U.S. envoys met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for over three hours to discuss a potential deal aimed at ending the nearly four-year war in Ukraine.
Trump confidants Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, along with newly-appointed Board of Peace senior advisor Josh Greunbaum, met with Putin at midnight Thursday as the World Economic Forum in Davos comes to a close.
A video clip shared by the Kremlin on Telegram showed Putin, joined by his foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, and special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, shaking hands with the envoys prior to the meeting.
The group discussed the 20-point peace plan to end the Russian invasion, which has been held up due to key disagreements on Russian demands for land in Eastern Ukraine, much of which Ukraine has successfully defended at this point in the war.
The outcome of the meeting was unclear in the immediate aftermath of the talks, which were held shortly after President Trump said a deal was &#8220;reasonably close&#8221; and Witkoff <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-meets-us-envoys-late-night-talks-ukraine-2026-01-22/">said</a> a deal hinged on one last issue, according to Reuters.
Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hours earlier at Davos, describing the conversation as &#8220;good&#8221; to reporters aboard Air Force One.
&#8220;We&#8217;re discussing things that have been discussed for six or seven months, and he [Zelensky] came, and he said he wants to make a deal because I wasn&#8217;t necessarily sure. I think he should want to make a deal,” Trump said. “President Putin would like to make a deal. I think that President Zelensky would like to make a deal.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on his meeting with President Zelensky in Davos: &#8220;We&#8217;re discussing things that have been discussed for six or seven months and he came and he said he wants to make a deal because I wasn&#8217;t necessarily sure. I think he should want to make a deal.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/89LxjlmJTs">pic.twitter.com/89LxjlmJTs</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2014494433190817922?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 23, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Zelensky blasted European leaders during his Davos speech on Thursday for what he called their inaction against Putin.
&#8220;Europe loves to discuss the future, but avoids taking action today,&#8221; Zelensky <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-22/putin-starts-kremlin-talks-with-us-envoys-witkoff-and-kushner">said</a>. &#8220;Where is the line of leaders who are ready to act?&#8221;

RUSSIA-UKRAINE-CONFLICT-US-DIPLOMACY

Trump Pushes Ukraine Peace Deal As Kushner, Witkoff Hold Talks With Putin

Davos

Donald Trump

Global Politics

Jared Kushner

Russia

Steve Witkoff

Ukraine

Ukraine-Russia War

Vladimir Putin

Volodymyr Zelensky

World

There has been a clamor among some on the American Right for the United States to pull out of NATO, given Europe’s reflexively adversarial response to Trump’s Greenland saber-rattling. Whether we should remain in an alliance formed in a very different world back in 1949 is a question President Trump first raised during his initial term. The question actually has more merit than one might think at first blush.
One must ask what exactly NATO’s raison d’être was to begin with. It is difficult, eighty years on, to recall just how much of a mess Europe was at the time. Much of the continent had been razed by the most lethal of its many internecine conflicts. Europe was no longer at war, but it was not exactly at peace either. Stalin — a dictator with as much, if not more, innocent blood on his hands than Hitler — had advanced his Red Army all the way through Poland, then-Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and half of Germany. That Soviet presence was massive: nearly ten million infantry backed by tens of thousands of tanks and aircraft. By 1945, the Red Army had become a military colossus that had just annihilated the most professional army in the world.
Given this looming threat just over the horizon, by 1949 Western Europe needed to band together to offer a deterrent to Stalin’s hegemony. And given the circumstances, the only military body capable of giving this new North Atlantic Treaty Organization its muscle was, of course, the U.S. Armed Forces. While Western Europe was rebuilt under the auspices of the Marshall Plan, American troops, armor, and aircraft kept the Soviets at bay. This mission was performed successfully all the way to 1991, when the Soviet Union — the very threat NATO was created to contain — abruptly collapsed.
That was 35 years ago. And yet NATO did not ride off into the sunset with its mission accomplished. Instead, it continued to expand, adding 16 new nations — each creeping closer and closer to an increasingly alarmed Russia (a country that suffered roughly 25 million dead repelling the last Western invaders from its soil).
But why the steady eastward expansion? Some NATO supporters argue that Putin’s resurgence and his aggression in Ukraine are answer enough.
But Ukraine and Russia share a convoluted history. Ukraine has long been contested land, where its story and Russia’s overlap in a region that has seen over seven hundred conflicts since the fall of Rome. This is not the first time war has raged from Crimea to the Donbas. Nor will it be the last. There is no reason for a non-Ukrainian to die fighting for that territory.
In fact, the only credible reason to continue our involvement in NATO is if Putin’s Russia poses the same danger as Stalin’s USSR once did. But today’s Russian military is not the Red Army of 1945 in which anywhere from 30 to 35% of its personnel were non-Russians (including 20% Ukrainians). And today Russia is demographically dying. Between 1990 and now—owing to the breakup of the Soviet Union, low birth rates, emigration, and early mortality often linked to alcoholism—Russia’s population has shrunk by roughly three to five million; that is a around a 2 to 4% decline. Over that same period, the U.S. population grew by more than 95 million, or roughly 38%. Even without the United States, the EU today has roughly four times Russia’s population. History shows that in modern war, population is often the best predictor of who prevails in a protracted struggle.
Russia’s economy is both small and oil-dependent. It has been called the world’s largest gas station for a reason. Anywhere from 20 to 30% of its economy depends on crude oil sales, depending on the year and market conditions — making it extremely vulnerable to sanctions or blockades. As it stands, Russia’s entire economy is smaller than that of three American states.
Speaking of economies, since NATO’s establishment, the GDP of EU nations has grown from barely $2.5 trillion to as high as $23 trillion today, an increase of more than 800%. This prompts the obvious question: if these nations have grown so rich, why do they still need us as if they were clearing rubble out of Cologne?
In other words, whether one agrees with leaving NATO or not, Trump’s re-evaluation of an alliance nearing the end of its eighth decade is not grounded in anti-EU whimsy, but in a classic cost-benefit analysis of its service to American interests.
Polls show that while only about 15% of Americans favor leaving NATO, as many as 30% of European residents believe the United States should reduce or end its role in Europe’s defense. This is ironic. If the same Europeans who love to hold up their model social-welfare systems — especially their “free” health care — understood how much of those systems are underwritten by the American taxpayer, they might take a less belligerent view toward one of their primary health care providers.
<div id="attachment_1030021" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1030021" class="size-large wp-image-1030021" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2246537136-864x576.jpg" alt="GEILENKIRCHEN, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 13: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and North Rhine-Westphalia Premier Hendrik Wuest, dressed with flight jackets, stand in front of an E-3A AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) airplane while visiting the NATO Geilenkirchen Air Base on November 13, 2025 in Geilenkirchen, Germany. The base is the headquarters of the NATO Airborne Early Warning &amp; Control Force (NAEW&amp;CF). (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2246537136-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2246537136-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2246537136-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2246537136.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Andreas Rentz/Getty Images</div>
What do I mean by this?
Take a look at the wealthiest EU nation — and the one with the most violent history with Russia — Germany. Germany currently spends roughly 2% of its €5 trillion GDP on defense, or about €100 billion annually. At the same time, it spends roughly ten to 12% of GDP on health care — around €500 billion per year. Estimates suggest that if American soldiers and airmen withdrew and Germany were left to fend for itself, Berlin would need to raise defense spending to as much as 4% of GDP. That means an additional €90–100 billion every year. That money has to come from somewhere. And since health care is the largest pool of discretionary spending (unless Berlin plans on raiding pensions), that is where it would most likely be found. A full American withdrawal would require cutting Germany’s health care system by at least 20%.
The consequences would be catastrophic. Growth spending would slow, wait times would balloon into rationing, co-pays and supplemental costs would rise, hospital consolidations would reduce access to emergency and specialized care, benefits would shrink, staffing shortages would worsen, and zero-cost access would disappear. Setting aside health outcomes, the social upheaval in a country accustomed to expansive care at minimal personal cost would be acute — and politically devastating for any party responsible.
And Germany is only one nation. If the entire EU had to raise defense spending to 4% to fill the void left by an American departure, it would require roughly €340 billion more per year — again, about 20% of total EU health care spending. Even partial offsets would place ten to 20% pressure on health budgets — unless already sky-high taxes rose further. Suddenly, the EU’s vaunted “free” health care system would be anything but.
Put more bluntly, NATO is not merely a security alliance — it is a massive American taxpayer-funded subsidy for Europe’s welfare state. That is the dirty little secret no one in Brussels wants to discuss. Every time a German walks into a “free” clinic or a Frenchman is wheeled into an operating room, roughly one euro in five is effectively paid by you and me. NATO — at least for its original Western democracies — needs the United States not to defend borders it could fund itself, but to prop up welfare systems already straining under their own weight.
There is a famous story in business lore about accounting wunderkind Harry Sonneborn, who told McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc that the real value of his restaurants was not the thin margins on hamburgers, but the land beneath them. “You’re not in the hamburger business,” he said. “You’re in the real estate business.”
In the same way, American contributions to NATO are not primarily about Europe’s defense. They allow European capital to be freed from defense spending — a burden borne by American taxpayers — and redirected toward social welfare. So when your taxes go to NATO, an alliance originally created to defend Europeans from other Europeans, you are not in the continental defense business. You are in the health care business. Just not for yourself. You are providing it for wealthy Germans, French, Brits, and Scandinavians who understand exactly how fragile their welfare systems are — and how quickly they would collapse if America walked away. After all, it is easy to pay for both guns and butter when someone else largely pays for the guns. It is quite another thing to foot the bill for both.
More the suckers us.
* * *
Brad Schaeffer is a commodities fund manager, author, and columnist whose articles have appeared on the pages of The Wall Street Journal, NY Post, NY Daily News, The Daily Wire, National Review, The Hill, The Federalist, Zerohedge, and other outlets. He is the author of three <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07MQJBJSD?ccs_id=55112527-86f6-4c89-b82e-a96d6869abed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">books</a>. You can also follow him on <a href="https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Substack</a> and <a href="https://x.com/bschaeffer123" target="_blank" rel="noopener">X</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Leaders Gather For ‘Coalition Of The Willing’ Meeting In France

NATO’s Dirty Little Secret

Europe

Germany

Greenland

Health Care

NATO

The Kremlin said on Friday that it is closely monitoring President Donald Trump&#8217;s push to acquire Greenland, calling the proposal by the United States &#8220;extraordinary from the standpoint of international law.&#8221;
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/16/greenland-russia-trump-takeover-threats-annex-denmark.html">said</a> that Trump “has said that international law is not a priority for him,&#8221; adding, &#8220;The situation is developing along a different trajectory, and we, along with the rest of the world, will be watching to see which one,&#8221; CNBC reported. Earlier this week, Russia rejected claims that it has its sights set on Greenland, calling such claims a &#8220;fictitious pretext&#8221; used by NATO to grow its military presence in the Arctic, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-says-nato-talk-moscow-beijing-being-threat-greenland-is-myth-create-2026-01-15/">Reuters</a>.
Russia is far from a valid judge on the rules of international law. The country is still engaged in a war that it started by invading Ukraine in February 2022. In recent months, Moscow has fired missiles and drones at civilian targets in Kyiv and surrounding cities, with an <a href="https://ukraine.ohchr.org/en/2025-deadliest-year-for-civilians-in-Ukraine-since-2022-UN-human-rights-monitors-find">estimated</a> 2,514 Ukrainian civilians being killed at the hands of Russia in 2025.
Trump has said multiple times that acquiring Greenland is a priority for U.S. national security, arguing that Russia and China have their own plans for taking over the territory. The president <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-greenland-is-non-negotiable-for-u-s-security?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump%3A+Greenland+Is+Non-Negotiable+For+U.S.+Security">said</a> earlier this week that Greenland is “vital” for his plans to build a “Golden Dome” of defense to protect the United States.
&#8220;NATO should be leading the way for us to get it. IF WE DON’T, RUSSIA OR CHINA WILL, AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!” Trump said.
In an interview with The New York Times last week, Trump also suggested he prioritizes his &#8220;own morality&#8221; and his &#8220;own mind&#8221; over international law. The president said that the United States would abide by international law, but then added, “It depends [on] what your definition of international law is.”
Many NATO countries — including Denmark, which oversees Greenland&#8217;s defense — have rebuked Trump over his effort to acquire Greenland while ramping up military presence around the territory. Denmark, France, Sweden, and Norway are conducting joint military exercises in Greenland, a move that has seemingly enraged Moscow. Russia accused NATO of &#8220;using high-profile statements from Washington on the Greenland issue solely to promote an anti-Russian and anti-Chinese agenda.&#8221;
&#8220;We consider the alliance&#8217;s policy of escalating confrontation in the Arctic to be counterproductive and extremely dangerous,&#8221; Russia added.
Louisiana Republican Governor Jeff Landry, who&#8217;s also serving as Trump&#8217;s special envoy to Greenland, said that Russia and China have increased production of icebreaker ships in the past year, suggesting that both countries are seeking &#8220;to gain control of the Arctic.&#8221;
&#8220;China and Russia have built more icebreakers in one year than the United States has built in the history of our country. They aren’t just building them for fun,&#8221; Landry <a href="https://x.com/JeffLandry/status/2012200748243665336">told</a> Fox &amp; Friends Friday morning. &#8220;It is vital that America secures Greenland and reinforces the Monroe Doctrine for the future of national security.&#8221;
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt met with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House earlier this week to discuss Trump&#8217;s push to acquire Greenland. Following the meeting, Rasmussen said that both sides agreed to disagree, with Denmark sticking firm to its “red lines.”
“For us, ideas that would not respect the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the right of self-determination of the Greenlandic people are, of course, totally unacceptable,&#8221; Rasmussen added.

Russia Scrutinizes Trump’s Push To Acquire Greenland, Rejects Claims That Moscow Wants Territory

Russia Closely Watches Trump's Push To Acquire Greenland, Rejects Claims That Moscow Wants Territory

Foreign Policy

Europe’s weakness is no longer just Europe’s problem; it is the West’s crisis. For decades, the continent has drifted into complacency, retreating from free markets, hollowing out its militaries, and outsourcing its security to Washington. What began as integration hardened into dependency. The result is a Europe that is economically stagnant, strategically vulnerable, and increasingly unsure of its own identity.
President Trump’s recently released National Security Strategy and the National Defense Authorization Act are the first major American documents in a generation that speak to Europe not as a ward, but as an adult. They state, in effect, that the West cannot survive if its largest democratic bloc insists on remaining structurally weak. America will not abandon Europe, but it will no longer indulge Europe’s illusions. The ball is now in Europe’s court.
Trump’s statecraft is often misdescribed as improvisation. In reality, a Trump Doctrine of strategic sovereignty has emerged. Its core is simple: no nation is entitled to protection from the United States unless it actively contributes to collective security; coalitions are built on shared interests and values, not on inertia; and the West is worth preserving. Once the United States and Europe shared these beliefs, and their alliance was strong on this basis.
This abandons the fantasy of a self-enforcing “rules-based order.” Russia’s attack on Georgia or Ukraine, and other similar powers’ attacks on other weaker countries, have repeatedly shown that there is no universally accepted rules-based order. The simple, stubborn fact is that order is made and maintained by sovereign states that possess power, will, and clarity of purpose. Trump’s approach replaces the old habit of open-ended guarantees with a “balance of sovereigns”: the United States will remain the preeminent Western power, but its allies must become genuine pillars, not permanent dependents, to keep the balance of power in the West and keep at bay geopolitical adversaries that understand solely strength.
Trump has already done more to weaken the Russia-China-Iran-North Korea axis than his predecessor. Trump’s pressure on Moscow has been more consequential than Joe Biden’s. By pushing NATO allies to raise defense spending, by imposing secondary measures that hit Russian oil revenues, and by brokering peace in the Caucasus, Trump has constrained Russia’s maneuvering space.
Iran, once emboldened by Western appeasement, is now reeling. Israeli and American strikes have gutted its nuclear and military infrastructure. Combined with the Abraham Accords and the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement, the Middle East has been reshaped in ways that keep Russia out and leave Tehran increasingly isolated. Iran’s proxies are weakened, its economy strangled, and its strategic depth reduced.
The updated Monroe Doctrine has likewise kept China out of the Western Hemisphere. Beijing’s attempts to buy strategic assets and political influence in Latin America have been blocked or rolled back, while Venezuela’s dictator is now under arrest, with his regime destabilized. Trump’s declarations about the Panama Canal and Greenland should be seen as part of this larger doctrine.
Taken together, these moves have fractured the “unholy alliance” of America’s adversaries. Europe should take note: Trump has shown that strength and clarity can weaken adversaries far more effectively than platitudes and half-measures. The United States is doing its part to reshape the global balance. The question is whether Europe will do its part to reshape itself.
Security begins with production. Europe’s retreat from free-market dynamism has hollowed out its competitiveness. While Trump has pursued reindustrialization, deregulation, near-shoring, and energy abundance in the United States, Europe has doubled down on regulatory maximalism and green utopianism — policies that have driven factories, capital, and talent elsewhere.
A continent that once powered the Industrial Revolution now tries to regulate its way into relevance. High taxes, rigid labor markets, and hostility to conventional and nuclear energy have produced dependence on Russian gas, Chinese supply chains, and American defense spending. There is no single European entity in the top 10 biggest companies, startups, or AI firms, because the European instinct has become “regulate before even creating”. 
Real recovery will not come from new Brussels programs, but from unleashing the energy and initiative of millions of individuals and families who are now trapped under layers of taxation, bureaucracy, and paternalism. Europe does not lack talent; it lacks permission to use it.
Trump’s doctrine treats Europe’s stagnation not as an internal matter, but as a strategic liability. Economic weakness means underfunded militaries, brittle societies, and a politics increasingly tempted by accommodation with authoritarian suppliers of energy and credit. A Europe that cannot sustain industry will not sustain deterrence.
If Europe wants to be something other than a museum of past greatness, it must rediscover growth: lower and simpler taxes, domestic energy, and a serious commitment to frontier technologies. Otherwise, the center of gravity of the democratic world will keep shifting from the Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific, not by American design but by European default.
Trump’s strategy does something European elites have avoided for years: it links power to identity. It speaks of restoring the West’s “civilizational self-confidence” and calls on the nations of the free world to defend their histories, cultures, and borders.
This is not nostalgia. It is strategic clarity. A society that doubts its right to exist cannot project power. A civilization that treats its past as a moral burden will not endure the costs of defense, child-rearing, or long-term investment.
For too long, influential European institutions have treated national identity as suspect, the family as optional, borders as administrative details, and free speech as a negotiable privilege. The result is fragmentation: uncontrolled migration, parallel societies, and cultural self-censorship. In such a context, phrases like “strategic autonomy” are empty. Autonomy presupposes cohesion. 
Trump’s message is that the West is not an NGO; it is a civilization. The President does not seek American domination of Europe. He seeks equilibrium. America First does not mean America Alone; it means an America strong enough to lead, partnered with European allies strong enough to matter. For Europe, that means three things: (a) Rearmament as an act of self-respect, not of deference to Washington. A Europe that cannot field serious forces from the Baltic to the Mediterranean is not “pacifist”; it is strategically unserious. (b) Reindustrialization and energy realism. A continent that shuts down reliable power without viable alternatives, and that drives industry offshore, will find its foreign policy constrained by whoever keeps its lights on. (c) Civilizational recovery. Europe must stop apologizing for its existence. Its nations, cultures and Judeo-Christian roots are not obstacles to the future; they are the only basis on which a free future can be built.
Trump has laid out a doctrine that treats Europe not as a client but as a potential equal. The question is whether Europe will seize this moment or shrink from it.  The United States has made its choice: strength, sovereignty, and renewed Western leadership. If Europe fails to rise, the West will fall, not because America abandoned it, but because Europe abandoned itself.
* * *
<div id="message-list_1768331045.381339" class="c-virtual_list__item" tabindex="0" role="listitem" aria-labelledby="primary-D087VVCBCE5-1768331045.381339-sender primary-D087VVCBCE5-1768331045.381339-message_text primary-D087VVCBCE5-1768331045.381339-alt_text primary-D087VVCBCE5-1768331045.381339-date_time primary-D087VVCBCE5-1768331045.381339-reaction_count primary-D087VVCBCE5-1768331045.381339-reply_count primary-D087VVCBCE5-1768331045.381339-link_count primary-D087VVCBCE5-1768331045.381339-attachment_count primary-D087VVCBCE5-1768331045.381339-has_draft_reply primary-D087VVCBCE5-1768331045.381339-pinned_state primary-D087VVCBCE5-1768331045.381339-edited_state primary-D087VVCBCE5-1768331045.381339-later_state primary-D087VVCBCE5-1768331045.381339-broadcast_state primary-D087VVCBCE5-1768331045.381339-broadcast_thread_root_message primary-D087VVCBCE5-1768331045.381339-translated_state" aria-setsize="-1" data-qa="virtual-list-item" data-item-key="1768331045.381339">
<div class="c-message_kit__background c-message_kit__background--hovered p-message_pane_message__message c-message_kit__message" role="presentation" data-qa="message_container" data-qa-unprocessed="false" data-qa-placeholder="false" data-msg-ts="1768331045.381339" data-msg-channel-id="D087VVCBCE5">
<div class="c-message_kit__hover c-message_kit__hover--hovered" role="document" aria-roledescription="message" data-qa-hover="true">
<div class="c-message_kit__actions c-message_kit__actions--default">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter__right" role="presentation" data-qa="message_content">
<div class="c-message_kit__blocks c-message_kit__blocks--rich_text">
<div class="c-message__message_blocks c-message__message_blocks--rich_text" data-qa="message-text">
<div class="p-block_kit_renderer" data-qa="block-kit-renderer">
<div class="p-block_kit_renderer__block_wrapper p-block_kit_renderer__block_wrapper--first">
<div class="p-rich_text_block" dir="auto">
<div class="p-rich_text_section">Nikola Kedhi is the Executive Director of the Albanian Conservative Institute and a contributor to various media such as the Daily Wire, Fox News, Newsweek, the Daily Signal, Newsmax, and others. Kedhi is also a co-author of the Constitution of Conservative Values, the official Doctrine of the Democratic Party of Albania. He can be reached on Twitter: @nikedhi95 and on his Substack.</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

European Leaders Join Ukrainian President Zelensky For White House Meeting With Trump

President Trump Is Right, The West Cannot Survive On European Weakness

China

Energy

European Union

Iran

President Trump

White House

American forces seized another sanctioned oil tanker early Friday morning that had departed Venezuela after dodging a United States blockade, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said.
The Coast Guard boarded the Motor Tanker Olina without incident and took control of the vessel, which was believed to be carrying embargoed oil. 
“The world’s criminals are on notice,” Noem said, sharing a video of the operation on X. “Early this morning, the [Coast Guard] executed a boarding and seizure of the Motor Tanker Olina in international waters east of the Caribbean Sea. As another &#8216;ghost fleet&#8217; tanker ship suspected of carrying embargoed oil, this vessel had departed Venezuela attempting to evade U.S. forces.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
The world’s criminals are on notice.
Early this morning, the <a href="https://twitter.com/USCG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USCG</a> executed a boarding and seizure of the Motor Tanker Olina in international waters east of the Caribbean Sea. As another &#8220;ghost fleet&#8221; tanker ship suspected of carrying embargoed oil, this vessel had departed… <a href="https://t.co/vvS3u3nrvl">pic.twitter.com/vvS3u3nrvl</a>
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sec_Noem/status/2009628070047604976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The operation was a joint effort between the State Department, War Department, and the Department of Homeland Security. Earlier this week, the Coast Guard seized two other sanctioned oil tankers. 
“The ghost fleets will not outrun justice. They will not hide under false claims of nationality,” Noem said. “The Coast Guard will seize sanctioned oil tankers, enforce U.S. and international law, and eliminate these funding streams for illicit activity including narco-terrorism.”
The ship, which was <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/u-s-forces-board-fifth-tanker-in-campaign-to-track-down-venezuelan-oil-08d1721f?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=AWEtsqc9vJYA4QxW6SYWxg8Msh1lAsHcsTRBmNvfhfVV50U_yX0supI5zFkaCUeMC6U%3D&amp;gaa_ts=69610fed&amp;gaa_sig=KEHiI01OMwEl4YNSpbE__LdVRJLjzijQon3_7UIb17NyYwm0Bzu96d6yxEVHkKHEiYPkJCdUBge-WcpmvkNQRQ%3D%3D">sanctioned</a> for carrying Russian oil, was previously known as the Minerva M.
U.S. Southern Command also posted footage of the seizure, noting that Marines and sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear were involved in the operation. The troops were launched from the USS Gerald R. Ford, Southern Command said. 
“The Department of War’s Operation Southern Spear is unwavering in its mission to defend our homeland by ending illicit activity and restoring security in the Western Hemisphere,” Southcom said. 
&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Once again, our joint interagency forces sent a clear message this morning: “there is no safe haven for criminals.”
In a pre-dawn action, Marines and Sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, launched from the USS… <a href="https://t.co/1ASoajGVHG">pic.twitter.com/1ASoajGVHG</a>
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/Southcom/status/2009626517660107010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
On Wednesday, the Coast Guard seized two additional oil tankers, including one flying a Russian flag that had previously bypassed an American blockade. The ship, the Marinera, had been on the run for two weeks and was set to be escorted by a Russian submarine and warships. 
Russia protested the seizure, claiming that “no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered in other states’ jurisdictions.” 
The second ship, the Bella 1, was seized after it was sanctioned for transporting oil to Iran.

MixCollage-09-Jan-2026-08-45-AM-6187

U.S. Coast Guard Seizes Another ‘Ghost Ship’ Trying To Evade American Blockade

Coast Guard

Department of Homeland Security

Kristi Noem

Venezuela

Minneapolis protests turn violent after a shooting involving an ICE agent turns fatal, the United States seizes two oil tankers attempting to run the Venezuelan blockade, and the Trump administration releases dramatically new dietary guidelines.
It’s Thursday, January 8, 2026, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minneapolis-ice-shooting-fallout-shadow-fleet-tankers/id1576594336?i=1000744265992" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">ICE Officer Fatally Shoots Woman Who Drove Car Toward Him</h2>
A 37-year-old woman was shot and killed in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning by an ICE officer. The chaotic scene was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/violent-agitator-who-tried-to-run-over-ice-agents-in-minneapolis-fatally-shot-by-feds-dhs-says">captured</a> on video and replayed across major network news for the rest of the day. The video showed a woman in her vehicle appearing to block the street. ICE agents approached her car and told her to get out of the vehicle. She disregarded the agents, backed up her car, then drove forward toward an ICE agent. One angle appears to show the car making contact with an ICE officer before the fatal shot was fired. Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz urged nationwide demonstrations against ICE and ordered the state’s National Guard to prepare for deployment. The Trump administration defended the ICE agents, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem saying the woman attempted to “weaponize her vehicle” and was shot in self-defense.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">U.S. Seizes Venezuela-Tied ‘Dark’ Tanker Flying Russian Flag</h2>
The Trump administration continues to exert pressure on Venezuela, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/live-updates-united-states-strikes-venezuela-captures-president-maduro">seizing</a> two oil tankers on Wednesday, one flying under a Russian flag. As part of its effort to evade American sanctions, Venezuela has deployed a so-called “dark” or “shadow fleet” of oil tankers that often sail outside of legal shipping lanes and deploy false flags. The U.S. Coast Guard seized one such vessel on Wednesday after it had evaded capture last year when it sailed from Venezuela to Iran. Mid-journey, the Bella 1, as it is called, began flying a Russian flag and changed its registration to Russia. Russia even intervened diplomatically with the United States, urging the U.S. to end the pursuit. Russia sent several vessels to escort the tanker, but the U.S. military seized it anyway. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the crew of that vessel is “under full investigation and criminal charges will be pursued against all culpable actors.” Moscow claimed the ship had been given lawful permission to fly under a Russian flag and slammed the seizure as “piracy.”
<h2 style="text-align: center;">RFK Jr. Flips The Food Pyramid</h2>
Fulfilling another MAHA promise, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rfk-flips-the-food-pyramid-and-announces-massive-changes-to-dietary-guidelines">flipped</a> the food pyramid and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hhs-scraps-old-alcohol-guidance-says-drinking-can-be-socially-healthy">announced</a> sweeping changes to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). The food pyramid has been completely flipped to prioritize healthy fats and protein and limit or avoid ultra-processed foods. During a press conference on Wednesday, Kennedy and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the “war” on “healthy fats” is over and recommended that Americans include nutrient-dense protein in every meal, such as eggs, poultry, seafood, and red meat. At the bottom of the pyramid – now the smallest part of the pyramid – are fiber-rich whole grains, but the DGA emphasizes that refined carbohydrates should be avoided. The guidance also says to “avoid highly processed, packaged, prepared, or ‘ready-to-eat’ foods,” as well as “sugar-sweetened beverages, like soda, fruit drinks, and energy drinks.”

MRN_260108_V2

Morning Brief: ICE Shooting In Minneapolis, U.S. Seizes Oil Tankers & RFK Jr. Flips Food Pyramid

Department of Health and Human Services

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Minneapolis

Minnesota

Morning Wire

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Tim Walz

United States

A large wave of anti-regime demonstrations broke out last week in Iran. When the Soviet Union collapsed in December 1991, few in the world anticipated the fall. But there were signs of the impending Soviet collapse. Could this be Iran’s Gorbachev moment?
While the exact timing of the fall of the regime in Iran is not clear, The U.S. and its partners need to formulate a plan to secure Iran’s enriched uranium and other nuclear materials, chemical weapons stocks, and other armaments in the case of regime collapse or loss of central control over the weapons and strategic materials.
As instability grew in the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/29/world/soviet-turmoil-gorbachev-and-yeltsin-move-to-secure-nuclear-weapons.html">ordered the transfer of short-range nuclear</a> missiles from the Caucasus and Baltic republics to central control in Russia. It is doubtful that Gorbachev envisioned at the time that the USSR was about to collapse, but he took precautions. The leaders of the Islamic Republic are not as prudent and are not likely to prevent loss of control over enriched uranium and other strategic threats.
Forecasting regime longevity and the outcome of anti-regime movements is not easy. At times, regimes can strengthen their power with a massive use of force, such as China’s Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. Other times, slaughtering protestors accelerates a regime’s demise, such as Romanian President Nicolae Ceaușescu’s suppression of protests in Timisoara in 1989.
One consistent indicator of a regime’s ability to weather a challenge, however, is the loyalty of the security forces. When Russian President Boris Yeltsin in 1991 contested the right of Gorbachev’s kidnappers to rule the USSR, he had already concluded deals with several military commanders to garner their support. He knew they had his back. When Georgian President Edward Shevardnadze relinquished power to protestors in Tbilisi’s parliament building during the country’s 2003 “Rose Revolution,” Interior Force commanders had already quietly told Shevardnadze that they would not fire on the protestors, so best he exit the building.
Multiple defections of security forces and regime insiders in Iran have already taken place. The desertions are clandestine at this point, and in some ways more destructive to the regime than open defections, since their ability to carry out sabotage continues. Israel’s successful massive infiltration of the regime rests upon the defection of large numbers of regime insiders and their willingness to work with foreigners to bring it down.
The regime is using force to attempt to remain in power. Since the 12-day war with Israel, the regime has arrested more than 21,000 political opponents. In 2025, the regime’s execution rate surged to levels not seen since 1989: The regime has executed close to 1500 people. Violence is escalating in the confrontation between the regime and the current wave of protests.
The regime has lost the ability to supply the Iranian people’s most basic needs. The country is in the grip of its worst water shortage in half a century. The water shortage affects most of Iran’s provinces and its largest cities, including Tehran and Mashhad. In parallel, electricity, natural gas, and fuel shortages continue to afflict Iran’s population. The government frequently closes schools due to the inability to provide heat and power.
Like the USSR, Iran is a multi-ethnic country. Persians comprise less than 40 percent of the population, and they primarily inhabit Iran’s center, while ethnic minorities are clear majorities in Iran’s border provinces, and share ties with co-ethnics in neighboring states, including Azerbaijan, Turkey, Pakistan, and Turkmenistan.
The current wave of anti-regime protests is taking place primarily in the Persian-populated center of the country. Iran’s ethnic Azerbaijanis, Arabs, and Baluch have not joined the fight at this stage. Many of the protestors have expressed support for the Pahlavi monarchy to return to rule Iran. The monarchy greatly suppressed the ethnic minorities and banned use of their languages in schools and government institutions. Thus, many among the ethnic minorities do not want to die in order to exchange an Islamic dictatorship with a Persian dictatorship. But if they perceive they can gain rights after the fall of the regime, they may join.
Uprisings in the non-Russian republics were critical to the fall of the USSR. In Iran’s border provinces, prior to the outbreak of the protests, the ethnic minorities conducted regular killings of security forces. In recent weeks, at least <a href="https://www.barrons.com/news/iran-policeman-killed-in-clash-in-restive-southeast-b1e3da3e">ten Iranian</a> policemen and <a href="https://en.irna.ir/news/86021470/Three-members-of-IRGC-Ground-Force-killed-in-southeastern-Iran">3 IRGC members</a> have been killed in separate incidents in <a href="https://www.iranintl.com/en/202509162527">Sistan-Baluchistan Province</a>. In small towns, they know the home addresses of the IRGC, police, and military officials and the places of work and study of their family members. Thus, unlike in big cities, the minorities can hold security services members personally accountable for their actions against protestors and other anti-regime activity.
Chaos can emerge quickly in Iran and without notice, as it did in Iraq during the Second Gulf War and Libya after the fall of Gaddafi. Loss of control of Iranian non-conventional and other weapon stockpiles pose a threat to regional and global security, especially to states that border Iran. These new weapons flow in the Middle East and could wind back recent successes in stabilizing several areas in the Middle East, such as Syria. The U.S. and its allies need a plan.
* * *
Brenda Shaffer is a faculty member of the US Naval Postgraduate School. @ProfBShaffer.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Iranians protest against the Islamic Republic of Iran, London

Is This Iran’s Gorbachev Moment?

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Middle East

Opinion

Soviet Union

2026 is the year of clarity. All the veils are going to fall. People are going to show you who they are.
That can be frightening. Sometimes it&#8217;s difficult to deal with the realities of life, the realities of people you once trusted, showing themselves to be something else. It can also be surprising and heartening because sometimes people show themselves to be a lot better than you thought they were.
But this year, events in the United States and the world more broadly are going to unmask nearly everyone.
Why?
Because we are on the precipice of something pretty big. And when big things happen, when the world becomes more chaotic, people reveal themselves. Adversity reveals character.
And we&#8217;re about to experience some adversity as Americans.
Where will that adversity come from? It could come from the international sphere. Adversity may spring from China&#8217;s authoritarian ambitions against Taiwan, or its global desire to expand power bases from Africa to Latin America. Already, we&#8217;ve seen some politicians and commentators shying away from revealing the realities about China, fearful that doing so could undercut their delusional vision of a world in which America in retreat is somehow good rather than harmful.
Adversity could arise from the continued conflict between Russia and Ukraine, or from Russia&#8217;s growing ambitions in the region as well as globally. Many figures are already revealing themselves in their views of Russia, often evidencing shocking blindness toward what Russia is, what Russia wants, up to and including full-scale propagandizing on behalf of a tyrannical regime steeped in hatred toward the values of the United States.
Adversity could come from Iran&#8217;s continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and international terrorism, or its desperate desire to stave off internal regime change, or from its propaganda arms in Qatar and elsewhere, pushing anti-Western, anti-American bull****.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2339-the-ben-shapiro-show?elementPosition=4&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Many politicians and commentators are already showing themselves willing to do anything and everything on behalf of such regimes, up to and including flying cover for radical Islam.
Adversity might emanate from chaos in our southern hemisphere — where rogue states like Venezuela were pursuing deeper relations with our enemies until President Trump acted — or from Europe, where unchecked immigration combined with regulatory overreach threatens to doom an entire continent to stagnation and disarray.
It could come from any other variety of sources on the foreign front.
The world is a chaotic place. It&#8217;s a more chaotic place when America is weak, as many on the Left and the Right wish to make it.
Adversity could arise domestically, too. Adversity may come in the form of economic turmoil. While the economy right now appears to be in pretty good shape, no one knows how the current AI investment cycle will play out in the short term.
And economic turmoil brings with it political vultures. Already, we&#8217;ve seen some conservatives turning away from the defense of free markets in favor of statism. That seems more familiar from the Left, and we see leftists embracing the most extreme versions of wealth seizure and collectivist centralization.
Adversity will certainly originate in the size and scope of our massive and bureaucratic government, which provides extraordinary obstacles to American achievement and overwhelming support to people who are willing to steal from their fellow Americans.
Adversity will certainly come, too, in the form of reactionary posturing. Lies told by the Left will be mirrored in lies told by the Right and vice versa, resulting in a continued spiral of conspiratorial polarization, totally disconnected from the actual lives of most Americans. Already, we&#8217;ve seen cynical politicians and morally corrupt commentators spew untruths in pursuit of algorithmic momentum, and that is definitely going to accelerate this year.
Politicians and commentators reveal themselves in how they react to adversity. Do they react by telling you the truth, no matter how much their audience might dislike it? Or do they lie to you by telling you the things they think you want to hear? Do they react out of principle or out of convenience? Do they recommend coalition solidarity at the expense of basic decency, integrity, and truth?
In other words, do they treat you like a sucker or do they treat you like a citizen?
Of course, it&#8217;s an election year, and that means that we&#8217;re going to be swamped by lies and prevarication, by a lot of politicians who promise the moon and deliver nothing. We&#8217;ll be swamped, too, by commentators who suggest that political failure results from a general lack of Nietzschean will, rather than the complicated give and take of normal day-to-day politics. And they will argue that if you get more outraged, conspiratorial, and angry, somehow our politics will improve.
How will we Americans react to that adversity, that onslaught of cultivated resentment and Machiavellian manipulation?
The American republic is founded, on the one hand, in a fundamental supposition that human beings are capable of discernment, of acting morally when faced with adversity, of preferring truth to comforting falsehood, and of recognizing our own fallibility.
On the other hand, the American republic is also founded on the reality of the darker side of human nature — our tribalism, our venality, our selfishness.
All of which, when put together, is why our Founders preferred a republic of checks and balances rather than a Francoist dictatorship or a purer democracy.
It&#8217;s why James Madison wrote in Federalist 51:
<blockquote>Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? 
If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.</blockquote>
In the end, it&#8217;s up to us. We have to become better at discernment. We have to act with humility.
We, the American people, must discern who is telling us the truth, even when we don&#8217;t want to hear it, and who is lying to us out of audience capture or political expediency or sycophancy. We have to work to preserve the checks and balances of our system, even checks and balances that might seem to deprive us of temporary power.
If we don&#8217;t, we risk an authoritarian centralization that turns against basic freedom. What&#8217;s more, we risk an arrogance about our own nature that surely turns to disaster, even if our side seems to have that temporary upper hand.
Most of all, we have to remember this: People who promise utopia, an end to adversity, an end to the chaos and turmoil of life, so long as you give them your trust and your power, are providing you a Faustian bargain in which you receive neither utopia nor freedom.
Those who tell you that your future is not in your hands, and who encourage you to surrender whatever is left of that future to a demoralizing conspiracism, are lying to you, and they are lying to you for their own gain.
You deserve better than that. We all deserve better than that.
So let 2026 be a year of clarity.
Let people reveal themselves for who they are and believe them when they show you.
And may we all approach the adversities of whatever comes our way with the courage, conviction, and decency that make America truly great.

2026flag

2026: The Year Of Clarity

Nicolas Maduro

KYIV, Jan 2 (Reuters) &#8211; Russian missiles struck a multi-story apartment building in Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine on Friday, leaving the building in ruins and killing at least two people and injuring about 25 more, officials said.
Russia denied the attack had taken place, suggesting that an explosion at the site was caused by Ukrainian ammunition.
Photographs and videos posted online showed smoke rising from an area of destruction, with emergency crews making their way through rubble and large chunks of building materials.
Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov, writing on Telegram, said that according to preliminary information the bodies of a woman and her son were found under rubble.
Speaking earlier on Ukrainian television, Syniehubov said two ballistic missiles had struck the area and &#8220;nearly destroyed a five-story dwelling.&#8221;
&#8220;Rescue teams are on site,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They are primarily clearing rubble and searching for people underneath.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1022717" style="width: 868px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1022717" class="wp-image-1022717 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/2026-01-02T165850Z_1_LYNXMPEM010DA_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ATTACK-KHARKIV-858x576.jpg" alt="" width="858" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/2026-01-02T165850Z_1_LYNXMPEM010DA_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ATTACK-KHARKIV-858x576.jpg 858w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/2026-01-02T165850Z_1_LYNXMPEM010DA_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ATTACK-KHARKIV-300x201.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/2026-01-02T165850Z_1_LYNXMPEM010DA_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ATTACK-KHARKIV-768x516.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/2026-01-02T165850Z_1_LYNXMPEM010DA_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ATTACK-KHARKIV-1536x1031.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/2026-01-02T165850Z_1_LYNXMPEM010DA_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ATTACK-KHARKIV-2048x1375.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 858px) 100vw, 858px" />Firefighters work at the site of an apartment building hit by a Russian air strike, amid Russia&#8217;s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine January 2, 2026. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy</div>
Ukraine&#8217;s state Emergency Services said it was deploying find people it believed were still trapped under the ruins of the building.
Syniehubov earlier said 25 people were injured, with 16 in hospital, including a woman in serious condition. He said customers may have been at shops and a cafe on the building&#8217;s first floor when the explosion occurred.
<div id="attachment_1022719" style="width: 871px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1022719" class="wp-image-1022719 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/2026-01-02T171058Z_1_LYNXMPEM010IN_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ATTACK-KHARKIV-861x576.jpg" alt="" width="861" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/2026-01-02T171058Z_1_LYNXMPEM010IN_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ATTACK-KHARKIV-861x576.jpg 861w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/2026-01-02T171058Z_1_LYNXMPEM010IN_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ATTACK-KHARKIV-300x201.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/2026-01-02T171058Z_1_LYNXMPEM010IN_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ATTACK-KHARKIV-768x514.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/2026-01-02T171058Z_1_LYNXMPEM010IN_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ATTACK-KHARKIV-1536x1027.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/2026-01-02T171058Z_1_LYNXMPEM010IN_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ATTACK-KHARKIV-2048x1370.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 861px) 100vw, 861px" />Rescuers work at the site of an apartment building hit by a Russian air strike, amid Russia&#8217;s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine January 2, 2026. REUTERS/Vitalii Hnidyi</div>
Russia&#8217;s Defense Ministry, writing on Telegram, said reports of an attack were untrue and suggested the blast at the site had been caused by the detonation of Ukrainian ammunition.
&#8220;Published video footage seconds before the explosion shows thick smoke of unknown origin which, to a high probability, would indicate that a detonation of stored Ukrainian military ammunition occurred at the &#8216;Persona&#8217; shopping centre,&#8221; it said.
The ministry said the reports sought to distract world attention from a New Year&#8217;s Eve strike, which it blamed on Ukraine, on a hotel in a Russian-held part of Kherson region in southern Ukraine. Ukraine responded by saying its strikes were aimed at Russian military and energy targets.
The area&#8217;s Russia-installed governor, Vladimir Saldo, told TASS news agency on Friday that the death toll in that incident had risen to 28.
Located 30 km (18 miles) from the border, Kharkiv withstood Russian advances in the early weeks of Russia&#8217;s February 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbor.
With Russia&#8217;s forces focused since on capturing eastern regions of the country, the city has been a frequent target of aerial attacks.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Ron Popeski, Gareth Jones and Alistair Bell)

REUTERS/Vitalii Hnidyi

Russian Strike On Ukraine’s Kharkiv Kills Two, Injures 25; Moscow Denies Attack Took Place

Russia and Ukraine accused each other of targeting civilians over the New Year, with Moscow reporting a deadly strike on a hotel in territory it occupies in southern Ukraine while Kyiv said there had been another broad attack on its power supplies.
The reports coincide with intensive talks overseen by U.S. President Donald Trump and aimed at bringing an end to the nearly four-year-old war. Each country has said the other is doing all it can to influence his views and shape the outcome.
&#8220;On New Year, Russia deliberately brings war. Over 200 attack drones were launched onto Ukraine in the night,&#8221; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram, saying energy infrastructure in seven regions across Ukraine had been targeted.
Russia accused Ukraine of killing at least 24 people, including a child, in a drone strike on a hotel and cafe where civilians were seeing in the New Year in a Russian-controlled part of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine.
Ukraine&#8217;s military, which has accused Russia of killing many civilians in its own attacks on Ukrainian cities, said it targeted strictly military and energy targets, but made no specific reference to accounts of the strike on the hotel.
Zelensky said that Russia&#8217;s holiday season attacks showed Ukraine could not afford delays in air defense supplies.
&#8220;(Our) allies have the names of equipment which we are lacking. We expect that everything agreed with the United States at the end of December for our defense will arrive on time,&#8221; he said, without clarifying further.
Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed governor of the region, said three Ukrainian drones had hit the celebrations in Khorly, a coastal village, in what he said was a &#8220;deliberate strike&#8221; against civilians. He said that many people had been burnt alive.
Russia&#8217;s Foreign Ministry said that as well as the 24 dead, 50 people had been injured.
It said the strike, as well as other drone attacks blamed on Ukraine, sought to &#8220;divert attention from the failures of the Ukrainian military at the front. The Kyiv regime is trying to prove its viability through terrorist acts.&#8221;
On Monday, Moscow accused Kyiv of trying to strike a residence of President Vladimir Putin. Ukrainian and European officials have said the incident did not happen and U.S. security officials were also reported to have found that Ukraine did not target the residence.
A senior Russian military chief handed to a U.S. military attache what he said was part of a Ukrainian drone containing data he said proved that the Ukrainian military had targeted the residence.
Reuters was not able to immediately verify the reported Kherson region attack or photographs of what Saldo&#8217;s press service said was the aftermath on Thursday. Saldo said he had briefed Putin on the details of the attack.
The images showed at least one dead body was visible beneath a white sheet. The building showed signs that a fire had raged and there were what looked like blood stains on the ground. Russia&#8217;s TASS news agency published video showing drone fragments, some with Ukrainian writing on them.
Ukrainian officials regularly report civilian deaths from Russian air attacks, including in the Ukrainian-held city of Kherson, which lies near the front line.
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible c-link--underline" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Christmas Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
The Ukrainian governor of Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, said that one man had been killed and an 87-year-old woman injured in attacks on the city on Thursday.
Ukraine&#8217;s deputy prime minister Oleksiy Kuleba said rail facilities had been attacked in three regions.
The Russian Defence Ministry said on Thursday its strikes had hit military targets, as well as energy infrastructure which it claimed was being used to support Ukraine&#8217;s military.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia&#8217;s Security Council, told TASS that those who carried out the hotel attack and their commanders should be targeted.
Kherson is one of four regions in Ukraine which Russia claimed as its own in 2022, a move Kyiv and most Western countries denounced as an illegal land grab.
Moscow&#8217;s Mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said Russian air defence units had downed 35 Ukrainian drones over the past 24 hours. He reported no casualties or damage.
(Reporting by Max Hunder and Reuters bureaux; writing by Philippa Fletcher; editing by Ros Russell and Ron Popeski)

Russia And Ukraine Trade Allegations Of Civilian Attacks On New Year’s Day

Editor’s note: This week, we’re reprinting some of our best stories from the past year. In this piece, originally published in April, Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro offered Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the opportunity to respond to accusations that Christians are being persecuted in Ukraine.
Ben Shapiro confronted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over allegations of Christian persecution and forcibly conscripting men off the street in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ben-shapiro-probes-zelensky-in-ukraine-as-clock-ticks-on-peace-deal?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Ben+Shapiro+Probes+Zelensky+In+Ukraine+As+Clock+Ticks+On+Peace+Deal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">face-to-face interview</a> in war-torn Kyiv this week.
Shapiro questioned Zelensky on the concerns that he has cracked down on the religious freedom of the Russian Orthodox Church — marking one of the first times the Ukrainian leader has been pressed on such issues by a member of the American media.
“There have been a lot of accusations that there&#8217;s been a crackdown on religious freedom in Ukraine, particularly with regard to the Russian Orthodox Church,” Shapiro said. “Maybe you can respond to the accusations that there&#8217;s a restriction on religious freedom with regard to Russian Orthodox in Ukraine.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cVRuLaEJij0?si=Zhu_-bwlGUIKhCYN" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe> 
Zelensky started off by observing that Shapiro witnessed him moments before the interview holding a meeting with the leaders of 15 different religious sects who make up the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations.
“We have a meeting like that a couple of times per year, and I truly visit some of the churches’ sites,” he said. “I believe that what Ukraine has is the largest council of churches in Europe. All of our churches are united — different religions, different believers, and everyone is united.”
Zelensky said that there is no pressure on religious institutions generally, but admitted that the Ukrainian government has cracked down on some churches that he believes are working on behalf of Russia’s intelligence agency.
“The Moscow church is just another agency of the KGB,” Zelensky said. “Everyone knows that Russia’s special services are in control of the church.”
Zelensky said that the churches must be free of influence and that “Moscow cannot be in control.”
“The legislative changes in Ukraine are related to the fact that there could be no connection between Moscow and the church,” Zelensky said, referring to a 2024 law <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/10/30/ukraine-new-law-raises-religious-freedom-concerns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banning religious organizations</a> with ties to the Russian Orthodox Church. <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/10/30/ukraine-new-law-raises-religious-freedom-concerns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Human Rights Watch</a> raised concerns about the law&#8217;s broad scope and its potential to target the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the country’s main religious body, founded in 1990 when it split from the Russian Orthodox Church.
Zelensky denied that any churches were closed but pointed out that he and Shapiro were outside the Saint Sophia Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage site, whose foundations are believed to have been laid in 1011.
“Sophia is older than Russia&#8217;s capital city and any churches they have,” Zelensky said. “That&#8217;s the answer. We shouldn&#8217;t be having any disputes. We have scientific evidence. We are just saying that our church should be free from any authorities. It&#8217;s free for the people.”
“Nobody closed anything or anyone. But it can&#8217;t be the case that Russia&#8217;s KGB is in control of the church in Ukraine. Everyone is against these legal ties.”
Shapiro also pressed Zelensky on the reports that Ukrainian men have been kidnapped off the streets and forcibly recruited into the military — a claim that Vice President JD Vance brought up during Zelensky’s contentious <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-and-vance-clash-with-zelensky-in-fiery-white-house-meeting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oval Office meeting</a> in March.
“There have been reports online that people are being picked up off the streets and in places in eastern Ukraine and recruited into services,” Shapiro asked. “How do you respond to accusations and videos like that?”
In response, Zelensky called the act “military mobilization” and said that it’s a policy created in accordance with martial law after the 2022 Russian invasion.
“The country is at war,” Zelensky said. “That is why we do have mobilization. We want the war to end…but as long as there is war, as long as we have the law, there is still mobilization.”
Zelensky downplayed the accusations, claiming that there are “different approaches&#8221; to military mobilization and that taking men off the streets is not “the main thing that describes Ukraine today.”
“No, Ukraine has 800,000 right now, or 600,000 people who volunteered to go to the army,” he said. “That was the law on mobilization, but the people were volunteering to go and defend Ukraine.”
Zelensky added that the issue is “not massive” and that he believes law enforcement should be “making sure that everything would be transparent” and that there is “no coercion.”
“We shouldn&#8217;t be hiding that like a corruption,” he went on. “If we are fighting with this on an everyday basis — well, of course, you can hide it, like everything, as in [the] case in Russia or in some European countries — but Ukraine clearly shows that it is fighting on a constant basis against aspects like that. But those are kind of singular cases. This is not massive. That&#8217;s more important, and that should be reducing on a daily basis. We&#8217;re doing that.”

Ben Shapiro

Best Of 2025: Ben Shapiro Confronts Zelensky On Christian Persecution And Conscription In Exclusive Interview

President Donald Trump talked to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, as the United States seeks to finally bring an end to the Ukraine-Russia war.
Trump&#8217;s discussion with Putin on Monday was &#8220;positive,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/PressSec/status/2005668576771051870">according</a> to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who did not reveal any details of the phone call. Trump also <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115798213364038844">said</a> he spoke to Putin in a &#8220;productive telephone call&#8221; just prior to his meeting with Zelensky on Sunday.
During a press conference alongside Zelensky following their meeting, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-peace-deal-in-ukraine-is-closer-than-ever-save-a-few-thorny-issues">said</a> that he believes a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia is &#8220;closer than ever,&#8221; adding, “In a few weeks, we will know one way or the other.” Zelensky added that Ukrainian negotiators have agreed to about 90% of Trump&#8217;s 20-point peace plan, while Trump said Ukraine agreed to 95% of it. Trump proposed a 28-point peace plan last month, but it was reduced to 20 points during negotiations.
“Our meeting was excellent, we covered — somebody would say 95 percent, I don’t know what percent — but we have made a lot of progress on ending that war,” Trump said on Sunday.
While Trump remains optimistic about the peace negotiations, Putin has shown no signs of slowing down his campaign to take over Ukraine.
Russia continued to pummel Ukraine with missiles and drones over the weekend, just ahead of Trump&#8217;s meeting with Zelensky. Kyiv, along with other parts of Ukraine, was targeted with hundreds of missiles and drones on Saturday. At least two people were killed, and 46 others were wounded in the attacks, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-drones-missiles-pound-ukraine-before-zelenskiy-trump-meeting-2025-12-27/">reported</a>. Zelensky argued that Russia’s aggression was a direct response by Putin to Ukraine’s negotiations with Trump.
<a class="c-link" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Christmas Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
&#8220;Today, Russia demonstrated how it responds to peaceful negotiations between Ukraine and the United States to end Russia&#8217;s war against Ukraine,&#8221; Zelensky said on Saturday.
Russia also accused Ukraine of targeting a presidential residence in a drone attack that was thwarted by Russian defenses. Zelensky denied the accusation, calling it a &#8220;new lie&#8221; from Moscow.
Russia has signaled that it does not agree with some of Trump&#8217;s peace plan, including how large Ukraine&#8217;s military would remain under the conditions, Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-29/trump-putin-held-positive-call-on-ukraine-white-house-says">reported</a>. Another major sticking point in the negotiations is Ukraine’s Donbas region, which is largely under Russian control despite continued fighting by Ukrainian troops.
Zelensky, meanwhile, said on Monday that he wants security guarantees from the United States to last up to 50 years if he agrees to the peace deal. Under the current proposal, the United States and Europe would provide security guarantees for 15 years, with the possibility for an extension.
“I would like the guarantee to be much longer,” Zelensky said. “We would like to consider the possibility of 30, 40, 50 years and then it will be a historic decision by Trump.”

U.S. President Trump And Russian  President Putin Meet On War In Ukraine At U.S. Air Base In Alaska

Trump Holds ‘Positive’ Call With Putin After Zelensky Meeting

Executive

Politics

Menu