The Trump administration on Thursday sanctioned three of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s nephews for alleged narco-trafficking as part of its ongoing pressure campaign against the dictator’s “illegitimate regime.” The move comes as Trump has repeatedly demanded that Maduro resign and authorized military strikes against suspected narco-trafficking vessels. Two of the three nephews are convicted narco-traffickers who were granted clemency in October 2022 by the Biden administration as part of a prisoner exchange for seven U.S. nationals. Both men returned to Venezuela and were active in drug trafficking as of 2025, according to State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott. Pigott said the sanctions also target Venezuela’s oil sector, an unnamed businessman, and six shipping companies, while designating six vessels as blocked property. “As the leader of the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) Cartel de los Soles, Maduro continues to destabilize our region,” Pigott said. “He and his cronies have flouted the will of the Venezuelan people and devastated the country’s economy.” Maduro was sworn in as president earlier this year to serve a third six-year term despite evidence that his opponent, Edmundo González, won twice as many votes. González ran for the position after opposition leader María Corina Machado was barred from running by the Maduro regime. Christmas Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships “The U.S. government will continue to deny financial lifelines to the illegitimate Maduro regime, which he uses to oppress the Venezuelan people,” Pigott added. “The United States is committed to keeping the American people safe by using all available means to eliminate threats of narco-trafficking and crime throughout our hemisphere.” Machado arrived in Oslo on Thursday, where she was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her decades‑long struggle for democracy in Venezuela. After secretly fleeing Venezuela despite a travel ban, Machado missed the ceremony in the Norwegian capital by just a few hours.  Machado has expressed support for President Donald Trump’s hard-line stance on Venezuela and has publicly called for American intervention, citing the presence of Russian and Iranian agents as well as drug cartels in her country. At the time she received the award, she dedicated it in part to Trump. On Sunday, Trump declared Venezuelan airspace effectively off-limits. Trump has ramped up his attack on suspected narco-vessels from Venezuela and has said that he would soon expand the strikes. “We’re going to start doing those strikes on land too,” the president said last week. “The land is much easier. It’s much easier. And we know the routes they take. We know everything about them. We know where they live. We know where bad ones live, and we’re going to start that very soon, too.” Any country trafficking illegal narcotics is a possible target, Trump added, specifically mentioning Colombia and Venezuela.  “Not just Venezuela. Venezuela has been very bad. Venezuela has been really bad in something else, probably worse than most, but a lot of other people do it too,” Trump said.  Trump said his administration’s efforts have already cut drug trafficking through maritime routes by more than 90%.

Rapper Nicki Minaj took a social media sledgehammer to Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) on Friday, mocking him and warning him against entering the 2028 presidential race. Minaj, fresh off her United Nations testimony calling for the defense of persecuted Christians, initially lashed out at Newsom over a recent interview in which he said, “I want to see trans kids.” “Imagine being the guy running on wanting to see trans kids. Haha. Not even a trans ADULT would run on that,” Minaj posted early on Friday morning. “Normal adults wake up & think they want to see HEALTHY, SAFE, HAPPY kids. Not Gav, The Gav Nots, GavOUT. Send in the next guy, I’m bored.” Imagine being the guy running on wanting to see trans kids. Haha. Not even a trans ADULT would run on that. Normal adults wake up & think they want to see HEALTHY, SAFE, HAPPY kids. Not Gav The Gav Nots GavOUT Send in the next guy, I’m bored. pic.twitter.com/627bIhbD1j — Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) December 12, 2025 Minaj did not stop there, pivoting to argue that Newsom had only gotten where he was because he fit the description of what a successful politician was supposed to look like. “Gavin is the cute boy who got everything handed to him b/c of how cute & sexy & hot & smoking he was. Oohhh look @‘m. Sitting there in that suit with the sneakers on,” she said. “He thinks he’s Tom Cruise only difference is, his next mission IS impossible. He should get another leading role.” Gavin is the cute boy who got everything handed to him b/c of how cute & sexy & hot & smoking he was. Oohhh look @‘m. Sitting there in that suit with the sneakers on. He thinks he’s Tom Cruise only difference is, his next mission IS impossible. He should get another leading role pic.twitter.com/4xPt7BrO1L — Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) December 12, 2025 Minaj concluded with a few suggestions for Newsom, giving him a few options to fill the time that she said would certainly be wasted if he were to pursue a presidential run. “Oh Gavvy pooh, it only gets worse from here for you, buddy. It’s the end of the road for you, my love. Get on the nearest jet ski & let that beautiful hair blow in the wind. It will make you happier than this race that you will not win. Enjoy life. Peace,” she said. Oh Gavvy pooh, it only gets worse from here for you, buddy. It’s the end of the road for you, my love. Get on the nearest jet ski & let that beautiful hair blow in the wind. It will make you happier than this race that you will not win. Enjoy life. Peace. pic.twitter.com/XYHGPnhEo9 — Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) December 12, 2025 How damaging could Minaj’s social media posts be for a governor looking to make the jump to the White House? Robby Starbuck argued that Minaj could certainly make a dent in Newsom’s vote count, especially if she kept at him on policies that are unpopular even among some Democrats. Christmas Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships “If Nicki is gonna troll @GavinNewsom from now until 2028 then he has a big problem because Gavin’s counting on the Black vote and Nicki has a big enough megaphone to let them know how evil Gavin’s policies are. Dude lets 13 yr old girls get their breasts cut off in his state,” Starbuck posted. If Nicki is gonna troll @GavinNewsom from now until 2028 then he has a big problem because Gavin’s counting on the Black vote and Nicki has a big enough megaphone to let them know how evil Gavin’s policies are. Dude lets 13 yr old girls get their breasts cut off in his state. https://t.co/HbkwtRE0uS — Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) December 12, 2025

Indiana Governor Mike Braun blasted his fellow Republicans on Thursday who voted against a Trump-backed redistricting proposal, vowing to help President Donald Trump launch primary challenges against the “misguided state senators.” Braun, a former U.S. senator who is serving his first term as governor, accused “a small group” of Republicans of working with Democrats to stop a new Congressional map that would have likely flipped two more House seats to the GOP in the 2026 midterm elections. “I am very disappointed that a small group of misguided State Senators have partnered with Democrats to reject this opportunity to protect Hoosiers with fair maps and to reject the leadership of President Trump,” Braun said. “Ultimately, decisions like this carry political consequences. I will be working with the President to challenge these people who do not represent the best interests of Hoosiers.” While Braun claimed it was “a small group” of Republicans who rejected the redistricting effort, the Congressional map was opposed by the majority of GOP state senators. Braun’s statement on X was hit with a community note to add that context. The Daily Wire reached out to Braun’s office for comment. The redistricting proposal failed in a 19-31 vote on Thursday, which included 21 of the 40 Republican state senators opposing the Congressional map that aimed to flip two Democratic House seats to Republican control. Senator Sue Glick, who voted against the map, said, “You have to know Hoosiers, we can’t be bullied.” Senator Greg Walker argued that the map was “unconstitutional.” Christmas Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships In a fiery floor speech before the vote, Republican Majority Floor Leader Chris Garten urged his colleagues to support the new map, arguing, “Some will say these maps are political. Let me be clear, you’re damn right they are! Political policy is political. Safe streets are political. Look at Indianapolis. Affordable electricity is political. A drug-free Indiana is political. Peace in the Middle East is political.” Following the vote, Trump ripped Senate Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, who voted against the GOP-favored map. “He’ll probably lose his next primary, whenever that is. I hope he does, because he’s done a tremendous disservice,” Trump said of Bray. “I’ll certainly support anyone who wants to go against him.” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he could have done more to support the redistricting effort in Indiana, which would have added two seats for Republicans in next year’s elections. “I won Indiana all three times by a landslide,” Trump said. “And I wasn’t working on it very hard. It would’ve been nice. I think we would’ve picked up two seats if we did that.” Vice President JD Vance traveled to Indiana in recent months to meet with Governor Braun and help kickstart the redistricting plan, as Trump called on red states to pass new Congressional maps. On Thursday, Vance accused Bray of telling the White House that he wouldn’t fight the redistricting effort “while simultaneously whipping his members against it.” Bray denied the accusations leveled against him by the vice president, saying, “Typically my style is to let people vote like they want. They could come with a yes or come with a no. It’s exactly what I did this time.” Republican-led states, including Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina, have all passed new Congressional maps that will likely help Republicans, while California voters approved a new map that could help Democrats.

The House Committee on Education and Workforce is investigating antisemitism at the American Psychological Association (APA), which represents more than 172,000 researchers, clinical professionals, professors, and students across the country in the field. An open letter written last February to the association’s leadership delineated antisemitism within the association. The letter noted “insensitivity towards Jews, a lack of concern regarding antisemitism, minimization of aggression towards the Jewish people, and outright hostility and prejudice towards Jews and Jewish heritage.” “The letter points to antisemitic statements on APA division listservs, which include claims that ‘Hamas fighters in Gaza … are just protecting civilians’ and giving ‘kudos’ to Hamas,” the committee wrote to the APA, also noting that the APA had “offered educational credits for members to attend conferences where speakers endorsed ‘violence against Jews and Israelis; antisemitic tropes; Holocaust distortion; minimization of Jewish victimization, fear, and grief; and pathologizing of Jewish people’s connection to their indigenous homeland.’” Christmas Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships “In addition, Jewish advocacy groups have condemned the APA’s flagship journal, which published an issue that “repeatedly labels Israel a ‘settler colonial’ and ‘apartheid’ state, accuses it of ‘genocide,’ and refers to ‘Palestinian freedom fighters,’ language that distorts history, legitimizes violence, and erases Jewish self-determination,” the letter pointed out. A former APA division president “allegedly taught that Zionism is a mental illness, called to ‘destroy Zionism,’ referred to Israelis as ‘genocidal f**ks,’ and, after the October 7 Hamas massacre of Israelis, wrote of Hamas, ‘how dare you slander the names of our martyrs as terrorists,’” the letter asserted. “Some APA divisions are also attempting to revise the APA’s 2005/2007 Resolution on Antisemitic and Anti-Jewish Prejudice,” the letter continued. “These divisions introduced a new business item (NBI) in August requesting that the APA repeal its adoption of the widely recognized International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. The NBI makes light of antisemitism experienced by the association’s Jewish members by pointing to ‘weaponized antisemitism,’ which it defines as ‘the strategic and bad faith use of accusations of antisemitism, […] that […] has been used in particular to silence and punish people of color.’”

The executive director of a Black Lives Matter chapter in Oklahoma has been accused of using donor funds to go toward expensive vacations and purchasing rental properties.  The Justice Department filed charges against Black Lives Matter Oklahoma City executive director Tashella Sheri Amore Dickerson last week for wire fraud and money laundering, an unsealed indictment revealed on Thursday. According to the indictment, Dickerson embezzled at least $3.15 million in donor funds for her personal benefit.   The indictment alleges that Dickerson “knowingly devised, intended to devise, and executed a scheme and artifice to defraud [Black Lives Matter OKC] and its donors in a material manner and to obtain money from [Black Lives Matter OKC] and its donors by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises.” Dickerson allegedly used donations given to her organization to purchase a 2021 Hyundai Palisade, multiple rental properties, food and grocery deliveries, and fund international vacations.  The vacations include trips for her and associates to the Dominican Republic in July 2021, and to Jamaica in December 2021 and January 2022, the indictment says. She also allegedly spent tens of thousands of dollars shopping at Nordstrom Rack, Macy’s, Amazon, Best Buy, and Bob Mills Furniture. Additionally, she allegedly spent at least $50,000 on food and grocery deliveries (including DoorDash and Instacart) for herself and her children. The alleged fraud took place between June 2020 and up until October 2025, the Justice Department said.  Much of the donations to Black Lives Matter OKC came through the Alliance for Global Justice, a leftist nonprofit based in Arizona. They routed funds from other groups like the Community Justice Exchange, Massachusetts Bail Fund, and Minnesota Freedom Fund to Black Lives Matter OKC, according to the Justice Department.  The funds were supposed to go toward the pretrial bail for individuals arrested in the riots that took place after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Dickerson allegedly submitted false reports to the Alliance for Global Justice about how the money was being used and covered up how she was using them.  Christmas Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships She faces 20 counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering. If convicted, she could face decades in prison and hundreds of thousands in fines. The case was investigated by the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office and IRS-Criminal Investigation. Black Lives Matter OKC describes itself as an “extension” of the “global BLM movement” and says that it exists to “eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene against violence inflicted on Black communities.”