The world welcomes 2025 with light shows, embraces and ice plunges

NEW YORK (AP) — From Sydney to Mumbai to Paris to Rio de Janeiro, communities around the world welcomed 2025 with spectacular light shows, embraces and ice plunges.

The New Year’s Eve ball dropped in soggy Times Square, where thousands of revelers stuck it out in heavy rain to celebrate the start of 2025 in New York City.

Countries in the South Pacific Ocean were the first to ring in the New Year, with midnight in New Zealand striking 18 hours before the ball dropped in Times Square. Auckland was the first major city to celebrate, with thousands thronging downtown or climbing the city’s ring of volcanic peaks for a fireworks vantage point.

Conflict muted acknowledgements of the start of 2025 in places like the Middle East, Sudan and Ukraine.

American Samoa will be among the last to welcome 2025, a full 24 hours after New Zealand.

A few hours after Auckland, fireworks blasted off Australia's Sydney Harbor Bridge and across the bay. More than a million people gathered at iconic Sydney Harbor for the celebration. British pop star Robbie Williams led a singalong with the crowd.

The celebration also featured Indigenous ceremonies and performances that acknowledged the land’s first people.

In New York City, crowds cheered and couples kissed when the ball weighing almost 6 tons (5.4 metric tons) and featuring 2,688 crystal triangles descended down a pole in Times Square. The celebration included musical performances by TLC and Jonas Brothers.

The revelry culminated with a dance party and a carpeting of soggy confetti as attendees left singing along to Frank Sinatra’s version of “New York, New York.”

Angie Cuadradu, from Virginia, said she hopes 2025 is going to be great. “We’re sending positive vibes everywhere," she said.

Las Vegas’ pyrotechnic show will be on the Strip, with 340,000 people anticipated as fireworks are launched from the rooftops of casinos. Nearby, the Sphere venue will display for the first time countdowns to midnight in different time zones.

In Pasadena, California, Rose Parade spectators were camping out and hoping for prime spots. And some 200,000 people flocked to a country music party in Nashville, Tennessee.

Much of Japan shut down ahead of the nation’s biggest holiday, as temples and homes underwent a thorough cleaning.

The upcoming Year of the Snake in the Asian zodiac is heralded as one of rebirth — alluding to the reptile’s shedding skin. Other places in Asia will mark the Year of the Snake later, with the Lunar New Year.

In South Korea, celebrations were cut back or canceled during a period of national mourning following Sunday's crash of a Jeju Air flight in Muan that killed 179 people.

Chinese state media covered an exchange of New Year’s greetings between leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in a reminder of growing closeness between two leaders who face tensions with the West.

Xi told Putin their countries will “always move forward hand in hand,” the official Xinhua News Agency said.

China has maintained ties and robust trade with Russia since the latter invaded Ukraine in 2022, helping to offset Western sanctions and attempts to isolate Putin.

In India, thousands of revelers in the financial hub of Mumbai flocked to the city's bustling promenade facing the Arabian Sea. In Sri Lanka, people gathered at Buddhist temples to light oil lamps and incense sticks and pray.

In Dubai, thousands attended a fireworks show at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscraper. And in Nairobi, Kenya, scattered fireworks were heard.

Rome’s traditional New Year’s Eve festivities have an additional draw: the start of Pope Francis’ Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century celebration projected to bring some 32 million pilgrims to the Eternal City in 2025.

On Tuesday, Francis celebrated a vespers at St. Peter’s Basilica. During Mass on Wednesday he is expected to again appeal for peace in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Jan. 1 is a day of obligation for Catholics, marking the Solemnity of Mary.

In Saint Paul, Minnesota, about 400 Catholics joined the archbishop for a rare 11 p.m. Mass followed by a champagne reception in the city’s monumental cathedral.

“People have the tradition to stay up and toast the new year, so we said, ‘Ok, let’s build on that,’” said the Rev. Joseph Johnson.

Paris capped a momentous 2024 with its traditional countdown and fireworks extravaganza on the Champs-Elysées. The city’s emblematic Arc de Triomphe monument was turned into a giant tableau for a light show that celebrated the city's landmarks and the passage of time, with whirring clocks.

“Paris is a party,” proclaimed Mayor Anne Hidalgo.

The Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games hosted in the French capital from July to September had transformed the city into a site of joy, fraternity and astonishing sporting achievements.

London rang in the New Year with a pyrotechnic display along the River Thames. With a storm bringing bitter weather to other parts of the United Kingdom, however, festivities in Edinburgh, Scotland, were canceled.

But in Switzerland and some other places, people embraced the cold, stripping and plunging into the water in freezing temperatures.

Rio de Janeiro threw Brazil’s main New Year’s Eve bash on Copacabana beach, with barges shooting off 12 straight minutes of fireworks. Thousands of tourists on cruise ships and charter boats witnessed the show up close, while many more streamed onto the sand to find their spot.

The crowd on Copacabana was expected to exceed 2 million people — most decked out in white to keep with tradition. They packed together to enjoy concerts by Brazilian music legends Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethânia and Ivete Sangalo, among others. Right after the fireworks concluded, Brazil’s biggest pop star, Anitta, took the stage.

“It’s so magical. It’s an incredible thing,” Alejandro Legarreta, a tourist from Puerto Rico, said after diving into the ocean.

Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand. Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.

Fireworks explode over the Las Vegas Strip during a New Year's Eve celebration Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)

Fireworks explode over the Las Vegas Strip during a New Year's Eve celebration Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)

Archbishop Bernard Hebda, right, of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, celebrates a rare New Year’s Eve Mass attended just before midnight in St. Paul, Minn., on Dec. 31, 2024 (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

Fireworks explode as thousands of people gather in the main business district on New Year's Eve in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

People gather near the Brandenburg Gate to celebrate and watch the fireworks for the New Year's celebrations in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Performers prepare to ring in the new year near a Chinese national flag during a count down event held in Beijing, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Revelers wear hats and ponchos as they dance in the rain during the annual New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Fireworks light the sky above the Quadriga at the Brandenburg Gate during New Year's celebrations shortly after midnight in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

A light show is projected on the Arc de Triomphe as fireworks explode during New Year celebrations on the Champs Elysees in Paris, France, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Revelers celebrate in New York's Times Square as they attend a New Year's Eve celebration, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

People cheer during the 2025 Taipei New Year's Party celebration in front of the Taipei City Government Building in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Swimmers attend the traditional New Year's Eve swimming at Lake Moossee in Moosseedorf, Switzerland, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (Anthony Anex/Keystone via AP)

People gather in the center of the Russian far east port of Vladivostok, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, to celebrate the new year. (AP Photo)

People gather near the Brandenburg Gate to celebrate and watch the fireworks for the New Year's celebrations in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

People with a Georgian national and an EU flags gather in a street decorated for Christmas and the New Year festivities on New Year's Eve outside of the Georgian parliament, in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

A couple kisses as they walk with their child in a square decorated for Christmas and the New Year festivities in Donetsk in Russian-controlled Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)

Fireworks explode at the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, during the New Year's Eve celebration in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Fireworks explode over Victoria Harbour to celebrate the start of 2025 at Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

Young performers wait backstage for a count down event held in Beijing, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Pope Francis waves faithfuls after celebrating over New Year's Eve Vespers and Te Deum, in St.Peter's Square at the Vatican, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Fireworks explode over Victoria Harbour to celebrate the start of 2025 at Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

A girl holds a sparkler as she walks in a square decorated for Christmas and the New Year festivities in Donetsk in Russian-controlled Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)

A couple share a tender moment as they walk with their child in a square decorated for Christmas and the New Year festivities in Donetsk in Russian-controlled Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)

A giant balloon depicting a dancer flies over the people before a performance during the "Celebrating Cambodia" event as part of the New Year's Eve in front of Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

A Cambodian dancer with painted face waits before performing during the "Celebrating Cambodia" event as part of the New Year's Eve in front of Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

A Pakistani man take a selfie photo while the last sunset of 2024 hangs over the city of Peshawar, Pakistan, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)

Lights illuminate Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, ahead of New Year's Eve celebration, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

A woman wears a 2025 headband in the main business district on New Year's Eve in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

People gather in the center of the Russian far east port of Vladivostok, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, to celebrate the new year. (AP Photo)

People celebrate New Year’s Eve at a promenade in Mumbai, India, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Cambodian dancers perform during the "Celebrating Cambodia" event as part of the New Year's Eve in front of Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a New Year message on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024 in Beijing to ring in 2025. (Ju Peng/Xinhua via AP)

Egyptians walk in front of New Year decorations in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Cambodian dancers perform during the "Celebrating Cambodia" event as part of the New Year's Eve in front of Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

A woman holds her smartphone near an illuminated decoration on New Year's Eve in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

People cheer during the 2025 Taipei New Year's Party celebration in front of the Taipei City Government Building in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Swimmers attend the traditional New Year's Eve swimming at lake Moossee in Moosseedorf, Switzerland, Tuesday, December 31, 2024. (Anthony Anex/Keystone via AP)

The 9pm fireworks are seen during New Year's Eve celebrations in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP Image via AP)

The 9pm fireworks are seen during New Year's Eve celebrations in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP Image via AP)

A young couple enter the venue for a New Year countdown concert in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

Young women in Vietnamese traditional costumes take a selfie near a New Year countdown concert in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam on Tuesday, Dec.31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

A visitor from Australia cleans her hand with water from a dragon-shaped fountain as part of a ritual to cleanse herself before heading to the main hall of Sensoji Buddhist temple on New Year's Eve in Tokyo, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

People crowd the famed "Ameyoko" shopping street on New Year's Eve in Tokyo, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

People visit Sensoji Buddhist temple on New Year's Eve in Tokyo, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

A woman from Nagoya, left, and her friend from Tokyo, both originally from Indonesia, react to their photos they just took as they visit Sensoji Buddhist temple on New Year's Eve in Tokyo, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Two boys play football in front of a billboard welcoming the New Year 2025 in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam on Tuesday, Dec.31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

FILE - People celebrate the start of the New Year as fireworks illuminate Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, early Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado, File)

FILE - Fireworks explode over the Sydney Harbour Bridge as New Year celebrations begin in Sydney, Australia, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)

FILE - Fireworks light-up the sky over the London Eye in central London to celebrate the New Year on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)

FILE - A light show is projected on the Arc de Triomphe during a New Year's celebration on the Champs Elysees in Paris, France, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)

People in the crowd catch confetti ahead of New Year's Eve in Times Square, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Organizers throw confetti ahead of New Year's Eve in Times Square, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

New Year's Eve preparations are underway in Times Square in New York, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

New Year's Eve preparations are underway in Times Square in New York, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

FILE - The 2025 New Year's Eve numerals are displayed in Times Square, on Dec. 18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

Speaker Mike Johnson’s ability to carry out President Donald Trump’s “play call” for funding the government will be put to the test Tuesday as the House holds a procedural vote on a bill to end the partial shutdown. Johnson can’t lose more than one Republican on party-line votes with perfect attendance, and some are threatening to tank the effort if their priorities aren’t included, even though Trump said “There can be NO CHANGES at this time.”

The measure would end the partial government shutdown that began Saturday, funding most of the federal government through Sept. 30 and the Department of Homeland Security for just two weeks as lawmakers negotiate new rules for agents enforcing immigration laws.

Meanwhile, the Clintons have agreed to testify in the House Epstein investigation, and Colombia’s president is visiting the White House as U.S. trade partners seek shelter from Trump’s fury by cutting deals amongst themselves.

The Latest:

Shortly before the meeting between Petro and Trump, Colombia’s government offered a diplomatic olive branch to the United States by announcing the extradition of drug trafficker Andres Felipe Marin Silva.

Extraditions have become a contentious issue between both countries as Petro holds back some extradition requests involving members of rebel groups, whom he has argued need to stay in Colombia to facilitate peace negotiations with his government..

Some officials in Petro’s cabinet have also argued that extraditing drug traffickers to the United States hinders efforts to seek truth and reconciliation for their victims.

In today’s meeting Petro is attempting to improve relations between his government and the Trump administration as both sides look for ways to cooperate in the fight against drug trafficking.

It took about an hour of negotiations, but the House is now on a glidepath for ending a partial government shutdown after Republicans used their majority to clear a critical procedural hurdle.

A final vote is expected in the afternoon, which would wrap up congressional work on 11 of the annual appropriations bills that fund the government for the 2026 fiscal year ending Sept. 30.

The last bill to be worked out covers the Department of Homeland Security where Democrats are demanding more restrictions on ICE operations. The measure before the House includes a short-term funding patch for the department through Feb. 13.

President Donald Trump has said he will sign the bill when it reaches his desk.

In his meeting with Donald Trump, Colombian President Gustavo Petro sported a dark suit with a white shirt and a golden tie, attire that the left wing leader tends to reserve for special occasions like his own inauguration, or military parades.

The Colombian president tends to dismiss formal attire, and in national broadcasts he is often seen donning more professorial attire such as cardigans, sweaters or white linen shirts known as guayaberas, which he has also used at the UN General Assembly.

However, Petro also has used suits in regional economic forums and in meetings with heads of state like the President of Panama or the King of Spain.

The meeting takes place as both nations try to renew cooperation in the fight against the drug trade, following months of tensions that included threats by Trump to intervene in Colombia.

The Colombian presidency released the first images of President Gustavo Petro’s meeting with Donald Trump.

One photo captures the two leaders walking through the White House corridors alongside Ambassador Daniel García-Peña, who is seen carrying a copy of Trump’s book, “The Art of the Deal.”

Trump hoped redistricting could help House Republicans hold on to their slim majority in November’s midterm elections. But the GOP so far has only a slight edge, and it’s unclear whether that will make any difference in determining control of Congress.

It began last summer when Trump urged Republicans in Texas to redraw the state’s congressional districts for political gain. Democrats countered with their own gerrymandering in California. More states soon followed.

The unconventional mid-decade redistricting contest has now shifted to the Democratic-led states of Maryland and Virginia, with Republican-led Florida set to undertake it this spring. Ongoing court challenges could affect boundaries in New York, Louisiana and elsewhere.

▶ See more about states that have adopted or considered new House districts.

A key procedural vote to take up the bill is being held open as Republicans leaders try to wrangle the votes.

Two Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and John Rose of Tennessee — have voted against moving forward with the bill.

Republicans can only afford 1 defection, as they control the House 218-214. Four other Republicans have not yet voted.

All 214 House Democrats have voted no.

Rose, in a post on X, said Republicans must “hold the line” and get a commitment from Senate Republicans to move forward with voting legislation.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro arrived just before their scheduled meeting. The Oval Office sit-down with Trump comes just weeks after Trump threatened military action against the South American country and accused Petro of pumping cocaine into the United States.

“I’m not in favor of federalizing elections,” Sen. John Thune told reporters, pointing to Constitutional requirements that states conduct their own elections.

The president said in a Monday podcast interview that Republicans should “take over” elections in as many 15 states. Trump’s calls come amid a push among Republicans in Congress to tighten voting requirements nationwide.

“I’m a big believer in decentralizing and distributing power,” Thune added.

However, the South Dakota Republican said he is supporting legislation known as the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. The House has already passed the bill, but Republicans have not been able to overcome the 60-vote threshold required by the Senate’s filibuster rules.

Republican leaders in the House are sounding confident they’ll have the votes to pass a package of spending bills that would end a partial government shutdown.

“We passed these bills once before and we will pass them again” said House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota.

The package awaiting a House vote funds various government agencies and programs such as the Department of Defense through Sept. 30. The bill also includes a short-term, two-week funding patch for the Department of Homeland Security.

Republicans have a razor-thin majority and can afford few defections, but that was looking increasingly unlikely Tuesday morning,

“The Republicans are going to do the responsible thing,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Because Abbott scheduled the vacancy elections so late in 2025 and 2026, they ended up colliding with the start of the 2026 midterm elections, for the next term that will start in 2027.

So not only were voters seeing campaign signs for the March 3 primary before the Saturday runoff, Harris County began sending out mail-in ballots for the new district primary two weeks before the runoff was finished.

“You literally had people who could vote in two different elections at the same time,” said Amanda Edwards, a former Houston city councilwoman. “These elections aren’t just back to back. They overlap.”

Menefee said he’s been trying to encourage people to stay engaged.

It has “definitely made people feel like they can be a pawn in a game,” he said. “I think it has demoralized some people.”

Rep. Christian Menefee started work Monday as the newest member of Congress, and has just four weeks to convince voters he deserves reelection.

The candidate Menefee defeated on Saturday, Amanda Edwards, is running again in next month’s Democratic primary. So is Rep. Al Green, whose longtime home was redrawn into the 18th District. The situation is spinning heads in heavily Democratic Houston.

The 18th went nearly a year without representation after the Rep. Sylvester Turner died in March 2025. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott set an all-party primary for eight months later. That gave Republican leader Mike Johnson more time to pass House legislation with a thin GOP majority. Then, the Texas Legislature redrew congressional maps, raising concerns about disenfranchising voters in the predominantly Black and Hispanic district.

“We’re not going to say they want to steal elections, but they make it very hard for the Black and brown communities to vote,” voter Shampu Sibley said.

Some House Republicans have demanded that the funding package include the SAVE Act, which among other things would require Americans to prove their citizenship before voting in elections. But Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., appeared to drop this demand late Monday, writing on social media that she had spoken with Trump about a “pathway forward” for the voting bill in the Senate that would keep the government open.

The Brennan Center for Justice, a think tank focused on democracy and voting rights issues, said at least 21 million voters lack ready access to their passport or birth certificate.

“The SAVE Act is not about securing our elections. It is about suppressing voters,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. Including it in the bipartisan funding bill, he said, “will lead to another prolonged Trump government shutdown.”

Some Democrats are expected to vote for the final bill, but not for Tuesday’s initial procedural measure setting the terms for the House debate.

Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has made clear that Democrats wouldn’t help Republicans out of their procedural jam, even though Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer helped negotiate the funding bill. That’s because the procedural vote covers a variety of issues most Democrats oppose.

“If they have some massive mandate,” Jeffries said of Republicans, “then go pass your rule, which includes toxic bills that we don’t support.”

The former CNN anchor said agents handcuffed him at the elevator of his Los Angeles hotel, ignoring his offer to turn himself in to face federal civil rights charges over covering an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a Minnesota church service.

ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel said his Monday night guest “was arrested for committing journalism.”

“I went there to be a journalist. I went there to chronicle and document and record what was happening. I was following that one group around, and so that’s what I did. I reported on them,” Lemon said.

Lemon said the arresting agents wouldn’t let him make a phone call or talk with his lawyer, but one did agree to take his diamond bracelet, which kept getting caught in his handcuffs, up to his husband in their hotel room. “And that’s how my husband found out. Otherwise, no one would have known where I was,” Lemon said.

Trump is set to welcome Colombian President Gustavo Petro to the White House on Tuesday for talks only weeks after threatening military action against the South American country and accusing the leader of pumping cocaine into the United States.

U.S. administration officials say the meeting will focus on regional security cooperation and counternarcotics efforts. And Trump suggested Monday that Petro — who has criticized Trump and the U.S. operation to capture Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro — has “changed his attitude.”

“Somehow after the Venezuelan raid, he became very nice,” Trump told reporters.

Yet, bad blood between the leaders overshadows the sit-down. The conservative Trump and leftist Petro are ideologically far apart, but both leaders share a tendency for verbal bombast and unpredictability, setting the stage for a White House visit with an anything-could-happen vibe.

▶ Read more

The president overnight accused Harvard University of not meeting his administration’s demands and said he wants a $1 billion settlement from the school rather than the previous $500 million he sought.

On Truth Social, the president said, “Harvard has been, for a long time, behaving very badly!”

He repeated his assertions that Harvard is “Strongly Antisemitic” and said university President Alan Garber has done “a terrible job.” Garber is Jewish and talks openly about his faith.

“He was hired AFTER the antisemitism charges were brought - I wonder why???” Trump wrote of the Ph.D. economist, physician and researcher who had been Harvard provost for 13 years before becoming president.

Trump’s outburst came followed a New York Times report saying the president had dropped his demands that the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university pay a federal fine as other elite institutions have done. Trump called the Times’ reporting “a lot of nonsense.”

Trump said Monday that he’s “not ripping down” the Kennedy Center but insisted the performing arts venue needs to shut down for about two years for construction and other work without patrons coming and going and getting in the way.

The comments strongly suggested that he intends to gut the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as part of the process.

Such a project would mark the Republican president’s latest effort to put his stamp on a cultural institution that Congress designated as a living memorial to President Kennedy, a Democrat. It would also be in addition to attempts to leave a permanent mark on Washington through other projects, the most prominent of which is adding a ballroom to the White House.

Trump announced Sunday on social media that he intends to temporarily close the performing arts venue on July 4 for about two years “for Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding,” subject to board approval.

▶ Read more

Bullied and buffeted by Trump’s tariffs for the past year, America’s longstanding allies are desperately seeking ways to shield themselves from the president’s impulsive wrath.

U.S. trade partners are cutting deals among themselves — sometimes discarding old differences to do so — in a push to diversify their economies away from a newly protectionist United States. Central banks and global investors are dumping dollars and buying gold. Together, their actions could diminish U.S. influence and mean higher interest rates and prices for Americans already angry about the high cost of living.

Last summer and fall, Trump used the threat of punishing taxes on imports to strong-arm the European Union, Japan, South Korea and other trading partners into accepting lopsided trade deals and promising to make massive investments in the United States.

But a deal with Trump, they’ve discovered, is no deal at all.

The mercurial president repeatedly finds reasons to conjure new tariffs to impose on trading partners that thought they had already made enough concessions to satisfy him.

▶ Read more

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed late Monday to testify in a House investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, but the Republican leading the probe said an agreement had not yet been finalized.

Rep. James Comer, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, continued to press for criminal contempt of Congress charges against both Clintons Monday evening for defying a congressional subpoena when attorneys for the Clintons emailed staff for the Oversight panel, saying the pair would accept Comer’s demands and “will appear for depositions on mutually agreeable dates.”

The attorneys requested that Comer, a Kentucky Republican, agree not to move forward with the contempt proceedings. Comer, however, said he was not immediately dropping the charges, which would carry the threat of a substantial fine and even incarceration if passed by the House and successfully prosecuted by the Department of Justice.

“We don’t have anything in writing,” Comer told reporters, adding that he was open to accepting the Clintons’ offer but “it depends on what they say.”

▶ Read more

Speaker Mike Johnson’s ability to carry out Trump’s “play call” for funding the government will be put to the test Tuesday as the House holds a procedural vote on a bill to end the partial shutdown.

Johnson will need near-unanimous support from his Republican conference to proceed. He can afford to lose only one Republican on party-line votes with perfect attendance, but some lawmakers are threatening to tank the effort if their priorities are not included. Trump weighed in with a social media post, telling them “There can be NO CHANGES at this time.”

The measure would end the partial government shutdown that began Saturday, funding most of the federal government through Sept. 30 and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks as lawmakers negotiate potential changes for the agency that enforces the nation’s immigration laws — United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

▶ Read more

Faith leaders and members of the World House Choir sing at St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Springfield, Ohio, on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, during an event in support of Haitian migrants fearing the end of their Temporary Protected Status in the U.S. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)