Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced new sanctions against Iran and its economy, including on eight individuals the officials said were involved in missile strikes on Iraqi bases housing U.S. personnel on Tuesday night.
"We will continue to apply economic sanctions until Iran stops its terrorist activities and commit[s] that it will never have nuclear weapons," Mnuchin said.
Adding details to President Donald Trump's announcement Wednesday that he intended to further sanction Iran, whose goods are already heavily sanctioned, Mnuchin said the president will sign an executive order authorizing new sanctions including 17 against the nation's economy and sanctions against individuals he asserted, "advance Iran's destabilizing activities and were involved in Tuesday's ballistic missile strike." Mnuchin, who last announced sanctions against the Middle Eastern nation in September 2019 after suspected attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities, said the administration has "100 percent confidence" that "the economic sanctions are working."
"We want Iran to behave simply like a normal nation," Pompeo told reporters in a White House briefing, saying he believed sanctions will help accomplish that goal. He added, "We're striking at the heart of the Islamic Republic's inner security apparatus."
Pompeo was pressed by reporters on the timing of attacks the president initially said were "imminent." The administration has been inconsistent in justification for the drone strike on Jan. 3 that killed Iranian top military commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani. In the past 24 hours, Trump said "they were looking to blow up our embassy," which the administration later explained he was referencing the storming of the Baghdad embassy on New Year's Eve. Though the Department of Defense had stated that the general had been "actively developing plans" to attack Americans in the region, Pompeo told Fox last night "we don't know precisely when and we don't know precisely where."
On Friday morning, Pompeo attempted to clarify the differing accounts, saying "we had specific information on an imminent threat and those included attacks on U.S. embassies. Period. Full stop."
Justification for the drone strike has had lawmakers up in arms for days, exacerbated by the five days it took the White House to brief Congressional leaders, a meeting two Republican Senators had excoriated as unacceptable and had them saying they would vote with Democrats in a war powers resolution.
Pompeo repeated this morning that Soleimani had been planning "a broad, large-scale attack against American interests," including U.S. embassies and bases in the region, and reiterated reports from the U.S. and its allies that the Ukrainian passenger jet that crashed after its takeoff in Iran, just hours after Iran had sent a retaliatory missile barrage at Americans housed in Iraqi bases, was "likely" shot down by an Iranian missile.
"When we get the results of that investigation, I am confident we and the rest of the world will take appropriate action," Pompeo said.
After 40 years of tension came to a head last month with the death of an American contractor, storming of the American embassy in Baghdad, and the killing of Soleimani, lawmakers worried the president had taken the U.S. to the brink of war with the Iran. On Jan. 8, Trump said Iran appeared to "be standing down" after its missile attack response.
Many U.S. consumers say they’ve noticed higher than usual prices for holiday gifts in recent months, according to a a December poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. A contributing factor is the unusually high import taxes the Trump administration put on foreign goods. While the worst-case consumer impact that many economists foresaw from the administration’s trade policies hasn’t materialized, some popular gift items have been affected more than others. Most toys and electronics sold in the U.S. come from China. So do most holiday decorations. Jewelry prices have risen due to the cost of gold.
Serbia’s prosecutor for organized crime has charged a government minister and three others with abuse of position and falsifying of documents related to a luxury real estate project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The charges came on Monday. The investigation centers on a controversy over a a bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade that was a protected cultural heritage zone but that is facing redevelopment as a luxury compound by a company linked to Kushner. The $500 million proposal to build a high-rise hotel, offices and shops at the site has met fierce opposition from experts at home and abroad. Selakovic and others allegedly illegally lifted the protection status for the site by falsifying documentation.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to block states from regulating artificial intelligence. He argues that heavy regulations could stifle the industry, especially given competition from China. Trump says the U.S. needs a unified approach to AI regulation to avoid complications from state-by-state rules. The order directs the administration to draw up a list of problematic regulations for the Attorney General to challenge. States with laws could lose access to broadband funding, according to the text of the order. Some states have already passed AI laws focusing on transparency and limiting data collection.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
House Republicans in key battleground districts are working to contain the political fallout expected when thousands of their constituents face higher bills for health insurance coverage obtained through the Affordable Care Act. For a critical sliver of the GOP majority, the impending expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits after Dec. 31 could be a major political liability as they potentially face midterm headwinds in a 2026 election critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda. For Democrats, the party’s strategy for capturing the House majority revolves around pinning higher bills for groceries, health insurance and utilities on Republicans.
