Daily News — January 5, 2026

The Hemisphere Is Next

Nicolás Maduro appears in a Manhattan courtroom today. Two days ago, he was the president of Venezuela. Then the United States bombed his country, killed at least 80 people including civilians,¹ and abducted him and his wife in what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called a “massive joint military and law enforcement raid” lasting less than 30 minutes.

Trump’s words afterward should chill anyone paying attention: “We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.”² Not support a transition. Not work with allies. Run it. And tap its oil reserves while we’re at it.

The longer this administration is enabled by its base and its party to continue on its destructive path, the more intensely it will engage in destruction—increasing in scale and breadth over time.

That's the thesis. Failing regimes don't moderate. They escalate. They need enemies, spectacle, and displays of dominance to keep their base activated. Venezuela—a sovereign nation bombed, its president seized and jailed in Manhattan—is what that looks like.

Maduro is a dictator. That's not in dispute. What's in dispute is whether the United States can bomb countries and kidnap leaders whenever it wants.

Our allies see it clearly. Germany’s Roderich Kiesewetter, a conservative MP: “The U.S. are abandoning the rules-based order that has shaped us since 1945... a return to the old U.S. doctrine from before 1940, where the law of force rules, not international law.”³ Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, Uruguay, and Chile issued a joint statement calling it “an extremely dangerous precedent for peace and regional security.”⁴

But what should terrify allies even more is what came next.

Greenland Is Next

On Sunday, aboard Air Force One, Trump made it plain. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security,” he told reporters, claiming it’s “covered with Russian and Chinese ships.”⁵ He has repeatedly refused to rule out military force to take it.⁶

Greenland's Prime Minister understood what Trump was signaling: "When the President says 'we need Greenland' and links us to Venezuela and military intervention, it's not just wrong. It's disrespectful."⁷

Denmark’s Prime Minister urged Trump directly: “Stop the threats against a historically close ally.”⁸

The message: American military might is now for sale. NATO membership won't save you.

Some refuse to see it. Pundits are calling Venezuela a "distraction." James Carville: "In his reptilian survival way, he says 'I'm going to do this and draw attention away from Epstein.'"⁹ Charlie Sykes: "An attack on Venezuela would wag the dog."¹⁰

Here’s What They’re Pointing To

Trump’s approval hit 36%—the lowest first-year ending for any president in 50 years.¹¹ Among independents, net approval collapsed from -1 in January to -43 by December. The coalition is crumbling.

The Epstein files keep getting worse. The DOJ “discovered” over a million additional documents, missed the legally mandated deadline, and made what Representative Thomas Massie called “illegal redactions.”¹² Among the new revelations: a prosecutor’s 2020 email stating that flight logs show Trump flew on Epstein’s private jet “many more times” than previously known.¹³ The man who blocked release of these files for months, calling them “boring stuff,” has more exposure than he admitted.

Jack Smith's testimony was buried on New Year's Eve. Republicans released 255 pages and eight hours of video when America was watching the ball drop. Why? Because Smith demolished them.¹⁴ His office had "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" that Trump committed crimes. Trump was "by a large measure the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy."

They see the correlation. They miss the causation.

The military action isn't a response to bad news. It's an escalation to concentrate power as the walls close in. Bombing one neighbor, threatening another, declaring "we run it now"—that's demonstration, not deflection. It shows the base that Trump acts while his enemies flail. It shows the world that constraints no longer apply. It shows himself he's still in control.

This is the fascism timeline accelerating.

In Part IV of The Freedom Illusion, I laid out a ten-point fascism syndrome—observable outcomes, not intentions to guess at. Venezuela and Greenland check multiple boxes in a single weekend:

• Mythic restoration: Trump’s “Donroe Doctrine”—”American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again”¹⁵

• Cult of the leader: The “no new wars” base falls in line behind a war

• Aggression as virtue: Bombing and threatening neighbors to show strength

• Capture of the state: War without Congressional approval

The more boxes checked, the clearer the diagnosis.

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If work like this—connecting the dots between Venezuela, Greenland, and the fascism timeline while others call it “distraction”—feels worth having in the world, please consider supporting The American Manifesto. Paid subscriptions make it possible to keep tracking the pattern as it unfolds.

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Back in September, I wrote that we had ninety days to turn things around before we crossed the next Rubicon. I was off by less than a month. That was neither guess nor prophecy. Failing regimes escalate. The pattern was visible then.

The window for a counter-movement is closing. Every day's news is connected. This isn’t noise. It’s signal.

Read The Freedom Illusion. Understand the machine and how we replace it.

The Freedom Illusion — Part I

1. CBS News, “Trump says U.S. is ‘in charge’ of Venezuela, Maduro jailed in New York after U.S. military operation“, CBS News, January 3, 2026.

Live updates documenting the U.S. military operation against Venezuela, including casualty figures (at least 80 killed including civilians and 32 Cuban military/intelligence personnel), and details of the 30-minute raid that captured Maduro and his wife.

2. NPR, “‘We are going to run the country,’ Trump says after strike on Venezuela“, NPR, January 3, 2026.

Reports Trump’s declaration that the United States will temporarily govern Venezuela and tap its oil reserves. Documents the scope of the military operation involving over 150 aircraft and the international alarm triggered by the strikes.

3. CNBC, “‘A dangerous precedent’: World leaders react to the U.S. attack on Venezuela“, CNBC, January 3, 2026.

Compiles allied responses to the Venezuela strike, including German conservative MP Roderich Kiesewetter’s statement that “the U.S. are abandoning the rules-based order that has shaped us since 1945” and that the action “marks a return to the old U.S. doctrine from before 1940.”

4. NPR, “U.S. strikes in Venezuela trigger regional and global alarm“, NPR, January 3, 2026.

Documents the joint statement from Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, Uruguay, and Chile rejecting the U.S. action and expressing concern that it “can constitute an extremely dangerous precedent for peace and regional security.”

5. Axios, “Prime ministers of Greenland, Denmark tell Trump to stop U.S. takeover threats“, Axios, January 5, 2026.

Reports Trump’s Air Force One comments claiming “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security” and that Greenland is “covered with Russian and Chinese ships.”

6. Stars and Stripes, “‘We need Greenland’: Trump raises NATO alarms with latest wish for US control of Danish territory“, Stars and Stripes, January 5, 2026.

Documents Trump’s repeated refusal to rule out military force to acquire Greenland and the alarm this has raised among NATO allies.

7. CBC News, “Danish, Greenlandic leaders urge Trump to end threats to take over Greenland“, CBC News, January 5, 2026.

Reports Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen’s direct response to Trump linking Greenland to the Venezuela military intervention, calling the connection “It’s not just wrong. It’s disrespectful.”

8. NPR, “Denmark’s prime minister says ‘stop the threats’ of U.S. annexing Greenland“, NPR, January 4, 2026.

Reports Danish PM Frederiksen’s direct response to Trump’s Greenland threats, urging the U.S. to “stop the threats against a historically close ally.”

9. Salon, “‘All about Epstein’: Carville says Trump invaded Venezuela for a simple reason“, Salon, January 4, 2026.

Democratic strategist James Carville argues the Venezuela invasion was purely a diversion from the Epstein files. “In his reptilian survival way, he says ‘I’m going to do this and draw attention away from Epstein,’” Carville said, dismissing any legitimate foreign policy rationale.

10. Charlie Sykes, “Trump’s effort to wag the dog with Venezuela could backfire“, MSNBC, January 2026.

MSNBC commentator Charlie Sykes argues that “aggressive rhetoric is also a perfect vehicle for the president to drive the news cycle and to distract the American people,” concluding that “an attack on Venezuela would wag the dog.”

11. Gallup, “Trump’s Approval Rating Drops to 36%, New Second-Term Low“, Gallup, December 2025.

Documents Trump’s collapse to 36% approval—the lowest first-year ending for any president in 50 years. Details the catastrophic decline among independents from approximately -1 net approval in January to -43 by December.

12. NBC News, “DOJ says it could take ‘a few more weeks’ to process Epstein files“, NBC News, December 24, 2025.

Reports the DOJ’s discovery of over one million additional Epstein-related documents and its failure to meet the congressionally mandated deadline. Documents Representative Massie’s statement that DOJ “broke the law” with illegal redactions.

13. CBS News, “DOJ releases huge set of Epstein files with many mentions of Trump“, CBS News, December 2025.

Details newly released Epstein documents including a 2020 prosecutor email stating flight logs show Trump flew on Epstein’s private jet “many more times” than previously known—contradicting Trump’s attempts to distance himself from Epstein.

14. Lawfare, “The Situation: What Were House Republicans Thinking?“, Lawfare, January 2026.

Analysis of Jack Smith’s congressional testimony, noting Smith was “polite, firm, and factual” and that “Republican interrogators didn’t land a glove on him.” Documents Smith’s statement that he had “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump committed crimes and that Trump was “by a large measure the most culpable and most responsible person” in the January 6th conspiracy.

15. Newsweek, “Trump boasts of new ‘Donroe Doctrine’—but what is it?“, Newsweek, January 4, 2026.

Reports Trump’s declaration at Mar-a-Lago that the U.S. has “superseded” the Monroe Doctrine with the “Donroe Doctrine.” Documents Trump’s statement that “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again”—classic mythic restoration rhetoric framing military aggression as reclaiming lost national greatness.