In post-Jan. 6 era, 600 officers train for riots as threats to lawmakers climb toward record high

LAUREL, Md. (AP) — The car jolted as protesters pounded on its windows, boxing in the lawmaker trapped inside. Within seconds, officers in full riot gear surged forward in formation, yanking open the doors and pulling the passenger to safety. A few hundred yards away, another team of police moved just as quickly, surrounding, isolating and arresting a man spotted in the crowd with a gun.

The clashes were staged, unfolding Friday at a Secret Service training complex in Maryland. The U.S. Capitol Police led the operation, joined by 600 officers representing nearly 20 agencies — including the Secret Service and local police and sheriff’s departments — in one of the largest law enforcement training drills in the country. The goal was to sharpen coordination among the many agencies that must work side by side in Washington, a push shaped by the glaring security breakdowns of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

With 2025 on track to bring more threats against members of Congress than any year in history, law enforcement agencies are bracing for a volatile era defined by surging political violence, swelling protest movements and a more muscular federal role in local communities. The training highlighted how quickly multiple dangers can erupt at once, and how determined authorities are to prepare for the next flashpoint.

The exercise comes at a moment when threats and attacks against public officials are mounting, and federal authorities have stepped more aggressively into cities to confront unrest. From the storming of the Capitol to more recent attacks targeting lawmakers and judges, the scenarios practiced in Friday’s drill carried an unmistakable resonance: In today’s America, the line between routine dissent and potential disaster feels increasingly thin.

Commanders emphasized that the drills are not just about riot shields and tactical maneuvers. They also showcased new tools meant to prevent the kinds of communication breakdowns that hobbled the Jan. 6 response. Drones provided real-time aerial views of the mock protests, while mobile command posts allowed leaders from different agencies to track the action simultaneously and direct units on the ground.

Officials said the biggest shift since Jan. 6 has been the rhythm of coordination itself. Agencies that once trained largely in isolation now drill together, building muscle memory for rapid deployments and cross-agency communication that can determine whether a protest remains peaceful or spirals into violence.

“Training like this is incredibly important,” said Michael Sullivan, chief of the U.S. Capitol Police. “Making sure that we understand how the different teams work is critically important if we ever have to make that call for them to come in and help.”

The push reflects how deeply Jan. 6 still looms over the force. Sean Gallagher, an assistant chief who has overseen the department’s response to scathing inspector general and congressional reports, said the agency is not ignoring those failures. Instead, he cast the drill as a deliberate attempt to turn lessons into action.

Reflecting on the mistakes of the past, Gallagher said the agency wouldn’t shy away from them, but that “this is our attempt at fixing those issues.” He added: “We’re facing a lot of different threats. It’s a heightened political environment that we continuously operate in on Capitol Hill. We’ve taken the lessons of the past, we’ve incorporated them into these scenarios and the goal with this is to be proactive and not reactive.”

That urgency is felt not just in the command ranks but also on the front lines. Aaron Davis, a Capitol Police officer who has worked on the civil disturbance unit for nearly eight years and responded to the Jan. 6 attack, said the drills are essential because no scenario feels implausible anymore.

“We use our imagination like crazy in training, just because you don’t want that to be the first time you encounter something of that nature,” he said, recalling the storming of the Capitol that left hundreds of his fellow officers injured.

In other scenarios, demonstrators shouted “Free D.C.” as they hurled wooden blocks meant to simulate bricks — a nod to the rising anger over the surge of federal agents and National Guard troops into the nation’s capital. “Keep moving, back up!” officers yelled as they marched the crowd down the street behind riot shields, while an unmarked police van pulled in to carry away those taken off in handcuffs. The realism of the drills, officials said, was intentional: Each scenario was designed to mirror the volatile mix of protest and confrontation that has become increasingly common in American cities.

For the Secret Service, the lessons stretch back to the mass demonstrations that filled Washington in 2020 during the first Trump administration. Andrew Ackley, assistant chief of the agency’s Uniform Division, said those experiences underscored how much tactics must change as threats evolve.

“The training has evolved significantly because we’re constantly learning. None of these situations are identical, right? None of these situations can be copycat from another one. So we’re constantly evolving. We’re constantly training,” Ackley said.

U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division Assistant Chief Andrew Ackley speaks to reporters during a training exercise with local and federal law enforcement, organized by the U.S. Capitol Police, at the U.S. Secret Service James J. Rowley Training Center Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Laurel, Md. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

U.S. Capitol Police Chief Michael Sullivan speaks to reporters during a training exercise involving local and federal law enforcement, organized by the U.S. Capitol Police, at the U.S. Secret Service James J. Rowley Training Center Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Laurel, Md. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

During a training exercise involving local and federal law enforcement organized by the U.S. Capitol Police, police officers wearing protective equipment march at the U.S. Secret Service James J. Rowley Training Center Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Laurel, Md. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

During a training exercise involving local and federal law enforcement organized by the U.S. Capitol Police, people confront police officers wearing protective equipment at the U.S. Secret Service James J. Rowley Training Center Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Laurel, Md. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

During a training exercise involving local and federal law enforcement organized by the U.S. Capitol Police, people portraying protesters confront police officers wearing protective equipment at the U.S. Secret Service James J. Rowley Training Center Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Laurel, Md. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado discussed her country's future with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, even though he has dismissed her credibility to take over after an audacious U.S. military raid captured then-President Nicolás Maduro.

Trump has raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in Venezuela and signaled his willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s No. 2. Along with others in the deposed leader’s inner circle, Rodríguez remains in charge of day-to-day government operations and was set to deliver her first state of the union speech Thursday.

In endorsing Rodríguez so far, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela. She also had sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key administration voices like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had been looking forward to the lunchtime meeting with Machado and called her “a remarkable and brave voice” for the people of Venezuela. But Leavitt also said Trump's opinion of Machado had not changed, calling it "a realistic assessment."

Trump has said it would be difficult for Machado to lead because she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Her party is widely believed to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro.

Leavitt went on to say that Trump supported new Venezuelan elections “when the time is right” but did not say when he thought that might be.

Leavitt said Machado sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. Machado previously offered to share with Trump the Nobel Peace Prize she won last year, an honor he has coveted.

“I don’t think he needs to hear anything from Ms. Machado," the press secretary said, other than to have a ”frank and positive discussion about what’s taking place in Venezuela.”

Machado spent about two and a half hours at the White House but left without answering questions on whether she'd offered to give her Nobel prize to Trump, saying only “gracias."

After her White House stop, Machado plans to have a meeting at the Senate. Her Washington visit began after U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says had ties to Venezuela.

It is part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.

Leavitt said Venezuela's interim authorities have been fully cooperating with the Trump administration and that Rodríguez's government said it planned to release more prisoners detained under Maduro. Among those released were five Americans this week.

Rodríguez has adopted a less strident position toward Trump then she did immediately after Maduro's ouster, suggesting that she can make the Republican administration's “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, work for Venezuela — at least for now.

Trump said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.

“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said during an Oval Office bill signing. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”

Even before indicating the willingness to work with Venezuela's interim government, Trump was quick to snub Machado. Just hours after Maduro's capture, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader.”

Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning the peace prize. She has since thanked Trump, though her offer to share the honor with him was rejected by the Nobel Institute.

Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.

The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.

A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.

Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.

Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela, and Janetsky from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gestures to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado smiles on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)