The Latest: Minnesota and the Twin Cities sue federal government to stop immigration crackdown

The state of Minnesota and the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are suing the federal government to stop an enforcement surge by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an ICE officer.

The state and cities filed a lawsuit in federal court on Monday, along with a request for a temporary restraining order to halt the enforcement action or limit the operation.

The Department of Homeland Security says it’s surging more than 2,000 immigration officers into Minnesota, and that it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the city since the push began last month. ICE has called the Minnesota surge its largest enforcement operation ever.

The lawsuit alleges that the operation violates federal law because it’s arbitrary and capricious, since it says other states aren’t seeing commensurate crackdowns. And while the Trump administration says it’s about fighting fraud, the lawsuit says ICE agents have no expertise in combating fraud in government programs.

Here's the latest:

Amid controversy, Hegseth says Musk’s Grok AI chatbot will be used inside the Pentagon

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Monday that Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok will be joining Google’s generative AI engine in being able to operate inside the Pentagon network

“Very soon we will have the world’s leading AI models on every unclassified and classified network throughout our department,” Hegseth said in a speech before a crowd of a several hundred at Musk’s space launch company, SpaceX, in Texas.

The announcement comes just days after Grok, which is embedded into X, the social media network owned by Musk, drew renewed scrutiny and controversy for generating highly sexualized images of people without their consent. The UK’s independent online safety watchdog, Ofcom, announced an investigation into Grok and X on Monday.

Hegseth said Grok will live inside the Defense Department later this month and announced that he would “make all appropriate data” from the military’s IT systems available for “AI exploitation.”

Hegseth tours SpaceX site and meets with Musk

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth toured a SpaceX facility in Texas on Monday as he continued his push to overhaul the Pentagon’s research, development and procurement efforts.

Billionaire CEO Elon Musk gave Hegseth a warm welcome, telling a gathering of employees about his dream of interstellar travel. SpaceX, he said, is working toward a day of “epic, futuristic spaceships with lots of people in them traveling to places we’ve never been to before.”

“We want to make Star Trek real,” Musk said.

Hegseth thanked Musk for his vision and then spoke of the need to streamline and speed up technological innovations within the military, including new autonomous weapons systems and artificial intelligence.

“We need innovation to come from anywhere and evolve with speed and purpose,” Hegseth said.

Trump was ‘very fired up’ over Senate’s war powers vote, majority leader says

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Trump was “fairly animated on that subject” when they spoke ahead of last week’s war powers vote on Venezuela.

Trump’s views though could not stop the roll call of five Republican senators who joined Democrats to advance the resolution, which would limit the president’s ability to conduct military attacks against Venezuela.

Trump then started calling the five.

Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said Trump’s message on the call was that “this really ties my hands.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said her call was not a friendly exchange and that “it wasn’t much of a conversation.”

The resolution is headed to a final vote this week.

“I don’t think anybody should be surprised by his reaction,” Thune said. “He was very, very fired up.”

Hawley said he’s reconsidering his support for the resolution.

New video shows the minutes before immigration officer fatally shoots woman in Minneapolis

A new video shows more of what happened before a federal immigration officer shot and killed a woman during an enforcement operation in Minneapolis, adding context to a shooting that has sparked national debate.

The video was filmed by a bystander and was posted Sunday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on the social platform X. It shows federal officers and vehicles on a snowy street as a car horn blares.

The camera swings to the left, showing a red SUV sitting perpendicular and blocking part of the road, the woman inside, Renee Good, pressing the horn repeatedly. After over a minute, Good pulls the SUV back slightly and appears to wave at cars to pass. Two vehicles drive past her.

After a blare from sirens, a dark truck with a flashing light pulls to a stop a few feet from Good’s SUV. Two officers exit the truck and walk toward Good’s car just before the video goes dark.

▶ Read more about what bystander videos from the shooting show

Rubio keeps up diplomatic pace in meetings with Honduran president-elect and German foreign minister

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met on Monday with the president-elect of Honduras and Germany’s foreign minister as the Trump administration grapples with multiple foreign policy crises from Iran and Greenland to Ukraine and Venezuela.

In a statement, the State Department said Rubio and Honduran President-elect Nasry Asfura spoke mainly about Western Hemisphere issues, including the situation in Venezuela and the promotion of stability there since last week’s ouster of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a U.S. military raid.

With German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, Venezuela was also a topic but also efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war and the importance of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, the department said in a separate statement.

GOP senator is reconsidering his support for Venezuela war powers resolution

Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, voted to advance the resolution last week to limit Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks on Venezuela. But following a call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio this morning, Hawley says many of his concerns about the campaign have been answered.

Hawley said Rubio told him, “Point blank, we’re not going to do ground troops.”

The conversation showed the intense pressure campaign underway by the Trump administration to stop the Senate from passing the war powers resolution later this week. If two Republicans change their support, the legislation will fail.

North Korea denounces US and allies’ claim that it stole billions in cryptocurrency

North Korea accused the United States of trying “to imagine, fabricate and propagate” a “cyber threat” as the U.S. held a meeting Monday at the U.N. urging all countries to work to prevent the North’s illegal actions.

The country’s U.N. mission also called a U.S.-led group that monitors sanctions against Pyongyang “an illegal ghost organization” cooked up by some Western nations.

The 11-nation Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team issued a report in October detailing how North Korean hackers pilfered about $1.6 billion in the first nine months of 2025 by breaking into cryptocurrency exchanges and creating fake identities to get remote tech jobs at foreign companies.

Jonathan Fritz, U.S. principal deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told U.N. reporters Monday that since the report’s release, the U.S. thinks the North Koreans got over $2 billion during 2025 and are using the money to buy weapons.

Head of US Catholic bishops meets with Trump at the White House

Archbishop Paul Coakley, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.

Chieko Noguchi, spokesperson for the bishops’ conference, confirmed Coakley also met with Vice President JD Vance and other officials to discuss “areas of mutual concern, as well as areas for further dialogue.” She said the archbishop “is grateful for the engagement and looks forward to ongoing discussions.”

The meeting comes as Catholic leaders have criticized the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics and mass deportations. Pope Leo and the Catholic Church hierarchy strongly support the rights of migrants, even as they acknowledge the rights of nations to control borders.

House GOP majority tightens further as member absences mount

Republicans’ already narrow House majority has shrunk since the start of the year following the resignation of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and the death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa. The margin is expected to tighten further this week, with Rep. Jim Baird still recovering from injuries sustained in a car crash and Rep. Derrick Van Orden planning to be out beginning Monday as his wife undergoes a scheduled surgical procedure.

As long as Baird and Van Orden remain sidelined, House Republicans can afford to lose only a single vote on their side if Democrats have full attendance and are unified against a bill.

Russian strikes during Ukraine peace talks are a ‘dangerous and inexplicable escalation,’ US says

U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations Tammy Bruce told an emergency meeting of the Security Council that the U.S. deplores “the staggering number of casualties” in the nearly four-year war and condemns Russia’s continuing and intensifying attacks on energy and other infrastructure.

“At a moment of tremendous potential, due only to President (Donald) Trump’s unparalleled commitment to peace around the world, both sides should be seeking ways to de-escalate,” she said. “Yet Russia’s action risks expanding and intensifying the war.”

Bruce reminded Russia that nearly a year ago it voted in favor of a Security Council resolution calling for an end to the conflict in Ukraine

“It would be nice if Russia matched their words with deeds,” she told Monday’s council meeting called by Ukraine. “In the spirit of that resolution, Russia, Ukraine, and Europe must pursue peace seriously and bring this nightmare to an end.”

GOP senator says Powell is not guilty of any crime

Republican Sen. Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania objects to the Justice Department’s investigation of Powell.

“I think the Federal Reserve renovation may well have wasted taxpayer dollars, but the proper place to fix this is through Congressional oversight,” McCormick said in a statement.

He said he believes strongly in an independent Fed, and he also agrees with Trump that Powell “has been slow to cut interest rates.”

But he said, “I do not think Chairman Powell is guilty of criminal activity.”

US oil companies say Venezuela reforms are needed before investment

American oil companies agree that Venezuela must reform its contract laws before they can have confidence investing a significant amount of money to revitalize crude oil production there.

The head of the American Petroleum Institute trade group, CEO Mike Sommers, said it’s too soon to predict when oil companies will move back into Venezuela because it has to be clear that country won’t just seize companies’ assets and kick them out of the country again in the future, and more needs to be done to ensure the security and safety of oil workers.

“There are going to have to be these key prerequisites if investment is going to flow,” Sommers said.

But he said the industry believes Trump understands that and is committed to addressing those concerns.

Over the weekend, Trump suggested that ExxonMobil should be left out of Venezuela after that company’s CEO said Friday that Venezuela is uninvestible right now. But Sommers said oil companies are unified in the view that some things have to change before they will invest.

Chicago sues Trump administration over immigration crackdown

The state of Illinois and its largest city are suing the Trump administration over a “menacing, violent, and unlawful” immigration crackdown.

More than 4,300 people were arrested in “Operation Midway Blitz” last year. Roving patrols of masked and armed agents hit Chicago neighborhoods and many suburbs.

Among other things, the lawsuit filed Monday in federal court alleges the crackdown had a chilling effect, making residents afraid to venture out or use public services.

“We have watched in horror as unchecked federal agents have aggressively assaulted and terrorized our communities and neighborhoods in Illinois, undermining Constitutional rights and threatening public safety,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement.

One man was killed in the crackdown.

The lawsuit names the Department of Homeland Security and two of its immigration agencies. DHS didn’t immediately return a message Monday.

More young Americans identify as political independents, poll shows

Just under half, 45%, of U.S. adults now identify as independents, a new Gallup survey found. That’s a substantial shift from 20 years ago, when closer to one-third of Americans identified as independent.

Younger people, in particular, are rejecting the parties at much higher rates than older generations. More than half of Generation Z and Millennials say they are political independents. Independent identity is softer in older generations, where only about 4 in 10 in Gen X currently call themselves independents and roughly 3 in 10 older adults do.

▶ Read more about the Gallup poll

Thune issues warning over Powell investigation

Senate Majority Leader John Thune offered a brief but stern response Monday as he arrived at the U.S. Capitol, reacting to news that the Trump administration has opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

“I haven’t seen the case or whatever the allegations or charges are, but I would say they better, they better be real and they better be serious,” said Thune.

Trump picked up the phone to call a political nemesis on Monday

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., had just given a speech calling on Trump to use his leverage to address high prices — and in an unusual move, he gave her a phone call.

While on the phone, she said she gave him advice about his recent push to cap credit card rates and lower housing costs. “No more delays. It’s time to deliver relief for American families.”

The White House did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment.

Earlier in the day, Warren accused Trump of raising costs for American families and doing little to address affordability. “He sure knows how to get on the phone,” regarding Venezuela and the Epstein files, Warren said during her speech. “But is he on the phone to say, ‘Move that housing bill so that we can start right now?’”

That prompted Trump to call the Democratic senator he has goaded for years.

Trump is heading to Detroit on Tuesday to talk about the economy

He plans to tour a Dearborn factory that is boosting hiring to make more Ford F-150 trucks. Trump also will give a speech to the Detroit Economic Club, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday.

Trump is under pressure to show his economic policies are helping voters ahead of the midterm elections later this year. Leavitt said Trump will be “talking about all of the great economic news,” including mortgage rates falling below 6%.

Johnson says ‘we’ll have to reserve judgment’ on Powell investigation

House Speaker Mike Johnson wants to “let the investigation play out” when it comes to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

After opening the House on Monday, Johnson was asked by reporters if he was concerned about the ramifications of the DOJ’s investigation.

He said there have been “concerns about cost overruns and whatever the allegations are. I don’t know what’s involved in that.”

“I think you have to let the process play out. If Chairman Powell is innocent, then he can prove that and it will all come out,” Johnson said.

Trump is pondering airstrikes on Iran, but diplomacy is first choice, White House says

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump is “keeping all of his options on the table” but that “airstrikes would be one of the many, many options” that he’s considering.

“Diplomacy is always the first option for the president,” Leavitt said.

Trump on Sunday evening told reporters as he made his way back from Florida that Iranian officials have reached out to his administration for talks. Trump has threatened to take military action against the Islamic Republic for its brutal crackdown against protests that started more than two weeks ago and have spread across the country.

“What you’re hearing publicly from the Iranian regime is quite different from the messages the administration is receiving privately, and I think the president has an interest in exploring those messages,” Leavitt said. “However, with that said, the president has shown he’s unafraid to use military options if and when he deems necessary, and nobody knows that better than Iran.”

Venezuela is taking steps to reestablish diplomatic ties with Washington

Venezuela’s powerful interior minister said Monday that his government is taking steps to reestablish diplomatic relations with the United States and wants to open a consulate that will look out for the interests of Venezuela’s captured leader, Nicolás Maduro.

“We are advancing in reopening a Venezuelan embassy in the United States and an American embassy in Venezuela,” Cabello said in a press conference. “This will enable us to have a consulate that can look out for the safety and the tranquility of our President Nicolás Maduro.”

Venezuela and the United States cut diplomatic ties and shut down embassies in 2019 after the first Trump administration backed an effort to remove Maduro from office. But after Maduro’s capture on Jan. 3, both countries' governments have been looking into reestablishing diplomatic ties with a U.S. delegation that visited Caracas last week.

Cabello has described Maduro’s capture as a “kidnapping” and is one of the officials who has demanded his return to Venezuela.

Trump to meet Thursday with Venezuelan opposition leader Machado

Maria Corina Machado is scheduled to make her highly anticipated White House visit on Thursday, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Trump has expressed skepticism since the ouster of Nicolás Maduro that Machado could ever be the South American country’s leader, saying she “doesn’t have the support within, or the respect within, the country.”

Machado, for her part, has offered unending praise for the American president, including dedicating her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump and backing his administration’s campaigns to deport Venezuelan migrants and attack alleged drug traffickers in international waters.

Machado rose to become Maduro’s strongest opponent in recent years, but his government barred her from running for office to prevent her from challenging — and likely beating — him in the 2024 presidential election. She chose retired ambassador Edmundo González Urrutia to represent her on the ballot.

Officials loyal to the ruling party declared Maduro the winner mere hours after the polls closed, but Machado’s well-organized campaign stunned the nation by collecting detailed tally sheets showing González had defeated Maduro by a 2-to-1 margin.

▶ Read more about the Venezuelan opposition

Trump says if Supreme Court strikes down his tariffs: ‘WE’RE SCREWED!’

The president had a stark warning in a social media Monday morning that it would be “be a complete mess, and almost impossible for our Country to pay” back the money the U.S. has collected from his sweeping tariffs if the high court rules he doesn’t have the unilateral ability to impose many of them.

Trump has increasingly posted warnings on social media about the court’s looming decision, including similar posts many days last week about how complicated it would be for the government to issue refunds.

“It may not be possible,” Trump said in his Monday post about repaying the tariffs. But, “if it were, it would be Dollars that would be so large that it would take many years to figure out what number we are talking about and even, who, when, and where, to pay.”

State Department says it has revoked more than 100,000 visas in the past year

The department said Monday that the revocations, a 150% increase over 2024, have targeted foreign nationals “charged or convicted with crimes” ranging from assault and theft to driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It did not offer a breakdown of those who had been actually convicted of crimes or had only been charged with offenses.

It comes as the Trump administration has stepped up efforts to deport or otherwise remove foreigners it believes are a threat to the United States or U.S. citizens.

“The Trump administration will continue to put America first and protect our nation from foreign nationals who pose a risk to public safety or national security,” the department said, adding that it had stood up a “Continuous Vetting Center” to look at all visa holders and evaluate them for potential non-compliance with U.S. laws.

The department last offered an update on visa revocations in early December when it said more than 85,000 visas had been pulled.

Sen. Murkowski blasts the Trump administration’s Powell investigation

Another Republican is speaking out against the Justice Department’s investigation of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska says that if the DOJ believes an investigation into Powell is warrants based on project cost overruns, which she says are not unusual, then Congress needs to investigate the DOJ.

“The stakes are too high to look the other way: if the Federal Reserve loses its independence, the stability of our markets and the broader economy will suffer,” Murkowski wrote on X.

She also notes that she spoke with Powell on Monday morning, adding “it’s clear the administration’s investigation is nothing more than an attempt at coercion.”

London’s homicide rate is at a record low as mayor says it disproves Trump’s ‘dystopian’ claims

London’s murder rate fell in 2025 to its lowest level in decades, officials said Monday. Mayor Sadiq Khan said the figures disprove claims spread by Trump and others on the political right that crime is out of control in Britain’s capital.

Police recorded 97 homicides in London in 2025, down from 109 in 2024 and the fewest since 2014. The Metropolitan Police force says the rate by population is the lowest since comparable records began in 1997, at 1.1 homicides for every 100,000 people.

That compares to 1.6 per 100,000 in Paris, 2.8 in New York and 3.2 in Berlin, the force said.

“There are some politicians and commentators who’ve been spamming social media with an endless stream of distortions and untruths, painting an image of a dystopian London,” Khan told The Associated Press. “And nothing could be further from the truth.”

▶ Read more about crime in London

Democrats regain the edge with political independents, poll shows

The Democratic Party regained the partisanship edge when independents were asked whether they lean more toward the Democratic or Republican Party in a new Gallup poll.

Nearly half, 47%, of U.S. adults now identify as Democrats or lean toward the Democratic Party, while 42% are Republicans or lean Republican.

This is an indication of how Americans are feeling about their political affiliations, and it may not be reflected in voters’ actual registration.

Independents appear to be driven by their unhappiness with the party in power. That’s a dynamic that could be good for Democrats for now, but it doesn’t promise lasting loyalty. Attitudes toward the party haven’t gotten warmer, suggesting the Democrats’ gains are probably more related to independents’ sour views of Trump.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel says his administration isn’t currently in talks with the US

That comes a day after Trump threatened the Caribbean island in the wake of the U.S. attack on Venezuela.

Díaz-Canel posted a flurry of brief statements on X after Trump suggested Cuba “make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not say what kind of deal.

Díaz-Canel wrote that for “relations between the U.S. and Cuba to progress, they must be based on international law rather than hostility, threats, and economic coercion.”

The island’s communist government has said U.S. sanctions cost the country more than $7.5 billion between March 2024 and February 2025.

Díaz-Canel added: “We have always been willing to hold a serious and responsible dialogue with the various US governments, including the current one, on the basis of sovereign equality, mutual respect, principles of International Law, and mutual benefit without interference in internal affairs and with full respect for our independence.”

Cuba’s president stressed on X that “there are no talks with the U.S. government, except for technical contacts in the area of migration.”

Polling shows bipartisan support for the Fed’s independence

About 8 in 10 U.S. adults said the Federal Reserve Board should be independent of political control, according to Marquette/SSRS polling from September, while roughly 2 in 10 said the president should have more influence over setting interest rates and monetary policy. There was bipartisan consensus that the Fed should remain independent. About 9 in 10 Democrats and about two-thirds of Republicans said the Fed should not be subjected to political control.

That poll found about 3 in 10 Americans said they had “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in The Federal Reserve Board. Nearly half — 45% — had some confidence, and roughly one-quarter had “very little” confidence or “none at all.”

Stocks fall on Wall Street after Powell says Trump trying to undermine the Fed’s independence

Stocks are falling on Wall Street after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the Department of Justice had served the central bank with subpoenas and threatened it with a criminal indictment over his testimony about the Fed’s building renovations.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3% in early trading Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 384 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.2%.

Powell characterized the threat of criminal charges as pretexts to undermine the Fed’s independence in setting interest rates, its main tool for fighting inflation. The threat is the latest escalation in Trump’s feud with the Fed.

▶ Read more about the financial markets

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks with Trump

She says she had “a very good conversation” with Trump on Monday morning about topics including “security with respect to our sovereignties.”

Last week, Sheinbaum had said she was seeking a conversation with Trump or U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio after the U.S. president made comments in an interview that he was ready to confront drug cartels on the ground and repeated the accusation that cartels were running Mexico.

Trump’s offers of using U.S. forces against Mexican cartels took on a new weight after the Trump administration deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Sheinbaum was expected to share more about their conversation later Monday.

As Canada tries to reduce its dependence on the US, its leader will visit China to rebuild ties

A leader of the Canadian government is visiting China this week for the first time in nearly a decade, a bid to rebuild his country’s fractured relations with the world’s second-largest economy — and reduce Canada’s dependence on the United States, its neighbor and until recently one of its most supportive and unswerving allies.

The push by Prime Minster Mark Carney, who arrives Wednesday, is part of a major rethink as ties sour with the United States — the world’s No. 1 economy and long the largest trading partner for Canada by far.

Carney aims to double Canada’s non-U.S. exports in the next decade in the face of Trump’s tariffs and the American leader’s musing that Canada could become “the 51st state.”

▶ Read more about relations between Canada and China

China says US shouldn’t use other countries as a ‘pretext’ to pursue its interests in Greenland

The comment by a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson came in response to a question at a regular daily briefing. Trump has said he would like to make a deal to acquire Greenland, a semiautonomous region of NATO ally Denmark, to prevent Russia or China from taking it over.

Tensions have grown between Washington, Denmark and Greenland this month as Trump and his administration push the issue and the White House considers a range of options, including military force, to acquire the vast Arctic island.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that an American takeover of Greenland would mark the end of NATO.

▶ Read more about the U.S. and Greenland