Beltway Insider: Trump/Venezuela and Big Oil, Minnesota Shooting, WH Spin, CES 2026
- Details
- Category: Haute This Issue
- Published on Saturday, 10 January 2026 16:29
- Written by Janet Walker
President Trump has initiated a long term strategy to reintegrate American oil companies into Venezuela, meeting with top oil executives at the White House this week, he presented his plan to stabilize the Caracas economy, and banking infrastructure.
The President's job approval rating, according to Gallup featured in The New York Times for the period ending January 3, 2026, of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President remained constant with 36% and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as president decreased one percentage point to 59%. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.
Beltway Insider: Trump/Venezuelan Military Operation, Swiss Blaze, Tatiana Schlossberg-Moran
Big Oil Skittish Over Reentering Venezuela
President Trump meet with the Big oil executives this week at the White House, one week after the arrest and capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and announced the United States would be "running" the country.
"Trump said Friday the industry would invest at least $100 billion to rebuild Venezuela's energy sector with U.S. security guarantees. But the CEOs of big oil companies like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips did not commit at the meeting to quickly re-enter Venezuela. Exxon CEO Darren Woods told Trump that the Venezuelan market is "un-investable" in its current state," CNBC.com reported.
As President Trump continues his efforts to stabilize Venezuelan, Big oil is less than enthusiastic over the return to the nation that seized their assets, especially at this stage in the Trump Administration as a continuation of a Trump administration is clearly impossible, and the climate of the nation suggests a turnover of power back to the democrats, so any investment now, could be reversed by January 2027, if the Midterms swing democrats.
The Senate passed a largely symbolic bill this week, 52-47, limiting the president's power, with five Republicans joining democrats in voting to restrain the president's actions. Aa final vote has not been scheduled.
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ICE Agent Murders Renee Good
ICE Agent Jonathan Ross, the officer who has been identified as the shooter of Renee Good, 37, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, who was murdered in her vehicle after, a brief non-antagonistic encounter, suddenly went horrifically sideways.
From media gathered cellphone footage, and the reflection of the ICE Agent on the vehicles side, it is clear that the vehicle was inundated with several agents and another agent was filming the vehicle. NBC news reported that the agents had completed their activities and were returning to their headquarters or base of operations when the encounter with Good occurred.
"Good turns the steering wheel to her right, away from the officer as she begins to drive. Ross shouts what sounds like "whoa" and fires [his weapon] as multiple shots can be heard in the video. The view of his phone camera jerks around, points up to the sky and captures a glimpse of his masked face. Ross' phone levels out and captures the SUV accelerating down the street. A male voice said, "f-----g bitch" moments before Good's car crashes," NBCnews.com reports.
As an observer, having viewed several videos of the shooting, the Agent, who was involved in an incident six month ago, where he attempted to gain entry to a suspect's vehicle, by reaching inside the car, a violation of ICE policies that prohibit entry or attempts to serve ICE warrants in non-public spaces, and became entangled in the vehicle and was dragged nearly 100 yards.
Ross' actions, at this juncture also violated policies by approaching the vehicle from the front, intentionally putting himself in harm's way. At this time the driver, Good, was attempting to maneuver the vehicle around the agents and escape a situation that was escalating outside the vehicle, but Good, who was inside still believed the encounter was harmless, and as her wife, who was outside the vehicle, must have been feeling a rise in the tension, told her to drive away. As she accelerated, slightly, Ross fired three kill shots.
The situation was obviously avoidable. Agent Ross should not have been cleared to return to the field. The vehicle incident would cause him to be highly sensitive to any movement of a vehicle near him would cause an elevated, fight or flight, reaction.
Pedestrian accidents are deadly. At 10 miles per hour a pedestrian has a 90% chance of surviving, as the speed increases the odds of a pedestrian surviving drop dramatically. Right turn on red, a slow roll through an intersection, account for an even greater number of pedestrian deaths, as pedestrians run the risk of being dragged by the vehicle. Agent Ross' near death vehicle accident resulted in additional PTSD, rendering him unqualified for field work.
So, when Good's SUV began rolling, the stress of the other incident activated and Agent Ross responded, unless, of course, he simply wanted to kill the "f-----g bitch" as the tape recorded because their ambush style harassment didn't produce the response from the victim which would warrant agressive action.
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White House Response
President Trump was quick to pronounce the victim at fault and insisted she "viciously ran over" Agent Ross. It is possible the president was confusing the vehicle related incidences with this agent. As both the president and Vice-President stated, the videos will present the truth.
"Vice President JD Vance on Thursday blamed [the] federal immigration officer's fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman on "a left-wing network." Democrats, the news media and the woman who was killed as protests related to her death expanded to cities across the country," APnews.com reported.
Blaming the victim is textbook spin when the victim is innocent of any wrong doing. It seems highly unlikely that the White House is concerned, currently, over a public relations nightmare and moreover, highly unlikely it will curtail any of their planned ICE raids and will probably increase ICE raids, in a show of force.
It also seems unlikely that it needs to be explained that once a victim is dead, their reputation no matter how unimpeachable, will be shredded, tarnished, destroyed, distorted, and mangled until it does not resemble the individual, that also is textbook public relations spin when the victim is dead, and the guilty party may face justice.
The playbook of culpability for action in this administration that goes horrifically sideways is blame the victim, and then blame the larger, left-wing, democrats, and if possible add former President Biden's name somewhere in the mix to enflame the voters and stir up controversy as controversy confuses the mind, which impairs judgment, and creates an inability to see the truth.
White House Prohibits Investigation
President Trump may prohibit enforcement of the law, today, and as murder is a capital offense, it will be prosecuted. Obviously not under this administration, but the next administration, which will be democrat, will enforce the law and bring ICE Agent Ross to justice.
The arm of the justice is long, and some murders, even those in broad daylight recorded from many different angles, all providing the same evidence, each building a solid case, take time in order to make the arrest. It would seem like the evidence is clear, and it is, and for the people to rush in like a militia reduces the sane among us, to the levels of those who would fire not one kill shot at an unarmed female, but three.
We, the people, must allow justice to take its course, and allow those who are obligated by the law, and more the prosecutor is not simply obligated to secure a conviction, they are obligated to seek the truth. Calm protest, level headedness must prevail, especially in this climate when ICE and other branches of "law enforcement" have been given a free pass in prosecution.
Citizens who oppose Trump policies may face the same systematic termination over minor infractions. Cooler heads must prevail until the democrats reclaim the White House, and regain control of the House, and then an investigation can ensue and prosecution will commence. The law never protects the victims but provide a safe hiding place for the guilty.
Attorney General Pam Bondi can now release the remaining Epstein Files to redirect the temperature of the nation.
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Coronavirus Total
At the order of the President of the United States, the U.S. no longer recognizes the value of The World Health Organization. The CDC has recommended every person from age six months, including senior citizens should receive at least one shot of an updated COVID-19 vaccine, annually. The death toll from Covid-19 has dramatically decreased, as has transmission of the virus. Even as confirmed new cases continue each week, fewer are dying from each new variants.
For the seven days ending January 10, 2026, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases reported by the World Health Organization increased by 40,043 to 779,034,940. The total worldwide death toll increased by 670 to 7,107,666 deaths. The United States has stopped providing Covid data to the World Health Organization. (Data updated December 21, 2025, from the World Health Organization).
Hollywood Week: CES Las Vegas, Reiner Murder Update, Golden Globe Predictions
Consumer Electronics Show 2026
The Consumer Electronics Show, the largest gathering on Consumer Electronics, in the world, was held this week in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Throughout this incredible week, the global tech industry, featuring more than 4100 exhibitors, over 148K attendees, and included some 6900 media, all showed up for an extraordinary journey of discovery, innovation and connection.
The event provided the opportunity to be exposed to tomorrow's innovation today, with many of the 4100 exhibitors, introducing the technology of the future.
There were surprises, Robotics advancements surpassed my expectation, and as I walked through, my thought was, of course, who will rise to the top in the robotics field. Most impressive were the Healthcare Industries advancements in creating a better future for those who have been immobilized through accidents, disease, or illness.
Neural Interface Solution, a 2026 CES Innovation Honoree, presented a wireless cortical surface implant for diagnosing and alleviating Parkinson's Disease. The hand and arm robotic replacements were equally impressive, after shaking hands with the robot, and watching the demonstrations of ease of use, grasping, and picking up items, these will become the next iteration in prosthetic innovation. Alleviating the most common hurdles for individuals confined to wheelchairs, stairs, proved to be surmountable as XSTO demonstrated their mobility devices, including the electric wheelchair, that overcome terrain limitations.
While these innovations are available and should become part of the responses to these challenges, some other technological advances may do more harm than good.
Autonomous vehicles, from smart farming planters and harvesters to personal automotive choices were on display as were autonomous trucking. While pilot programs have been tested, the idea of incorporating autonomous trucking, 18 or 36 wheel over the road carriers, has been met with resistance. The trucking industry has been the backbone of America, bringing goods, products, and services through a variety of big and small carriers. Stripping big rigs of human oversight is an accident waiting to happen.
The Teamsters, who represent the Trucking industry had this to say, "The Teamsters union strongly opposes the unregulated deployment of autonomous trucks, viewing them as a major threat to public safety and the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of professional drivers, advocating instead for strict federal and state regulations, mandatory human operators in heavy trucks, and stronger safety standards to ensure technology benefits workers, not just corporate profits. They push for laws requiring human oversight, robust safety testing, and accountability for tech companies, [and are] engaging in legislative battles across the U.S. to protect jobs and community safety from "Big Tech billionaires."
America needs innovation that doesn't strip Americans of jobs as many other nations are far ahead of American workers and manufacturing industries. Introducing other innovations including AI LLM (Large Language Model) training is key and critical to America's future as an innovator and leader in the technology industry.
For more information on President Donald Trump: Whitehouse.gov.
Sources: Various © Articles covered by Copyright protection.
Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade. A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five award-winning screenplays "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has also published "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," a non-fiction narrative, "Days, Times, Seasons, and Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," and "Songs of Freedom: A Collection of Biblical Teachings," which can be purchased here. She is a member of the Authors Guild, the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.
