‘Nazis got a better treatment': Judge unloads on Trump's deportation of Venezuelan nationals
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Miami Herald
44 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Maduro pushes Colombia-Venezuela alliance as U.S. doubles bounty for his arrest
Facing the highest reward for a capture ever offered by the United States, Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro is calling on Colombia to join forces against what he describes as escalating aggression from Washington. Maduro offered few details on how his proposed alliance with Colombia's leftist president, Gustavo Petro, would work but suggested enhanced cooperation across both governments, including their armed forces. His comments came days after the U.S. announced a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro's capture, accusing him of heading one of the world's most dangerous drug trafficking networks. Petro, a former guerrilla fighter, responded swiftly, warning that military aggression against Venezuela would be considered an attack on Colombia. In June, Petro accused U.S. officials—specifically naming Secretary of State Marco Rubio—of leading a plot to overthrow him, a charge he later softened in a letter to President Donald Trump. Maduro reinforced his call for unity during his weekly television program, urging 'cooperation between authorities—governors, mayors, legitimate public officials—to unite two national governments with their ministries, to unite Colombia's military forces with the Bolivarian armed forces.' He argued the union was needed to rid border states of violence and dismantle drug trafficking. Maudro's timing suggested a direct response to Washington's accusations that he is among the top drug kingpins in the world. Flanked by Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, Maduro emphasized the loyalty of Venezuela's military and security forces, signaling that the $50 million reward would not weaken their support. He praised the armed forces for defending Venezuela's 'peace and sovereignty,' framing them as defenders against foreign aggression. The public display of unity follows intensified pressure from Washington. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau told Donald Trump Jr. in an interview this week that 'new actions' to pressure Maduro's regime were coming in the 'days and weeks' ahead. Maduro appears determined to recast the U.S. bounty on his capture as a rallying cry rather than a threat. Local news reports say his government has launched an expensive propaganda campaign promoting the message that the situation is under control. Millions of dollars are reportedly being spent on posters, rallies, promotional merchandise and anti-U.S. slogans. Public sector employees and members of the armed forces have been instructed to join pro-Maduro demonstrations, which have drawn participants in Caracas and other major cities. Top officials—including Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, National Assembly head Jorge Rodríguez and Caracas Mayor Carmen Meléndez—marched alongside loyalists, public workers, and motorcyclist groups in defiant displays following the U.S. announcement of the unprecedented bounty. In revealing the decision to double the existing $25 million reward, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro leads the Cartel of the Suns—a drug trafficking organization embedded in Venezuela's military—and works with groups including Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang, Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel and other transnational criminal networks. Bondi called Maduro 'one of the world's biggest drug traffickers and a threat to our national security,' adding that the bounty increase was aimed at tightening the net around him. Bondi also announced the seizure of over $700 million in assets linked to Maduro, including two private jets, nine vehicles, and several properties. A federal indictment in New York outlines Maduro's alleged ascent in the Cartel of the Suns. According to court filings, after the 2013 death of former president Hugo Chávez, Maduro moved from acting as a facilitator to serving as the cartel's leader, integrating its operations with the Venezuelan state apparatus. Prosecutors allege the cartel's strategy went beyond profits, aiming to export cocaine to the United States. While other top leaders in the Venezuelan regime such as Cabello and Tareck El Aissami were often seen as the cartel's figureheads, new evidence suggests Maduro's role was far more significant than previously believed. The indictment claims the purpose of Venezuela's drug trafficking apparatus goes beyond self-enrichment. The cartel, it says, aimed 'to flood the United States with cocaine and inflict the drug's harmful and addictive effects on users in this country.' U.S. intelligence estimates suggest that more than 250 tons of cocaine pass through Venezuela each year, a figure that may have doubled in recent years due to the economic vacuum created by oil sanctions. The U.S. bounty announcement marked the latest escalation in a long-running standoff between Washington and Caracas. Sanctions, diplomatic isolation and repeated calls for Maduro to step down have failed to dislodge him from power. The reward—now at a historic high—signals a shift toward even more aggressive tactics. Maduro, meantime, is working to project confidence. Analysts believe that by aligning himself closely with Petro and other leftists leaders and attempting to frame the U.S. measures as part of a broader assault on Latin America, he seeks to strengthen regional solidarity and paint Washington as an aggressor. 'While we're dismantling the terrorist plots orchestrated from her country, this woman [Bondi] is coming out with a media circus to please the defeated far right in Venezuela,' said Maduro's foreign minister, Yván Gil, soon after the new reward was annnounced. 'It doesn't surprise us, coming from who she comes from.'
NBC News
44 minutes ago
- NBC News
National Guard troops arrive in D.C. to execute Trump's order to address crime
WASHINGTON — National Guard troops began arriving at the D.C. Armory on Tuesday morning to report for duty to carry out President Donald Trump's directive to address crime in the nation's capital. The guardsmen, who entered the D.C. National Guard's headquarters east of the U.S. Capitol dressed in their military uniforms, are part of a mobilization of about 800 soldiers that the Army activated Monday to assist with law enforcement. While Trump's memorandum said the mobilization would end once he determines that the "conditions of law and order have been restored in the District of Columbia," the troops were notified they would be deployed until Sept. 25. 'Currently, the National Guard is being deployed to protect federal assets, provide a safe environment for law enforcement officers to make arrests, and deter violent crime with a visible law enforcement presence," a White House official said Monday. Standing alongside Trump as he announced his executive order, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that people should expect to see the guardsmen "flowing into the streets of Washington in the coming week" and that they were prepared to bring in other specialized units. Trump's memorandum also directed Hegseth to coordinate with governors across the country and "authorize the orders of any additional members of the National Guard to active service, as he deems necessary and appropriate, to augment this mission." In an interview with NBC News, Greggory Pemberton, chairman of the D.C. Police Union, expressed support for the president's moves, which included federalizing the Metropolitan Police Department. Pemberton said crime is still "ubiquitous" in the city, adding that while the president's order could be potentially helpful in fighting crime, it would likely have only a temporary impact without making more far-reaching changes. Pemberton said one of the main reasons local law enforcement "can't get a handle on the crime" is because of a staffing shortage of more than 800 officer vacancies and because of laws the city council enacted "that really prevent us from being able to do our job and being able to hold criminals accountable." "As a short-term, stop-gap measure, if they want to give us 1,000 National Guardsmen and 500 federal agents to help us do our job, we'll take it," he said. "We'll take anything we can to try to keep these criminals from victimizing citizens." Pemberton said he is concerned that if longer-term changes aren't made, once federal agents and National Guard troops leave D.C., the Metropolitan Police Department "will be left holding the bag, which will only allow crime to again, you know, regain its foothold and start growing it again." The reactions from Washingtonians to Trump's moves to take over the city were mixed. Denise Rucker-Krept, a Democrat and longtime resident of the D.C. neighborhood near where guardsmen are mobilizing, told NBC News Tuesday that she agrees with Trump that the city has a crime problem, but she also doubted a short-term surge in law enforcement and the military presence would provide a sufficient fix. 'I say that because you can tell people not to commit crimes, you can arrest them, but if you do not prosecute them, then nothing happens,' Rucker-Krept said. She added that the city council and the U.S. Attorney's Office need to do more to prosecute those who commit crimes and hand down swift punishments that will serve as a deterrent — including holding young people, who she said are a major part of the problem, accountable. Violent crime in the district has decreased by 26% over the last year, according to Metropolitan Police Department statistics, though crime overall has gone down by only 7% during that same period. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Monday that the city was able to reverse a crime spike in 2023. "This year, crime isn't just down from 2023, it's also down from 2019 before the pandemic, and we're at a 30-year violent crime low," she said. But she added, "We're not satisfied. We haven't taken our foot off the gas, and we continue to look for ways to make our city safer." Bowser met Tuesday with Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is overseeing the effort, and several other top Justice Department officials. Also present at the meeting was DEA Administrator Terry Cole, whom Trump tapped to lead the police department. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Bowser said Trump's takeover of the police department will not change the force's organizational chart or 'how we do business.' She emphasized that the city wanted to ensure it was using the new resources, saying she was focused on 'the federal surge and how to make the most of the additional officer support that we have.' 'How we got here, or what we think about the circumstances right now, we have more police, and we want to make sure we're using them,' she said. Jim Lardner, who was in D.C. on Tuesday protesting Trump's actions, said he thinks Trump is trying to distract the public from other issues his administration is facing. 'The whole idea that there is some kind of a crisis of disorder in D.C. is a made-up phony story to distract attention from [a] deteriorating economy, from the ICE raids — which horrify even people who wanted action on immigration — and of course, from the Epstein files, it's all a game of diversion,' said Lardner, who was holding a 'Resist' sign a few blocks north of the White House, where homeless people sometimes set up encampments. 'I think this administration would like to take over, not only D.C., but any state or jurisdiction that doesn't completely bend the knee,' he added.
NBC News
2 hours ago
- NBC News
Possible Russian front-line breakthrough risks boosting Putin ahead of Trump summit
Russian forces may have punched a small but significant hole through Ukraine's front lines, Kyiv-supporting military analysts warned Tuesday, a development that could give Vladimir Putin a boost ahead of his Alaska summit with President Donald Trump. Advanced units have pushed farther into Ukrainian-held territory in the Donetsk region, creating two narrow, 10-mile prongs near the battlefield hot spot town of Pokrovsk, according to watchdogs including Ukraine's Deep State and Washington's Institute for the Study of War, two of the top open-source teams tracking the war's battlefield developments. Expert observers supportive or at least sympathetic to Kyiv are deeply worried that these forays could be expanded into a full-scale breakthrough for the Kremlin. Already claiming he is winning this war, and refusing to stop fighting unless Ukraine surrenders, Putin could use such a development to lobby for an even more favorable peace deal in Alaska. 'Guys. We are in trouble here,' Rima Ziuraitis, an American enlisted as a medic in the Ukrainian armed forces, posted to X. 'While Putin and Trump keep everyone distracted, Russia has broken through our lines in Pokrovsk. The situation is critical.' Though small, the Russian breakthroughs represent a far quicker land grab than either side has managed in months. The concern for Ukraine is that Russia would be able to expand outward into poorly defended parts of Donetsk. The advance may have also cut off a crucial resupply highway to Ukraine's 'fortress' city of Kramatorsk, according to those watching the troop movements. Pasi Paroinen, an analyst with Finland's Black Bird Group, which tracks the conflict, told NBC News that if the Russians do break through and consolidate, 'it could be very bad for the Ukrainians.' This push may have been timed ahead of the Putin-Trump summit, he added. 'The Russians have had a tendency to intensify military operations in support of ongoing negotiations so the current events would fit into that picture quite well,' Paroinen said, adding that 'we don't have enough information yet' to be sure. The next 24-48 hours would likely be 'crucial' in whether Ukraine was able to stanch the situation before Russia reinforced these advanced units, he posted to X earlier. 'Clearly the Ukrainians have a crisis on their hands,' he wrote. A Ukrainian military spokesperson told NBC News that breakthroughs were being made only by small groups of Russian 'infiltrators' — who are being quickly found and 'destroyed' by its defending troops — rather than larger units capable of taking and controlling territory. Viktor Tregubov, spokesperson of Ukraine's 'Dnipro' strategic group of troops, downplayed the severity of the maneuvers. 'Of course, the situation there is and remains difficult, and the fighting in this region is the most intense compared to other sections of the front line,' he told NBC News. 'However, the Ukrainian troops are making every effort to ensure that even those groups of Russians who managed to infiltrate through the first line are destroyed as soon as possible — which is what happens.' The severity of the situation was made clear by the 1st Azov Corps — seen as among the most adept fighters Ukraine has — announcing Tuesday it had been deployed to the region. All eyes on Alaska The question of who is winning the war will be a key point in Trump's summit with Putin on Friday. The American leader told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that he would know probably within the 'first two minutes' whether his Russian counterpart wanted peace or not. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not been invited — 'He wasn't a part of it,' Trump said. 'He's been there for 3 1/2 years — nothing happened' — creating Europe-wide panic that its and Kyiv's interests will be disregarded by Washington and Moscow.
