Category: Politics

(WASHINGTON) — Top congressional leaders — comprising the “Gang of 8” — did not receive a briefing from the administration before the U.S. strike in Venezuela began, multiple sources told ABC News Saturday morning.

Per one source, the Department of Defense notified congressional staff after the operation started.

Weeks ago, President Donald Trump indicated he wouldn’t  brief lawmakers in advance of any land operations in Venezuela because he was worried they would “leak.” 

Early congressional reaction largely split along party lines.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio worked the phones Saturday morning to shore up support among Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Notably, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee initially seemed critical of the action being taken without authorization by Congress.

“I look forward to learning what, if anything, might constitutionally justify this action in the absence of a declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force,” Lee posted on X.

But later, Lee followed up his post saying he had spoken by phone with Rubio about and was now comfortable with the administration’s authority to take action.

“Just got off the phone with @SecRubio He informed me that Nicolás Maduro has been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States, and that the kinetic action we saw tonight was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant This action likely falls within the president’s inherent authority under Article II of the Constitution to protect U.S. personnel from an actual or imminent attack Thank you, @SecRubio, for keeping me apprised,” Lee wrote.

He also said that Rubio told him he anticipates “no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody.”

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, echoed Lee’s comments after saying he, too, had spoken with Rubio.

“Nicolas Maduro wasn’t just an illegitimate dictator; he also ran a vast drug-trafficking operation. That’s why he was indicted in U.S. court nearly six years ago for drug trafficking and narco-terrorism,” Cotton posted on X. “I just spoke to @SecRubio, who confirmed that Maduro is in U.S. custody and will face justice for his crimes against our citizens. I commend President Trump and our brave troops and law-enforcement officers for this incredible operation.”

Later, speaking to Fox News, Cotton said, “Congress doesn’t need to be notified ever time the executive branch is making an arrest. And that’s exactly what happened this morning in Venezuela, and now Maduro is going to come to the United States, and he’s going to face justice.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement he has spoken to Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in “the last several hours” — calling the military action in Venezuela “decisive” and a “justified operation that will protect American lives.”

Johnson said the Trump administration is working to schedule briefings next week when Congress returns to Washington after the holiday break.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said in a statement that he had spoken with Rubio as well and argued Trump’s actions were undertaken as part of “the execution of a valid Department of Justice warrant.”

“President Trump’s decisive action to disrupt the unacceptable status quo and apprehend Maduro, through the execution of a valid Department of Justice warrant, is an important first step to bring him to justice for the drug crimes for which he has been indicted in the United States,” Thune said.

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, countered that Rubio had denied regime change was the administration’s goal.

“Maduro is an illegitimate ruler, but I have seen no evidence that his presidency poses a threat that would justify military action without Congressional authorization, nor have I heard a strategy for the day after and how we will prevent Venezuela from descending into chaos,” he said in a statement. “Secretary Rubio repeatedly denied to Congress that the Administration intended to force regime change in Venezuela. The Administration must immediately brief Congress on its plan to ensure stability in the region and its legal justification for this decision.”

In a statement Saturday morning, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, one of the Senate’s most vocal advocates for congressional war authorizations, issued a scathing statement on Trump’s actions in Venezuela and called for Congress to take up his resolution that would block the use of the U.S. armed forces to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela unless authorized by Congress.

“Where will this go next? Will the President deploy our troops to protect Iranian protesters? To enforce the fragile ceasefire in Gaza To battle terrorists in Nigeria To seize Greenland or the Panama Canal? To suppress Americans peacefully assembling to protest his policies?” Kaine said.

“Trump has threatened to do all this and more and sees no need to seek legal authorization from people’s elected legislature before putting servicemembers at risk,” he said.

Kaine, along with California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and co-sponsor GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, introduced a war powers resolution last month to block the use of the U.S. military to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela unless authorized by Congress.

That legislation is ready to be called up for a vote. The Senate returns to Washington next week on Monday, while the House returns on Tuesday.

Last month, Republicans defeated two Democratic war powers resolutions that attempted to reign in the president’s military actions in the Caribbean and East Pacific.

The first measure, H. Con. Res. 61, would direct the president to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities with any presidentially designated terrorist organization in the Western Hemisphere unless a declaration of war or authorization to use military force for such purpose has been enacted.

That resolution was authored by the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Gregory Meeks. A vote failed on Dec. 17 by a count of 210-216, with two Republicans voting in favor and two Democrats opposed to the measure.

“This action is also a violation of international law and further undermines America’s global standing,” Meeks, D-N.Y., stated Saturday following the operation. “Congress must reassert its constitutional role before this escalation leads to greater instability, chaos, and unnecessary risk to American lives.”

A separate war powers resolution, H. Con. Res. 64 — championed by Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern and written to address hostilities with Venezuela, narrowly failed by a vote of 211-213, with three Republicans voting in favor — at odds with the rest of the House Republican Conference. One moderate Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, voted to defeat the measure alongside Republicans.

On Saturday, McGovern argued the strikes are illegal.

“Without authorization from Congress, and with the vast majority of Americans opposed to military action, Trump just launched an unjustified, illegal strike on Venezuela,” he posted on X.

While congressional Republicans overwhelmingly expressed support for the Trump administration’s operation to capture Maduro, at least three House Republicans put out critical statements of the action.

GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky posted on X: “If this action were constitutionally sound, the Attorney General wouldn’t be tweeting that they’ve arrested the President of a sovereign country and his wife for possessing guns in violation of a 1934 U.S. firearm law.”

Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska posted on X, in part, “My main concern is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan. Freedom and rule of law were defended last night, but dictators will try to exploit this to rationalize their selfish objectives.”

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia posted, in part, “If U.S. military action and regime change in Venezuela was really about saving American lives from deadly drugs then why hasn’t the Trump admin taken action against Mexican cartels?”

She added, “And if prosecuting narco terrorists is a high priority then why did President Trump pardon the former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez who was convicted and sentenced for 45 years for trafficking hundreds of tons of cocaine into America Ironically cocaine is the same drug that Venezuela primarily traffics into the U.S.

Greene continued, “Americans disgust with our own government’s never ending military aggression and support of foreign wars is justified because we are forced to pay for it and both parties, Republicans and Democrats, always keep the Washington military machine funded and going. This is what many in MAGA thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong.”

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(NEW YORK) — Amid the news that the U.S. carried out a “large scale strike” on Venezuela overnight Saturday and captured the country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, Americans may be wondering why Trump, who promised voters no more wars, would launch a risky ground operation to capture a foreign leader.

So far, Trump and his top aides have offered shifting explanations since Trump’s military buildup in Latin America began earlier this year.

Initially, Trump defended his military operations near Venezuela as keeping drugs out of the US, although experts say the cocaine that passes through Venezuela winds up mostly in Europe while fentanyl is sourced from China.

Trump also accused Maduro of emptying Venezuela’s prisons and “mental institutions” into the U.S., although there’s no evidence of that either. According to the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have settled in the U.S. in recent years due to economic and political instability in their home country.

By mid-December, Trump accused Maduro of “stealing” U.S. oil and land. Trump appeared to be alluding to work done in the 1970s in Venezuela by Western oil companies before the government there opted to nationalize its reserves, eventually forcing out American companies.

In a Dec. 17 social media post – around the same time sources say Trump was making a decision to greenlight the Jan. 3 military operation — Trump said the U.S. military threat to Venezuela will “only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before — Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”

Trump aide Stephen Miller made a similar claim.

“American sweat, ingenuity and toil created the oil industry in Venezuela. Its tyrannical expropriation was the largest recorded theft of American wealth and property,” Miller wrote on X.

Two days later at a press conference, Secretary of State Marc Rubio offered a more general explanation than access to oil reserves, calling Maduro’s presidency “intolerable” because it was cooperating with “terrorist and criminal elements” instead of the Trump administration.

Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has staked much of his political career as opposed to the communist Cuban government. He has long blamed Maduro as a primary source of instability in the region, including in Cuba where the regime still relies on Venezuela’s cheap oil.

“There is a regional threat, and in the case of Venezuela we have no cooperation,” Rubio told reporters Dec. 19. “To begin with, it is an illegitimate regime. Second, it is a regime that does not cooperate. It is anti-American in all its statements and actions. And third, it is a regime that not only does not cooperate with us, but also openly cooperates with dangerous, terrorist and criminal elements.”

The Venezuelan government issued a statement condemning what it called “the grave military aggression perpetrated by the current government of the United States of America.”

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said overnight the United States is “locked and loaded” as he warned Iran not to kill peaceful protesters as nationwide unrest unfolds in Tehran.

In a post on his social media platform early Friday morning, Trump vowed that “if Iran [shoots] and violently kills peaceful protestors,” then the U.S. would step in and “rescue” them.

The president did not specify by what means such a “rescue” would occur, but he added that the U.S is “locked and loaded and ready to go.”

The post comes as several people were reportedly killed on Thursday amid protests in Iran.

Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, responded to Trump’s statement with a threat of his own.

“With the stances taken by Israeli officials and Trump, the behind-the-scenes of the matter has become clear. We consider the positions of the protesting merchants separate from those of the destructive elements, and Trump should know that American interference in this internal issue is equivalent to chaos across the entire region and the destruction of American interests. The American people should know that it was Trump who started the adventurism. They should look after their soldiers,” Larijani posted on X.

Thousands began protesting in Iran on Sunday over the country’s inflation and record-low currency value, but the unrest has expanded over discontent with the Iranian regime.

On Monday, Trump declined to answer whether he would support an overthrow of the Iranian regime, but commented on the country’s “problems” and recognized the public dissatisfaction.

“They’ve got a lot of problems they are in,” Trump said on Monday. “They have tremendous inflation. Their economy is bust, their economy is no good. And I know that people aren’t so happy.”

Trump on Monday also warned Iran not to rearm itself or rebuild its nuclear program.

“Now I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we’re going to have to knock them down. We’ll knock them down. We’ll knock the hell out of them,” the president said as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

ABC News’ Joseph Simonetti contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Zohran Mamdani, the state assemblyman and democratic socialist who catapulted to national attention during the 2025 race for New York City mayor, was sworn in at midnight on New Year’s Day 2026 in a ceremony that ushered in historic leadership for America’s largest city, as he becomes the city’s first Muslim mayor and first mayor of South Asian descent.

He took the oath office in during a private ceremony by New York Attorney General Letitia James, in the now-decommissioned original City Hall subway station, which is known for its ornate arches and tiled ceiling.

In a short speech after being sworn in by James, Mamdani said, “This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime.”

He also called the old station a “testament to the importance of public transit to the vitality, the health, the legacy of our city,” as he pivoted to announcing his pick for Department of Transportation commissioner.

Mamdani was sworn in during the midnight ceremony on a centuries-old Qur’an from the New York Public Library’s collections, the library said Wednesday.

Previous New York City mayors have also been formally sworn in at midnight, and can choose what book they use for the ceremony. Outgoing incumbent Mayor Eric Adams was sworn in using a family Bible.

At his public inauguration ceremony, set for 1 p.m. ET Thursday on the steps of New York City Hall, Mamdani will be sworn in by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Brooklyn-born independent and fellow democratic socialist who has been an ideological ally.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a fellow democratic socialist who represents a swath of the Bronx, will also deliver remarks.

“I think this is an important day for New Yorkers and even for the United States. The Mamdani inaugural on Jan. 1 is going to attract a global audience,” Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban policy at New York University, told ABC News.

Moss said that having Sanders be a part of the inauguration makes a statement “that this is a national event … so I think that [Mamdani is] identifying his ideological roots and his connection to national politics.”

Laura Tamman, a political science professor at Pace University, told ABC News that “Ocasio-Cortez was, similarly to [Mamdani], really underestimated by the Democratic establishment, and has gone on to become a really important leader in the party.”

Mamdani’s transition team has also said that Cornelius Eady, a prolific poet and a National Book Award finalist, will read a new poem at Mamdani’s inauguration, and that the inauguration will include a block party open to the public.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the longtime top New York Democrat and the current Senate Minority Leader, is attending the inauguration, a spokesperson for Schumer confirmed to ABC News on Thursday. Schumer never formally endorsed Mamdani during his mayoral campaign.

Mamdani triumphed over independent candidate former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa after campaigning largely on making the city more affordable, although he often faced questions over his relative lack of political experience and feasibility of his proposals. His campaign promises included a rent freeze for rent-stabilized apartments, free bus fares and free childcare for children aged 6 weeks to 5 years.

During the campaign, he took stances on policing and public safety more moderate than how he had spoken about policing previously, and committed during his campaign to keeping on New York City’s current police commissioner, Jessica Tisch.

Mamdani will also face the challenge of translating his campaign promises into reality, which will include working with the state government, which controls taxes, and the city council on various city proposals.

At an event on Tuesday with reporters, Mamdani focused largely on administration appointments and the road ahead.

“I will demand excellence from my team, from myself, and also, I will ensure that we create the conditions where that excellence is possible to deliver on,” he said while responding to questions about the city’s Law Department.

Moss said that “no one expects a new mayor to do everything they promise, but they have to be making progress on their promises.”

“So Mamdani has to have some wins this year, which lay the ground for bigger wins in the future. And I think the key part is that he has identified what he wants,” Moss said.

The new mayor will also have to navigate the liberal-leaning city’s relationship with the Republican-controlled federal government. In November, Mamdani met with President Donald Trump in what was widely expected to be a contentious meeting, but ended up being very cordial.

During the meeting, Trump and Mamdani said they agreed on many things, after they had criticized each other for months during the campaign.

“I think you’re going to have, hopefully, a really great mayor; and the better he does, the happier I am,” Trump said at the time.

Neera Tanden, president of the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that Mamdani “has to get the rents down. He has to make sure the city runs well.”

“But I think a lot of people look at the fact that he was able to get Donald Trump to basically compliment him,” she added.

ABC News’ Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.

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(LONDON) — December saw a new record number of Ukrainian long-range drones shot down by Russian forces, according to statistics published by the Russian Defense Ministry and analyzed by ABC News, with Moscow claiming to have destroyed more than 4,300 over the course of the month.

Through December, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed to have shot down 4,379 Ukrainian long-range drones, at a rate of around 141 each day.

ABC News cannot independently verify the data released by either Russia or Ukraine. It is possible that both sides may seek to exaggerate the effectiveness of their air defenses, or to amplify the attacks against them as proof that their enemies are not interested in pursuing a peace deal.

The total number of Ukrainian drones being reported as shot down by Moscow is still significantly less than the number of munitions launched into Ukraine by Russian forces, as detailed in the daily after-action reports from the Ukrainian air force.

But the gap between the two figures appeared to have narrowed in December compared to recent months, according to data released by both sides and analyzed by ABC News.

In December, Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched a total of 5,307 long-range munitions — 5,131 drones and 176 missiles. Of the drones, nearly 81% were shot down or suppressed, while around 64% of missiles were also defeated, the air force said.

The scale of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine through December were similar to previous months, all of which were slightly down on the record-breaking month of July.

Over the course of July, Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 6,443 munitions — 6,245 drones and 198 missiles — into the country.

This year has seen an exponential increase in the scale of long-range cross-border strikes by both Russia and Ukraine, according to data released by each side, as the combatants try to destabilize their opponent’s economy and sap their ability to marshal military and financial resources to fight the ongoing war.

Neither side provides detailed data on the scale of their own attacks or their targets, though often release statements describing the targets as military, energy or industrial sites. Both sides accuse the other of intentionally attacking civilian targets.

Both Kyiv and Moscow do offer limited information on their day-to-day air defensive actions.

Ukraine’s air force publishes what it says is a daily tally of Russian drone and missile strikes, including information as to how many munitions were intercepted and how many hit targets. Russia’s Defense Ministry only publishes figures of Ukrainian drones it claims were shot down.

The last month of the year saw the reported number of Ukrainian drones surpass even the most intense months of 2025, which has seen the largest barrages of the war, according to data published by both Ukraine and Russia.

The days on which Russia reported the highest number of drones shot down this year were on Dec. 24, when 387 drones were reported destroyed, and on Dec. 11, when 336 drones were recorded as having been intercepted.

Until December, the largest number of Ukrainian drones reported having been downed by Russian forces was in October, when Moscow said it destroyed 3,641 drones at a rate of over 117 per day.

In November, Russia reported downing 3,392 Ukrainian drones at a rate of 113 per day. December saw a 29% increase in reported Ukrainian drones shot down versus November, according to Russian data.

It is unlikely that Russian data offers a full picture of Ukraine’s offensive drone activities. But the numbers appear indicative of Kyiv’s efforts to grow its drone and missile arsenals, the reach of those munitions and the intensity with which it can attack targets inside Russia.

Ukraine’s military confirms the targets of some long-range strikes. When Kyiv does describe the targets, officials say they’re military sites or industrial energy facilities. Over the past year, Ukraine has adopted a special focus on attacking Russian oil refining and transport facilities.

Among the targets claimed struck by Ukraine’s military in December were oil refineries, oil tankers, oil rigs and pipeline infrastructure.

Ukrainian officials have been clear on the value they place on Kyiv’s long-range strike capabilities — and on their intention to further expand their drone and missile arsenals to reach deeper into Russia. To date, the majority of Ukrainian strikes are believed to have been conducted using relatively cheap, Ukrainian-made drones.

“Our production potential for drones and missiles alone will reach $35 billion next year,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in October. “Despite all the difficulties, Ukrainians are creating their national defense product that, in certain parameters, already surpasses many others in the world.”

“Never before in history has Ukrainian defense been so long-range and so felt by Russia,’ Zelenskyy said. “We must make the cost of war absolutely unacceptable for the aggressor — and we will.”

Russian officials have broadly sought to downplay the Ukrainian attacks, with most reports of damage or casualties attributed to falling debris from intercepted drones, rather than craft that found their mark.

But plentiful publicly available information — including video footage and photographs of the attacks — indicate that a significant number of Ukrainian drones do get through Russian air defenses and impact at sensitive military and industrial sites.

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(Washington) Former special counsel Jack Smith defended his decision to bring charges twice against President Donald Trump — telling lawmakers in a closed-door deposition earlier this month that his team “had proof beyond reasonable doubt in both cases” that Trump was guilty of the charges in the 2020 election interference and classified documents cases.

And Smith fervently denied that there was any political influence behind his decision — contrary to what the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, who requested the testimony, alleged — such as pressure from then-President Joe Biden or Attorney General Merrick Garland.

“No,” Smith responded continuously.

Just over an hour before the closed testimony on Dec. 17, the Department of Justice sent an email to Smith’s lawyers preventing him from discussing the classified documents case, according to the 255-page transcript of the deposition, released Wednesday by the Judiciary Committee along with a video of the hearing.

This meant Smith was unable to answer most questions on that case and the deposition — intended to ask questions about the alleged weaponization of the DOJ against Trump and his allies — mainly focused on the 2020 election case instead.

Smith’s counsel said the DOJ also refused to send a lawyer to advise Smith on whether his statements were in line with their determination of what he could or could not say regarding the cases, according to the deposition. Smith did say, however, that Trump “obstructed” the classified documents investigation “to conceal his continued retention of those documents.”

Trump repeatedly denied the allegations in both felony cases, which were unprecedented against an American president, and decried them as part of a “witch hunt.” Smith, one of Trump’s frequent targets on social media, ultimately dropped the cases after Trump’s reelection because he said that he was constitutionally prohibited from prosecuting a sitting president.

Smith asserted in his final report that “but for Mr. Trump’s election and imminent return to the Presidency, the Office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.”

During the deposition, Smith argued, as he had in the past, that Trump “President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power.”

When asked if Trump was responsible for the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, Smith said “Our view of the evidence was that he caused it and that he exploited it and that it was foreseeable to him.”

Smith argued that Trump’s claims that he won the 2020 election were not protected free speech because they were intended to target a government function.

“There is no historical analog for what President Trump did in this case. As we said in the indictment, he was free to say that he thought he won the election. He was even free to say falsely that he won the election,” Smith said. “But what he was not free to do was violate Federal law and use knowing — knowingly false statements about election fraud to target a lawful government function. That he was not allowed to do. And that differentiates this case from any past history.”

And Smith said Trump wrote a tweet that “without question in my mind endangered the life of his own Vice President” during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Smith said several witnesses who said they voted or campaigned for Trump — including the Speaker of the House in Arizona and Speaker of the House in Michigan — were the foundation of the case.

“We had an elector in Pennsylvania who is a former Congressman who was going to be an elector for President Trump who said that what they were trying to do was an attempt to overthrow the government and illegal. Our case was built on, frankly, Republicans who put their allegiance to the country before the party,” Smith said.

Asked why Smith did not charge any of the alleged co-conspirators, Smith said “As we stated in the final report, we analyzed the evidence against different co-conspirators. We — my staff determined that we did have evidence to charge people at a certain point in time. I had not made final determinations about that at the time that President Trump won reelection, meaning that our office was going to be closed down.”

Smith said he had evidence that Trump ordered the alleged co-conspirators to place phone calls to senators the night of Jan. 6 to try and delay the certification vote.

The committee pressed Smith why he did not speak with Trump allies Steve Bannon, Roger Stone or Peter Navarro as part of their investigation.

“We pursued the investigative routes that we thought were the most fruitful,” Smith argued. “I didn’t think it would be fruitful to try to question them.”

And they pressed him on seizing phones of members of Congress. Smith said only Scott Perry had his phone seized and no senators did.

“I don’t recall that,” Smith said when asked if he wanted a search warrant for the content of any text messages from members of Congress.

Smith said he just wanted toll records and confirmed that he approved the subpoenas.

“If Donald Trump had chosen to call a number of Democratic Senators, we would have gotten toll records for Democratic Senators. So responsibility for why these records, why we collected them, that’s — that lies with Donald Trump,” Smith said.

Smith recalled that Jim Jordan, the Judiciary Committee chair, was in direct contact with White House on Jan. 6, according to an interview his team conducted with Mark Meadows.

Meadows stated that Jordan was scared. “I’ve never seen Jim Jordan scared of anything,” Meadows said, according to Smith.

Smith said he is “eyes wide open” that he believes Trump will seek retribution against him.

“I came here. I was asked to come here,” he added.

 

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(WASHINGTON) — U.S. Southern Command said it targeted three vessels traveling in a convoy in undisclosed international waters — leaving “narco-terrorists” as survivors after they jumped overboard, according to a social media statement.

The strikes occurred on Dec. 30, according to the post on X.

“Three narco-terrorists aboard the first vessel were killed in the first engagement,” the statement said. “The remaining narco-terrorists abandoned the other two vessels, jumping overboard and distancing themselves before follow-on engagements sank their respective vessels.”

At least six people survived the Dec. 30 strikes, which took place in the Eastern Pacific, according to a U.S. official.

The U.S. Coast Guard was notified to begin searching for the survivors in a search and rescue operation, the statement said.

The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed that a search-and-rescue operation was underway, and that Coast Guard C-130 aircraft had been deployed for the operation. The Coast Guard has put out a signal to other mariners for the survivors in distress.

In a statement shared with ABC News, the Coast Guard said, “on December 30th, the U.S. Coast Guard was notified by the Department of War of mariners in distress in the Pacific Ocean.”

“The U.S. Coast Guard is coordinating search and rescue operations with vessels in the area, and a Coast Guard C-130 aircraft is en route to provide further search coverage,” it said.

Several hours after announcing the Dec. 30 strikes, Southern Command posted on social media that another series of strikes — carried out on New Year’s Eve — had targeted two more vessels alleged to be engaged in drug trafficking. The post did not specify where the strike took place.

A total of five people were killed — three in the first vessel and two in the second, according to the post.

There have now been at least 34 strikes — and at least 115 people killed — in the U.S. military campaign in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific targeting alleged drug traffickers since September.

In the posts about the strikes, the military said the vessels targeted were operated by designated terrorist organizations and that intelligence confirmed the vessel were “were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and engaged in narco-trafficking.”

The U.S. campaign targeting alleged drug boats came under scrutiny last month after the Trump administration acknowledged survivors of an initial series of strikes on an alleged drug vessel on Sept. 2 were killed in a follow-up series of strikes.

In another attack in the Caribbean in October, two survivors of a strike on a submarine suspected of carrying drugs were later returned to the countries of origin — Ecuador and Colombia — to be detained and prosecuted, President Donald Trump said.

On Oct. 27, a mariner, now presumed dead, also survived U.S. strikes.

 

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(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Justice is asking for help reviewing 5.2 million pages of unreviewed documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, seeking to enlist 400 lawyers total from its criminal and national security divisions along with the U.S. attorneys’ offices in Florida and New York, according to people familiar with the matter.

As Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas in an interview earlier this month, the DOJ already had nearly 200 lawyers working to review the files.

But in recent days, department leadership has made clear to the workforce that more help is needed.

The New York Times was first to report the development.

The review of the documents is expected to take much of January, the sources said.

The reorienting of resources from both the criminal and national security divisions has already raised concerns among current and former DOJ officials given the department has already diverted many of those resources towards immigration enforcement, according to sources familiar with the matter.

At this point, the next release of documents is not expected until the end of next month, according to the sources.

Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November mandating the release of the DOJ’s files on Epstein. The measure required the DOJ to release all of the documents, with certain exceptions like protecting victim privacy and ongoing investigations, by Friday, Dec. 19. Missing the deadline, the DOJ said it has been delayed by the vetting process to protect victims.

It’s not immediately clear why the Department of Justice is only now claiming that it has just discovered upward of 5 million pages of documents from its investigations into Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 in his jail cell awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

In February, Attorney General Pam Bondi admonished the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York after she said they had only just alerted her to the existence of hundreds of thousands of documents that they had not previously provided to her office. It’s not clear why they are only now claiming to be alerted to this vast volume of alleged unreviewed material. 

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump issued vetoes for the first bills of his second term, including a bipartisan bill intended to provide funding for a water infrastructure project in Colorado, a measure that passed the House and Senate unanimously.

The Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act was set to provide clean water to rural parts of Colorado.

“Enough is enough. My administration is committed to preventing American taxpayers from funding expensive and unreliable policies,” Trump wrote in a veto letter sent to Congress. “Ending the massive cost of taxpayer handouts and restoring fiscal sanity is vital to economic growth and the fiscal health of the nation.”

Trump also vetoed the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendment Act, a bipartisan bill that aimed in part to optimize water flow into part of Everglades National Park designated for the Miccosukee Native American tribe and to incorporate the Osceola Camp into the Miccosukee Reserved Area to improve the governing structure of the tribe.

“[D]espite seeking funding and special treatment from the Federal Government, the Miccosukee Tribe has actively sought to obstruct reasonable immigration policies that the American people decisively voted for when I was elected,” Trump wrote in his veto. “My Administration is committed to preventing American taxpayers from funding projects for special interests, especially those that are unaligned with my Administration’s policy of removing violent criminal illegal aliens from the country.”

The Miccosukee tribe was part of the opposition to the construction of the so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” migrant detention facility in the Everglades.

Trump’s veto of the bipartisan bill supporting the Colorado project comes at a time when he has fractious relations with some of the state’s political leaders.

The bill was co-sponsored by House Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who defied the Trump administration by signing onto the Epstein discharge petition that forced a vote on a measure to compel the DOJ to release the files. The pipeline would provide water to residents of Boebert’s district.

“This isn’t over,” Boebert said on social media on Tuesday, responding to the White House’s veto announcement.

Democrats also are responding to the bill’s veto, with Colorado’s Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper lambasting Trump on social media, with both accusing him of playing partisan politics.

“Trump just vetoed my Arkansas Valley Conduit bill — passed unanimously to deliver clean, affordable water to Southeast Colorado,” Bennet said. “This isn’t governing. It’s a revenge tour.”

“Donald Trump is playing partisan games and punishing Colorado by making rural communities suffer without clean drinking water,” Hickenlooper said, adding that Congress should overturn Trump’s veto.

Since the bill cleared both chambers unanimously, Congress could overturn Trump’s veto. Doing so would require passing the measure by a two-thirds vote in both chambers. Trump vetoed ten bills total during his first administration, only one of which — the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 — was overridden by Congress.

Trump’s veto also comes two weeks after he attacked Colorado Gov. Jared Polis for refusing to release former Mesa County, Colorado, clerk Tina Peters from prison following her receiving a presidential pardon.

Peters was convicted on state charges for a scheme to tamper with voting systems driven by false claims about the 2020 election. Trump’s pardon power does not extend to state crimes.

“The poorly run state of Colorado with a governor whose incompetent and frankly, with a governor that won’t allow our wonderful Tina to come out of a jail, in a high intensity jail because she caught people cheating on an election and they said she was cheating,” Trump said on Dec. 15.

He added, “She wasn’t cheating. She went over, she looked at one of the election scams going on. And because she did that, they put her in jail for nine years.”

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(NEW YORK) — Zohran Mamdani, the state assemblyman and democratic socialist who catapulted to national attention during the 2025 race for New York City mayor, is set to be inaugurated on New Year’s Day 2026 in a ceremony that will usher in historic leadership for America’s largest city, as Mamdani becomes the city’s first Muslim mayor and first mayor of South Asian descent.

“I think this is an important day for New Yorkers and even for the United States. The Mamdani inaugural on Jan. 1 is going to attract a global audience,” Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban policy at New York University, told ABC News. 

Mamdani will be formally sworn in during a private ceremony by New York Attorney General Letitia James at midnight Thursday. That will take place in the now-decommissioned original City Hall subway station, which is known for its ornate arches and tiled ceiling.

Mamdani will be sworn in during the midnight ceremony on a centuries-old Qur’an from the New York Public Library’s collections, the library said Wednesday.

Laura Tamman, a political science professor at Pace University, said she sees both historical and practical significance in that location.

It is “acknowledging the history of the city,” she said. “It also, honestly, is a secure location … It was such a divisive campaign.”

Mamdani faced death and car bomb threats during his campaign, which included threats that targeted his Muslim faith.

“Whenever you have someone who’s making history like this — I’m sure that there are more security concerns than there were for, say, [former Mayor] Bill de Blasio’s swearing-in,” Tamman said.

At his public inauguration ceremony, set for 1 p.m. ET on the steps of New York City Hall on Thursday, Mamdani will be sworn in by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Brooklyn-born independent and fellow democratic socialist who has been an ideological ally.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a fellow democratic socialist who represents a swath of the Bronx, will also deliver remarks.

Moss said that having Sanders be a part of the inauguration makes a statement “that this is a national event … so I think that [Mamdani is] identifying his ideological roots and his connection to national politics.”

Tamman, meanwhile, said that “Ocasio-Cortez was, similarly to [Mamdani], really underestimated by the Democratic establishment, and has gone on to become a really important leader in the party.”

Mamdani’s transition team has also said that Cornelius Eady, a prolific poet and a National Book Award finalist, will read a new poem at Mamdani’s inauguration, and that the inauguration will include a block party open to the public. 

Mamdani triumphed over independent candidate former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa after campaigning largely on making the city more affordable, although he often faced questions over his relative lack of political experience and feasibility of his proposals. His campaign promises included a rent freeze for rent-stabilized apartments, free bus fares and free childcare for children aged 6 weeks to 5 years.

During the campaign, he took stances on policing and public safety more moderate than how he had spoken about policing previously, and committed during his campaign to keeping on New York City’s current police commissioner, Jessica Tisch. 

Mamdani will also face the challenge of translating his campaign promises into reality, which will include working with the state government, which controls taxes, and the city council on various city proposals.

At an event on Tuesday with reporters, Mamdani focused largely on administration appointments and the road ahead.

“I will demand excellence from my team, from myself, and also, I will ensure that we create the conditions where that excellence is possible to deliver on,” he said while responding to questions about the city’s Law Department.

Moss said that “no one expects a new mayor to do everything they promise, but they have to be making progress on their promises.”

“So Mamdani has to have some wins this year, which lay the ground for bigger wins in the future. And I think the key part is that he has identified what he wants,” Moss said.

The new mayor will also have to navigate the liberal-leaning city’s relationship with the Republican-controlled federal government. In November, Mamdani met with President Donald Trump in what was widely expected to be a contentious meeting, but ended up being very cordial. 

During the meeting, Trump and Mamdani said they agreed on many things, after they had criticized each other for months during the campaign. 

“I think you’re going to have, hopefully, a really great mayor; and the better he does, the happier I am,” Trump said at the time.

Neera Tanden, president of the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that Mamdani “has to get the rents down. He has to make sure the city runs well.”

“But I think a lot of people look at the fact that he was able to get Donald Trump to basically compliment him,” she added.

ABC News’ Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.

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