The Latest: Trump says anything less than US control of Greenland is ‘unacceptable'

President Donald Trump posted Wednesday on social media that anything less than U.S. control of Greenland is ''unacceptable,'' hours before Vice President JD Vance was to host Danish and Greenlandic officials for talks.

''NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,'' Trump wrote.

On Iran, Trump's threat to impose a 25% tax on imports from countries doing business with the Islamic Republic could raise prices for U.S. consumers and further inflame tensions in a country where inflation is running above 40%.

And as Senate Republicans face intense pressure from Trump to vote down a war powers resolution Wednesday aimed at limiting him from carrying out more military action against Venezuela, an AP-NORC poll conducted after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's Jan. 3 capture found that 56% of U.S. adults think Trump has overstepped on military interventions abroad, while majorities disapprove of how he's handling foreign policy.

The Latest:

Hillary Rodham Clinton defies House subpoena for testimony

The Democratic former secretary of state did not show up for a scheduled deposition by the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday morning despite threats from Republicans to hold her and former President Bill Clinton in contempt of Congress.

Comer is planning to initiate contempt of Congress proceedings against the Clintons next week.

The clash showed how House Republicans are using the powers of the oversight panel to focus on high-profile Democrats who are associated with Epstein, a financier and convicted sex offender who killed himself in 2019.

On the ground at the US embassy in Copenhagen

Dozens of people holding Greenlandic flags have gathered to protest against U.S. militant rhetoric as Danish and Greenlandic officials are preparing to meet their counterparts in Washington.

Bondi says search of Washington Post reporter's home was done at the Pentagon's request

While classified documents investigations aren't unusual, the search of a reporter's home marks an escalation in the government's efforts to crack down on leaks.

An affidavit says the search was related to an investigation into a system administrator in Maryland who authorities allege took home classified reports, the newspaper reported. The system administrator, Aurelio Perez-Lugones, was charged earlier this month with unlawful retention of national defense information, according to court papers.

Perez-Lugones, who held a top secret security clearance, is accused of printing classified and sensitive reports at work. In a search of his Maryland home and car this month, authorities found documents marked ''SECRET,'' including one in a lunchbox, according to court papers.

Schumer tells the AP that Democrats are preparing for Trump to disrupt the midterms

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says he expects Trump to try to interfere with the midterm elections, and he says raids by immigration agents in major cities are creating a sense of chaos that voters will reject in November.

Schumer said that economic concerns have begun to cement in the minds of voters and that Democrats have plans to build their campaign around the costs, chaos and corruption they attribute to the Trump administration.

The White House has called such Democratic statements ''fearmongering'' to score political points.

▶ Read more from AP's interview with Schumer

Democrats see a path to win the Senate. It's narrow and has little room for error

Senate Democratic leaders believe they have a path to winning the majority in November, though it's one with very little wiggle room.

That possibility looked all but impossible at the start of last year. And while the outlook has somewhat improved as 2026 begins, Democrats still almost certainly must sweep those four seats.

First, they must settle some contentious primaries, the mark of a party still struggling with its way forward after Republicans took full control of Washington in 2024. Importantly, they must also beat back challenges to incumbents in some of the most competitive states on the map.

▶ Read more about what Democrats are facing

The Trump administration is investigating Sen. Slotkin for Democrats' video to troops

Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin has been notified that the Trump administration is investigating her after she organized and appeared in a video with other Democrats urging military service members to resist ''illegal orders.''

Slotkin, who organized the 90-second video and first posted it on her X account in November, learned this month of the inquiry from the office of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the Justice Department's chief prosecutor in the nation's capital. Pirro's office did not immediately respond Wednesday to messages seeking comment.

▶ Read more about the inquiry

FBI searches home of Washington Post reporter

The Washington Post says FBI agents have searched a reporter's home as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of sharing government secrets.

The Post says journalist Hannah Natanson had her phone and a Garmin watch seized by agents at her Virginia home.

An FBI spokesperson declined to comment. Justice Department officials haven't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.

Natanson covers the Trump administration's transformation of the federal government and recently published a piece describing how she gained hundreds of new sources, leading a colleague to call her ''the federal government whisperer.''

FACT FOCUS: Trump repeats false claims when discussing Greenland's security in the Arctic

U.S. President Donald Trump has made an American takeover of Greenland a focus of his second term in the White House, calling it a national security priority while repeating false claims about the strategic Arctic island.

In recent comments, he has floated using military force as an option to take control of Greenland. He has said that if the U.S. does not acquire the island, which is a self-governing territory of NATO ally Denmark, then it will fall into Chinese or Russian hands.

China's trade surplus surges 20% to a record $1.2 trillion, even with Trump's tariffs

China's trade surplus surged to a record of almost $1.2 trillion in 2025, the government said Wednesday, as exports to other countries made up for slowing shipments to the U.S. under President Donald Trump's onslaught of higher tariffs.

China's exports rose 5.5% for the whole of last year to $3.77 trillion, customs data showed, as Chinese automakers and other manufacturers expanded into markets across the globe. Imports flatlined at $2.58 trillion. The 2024 trade surplus was over $992 billion.

In December, China's exports climbed 6.6% from the year before in dollar terms, better than economists' estimates and higher than November's 5.9% year-on-year increase. Imports in December were up 5.7% year-on-year, compared to November's 1.9%.

▶ Read more about how economists expect exports to impact China's economy

Although he doesn't always follow through, Trump seems intent on doubling and tripling down whenever possible.

''Right now I'm feeling pretty good,'' Trump said Tuesday in Detroit. His speech was ostensibly arranged to refocus attention on the economy, which the president claimed is surging despite lingering concerns about higher prices.

Trump has repeatedly insisted he's only doing what voters elected him to do, and his allies in Washington remain overwhelmingly united behind him.

Republican National Committee spokesperson Kiersten Pels predicted that voters will reward the party this year.

''Voters elected President Trump to put American lives first — and that's exactly what he's doing,'' she said. ''President Trump is making our country safer, and the American people will remember it in November.''

It's only two weeks into the new year, and Trump has already claimed control of Venezuela, escalated threats to seize Greenland and flooded American streets with masked immigration agents. That's not even counting an unprecedented criminal investigation at the Federal Reserve, a cornerstone of the national economy that Trump wants to bend to his will.

Even for a president who thrives on chaos, Trump is generating a stunning level of turmoil as voters prepare to deliver their verdict on his leadership in midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

Each decision carries tremendous risks, from the possibility of an overseas quagmire to undermining the country's financial system, but Trump has barreled forward with a ferocity rattling even some of his Republican allies.

''The presidency has gone rogue,'' said historian Joanne B. Freeman, a Yale University professor.

▶ Read more about the turmoil Trump is creating ahead of this year's votes

Nearly half of Americans — 45% — want the U.S. to take a ''less active'' role in solving the world's problems, the new AP-NORC poll found.

About one-third say its current role is ''about right,'' and only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults say they want the country to be more involved globally.

Democrats and independents are driving the desire for the U.S. to take a ''less active'' role. At least half of them now want the U.S. to do less, a sharp shift from a few months ago.

Republicans, meanwhile, have grown more likely to indicate that Trump's level of involvement is right. About 6 in 10 Republicans — 64% — say the country's current role in world affairs is ''about right,'' which is up slightly from 55% from September.

Many Americans see some benefits from US intervention in Venezuela

And 44% believe the U.S. actions will do more to benefit than harm the Venezuelan people. But U.S. adults are divided on whether intervention will be good or bad for U.S. economic and national security interests, or if it simply won't have an impact.

Republicans are more likely than Democrats and independents to see benefits to the U.S. action, particularly its effects on drug trafficking. About 8 in 10 Republicans say America's intervention will be ''mostly a good thing'' for stopping the flow of illegal drugs into the country.

▶ Read more about the poll's findings

Most say Trump has ‘gone too far' on military interventions abroad

Most U.S. adults — 56% — say President Trump has ''gone too far'' in using the U.S. military to intervene in other countries, according to a new AP-NORC poll conducted from Jan. 8-11, after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's capture.

The vast majority of Republicans — 71% — say Trump's actions have been ''about right,'' and only about 1 in 10 want to see him go further.

▶ Read more about the poll's findings

Trump pressures Iran with tariffs that could raise prices in the US

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington, as Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio listen. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Trump said in a social media post on Monday that he would impose a 25% tax on imports to the United States from countries that do business with Iran. The sanctions could hurt the Islamic Republic by reducing its access to foreign goods and driving up prices, which would likely inflame tensions in a country where inflation is running above 40%.

The Trump administration has offered scant details since announcing the new tariffs targeting Iran. It's also unclear what legal authority the president is relying on to impose the import taxes. He invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to justify his most sweeping tariffs last year. But businesses and several states have gone to court arguing that Trump overstepped his authority in doing so.

▶ Read more about Trump's threat of new tariffs

Smithsonian responds to White House pressure by handing over more plans on its exhibits

The Smithsonian Institution gave the White House new documents on its planned exhibits Tuesday in response to a demand to share precise details of what its museums and other programs are doing for America's 250th birthday.

For months, Trump has been pressing the Smithsonian to back off ''divisive narratives'' and tell an upbeat story on the country's history and culture, with the threat of holding back federal money if it doesn't.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment, leaving it unclear whether it was satisfied with the material it received.

▶ Read more about the Smithsonian

Trump says anything less than having Greenland in the United States' hands is ‘unacceptable'

Trump said Wednesday that anything less than U.S. control of Greenland is ''unacceptable,'' hours before Vice President JD Vance was to host Danish and Greenlandic officials for talks.

In a post on his social media site, Trump reiterated his argument that the U.S. ''needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security.'' He added that ''NATO should be leading the way for us to get it'' and that otherwise Russia or China would.

Greenland is at the center of a geopolitical storm as Trump is insisting he wants to own the island, and the residents of its capital, Nuuk, say it is not for sale. The White House has not ruled out taking the Arctic island by force.