Trump hosts Cabinet meeting as Democrats threaten partial shutdown over ICE reform

President Donald Trump has gathered his Cabinet for a video broadcasted meeting that's expected to be another lengthy, praise-heavy affair. Since returning to office, the president has used these meetings to review his administration's accomplishments and provide Cabinet members with an opportunity to shower him with superlatives.

Trump said his administration is speaking with Senate Democrats who are threatening to block legislation that would fund the Department of Homeland Security and several other agencies, potentially bringing the government a step closer to a partial shutdown if Republicans and the White House do not agree to new restrictions on Trump's surge of immigration enforcement. "We don't want a shutdown," Trump said at his Cabinet meeting.

As the country reels from the killings of two protesters by federal agents in Minneapolis, irate Senate Democrats are demanding that officers take off their masks, identify themselves and obtain judicial warrants showing probable cause for arrests. If those are not met, Democrats say they are prepared to block the wide-ranging spending bill, denying Republicans the votes they need to pass it and triggering a shutdown at midnight on Friday.

Meanwhile, FBI raid in Georgia highlights Trump's 2020 election obsession and hints at possible future actions. A federal appeals court ruled that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem acted illegally when she chose to end legal protections that gave Venezuelans permission to live and work in the U.S. And Sen. Amy Klobuchar says she's running for governor of Minnesota as a unifier who will take on Trump.

Trump says he asked Putin not to target Kyiv for 1 week during brutal cold spell

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin not to target the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv for one week as the region experiences frigid temperatures.

The call for a pause in attacks on Ukraine's capital comes as Russia has been pounding the country's critical infrastructure, leaving many around the country without heat in the dead of winter.

"I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week during this ... extraordinary cold," Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.

Trump added that Putin has "agreed to that," but there was no confirmation of that from Russia.

Tulsi Gabbard was in Georgia for FBI search as part of her role in election security, administration official says

The participation of the director of national intelligence was unusual, given that Gabbard is not part of the FBI or federal law enforcement.

Asked to explain, a senior administration official said in a statement that "Gabbard has a pivotal role in election security and protecting the integrity of our elections against interference, including operations targeting voting systems, databases, and election infrastructure."

Trump has long insisted that the election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden was stolen from him even though courts, his own former attorney general and audits have concluded that there was no widespread fraud that could have altered the outcome of the 2020 contest.

Trump says he's opening U.S. air travel to Venezuela

Trump said he informed Venezuela's leader Delcy Rodríguez on Thursday that he's going to be opening up all commercial airspace over Venezuela and Americans will soon be able to visit.

Trump said he instructed U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and U.S. military leaders to open up the airspace by the end of the day Thursday.

"American citizens will be very shortly able to go to Venezuela and they'll be safe there," Trump said.

The U.S. suspended commercial travel to Venezuela in 2019.

Trump says he's working with Dems to avert shutdown

The president, as he kicked off his Cabinet meeting, said his administration is speaking with congressional Democrats on avoiding a partial government shutdown.

"We're working on that right now," Trump said while declining to go into specifics. He added: "We don't want a shutdown."

Congress has to pass the remaining government funding by Jan. 31 to avoid a partial shutdown; the money for the Department of Homeland Security has been tied up in the aftermath of the shooting death of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis as Democrats demand changes to federal immigration enforcement tactics.