Today in Politics, Bulletin 281. 1/6/26

… NYT: “Marco Rubio has told lawmakers that Trump plans to buy Greenland rather than invade it, while Trump has asked aides to give him an updated plan for acquiring the territory. Rubio made his remarks in a briefing on Monday with lawmakers from the main armed services and foreign policy committees in both chambers of Congress.”

… “The congressional briefing was focused on Venezuela, but lawmakers raised concerns about Trump’s intentions on Greenland given aggressive remarks this week by the American president and a top aide, Stephen Miller. Rubio did not go into detail on what he meant by buying Greenland.”

… The WH issued a new statement today on Greenland: “President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the US, 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 US military is always an option at the commander in chief’s disposal.”

… Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who won the election that Maduro stole, went on Sean Hannity’s Fox show to grovel and beg Trump to put her in power after he said she “doesn’t have what it takes.” Machado: “As soon as I learned that I was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, I dedicated it to Trump. He deserved it. It was impossible to achieve what he has just done.”

… Hannity: “Did you at any point offered to give him the Nobel peace prize? Machado: It hasn’t happened yet. We want to give it to him. Share it with him. I want to say on behalf of the Venezuelan people how grateful we for Trump’s courageous vision.”

… Machado said Trump should not continue to back Maduro’s former VP Rodriguez: “We believe this transition should move forward. Delcy Rodriguez is the main ally with Russia, China, Iran. She certainly could not be trusted by international leaders.”

… Machado and Venezuelan-Americans still don’t get it. Trump couldn’t care less about them. If Rodriguez lets him steal their oil and minerals, she will remain in charge. Nothing else matters to Trump.

… But he does still want that peace prize. My guess is he will accept it, make her some vague promise, then keep it and renege. As soon as he gets his hands on that prize she will never hear from him again.

… The Ambassadors from China, Russia, and Iran all attended Delcy Rodriguez’s swearing-in ceremony and she warmly embraced each of them.

… Fox host Rachel Campos-Duffy, who is married to Sean Duffy: “Trump has left the VP Delcy Rodriguez there. She is actually much more dangerous than Maduro himself. It’s like saying that we will give the keys to AOC and Mamdani. That’s why I think Machado, who won the election in 2024, she will be the best one. Jesse Watters: Yeah, well Trump says she doesn’t have what it takes.”

… Stephen Miller to CNN: “The US is using its military to secure our interests unapologetically in our hemisphere. We’re a superpower and under President Trump we are going to conduct ourselves as a superpower.”

… NYT’s Lulu Navarro: “Speaking to people I know inside Venezuela and they tell me armed gangs (basically paramilitary gangs allied to the govt) are roaming the streets, arrests of journalists are taking place, and the new/old govt is undergoing a wave of repression. Is this what the US means by being in control?”

… Trump told NBC that he thinks the US oil industry could have Venezuelan oil exploitation “up and running” in less than 18 months, but US taxpayers are going to have to pay a fortune to make it happen: “It will be a lot of money. A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent, and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us. It’ll be a very substantial amount of money will be spent, but they’ll do very well.”

… Reuters: “Trump is giving US energy companies the opportunity to revive Venezuela’s massive, derelict oil industry. It’s an offer they may want to refuse. Most of Venezuela’s oil reserves, located in the Orinoco belt, are classified as heavy and extra‑heavy. These highly viscous grades must be blended with diluent and upgraded into lighter oil to be extracted, transported and processed. All this raises the production costs.”

… “The energy-intensive upgrading process also increases the carbon footprint of these heavy grades, which could push up costs further if more govts start taxing emissions or raising existing levies. Breakeven costs for key grades in the Orinoco belt already average more than $80 a barrel. That places Venezuelan oil at the higher end of the global cost scale for new production. By comparison, heavy oil produced in Canada has an average breakeven cost of around $55 a barrel.”

… “Exxon’s breakeven target for its global oil production by 2030 is $30 a barrel, driven by low-cost fields in Guyana and the US Permian shale basin. Chevron has a similar target, while Conoco has a long-term plan to generate free cash flow even if oil prices fall to $35 a barrel. Oil currently trades at around $60.”

… “While energy boards have increasingly supported greater exploration in recent years, they are insisting that this be done with spending discipline in mind in the face of rising global supplies and uncertainty over the energy transition. Convincing US majors to invest billions to extract pricey Venezuelan barrels may therefore be a rather hard sell.

… The other part of this story is the oil companies are expecting gas prices to drop dramatically around the world due to massively increased supply. Trump will take credit for falling gas prices while they are falling all over the world.

… Colombian President Gustavo Petro responded to Trump’s threats against him: “Come get me! I’m waiting for you here. Don't threaten me, I'll wait for you right here if you want to. I don't accept invasions, missiles, or assassinations, only intel. Come speak here with intelligence, and we'll receive you and talk face-to-face with facts, not lies. Stop getting lied to by Colombian political mafias who condemned us to 700,00 deaths and made us the world's most unequal country."

… Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum: “We categorically reject intervention in the internal affairs of other countries. The history of Latin America is clear and compelling: Intervention has never brought democracy, has never generated well-being or lasting stability. Unilateral action and invasion cannot be the basis of international relations in the 21st century. They don't lead to peace or development. Sovereignty and the self-determination of peoples are non-negotiable. They are fundamental principles of international law and must always be respected without exception.”

… Stephen Miller said Greenland is next: “The president has been clear for months now that the US should be the nation that has Greenland as part of our overall security apparatus. Q - Can you say that military action against Greenland is off the table? Miller: The real question is, by what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? What is the basis of their territorial claim? What is their basis of having Greenland as a colony of Denmark? The US is the power of NATO. There’s no need to even think or talk about this in the context that you’re asking of a military operation. Nobody’s going to fight the US militarily over the future of Greenland.”

… ABC: “Danish PM Mette Frederiksen said an American takeover of Greenland would amount to the end of the NATO military alliance: “If the US chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops. That is, including NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War.”

… “European leaders issued a joint statement to push back against Trump’s renewed interest in Greenland: “Denmark – including Greenland – is part of NATO. Security in the Arctic must therefore be achieved collectively, in conjunction with NATO allies including the US, by upholding the principles of the UN Charter, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders. These are universal principles, and we will not stop defending them. Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”

… German Bundestag Member Roderich Kiesewetter: “The current threat situation for Greenland is far more than a bizarre episode by Trump. It is a warning shot for all of us. Anyone who has so far understood Trump’s slogan ‘Make America Great Again’ merely as an economic battle cry has fundamentally misunderstood it. Trump takes this phrase literally—territorially as well.

… “After the US’s most recent actions toward Venezuela, it must be clear to everyone: What matters to the US president is the physical expansion of the American sphere of influence, if not the outright extension of national territory. Greenland is no random target in this; because of its location vis-à-vis the Arctic and the new trade routes there, it holds the highest strategic relevance.”

… “We are thus witnessing a historic turning point: The era of pure international law, in which borders seemed inviolable, is being supplanted by an era of imperial spaces. Under Trump, the US is redefining its space in new and offensive ways, just as Russia is already doing with its brutal war of aggression and China in the Indo-Pacific. For us Europeans, that means: We must ruthlessly acknowledge this new reality. If the great powers US, China, and Russia are once again thinking primarily in terms of spaces, we must do so to a certain extent as well—not to conquer foreign territories, but to avoid getting run over ourselves.”

… “The response to this threat demands organizing our own ‘space defense’ through worldwide, robust partnerships with Japan, Taiwan, Australia, S. Korea, Canada, and South America, among others. We must defend our space together with like-minded allies to protect liberal democracy. This is explicitly not about creating imperial spheres of influence, but about safeguarding our freedom and our values. That in turn requires building our own military capabilities and geoeconomic strength as a matter of urgency. We need a European independence from the US and China in the critical areas of tech, defense, and trade.”

… Politico: “Republicans who were close with Rep. Doug LaMalfa were not aware of any health issues he had, and many were in shock Tues morning about his sudden passing. LaMalfa suffered an aneurysm and then a heart attack after being taken into surgery. His death also further narrows an already slim Republican majority in the House. Now with a 218-213 advantage, Mike Johnson can afford no more than 2 defections on party-line votes where all members are present and voting.”

… “Gov. Gavin Newsom has 14 days to set a date for a special election. He could set the date as soon as mid-May, though he could also schedule it to coincide with the state’s June 2 primary. The winner would serve out LaMalfa’s term under current district lines.”

… Jake Sherman: “The House will be 218-213. Two-vote margin. One-vote margin with Massie mostly against the House Republican leadership. Also: 80-year-old IN Rep. Jim Baird is in the hospital after a car crash. So House Republican attendance is a massive, massive problem right now.”

… Trump to the House GOP conference retreat at the Kennedy Center right after LaMalfa’s death was announced: “You know, he voted with me 100% of the time.”

… I’m shocked he made it about himself. That never happens.

… Trump to House Republicans today: “Most of you are in this business longer than me. That makes me smarter than you. Because look where I am, right? No it doesn’t. But I wish you could explain to me what the hell is going on with the mind of the public because we have the right policy.”

… More from Trump’s speech:

• Trump: “A friend of mine who’s really smart said you know you’ve got to be the most honest guy in history.”

• Trump: “I’m the only the president that went for cognitive tests. Do you think Walz could pass a cognitive test? Do you think Kamala could? I don’t think Gavin could. He didn’t want water coming down from the Pacific Northwest. The cut it off and then they have 25,000 houses burning down and they wonder why.”

• Trump: “You gotta win the midterms. Because if we don’t win the midterms, they’ll find a reason to impeach me. I’ll get impeached.”

… Trump also told them to drop their objections to a compromise healthcare bill that may fund abortion: “You have to be a little flexible on Hyde, you know that. You gotta be a little flexible. You gotta work something. We’re all big fans of everything. But you have to have flexibility.” Republicans weren’t thrilled.

… Sen. James Lankford’s (R-OK) response, to HuffPost: “I’m not flexible on the value of every child’s life.”

… Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS): “I certainly understand where the president’s coming from, but I’m unapologetically pro-life.”

… This is a real screenshot I took during Trump’s speech today.

… Politico: “More than two weeks after the deadline to release the vast trove of files connected to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, DOJ officials disclosed Mon that they’re still reviewing millions of documents and have released less than 1% of the total. Manhattan’s chief fed prosecutor Jay Clayton to the court: “More than 2 million documents remain in various phases of review and redaction.”

… “Clayon described an enormous undertaking, with more than 400 DOJ attorneys slated to spend ‘the next few weeks’ dedicating ‘all or a substantial portion of their workday’ to reviewing and redacting files. The prosecutors reviewing the Epstein files are being aided by 100 FBI analysts.”

… WaPo: “Sand Springs leaders were besieged with community anger after annexing an 827-acre agricultural property miles outside of town and launching into secret talks with a tech giant looking to use it for a sprawling data center. Hundreds of aggrieved voters showed up at community meetings. Swarms of protest signs are taking route along the rural roads. From Archibald, PA to Page, AZ, tech firms are seeking to plunk down data centers in locations that sometimes are not zoned for such heavy industrial uses, within communities that had not planned for them.”

… “These supersized data centers can usurp more energy than entire cities and drain local water supplies. Anger over the perceived trampling of communities by Silicon Valley has entered the national political conversation and could affect voters of all political persuasions in this year’s midterm elections. Many of the neighbors fighting a project in Sand Springs, OK voted for Trump 3 times and also backed Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who implores tech firms to build in his state.”

… Kyle Schmidt of Protect Sand Springs Alliance: “It feels like these data center companies have just put a big target on our backs. We are all asking: Where are the people we elected who promised to protect us from these big corporations trying to steamroll us? The people who are supposed to be standing up and protecting us are standing down and caving.”

… Brian Ingram, a Trump voter living near the planned project: “We know Trump wants data centers and Kevin Stitt wants data centers, but these things don’t affect these people. You know, this affects us.”

… "Even Energy Secretary Chris Wright warned data center developers that they are losing control of the narrative: “In rural America right now, where data centers are being built, everyone’s already angry because their electricity prices have risen a lot. ‘I don’t want them in my state’ is a common viewpoint.”

… I’m going to keep beating this drum. Data centers will be THE political issue in many key races around the country over the next several years and Dems need to get all over it because this is a grass roots issue that transcends party. Want to get back in the game in rural America? This is how. I don’t hear Dem leadership talking about this hardly at all and they damn well need to fast because they are missing a golden opportunity to connect with voters who stopped listening to them in the last election.

Reminder there is no Bulletin tomorrow because I do my weekly podcast Uncovered and also Ask the Editor where I take 5 of your questions to answer. Please submit any question you may have in the comments below, or just a topic you want me to talk more about on the show. If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.

… Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) continues to hammer Trump on Venezuela: Q - “Are you worried about Lindsey Graham saying Cuba is next? Paul: There should be a law that Lindsey Graham can only enter the WH every other week and he’s only to meet with mid-level people, not the president. No more golf outings. A person so diametrically