Trump news at a glance: president creates Gaza ‘board of peace’ – now what?

White House announces Gaza ‘board of peace’

The list was made public a day after Trump announced the formation of the “board of peace” as part of phase two of the US-brokered plan to end the conflict in Gaza. Characteristically effusive, the president described it as the “Greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled at any time, any place”.

Seth Masket, a political scientist at the University of Denver, suggested that the board’s name was undermined by Trump’s bellicose actions. “I hope he can find time to attend Board of Peace meetings between meetings about invasions of Venezuela, Iran, Greenland, Canada, and Minneapolis,” Masket observed on social media.

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The US justice department is investigating Minnesota’s political leaders for allegedly conspiring to obstruct the Trump administration’s controversial immigration crackdown there, according to multiple reports.

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Machado giving Trump her Nobel peace prize medal is ‘absurd’, say Norwegian politicians

Political leaders in Norway have condemned the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado’s “absurd” decision to present her Nobel peace prize medal to Donald Trump, accusing the US president of being a “classic showoff” who takes credit for other people’s work.

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Trump threatens tariffs against those who oppose him taking Greenland

After a tense week in which Nato allies deployed troops to the largely autonomous territory, which is part of the Danish kingdom, the US president announced he might punish countries that do not support his plans to take over Greenland, using force if necessary.

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US mixed messaging on flu shots alarms experts

As the US reaches record-breaking rates of illness and hospitals scramble to care for flu patients, officials have stopped fully recommending the flu shot, casting doubt on the necessity and effectiveness of the vaccine.

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Trump set to pardon ex-Puerto Rico governor after ‘political prosecution’

Donald Trump reportedly intends to pardon Puerto Rico’s former governor Wanda Vázquez Garced, who was indicted in 2022 on federal corruption charges surrounding her earlier gubernatorial campaign.

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Trump administration says detaining college student trying to surprise family was a ‘mistake’

The Trump administration apologized in court for a “mistake” in the deportation of a Massachusetts college student who was detained trying to fly home to surprise her family in Texas for Thanksgiving.

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Trump’s economic adviser expects there is ‘nothing to see’ as justice department investigates Fed

Trump’s top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, said he expected there was “nothing to see here” as the US Department of Justice pursues its criminal investigation of Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chair.

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What else happened today:

• Donald Trump has issued a fresh ultimatum to Hamas, adding to calls for the group’s disarmament as the second phase of the US-brokered ceasefire with Israel begins, even as key elements of the first phase remain unfulfilled.

• New incident reports from the Minneapolis police and fire departments, along with transcripts of 911 calls, provide new details about the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good last week by a federal immigration officer.

• Family and friends of a Los Angeles man who was killed by an off-duty US ICE officer over the holidays are urging local officials to arrest and prosecute the federal agent.

• Astrid Tuminez, Utah Valley University’s seventh president, will step down from her role in May as the school still reckons with Charlie Kirk’s murder on the campus last year.

• For the first time, more US adults now support eliminating ICE than those who oppose it, according to a new Economist/YouGov poll.

• The justice department is not entitled to sensitive information on California voters, a federal judge ruled this week, writing that the administration’s efforts to obtain the information on voters in the state is a threat to democracy. The Trump administration has filed similar lawsuits in nearly half of US states.