President Trump has not turned his back on the people of Iran.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared to a new record high following the arrest and capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, trading above 49,000 for the first time during the session.

Stephen Miller: “The United States is the power of NATO. For the United States to secure the arctic region, to protect and defend NATO and NATO interests, obviously, Greenland should be part of the United States.”

A four-year-old jab from Joe Biden aimed at President Donald Trump suddenly returned to center stage this weekend, after Trump authorized the arrest of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro on drug-trafficking and terrorism charges — a move that set off sharp reactions across the political spectrum.

The remark, originally posted in June 2020 in response to an Axios report, resurfaced rapidly as critics and supporters alike revisited Biden’s earlier assessment of Trump’s Venezuela policy.

“Trump talks tough on Venezuela, but admires thugs and dictators like Nicolás Maduro,” Biden wrote at the time.

“As President, I will stand with the Venezuelan people and for democracy,” Biden added.

Following the dramatic weekend operation at Miraflores, Maduro’s official residence, conservatives — joined by at least one left-leaning activist — circulated the comment as an example of what several users described as rhetoric that “aged like milk.”

“A tweet that did not age well,” Fox News host and former Trump press secretary Kayleigh McEnany commented.

Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, now running for governor, reacted bluntly.

“Whoops,” Tuberville wrote.

“And now, every Democrat is denouncing an operation to execute a federal warrant while we slept,” he added.

Tuberville went further, arguing that the backlash revealed a deeper problem.

“Democrats have no principles [and] it’s about whatever way the left wind is blowing to gain power,” he said.

“Yesterday’s margaritas with Kilmar Abrego Garcia is today’s Maduro,” Tuberville continued. “They’ll support a drug-trafficking dictator because this was another Trump win. Guaranteed.”

The Trump campaign’s “Rapid Response 47” account also amplified the moment, reposting Biden’s old message alongside an image of Maduro blindfolded aboard a U.S. government aircraft after his arrest.

Pennsylvania state Rep. Aaron Bernstine, whose Butler County district includes the site of Trump’s near-assassination in 2024, added a jab of his own.

“Has anyone called to see if Joe is still sleeping?” Bernstine asked.

One user replied by posting a clip of Earl Sinclair from the 1990s ABC sitcom Dinosaurs, showing the character dropping a glass in shock.

“This aged well,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, remarked of Biden’s earlier post.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee echoed that sentiment in a separate social media post, praising Trump’s approach.

“Doesn’t just talk tough, he is tough,” Blackburn said.

“Does Joe Biden have anything to say now?” she asked, as others noted that Biden himself had previously labeled Maduro a dictator and condemned his “human rights violations and extrajudicial killings.”

Former NYPD inspector and Fox News contributor Paul Mauro drew a broader comparison.

“Wait. You mean ‘Don’t’ diplomacy didn’t get it done?” Mauro wrote.

He was referring to Biden’s widely replayed response when asked what message he would send Iran to deter interference in Israel.

“Don’t,” Biden said before exiting the stage at an event hosted by Al Sharpton’s National Action Network.

Critics also revisited moments from the Biden administration that appeared to soften its posture toward Caracas. In 2022, climate envoy John Kerry was filmed smiling and shaking hands with Maduro at the UN climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

When questioned about the interaction, Kerry spokesman Ned Price said the Venezuelan leader had “interrupted what was an ongoing meeting at COP27,” describing the encounter as “very much an unplanned interaction.”

Others pointed out that the initial bounty on Maduro was established in 2015 under Barack Obama and later increased by the Biden administration, before being doubled to $50 million under Trump.

Ja’Mal Green, a former Chicago mayoral candidate and community activist who once aligned with Sen. Bernie Sanders but now identifies as “politically independent,” argued that Biden’s posture lacked follow-through.

“Joe Biden hated Maduro just as much. He just wasn’t bold enough to get him,” Green said.

“All [Biden] did was impose sanctions and never get the money owed. Democrats have to stop.”

Green accused the Biden administration of standing by while Maduro tightened his grip on Venezuela.

“Under Biden, he watched as Maduro slaughtered and oppressed the people of Venezuela. He watched as Maduro lost the election but still declared himself the winner. He then just allowed millions of Venezuelans to come to America to claim refuge, costing us hundreds of billions of dollars,” Green said, adding that he has also criticized Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson over the city’s handling of illegal immigration.

“Under Trump, Maduro FAFO. He swooped in and took him out of the country altogether,” Green said.

He concluded by framing the arrest as a necessary break from failed engagement.

“Regardless of our disagreements, sometimes diplomacy doesn’t work, and we must use aggression to free a nation. Trump freed Venezuelans today and I hope one day they can go home to a stable country.”

Green also mocked protests against Trump, saying the most bizarre reaction was from “socialist[s] crying about Trump taking Maduro” while accusing the president of seeking regime change.

“Maduro didn’t win the election. He’s only there because he took over the country,” Green said. “I thought y’all didn’t want kings.”

{Matzav.com}

Stephen Miller on Venezuela: “We have the United States military stationed outside the country. We set the terms and conditions. We have a complete embargo on all of their oil, and their ability to do commerce…The United States is running the country during this transition period. Obviously, that doesn’t mean that President Trump is setting […]

SPEAKER JOHNSON ON MADURO OPERATION: “This is an operation that did not require prior consent of Congress…It required notification of Congress.” “They’ve done everything that they were supposed to do.”

REP. JEFFRIES: “The American people are now supposed to believe that this whole situation that has unfolded in Venezuela has anything to do with a counter-narcotics operation? Get lost.”