• Tensions flared in the Minneapolis area, as protesters and law enforcement clashed this morning after an ICE agent fatally shot a woman yesterday. Tim Walz urged that “Minnesota must be part of this investigation.” State and local officials disputed claims that the shooting was done in self-defense. Homeland Security officials have privately expressed shock over the department's immediate response. • Multiple videos of the shooting reviewed by CNN show nuance, and exactly what took place before the shooting remains unclear. Tim Walz spoke about a person who he said was outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building on Thursday “with the intent to antagonize” protesters and used a bullhorn to “scream at them.” If this individual is there expressing support for ICE? “When I saw yesterday some of the anger — whether it's Minneapolis police, Minnesota State Patrol, Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, Minnesota National Guard — they are there to protect and serve, as it's said. They are there to protect Minnesotans,” the governor said at a Thursday news conference. “Throwing your anger at them only inflames this situation,” he added. Tim Walz said “t feels very, very difficult that we will get a fair outcome” following yesterday's fatal shooting involving an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. “And I say that only because people in positions of power have already passed judgment. From the President to the Vice President, to Kristi Noem, have stood and told you things that are verifiably false, verifiably inaccurate,” he said. “When Kristi Noem was judge, jury and executioner yesterday, that's very, very difficult to think that there were going to be fair,” the governor added later. Vice President JD Vance will join White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt for a briefing on Thursday centered on Wednesday's fatal shooting involving an ICE officer, a White House official told CNN. She tried to stop him from doing his job,” Vance wrote Thursday on social media, referencing Renee Nicole Good, the 37-year-old woman who was killed when the ICE agent shot into her vehicle during an encounter. “When he approached her car, she tried to hit him. “Minnesota must be part of this investigation,” Gov. Tim Walz said about the investigation of Wednesday's fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent, referring to state's claim that federal investigators excluded the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from participating in the probe. “There's a BCA force investigations unit that was created by the legislature by the people of Minnesota to provide an independent, consistent, and trusted mechanism for investigating the use of force incidents involving law enforcement officers,” Walz said. His office said this would be a public safety update following the shooting of Renee Nicole Good by a federal ICE agent. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “took a pause” from operations in Minneapolis yesterday afternoon following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, but the agency is now “back to doing our law enforcement mission,” ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons told Fox News this morning. “We took a pause yesterday afternoon after that deadly shooting … to check on our staff and our officers (at) the scene, making sure everything was secure. But we were back in the fight more than an hour later,” Lyons told Fox News when asked whether ICE was back on Minneapolis streets. Lyons expressed sympathy for everyone involved in the shooting, but said it was “avoidable,” and that the public “should not interfere with a law enforcement operation.” Enforcement and Removal Operations is the branch of ICE that deals specifically with the arrest and deportation of undocumented immigrants. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she is “not opposed to sending more” immigration authorities to Minneapolis following yesterday's fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. “I'm not opposed to sending more, if necessary, to keep people safe,” Noem said Thursday at a news conference in New York City. When asked about the ICE agent who shot into the vehicle of Renee Nicole Good, Noem said he is an experienced officer “who served a number of years.” She declined to provide more information. Officials including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz have called for ICE agents to leave the Twin Cities area. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told CNN he is trying to figure out who he “can get on the phone with and persuade to reverse this poor decision,” referring to the state's claim that federal investigators excluded a state agency from investigating Wednesday's fatal ICE-involved shooting in Minneapolis. “What I have seen is deeply disturbing and there is sufficient basis for further investigation and potential charges,” Ellison said of the case. “If the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI were to reconsider this approach and express a willingness to resume a joint investigation, the BCA is prepared to reengage in support of our shared goal of public safety in Minnesota,” Evans added in the statement. “My question is, what are you afraid of? What are you afraid of an independent investigation for?” Ellison questioned. Do what is right, do what is wise, do what is best for this country, and have an inclusive joint investigation that includes cooperation by state and local authorities,” he said. Tim Walz is expected to provide a public safety update at 12:30 p.m. The state's Department of Public Safety commissioner, Bob Jacobson, is also expected to speak. Walz on Wednesday announced he had issued a warning order to prepare the Minnesota National Guard “to be deployed if necessary.” “We executed one of you yesterday,” the counterprotester said. Crowds have thinned and thickened throughout the morning outside the building where protesters arrived as early as 7 a.m. local time today. While there haven't been any confrontations between Bovino and protesters, according to CNN's Ryan Young, who is on scene, the official's presence reignited the crowd. As he walked through the group of federal agents on scene, members of the crowd can be heard yelling questions to him, but he didn't stop to answer any of them. Actions by federal officers outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in the Minneapolis area, residents they have to keep each other safe, demonstrators say. We know we don't want anyone else to die here in Minnesota today,” Beth Gendler, the executive director of the National Council of Jewish Women Minnesota, told CNN's Ryan Young on Thursday. We're the ones who keep each other safe'.” Minneapolis Police Department Chief Brian O'Hara told CNN tensions have been building in the city for several weeks before yesterday's fatal shooting. “I have very publicly been saying that I have been concerned, both number one, that a tragedy would occur — that either a federal law enforcement officer or a civilian member of the community would get seriously hurt or killed — and also that such heightened tensions and so many emotions around these issues could lead to civil unrest, which is something that our city was, the center of truly the worst and most destructive civil unrest in our country's history five years ago.” One question that still exists is whether the officer was wearing a body-worn camera. It's unclear whether the officer who shot the victim was wearing a camera however, ICE officers are not required to wear body-worn cameras while conducting operations in Minneapolis, a law enforcement source told CNN. “I can tell you this much, there were not any Minneapolis Police officers on the scene when the use of deadly force occurred,” he said, urging people to consider that with a number of videos circulating from the incident, it's only a matter of time before the full story is sewn together. “Out of respect for the deceased, we should be willing to go as far as possible to gather all of the evidence and follow the evidence to its logical conclusion,” O'Hara said. US Border Patrol agents seen at a protest near Minneapolis, Minnesota, appear to be a mix of the agency's special response team and its Border Patrol Tactical Unit, also known as BORTAC. BORTAC agents are generally trained in crowd control and crowd dispersion, as well as other tactics to protect property. Pepper spray and tear gas canisters are among the tools that agents have relied on for crowd control. Similar Border Patrol teams have been previously deployed to various civil unrest incidents, including Portland in 2020. When ICE agents first approached Renee Good's car, cursing at her and yanking on her door, it's understandable why the driver would flee, attorney Raul Reyes said. “In my view, it is completely reasonable for this young woman – when an agent is approaching her car, (a weapon) drawn, shouting at her, reaching into her car – I think it is a completely reasonable response to attempt to flee the scene, to get out of harm's way,” Reyes said. Good's car was parked horizontally across the right lane of a one-way street. The ICE officer shoots Good as she is driving away, and her car crashes into a utility pole and a parked vehicle. “Even if she was potentially disobeying an order to step out of the car,” Reyes said, “that should not be a death sentence.” Federal officers in fatigues, including those with Border Patrol special response teams, have arrived and positioned themselves in a line outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal building in the Minneapolis area, trying to move protesters across the street. Every gate around the federal facility has been cleared of protesters. This post has been updated with additional information.

Crowds gathered in Minneapolis on Wednesday as they protested and held a vigil for a woman killed during the Trump administration's latest immigration crackdown. People gather for a vigil after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a motorist earlier in the day, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. UPDATES INFORMATION ON PERSON GETTING AID: Emergency medical technicians administer aid to a person who was shot by a Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. Gregory Bovino joins federal agents at the scene of a shooting in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. ▶ Follow live updates on the shooting by ICE in Minneapolis MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Protesters confronted federal officers Thursday in Minneapolis the day after a woman was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. The demonstrations came amid heightened tensions after President Donald Trump's administration dispatched 2,000 officers and agents to Minnesota for its latest immigration crackdown. The killing of 37-year-old Renee Good on Wednesday set off a clash between federal officials who insist the shooting was an act of self-defense and Minneapolis officials who dispute that narrative. Here's what is known about the shooting: UPDATES INFORMATION ON PERSON GETTING AID: Emergency medical technicians administer aid to a person who was shot by a Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. The Honda Pilot begins to pull forward and a different ICE officer standing in front of the vehicle pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots into the vehicle at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him. Witnesses can be heard shouting in shock. Good died of gunshot wounds to the head. Calls and messages to her family were not immediately returned. Public records show Good had recently lived in Kansas City, Missouri, where she and another woman with the same home address had started a business last year called B. In a video posted from the scene on social media, a woman who describes Good as her wife is seen sitting near the vehicle sobbing. She says the couple had only recently arrived in Minnesota and they have a 6-year-old child. People gather for a vigil after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a motorist earlier in the day, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. The ICE officer has not been publicly identified. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described him only as an experienced officer. “Our officer followed his training, did exactly what he's been taught to do in that situation, and took actions to defend himself and defend his fellow law enforcement officers,” Noem said. Noem said officers were trying to push a vehicle out of the snow when protesters confronted them. She said the woman was blocking officers with her vehicle and refused to heed their commands before trying to run over one of them. Gregory Bovino joins federal agents at the scene of a shooting in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara gave no indication that the driver was trying to harm anyone when he described the shooting to reporters. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called Noem's description of the events “garbage,” saying he had watched videos of the shooting that show it wasn't self-defense and was avoidable. BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said his agency had planned a joint investigation with the FBI but was later told that state investigators would have no access to evidence, witness interviews and other case materials. Dozens of protesters gathered Thursday morning outside a Minneapolis federal building being used a base for the immigration crackdown. Border Patrol officers fired tear gas and doused demonstrators with pepper spray to push them back from the gate. A vigil Wednesday night for the victim drew hundreds of people. A march through the city concluded without violence.

Mississippi head coach Pete Golding runs on the field at halftime during the Sugar Bowl NCAA college football playoff quarterfinal game against Georgia, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New Orleans. Miami quarterback Carson Beck, right, prepares to hand off to running back Mark Fletcher Jr. during the first half of the Cotton Bowl College Football Playoff quarterfinal game against Ohio State Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. Mississippi quarterback Trinidad Chambliss (6) celebrates after the Sugar Bowl NCAA college football playoff quarterfinal game against Georgia in New Orleans, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Mississippi has kept winning despite its coach bolting for another program. Miami has rekindled the glory days of its 2001 national championship with a ferocious defense and steady quarterback. One will play for a national championship after Thursday night's Fiesta Bowl. Ole Miss (13-1) spent the last half of the regular season wondering if coach Lane Kiffin would stick around or leave for LSU. Defensive coordinator Pete Golding took over as coach and many of the assistants expected to join Kiffin in Baton Rouge stuck around to see the Rebels through the rest of the playoffs. Ole Miss and its high-scoring offense blew out Tulane in its opening CFP game and outlasted mighty Georgia 39-34 in the semifinals. The 10th-seeded Hurricanes have done it with a defense that went from mediocrity to one of the stingiest in the FBS under first-year coordinator Corey Hetherman. Miami gave up its fewest points since the 2001 national championship team — fourth nationally at 13.07 per game. The Hurricanes have been even stingier in the CFP, holding Texas A&M and Ohio State to a combined 17 points. Like most big games, the Fiesta Bowl will likely come down to which quarterback plays best. He's been a perfect fit since transferring to Miami, throwing for for 3,313 yards and 27 touchdowns on 74% passing with 10 interceptions. Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss took a circuitous route to the playoffs. With limited options out of high school, the dual-threat quarterback opted to play at Ferris State, leading the Bulldogs to a Division II championship last season. Chambliss has been superb since taking over as starter three games into this season, racking up 4,180 total yards and 29 touchdowns.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Protesters confronted federal agents outside a facility in Minneapolis on Thursday, one day after the deadly shooting of Renee Nicole Good. Vice President JD Vance challenged Democrats on Thursday morning to explain whether a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer who fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis was "wrong in defending his life." "Every congressional democrat and every democrat who's running for president should be asked a simple question: Do you think this officer was wrong in defending his life against a deranged leftist who tried to run him over?" "These people are going to try to arrest our law enforcement for doing their jobs. Vice President JD Vance delivers remarks on the economy at Uline in Alburtis, near Allentown, Pa., on Dec. 16, 2025. Chaos erupted in Minnesota on Wednesday after an ICE officer fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Good tried to "weaponize her vehicle" and "attempted to run a law enforcement officer over." She also accused Good of "stalking and impeding" federal agents all day. Noem told reporters that Good was instructed to get out of her car and stop "obstructing" law enforcement, but she did not comply. The post was made in response to comments from Jenin Younes, the national legal director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, who argued that the officer was not in danger and had time to get out of Good's way. She tried to stop him from doing his job. When he approached her car, she tried to hit him," Vance wrote. But a tragedy that falls on this woman and all of the radicals who teach people that immigration is the one type of law that rioters are allowed to interfere with." Members of law enforcement work the scene following a suspected shooting by an ICE agent during federal operations on January 7, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Several Democratic lawmakers, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and several others, have slammed ICE in the wake of the shooting. In a news conference immediately after the fatal shooting, Frey told ICE to "get the f--- out" of the city and rejected DHS' claim that the shooting happened in self-defense, calling it "garbage." The mayor also claimed ICE was "creating the kind of dysfunction and chaos that they claimed to be trying to help with." "Get the f--- out of Minneapolis," Frey said. Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some kind of safety, and you are doing exactly the opposite. Walz also rejected DHS's statement on the shooting, dismissing the agency as a "propaganda machine." He also rejected further assistance from the federal government, calling out President Donald Trump and Noem by name during a news conference on Wednesday. The governor then announced that he had issued a warning order to the National Guard and that members were prepared for deployment if and when necessary. Omar, a fierce critic of ICE, took to social media to slam the agency, saying that the officer's actions were "unconscionable and reprehensible." "I am beyond outraged that their reckless, callous actions led to the killing of a legal observer in Minneapolis. My heart breaks for the victim's family, who will have to forever live with the pain caused by the Trump administration's reckless and deadly actions," Omar wrote. "This administration has shown, yet again, that it does not care about the safety of Minnesotans... It is simply indefensible, and ICE must be held accountable." A demonstrator holds a sign opposing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as federal agents stand guard outside the Whipple Building in Minneapolis on Jan. 8, 2026. Klobuchar, who is reportedly considering a run for Minnesota governor after Walz dropped his bid for a third term, said the shooting was "the result of the administration sending federal agents onto our streets against the wishes of local law enforcement." "While our immigration enforcement should be focused on apprehending and prosecuting violent criminals to make our communities safer, these ICE actions are doing the opposite and making our state less safe," the senator added. Several Democrat lawmakers from outside Minnesota have also weighed in. Additionally, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani accused the ICE officer of committing murder. Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano and Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

President Donald Trump suffered a rare setback Thursday after the Republican-led Senate narrowly advanced a bipartisan measure to restrict further military operations against Venezuela without congressional approval. The Senate voted 52-47 on a procedural step for the war powers resolution, with five Republicans joining Democrats to support the measure, marking a significant rebuke of Trump's actions in Venezuela after a military operation that deposed former dictator Nicolas Maduro. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a co-author of the resolution, along with Sens. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was the lone undecided Democrat going into the vote, but he ultimately stuck with his party on Thursday. House lawmakers are mounting their own bipartisan effort to pass a war powers resolution, but the efforts have been largely symbolic given Trump's ability to veto. Collins, a centrist up for reelection in battleground Maine, said Trump's openness to a drawn-out U.S. presence in Venezuela justifies the need for Congress to reaffirm its authority. “I believe invoking the War Powers Act at this moment is necessary, given the president's comments about the possibility of ‘boots on the ground' and a sustained engagement ‘running' Venezuela, with which I do not agree,” Collins said in a statement. Top administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and War Secretary Pete Hegseth, insisted to lawmakers during all-member classified briefings on the eve of the vote that the president's actions have been warranted and properly executed under his constitutional authority. “They are not generating any revenue from their oil right now,” Rubio told reporters Wednesday. We are exercising it in a positive way. They understand that the only way they can move oil and generate revenue and not have economic collapse is if they cooperate and work with the United States.”

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Sen. John Fetterman , D-Pa., joins 'Fox & Friends' to weigh in on the arrest and indictment of Nicolás Maduro as Democrats criticize President Donald Trump's action against the alleged narco-terrorist. "I believe Greenland has massive strategic benefits for the United States. I do not support taking it by force. Acquiring Greenland is a many decades-old conversation," the senator noted in a Wednesday post on X. In a Fox News appearance last year, Fetterman had similarly noted that he would not support forcibly seizing Greenland but expressed an openness to the prospect of purchasing the land. U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., walks to vote at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 8, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) In a 2024 Truth Social post, he asserted, "For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity." During a Sunday news gaggle aboard Air Force One, he said, "We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security. And the European Union needs us to have it." Since then, the president said the U.S. is in charge of Venezuela and will be for the foreseeable future until a secure transition of power can take place. In a Fox News appearance on Monday, Fetterman described the U.S. capture of Maduro as a "good thing," calling the operation "surgical." Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., speaks during a hearing with the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on May 20, 2025. As a Democrat, I don't understand why we can't acknowledge a good development for Venezuelans — and how deft our military's execution of that plan was," he noted in a Tuesday post on X. Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Fox News host Jesse Watters says that the officer who fired in the deadly I.C.E.-involved shooting ‘felt that his life was in danger' on ‘Jesse Watters Primetime.' Republican lawmakers are urging President Donald Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz after the Democrat warned he could deploy the National Guard in response to federal immigration enforcement actions in his state. Arrest Tim Walz," Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., said in a post to X on Wednesday evening. Miller's calls to apply the law, which gives the president powers to arrest suspects obstructing federal law enforcement, follow Walz's suggestion that he might deploy the National Guard to push back on President Donald Trump's use of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., gives remarks after receiving an endorsement during a Save America Rally with President Donald Trump at the Adams County Fairgrounds on June 25, 2022. "We do not need any further help from the federal government. To Donald Trump and Kristi Noem, you've done enough. Walz's warning on Wednesday came on the heels of a deadly encounter between ICE and a woman. A law enforcement officer shot Renee Nicole Good, 37, when she confronted agents from inside her car in Minneapolis, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). "We have soldiers in training and prepared to be deployed if necessary. Tim Walz announced that he would not be seeking re-election on Jan. 5, 2026, at a press conference at the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. (Jerry Holt/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images) Other Republicans reacting to Walz's warning also believe such an action could trigger the use of the act. "Someone remind him: Donald Trump is the Commander in Chief. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., speaks during a hearing with the House Oversight and Accountability Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on April 11, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) "What Walz is threatening has a name: insurrection. Mr. President, the law is on your side. Walz's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Leo Briceno is a politics reporter for the congressional team at Fox News Digital. He was previously a reporter with World Magazine. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Saudi-backed forces moved to capture a key southern Yemeni city on Thursday after Riyadh accused the UAE of helping a separatist leader flee. Citing “reliable intelligence,” the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said the leader of Yemen's UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), Aidarous al-Zubaidi, left the country by boat “in the dead of night” for Somaliland, before boarding an aircraft to Mogadishu, which later transported him to a military airport in Abu Dhabi. CNN has reached out to the UAE foreign ministry for comment. The interior ministry of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government said in a statement that government-allied National Shield Forces (NSF) had “secured” the southern city of Aden and its security situation was “under control.” The NSF posted a video on social media showing a large convoy of military vehicles mobilizing to “secure several provinces” in the south that had been captured by the STC and allied militias. Last month, government officials stationed there fled to Riyadh when the southern forces, led by Al Zubaidi, launched a military offensive to take over the area last month. In particular, the UAE's backing of southern separatists was at odds with Saudi Arabia's support for a unified and stable Yemen at its border. The UAE pulled most of its troops from Yemen in 2019, but a small contingent of what it called counter terrorism forces remained. Saudi Arabia's dispute with the UAE exposes a deeper regional power struggle The advance of STC forces across key southern Yemeni provinces early December infuriated Riyadh and triggered an unprecedented public dispute with its Emirati neighbor, culminating in Saudi airstrikes on UAE shipments and a call by the Yemeni government for the remaining UAE forces to leave the country in 24 hours, which Saudi Arabia endorsed. Following the UAE's withdrawal, Yemeni government forces, with Saudi air support, launched a counteroffensive that pushed the separatists to their former stronghold in Aden. Under intense military pressure, the STC's leadership agreed to hold talks in Riyadh aimed at de-escalating the conflict. The Saudi-led coalition said Wednesday that al-Zubaidi was expected to accompany the STC delegation, but instead mobilized “a large military force” to create “chaos and unrest”. Following the statement, Yemen's internationally recognized government accused al-Zubaidi of “high treason” for “inciting internal strife”. An STC foreign affairs official, Amr Al-Bidh, said in a briefing on Tuesday that the delegation of more than fifty STC officials had been incommunicado since arriving in Riyadh. “The message (from Saudi Arabia) was either you come, or you are an enemy, and that is your last chance,” Al-Bidh said. CNN has reached out to the Saudi government for comment.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Fox News Flash top sports headlines are here. Kai Trump may have politics in her family, but do not expect her to get into it. At age 18, President Donald Trump's granddaughter is set to play college golf next fall at the University of Miami and just recently made her debut on the LPGA Tour in November. Trump hopes to become a professional one day, but one thing that seems certain is that she will not turn to politics later in life. Kai Trump, daughter of Donald Trump Jr., speaks at the Republican National Convention on July 17, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. "To be honest with you, I stay out of politics completely. I would never run, I don't want anything to do with politics," Trump said during an appearance on Logan Paul's podcast. "I feel like politics is such a dangerous thing, and I think if both sides met in the middle, everyone would be so much more happier." Trump said people have gotten "too extreme" on both sides of the coin, and social media has driven people to hone in on their beliefs. "There's not a lot of things on social media where you're very much in the middle. And I think that kind of makes some people crazy and some people buy into it too much," Trump added. "I think that's like the best way to say it. They ran against each other [Trump and Kamala Harris]. The closest Trump has dove into the political waters was when she spoke at the Republican National Convention just days after her grandfather was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania. In an interview with Fox News Digital in October, Trump said she was "proud" of her grandfather after he brokered the historic ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. I think he's doing amazing things," she said. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Emily Heller was in the middle of making breakfast when she heard whistles – a signal residents have used to warn their neighbors about the presence of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers – and agents quarreling with protesters on her street. Without time to put on her shoes, Heller ran outside and saw a convoy of ICE agents on her street, yelling at a woman in an SUV who appeared to be blocking them from passing. Moments later, the woman, Renee Nicole Good, 37, was fatally shot. “My life is forever changed from having witnessed this,” Heller said. Heller told CNN Good “was totally peaceful” before the agents began yelling at Good to move and “aggressively” approached her vehicle. An ICE agent then tried to open her car door as another stood nearby. “She reversed a little bit,” Heller said, and then turned her wheels to begin pulling away. Another violent death in Minneapolis lays bare the nation's fractured politics “An ICE agent stepped in front of her vehicle and said, ‘Stop!' and then — I mean, she was already moving — and then, point blank, shot her through her windshield in the face,” Heller said. Trevor Heitkamp, another resident, was standing outside of his home when he heard chaos down the street. Nearby, Tyrice Jones was in an upstairs apartment when he heard gunshots and a crash, prompting him to go outside and see that the SUV driven by Good had smashed into a streetlight directly in front of his building. Jones then saw a woman who identified herself as Good's wife and was covered in blood sitting in the snowy front yard of Jones' building, crying alongside a black lab dog. “You guys just killed my wife!” the woman shouted. The Department of Homeland Security announced it was deploying roughly 2,000 federal agents to Minneapolis this week in a new enforcement campaign following an alleged fraud scandal involving Somali-run childcare centers in Minnesota. Simmering tensions quickly ramped up across the city Wednesday as federal and local officials painted opposing narratives of what happened between Good and the ICE agent. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said Good was “stalking and impeding” officers' work throughout the day and tried to “weaponize her vehicle” to run over an officer, who she claimed “used his training to save his own life and that of his colleagues.” City and state officials, however, blamed the Trump administration's immigration tactics for her death. Tim Walz said he has been “warning for weeks” that ICE operations in his state were a “threat to public safety,” while Minnesota Mayor Jacob Frey called the DHS account of the shooting “bullshit.” “This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed,” Frey said during a news conference, telling ICE to “get the fuck out of Minneapolis.” Three videos taken of the scene of the shooting and reviewed by CNN show two federal officers in a truck pulling up to Good's car and exiting their vehicle. DHS said a woman attempted to run over ICE officers before being shot in Minneapolis. As news of the shooting spread, protests quickly broke out near the scene, which is less than a mile from where, almost six years ago, the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer became a flashpoint for national tensions over police use of force and anti-Black racism. But by evening, an uneasy calm had settled across the city. A crowd of people stretching an entire city block braved freezing temperatures to lay bouquets of flowers and quietly mourned her life in a vigil. There were stuffed animals in her car when she was shot, Minnesota Lt. Gov. “This is a moment where all of us in Minneapolis and beyond, we can rise to the occasion,” Frey said. We can show them the kind of courage, bravery, love and compassion that makes Minneapolis and that makes America.” CNN's Robert Kuznia, Amanda Musa, Emma Tucker, Whitney Wild, Jeff Winter, Diego Mendoza, Taylor Romine and Alisha Ebrahimji contributed to this report.

While federal employees were either furloughed or worked without pay, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) splurged on high-end hotel stays, travel, and catering costs, including eye-popping sums spent at an oceanside resort and a retreat in wine country. Republicans in Congress had blamed the record-breaking shutdown, which marked a period of financial strife for many members of the federal workforce, on the Senate Democrats who repeatedly blocked a short-term funding bill over demands to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies. Democrats in the Senate, meanwhile, pointed fingers at GOP lawmakers, accusing congressional Republicans of “sending premiums skyrocketing instead of working with Democrats to protect affordable health care.” For instance, on Oct. 2, day two of the shutdown, the DSCC tossed $62,415 toward an apparent fundraising retreat at a five-star resort on Sea Island, a privately owned island part of Georgia's Golden Isles. The coastal getaway boasts horseback rides along the island's sandy shores, daybeds at the beach bar, and a state-of-the-art spa, with signature services such as Swedish massages, custom aromatherapy, a eucalyptus-infused steam room, and guided meditation labyrinth walks meant to “gently direct you away from the distractions of daily life.” Around two weeks into the shutdown, on Oct. 13 and 14, the DSCC was slated to host donors at an overnight “Napa Retreat,” featuring a tour of the vineyards, according to an invitation obtained first by Politico. Guests there can pamper themselves at the estate's oasis and enjoy a glass of wine between “vino therapy,” a full-body exfoliation with Cabernet-enriched salt scrub, followed by Chardonnay grape seed oil. DSCC's chairwoman, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), told the Washington Examiner in October that their plans could change if the shutdown dragged on. “Right now, we're focused on getting healthcare restored to millions of people, and I'll make a decision on that later,” Gillibrand said of the respite in paradise. On Tuesday, Gillibrand's office acknowledged but chose to “ignore” the Washington Examiner's latest request for confirmation that Gillibrand attended. “I'm not hosting anything,” Alsobrooks previously told the Washington Examiner. That month, the DSCC also recorded dozens of travel and meals-related charges to American Express totaling more than $135,000. Earmarked for campaign materials and fundraising purposes, the payments, all occurring on Oct. 27, broadly covered transportation, event expenses, catering services, and venue fees. According to past filings, the DSCC typically paid off its American Express bills on or around the 27th of each month. As for when exactly the American Express expenditures occurred, the DSCC did not respond to multiple follow-up requests for comment addressing whether they took place pre-shutdown. During the historically long shutdown, Republicans had highlighted the optics of Senate Democrats, who refused to extend government spending at current levels over the healthcare dispute, jetting off to luxurious locales to rub elbows with wealthy elites, but both parties had their fair share of hobnobbing at shutdown soirees. Marketed as the committee's “Fall Meeting,” the stay included a weekend of golf, pickleball, fishing, shooting, and afternoon lawn games. Invitees were offered beach club bedroom suites and oceanview rooms at a nearly $600-per-night rate. However, the committee's Federal Election Commission disclosures that fall did not document payments to the Sea Island Company, other than a mere $45.97 spent on food and beverages in October, as well as $40,000 on facility rental fees in June, and another $40,000 disbursement in July. Sea Island attendees reportedly received an email from organizers telling them: “These events are reserved and contracted years in advance — beyond even our current term at the NRSC — and both our costs and attendees' rooms are non-refundable.” Even when legislators are no-shows at events, senior aides and political advisers typically still get to schmooze with donors. Sources similarly told Bloomberg Government that the hotel rooms had already been paid for and the retreat itself was booked well before talks of a government shutdown. Lobbyists said the logistics of scrapping a large, long-planned sojourn would be difficult and costly. The NRSC did not reply to repeated requests for comment. “Schumer continuing to shut down the government because he wants to give free healthcare to illegals only further underscores how essential it is [that] Republicans protect and grow President Trump's Senate majority next year,” NRSC spokeswoman Joanna Rodriguez wrote in a previous statement. There was also a big Senate GOP bash planned over Columbus Day weekend in Kiawah Island, a barrier island off the coast of South Carolina. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) was initially scheduled to attend but he had pulled out, per Punchbowl News. Federal Election Commission disclosures show that the Fund for America's Future, a Republican-aligned PAC, gave the Kiawah Island Golf Resort $5,640 on Oct. 3.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday the U.S. has “maximum leverage” over Venezuela's interim authorities and will dictate their decisions, adding that Venezuelan oil marketing is already underway “for the benefit” of both countries. A newly painted mural by local Venezuelan graffiti artist Pedro Martin, know as Marthi, of deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro after he was captured by the US, is displayed Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami. ▶ Follow live updates on the United States and Venezuela WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday sought to assert its control over Venezuelan oil, seizing a pair of sanctioned tankers transporting petroleum and announcing plans to relax some sanctions so the U.S. can oversee the sale of Venezuela's petroleum worldwide. Trump's administration intends to control the distribution of Venezuela's oil products globally following its ouster of President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid. Besides the United States enforcing an existing oil embargo, the Energy Department says the “only oil transported in and out of Venezuela” will be through approved channels consistent with U.S. law and national security interests. That level of control over the world's largest proven reserves of crude oil could give the Trump administration a broader hold on oil supplies globally in ways that could enable it to influence prices. Vice President JD Vance said in an interview the U.S. can “control” Venezuela's “purse strings” by dictating where its oil can be sold. “We control the energy resources, and we tell the regime, you're allowed to sell the oil so long as you serve America's national interest,” Vance said in an interview to air on Fox News Channel's “Jesse Watters Primetime.” The vice president added, “And that's how we exert incredible pressure on that country without wasting a single American life.” Venezuela's interim authorities “want that oil that was seized to be part of this deal,” Rubio told reporters after briefing lawmakers Wednesday about the Maduro operation. Noem said on social media that both ships were “either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it.” The change in direction came days after the first U.S. tanker seizure of a ship on Dec. 10 after it had left Venezuela carrying oil. Separately, a senior Russian lawmaker, Andrei Klishas, decried the U.S. action as “blatant piracy.” The Justice Department is investigating crew members of the Bella 1 vessel for failing to obey Coast Guard orders and “criminal charges will be pursued against all culpable actors,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said. “The Department of Justice is monitoring several other vessels for similar enforcement action — anyone on any vessel who fails to obey instructions of the Coast Guard or other federal officials will be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Bondi said on X. The ship had been sanctioned by the U.S. in 2024 on allegations of smuggling cargo for a company linked to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran. “This process is developed under schemes similar to those in force with international companies, such as Chevron, and is based on a strictly commercial transaction, with criteria of legality, transparency and benefit for both parties,” the company said in the statement. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez on Wednesday night tried to normalize the latest chapter in U.S.-Venezuela economic relations, calling them “neither extraordinary nor irregular.” “Venezuela must diversify its relations and have relations with all the countries of this hemisphere, just as it should with Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe,” she said during a televised meeting with lawmakers and senior government officials. The U.S. plans to authorize the importation of oil field equipment, parts and services to increase Venezuela's oil production, which has been roughly 1 million barrels a day. The Trump administration has indicated it also will invest in the electricity grid to increase production and the quality of life for people in Venezuela, whose economy has been unraveling amid changes to foreign aid and cuts to state subsidies, making necessities, including food, unaffordable to millions. Meanwhile, Trump abruptly changed his tone about Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Trump had said earlier this week that “Colombia is very sick too” and accused Petro of ”making cocaine and selling it to the United States.” Noem said both seized ships were part of a shadow fleet of rusting oil tankers that smuggle oil for countries facing sanctions, such as Venezuela, Russia and Iran. “This ship, with a nefarious history, is part of a Russian-Iranian axis of sanctions evasion which is fueling terrorism, conflict, and misery from the Middle East to Ukraine,” U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey said. The ship had been “running dark,” not having transmitted location data since July. Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com, said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document that at least 16 tankers had left the Venezuelan coast since Saturday, after the U.S. captured Maduro. The M Sophia was among them, Madani said, citing a recent photo showing it in the waters near Jose Terminal, Venezuela's main oil export hub. Windward, a maritime intelligence firm that tracks such vessels, said in a briefing to reporters the M Sophia loaded at the terminal on Dec. 26 and was carrying about 1.8 million barrels of crude oil — a cargo that would be worth about $108 million at current price of about $60 a barrel. Associated Press writer Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.

Golden State Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr reacts to a play during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Clippers Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) Golden State Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr, center, is restrained by guard Gary Payton II (0) and assistant coach Terry Stotts as he argues with a referee during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Clippers Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Steve Kerr upset his mother. “All good other than my mom being terribly disappointed in me,” Kerr said of his 91-year-old mom before Golden State's home game Wednesday against Milwaukee. She asked me if I was going to hit the referee. I said, ‘Mom, I've never hit anybody in my life,' and she said, ‘it looked like you were going to hit him, why were all of those men holding you back?' Kerr received back-to-back technical fouls and his fifth career ejection after becoming angry with official John Collins over a missed goaltending call, according to Stotts. “I'm happy she got on Steve, that's great,” Draymond Green said. Two days later, Kerr didn't want to discuss exactly what set him off, saying, “there's a reason Terry did media the other night” after the game. “I was upset about a couple calls,” he added. Stephen Curry appreciated Kerr's outburst, even if it disappointed his mom. And Curry has been scolded by his mom plenty of times, too. “I've seen worse for sure, I couldn't tell you exactly when but I know it's been worse, but that's a good mother-son relationship and that she's watching every game and locked in and cares as much as she does to call him out,” Curry said. Bucks coach Doc Rivers joked he was disappointed in Kerr. “He acted like a fool, and I'm done with that from Steve,” said Rivers, who upset his late mother, Bettye, a time or two. Kerr said his mom had questioned him before whether he was going to hit someone, but it had been a while. “Maybe my little brother,” Kerr said with a grin, making his exit from pregame duties.

The grainy scene — with its older homes, ice underfoot and green-clad government agents closing on a civilian car — seemed a little unreal. But Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem mobilized to define their own misleading narrative. “It was an act of domestic terrorism,” Noem said. A more conventional public servant might have promised inquiries, offered solace and called for calm. He posted on social media that a woman seen screaming in a video was a “professional agitator” and that Good “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self-defense.” None of the available video is so unequivocal. Donna Ganger told the Minneapolis Star Tribune her daughter was “not part of anything like that at all” and was compassionate, forgiving and affectionate. This was the latest sickening example of violence arising from politics that is draining America's morale and marks a savage chapter in modern history. It follows two assassination attempts against Trump in 2024; the killings of a beloved Minnesota Democratic lawmaker, Melissa Hortman, and her husband last year; the alleged murder of a health insurance executive on a New York street in 2024; and the abhorrent gunning-down of MAGA hero Charlie Kirk in September. The lesson of past horrors is that politics may thwart national closure. But Trump and Noem may have already prejudged any federal inquiries. At a later news conference in Minneapolis, Noem didn't leaven her initial assessment. But she said: “Any loss of life is a tragedy, and I think all of us can agree that in this situation, it was preventable.” Vice President JD Vance posted on X that “you can accept that this woman's death is a tragedy while acknowledging it's a tragedy of her own making.” Vance also said that he, Trump and the entire administration were behind ICE agents. Social media videos show car rammings by federal agents or pro-immigration activists. ICE officials told CNN in October that attacks against agents rose 1,000% last year. Noem said one officer involved on Wednesday was dragged by the car of an “anti-ICE rioter” in June. This all poses a searching question: Is an immigration crackdown that Trump insists will make American safer in fact making it far more dangerous? Is that level of danger and risk really tolerable in a democratic society? And is America beginning to resemble some authoritarian states where lives of individuals are a trifle compared to the political ambitions of strongmen? Trump has, after all, declared that America is under “invasion” by foreign migrants and has authorized warlike tactics in response. It's too early to assess lasting political impact, if any, from Wednesday's shooting. But the killing took place only a mile from the street corner where another bystander's video was filmed before going viral and creating a mass movement: that of George Floyd, who died with a police officer's knee on his neck in 2020. One reason Trump was elected in 2024 was that millions of Americans believed that former President Joe Biden lost control of the southern border. Trump has honored a pledge to stem undocumented migration. And a country that fails in enforcement won't make its people feel safe. Looking back in months to come, the Minnesota shooting could appear as a turning point when more voters in a midterm election year rejected his excesses. Administration critics will see state-authorized violence, repression and due process being crushed. Supporters may find enough in the videos to argue that the officer concerned opened fire because he felt his life was at risk. And advocates of Trump's policy will highlight murders committed by illegal migrants. “When do things stop being about politics and start being about actual human decency?” Minnesota Democratic Sen. Tina Smith said to reporters. But meanwhile, a woman died being shot in her car, and everything that they're doing is making it worse and not better.” If the crackdown's intent is at least partly performative, public safety risks become even more questionable. “I have been worried – not that federal law enforcement activity was happening, but how that enforcement was taking place in the city,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara told CNN's Erin Burnett. But former Vice President Mike Pence told CNN's Kaitlan Collins that “today should be a cautionary tale that people ought not to, as reports in this case suggest … be harassing ICE officers.” Good's death came against a backdrop of Trump's dystopian attempts to portray Democratic-run cities as hellholes where migrant gangs run riot and regular Americans fear for their lives. He's used such depictions to justify draconian tactics like the dispatch of the National Guard into some cities last year. The federal government is also currently locked in a clash with Minnesota over claims in conservative media that Somali-run child care centers have fraudulently taken funding earmarked for low-income families. Frey dismissed administration depictions of the shooting as “garbage” but asked Minnesotans not to give Trump a pretext for an even greater show of force. We can't give them what they want.” By nightfall on Portland Avenue, where Minnesota skyscrapers loom in the distance, residents held a vigil for yet another American victim drawn to their death by political forces that, once unleashed, cannot be tamed.

Trump administration officials on Wednesday began outlining a makeshift strategy for taking indefinite control of Venezuela's oil sales, as they race to maintain stability within the nation after overthrowing its leader. The ambitious, multi-part plan centers on seizing and selling millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil on the open market, while simultaneously convincing US firms to make expansive, long-term investments aimed at rebuilding the nation's energy infrastructure. Yet just days after President Donald Trump authorized the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and declared the US “in charge,” those scrambling to map out a long-term plan for the country are still facing far more questions than they have answers. In an interview with The New York Times published Thursday, Trump said “only time will tell” when asked how long the United States will demand direct oversight of Venezuela. One oil and gas industry source in touch with top Trump officials said, “The United States will have a lot of challenges thinking that they're just going to bring US companies down into Venezuela and they're going to operate and turn this around,” adding, “That's not reality.” The vision laid out by senior Trump officials, led by Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, would represent an unprecedented exertion of control over a foreign country's oil resources with no clear timetable or guarantee of success. It raises immediate logistical challenges as well as a range of thorny legal and national security dilemmas, according to interviews with a range of industry sources and lawmakers as well as current and administration officials, threatening to entangle the US in a messy foreign policy project that could turn politically disastrous. Wright and Rubio nevertheless expressed confidence Wednesday in their approach, with Rubio telling reporters after a classified briefing on Capitol Hill that the administration was “not just winging it.” Wright, who spent the day in Miami meeting with industry executives at a Goldman Sachs conference, told CNN that he was getting “barraged” by companies telling him, “We're interested. Rubio, in private briefings and conversations with lawmakers, has stressed the importance of the next several weeks in managing Venezuela's transition, including cutting off US adversaries like Russia and China from the nation's oil supply and quickly generating revenue that can be used to keep its critical services running. The administration is planning to oversee the sale of an initial 30 million to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil that was already under sanction, generating an initial windfall that Rubio told lawmakers would be funneled back into the country. But the administration has so far declined to lay out a timeline for how long it will keep control of Venezuela's premier export, nor has it officially secured the cooperation of interim President Delcy Rodriguez or Venezuela's state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela. “The intent is to make sure that it doesn't go into chaos.” Petróleos de Venezuela said Wednesday that it was in negotiations to sell oil to the US, while Wright told oil executives in Miami that the administration was in “active dialogue” with Venezuela's leadership. Also unclear is the legal authority for such an arrangement, which administration officials have openly acknowledged is being negotiated with Rodriguez under the threat of paying “a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro” if she doesn't agree, as Trump put it. “The Treasury takes in receipts from people who pay taxes, tariffs and fees. “But whichever account this ends (up) in — I'll know in 24 hours — is going to be controlled by the United States government.” Ahead of a Friday meeting at the White House between Trump, members of his Cabinet and a handful of oil executives, there remain a number of questions about how any of this will work, such as who would control the proceeds, how much say the Venezuelan government would have, and what the visibility into the entire process would look like. “Right now, the private sector has nothing official to go on to have any sort of assurance, or any sort of confidence that whatever is going to happen, how is it going to be authorized based on US sanctions,” said Roxanna Vigil, who served as a senior sanctions policy advisor at the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. Within the administration, the push to manage the immediate aftermath of Maduro's ouster has masked another looming problem: Despite Trump's insistence that US oil companies would pour into Venezuela, officials have no ready plan for convincing firms to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in rebuilding the nation's energy infrastructure. Wright held one-on-one meetings with oil executives on Wednesday after pitching the industry on Venezuela's potential, which he said would require “tens of billions of dollars and significant time.” Trump is set to host the CEOs of several major energy companies at the White House Friday in a further effort to juice enthusiasm within the sector. One energy lobbyist described frantic outreach from administration officials to the oil industry in recent days, starting with a flurry of calls on Monday aimed at fulfilling Trump's assertion that companies would quickly pledge massive investments toward restoring Venezuela. But those conversations have been largely one-sided, industry sources familiar with the discussions said. That push has been met with trepidation in public and even deeper skepticism in private, the industry sources said, driven by doubts that Trump can provide the stability and security needed for companies to set up operations — and that the potential profits will be worth the risk. “Nobody wants to piss off Trump, but he's put them in a difficult position,” said another energy lobbyist, noting that executives have been spooked by reports of government repression and roving militias in the aftermath of Maduro's capture. Those concerns have extended even to some within the Trump administration, where one official told CNN it wasn't clear in the immediate hours after Maduro's capture who was in charge of coming up with a plan for the oil production — even as Trump publicly promised massive new investments. The official noted that before anything can happen, the United States will first have to ensure they can work with Rodriguez and her interim government. But industry experts told CNN that the country needed both equipment and expertise, both of which have largely dried up since the former President Hugo Chavez nationalized the oil companies in 2007 and seized their assets. “They all got screwed,” the administration official said of what, for many companies, was their last experience in Venezuela. “It's not clear yet what we we'll offer them to spend the billions needed to rebuild the infrastructure, and it's clearly a risk.”