Democracy Now!

With Iran gripped by nationwide protests that activists say have left at least 2,600 people dead, we recently spoke with renowned Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, whose latest film, It Was Just an Accident, was shot entirely in secret inside Iran and won the Palme d'Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. The film has since been shortlisted for an Oscar in the international feature category. Panahi dedicated a recent New York Film Critics Circle Award to Iranian protesters.It Was Just an Accident centers on a group of former prisoners who kidnap a man they believe was their interrogator and grapple with whether to exact revenge, and Panahi says the film drew directly from his own experience with state violence and repression. Panahi has been repeatedly arrested in Iran, served prison sentences, and was recently sentenced in absentia to an additional year in prison and a two-year travel ban.In an extended interview, Pahani discussed the protests in Iran, fighting against censorship, and the risk of prolonged cycles of violence. I have always said this regime will fall. It is impossible for it to not fall, because it's a failed state in every sense," he said. What I care about is the future of my country. I want the country to stand. I want there to be peace, and I want our children and the children of our children to not be facing bullets." He was interpreted by Sheida Dayani.

The FBI raided the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson this week and seized her electronic devices, part of a leak probe into a government contractor accused of mishandling classified government materials. Natanson has reported extensively on the Trump administration's changes to the federal bureaucracy, including mass layoffs of government workers. This comes amid a broader pattern of attacks on the media, including lawsuits, funding cuts, and increasing media and technology consolidation.It's hard not to see [the FBI raid] as an effort to intimidate not just journalists, but the sources that would communicate with them," says Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. It's a terrible time for press freedom. ... We need the press to inform the public about the government's actions and decisions and to help us hold government officials to account."

U.S. Pulls Back from Some Middle East Bases Amid Trump's Threats to Attack Iran, State Department to Halt Processing Visas for Immigrants from 75 Countries, ICE Shoots Man in Minneapolis After Gov. Walz Decries Federal Campaign of Organized Brutality", ICE Jails Oglala Sioux Members at Fort Snelling, Site of 19th-Century Concentration Camp, Protester in Santa Ana Is Left Permanently Blind by Less Lethal" Round Fired by Federal Agent, ProPublica: ICE Agents Used Potentially Fatal Chokeholds in 40+ Cases, Maine Officials Warn ICE Is Preparing Surge into Lewiston and Portland, Danish Foreign Minister: Fundamental Disagreement" with Trump over Greenland, Trump's Middle East Envoy Witkoff Says Gaza Truce Has Entered Its Second Phase, Senate Republicans Kill War Powers Resolution to Limit Trump on Venezuela, FBI Agents Raid Home of Washington Post Reporter Hannah Natanson, Democratic Lawmakers Say DOJ Is Investigating Them over Video to U.S. Service Members, Trump Flips Middle Finger to Autoworker Who Called Him a Pedophile Protector"

When Becky Pepper-Jackson started middle school, she wanted to join her school's track and field team. Like many girls her age, she was excited to make new friends and cultivate a passion for a sport. But unlike the other girls on her school's track and field team, Pepper-Jackson is trans. And because she lives in West Virginia, a state which has banned transgender girls from participating in public school sports, Pepper-Jackson was excluded from what for her classmates is a normal childhood experience. Pepper-Jackson sued, and her case is now before the conservative-majority Supreme Court - which, after oral arguments Tuesday, appears likely to uphold similar laws throughout the country. The states have attempted to justify these things in terms of some sort of alleged sex-based athletic advantage," says Karen L. Loewy of the LGBTQ+ legal advocacy organization Lambda Legal. It's really about whether the court is going to uphold trans people's equal opportunity in all aspects of public life."

A new report finds the number of people in ICE detention has nearly doubled in Trump's first year back in office, driven by indiscriminate arrest policies that have locked up more and more people without criminal records, an unprecedented situation for immigration detention." We break down the numbers with Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, which published the report. Reichlin-Melnick explains that ICE's annual budget has approximately quintupled, even as 2025 marked the agency's deadliest year so far. Four more people have already died in detention in just the first two weeks of 2026. Crucially, all of this has been slower than they wanted," he adds. Their hope was to have over 100,000 people in detention by today; they've hit 70,000."

Reporter Ken Klippenstein's latest investigation into the inner workings of the Trump regime finds that immigration enforcement agencies ICE and Border Patrol have relaxed recruitment and deployment guidelines in an effort to fill the administration's sweeping deportation goals. There's splits within the agency about the shooting [of Renee Good] and the general mission," says Klippenstein, whose reporting is based on leaked documents and interviews with officials from the Department of Homeland Security. Because they're worried about sending more experienced agents there who might not agree with the mission," he explains, DHS is heavily recruiting volunteers with little vetting or training to carry out its deportation mandate. They have more money than they know what to do with, and they need to fill those roles, and they're doing everything they can to create them so that the actual personnel head count can match the resources that they now have."

They didn't ask very many questions." Independent journalist and U.S. military veteran Laura Jedeed recounts how she was hired as a deportation officer by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a six-minute interview at a job fair in Texas, despite never signing any paperwork, not having completed a background check, likely failing a drug test, and publicly sharing her opposition to the Trump administration and its anti-immigrant crackdown. It seems like the answer to the question, 'Who are they hiring?' is: They don't know."

Trump's immigration enforcement surge continues to rock Minnesota, just a week after the ICE shooting of Renee Good, a mother of three and U.S. citizen in Minneapolis. The Minnesota Star Tribune reports that the number of federal agents now in Minneapolis and Saint Paul outstrips the 10 largest Twin Cities metro police departments combined. We don't want ICE in our neighborhoods. They are violent, they are creating chaos and terrorizing our immigrant neighbors, and they are not keeping anyone safe," says vice president of the Saint Paul City Council, Hwa Jeong Kim, who comments on the city's new lawsuit against the Trump administration, the loss of temporary protected status for thousands of Somali immigrants in the United States, plans for a general strike in Minneapolis and more.

Over 2,500 People Killed in Anti-Government Protests in Iran, DOJ Releases Memo Stating That Trump Had Constitutional Power to Attack Venezuela, Interim Venezuelan Government Releases at Least Four U.S. Citizens Imprisoned in the Country, Cuba's President Defies the U.S. as Trump Pressures Cuban Government to Make a Deal, Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Rubio Expected to Meet with the Leaders of Denmark and Greenland, Six Federal Prosecutors in Minnesota Resign over DOJ's Handling of Renee Good's Shooting, Trump Admin to Suspend Federal Funding for Sanctuary Cities and States Next Month, Trump Admin Ending Temporary Protected Status for Immigrants from Somalia, SCOTUS Poised to Uphold State Laws Banning Transgender Youths from Participating in School Sports, Far-Right Zionist Group Betar US to End Its Operations in New York After Probe by New York Attorney General Letitia James, Louisiana Seeks to Extradite California Doctor for Providing Abortion Pills, Claudette Colvin, Pioneer in the Civil Rights Movement, Dies at 86

As President Trump threatens Iran, Venezuela, Mexico, Greenland and more, renowned historian Alfred McCoy says the United States is an empire in decline," following a predictable pattern of militarism abroad and political instability at home as it loses power and influence on the world stage. American politics become increasingly contorted and irrational," says McCoy. I think the thing to do is to realize that we are an empire in decline, ... and it will continue for another decade or two, until American power finally slips away."McCoy just published his latest book, Cold War on Five Continents: A Global History of Empire and Espionage, on the impact of U.S.-Soviet imperial proxy wars in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Iran has said it's ready for war" or dialogue after President Trump said the U.S. was considering very strong options" to intervene if Iran's security forces kill anti-government protesters in an ongoing crackdown. Vali Nasr, professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, says the U.S. can wage full-scale war on Iran - which President Trump does not seem to be eager to do - or it can hope to squeeze Iran economically in order to create political unrest in Iran."This comes as at least 648 people have been killed since protests broke out in late December, according to the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights, and over 10,000 people have been arrested. Iranian officials say the number of dead could be as high as 2,000.

Activists in Los Angeles are demanding justice for Keith Porter Jr., an African American 43-year-old father of two, who was fatally shot by an off-duty ICE agent on New Year's Eve. His family is demanding transparency in the investigation into his killing. When he walked in, he brought joy," says Porter's cousin Jsane Tyler. He always had a laugh, a joke, a smile." Community organizers have called for the arrest of the ICE officer who killed Porter, but local government officials have reportedly told activists they have no intention of investigating Porter's killer. The community is going to have to mobilize," says Melina Abdullah, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles.

Minnesota & Illinois Sue over Federal Invasion" by ICE Agents, ICE Agents in Minneapolis Fire Tear Gas, Pepper Spray at Protests over Immigration Raids, Four Top DOJ Officials Resign over Decision Not to Probe ICE Killing of Renee Good, As Trump Weighs Iran Strikes, Tehran Says It Is Prepared for War But Ready to Negotiate, Eight Palestinians Killed in Intense Winter Storm, Headstone Is Finally Placed for Palestinian Poet Refaat Alareer, Killed in 2023 Israeli Strike, Ex-Treasury Secretaries & Fed Chairs Criticize Criminal Probe into Jerome Powell, Sen. Mark Kelly Sues Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over Unconstitutional Crusade" to Censure Him, Press Freedom Groups Criticize House Subpoena of Journalist Seth Harp, Military Faces War Crime Accusation for Disguising Military Plane Used in Boat Strike, Russia Launches Another Major Overnight Drone & Missile Attack on Ukraine, RSF Drone Strike Kills 27 at Sudanese Army Base, EPA to Stop Considering Health Impacts When Regulating Air Pollution, Judge Blocks Trump Effort to Freeze $10 Billion in Child Care Subsidies for 5 States, Nearly 15,000 Nurses Launch Strike in NYC; Mayor Mamdani Backs Nurses, Synagogue in Jackson, Miss., Once Bombed by KKK, Is Damaged in Arson Attack

We look at All the Walls Came Down, a new short documentary directed by filmmaker Ondi Timoner that looks back at the devastating 2025 fires in Los Angeles, which destroyed Timoner's home and left the historically Black community of Altadena in ruins. The film, which has been shortlisted for an Academy Award, follows community organizer Heavenly Hughes as residents confront the aftermath of the fires and organize to rebuild their town.We feel like we're being forced out because of this fire and not really getting the support that we need from our elected officials to be sure to preserve and protect our Black and Brown community," says Hughes.Timoner says Southern California Edison, which has taken responsibility for the Eaton Fire, has refused to tap its emergency funds. The utility company needs to bridge families over so that they're not pushed off their generational land," Timoner says. It's an urgent situation in our town."(Watch Part 2 of this interview.)

We speak with civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong in Minneapolis as protests continue in the city following the killing of activist Renee Good last week. The ICE agent who fatally shot Good in her car has been identified as Jonathan Ross, an Iraq War veteran described by family and friends as a hardcore conservative Christian and MAGA supporter. This comes as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem continues to claim Good was engaged in domestic terrorism."Folks at the highest levels of government are perpetuating falsehoods ... and working overtime to justify the brutal murder of Renee Good," says Levy Armstrong, who urges local authorities to arrest Ross.

Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed in Iran as authorities crack down on protests against inflation and the government's handling of the economic crisis, with thousands more arrested amid a nationwide communications blackout. The protests started in late December and quickly spread across the country, marking the strongest internal challenge to the Iranian government in years. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to attack Iran in support of the protesters.Many civil and political activists in Iran have warned against any kind of foreign intervention, because it actually increases repression inside of the country," says Narges Bajoghli, associate professor of Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University.We also speak with Iranian dissident Hamidreza Mohammadi, brother of the imprisoned Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi. Speaking from Oslo, he says he has been unable to reach his family inside Iran since the start of the protests. In the lack of internet and telephone communication, the regime has been able to kill a lot of people," Mohammadi says. People in Iran simply want [a] different system, and they don't want to be enslaved by this regime for its ideological purposes."

Over 500 Protesters Killed in Demonstrations in Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Expresses Support for Iranian Protesters as Israel Continues to Strike Gaza, Anti-ICE Protests Spread Nationwide Following the Fatal Shooting of Renee Good, ICE Agent's Cellphone Video Shows the Minutes Before Renee Good Was Killed, NYT: Venezuela's Interim President Requests U.S. Help to Seize Rogue Oil Tanker, Nobel Institute Rejects Offer by Venezuelan Opposition Figure Machado to Share Peace Prize with Trump, Trump Threatens Cuba to Make a Deal Before It's Too Late", Denmark's Prime Minister Says Country Faces a Fateful Moment" as Trump Threatens to Take Over Greenland, DOJ Launches Criminal Probe into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Smithsonian's Portrait Gallery Removes Text on Trump's Two Impeachments

Israeli American Liat Beinin Atzili was taken captive during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack. Over the next two months, her family members, including film director Brandon Kramer, tirelessly advocated for her release, an endeavor now documented in Kramer's new film, Holding Liat. We speak to Atzili and Kramer about their family's ordeal and Atzili's captivity in Gaza, where she was held in isolation alongside another Israeli woman by members of Hamas until November 2023. They kept telling us that they had no idea what was going on with other hostages, and that it was their job to keep us safe and to keep us healthy until we were released in a hostage deal. And that's what they did," she says. Since her release, Atzili has become a fierce advocate for peace and reconciliation. There aren't any conflicts that are unsolvable. It's just a matter of people wanting to speak to each other and wanting to listen and to understand each other's stories," she says. If we don't do that, we're just allowing violence to take over."Holding Liat premieres Friday, January 9, at Film Forum in New York, where Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman will moderate a Q&A with Liat Atzili and director Brandon Kramer.

Two years ago this month, the world was gripped by a series of shocking recordings of a 6-year-old girl in Gaza pleading for help as she sat trapped in a car riddled with bullets alongside the bodies of her cousins, aunt and uncle, who had just been killed by Israeli forces as the family attempted to flee the Israeli ground invasion of Gaza City. Emergency responders with the Palestine Red Crescent Society attempted to secure safe passage to rescue the child, an elementary school student named Hind Rajab, but Israeli forces also targeted and destroyed an ambulance as it arrived on the scene, killing medical workers Yusuf al-Zeino and Ahmed al-Madhoun, before firing again at the family's car, killing Rajab.When you hear her voice, you can't unhear it," says the award-winning Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, whose new Oscar-shortlisted film, The Voice of Hind Rajab, incorporates recordings of Rajab's emergency calls to depict responders' race-against-the-clock attempt to save her - and the ultimate failure of the international community to prevent her violent death. Ben Hania says the film, a hybrid of documentary and drama, is an effort to honor [Rajab's] voice, but also to tell this incredible story of those heroes trying to save lives in impossible conditions."

Minnesota state investigators say the FBI is blocking them from investigating the ICE shooting of Renee Good, a mother of three and award-winning poet who was killed in her car on January 7. The federal government's claims of immunity for the ICE officer - identified as Iraq War veteran Jonathan Ross - go against precedent, as does its refusal to cooperate with state authorities, says Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who is demanding a local and state-led investigation into Good's homicide and an end to the Trump administration's smear tactics" against Good. This is Third Reich stuff," adds Ellison, decrying the escalation in aggressive tactics employed by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis and throughout the country. This is an unprecedented attack on American institutions."

Portland Mayor Calls on ICE to Halt Operations in City After Border Agents Shot Married Couple, The Killing of Renee Good: Minnesota Officials Fear Cover-Up After FBI Halts Cooperation with State Investigators, Rep. Robin Kelly to Introduce Articles to Impeach Kristi Noem, Immigration Agents Denounced for Raid Outside Minneapolis High School, Bipartisan Bill Advances in Senate to Block Trump from Taking Military Action in Venezuela, Would Be Great Honor": Trump on Offer by Machado to Share Nobel Prize with Him, U.S. Considers Sending $100,000 to Each Greenlander as Part of Trump Push to Take Over Island, Protests Continue in Iran; Trump Renews Threat to Attack Iran If Protesters Are Crushed, There's Neither Peace Nor Truce": Israel Kills 14 Palestinians in Gaza, Russia Deploys Hypersonic Missile in Massive Attack on Ukraine, 17 House Republicans Join Democrats to Restore Obamacare Subsidies, Reps. Khanna & Massie Call for Special Master to Oversee DOJ Release of Epstein Documents, Mamdani & Hochul Announce Plan to Provide Free Child Care for 2-Year-Olds in NYC

U.S. forces have seized two more oil tankers with links to Venezuela, days after the U.S. attacked Venezuela and abducted President Nicolas Maduro along with his wife, making former Vice President Delcy Rodriguez the new leader of the country. This is a decapitation without regime change," says Venezuelan economist Francisco Rodriguez. The political system in Venezuela remains intact." In Caracas, former Venezuelan diplomat Carlos Ron says Maduro is a prisoner of war" and that Venezuelans are angry and are upset about this incursion from the United States." This comes as the Trump administration has announced plans to control sales of Venezuela's oil indefinitely."

We speak with two people who responded to the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, by an ICE agent in Minneapolis Wednesday. Trump administration officials claim the agent acted in self-defense, but local officials, including Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, reject that claim.This could happen to you in your city," says Robin Wonsley, member of the Minneapolis City Council. This happening here in Minneapolis sets a tone for this to play out in many other cities."The shooting comes after the Trump administration deployed over 2,000 ICE agents to Minnesota.This is not normal," says Edwin Torres DeSantiago with the Immigrant Defense Network, which monitors ICE activity and has received thousands of requests from Minnesotans who want to volunteer as constitutional observers" of ICE in Minneapolis. We've been seeing people terrorized all over the state and all over the country under the guise of protection."

ICE Agent Fatally Shoots 37-Year-Old Minneapolis Mother During Immigration Enforcement Raid, Mayor Tells ICE to Get the Fuck Out of Minneapolis" as Trump Spreads Disinformation About Shooting, Illinois Rep. Robin Kelly to File Articles of Impeachment Against DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, White House Plans Indefinite" Control of Venezuela's Oil Industry as U.S. Seizes More Tankers, Trump Invites President Gustavo Petro to White House After Threatening Attacks on Colombia, Trump Announces U.S. Withdrawal from Dozens of International Groups and U.N. Agencies, Drone Strike by Sudanese Paramilitary Group Kills 13, Including Children, Israeli Forces Kill Children and Civilians in Fresh Violations of Gaza Ceasefire, U.N. Rights Chief Decries Apartheid" in Occupied West Bank as Israel Approves New Settlements, Trump Calls for Increasing U.S. Military Spending to $1.5 Trillion, House Oversight Committee to Subpoena Billionaire Les Wexner over Epstein Ties

We speak with journalist Jacob Soboroff about his new book and ongoing reporting about the Los Angeles fires one year ago, when destructive infernos razed entire neighborhoods, killing 30 people and displacing over 100,000 more. The book Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America's New Age of Disaster provides a detailed look at how the fires unfolded, the emergency efforts and the political response. Soboroff, who grew up in the area, describes seeing the charred remains of his own childhood home while misinformation from Donald Trump, Elon Musk and other powerful figures was pouring rhetorical fuel on the flames of the very real fire."

Following the U.S. attack on Venezuela, the Trump administration has renewed its campaign to take over Greenland, which has been controlled by Denmark for more than 300 years. The White House says it's considering a range of options," including the use of military force. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that if the U.S. were to attack Greenland, it would spell the end of NATO.Greenland is not up for sale," says Aaju Peter, a Greenlandic Inuit activist and attorney, who says Indigenous Greenlanders want their independence from both the U.S. and Denmark.We also speak with analyst Pavel Devyatkin, who says the U.S. is acting like a rogue state" and enacting a policy of pure imperialism."

Following his attack on Venezuela and the abduction of Nicolas Maduro, President Donald Trump has escalated his threats against Colombia and claimed without evidence that President Gustavo Petro is involved in cocaine trafficking. Trump and others in his administration have also threatened military action against Cuba, Greenland, Iran and Mexico in recent days.Manuel Rozental, a Colombian physician and activist with more than 40 years of involvement in grassroots political organizing, tells Democracy Now! that Trump's attacks on Petro are lies. The former guerrilla has seized more cocaine than any other government in the past," says Rozental. President Petro is not a drug trafficker. President Petro has been a victim of drug mafias and their allies."

Venezuela's Military Announces 24 Security Officers Were Killed in U.S. Attack, Trump: Venezuela Will Give the U.S. Up to 50 Million Barrels of Oil, Secretary of State Rubio Tells Lawmakers Trump Wants to Buy Greenland, U.S. Pledges to Provide Ukraine with Security Guarantees for the First Time, Qatar Accuses Israel of Political Blackmail" for Refusing to Reopen Rafah Crossing, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar Visits Somaliland, At Least 34 People Killed During Protests in Iran, ICE Arrests 150 People After DHS Surges 2,000 Agents to Minnesota, Trump Admin Slashes $10 Billion in Funding for Social Programs in Five Democratic-Led States, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting Votes to Dissolve Itself, American Federation of Teachers Sues Texas Education Department for Probing Teachers' Speech After Charlie Kirk's Death, GOP Congressmember Doug LaMalfa of California Dies at 65, Trump Warns Democrats Will Impeach Him If Republicans Don't Win Midterm Elections

Ventures launched by the Trump family since Donald Trump's reelection have generated at least $4 billion in proceeds and paper wealth for the Trump family. With investments across sectors like real estate, hospitality, media, cryptocurrency and more, the Trumps are increasingly integrating their business empire" into the wider U.S. economy, says David Uberti, who has been reporting on the family's self-enrichment for The Wall Street Journal. The coupling of Trump's economic and political influence is raising major questions about conflicts of interest. You have all of these different business interests in different areas in which the government regulates," and this proximity to power may help along some of these deals and the valuations at which they're made."We look at the Trumps' cryptocurrency venture World Liberty Financial and the Trump Organization's planned $6 billion merger with a firm hoping to build a nuclear fusion plant to power AI data centers with Uberti, who says such very speculative, highly risky corners of financial markets" are key to the family's investment strategy.

The share prices of U.S. oil companies surged following the Trump administration's attack on Venezuela and abduction of its president, Nicolas Maduro. In public statements, Trump has been clear about his desire to reassert U.S. corporate control over Venezuela's nationalized oil industry. Now with Trump's show of force over Venezuela's political sovereignty, many investors see the potential for a similar overpowering of the socialist country's economic independence. However, notes financial reporter David Uberti, it won't be so easy for Wall Street to make a profit. In addition to upgrading Venezuela's decrepit" oil-producing infrastructure, they have to push for more appetite for oil around the world."

The share prices of U.S. oil companies surged following the Trump administration's attack on Venezuela and abduction of its president, Nicolas Maduro. In public statements, Trump has been clear about his desire to reassert U.S. corporate control over Venezuela's nationalized oil industry. Now with Trump's show of force over Venezuela's political sovereignty, many investors see the potential for a similar overpowering of the socialist country's economic independence. However, notes financial reporter David Uberti, it won't be so easy for Wall Street to make a profit. In addition to upgrading Venezuela's decrepit" oil-producing infrastructure, oil companies must push for a greater share of the energy marketplace, just as oil's popularity is on the decline.

Zeteo's Mehdi Hasan outlines Donald Trump's Donroe Doctrine," a throwback foreign policy exemplified by the Trump administration's shocking intervention in Venezuela. With his claims of U.S. sovereignty over nations in the Western Hemisphere, Trump's basically saying, 'Well, this is ours, and China, Russia can have their spheres of influence.' And it is very 19th-century-esque. 'Let's divide up the world between the powers.'" This orientation is a major shift from U.S. foreign policy of recent decades, such as the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when interventionist actions were framed around ideological motivations, explains Hasan. They said it was WMDs. They said it was democracy. They said it was al-Qaeda. They at least pretended that it wasn't about the oil." Meanwhile, Trump is brazen about his aims to seize control of Venezuela's resources and demonstrate that might is right."

Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores Plead Not Guilty" to Drug and Weapons Charges in U.S. Court, Venezuelan VP Delcy Rodriguez Sworn In as Interim President, U.S. Assault on Venezuela Condemned by Allies and Adversaries Alike at U.N. Security Council, Grand Rapids Police Arrest Protest Antiwar Organizer on TV After She Condemns Trump, WSJ: Trump Tipped Off Oil Executives a Month Before U.S. Attack on Venezuela, Venezuelan Opposition Leader Machado Says She Plans to Return to Venezuela, Danish Prime Minister Warns U.S. Attack on Greenland Would Mean the End of NATO, Israel Launches Airstrikes in Lebanon, Claiming to Target Hezbollah and Hamas, U.S. Drops the Number of Vaccines Recommended for Every Child, Democrats Demand Speaker Johnson Unveil a Plaque Honoring Police Officers from Jan. 6 Insurrection, Defense Secretary Hegseth Censures Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, Trump Admin Deploys 2,000 ICE Agents to Minneapolis to Probe Alleged Cases of Fraud

Democracy Now! discusses the attack on Venezuela with two Venezuelan American scholars: Alejandro Velasco, an associate history professor at New York University, and Miguel Tinker Salas, emeritus professor of history at Pomona College. The professors react to President Trump's comments on the presence of oil in the region and claims that Venezuela had stolen" oil from U.S. companies. There was no taking of 'American property or American oil' - it was Venezuelan oil," says Tinker Salas. It belonged to Venezuela."Velasco also comments on Marco Rubio, a central figure in the U.S. campaign against Venezuela, who may have another country as his ultimate target. Rubio's primary interest in the region is not Venezuela, it's not Colombia, it's not Mexico - it's Cuba," says Velasco.

The Trump administration did not seek congressional authorization prior to attacking Venezuela, as is required by the Constitution. It also violated probably the first principle of international law ... that countries have to respect their neighbors, and they can't simply invade a neighbor or any other sovereign nation because they don't like the way they are running things there," says law professor David Cole. The attack was clearly not a law enforcement operation, as the administration has claimed, but an imperialist intervention," says Cole, who notes President Trump's comments on extracting oil from the region.

U.S. forces attacked Venezuela and abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in a Saturday night raid. About 80 people were reportedly killed, including 32 Cubans. Democracy Now! speaks with Andreina Chavez, a Venezuelan reporter based in Caracas, who calls the strikes an imperialist attack." Trump also said the U.S. would take the oil from Venezuela, which has the world's largest proven reserves.

U.S. Launches Attack on Venezuela, Captures Maduro and His Wife, Trump Threatens Colombia, Cuba, Greenland, Iran and Mexico After Attack on Venezuela, Secretary of State Rubio Warns Cuban Government After U.S. Attack on Venezuela, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Congratulates Trump on Perfect Operation" in Venezuela, Russia Affirms Support for Venezuelan Gov't After Attacking Ukraine's Second-Largest City Kharkiv, Greenland's Prime Minister Nielsen Fires Back Against Trump's Threats, Top Democrats Say Trump Admin Still Has Not Briefed Congress About Venezuela Attack, Protesters Worldwide Condemn U.S. Assault on Venezuela, Trump Threatens to Strike Iran on Behalf of Protesters, Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan Resigns While Appealing Felony Conviction for Aiding Immigrant

Zohran Mamdani hailed a new era" for New York on Thursday, promising in his inaugural address to deliver on the ambitious agenda that electrified progressives in the city and saw him defeat the political establishment in both the Democratic primary and the general election last year. Addressing thousands of supporters who braved freezing temperatures to attend the ceremony at City Hall, Mamdani vowed to govern expansively and audaciously" for residents. I was elected as a democratic socialist, and I will govern as a democratic socialist. I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical," he said.Mamdani was sworn in by Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who also spoke during the ceremony.

We have chosen courage over fear. We have chosen prosperity for the many over spoils for the few," said Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in her introduction to the historic inauguration of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as New York City mayor. We feature part of her remarks, along with poet Cornelius Eady, who performed his original poem Proof" during the inauguration ceremony, and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who began to cry as he addressed part of his speech to his younger self.

Tens of thousands of New Yorkers braved freezing temperatures and police barricades to be part of Zohran Mamdani's inauguration as mayor on New Year's Day. Democracy Now! spoke with many Mamdani supporters, including a high school student and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, about what the day represented to them, their hopes for the new administration and how it could set a model for progressives across the country. Organized people will always be more powerful than organized money," said Diana Moreno, a fellow democratic socialist who is running for Mamdani's vacant seat in the New York State Assembly.

New York City started 2026 with a new mayor, as democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani made history when he was sworn in as the city's first Muslim, first South Asian and first African-born leader, as well as the youngest in over a century. Ahead of a public ceremony on New Year's Day that drew tens of thousands of people in the freezing cold, Mamdani was privately sworn in at midnight by New York Attorney General Tish James in a small ceremony held at a decommissioned subway station below City Hall. He took his oath using two Qur'ans, including one that belonged to his grandfather. Andrew Epstein, one of Mamdani's closest advisers, spoke with Democracy Now! about the significance of the private ceremony and how it connected the new mayor to the history of the city he now leads.

Zohran Mamdani Sworn In as New York's First Muslim and First Democratic Socialist Mayor, U.S. Federal Minimum Wage Remains Flat for 16th Straight Year as Billionaires' Wealth Skyrockets, Trump Hosts Netanyahu as Guest of Honor at Lavish Mar-a-Lago New Year's Party, Winter Storms Batter Tents Housing Displaced Palestinians in Gaza, Killing Two More Children, Israel Demolishes Palestinian Homes in West Bank Refugee Camp, Approves Even More Settlements, Hundreds of Thousands March in Istanbul to Demand End to Israel's Genocide in Palestine, Pentagon Says It Blew Up 5 More Boats in Caribbean and Pacific, Killing at Least 8, Governor of Russian-Occupied Kherson Says Ukrainian Attack Killed 24 and Wounded 50, Trump Says He'll Withdraw National Guard Troops from Chicago, L.A. and Portland, ICE Plans $100 Million Wartime Recruitment" Campaign Targeting Military and Firearms Enthusiasts, Trump Administration Freezes Federal Child Care Funds Nationwide, We Are Locked and Loaded": Trump Threatens to Attack Iran as Protesters Clash with Security Forces

In this holiday special, we revisit our interview with longtime technology reporter Karen Hao, author of the new book Empire of AI, which unveils the accruing political and economic power of AI companies - especially Sam Altman's OpenAI. Her reporting uncovered the exploitation of workers in Kenya, attempts to take massive amounts of freshwater from communities in Chile, along with numerous accounts of the technology's detrimental impact on the environment. This is an extraordinary type of AI development that is causing a lot of social, labor and environmental harms," says Hao, in an extended interview.

A new report from the grassroots organization RootsAction aims to do what a promised autopsy" from the Democratic National Committee ultimately did not: publicly reckon with the failures of the Democrats' 2024 presidential campaign. While the Democratic Party's official postmortem assessment was pulled from public release earlier this month, RootsAction's Democratic Autopsy" looks at how factors like service to corporate power, hostility to the progressive wing of the party, out-of-control militarism [and] disconnection from the base of the working class" contributed to declining support for the party's platform and candidates. If you don't examine real history, then you're in a cycle that repeats the same problems," says Norman Solomon, director of RootsAction, who joins Democracy Now! to discuss his organization's findings.

New York City is preparing to welcome Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist and member of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America, into office as mayor. Ahead of the highly anticipated inauguration, we sit down with NYC-DSA's co-chair Grace Mausser to discuss the goals of the incoming administration and next steps for the volunteer-powered campaign apparatus that helped propel Mamdani to City Hall. Just getting a mayor into office, while impressive and very exciting, is not enough," says Mausser. The reason we rallied behind Zohran is because he is committed to building our project."

Israel is set to suspend the operating licenses of Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam and dozens of other humanitarian aid groups in Gaza and the West Bank over alleged ties to Hamas, preventing international aid workers from entering Gaza and carrying out critical, lifesaving operations. Israel's licensing process is arbitrary and highly politicized," explains Shaina Low, communications adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the impacted groups. This is just one more step to push out principled humanitarian actors, particularly those that speak out on behalf of the people who we're there to serve, call for accountability for rights violations and violations of international law."

As the Trump administration escalates its military campaign against Venezuela, we speak to Venezuelan journalist Andreina Chavez about the latest developments. Responding to the U.S. military's drone strikes on small boats and seizures of oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela, Chavez says U.S. claims of pursuing fentanyl traffickers lack evidence and are pretext" for an attempt to asphyxiate the Venezuelan economy" and wrest control of the country's state-owned oil reserves. In the face of U.S. aggression, says Chavez, Venezuelan communes and Venezuelan popular organizations in general have responded to Trump's claims that he owns the Venezuelan oil with a very strong response, saying that they're going to defend sovereignty, that they're going to defend Venezuela's self-determination."

Israel Bans More Than Two Dozen Aid Agencies from Operating in Gaza, Saudi Arabia Carries Out Strikes on Yemen's Port City of Mukalla, Russia Launches Overnight Drone Attack in the Ukrainian Port City of Odesa, Mass Protests in Iran Spread to Universities, Two Oil Tankers Reportedly Arrive in Venezuela Despite the Trump Administration's Blockade, U.S. Sanctions 10 People and Firms from Iran and Venezuela, Protests Led by Bolivian Miners Enter Second Week, Honduran Presidential Runner-Up Salvador Nasralla Challenges Results of Election, Florida Executes Record 19 People on Death Row in 2025, Unsealed Court Order Reveals DOJ Officials Pushed for Kilmar Abrego Garcia's Indictment, Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump Admin from Ending Deportation Protections for Immigrants from South Sudan, Trump Admin Announced It's Freezing Child Care Payments to Minnesota, Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani to Be Sworn In as Mayor by New York Attorney General Letitia James

Tens of millions of Americans are set to see their health insurance costs soar when subsidies under the Affordable Care Act expire at the end of this year. Health insurance premiums are expected to more than double or even triple for some 20 million people, pricing many out of healthcare coverage entirely. We've done nothing as a country to control healthcare costs," says Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president of health initiatives at the Community Service Society of New York and member of New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's transition team. She discusses how premiums will work, how to seek help, what to watch for in alternative plans, and more.

Starting in January, the Trump administration says it will garnish the wages of student loan borrowers who haven't been able to make their payments for at least nine months. It's cruel and hostile to working people to turn the system on before we're sure that we can run it in a compliant manner," says Julia Barnard, higher education team lead at the Debt Collective and former student loan ombudsman at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. To student debtors facing financial hardship, Barnard suggests immediately [contesting] when they get a notice of wage seizure." She lays out what is at stake, options for those facing default, and more.