---
title: Daily Update - January 5, 2026
description: 
canonical_url: https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/podcast/the-daily-update/daily-update-january-5-2026
language: en-US
date: 2026-01-05T04:04:07Z
notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/podcast/the-daily-update/daily-update-january-5-2026. Schema.org structured data included at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers.
markdown-tokens: 1286
---

> **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/podcast/the-daily-update/daily-update-january-5-2026. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content.
> **Structured data** as JSON-LD may be found at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers.
> **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above.


This is the Wilmington Standard Daily Update for Monday January 5th, 2026.

In one fell blow, by extracting Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro, President Trump ended the terror of a maniac communist, cut off a major source of oil to one of our economic enemies, undermined another enemy’s plans to establish forward bases, and severally limited the expansion of state-controlled terrorist networks in our hemisphere. All without one single American life lost. Not a bad day’s work.

[Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/venezuelas-oil-exports-surpass-900000-bpd-despite-us-pressure-data-shows-2025-12-03/) reports 80% of all the oil Venezuela exports goes to China – roughly 746,000 barrels a day. [Russia](https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/maduros-allies-who-backs-venezuelan-regime) has been one of the top arms suppliers to Maduro, which Moscow had hoped would undermine US influence in the area. Perhaps most troubling is the presence of [Iran, whose relationship with Venezuela](https://www.as-coa.org/articles/explainer-irans-relationship-latin-america) includes drone manufacturing, arms deals, export arrangements to allow for the bypass of sanctions, as well as providing a base of operations for Hezbollah and other Iranian-funded terrorist groups.

The Democrats and the Libertarians are outraged of course. While they all agree that Maduro was a “thug”, they say that President Trump lacked the authority to carry out the operation without getting the consent of Congress. As always, these idealogues are quick to whine about Trump’s actions, but give no real solutions to address the very real threat that Maduro and his regime posed to the United States. Congress leaks more than a screen door on a submarine – and involving them in this operation would have cost American lives and probably would made the mission impossible.

President Trump was entirely within his rights to order this mission. Maduro had already been indicted in a US court, so the President as the Chief Executive was carrying out that indictment. But beyond that, if left unchecked, Maduro was a clear and present threat to the security of our country – a national emergency that under the War Powers Act gives the President broad authority. The President correctly informed both the nation and Congress after the mission had been completed.

This is what we voted for.

For the Wilmington Standard, I’m Reuel Sample. Thanks for listening.

<!-- AI:SCHEMA: Schema.org description of canonical page in JSON-LD format -->
<!-- AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN format=jsonld scope=page -->

```json
{
    "@context": "http://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Article",
            "author": {
                "@id": "https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/#reuel_sample_e0470786cd"
            },
            "dateModified": "2026-01-05T04:04:07Z",
            "datePublished": "2026-01-05T11:00:26Z",
            "description": "",
            "headline": "Daily Update - January 5, 2026",
            "image": [
                {
                    "@type": "ImageObject",
                    "url": "https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/images/staff/reuelsample.png",
                    "caption": null,
                    "description": "Reuel Sample",
                    "width": 300,
                    "height": 300
                }
            ],
            "inLanguage": "en-US",
            "mainEntityOfPage": {
                "@type": "WebPage",
                "url": "https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/podcast/the-daily-update/daily-update-january-5-2026"
            },
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/#defaultPublisher"
            },
            "url": "https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/podcast/the-daily-update/daily-update-january-5-2026"
        },
        {
            "@type": "Person",
            "name": "Reuel Sample",
            "@id": "https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/#reuel_sample_e0470786cd"
        },
        {
            "@id": "https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/#defaultPublisher",
            "@type": "Organization",
            "url": "https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/",
            "logo": {
                "@id": "https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/#defaultLogo"
            },
            "name": "The Wilmington Standard",
            "location": {
                "@id": "https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/#defaultPlace"
            }
        },
        {
            "@id": "https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/#defaultLogo",
            "@type": "ImageObject",
            "url": "https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/images/banners/tws-og.png",
            "width": 1200,
            "height": 630
        },
        {
            "@id": "https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/#defaultPlace",
            "@type": "Place",
            "address": {
                "@id": "https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/#defaultAddress"
            }
        },
        {
            "@id": "https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/#defaultAddress",
            "@type": "PostalAddress",
            "addressLocality": "Wilmington",
            "addressRegion": "",
            "postalCode": "28403",
            "streetAddress": "",
            "addressCountry": ""
        }
    ]
}
```

<!-- AI:SCHEMA:END -->