Trump Announces Venezuela Oil Deal As Raid Death Toll Reaches 75

Rep. Lamalfa's Death Shrinks House Republican Majority To Bare Minimum

Rubio Tells Lawmakers Trump Seeks To Buy Greenland, Not Invade

Grueling Work And Low Starting Pay Leave Ford Struggling To Fill $160,000 Mechanic Jobs

Russia Deploys Submarine To Protect Oil Tanker Pursued By U.S. Coast Guard

FLASH...Aldrich Ames, C.I.A. Turncoat Who Helped the Soviets, Dead at 84...As chief of the counterintelligence branch of the C.I.A.’s Soviet division, he had access to some of the nation’s deepest secrets...He had been serving a life sentence since 1994....

Trump Announces Venezuela Oil Deal As Raid Death Toll Reaches 75

President Trump announced Tuesday that Venezuela's interim authorities will provide the U.S. between 30 million and 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil, with proceeds overseen by the White House to benefit both countries. Trump said he has directed Energy Secretary Chris Wright to carry out his plan for the oil to be taken by storage ships and transported to the U.S., with the oil sold at market price. Trump plans to meet representatives of the three largest U.S. oil companies and other domestic producers at the White House on Friday to discuss making significant investments in Venezuela's oil sector. The U.S. government assesses that about 75 people were killed during Saturday's military raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, including dozens of fatalities that resulted from a gun battle at his compound in Caracas. About a half-dozen U.S. troops were injured in the operation, with some suffering gunshot wounds in the firefight at Maduro's compound. The Pentagon said Tuesday that two U.S. service members were still recovering from injuries suffered during the operation, while five others who were hurt have returned to duty.

WSJ, Washington Post

Rep. Lamalfa's Death Shrinks House Republican Majority To Bare Minimum

The death of Representative Doug LaMalfa, Republican of California, reduced the House Republican majority to 218 votes on the first day of the new congressional session Tuesday, coming on the same day Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene's resignation took effect. The passing of LaMalfa, 65, who died during emergency surgery, left Speaker Mike Johnson able to afford just two defections on any party-line vote if all members are present, marking the latest blow to Johnson's grip on a House Republican conference as the party faces midterm elections.

NYT

Rubio Tells Lawmakers Trump Seeks To Buy Greenland, Not Invade

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers Monday that recent administration threats against Greenland didn't signal an imminent invasion and that the goal is to buy the island from Denmark, according to people familiar with the discussions. Rubio's statements came as the White House has offered increasingly belligerent statements about controlling the self-governing Danish island, with President Trump and senior administration officials publicly declining to rule out seizing the territory by force, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt emphasized that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority and that utilizing the U.S. military is always an option at the commander in chief's disposal.

WSJ

Grueling Work And Low Starting Pay Leave Ford Struggling To Fill $160,000 Mechanic Jobs

Ford dealerships face 5,000 open mechanic positions despite top technicians earning up to $160,000 annually, as the automotive industry's decades-long shortage of qualified mechanics persists due to physically demanding work, tens of thousands of dollars required for tools, and starting pay closer to fast-food wages than six figures. The scarcity of skilled technicians like Ted Hummel, a 39-year-old senior master technician at Klaben Ford in Kent, Ohio, who earned about $160,000 in 2025, has left bays with lifts and tools empty across the country, with Ford CEO Jim Farley warning that jobs requiring five years of training remain unfilled as only a small percentage of mechanics stick around long enough to reach top-level pay.

WSJ

Russia Deploys Submarine To Protect Oil Tanker Pursued By U.S. Coast Guard

Russia has sent a submarine and other naval assets to escort an empty, rusting oil tanker that has been trying to evade the U.S. blockade of sanctioned oil tankers near Venezuela for more than two weeks, according to U.S. officials. The vessel, formerly known as the Bella 1, repelled a U.S. boarding attempt in December and steamed into the Atlantic, with its crew painting a Russian flag on its side, changing its name to the Marinera and switching its registration to Russia in an unusual move by Moscow to allow registration without inspection, as Russia grows concerned about U.S. seizures of tankers that ferry its illicit oil.

WSJ

January 7 1785 Two explorers cross the English Channel in a balloon

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Sources

1. WSJ - Venezuela Oil Deal
2. Washington Post - Maduro Raid Death Toll
3. NYT - LaMalfa House Republican Majority
4. WSJ - Rubio Greenland
5. WSJ - Ford Mechanic Jobs
6. WSJ - Russia Submarine Tanker