The Brief | Trump Threatens the Nuclear Option in Minnesota
Plus: A Nobel Prize changes hands, Texas Democrats eat their own, and Jacob Frey discovers consequences.
Yes, The Brief is late AGAIN. Life has been nuts. We had technical difficulties recording the podcast yesterday, and instead of working on this newsletter, I passed out on the sofa. I never nap, so I must have been tired.
If you haven’t listened to the podcast, I suggest you get on it. Rachel and I had the opportunity to ask four Republican Study Committee members about their reconciliation bill proposal, which they call “Make America The American Dream Affordable Again.”
Ok friends, let’s get into the news!
Minnesota Burns, Trump Reaches for the Insurrection Act
President Trump is threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota. That’s the 1807 law that hasn’t been dusted off since the 1992 LA riots, and it would allow the president to deploy military forces domestically without the governor’s permission.
What triggered this? Another ICE-involved shooting in Minneapolis. On Wednesday, three Venezuelan nationals allegedly ambushed an ICE agent during a traffic stop, beating him with a snow shovel and broom handle before the officer fired in self-defense. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem called it “an attempted murder of federal law enforcement.”
The three suspects—Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, Alfredo Alejandro Ajorna, and Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledezma—are all Venezuelan nationals now in ICE custody. According to DHS, Sosa-Celis is a criminal illegal alien with prior convictions who was released by Minnesota authorities before ICE could lodge a detainer.
Trump posted on Truth Social: “If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of ICE... I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT.”
Governor Tim Walz responded with what I can only describe as the political equivalent of “let’s just calm down, guys.” He made a direct appeal to Trump on X: “Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are.”
The White House wasn’t having it. Spokesperson Abigail Jackson noted that “Tim Walz and Jacob Frey have done nothing but turn up the temperature, smear heroic ICE officers, and incite violence against them—all in defense of criminal illegal aliens.”
The deets: The Insurrection Act would temporarily override the Posse Comitatus Act, which normally restricts military involvement in domestic law enforcement. That’s a Rubicon moment, whether you think Minnesota’s leadership has earned it or not. Whether Trump does it remains to be seen.
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Jacob Frey: From “Get the F--- Out” to “Let’s All Just Get Along”
Speaking of consequences, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is having quite a week. Last week, following the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent, Frey stood at a press conference and told federal officers to “get the f--- out” of Minneapolis.
Fast forward to Wednesday night, after another ICE shooting, and suddenly Frey is at the podium calling for... peace.
“I’m calling for peace,” he told reporters. “Everybody has a role in achieving that peace.”
The whiplash is something to behold. In the same press conference where he called for calm, Frey also said ICE was “creating chaos” and that he’s “seen conduct by ICE that is disgusting and intolerable.” He urged protesters not to “take the bait” from Trump—while simultaneously maintaining that he has “not engaged in violent rhetoric.”
The mayor’s defense? “Show me a single place where I have encouraged anything other than peace.”
I’ll take “Telling federal officers to ‘get the f--- out’” for $500, Alex.
Here’s what Frey and Walz don’t want you to think about. While they’re demanding ICE leave and refusing to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, those operations have been removing some genuinely dangerous people from Minnesota streets.
ICE released a list Saturday of the “worst tof the worst” criminal illegal immigrants arrested during Operation Metro Surge. The list includes multiple convicted child rapists, one convicted of sodomizing both a boy and a girl, another convicted of raping a 12-year-old and kidnapping a child with intent to sexually assault her, and nearly a dozen convicted killers. Some of these individuals have had deportation orders dating back 30 years but remained free in Minnesota.
ICE Director Todd M. Lyons put it bluntly: “Some of these criminal aliens have had final orders of removal for 30 years, but they’ve been free to terrorize Minnesotans.”
If ICE hadn’t surged into Minnesota, every single one of those child predators and killers would still be walking the streets. That’s the reality Frey and Walz are defending when they demand federal agents leave.
And about that lawsuit: Minnesota, along with Minneapolis and St. Paul, filed suit Monday to force ICE out of the state. They asked for a temporary restraining order to halt operations immediately. The result? Judge Kate Menendez, a Biden appointee, declined to issue the order, allowing ICE operations to continue. Legal analyst Joe Tamburino called the lawsuit’s ask “unprecedented,” noting: “What they’re asking is that the federal government cannot use their law enforcement authority in a city. It would be like asking the federal court to bar the FBI, the ATF, the U.S. Marshal Service, Secret Service.”
CNN’s legal analyst Elie Honig was even more direct: “I think the arguments that both states are making... are close to completely meritless.” He cited the Supremacy Clause—which says state and local authorities cannot block the feds from carrying out federal duties—as the obvious constitutional barrier.
Even a Democrat-appointed judge couldn’t hand Minnesota that win.
And then there’s Frey’s complaint about the numbers. He’s been crying about the fact that there are now nearly 3,000 federal agents in Minneapolis compared to the city’s roughly 400 police officers, calling it disproportionate and unnecessary.
But let’s use our brain cells for a minute. What exactly are the feds supposed to do when they’re facing opposition from an entire city government and many of it’s citizens while trying to apprehend convicted child rapists and killers? When the local police department is barred from assisting? When the mayor is publicly telling them to leave? When protesters are attacking agents with snow shovels?
If Minneapolis PD were cooperating with ICE, honoring detainers, sharing information, and providing backup, you wouldn’t need 3,000 federal agents. The surge exists because Minnesota’s leadership has made itself an obstacle to federal law enforcement rather than a partner.
ICE responded on X with what might be the most direct government Twitter post of the year: “The buck stops with you, Governor. Tone down the hostile, inflammatory anti-ICE rhetoric. Honor our immigration detainers. And work with ICE to remove criminal illegal aliens from MN streets.”
My take: There’s something almost tragic about watching local officials discover that when you spend weeks demonizing federal law enforcement, your calls for “peace” ring a little hollow. Frey wants credit for not explicitly saying “attack the ICE agents” while simultaneously calling them Nazis and demanding they leave. That’s not leadership—it’s liability management.
And when your policy of non-cooperation means convicted child rapists with decades-old deportation orders are still living in your community? Maybe the problem isn’t the number of federal agents. Maybe the problem is you.
Venezuela’s Opposition Leader Gives Trump Her Nobel Prize
In international news that actually contains some good vibes: María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s opposition leader who won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, presented the medal to President Trump at the White House on Thursday.
“I presented the President of the United States the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize,” Machado told reporters, calling it “a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”
This comes one day after Trump spoke with Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez—the same regime the administration is actively pressuring through oil embargoes after extraditing former strongman Nicolás Maduro to face drug charges in New York.
Trump thanked Machado on Truth Social: “Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you María!”
The context here is fascinating: The administration is simultaneously gifting a Nobel Prize photo-op with Venezuela’s democratic opposition on the same day CIA Director Ratcliff was meeting with Venezuela Interim President Delcy Rodriguez in Venezuela. Washington has declined to pressure Rodriguez to turn over power to Machado’s opposition party, reportedly believing she lacks the connections to Venezuela’s power brokers to stabilize the government.
Instead, the U.S. is handling the sale of Venezuelan oil on international markets—claiming it can secure better prices for Caracas while maintaining leverage over its most important export. It’s muscular diplomacy, whatever you think of the ethics.
ICYMI
Press Secretary Leavitt Discovers a New Species: The Left-Wing Hack
The White House briefing room saw some fireworks Thursday when Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt absolutely unloaded on a reporter who suggested the ICE agent who shot Renee Good acted “unjustifiably.”
When the reporter offered his opinion that the shooting was unjustified, Leavitt responded: “Oh, okay, so you’re a biased reporter with a left-wing opinion... you’re a left-wing hack, you’re not a reporter. You’re posing in this room as a journalist.”
She didn’t stop there: “You should be reporting on the cases. Do you have numbers of how many American citizens were killed at the hands of illegal aliens who ICE is trying to remove from this country? I bet you don’t. I bet you didn’t even read up about Laken Riley or Jocelyn Nungaray.”
Worth noting: Video evidence shows Good attempting to flee the scene after being told to exit her vehicle, and DHS claims she struck the agent who shot her. Whether that justifies lethal force is a legitimate debate—but a reporter offering his opinion as fact in a question isn’t exactly peak journalism. Regardless, Karoline was breathing fire, and I was here for it
SNL’s Bowen Yang Tells Democrats Not to Donate to Crockett—Then Apologizes When They Get Mad
File this under “Democratic infighting gets weird.”
Former Saturday Night Live star Bowen Yang and his podcast co-host Matt Rogers stepped in it last week when they told listeners of their show “Las Culturistas” not to donate to Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s Texas Senate campaign.
“Don’t waste your money sending to Jasmine Crockett, do not do it,” Rogers said on the January 7 episode. “You’re going to waste your money. Take it from someone who sent Sara Gideon a ton of money in Maine. Just don’t do it.”
Yang agreed: “I must agree... It’s hard enough to come by.”
Rogers clarified he meant nothing personal against Crockett, but said she was too “well-defined” as a politician to win statewide. “She’s not going to win a Senate seat in Texas, you guys. Like, if Beto O’Rourke couldn’t do it, Jasmine Crockett is not going to do it.”
Here’s where it gets spicy. Listeners immediately accused Rogers of making “racially motivated comments,” suggesting a black woman couldn’t win. One Spotify user called the comments “uncomfortable to listen to.” Another wrote on Instagram: “So unbelievably disappointing coming from a person in a marginalized community.”
So, you can’t tell the truth about someone, it is negative, and they are black. Got it.
By Saturday, both hosts had posted apologies to Instagram. Rogers said he has “respect and admiration” for Crockett and that his “phrasing was not right.” Yang said he regretted “cursorily” commenting and pledged to use his platform “more responsibly.”
Here’s the thing: The polling actually backs up their original take. A new Emerson College survey shows state Rep. James Talarico leading Crockett 47-38 percent among likely Democratic primary voters. Talarico is winning Hispanic voters and white voters by nearly 20 points each. Crockett leads among Black voters (80%), but that’s not enough to overcome the deficit.
Even Democratic strategist James Carville has blasted Crockett for breaking “the first rule of politics” by focusing on herself more than voters.
So Yang and Rogers told an uncomfortable truth, got called racist for it, apologized, and the polling proved them right anyway. Welcome to Democratic Party messaging in 2026, where you can’t even give honest strategic advice without a struggle session.
The deeper issue: Democrats haven’t won a statewide race in Texas in over 35 years. If the party can’t have an honest conversation about candidate viability without accusations of racism flying, how exactly do they plan to change that? Also, am I the only one who really wants the drama that will follow if Crockett were to win the nomination?
Quick Rundown
Shutdown Looms Over ICE Funding: Senate returns January 26 with only one week to avoid a partial government shutdown. Democrats are demanding ICE reforms in the DHS funding bill. Sen. Chris Murphy says “a budget without any constraints on DHS isn’t likely to get a lot of Democratic votes.” Classic timing.
Trump’s Healthcare Gambit: The president unveiled the “Great Healthcare Plan” Thursday, calling on Congress to codify drug pricing initiatives and end taxpayer subsidies to insurance companies. The twist? Direct payments to Americans instead. Implementation details remain... unclear.
Appeals Court Backs Trump on Mahmoud Khalil: A federal appeals court ruled 2-1 that a lower court judge lacked authority to release anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil. The Columbia grad student allegedly obtained his visa through fraud. Major win for the administration’s deportation efforts.
Let’s Talk:
Two questions today.
First—how many convicted child predators with 30-year-old deportation orders are acceptable to keep in your community before cooperating with ICE stops being optional? Because apparently Minneapolis hasn’t hit that number yet.
Second—Yang and Rogers told the truth about Crockett’s chances, got called racist, apologized, and the polls backed them up anyway. If honest strategic analysis is now a cancelable offense, how does the Democratic Party ever course-correct?
Drop your takes in the comments. And be honest: who else kind of wants to see what happens if Crockett wins the nomination anyway?