ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — If Josh Allen is experiencing any pre-wedding jitters, they weren’t evident when the Buffalo Bills opened voluntary practices on Tuesday.
The quarterback, who is engaged to actor and singer Hailee Steinfeld, looked his usual, outgoing self. He danced in the huddle to the music being played over the loudspeakers, barked out plays behind center and joined the celebration in the end zone after completing a perfectly placed pass to Curtis Samuel.
Allen even had time to chat with new Bills minority owner and former NBA star Vince Carter on the sideline before jogging off the field without speaking to reporters following the session.
Though the date and location of the wedding have not been disclosed, Bills tackle Dion Dawkins revealed it was May 31 during an interview on the NFL Network in March. Dawkins has since told The Rich Eisen Show, “I ain’t know anything about that.”
The wedding is scheduled to take place over one of the next two weekends, a person familiar with the details told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the date is private.
Coach Sean McDermott acknowledged how important the NFL MVP’s presence was at practice in light of his busy offseason schedule.
“I think it says everything, right? He is the face of our organization. He’s the leader of our team,” McDermott said. “Like any leader, in particular the leader of the team, those words that he says and his actions are exponentially impactful, to the whole roster, the whole team.”
As for Allen showing any pre-wedding nerves, McDermott laughed at the attempt to have him disclose the wedding date.
“Good try on that,” he said, before adding: “But he is as confident and as calm, cool and collected as he always is.”
Allen, who turned 29 last week, and the 28-year-old Steinfeld were engaged during the Bills bye week in November, when the quarterback proposed on a California cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
The two were first linked in the spring of 2023, when they were photographed dining together in New York City. Steinfeld has since begun attending Bills home games, and the couple hosted a Halloween party. The couple was inseparable at the NFL Awards ceremony in February, when Allen credited Steinfeld upon accepting the league’s MVP honor.
Allen has spoken highly of the settling influence provided by Steinfeld, referring to her as his biggest fan.
She began her acting career at the age of 10, and earned an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for her role as Mattie Ross in the Coen brothers’ 2010 remake of “True Grit.” Other roles have included the 2016 high school dramedy “The Edge of Seventeen,” and “Dickinson." She branched out into pop music after performing in the 2015 movie “Pitch Perfect 2.”
Allen is entering his eighth NFL season. In March, he signed a contract extension worth $330 million, including an NFL record $250 million of it guaranteed, making him among the league’s highest-paid players.
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Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen throws the ball during NFL football practice in Orchard Park, N.Y., Tuesday May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen looks to pass the ball during NFL football practice in Orchard Park, N.Y., Tuesday May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
FILE - Josh Allen, of the Buffalo Bills, and his fiancé, Hailee Steinfeld, pose on the red carpet at the NFL Honors award show ahead of the Super Bowl 59 football game, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez on Thursday asked lawmakers to approve reforms to the oil industry that would open the doors to greater foreign investment during her first state of the union speech less than two weeks after its longtime leader was toppled by the United States.
Rodríguez, who has been under pressure by the Trump administration to fall in line with its vision for the oil-rich nation, said sales of Venezuelan oil would go to bolster crisis-stricken health services, economic development and other infrastructure projects.
She outlined a distinct vision for the future, straying from her predecessors, who have long railed against American intervention in Venezeula. “Let us not be afraid of diplomacy” with the U.S., said Rodriguez, the former vice president who must now navigate competing pressures from the Trump administration and a government loyal to former President Nicolás Maduro.
The speech, which was broadcast on a delay in Venezuela, came one day after Rodríguez said her government would continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro in what she described as “a new political moment” since his ouster.
On Thursday, Trump met at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro. But in endorsing Rodríguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, Trump has sidelined Machado.
Rodríguez, who had a call with Trump earlier this week, said Wednesday evening on state television that her government would use “every dollar” earned from oil sales to overhaul the nation’s public health care system. Hospitals and other health care facilities across the country have long been crumbling, and patients are asked to provide practically all supplies needed for their care, from syringes to surgical screws.
The acting president must walk a tightrope, balancing pressures from both Washington and top Venezuelan officials who hold sway over Venezuela's security forces and strongly oppose the U.S. Her recent public speeches reflect those tensions — vacillating from conciliatory calls for cooperation with the U.S., to defiant rants echoing the anti-imperialist rhetoric of her toppled predecessor.
American authorities have long railed against a government they describe as a “dictatorship,” while Venezuela’s government has built a powerful populist ethos sharply opposed to U.S. meddling in its affairs.
For the foreseeable future, Rodríguez's government has been effectively relieved of having to hold elections. That's because when Venezuela’s high court granted Rodríguez presidential powers on an acting basis, it cited a provision of the constitution that allows the vice president to take over for a renewable period of 90 days.
Trump enlisted Rodríguez to help secure U.S. control over Venezuela’s oil sales despite sanctioning her for human rights violations during his first term. To ensure she does his bidding, Trump threatened Rodríguez earlier this month with a “situation probably worse than Maduro.”
Maduro, who is being held in a Brooklyn jail, has pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking charges.
Before Rodríguez’s speech on Thursday, a group of government supporters was allowed into the presidential palace, where they chanted for Maduro, who the government insists remains the country’s president. “Maduro, resist, the people are rising,” they shouted.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez makes a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez, center, smiles flanked by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, right, and National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez after making a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
