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Jan. 16, 2026 06:59-08:08 - CSPAN
01:08:57
Washington Journal 01/16/2026
Participants
Main
g
greta brawner
cspan 24:43
Appearances
c
chris wright
01:21
d
donald j trump
admin 00:42
e
elizabeth warren
sen/d 01:06
j
josh hawley
sen/r 00:43
k
karoline leavitt
admin 00:43
l
lars løkke rasmussen
nor 01:49
l
lt gen francis donovan
00:50
m
maria corina machado
ven 00:52
m
michael walz
00:51
t
thom tillis
rep/r 01:06
t
todd young
sen/r 02:24
t
translator russian
01:02
w
wayne paul
00:51
Callers
mike in missouri
callers 00:49
|

Speaker Time Text
Nobel Peace Medal Controversy 00:09:57
unidentified
Together to discuss the top issues facing Congress as both parties prepare for midterm elections.
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greta brawner
Good morning, everyone.
It's Friday, January 16th, 2026.
We are days away from marking President Trump's first year of his second term.
This morning, we want to get your take on the president's handling of foreign policy.
If you support it, dial in at 202-748-8000.
If you oppose, 202-748-8001.
You can also text if you don't want to call at 202-748-8003.
Join us on Facebook.com/slash C-SPAN or on X with the handle at C-SPANWJ.
Recent polls show that Americans say that the president's use of military to achieve his goals has gone too far.
55% answered that way when they were asked in this CNN poll.
39% said it was about right, and 6% said had not gone far enough.
Take a look at another question asked in this CNN poll.
Trump trying to expand U.S. power over other countries.
59% said that has gone too far.
33% said it's about right.
7% of Americans polled here says it has not gone far enough.
Iran, Venezuela, Greenland, dominating the headlines in the national papers this morning, and we'll get your take on what the president has said and done toward all of those countries.
Let's begin with Iran.
New York Times headlined this morning.
Israel and Arab nations asked Trump to refrain from attacking Iran.
The Prime Minister of Israel asked the president to postpone any planned attack.
Israel and Arab officials fear Iran could retaliate by striking their countries and causing a wider conflict.
The president's press secretary, Caroline Levitt, was asked about this yesterday at the briefing.
Here's what she had to say.
unidentified
How close was the president to potentially launching strikes last night?
And was it the gold states that convinced him not to do that as some of the region there have said?
karoline leavitt
Well look, Kelly, I know there's been a lot of speculation in the media about what the president is going to do at any given moment or any given night.
And I would say a lot of these stories, to be honest with you, I've been reading them and they've been based on anonymous sources who are pretending or guessing to know the president's thinking.
The truth is, only President Trump knows what he's going to do, and a very, very small team of advisors are read into his thinking on that.
And as I just told you, he continues to closely monitor the situation on the ground in Iran.
And as we saw yesterday, he had heard that the killings and executions would stop.
And we have seen 800 people, their lives have been spared as a result of that.
The president continues to closely monitor, but also keep all of his options on the table.
greta brawner
Caroline Levitt at the White House yesterday, front page of the Washington Post this morning, Iran reopens airspace after Trump says protest crackdown has eased and protesters won't be executed.
And then you also have USA Today.
Trump claims the killing has stopped in Iran and announcing no longer killing by the anti-government protesters.
On the press secretary's response to the question about Israel and Arab countries asking the president not to attack, here's more in the World News section of the Wall Street Journal this morning.
The U.S. officials and Middle Eastern partners told the White House the regime was unlikely to fall after a massive bombing campaign, which could spark a wider conflict.
Smaller assaults, meanwhile, could boost morale among protesters, but ultimately not change the regime's crackdown.
The president, without making a final decision on which action he would take, asked for military assets to be in place should he order a big attack.
So that is the latest this morning on Iran, and we're getting your thoughts on the president's handling of foreign policy.
Do you support or oppose?
Moving on to Venezuela.
Yesterday in Washington, the Venezuelan opposition leader, Maria Machado, was in the nation's capital and she met with the president.
Cameras were not allowed for that meeting.
Here's a picture put by the White House of the opposition leader handing the Nobel Peace Prize that she was awarded to President Trump.
The president posting about the meeting that he had with Maria Machado.
It was my great honor to meet her, he says, of Venezuela today.
She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much.
Maria presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done.
Such a wonderful gesture, he says, of mutual respect.
The New York Times this morning notes that in their reporting on the exchange of this gift, they say, or the presentation of it, they say what Ms. Machado hoped to gain in Washington is unclear.
After ousting Mr. Maduro, Mr. Trump declined to install her, saying, quote, she's a very nice woman, but she doesn't have the respect needed to lead the country.
That's what he said before.
Independently, verified vote counts in Venezuela's 2024 presidential election showed that Ms. Machado's party had beaten Mr. Maduro by a wide margin.
The Venezuelan authorities nonetheless declared Mr. Maduro the victor and his government embarked on a repression campaign against critics of the outcome.
That's the New York Times reporting this morning.
Also, the Nobel Peace Institute putting out on X that their thoughts on the president give the Ms. Machado giving the president the Nobel Peace Prize saying that this cannot be transferred.
It cannot be gifted.
We're getting your thoughts on the president's handling of foreign policy, support or oppose.
Here is the Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Machado speaking to reporters about why she presented her Nobel Peace Prize to President Trump.
maria corina machado
I presented the President of the United States the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize, and I told him this.
elizabeth warren
Listen to this.
maria corina machado
200 years ago, General Lafayette gave Simón Boliva a medal with George Washington.
Bolivar since then kept that medal for the rest of his life.
And 200 years in history, the people of Bolivar are giving back to the Hare of Washington a medal, in this case, a medal of the Nobel Peace Prize, as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.
greta brawner
Maria Machado, outside of the U.S. Capitol yesterday, after she had met with President Trump, sworn by reporters.
She met with senators on Capitol Hill as well.
Now, the Nobel Peace Center put out this on X yesterday.
One truth remains, they said.
Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others.
The decision is final and stands for all time.
A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot.
We'll go to Homer in Kansas City, Missouri, opposing the president's handling of foreign policy.
Good morning.
What do you say?
unidentified
Good morning, Greta.
Good morning, C-SPAN.
Here's what I said: he's off the chain.
Steve's Central Casting Concerns 00:14:21
unidentified
And what I liked Don Bacon said yesterday, and he's a senator from Nebraska, he said if he continues on with his plans to garner Greenland, then he's finished.
And I love that.
But I'm telling you, this guy, he is always talking about like, oh, these people could be straight out of central casting.
Well, both him and Stephen Miller could be straight out of central casting for evildoers.
I mean, this guy's got to be reined in.
And the whole thing about Venezuela is all about oil.
And now he can't even get Chevron to commit down there.
But other than that, it's just been, and his eight wars that he stopped are similar to Elvis' six-degree black belt, in my opinion.
greta brawner
So, Homer, are you, are you, it sounds like you are relieved to hear members of Congress like Don Bacon, a Republican, who is retiring, by the way, saying that they would stand up to the president should he make moves toward Greenland.
unidentified
Oh, I hope so.
I hope the 60 votes come in, and boom, he's gone.
Just like that.
You have a great day, Ms. Brunt.
greta brawner
All right, Homer.
John in New York, supporting the president.
Go ahead, John.
Share your thoughts with us.
unidentified
Yeah, I try to explain.
I don't know enough really details about it because every article you read was all hypothetical.
They pretend that they know what Trump's going to do, what he's suggesting, what he's arguing.
They don't know nothing.
They act like they know more than Donald Trump himself knows.
There's no way you can make a decision from those four or five articles that you read from the New York Times, USA, and then they're all liberal-leaning newspapers with the far left leaning with their opinions.
greta brawner
Okay, so John, what have you heard from the president himself in his public remarks that you support?
unidentified
I tell you what, I've been kind of not following as closely as I used to be able to do.
I had some issues with my health recently, but I think it's doing okay.
I think he hasn't done anything out of the ordinary.
I mean, he hasn't started a war.
We haven't, you know, with it, like Biden had Afghanistan, and then the Bush has had the other wars, and it brought in a lot of foot soldiers, a lot of deaths.
And so far, Trump's been kind of being very cautious.
He kind of puts his opinions out there to kind of put, you know, let people know if you cross this line, that line, to kind of slow things down.
And what's just going on in Iran, I mean, I'd like to see that stopped.
And I think Trump put his, you know, trying to shut it down by saying, hey, if you don't cut this crap out and you don't go out there and stop killing your citizens, you know, you're going to have heck to pay.
greta brawner
So you think his threat has been successful?
Because according to the headlines, the crackdown has ceased.
There aren't going to be executions.
unidentified
Yeah, I like the fact that he puts threats out there.
He threads every, you know, a lot of things.
He'll say, I'm going to cut this tariff 90%.
And then he goes, oh, I'm going to cut it back to 50.
Then I'm going to go back to 20.
He does things, and that's the way you make a deal, I guess.
He tries to get the upper hand and then works his way backwards and negotiates.
And you've got to start someplace and open up a discussion with somebody, and that's how he does it.
He puts fear, you know, I guess it's what you want to call it, fear.
But I don't have any issues so far.
I, you know, I'm a little nervous about some of this thing about Greenland.
I don't know what the hell that's all about.
greta brawner
All right.
Well, John, let's learn a little bit more.
Senators, a bipartisan group of them, headed to Denmark yesterday to assure their counterparts there and officials that they are not in support of the president's threats against the country.
And the senators, led by Senator Chris Koons, are there and are meeting with officials, according to Reuters.
They've already arrived.
Let's listen to what the president had to say on Wednesday, describing the national security reasons for acquiring Greenland.
donald j trump
Greenland's very important for the national security, including of Denmark.
And the problem is there's not a thing that Denmark can do about it if Russia or China wants to occupy Greenland.
But there's everything we can do.
You found that out last week with Venezuela.
There's everything we can do about things such as that, not going to happen.
We're not, you know, I can't rely on Denmark being able to fend themselves off.
You know, they were talking about they put an extra dog, and they were serious about this.
They put an extra dog sled there last month.
They added a second dog sled.
That's not going to do the tricks.
unidentified
Denmark fought alongside the United States and both activists.
Thank you for telling me that.
donald j trump
I appreciate it.
I have a very good relationship with Denmark, and we'll see how it all works out.
I think something will work out.
greta brawner
The president on Wednesday on the national security reasons for acquiring Greenland.
Take a look at a recent poll that was done by CNN.
75% strongly or somewhat oppose U.S. attempting to take control of Greenland, while 25% strongly or somewhat favor.
Here are the headlines today in the national newspapers.
Take a look at the Wall Street Journal.
Europe sends some troops to Greenland in a NATO first.
American allies are using forces to stop possible U.S. action.
There is also this headline in the papers this morning about this.
Tillis lets loose on Trump policies.
This was from a Wednesday speech by the retiring Republican from North Carolina.
And in those remarks, he talked about Greenland.
Here's what he had to say.
thom tillis
Ladies and gentlemen, the thought of the United States taking the position that we would take Greenland, an independent territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, is absurd.
Somebody needs to tell the president that the people of Greenland, up until these current times, were actually very, very pro-American and very, very pro-American presence.
We had as many as 17 military installations in Greenland at our height.
And frankly, I bet that once we get through this tension that we have today, that they would be willing to accept us.
So we've got the power projection capability in Greenland.
And we haven't necessarily put a 75-year alliance in NATO and dissolving it in the mix.
That's the smart, sustainable way to achieve the president's goal of securing the Arctic.
The not smart, unachievable way is whoever told the president that this was a viable path.
It doesn't make sense.
greta brawner
Senator Tom Tillis, this week on the Senate floor, if you missed his remarks where he goes into his decision to retire and his relationship with the White House, you can find it on our website at c-span.org.
On Greenland, from the New York Times this morning, why Greenland matters for a warming world.
Greenland's riches.
Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, sits on an array of minerals, including graphite, zinc, and rare earths.
Many of those are important to European Union nations as they try to expand their renewable energy technologies.
A majority of what the 27-country bloc has identified as critical raw materials can be found in Greenland.
Graphite is critical for batteries, for instance, and China dominates the global graphite market.
Some of Mr. Trump's allies have invested in mining interests in and around Greenland.
Extracting these minerals is no easy task because of all that ice.
Also, the government of Greenland has banned uranium mining, citing the risk of environmental damage.
Then there's oil.
Oil companies have tried for 50 years to extract oil in the ecologically sensitive Arctic waters off the coast of Greenland.
Greenland's riches, reporting by the New York Times this morning.
Diane in Michigan, we're getting your thoughts this morning and whether or not you support or oppose the president's handling of foreign policy.
Diane?
Hello.
unidentified
Hi.
I very definitely oppose what he's doing and everything he's doing.
Venezuela, they talked about the boats, drug boats.
We don't hear about that anymore.
Now he's going in there and taking over and raping their country.
He wants to do it to Greenland and he wants to go from there.
Marie Machado is a wonderful woman.
She offered the peace prize to him, a man baby, that wants to take on different prizes that he doesn't even win.
He loses, but he'll take them anyway.
That woman wants to save her country.
He won't even allow her to do anything.
And I also am mad about fighting for our country.
With these troops going on like this, he's doing nothing to calm this down.
And it's going to start a revolution with people because we're not going to stop what he's doing.
greta brawner
All right, Diana, we'll get to protests in the country against ICE's efforts on immigration later on the Washington Journal.
Nancy in Montgomery, Alabama, you're supporting the president.
Good morning.
Go ahead.
unidentified
Absolutely.
I support anything that he's everything that he's doing on foreign policy.
Any idiot that doesn't support somebody trying to save lives that just doesn't make sense to me.
greta brawner
I think that he is only a- Are you talking about Iran, Nancy, when you say trying to save lives?
unidentified
Absolutely.
And Venezuela, he tried was doing it to save lives.
And everywhere else, he's trying, and even in America, he is trying to save lives.
And I am glad that he is doing that.
greta brawner
Okay, Nancy's thoughts there in Alabama in support of the president.
Steve is in opposition in Anaheim, California.
Good morning.
unidentified
Good morning, Greta.
Yeah, is foreign policy a joke?
I mean, you look at what's going on in Ukraine.
You look at the Middle East as far as, you know, the peace agreement.
People are still being killed over there.
The bombing of Iran, which we're going to have to worry about that later.
The invasion of Venezuela.
Steve, I was going to take over Canada.
We want to take Canada to become a state, then Iceland.
Meanwhile, China is building breeder reactors, which they don't have to dig for uranium anymore because they can make it right from the reactor.
Then you look at all the electrical or all the new inventions that are being implemented throughout Europe.
The Aztec railroad that Mexico just finished, along with dredging the Yucatan to allow ships, look, the large ships, container ships, to actually be in port because now I have a deep port.
So there goes the port of Long Beach because they don't longer have to bring those ships up to us because they can go right to Mexico.
So Mexico is going to get all the benefits from world trade and they're not us.
And, you know, he's just distracted on I don't know what and not really paying attention to what is actually going on in the world.
greta brawner
All right, Steve, let me bounce this headline off of you this morning from the Wall Street Journal.
Spurned by Trump, the Canadian Prime Minister Carney looks to China.
The Canadian Prime Minister traveled to China without naming the U.S.
A statement from Kearney's office after Thursday's meeting said that he and the Chinese leader discussed challenges impacting international trade and global supply chains and the opportunities for Canada and China to cooperate.
Trade with China, however, won't come close to replacing the U.S. as Canada's key source of growth.
Although China is Canada's second largest trading partner with a two-way trade of about $80 billion over the past 12 months, that pales in comparison to the roughly $1 trillion in U.S.-Canada commerce over the same period.
Steve?
unidentified
Well, you've got to realize that the original tariffs that were put on Canada and Mexico was because China has an electric car that is far superior than ours.
Instead of plugging into a power station, they just take the battery out and put a new battery in, and it takes like five minutes, and then you're on your way.
You know, that was the original of the tariffs, and that was like supposed to be 10%.
U.S. vs Iran: The High Court Looms 00:15:49
unidentified
And then he got nutty and started putting tariffs on everything else.
As far as bringing manufacturing back to the United States, that ship is sailed.
You know, the parts, cars, and everything else that we get come from everywhere else in the world.
They screwed around too long, and it's over.
So we need to come up with our own system.
Okay, Greta, let me get off the air.
greta brawner
Stephen, California, referencing the president's tariff policies.
And a reminder, the Supreme Court heard arguments against and for the president's tariff policies, and they have yet to rule on that case.
We are expecting a ruling any day now from the High Court.
Back to Iran.
Yesterday, the United States called an emergency meeting on Iran at the UN Security Council.
The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Michael Waltz, before the committee yesterday, reiterating threats by the administration to intervene militarily if the Iranian regime doesn't stop its brutal crackdown.
michael walz
Iran says it's ready for dialogue, but its actions say otherwise.
This is a regime that rules through oppression, through violence, and through intimidation, and has destabilized the Middle East for decades.
Well, enough is enough.
We all have a responsibility to support the Iranian people and to put an end to the regime's neglect and oppression of the Iranian nation.
unidentified
Colleagues, let me be clear.
michael walz
President Trump is a man of action, not endless talk like we see at the United Nations.
He has made it clear all options are on the table to stop the slaughter.
And no one should know that better than the leadership of the Iranian regime.
greta brawner
Michael Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, yesterday at an emergency meeting.
Russia also appeared at that emergency meeting.
Here's what the Russian ambassador to the UN had to say.
translator russian
Since the end of December, the whole world has been watching as the United States continues to escalate tensions and fuel hysteria around Iran, declaring that help is already on the way.
What's more, in its official statements, Washington has not even tried to cover up the genuine reasons for its alleged concern over the country's internal political situation as it threatens new strikes against Iran.
Today's meeting, convened by our American colleagues, is nothing more than yet another attempt to justify blatant aggression and interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state.
And if, as Washington puts it, Iran's authorities do not come to their senses, then Washington will solve the Iranian problem in its favorite way by through strikes aimed at overthrowing an undesirable regime.
greta brawner
The Russian ambassador at the United Nations Security Council meeting yesterday, if you missed it and you want to hear from the foreign ministers, the ambassadors from other countries and the U.S., you can find it on our website at c-span.org.
Bernie in Louisville, Kentucky, you oppose the president's handling of foreign policy.
Tell us why.
mike in missouri
Working at a university, you develop friendships with people from all around the world.
I have many, many friends from Iran.
unidentified
We have very open conversations.
mike in missouri
We've known each other for many years.
I have never seen them so tight-lipped right now on what's actually happening in Iran because they are the people who have friends and family that are directly being involved.
unidentified
And that's where my education on Iran comes from.
Yes, I oppose the policy.
mike in missouri
I don't pretend to know what's in a person's heart, and I am not clairvoyant.
But knowing that Don Bacon and Tom Tillis are speaking out is encouraging, except they're both retiring.
unidentified
And I hate to see that for Don.
I've spoke to him many times on your show.
mike in missouri
And I was hoping for higher aspirations for him, maybe a higher office, too.
I think he'd make an excellent president.
unidentified
Okay.
mike in missouri
Anyway, also, if you happen to see John, tell him it's going to be the Bears and the Bills in the Super Bowl with the Bears pulling it out in overtime.
greta brawner
All right.
Kelly, Clemens, North Carolina, so you support the President?
unidentified
That is correct.
I absolutely support President Trump and his foreign policy.
First off, I don't understand why people are so misinformed on Greenland.
He is going to try to help Greenland and be saved from China.
China is in the process of trying to take over Greenland at this moment because that is a gateway up there from the Arctic down into the Atlantic.
And that would save, we would be there as a blockage of China and Russia to keep them from coming down into the Atlantic.
And that's the whole reason he's doing this.
He's not going to fight anybody to get it.
He's going to work out a deal.
And the people who live there have already said they are for it.
greta brawner
Okay, Kelly, you and others should listen to what the Danish Foreign Minister had to say.
And the Greenlandic Foreign Minister, they met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio as well as Vice President JD Vance this week.
And these are the comments that they made on Wednesday.
lars løkke rasmussen
We have been pushing for quite a while in NATO for a stronger collective role in Greenland together with a number of allies.
And we are eager to work with the U.S. on advancing this agenda.
unidentified
And we are prepared to go further.
lars løkke rasmussen
Therefore, our aim was to find a common understanding on all these points and to launch, if possible, further in-depth work to deliver on them.
On this basis, we had what I will describe as a frank but also constructive discussion.
The discussions focused on how to ensure the long-term security in Greenland.
And here our perspectives continue to differ, I must say.
The President has made his view clear, and we have a different position.
We, the Kingdom of Denmark, continue to believe that also the long-term security of Greenland can be ensured inside the current framework, the 1951 agreement on the defense of Greenland, as well as the NATO Treaty.
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.
And we therefore still have a fundamental disagreement, but we also agree to disagree.
And therefore, we will, however, continue to talk.
We have decided to form a high-level working group to explore if we can find a common way forward.
The group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark.
greta brawner
Denmark's foreign minister, after meeting with Trump administration officials, including JD Vance, the Vice President, here are comments from Greenland's foreign minister about current relationships with the United States.
unidentified
It's never been so important to initiate that we are allies, we are friends, we have been cooperated in many, many years.
We have history together, so it's all our interest to find the right balances.
So I don't think I can say it longer than that.
Of course, we have work to do in the future.
And for us, the most important is that you find the normalized relationship we used to have.
And it's very important.
And I think that we have initiated so many times where we stand and our geopolitic location and everything that is very important.
And we do it as an ally.
And we do it, of course, it's also our interest that prevents positions and how we do it, that you do it on behalf of the allies.
greta brawner
The Greenlandic Foreign Minister in Washington, along with the Foreign Minister from Denmark, meeting with the Vice President and Secretary of State.
In Denmark today are a bipartisan group of senators meeting with to counter Trump's Greenland threats is the headline from Reuters about their visit.
Support or oppose President Trump's handling of foreign policy.
Ronald, in North Carolina, you support.
Share your thoughts with us.
unidentified
Hey, can you hear me?
greta brawner
We can.
unidentified
Okay.
I support Trump.
I think Trump's only worried about you've been watching Russia and China.
Russia and China is going to come in and take Greenland.
She'll take it.
And he's wanting to try to be there to guard it.
That's all he's trying to do.
And that's my opinion.
greta brawner
Okay, Ronald.
Marianne in Denver, Pennsylvania, opposing.
Good morning to you.
unidentified
Good morning.
How are you doing?
greta brawner
Doing well.
And why do you oppose the President's handling of foreign policy?
unidentified
Well, there can be a zillion reasons.
But number one, the tariffs are hurting lowest income people because of stores like Dollar General's store used to get products from China.
And now the prices are almost double on some of those items.
President Trump vowed that he would have the manufacturing of goods like that here in the United States.
Well, first of all, that's not happening.
Used cars are now completely out of reach of low-income people.
I had an increase of 25% on my Medicare supplement insurance, and I was told that that increase was approved by the government.
As far as how he's handling Greenland, I can tell you my father was in World War II, and he was shot down as a paratrooper, and he was very concerned before he died as to what he was seeing the United States doing that really followed a lot of things that Hitler did.
If you remember, President Trump ran the first term saying the United States is not the police force of the world.
And now instead, he's trying to force every other country to follow what he wants.
And if not, he threatens with military action.
That's exactly what Hitler did in World War II.
And I think it's a disgrace and it's embarrassment to the American people.
greta brawner
Marianne's thoughts.
We'll go to Milford, Pennsylvania.
Susan also opposes.
Good morning, Susan.
unidentified
Yes, hi.
Yeah, the way I see Trump as a national leader, he wants to be like the dictators of like North Korea, Russia, and it's his way or no way.
We have to be very careful.
In our country, the way I see him now, instead of an authoritarian leader, he wants to be dictator.
And his aims seem to be imperialistic for the whole world.
Takeover.
No respect, abrasive bullying.
I think it's terrible.
I've called my congressmen, my senators, one Republican, one Democrat, but I let them know how I feel because by them, the Republican ones, McCormick, supporting him, they're bringing our world into a dictatorship.
You can't be buddy-buddy, I don't think, with Trump.
greta brawner
Susan, were you in supportive of the war powers resolution on Venezuela that came, that was brought to the floor, but then Republicans were able to get their rank and file to vote on a point of order that took down the war powers resolution, stopped it from advancing in the Senate for a debate and vote.
unidentified
They should have had a debate on that.
And I saw a lot of the Republican senators did say, yes, we want to vote, but the others were afraid to go against Trump.
And I saw the way the vice president, JD Vance, went and signed that with a grin on his face, smiling.
Why do I have to sign to go with the president?
Come on now.
America, please look at this.
greta brawner
Susan, we're watching the video right now of the Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie vote in the Senate on this point of order.
It was his eighth time coming into the U.S. Senate to break a tie vote.
The headline in the Washington Post, after Vance breaks deadlock, Senate blocks bipartisan bill on war powers.
Three Republicans, Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Ram Paul of Kentucky, joined all the Democrats in voting to continue consideration of the resolution.
Two Republicans, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Todd Young of Indiana, switched their votes from the previous week where they had voted with Democrats and those other Republicans mentioned to advance the legislation.
Yesterday on the Senate floor, Republican Indiana Senator Todd Young spoke about why he changed his vote.
todd young
Even if the Senate had adopted that resolution, had it not been derailed through a procedural vote, it likely would have died in the House of Representatives, very likely, or at a minimum been vetoed by the President of the United States.
That much was clear.
Given that stark, incontrovertible, unavoidable reality, I've had numerous conversations with senior national security officials over the past week since the first vote took place.
Commitments On Military Force Authorization 00:09:42
todd young
And in those conversations, some in person, some by phone, I received assurances that there are, number one, no longer any American troops in Venezuela.
I've also received a commitment that if President Trump were to determine American forces were needed in any major military operations in Venezuela, the administration would come to Congress in advance, in advance, to ask for a formal authorization on the use of military force.
And lastly, Secretary Rubio has agreed to my request to appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to provide a public update on Venezuela immediately after the recess, facilitating the very type of public debate and, if necessary, someday, authorization around these matters.
Hopefully working the muscle memory of this institution and its various committees on issues of war powers so that they might be more inclined to operate those prerogatives to exercise those prerogatives in the future.
For those like me who want Congress to perform its long-standing role in these issues, the commitments I've secured are major commitments that will help keep Congress better informed, help ensure we make better decisions, and ensure in this situation that any future commitment of U.S. forces in Venezuela is subject to public debate and authorization here in this body.
greta brawner
Senator Todd Young, along with Senator Josh Hawley, are the two Republicans this week who switched their votes after getting assurances from the Trump administration.
They voted to take down or block this war powers resolution, which would have prohibited the president from taking further action in Venezuela without congressional approval.
Here's what the Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley told reporters ahead of that of the war powers vote on Wednesday.
josh hawley
The vote to deprivilege the resolution, as I understand that the leader, the majority leader is going to offer.
Marco Rubio just sent a letter responsive to my requests and concerns that certifies, number one, that we have the United States has no ground troops currently in Venezuela or operating in Venezuela.
Number two, that if the administration sought to put ground troops into Venezuela, they would abide by the War Powers Act and they would come to Congress for congressional authorization.
The Secretary also told me directly that the administration will not put ground troops into Venezuela.
They do not seek to occupy Venezuela.
But his commitment to abide by the War Powers notification procedures and also the Constitution is directly responsive to my concerns.
So I'm inclined to take yes for an answer.
greta brawner
Senator Josh Hawley, Republican in Missouri, on why he changed his votes.
The reporting from the Washington Post this morning, they note that in early November, as President Trump made repeated threats to carry out an attack on Venezuela, Secretary of State Rubio sought to reassure members of Congress that, despite the President's public assertions, no such operation was imminent.
The United States, Rubio told lawmakers then, lacked legal authority to invade the South American country and said that doing so would carry major risks, according to people who attended the briefing.
This week, Senator James Risch, Republican chair of the Center Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to the White House asking for confirmation that, quote, U.S. military personnel are no longer involved in hostilities in Venezuela, according to a January 13th correspondent review correspondence reviewed by the Post.
Rubio responded to Risch saying that there were, quote, currently no U.S. armed forces in Venezuela and that the administration would notify Congress if further operations occurred consistent with the War Powers Act, which requires notification within 48 hours.
The administration did not notify Congress ahead of the Maduro raid, according to multiple lawmakers.
Support or oppose President Trump's handling of foreign policy.
There are the numbers on your screen.
Continue to dial in this morning in our first hour of today's Washington Journal.
Sal in New Jersey, you support the president.
Go ahead.
unidentified
Yes.
Hello, Greta.
Thank you.
Thank you my call.
I'd just like to say I support his foreign policy objectives because we're living in a dangerous world and he's doing what he can to keep us safe because Cuba is, I think Venezuela needs to be free.
Cuba, it's about time that they become free.
Iran has been under the heel of Islamo-Nazism for 46 years, 47 years.
It's time that they be free.
I think Greenland can be a good bargaining chip against the Chinese and the Russians.
And when you showed the Russians that snippet of the Russian foreign minister saying that we shouldn't get involved in the internal affairs of other countries, he had some nerve because he invaded Ukraine and he's killing thousands and hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians.
And he kidnapped some 40,000 Ukrainian children.
He brainwashed them and sent them to Russia to make them believe that they were Russian children.
greta brawner
All right, Sal's thoughts there in New Jersey.
Larry in Texas opposing the president's foreign policy.
Hi, Larry.
unidentified
Good morning.
Yes, I oppose it.
I mean, when it all comes down to all the people, I mean, come on.
I'm a combat veteran.
It's nothing about no democracy or anything like that.
As for Iran, I was nine years old, and I can remember them attacking the embassy and keeping our people.
The same people, children, is out there right now fighting against the South that they parents fought for and kept our people hostages.
Next thing: Greenland is part of Denmark, people.
Stop with your nonsense.
When has China or Russia attacked any NATO country?
Thank people.
greta brawner
All right, Larry.
Linda, Winter Springs, Florida, supporting the president.
We'll hear from you, Linda.
Good morning.
unidentified
Good morning.
Thank you for taking my call.
We definitely have to get into Greenland or to Denmark and to help protect our country as well.
We don't need China in there.
We don't need Russia in there.
But we need to protect our country.
And this is the way he needs to do it.
And I'd like to see that done.
Okay.
Thank you.
greta brawner
Julian, Stanford, Connecticut, supporting the president as well.
Good morning.
unidentified
Good morning, Greta.
How are you?
greta brawner
Doing well.
unidentified
I would like to turn on C-SPAN just once and hear you people say something positive about this man.
It's like a communist state-run TV.
Hello?
greta brawner
Julian, we're listening to you.
We present what's in the papers, what the decision makers in Washington are reading.
We've shown you soughts from the administration, from the president, as well as people who disagree with him.
And we're hearing from you this morning about whether or not you support or oppose the president's foreign policy.
unidentified
Go ahead.
You're not giving me a chance to speak.
You brought up the papers again.
Didn't somebody just call you out about those papers that you read these articles from?
New York Times, the USA Today, the Washington Post.
Are you kidding me?
greta brawner
All right, Julian, do you support or oppose the president on foreign policy?
unidentified
Greta.
greta brawner
Julian, do you support or oppose the president on foreign policy?
unidentified
Of course I support him.
greta brawner
Okay, tell us why.
unidentified
Why?
I guess you forgot the last four years, Greta.
You forgot that.
Thank God for this man.
Thank God.
greta brawner
All right.
Dave in Delaware opposes.
Hi, Dave.
Dave in Delaware?
unidentified
Hello?
greta brawner
Yeah, good morning.
We're listening to you.
unidentified
Yep.
That gentleman is a good example of Republicans who are just following, trotting out every last statement of Fox News or the president and not thinking for themselves.
This station is balanced, presents both sides, and I appreciate that.
Anyway, I was calling in response to the Republican senators who decided not to vote for the war powers resolution.
Hawley and the guy from Indiana, just hypocritical, confused, deceitful explanations of why they decided not to vote.
If the Constitution said that the executive, if the executive gave assurances to the legislative branches, then they wouldn't need to legislate, then their explanations would be valid.
U.S. Shock Removal of Maduro 00:11:08
unidentified
But otherwise, it's cowardice, and the only reason they're not voting is because Trump threatened them, said he would primary them and ridicule them and do everything to undermine them.
That's all I have to say.
Thank you.
greta brawner
Dave in Delaware, front page of the Washington Times, below the fold.
U.S. shock removal of Maduro redraws the global energy map.
And they report that by some estimates, China has spent at least $100 billion in Venezuela since the country nationalized its oil industry under socialist leader Hugo Chavez in 2007 and is owed as much as $20 billion by Venezuela.
Beijing is unlikely to be compensated for that debt.
And inside the Washington Times reporting on this, they note that this, Venezuela has been a money pit for China, said Tim Staples, a professor at the University of Georgia and a Latin American energy expert.
And to a lesser extent, for Russia as well.
China has overspent on Venezuela.
The oil and influence China obtained probably could have been secured with less capital.
Says the U.S. Energy Information Administration says Venezuela sits atop 303 billion barrels or roughly 17% of global reserves.
However, Venezuela's heavy oil is a tar-like substance and expensive to produce.
Here's a quote: It will take two to three years of steady investment, say 80 billion, and we might be able to produce 1.6 million per day, said a former analyst for Venezuelan oil.
When I joined, he said in 2004, I saw internal documents which said we were producing 3.4 million barrels per day, he told the Washington Times.
And when I left over a decade later, production had fallen to less than a third.
That's the Washington Times reporting this morning, if you want to read more.
Chris Wright, the president's energy secretary, was at an event in Washington, D.C. yesterday, spoke about U.S. plans for Venezuelan oil and American influence over the country's future in the region.
Here's what he had to say.
chris wright
We have significant power right now or influence over Venezuela, not because we have any American boots or guns on the ground, but because we're controlling today, we are controlling the sale of all of their oil and natural gas.
And then we are taking those funds and placing them in American-controlled counts and flowing them back to Venezuela.
We're getting about a 30% higher realized price when we sell the same barrel of oil than they sell the same barrel of oil three weeks ago.
And a quarter or a third of it was leaked out in corruption.
It was never going back to the government.
It was going out to criminal gangs in Cuba and elsewhere around.
And internal corruption in their own oil companies.
So it's not the desired end state, but today we have an ability to drive change that could transform a country, transform our relations with that country and conditions of life here with no more bullets fired.
It's a challenge, but I'm excited where we are.
This is a creative one of a first of its kind.
May not be the last of its kind, but first of the kind attempt to project American power for the betterment of Americans and the betterment of our hemisphere.
greta brawner
C-SPAN's coverage of the Trump administration's Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, in Washington yesterday.
You can learn more from him if you go to our website, c-span.org.
Juanita in Cincinnati, Ohio, you oppose the president on foreign policy.
Good morning.
unidentified
Saying that I'm done.
The first one is about, especially toward the Republican senator from Indiana.
I'm in Ohio.
So at any rate, listening to him, I can't help but wonder, you know, you can forgive Neville Chengel for being fooled by Hitler and his cronies.
But to listen to the senator from Indiana, any other Indiana and the other Republican senators for the excuse for going along with the president when we have lived through that experience is total nonsense.
That's number one.
Number two, with the young gentleman who was just on, my question to him is: look, I have an insurance bill, I have a gas bill, I have a food bill.
It's going to be due at the end of this month.
What is the president or any of his ponies doing to help me as an American to tackle those when they do that?
I might listen.
Okay?
I don't want oil.
I want to be able to live.
All right.
greta brawner
Juanita in Ohio.
We will go next to Robert in Indiana, supporting the president.
Good morning.
wayne paul
Sure.
This lady is just on there.
I got a notice.
My per electric bill, they set a price, $263 a month.
And before that, he's paying over $450 a month per electric.
Tell me that Trump isn't trying to do something for us.
unidentified
State of Indiana is trying to, I don't know.
I just about give up on them, too.
wayne paul
They're running to these crazy Democrats that don't have any idea that we're, it says, in the last days, there'll be worse rumors of wars.
Right now, we're on the steps of the third world, which is going to be the last one.
I can tell you, it's too much hate.
They've taken God's laws off this land.
Same-sex marriage.
How in the hell can two men have a baby?
greta brawner
All right, Robert, we're going to stick to the topic here of foreign policy.
Bob, Rhode Island opposing the president.
Hi, Bob.
unidentified
Good morning, Greta.
It's wonderful to be able to get in.
I've tried quite a few times.
I had to call, tried to call today because just a little while ago, you had a caller citing this program as one-sided.
And I would like that caller to try and find another country in the world.
Even the better ones, well, the democratically leaning countries have a program like this that gives the opportunity for people to express their opinions.
I'll answer the question.
I don't like to just say oppose, and I don't like to use words like Democrat and Republican to describe masses of people when every one of them is a different person.
I go to town council meetings every two weeks, and I say a five-minute spot on what I consider the country to be in the most desperate overall negative situation that I've ever seen.
I'm 86.
I'm still walking and talking.
greta brawner
Bob, on foreign policy?
unidentified
On foreign policy, I think he's see, Trump has an opinion of a thing to do, defend our country.
Do I think we should defend our country?
It's not what Trump says he's going to do.
It's what he does.
And what he does is so far off what I consider projection of the American way of thinking and doing.
greta brawner
All right, Bob, give an example.
Give an example of his foreign policy.
unidentified
Well, the simple example is when he murdered all those people in the boats and called them terrorists and excused the killings because drugs were stopping drugs from coming into the country.
The invasion of Venezuela, you know, it sounds like, well, this is a guy we want to get out of there, but that's not what it's about.
He says it.
Trump does not hold back.
He says the words.
It's all about one thing, controlling the country enough to get the oil.
greta brawner
Okay.
Bob, on capturing Nicholas Maduro, here is a story in the New York Times this morning.
Want to bet on what Trump will do?
Those markets have ties to his son.
Traders this month are wagering millions on whether the president will take over Greenland, whom he will nominate to lead the Federal Reserve, and whether the government will shut down again.
Less than two weeks ago, someone netted an eye-popping $410,000 payout, betting that Venezuela's leader, Nicolas Maduro, would lose power by the end of the month.
At the intersection of the prediction market industry and Trump world is Donald Trump Jr., the president's eldest son.
He is both an investor and an unpaid advisor to Polymarket and a paid advisor to Kelsey, the two biggest prediction markets.
And he is a director of the Trump family's social media company, which recently announced it would start its own platform called Truth Predict.
A spokesperson for Donald Trump Jr. said his only involvement with prediction markets is to advise Kelsey and Polymarket on marketing strategies and to back polymarket financially.
He said that Mr. Trump does not trade on their platforms and that he never interacts with the federal government on behalf of any company he has invested in or advises.
New York Times with that story this morning.
Ken in Staten Island, you opposed the president.
Good morning.
Go ahead.
unidentified
Oh, my God.
Hi.
Good morning.
Thank you for having me.
Boy, it's like following a garbage.
His foreign policy is like following a garbage truck with his back end open.
It's just so much, day after day after day.
And I just want to say that the effect is that we've forgotten about the Trump file, the Epstein files, haven't we?
But let's get to national security, okay?
It all started with the boat strikes, okay?
A lot of people don't understand or don't go that deep.
I have a criticism, by the way, for every single president going back to FDR concerning national security, that slice of pie.
Going back to the boat strikes, boat strikes are completely illegal, number one.
If there's an interdiction of drugs, as they proclaimed, the window dressing said, we're going after drugs, fentanyl, whatever.
Illegal Orders and Advice 00:06:14
unidentified
That's an interdiction.
That's a Coast Guard-related matter.
I've seen some of those videos.
People don't smuggle drugs or anything, rum runners or anything.
They don't smuggle anything with six or eight people on a boat.
If you see anything, maybe you see one or two, that's it.
Now, those boat strikes are completely illegal.
Now, the area commander, the Southern command, he quit.
A lot of people don't remember this, but he quit his command.
Now, people assume that, well, he happens to be black by coincidence.
Now, people assume when Trump was getting rid of all the minority and people who don't look military assume that he quit because of that.
But the answer is no.
He quit because of those illegal orders of striking boats, attacking boats right out.
That's illegal.
greta brawner
All right, Ken, I'm going to pick up right there.
Because yesterday on Capitol Hill, C-SPAN cameras were in the hearing room when senators held a confirmation hearing for the replacement of the gentleman you're talking about, the commander of the U.S. to lead U.S. Southern Command.
The nominee was sitting before senators yesterday and before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Democrat Elizabeth Warren, pressed him on whether he would ever follow illegal orders.
Take a listen.
elizabeth warren
You tell me you have questioned orders in the past about their legality.
Is that right?
lt gen francis donovan
Senator, I have questioned orders when either one, I didn't understand, I wasn't equipped to carry them out, and I needed clarity before I can actually execute those orders.
elizabeth warren
But you've never questioned whether an order was legal.
You've never wondered whether or not an order is legal and sought additional counsel on that?
lt gen francis donovan
Senator, in our planning processes, I always have a legal advisor at my side as part of the planning process.
So I always have leveraged those legal advisors to give me the best answer.
In the end, I'm responsible for the final decision to carry out or not carry out the order.
elizabeth warren
We'll stop playing dodgeball here.
You know, I thought that was going to be the easy question leading to harder questions.
Back in 2016, Secretary Hegset was very clear that service members have a duty not to follow illegal orders.
Since then, he has repeatedly made clear his contempt for legal review, including by sidelining military legal advisors.
The people are supposed to help you stay on the right side of the law.
And what I wanted to know is how you look at those issues.
So let me try a different version of the question.
General Donovan, if your legal advisor tells you that an order is illegal, will you refuse to carry out that order?
lt gen francis donovan
Senator, the legal advisor is one of many staff members that would provide their advice as we look at the scenario, the situation at hand.
I will take that very seriously if my legal advisor says that is an illegal order, and I will seek clarification from higher headquarters.
elizabeth warren
Okay.
And if somebody higher says no, what are you going to do at that point?
lt gen francis donovan
Senator, then I make a decision using 37 years' experience to carry out that order or not.
elizabeth warren
Okay, but your intention is not to carry out an illegal order.
lt gen francis donovan
We'll never carry a legal order, Senator.
elizabeth warren
I appreciate that.
unidentified
That's what I want to hear.
greta brawner
General Francis Donovan testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday, the president's pick to lead the U.S. Southern Command.
C-SPAN cameras were there, and you can watch it on c-span.org or our free video mobile app, C-SPANNOW.
John in Georgia, supporting the president's foreign policy.
Good morning.
unidentified
Good morning.
I don't understand why people think that the president cannot act independently from Congress with limited military action.
If the president can't do that, why would they have passed the War Palace Resolution in 1973, which dictates what the president must do when acting militarily without congressional approval?
The authors of the Constitution split war powers between the president and the legislative body.
They feared a tyrannical executive and also legislative paralysis.
They were trying to draw a balance between an effective defense and democratic control.
So how could the president's action in Venezuela be either illegal or unconstitutional?
And I would think it would take a constitutional amendment to change that since the Constitution does make the president commander-in-chief.
So I don't understand how it's unconstitutional or illegal.
greta brawner
John's thoughts there.
In Georgia, in support of the president.
Jeff, also supporting the president's this morning handling of foreign policy.
Jeff in Ohio, go ahead.
unidentified
Yes, ma'am.
I'm a person who's retired from the Department of the Air Force and the Department of Homeland Security.
And for many years, many, many years now, we've had major military installations in both Iceland and Greenland.
And Trump is taking appropriate action because if anything ever does take place in this world, we need to be prepared and we need to have things under control.
And as far as Venezuela is concerned, I have a nephew who is an E-7 in the Coast Guard, and he served in and around the Panama Canal and around Central America.
And basically, Venezuela is a drug country.
All right.
greta brawner
Jeff in Ohio supporting the president's handling of foreign policy.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day Coverage 00:02:43
greta brawner
We'll leave the conversation there for now.
Coming up, we'll hear two perspectives on the Trump administration's immigration enforcement actions.
Later, we'll be joined by Third Way Social Policy Director Sarah Pierce.
But first, after the break, former Trump administration acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf joins us to share his thoughts on it.
We'll be right back.
unidentified
Today, on C-SPAN Ceasefire, Republican Congressman from New York Mike Lawler and Democratic New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer come together to discuss the top issues facing Congress as both parties prepare for midterm elections.
Watch ceasefire at 7 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, only on C-SPAN.
Monday, watch C-SPAN 2 as we present all-day programming commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Beginning at 8 a.m. Eastern, journalist Jonathan Icke, author of the biography King, Alife, discusses the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr.
It's the first comprehensive biography of the civil rights leader in more than 30 years.
Then, at 10.25 a.m. Eastern, the July 1963 interview of Martin Luther King Jr. by four international and domestic journalists for Press Conference USA, a U.S. information agency series that was distributed internationally.
At 5.10 p.m., Boise State History Professor Jill Gill on Martin Luther King Jr.'s political strategies in the civil rights movement up to his assassination in 1968.
And later, at 8 p.m. Eastern, Reginald Duane Betts talks about reading Dr. King's letter from Birmingham Jail while he was in jail and the impact it had on his life since his release, including his founding of the organization Freedom Reads that builds libraries in prisons.
And at 9 p.m. Eastern, CNN anchor Abby Phillips and her book, A Dream Deferred, Jesse Jackson and the Fight for Black Political Power.
Watch our special all-day coverage of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, beginning at 8 a.m. Eastern on C-SPAN 2.
Washington Journal continues.
greta brawner
Joining us this morning is Chad Wolfe, the former acting Homeland Security Secretary in the Trump administration and the Homeland Immigration Chair for the America First Policy Institute, here to talk about Trump administration immigration enforcement actions across the country.
Mr. Wolfe, I just want to begin with the headline that we're seeing the president considering invoking the Insurrection Act in Minnesota.
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