White House and China sign off on TikTok deal; Jack Smith defends Trump investigations

Russia said it would hold trilateral security talks with the U.S. and Ukraine tomorrow in the United Arab Emirates but warned its war with Ukraine will end only if its territorial demands are met.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov made the comments after late-night talks in Moscow between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Josh Gruenbaum, a senior adviser to Trump’s newly established Board of Peace.

The U.S. delegation had arrived from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where they participated in discussions on Ukraine, including Trump’s meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Ushakov told reporters the talks lasted about four hours and “were exceptionally substantive, constructive and, I would say, extremely frank and trusting.” But he said that while Russia is “sincerely interested” in a peaceful end to what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, it says the success of negotiations hinges on resolving territorial issues.

Putin is demanding that Ukraine surrender the 20% of the eastern region of Donetsk that it still holds, which Zelenskyy refuses to do. “Without resolving the territorial issue according to the formula agreed upon in Anchorage, there is no hope of achieving a long-term settlement,” Ushakov said.

Trump on social media today endorsed Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who announced a run for governor last year.

"I was proud to endorse 'Coach' when he ran for the Senate in 2020, and am honored to do so again," Trump said on Truth Social. "I’d love to keep him as a Senator, because he was great, but he wants to be the Governor in the State he loves, and that’s OK with me!"

Trump continued, "Tommy Tuberville has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Governor of the Great State of Alabama – COACH TUBERVILLE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!"

Tuberville previously coached football, including at Auburn University and the University of Cincinnati. His Senate office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Republican Gov. Kay Ivey is in her second full term and can't run for a third consecutive term.

Trump withdrew his invitation for Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to join his Board of Peace today.

“Dear Prime Minister Carney:

“Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

Trump first proposed the Board of Peace as an entity that would oversee the next phase of his peace plan for the Gaza Strip, but it has since morphed into something with a much broader remit.

Trump flew home from an international conference here today with a parting message: “It was an incredible time in Davos.”

For him, perhaps. For many of the country’s European allies, it was a sign of global “rupture” that could reverberate for years.

Trump has appeared to back off his maximalist demand that the U.S. take ownership of Greenland, moving instead toward a deal that would allow the U.S. to place more troops, bases and military hardware on the island, a territory of Denmark.

Read the full analysis here.

Trump was joined by a small number of world leaders today as he signed the charter of his “Board of Peace,” a new body he has billed as part of the solution to a series of global conflicts.

Major Western allies chose to skip the ceremony on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, with some voicing concerns about the possibility that the body, which Trump plans to personally chair, could replace the United Nations.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle pressed health insurance CEOs about premium hikes, prior authorization rules and claim denials in back-to-back House committee hearings today, zeroing in on how the insurers’ decisions are affecting patients right now.

The CEOs of UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health Group, Cigna Health Group, Elevance Health and Ascendiun spent the morning testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee and in the afternoon headed to a hearing before the Ways and Means Committee.

Republicans called the hearings as health insurance premiums have skyrocketed for millions of people. For those who get insurance through the Affordable Care Act, the lapse in enhanced subsidies at the end of 2025 led premiums to double or triple in some cases. People on job-based insurance also had increases, which insurers have attributed to the rising cost of prescription drugs and hospital care.

Read the full story here.

The emergency summit of European Union leaders concluded today in Brussels. European Council President Antonio Costa says the E.U. is now focused on moving forward with the U.S. trade deal after Trump backed off tariffs on eight European countries over control of Greenland.

“Yesterday’s announcement that there will be no new United States tariffs on Europe is positive," Costa said. "The imposition of additional tariffs would have been incompatible with the trade deal between European Union and the United States. Our focus must now be on moving forward on the implementation of that deal. The goal remains the effective stabilization of the trade relations between the European Union and United States.”

He added: “the European Union will continue to stand up for its interests and will defend itself, its member states, its citizens and its companies against any form of coercion. And it has the power and the tools to do so and will do so if and when necessary.”

Michael Fanone, a former D.C. police officer who was attacked while he was defending the Capitol on Jan. 6, fired back at Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, today after Nehls suggested Capitol Police leadership was to blame for the 2021 riot.

"Go f--- yourself," Fanone said under some loud coughing.

“You will be in order,” Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said after the outburst. “We’ve had some disruptions already. We don’t need that.”

During a break in the hearing, Fanone also clashed with Ivan Raiklin, a pro-Trump activist who has repeatedly denied that Joe Biden won the 2020 election.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon heard arguments today in Washington over the legality of the White House ballroom’s construction.

While Leon did not rule from the bench, promising a decision in February, his comments during arguments left little doubt about what way he was leaning.

Attorney Thad Heuer, representing the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation, a group that works to protect U.S. historic sites, argued that the president does not have the constitutional authority required to tear down the East Wing of the White House and construct a ballroom.

“He’s not the owner” of the White House, Heuer said.

Leon appeared to agree, saying, “He’s the steward.”

Read the full story here.

The United States and China have signed off on a deal that would hand control of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a group of investors backed by the Trump administration, according to a White House official.

The deal comes just ahead of a deadline the Trump administration had extended several times.

Last month, TikTok CEO Shou Chew told employees that the company’s Beijing-based owner, ByteDance, had signed binding agreements to create a joint venture for the app in the U.S.

Read the full story here.

The FBI has fired another bureau official who was involved in the Jan. 6 riot investigation, three sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.

The official, who did not respond to a message, oversaw domestic terrorism work in the FBI’s Washington field office during the 2021 attack on the Capitol and was later promoted to another leadership role.

News of the official's dismissal comes the same day that former special counsel Jack Smith testified publicly on Capitol Hill about his investigations into Trump, including one that involved the Jan. 6 riot.

The United States has terminated its partnership with the World Health Organization, opting instead to work directly with other countries and private groups on global health matters, administration officials said today.

“The U.S. will continue to lead on global health, but it will not be done through the WHO,” a Department of Health and Human Services official said on a call with reporters. HHS declined to allow its representatives to speak on the record.

Instead, the official said, the administration plans to rely on relationships with other countries, as well as partnerships with nongovernmental and faith-based organizations.

No details were provided, however, about whether those organizations have appropriate laboratory credentials necessary for surveillance of emerging diseases.

Read the full story here.

Trump was sporting a large bruise on his left hand today, with the White House saying he hit it on the signing table in Davos earlier in the day.

Asked on Air Force One on his way back to the U.S. whether he was feeling OK, Trump said he was "very good."

"I clipped it on the table. So I put a little, what do they call it, cream on it," he told reporters.

Trump said he bruises easily because of aspirin he takes for heart health. "Take aspirin if you like your heart, but don't take aspirin if you don't want to have a little bruising," he said, adding he takes "the big aspirin."

President Donald Trump during a signing ceremony for his Board of Peace initiative in Davos, Switzerland. Markus Schreiber / AP

The House did not agree to a concurrent resolution that would have directed the removal of U.S. armed forces from Venezuela.

The vote was a tie, 215-215, with two Republicans joining all Democrats in supporting the resolution. In the House, a tie means a measure does not pass.

Republican leaders held the vote open until Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, returned to the Capitol to vote against the measure.

GOP Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Don Bacon of Nebraska crossed the aisle to vote with Democrats.

Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he could remain as chair of the Board of Peace after his term in office is over.

"I have the right to be, if I want. I mean, I'll decide. We'll see what happens. They'd like me to be. It's in theory for life, but I'm not sure I want that," he said. "It's going to do great work on Gaza and maybe other things. It could be beyond Gaza. And we'll work in terms of with the United Nations."

Asked about the $1 billion fee for permanent membership on the board, Trump said "some of the countries have already put much more than that." He did not specify which countries or what the money was being used for.

He was also asked about reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be willing to use frozen Russian assets in the U.S. to pay for a permanent spot. Trump said, "I don't know about that."

"If he's using his money, that's fine," Trump said. "That's great."

A small band of moderate House Democrats teamed with Republicans today to pass a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, overcoming a revolt by most Democrats furious about ICE’s aggressive operations in Minneapolis and other U.S. cities.

The vote was 220-207, with seven Democrats breaking with their party and voting yes. The House also passed a separate package of bills to fund other federal agencies in a broad, bipartisan vote in a bid to avert a partial government shutdown on Jan. 31.

In a twist, the House unanimously voted to add an amendment to the package to repeal a law crafted by the Senate that allows eight particular Republican senators to sue the government for a minimum of $500,000 in damages after their phone records were collected as part of a Jan. 6 investigation.

Read the full story here.

Trump accused Smith of committing perjury during his testimony today but did not elaborate on what he meant or offer any evidence to support the claim.

"Based on his testimony today, there is no question that Deranged Jack Smith should be prosecuted for his actions. He destroyed the lives of many innocent people, which has been his history as a prosecutor. At a minimum, he committed large scale perjury!" Trump wrote after Smith's testimony concluded.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar filed paperwork today to run for governor of Minnesota — a preliminary but significant step that signals she could formally launch a campaign.

The paperwork, filed with the state’s campaign finance board, is a clear sign that Klobuchar, Democrat who is in her fourth term, could soon make her entrance into the race to succeed Democratic Gov. Tim Walz official. 

Walz said early this month that he would not run for a third term as Minnesota remains in the crosshairs of Trump’s attacks and immigration crackdown.

Walz’s Jan. 5 decision not to run again came just months after he’d confirmed he planned to run and amid heightened scrutiny of the state’s handling of allegations of child care fraud.

Vance has defended federal immigration officers' actions in Minneapolis repeatedly, telling reporters that the chaos and escalating tactics in the area are due to a lack of cooperation from local law enforcement and to civilians' "targeting" agents.

"Now imagine, if you would, your life and your perspective on law enforcement if you go to a restaurant without some agitators locking the door and making you feel like your life is in danger," Vance told reporters. "That is the environment that has been created, I think, by a lot of, very frankly, far-left people but also by some of the state and local law enforcement officials who could do a much better job in cooperating."

Asked whether he has reached out to Gov. Tim Walz's or Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey's offices about cooperation, Vance said he doesn't need either to "come out and say that they agree with JD Vance or Donald Trump on immigration."

"I just don't need that. What I do need them to do is empower their local officials to help our local or help our federal officials out in a way where this can be a little bit less chaotic and it can be a little bit more targeted," he continued.

Read the full story here.

Vance defended an internal ICE memo that says officers and agents can forcibly enter the homes of people subject to deportation without judicial warrants.

The May memo, first reported yesterday by The Associated Press, says ICE personnel are allowed to forcibly enter a person’s home using an administrative warrant if a judge has issued a “final order of removal.”

Administrative warrants permit officers and agents to make arrests and are different from judicial warrants, which judges or magistrates sign, allowing entry into homes.

Asked about concerns that the practice violates due process rights, Vance said critics are missing "context."

Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., began his line of questioning by saying Trump never believed he lost the 2020 presidential election.

"Anybody who says that Trump thought he won that election, that is just plain not true. No way, unless he's the best actor in the history of this building," Grothman said before the committee's ranking member, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., interjected by saying, "We agree."

Grothman then walked back his previous statement and said, "Donald Trump did not believe he lost that election. He just didn't."

Later in the hearing, Grothman said he wanted to clarify that what he meant to say was “Donald Trump is 100% certain he won that election, there is 0% chance he believes he lost.”

Taking questions from reporters in Minneapolis, Vance tried to justify ICE's detention of a 5-year-old boy in the city this week.

"I see the story, and I'm a father of a 5-year-old, actually, 5-year-old little boy. And I think to myself: 'Oh, my God, this is terrible. How did we arrest a 5-year-old?' Well, I did a little bit more follow-up research," Vance said.

ICE personnel took 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, in their driveway Tuesday, just after the child returned home from preschool, said Zena Stenvik, the superintendent of the child's school.

Vance said today that Arias was an "illegal alien" who tried to flee when agents showed up to try and arrest him.

"When they went to arrest his illegal alien father, the father ran. So the story is that ICE detained a 5-year-old. Well, what are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a 5-year-old child freeze to death? Are they not supposed to arrest an illegal alien in the United States of America?" he said.

Stenvik told NBC News that when the arrest happened, another adult who lived in the home and was present “begged” the agents to let him take care of the boy but that the agents refused.

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that “ICE did NOT target a child.”

Vance reacts to ICE detainment of 5-year-old boy in Minneapolis

06:23

The House voted to remove a provision Congress passed that allowed senators to sue the government for potentially millions of dollars if they had not been notified that their data was requested in the investigation that led to special counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 probe.

Every House member voted in support of the amendment, which will now be included in a government funding package that is expected to pass the House later today. It will then go to the Senate, where senators will be forced to either accept the repeal or risk a partial government shutdown if they remove it. 

The amendment was offered by Rules Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C.

Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., asked Smith to explain why he requested the toll records showing phone data of certain officials as part of the Jan. 6 investigation.

Smith said prosecutors had evidence that Trump "had directed Rudy Giuliani, one of his co-conspirators, to contact members of Congress to try to further delay the proceedings and exploit the violence that happened in the Capitol."

They said they had evidence that those calls happened and they wanted to corroborate them for trial, Smith said.

Smith warned that the Jan. 6 rioters who were convicted of assaulting police officers during the attack on the Capitol are "dangerous to their community."

"Some of these people have already committed crimes against communities again. And I think all of us, if we're reasonable, know that there's going to be more crimes committed by these people in the future," he said.

Smith also expressed outrage at Trump for mass-pardoning them last year. "I do not understand why you would mass-pardon people who assaulted police officers. I don't get it. I never will," he said.

Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., said in her line of questioning that Trump has used the phrase "deranged Jack Smith 185 times" on Truth Social.

Smith said that the statements "are meant to intimidate me."

'I will not be intimidated': Jack Smith says he believes DOJ will try to indict him

01:37

"I will not be intimidated," he said. "I think these statements are also made as a warning to others what will happen if they stand up. And I am, as I say, I'm not going to be intimidated."

Smith said that he and his team did their work, which resulted in proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump "committed serious crimes."

"I'm not going to pretend that didn't happen, because he's threatening me," he said.

Asked if he believes Trump's Justice Department will find a way to indict him, Smith said, "I believe they will do everything in their power to do that because they've been ordered to by the president."

During his questioning of Smith this afternoon, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., took a moment to criticize Republicans members of Congress for what he characterized as a lack of attention to the delay in the Justice Department's release of the Epstein files.

"I just want to make a simple observation of how scared Republicans are talking about the Epstein files," Lieu said.

The California congressman said Republicans are "so scared" that they "would rather talk about the criminality of Donald Trump in stealing, trying to steal an election and trying to stop the peaceful transfer of power, criminality of Donald Trump in stealing classified documents, obstruction of justice," than about Donald Trump’s relationship with Epstein.

More than a month has passed since the Dec. 19 deadline for the Justice Department to release the files related to its investigation into the late convicted sex offender Epstein. The deadline was set by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Trump signed in late November. The president has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crimes in relation to Epstein.

Smith responded to a question from Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., who asked him about the strength of his evidence against Trump and to describe a so-called fake elector who could have been a witness if an elections case had moved to a trial.

"It was a witness who had been made to understand that his electoral vote, his alternative electoral vote, would only be used if they won in court, if they won in litigation," Smith said.

"That didn't happen, and President Trump and his co-conspirators tried to use those alternative fake elector certificates to get Mike Pence —" Smith was interrupted by gaveling. He was apparently referring to the efforts to have the then-vice president overturn the election results based on the false certifications.

Trump supporters in key states had attempted to put together alternative slates of electors in order to give the Oval Office back to Trump. The people were dubbed "fake electors," and many have been tried in court following the 2020 election.

Smith pushed back on criticisms from Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., over his decision to pursue gag orders against Trump.

Asked whether he had evidence that any of Trump's statements intimidated witnesses, Smith said, "I had evidence that he said, 'If you come after me, I'm coming after you.'"

"He suggested that a witness should be put to death," Smith added.

Cline argued that if Smith could not identify a witness who was identified, perhaps he should have reconsidered the gag order requests.

"It is not incumbent on a prosecutor to wait until someone gets killed before they move for an order to protect the proceedings," Smith responded.

Former Special Counsel Jack Smith testifies today. Al Drago / Getty Images

Rep. Brad Knott, R-N.C., asked Smith why Trump was the only person charged in the investigation into his efforts to overturn 2020 election results.

He answered that he was considering charging others involved in Trump's efforts, but then Trump was elected president again, making further pursuit of the case moot.

"At the time of the conclusion of our work, my lawyers had determined, had believed, that we did have proof to charge other people," Smith responded. "I was in the process of making that determination when our work was concluded."

"But you are correct that the only person charged in this case was Donald Trump, who, in my estimation, was the person most culpable for the crimes charged," he continued, saying that decision followed common Justice Department practice.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said that her Republican colleagues are trying to "rewrite history" by claiming that "somehow Trump's words and actions did not legally rise to the level of criminal activity that he did not directly cause violence at the Capitol. "

Jayapal said she wanted to set the record straight. Smith responded "yes" to her questions about whether his investigation found Trump tried to manufacture fraudulent slates of presidential electors in seven states where he lost; whether he pressured state officials to ignore true vote counts and whether he pressured DOJ officials to stop the certification of the election.

Smith also answered affirmatively when asked if Trump pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence to stop the certification of the 2020 election and whether Trump motivated and inspired an angry mob to go to the Capitol to stop the certification.

"Our proof showed that he caused what happened on Jan. 6, that it was foreseeable, and that he exploited that violence," Smith said.

Smith also said that his team of prosecutors had proof that Trump knew his allegations of election fraud were false and that they intended to prove that at trial.

Asked by Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., what Smith was thinking when he watched the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol unfold, Smith said he was "shocked."

"I, obviously, being in Europe and not following things as closely, I was not frankly, up to speed on the events leading up to it," Smith said.

Asked what shocked him about the attack, Smith said, "I'd just never seen anything like that happen in our country."

Moments earlier, Swalwell asked Smith whether he was glad he accepted a position as special prosecutor, despite the target it put on him and his family.

"I don't regret it," Smith said.

Former special counsel Jack Smith testified publicly for the first time about his investigations into Trump, saying Trump engaged in a “criminal scheme” to overturn his 2020 election loss. NBC News’ Sahil Kapur reports on what questions Smith has faced from lawmakers.

Former special counsel Jack Smith stands by decision to charge Trump at House hearing

03:27

Following up Republican questions to Smith about the details of him taking the oath as special counsel, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said his Republican colleagues were "lucky" they were not bound by such a pledge themselves, claiming several of them would speak badly about Trump behind closed doors.

'These guys are so lucky they're not under oath," Swalwell said during Smith's hearing. "They would have to tell you what they really think of Trump."

Swalwell claimed he had heard Republican members of Congress call the president "crooked," "cruel" and a "scumbag."

"This is all a show," he said.

Republicans have been trying to paint Smith as a federal prosecutor who charged Trump because of political motivations. Jordan, for example, said in his opening statement that Smith went after the president because of "politics."

Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., spent his line of questioning asking Smith about his relationship with Marshall Miller, who served as principal associate deputy attorney general during the Biden administration and advised Smith during the Trump probes.

Fitzgerald questioned Smith about his friendship with Miller and whether they had gotten together socially over the years after they both worked at the Justice Department together. The congressman insinuated that Smith got his job as special counsel because of his friendship with Miller.

"You’ve known Mr. Miller since you were both a [United States attorney] in New York State, over 20-year career in federal government," Fitzgerald said. "He gets a job with the Biden administration, and just a few short months later, you’re offered the role of special counsel. I’m having a hard time believing that this is some big coincidence and that there wasn’t a back and forth on the special counsel," he said.

As Smith testifies before the House Judiciary Committee, Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social that he "is being DECIMATED before Congress."

Trump called Smith a "deranged animal" — something he's repeated numerous times over the years — and said he hoped that Attorney General Pam Bondi "is looking at what he’s done, including some of the crooked and corrupt witnesses that he was attempting to use in his case against me."

"The whole thing was a Democrat SCAM — A big price should be paid by them for what they have put our Country through!" Trump alleged.

Trump has previously called on Bondi to investigate people whom he perceives as his political opponents, and the Justice Department has brought cases against several of them. Throughout the hearing, Republicans have been claiming that Smith acted with political motivations, which he strongly denies.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., a former member of the House select committee that investigated Jan. 6, asked Smith what he meant in his closed-door deposition that it was Republicans who put their allegiance to the country ahead of the party.

"There were witnesses who I felt would be very strong witnesses, including, for example, the secretary of state in Georgia, who told Donald Trump the truth, told him things that he did not want to hear, and put him on notice that what he was saying was false," Smith said.

Smith said these people knew how elections were conducted in relevant states.

"That investigation revealed that Donald Trump was not looking for honest answers about whether was fraud in the election. He was looking for ways to stay in power, and when people told him things that conflicted with him staying in power, he rejected them, or he chose not even to contact people like that, who would know if the election was done properly in the state," Smith said.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., accused Smith of going after "political enemies" of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

"You, like the president's men for Richard Nixon, went after your political enemies," Issa alleged. "Maybe they're not your political enemies, but they sure as hell were Joe Biden's political enemies, weren't they? They were Harris' political enemies. They were the enemies of the president, and you were their arm, weren't you?"

"No," Smith responded.

Smith has repeatedly denied Republicans' allegations that his actions were political.

Smith said in his testimony that he didn't charge Trump with insurrection in the election interference case tied to the president's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

"With respect to the charge of insurrection, we did not charge that," he said.

Smith explained that while he believes courts found that there was an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and that "a reasonable prosecutor could interpret the evidence to support that charge, I chose not to do that."

"Looking at the facts in the law, I thought the charges we brought were appropriate given the evidence that we had," he said.

Smith also noted that the most powerful witnesses in the Justice Department's case against Trump were Republicans who had campaigned for and supported Trump.

Smith ultimately charged Trump with several felonies in 2023, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.

Rep. Jim Jordan berated Smith in his line of questioning over the testimony that Cassidy Hutchinson provided to the former House select committee that investigated Jan. 6 about Trump's actions in the motorcade that day.

"Everybody knows she wasn't telling the truth," Jordan said.

Asked if federal prosecutors were planning to call Hutchinson to the stand if their case against Trump had made it to trial, Smith said they had not finalized their witness list before the case was dismissed.

Jordan said "the left and Democrats" were willing to put her on the stand despite her story being told second hand or not confirmed by other witnesses. Jordan claimed everyone knew that Hutchinson was "making it up."

Hutchinson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Vice President JD Vance, previewing a trip to Minneapolis later today to meet with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and members of a community awash in tension, said he will aim to “turn down the chaos” and project calm.

He also used coarse language to reinforce Trump’s position that Democrats there are impeding ICE operations and have created an environment that breeds unruly protests.

Vance says he plans to 'calm the tensions' during Minneapolis visit

01:31

“If you disagree … fine, make that argument,” Vance said in response to a question from a reporter during an event here to promote the White House’s economic policies. “But make that argument at the ballot box. Write an op-ed in the newspaper, argue about it on social media. Don’t go to the streets and start assaulting federal law enforcement officers because you disagree with the policies of our administration. It’s cowardly bulls---, and it’s got to stop.” 

The remarks came hours before Vance was expected to hold a roundtable discussion and deliver a speech in Minneapolis, where a federal officer this month fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, 37, during a confrontation. Trump, Vance and other administration officials have, without offering conclusive evidence, said that Good was connected to left-wing protesters and that she was a threat to officers as they approached her car and she began to drive.

Read the full story here.

Asked by Raskin for his response to the "attack" on the Justice Department and Smith's team for "doing your jobs," the former special counsel answered that it was "unjustified."

Raskin had referred to how Republicans are responding to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Many Republicans have sought to cast rioters as peaceful protesters, and Trump pardoned people convicted of crimes related to the attack. Since then, many Republicans have criticized the Justice Department's handling of Jan. 6-related cases, in addition to Smith's investigations into Trump.

"I think the attack is unjustified," Smith said. "I think the people who worked with me as career public servants are people — they're part of the reason I've been a prosecutor for so long, is to work with people like that."

Smith added that the "attacks are unwarranted based on the facts and I think that they have no basis in who we are as Americans." He added that he did not believe the attacks were "appropriate."

Jack Smith says his testimony will help 'correct false and misleading narratives'

04:58

In his opening statement, Smith defended his decision as special counsel to indict Trump in two separate federal criminal cases.

“As I testify before the committee today, I want to be clear I stand by my decisions as special counsel, including the decision to bring charges against President Trump. Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity," Smith said.

He said if he were asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, he would do so regardless of whether the president was a Democrat or a Republican.

"No one should be above the law in this country, and the law required that he be held to account. So that is what I did," Smith said.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, began his opening statement by recognizing "four American heroes" who defended the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

The four officers were in the hearing room: Michael Fanone, Aquilino Gonell, Daniel Hodges and Harry Dunn.

Raskin also defended Smith and his investigations in light of Trump saying Smith belongs in prison.

"He says you belong in prison not because you did anything wrong, mind you, but because you did everything right," Raskin said. "You pursued the facts, you followed the law, you stuck with extreme caution, to every rule of professional responsibility. You had the audacity to do your job."

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, predicted there would be “yelling and screaming” from Democrats, and said people should “never forget” what Democrats did to Trump, referring to investigations into the president.

During his opening remarks, Jordan criticized the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, which was related to an investigation into alleged mishandling of classified documents. 

Jordan also referenced Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to dismiss the classified documents case after deciding that Smith’s appointment was unlawful. He went on to accuse Smith of abandoning proper procedure and being motivated by wanting to stop Trump. 

“It was always about politics. The good news is, the American people saw through it,” Jordan argued. 

Ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., will deliver opening remarks next.

Former special counsel Jack Smith is set to testify shortly in front of the House Judiciary Committee. He will warn Americans not to take the rule of law for granted in his first public testimony before Congress about the investigations into Trump, according to his prepared statement obtained by NBC News.

“I have seen how the rule of law can erode. My fear is that we have seen the rule of law function in this country for so long that many of us have come to take it for granted,” Smith plans to tell members of the committee.

“But, the rule of law is not self-executing — it depends on our collective commitment to apply it. It requires dedicated service on behalf of others, especially when that service is difficult and comes with costs,” he plans to say. “Our willingness to pay those costs is what tests and defines our commitment to the rule of law and to this wonderful country.”

Read the full story here.

Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian and Russian teams will hold their first trilateral meeting with the U.S. officials in the United Arab Emirates in the coming days.

Zelenskyy said the meetings would take place on Friday and Saturday, adding that Russians need to be "prepared for compromises."

The Ukrainian leader met with Trump earlier today, with both acknowledging it was a productive exchange.

Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff is meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow later today.

France will not join Trump’s Board of Peace for now because its charter does not correspond with a United Nations resolution to resolve the war in Gaza, and some of the charter’s elements were contrary to the U.N. charter, its foreign ministry spokesman said Thursday.

“It was not corresponding on the one hand with the pure Gaza mandate, which is not even mentioned, and on the other hand, there are elements of this charter which are contrary to the United Nations charter,” Pascal Confavreux told reporters.

Trump’s U-turn on hitting eight European countries with tariffs over Greenland could mark a turning point in how the continent deals with the president, a former Obama White House staffer said.

“It was an illustration that when our allies are firm and not accommodating on some of these outrageous demands, that they can actually push him back,” said Brett Bruen, director of global engagement for President Barack Obama.

“I hope that we’re going to see a turning point where Europe and others are finally going to say to Trump, ‘We accommodated you for a year, and we accepted even imbalanced trade agreements so that you could claim a win and a prize, but now you’ve gone too far,’” he said.

Having ramped up his threats to his own allies, Trump said yesterday he would not use force to seize Greenland and dropped tariffs set to hit eight NATO members.

“In the history of diplomacy, we have not seen such a rapid about-face, which just speaks to how strategically stupid this move was,” Bruen added. He said the response to Trump’s hostility, not just from world leaders but CEOs and the bond market, was like “a bucket of cold water that got dumped on him from the Swiss Alps.”

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who has been a strong supporter of Trump’s border policies, criticized his immigration crackdown in a rare public rebuke by a U.S. corporate leader.

“I’m still angry at the Biden administration for what they allowed to happen, OK? And I think it severely damaged our country,” Dimon said yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “And then they say, ‘Oh, there’s nothing you can do about it.’ No, because Trump comes in — boom, it’s closed. God bless them.”

Dimon said that when Trump was elected president, he told him, “When you get the borders controlled, fix the rest of it,” including protecting recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and other “merit-based” cases, and that Trump said, “Absolutely.”

Dimon said he had yet to see much evidence of that, aside from “a little bit in the merit side.”

“Of course, I don’t like what I’m seeing, you know, with five grown men beating up little women,” he said, referring to ICE operations. “So I think, we should calm down a little bit on the internal anger about immigration.”

Japanese exports to the U.S. fell last year for the first time in five years, government figures showed, largely because of Trump’s tariffs on the U.S. ally’s automobiles.

Exports to the U.S. dropped 4.1% by value to 20.4 trillion yen ($129 billion), according to preliminary results from the Japanese Finance Ministry, the first decrease since the Covid pandemic in 2020. Shipments of vehicles, Japan’s biggest export, were down 11.4%, while auto parts were down 10.7%.

The Trump administration has imposed a 15% tariff on Japanese auto imports, down from 25% earlier last year.

Japanese imports from the U.S. increased for the second consecutive year, up 1.6% to 12.9 trillion yen ($81.3 billion). Japan’s trade surplus with the U.S. fell for the second year in a row to 7.5 trillion yen ($47.3 billion), down 12.6%.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomes Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to Chequers, the official countryside residence outside London today. The Danish leader is in the United Kingdom to discuss Trump's demand to acquire Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of the kingdom of Denmark.

Stefan Rousseau / WPA Pool via Getty Images

Following his one-on-one with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines in Davos, Trump told reporters the meeting was "very good."

"Everybody wants to have the war ended," Trump added. He said earlier today that a deal on ending the war in Ukraine is "getting close."

Zelenskyy and Trump in Davos today. @ZelenskyyUa via X

His envoy Steve Wiktoff will be heading to Moscow later today for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskyy also called the meeting "productive and substantive" in a post on X, signaling that peace deal documents were now "even better prepared."

A top European Union lawmaker says parliamentarians will revisit the E.U.'s trade deal with the U.S. on Monday after Trump backed off his threat to impose new tariffs on European nations.

Yesterday, the European Parliament's trade committee halted the implementation and approval of the trade deal amid rising rhetoric from the Trump administration on Greenland. The deal would reduce tariffs for importers and consumers in both regions.

"Hardly any details are known yet about the proposed Greenland deal," European Parliament member Bernd Lange said on X. "But we need them in order to decide how to proceed with the implementation of the EU-US trade deal."

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick commented shortly after Lange's post, writing that "we remain committed to implementing the U.S.-EU trade agreement and will always value our deep ties with our friends in Europe."

Leaders of the 27 E.U. countries will meet today in Brussels for an emergency summit to discuss the latest developments related to Trump's efforts to exert control over Greenland.

The deputy prime minister of Belgium has corrected the list released by the White House to the media of the more than 20 nations that it said signed the charter of the newly inaugurated Board of Peace this morning in Davos.

“Belgium has NOT signed the Charter of the Board of Peace. This announcement is incorrect,” Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prévot said on X. “We wish for a common and coordinated European response. As many European countries, we have reservations to the proposal.”

The original list circulated by the White House included Belgium, alongside Bahrain, Morocco, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Mongolia, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.

Trump said in an interview on Fox Business this morning that the U.S. will have "total access" to Greenland under a framework of an agreement he announced after a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

“Essentially, it’s total access," Trump told anchor Maria Bartiromo on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "There’s no end, there’s no time limit.”

Nuuk, Greenland yesterday. Sean Gallup / Getty Images

“I’m not gonna have to pay anything," Trump added. "We’re gonna have total access to Greenland. We’re gonna have all military access that we want. We’re going to be able to put what we need on Greenland because we want it. We’re talking about national security and international security.”

Negotiations on a deal are preliminary and it's unclear what a final agreement will entail. The U.S. already has a military base in Greenland and has wide leeway to establish more military installations on the semi-autonomous Danish territory.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is meeting with Trump in Davos, his office has confirmed, after the U.S. president said an end to the war with Russia was "getting close."

Zelenskyy arrived in Davos this morning. He had said he would not attend unless agreements on security guarantees and post-war reconstruction funding could be signed with the U.S. He also said he had wanted to remain in Kyiv to focus on the energy crisis in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy lamented earlier this week that the world's attention had switched away from Ukraine to Trump's threats over Greenland and the future of NATO, but the U.S. is signaling it wants to push forward with talks again.

Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff will be going to Moscow later today to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

After the signing ceremony earlier, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner presented the U.S. vision for Gaza's future, complete with a slide presentation and maps that resembled a real estate plan.

It features a timeline for the redevelopment of Gaza, which Trump said was a "great location," citing his real estate experience. The Palestinian enclave was largely reduced to rubble by Israel's military campaign.

Kushner said the focus has to be on security plans to encourage investment in the Palestinian enclave, which has to start with Hamas' demilitarization, as well as plans for transitional governance and redevelopment of Gaza, which he said had "amazing potential."

Jared Kushner presents a Gaza timeline slide in Davos this morning. Evan Vucci / AP

The presentation included artist impressions of high rise apartment buildings lining the Gaza coastline. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

But he also urged critics to "calm down" and "turn a new chapter."

"If we believe that peace is possible, then peace really can be possible," he added.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk is set to speak at Davos on Thursday in a newly scheduled session.

The World Economic Forum, which Musk previously criticized, confirmed it will be the Tesla owner’s first time attending the elite event in the Swiss Alps.

His address is billed as a conversation with Laurence Fink, BlackRock’s CEO and interim co-chair of the forum.

Musk is embroiled in a war of words with Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary that began with a dispute over installing Starlink systems on Ryanair planes. Yesterday, O’Leary dismissed the tech titan’s suggestion he would buy the budget airline.

Despite his escalated rhetoric about acquiring Greenland, including potentially by military force, Trump arrived in Davos looking to negotiate a deal that would give the U.S. more control over security there and in the broader Arctic region, a congressional official and two former U.S. officials told NBC News.

Trump has mentioned possibly adding U.S. troops and more military bases in Greenland, particularly with respect to supporting the Golden Dome missile defense system, the two former U.S. officials said.

Trump went into his meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte with the expectation that he would announce a broad framework of a deal on Greenland, the congressional official and one of the former U.S. officials said. Negotiations on a deal are preliminary, with Trump describing it as a “framework,” and it’s not clear the president will secure a final agreement or what that would entail.

Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner took to the stage after the signing ceremony to talk to about progress in implementing Trump's peace plan in Gaza.

It will be a long day for Witkoff, who will head to Moscow later today to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin about a deal to end the war in Ukraine.

Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in the audience as Trump spoke in Davos this morning. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Witkoff said earlier today that "a lot of progress" had been made and the negotiations were "down to one issue."

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Davos this morning for talks with Trump. Zelenskyy earlier said he would not be attending unless he could sign agreements with Trump on security guarantees and post-war reconstruction funding.

Trump is called to the podium for closing remarks.

"I just wanted to tell you, it's all happening," he said, as he thanked those who made the Board of Peace happen. "It's a big one, but it's very doable," he added.

Rubio thanked the world leaders on the stage who just signed the charter of the Board of Peace, but vowed that those who might have reservations will ultimately join in.

"Others will join," Rubio said. "Many want to be a part of this effort, because it is going to be a successful effort," he added. He downplayed some countries' reservations, saying that many just needed to get domestic approval before joining.

No major Western allies were among the signatories today, with some voicing concerns about the possibility of the board replacing the United Nations, and invites for countries such as Russia and Belarus.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking after the signing ceremony, said the newly inaugurated Board of Peace is about "action" and not just "strongly-worded statements" the world is used to from global leaders.

Board of Peace marks beginning of a 'new era,' Rubio says

00:57

"We often find ourselves at events where people are reading these scripted statements, these strongly worded letters that they put out, but no action. Nothing happens," Rubio said.

He added: "This is a group of leaders that are about action, and the president of the United States is a president of action, of getting things done. And today is the beginning of that, of a new era and a new stage that we think is so important as a model to the rest of the world of what is possible."

Trump has finished speaking and is leading a signing ceremony for the Board of Peace charter.

Trump holds a signed founding charter in Davos this morning. Fabrice Coffrini / AFP - Getty Images

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt proclaimed: "The charter is now in full force, and the board of peace is now an official international organization."

She is now calling the world leaders on the stage to come up in pairs to sign the charter.

Signaling broad ambitions, Trump says his Board of Peace "has the chance to be one of the most consequential bodies ever created," adding that it was an "enormous honor" to serve as its chairman. 

Trump: Board of Peace could be ‘most consequential bodies ever created’

01:28

Initially envisioned as part of his plan for peace in Gaza, the body's charter views it as a way to resolve global conflicts. That has raised fears among allies that Trump intends to replace the United Nations with a body chaired by him.

But Trump said his board would work alongside the U.N., which he said has "got tremendous potential." The two bodies together "can be something very, very unique for the world,” he said.

In his opening speech, Trump says Iran was "two months away from having a nuclear weapon" before a U.S. bombing campaign last June.

"Can’t let that happen, and Iran does want to talk, and we’ll talk," he added.

It comes after Trump's threats to retaliate against Tehran over its crackdown on mass protests earlier this month.

In his opening speech, Trump is touting his peacemaking credentials.

Trump in Davos this morning. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

The president is going over a number of global conflicts he claims to have settled, including the war in Gaza, the conflict between Cambodia and Thailand, Pakistan-India and Armenia-Azerbaijan. He also mentioned tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia among others.

Trump is joined on stage by a number of world leaders who have agreed to join the Board of Peace.

They feature a few surprises, including the leaders of Bulgaria and Mongolia, who had not publicly accepted an invite. But no major Western allies are there, and the number of attendees is lower than the U.S. had suggested.

Those present, according to the White House, are: Bahrain, Morocco, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Mongolia, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UAE, Uzbekistan 

Trump is appearing now at a ceremony launching his Board of Peace in Davos.

Trump is joined on stage by a hostof world leaders for the signing of the board's charter.

The Board of Peace ceremony in Davos today. Fabrice Coffrini / AFP - Getty Images

Some 35 countries have agreed to sign on to the project, a senior State Department official told reporters, with more than 50 nations invited to join.

Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have accepted invitations to join Trump’s Board of Peace, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a joint statement.

Kuwait has also agreed to join, its official state news agency reported yesterday.

Trump is set to hold a signing ceremony for the initiative shortly at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The new international organization, which he would chair, is described as working to promote global peace and conflict resolution, raising concerns it could undermine the United Nations.

Israel, Hungary and Belarus have also said they are joining, while some key U.S. allies in Europe remain uncommitted, as do China and Russia.

The Board of Peace was first proposed by Trump as an entity that would oversee the next phase of his peace plan for the Gaza Strip, but has since morphed into something with a much broader remit.

The proposed charter for the board, as confirmed by NBC News, makes no direct mention of Gaza and proposes a broad mandate for a new international organization that “seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict.”

Trump has suggested his Board of Peace "might" replace the United Nations, but that has raised concerns among some key allies.

The charter states that Trump will chair the board and can only be replaced as chairman through “voluntary resignation or as a result of incapacity, as determined by a unanimous vote of the Executive Board.”

It also states that each member state “shall serve a term of no more than three years,” with an exception for those “that contribute more than" $1 billion.

Among the founding executive board members are Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and World Bank President Ajay Banga.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in Davos this morning he had a "very good discussion" with Trump after the U.S. president announced they had agreed to a "framework of a future deal" on Greenland yesterday.

Rutte said the discussion involved talking about how all the Arctic nations, including the U.S., can "collectively make sure that the Arctic stays safe, that the Russians and the Chinese stay out."

Rutte and Trump on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos yesterday. Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images

Echoing Trump's consistent argument about the alleged danger to Greenland coming from Beijing and Moscow, Rutte said it was important that "the Chinese and the Russians will not gain access to the Greenland economy, militarily to Greenland, and that will be a discussion taken forward."

Britain will not be signing Trump's Board of Peace charter in Davos today despite being invited, foreign minister Yvette Cooper said, citing concerns about Russia's involvement.

“We won’t be one of the signatories today, because this is about a legal treaty that raises much broader issues, and we do also have concerns about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace when we still haven’t seen any signs from Putin there will be a commitment to peace in Ukraine,” Cooper told BBC News.

Another key U.S. ally, France, has indicated it will not join as have Sweden, Norway, and Slovenia. Italy said it needed more time.

In another interview with the BBC, Cooper shared further details on the "Arctic sentry" discussed as part of the deal framework that Trump announced yesterday on Greenland, saying it would be a combined operation program that draws NATO countries together to work on a "shared threat."

NATO has said this morning that Secretary General Mark Rutte did not propose any compromise on Greenland's sovereignty in his meeting with Trump.

Trump’s announcement of a "framework" for a future deal came hours after the possibility of the United States obtaining sovereignty over land for military bases was discussed during separate meetings in Brussels among top military officers from NATO member states, the New York Times reported, citing three senior Western officials familiar with the talks.

Asked about the reporting by NBC News, NATO Spokesperson Allison Hart stressed that Rutte did not propose any compromise to sovereignty during his meeting with Trump in Davos on Wednesday.

Denmark's leader warned this morning that she will not negotiate on her country's sovereignty, after Trump announced yesterday that he had agreed to the “framework of a future deal" on Greenland.

Trump said it came after a very productive meeting with NATO chief Mark Rutte. There were no details provided on what the deal would actually entail.

"Security in the Arctic is a matter for the entire NATO alliance," Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement. "Therefore, it is good and natural that it is also discussed between the NATO Secretary General and the President of the United States. The Kingdom of Denmark has long worked for NATO to increase its engagement in the Arctic."

But she said NATO was fully aware of her position. "We can negotiate on everything political; security, investments, economy," Frederiksen said. "But we cannot negotiate on our sovereignty. I have been informed that this has not been the case either. And of course only Denmark and Greenland themselves can make decisions on issues concerning Denmark and Greenland."

Questioning America’s decades-long commitment to guard them against a nuclear-armed Russia, European nations are looking at ways to bolster their own arsenals rather than continue to rely on the U.S., according to six senior European officials.

European leaders are discussing whether to rely more on nuclear-armed France and Britain instead of the U.S. or even develop their own atomic weapons, three of the senior European officials said. The discussions have taken on a new urgency in recent weeks as Trump demands the U.S. acquire Greenland, these officials said.

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Trump’s renewed demands for Denmark to hand over Greenland have received an icy response from locals on the remote Arctic island, usually far removed from world affairs.

Many Greenlanders still uneasy after Trump's draft deal

03:19

There was a chill in the air in Greenland‘s capital, Nuuk, thousands of miles away from Trump's speech and meeting with world leaders.

“It’s crazy. Totally crazy,” Peter Jensen, an office supply store’s owner in Nuuk, said before Trump’s speech. “But many are scared.”

Tillie Martinussen, a former member of Greenland’s parliament, was incensed by Trump’s remarks. “We’re not just a block of ice,” she said in an interview on Wednesday. “We are human beings. We have elderly people here who are so afraid right now. We have children that are afraid of the United States.”

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Trump said he is dropping his threat to slap new tariffs on European nations in a fresh sign that he is prepared to reach a peaceful settlement to a tense standoff over the future of Greenland.

Trump announces ‘framework’ deal on Greenland

02:37

Trump announced on social media that after a private meeting with NATO’s secretary general in Davos, Switzerland, he agreed to the “framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic region.”

Trump gave no details, nor did he say he was abandoning his effort to wrest control of Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark. Earlier, Trump gave a speech at the World Economic Forum in which he said that the U.S. needs to absorb Greenland for global security reasons and that European countries need to meet the demand.

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