Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is plotting to shape the Democratic Party in her populist image after largely lying low over the last year.
Why it matters: No, Warren isn't running for president in 2028. But as one of the most influential voices on the progressive left, she wants more of a say in the party's next chapter.
Democrats and activists in Pennsylvania are trying to leverage Gov. Josh Shapiro's long-rumored presidential ambitions to try to push him to the left on a key healthcare issue.
Why it matters: Shapiro is the only potential 2028 contender who's also running for reelection as a governor in a swing state this year. He's facing a tricky political challenge — balancing his national aspirations with the demands of his state.
President Trump "deserves the Nobel Peace Prize many times over," the White House said Sunday, after organizers of the prestigious award ruled Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado can't give her Nobel to him.
Why it matters: Machado is due to meet with Trump in Washington, D.C., this week and she had indicated she wanted to give him her Nobel after praising the U.S. raid in Caracas that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
WATER VALLEY, Miss. — Rahm Emanuel is coming — whether Democrats like it or not.
"There's two wings in our party right now, and I hope to dominate one of them," Emanuel, the fiery former Chicago mayor, told Axios in Mississippi last week as he tested his potential 2028 run for president with a focus on education.
"There's a resistance wing dominated by Gavin [Newsom]. And there's a renewal wing that will be as forceful in fighting for America as the other wing is in fighting Trump."
Why it matters: Emanuel — who was chief of staff under President Obama and a senior adviser to President Clinton — is betting that come 2028, the country and Democratic primary voterswill be less focused on President Trump than the party's base is now.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced updated restrictions on congressional visits to ICE detention facilities Thursday, a day after an ICE officer shot and killed a Minnesota mother.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem doubled down Sunday on her defense of the fatal Minneapolis ICE shooting and vowed to send in "hundreds" more agents.
But critics accuse the administration of hiding what actually happened to Renee Nicole Good and dictating what Americans should believe.
President Trump zeroed in on Cuba's regime in a flurry of Truth Social posts Sunday morning, demanding it negotiate "BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE."
The big picture: Since the stunning U.S. operation that captured Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro, the administration has threatened new international interventions.
The first week of 2026 left little ambiguity about what President Trump thinks of power — or whether there are any limits on his. Just listen to him and top aide Stephen Miller.
Trump to The New York Times, when asked if there are any checks on his global ambitions: "Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It's the only thing that can stop me."
Miller to CNN's Jake Tapper: "[Y]ou can talk all you want about international niceties and everything else, but we live in a world, in the real world, Jake, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power."
President Trump is considering several options for supporting the protests in Iran and weakening the regime, two U.S. officials tell Axios.
Why it matters: Those discussions are taking place as the protests intensify and the death toll rises, and after Trump said publicly that he was willing to use military force if the Iranian regime killed protesters.
Protesters, expected in the tens of thousands, took to the streets in Minneapolis and other cities Saturday to participate in "ICE Out For Good" protests and vigils, following the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE agent.
The big picture: The death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good and a separate Border Patrol shooting in Portland have ignited widespread outrage over the Trump administration's immigration tactics — and fueled criticism of federal agencies' defense of the incident.
Three Minnesota congressional Democrats — including Rep. Ilhan Omar — were denied access to an ICE detention facility just outside Minneapolis on Saturday morning.
Axios' Jim VandeHei & Mike Allen write: We're taking a break from the chaos of news and life in January of 2026, and stepping back — way back — to think about where America stands on the 250th anniversaries of both Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" manifesto (Saturday) and the signing of our Declaration of Independence (July 4).
Doom and gloom often light up our screens. But that shouldn't — and doesn't — define us. Never forget: This is a great country with exceptional promise.
Why it matters: We're the most perfect, imperfect experiment in self-governance, freedom and progress in the history of humanity.
Our founders fled royalty, fought wars, formed a republic and a democracy, against all odds, all logic, all hope. They built the most powerful, prosperous, promising nation known to man.
President Trump said on Saturday that his administration is ready to help the protesters in Iran get the freedom they are looking for.
Why it matters: In his remarks, Trump went further than he has so far and suggested the U.S. could intervene in favor of the protesters regardless of whether the regime uses violence against them.
President Trump declared a national emergency to shield Venezuelan oil revenue held by the U.S. government from seizure by private creditors, framing it as critical to U.S. national security and regional stability.
The big picture: Control of Venezuelan oil — some $2.5 billion worth — is now a cornerstone of the White House's strategy in the Western Hemisphere and an opening for U.S. companies in the wake of Nicolás Maduro's capture.
U.S. oil giants signaled interest in Venezuela on Friday but stopped well short of committing to massive and rapid new investments there during a meeting with President Trump.
Why it matters: The White House envisions a key role for U.S. companies in reviving output from Venezuela following the toppling of President Nicolás Maduro.
Former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon is laying the groundwork for a 2028 run for president, two people familiar with his thinking tell Axios.
Why it matters: The MAGA godfather isn't serious about becoming president — that's not the point. Instead, he's told allies he wants to shape the debate and pressure Republican candidates to embrace an "America First" agenda — including a non-interventionist foreign policy, economic populism and opposition to Big Tech.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who has appeared on Bannon's "War Room" podcast, said: "The Bannon campaign will merge the foreign policy of Rand Paul with the tax policy of Elizabeth Warren."
MAGA is pressing the Trump administration to write a new chapter in America's expansionist history — one that adds territory and influence as part of a new Western empire.
Why it matters: On its face, MAGA's imperial turn is a head-spinning reversal for a movement built around hostility to "endless wars" in the Middle East.
A drug marketed as "pink cocaine" is turning up more often in U.S. nightclubs and busts, alarming health officials because it's usually not cocaine at all. And no two batches are the same.
Why it matters: The potent powder — part of a new wave of polydrugs — is a dangerous cocktail of drugs, commonly ketamine and ecstasy, sometimes mixed with methamphetamine or fentanyl.
Former prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys are alarmed by the Trump administration's "highly unusual" decision to kick local investigators off the probe into the deadly ICE shooting in Minneapolis.
Why it matters: Politicians on both sides rushed to weigh in on whether the killing of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was justified. With so many officials making snap judgments — and the feds' lockdown of the evidence — widespread acceptance of the results seems unlikely.
The Trump administration on Friday was blocked from freezing roughly $10 billion in federal funding for child care and social services in five Democratic-led states, a federal judge ordered.
The big picture: Judge Arun Subramanian decided that the administration must release funds for three social service programs that serve low-income families and individuals with disabilities for the next two weeks, despite President Trump's efforts to withhold the funds.
