On today's podcast:
1) Zohran Mamdani unapologetically promised to lead New York City as a democratic socialist during a frigid inauguration ceremony on the steps of City Hall, a warning to those who believed he might moderate his positions after taking office. The nearly two-hour long event Thursday featured speeches by two of the US’s most liberal members of Congress, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders. New York Attorney General Letitia James, a frequent target of President Trump, also had a speaking role. The ceremony served as a not-so-subtle statement of resistance to White House policies from the nation’s largest city.
2) The Trump administration stepped up a pressure campaign against Venezuela’s oil exports by sanctioning companies based in Hong Kong and mainland China, along with related oil tankers it accused of evading restrictions. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Wednesday added four companies with links to Venezuela’s oil industry to its specially designated nationals and blocked persons list, while also sanctioning four vessels connected with those firms. The US already has a list of vessels and companies under sanction for their connections to Venezuela’s oil trade. But targeting Chinese firms doing business there is rare, and could be a signal to Beijing to steer clear of the stand-off between the Trump administration and the regime of Nicolás Maduro. China is Venezuela’s biggest customer for oil exports, which represent about 95% of Venezuela’s revenue.
3) President Trump pledged in a late night social media post that the US will come to the rescue of Iranian protesters if they are attacked by Islamic Republic authorities. The post, around 3 a.m. Washington and late morning in Iran on Friday, comes after protests erupted this week in Tehran after the currency slumped to a record low, worsening an economic crisis in a country already wracked by sanctions. Demonstrations have since spread to other parts of the country, setting off clashes between civilians and security forces. Trump didn’t provide any specifics on what actions he would consider taking.