Trump’s Inflation Claims Clash With Voters’ Cost-of-Living Reality 
U.S. to Begin Paying UN Dues as Financial Crisis Spurs Push for Reforms 
South Korea Assures U.S. on Trade Deal Commitments Amid Tariff Concerns 
U.S. Announces Additional $6 Million in Humanitarian Aid to Cuba Amid Oil Sanctions and Fuel Shortages 
Japan Election 2026: Sanae Takaichi Poised for Landslide Win Despite Record Snowfall 
Trump Backs Nexstar–Tegna Merger Amid Shifting U.S. Media Landscape 
Trump Says “Very Good Talks” Underway on Russia-Ukraine War as Peace Efforts Continue 
Pentagon Ends Military Education Programs With Harvard University 
Netanyahu to Meet Trump in Washington as Iran Nuclear Talks Intensify 
Trump Signs Executive Order Threatening 25% Tariffs on Countries Trading With Iran 
New York Legalizes Medical Aid in Dying for Terminally Ill Patients 
TrumpRx.gov Highlights GLP-1 Drug Discounts but Offers Limited Savings for Most Americans 
U.S. Lawmakers to Review Unredacted Jeffrey Epstein DOJ Files Starting Monday 
Trump Allows Commercial Fishing in Protected New England Waters 
Ohio Man Indicted for Alleged Threat Against Vice President JD Vance, Faces Additional Federal Charges 
Federal Judge Restores Funding for Gateway Rail Tunnel Project 
Trump Lifts 25% Tariff on Indian Goods in Strategic U.S.–India Trade and Energy Deal 
US President Joe Biden weighed in on the recent presidential elections in Nicaragua, which saw Daniel Ortega and his wife win another term as president and vice president, respectively. Biden criticized the nation’s elections, noting the means that secured the incumbents’ victories.
In a statement released by the White House, Biden criticized the Nicaragua elections, accusing Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo of enforcing autocracy due to the means by which they retained their positions. The elections over the weekend secured Ortega and Murillo’s victories as his administration rigged the outcome of the elections and had 39 individuals of the opposition imprisoned.
Among those that were imprisoned were potential presidential candidates, as well as political groups that drew the ire of Ortega. Biden also blasted Ortega for suppressing and “bullying” independent media, the business sector, and civil society.
“What Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo orchestrated today was a pantomime election that was neither free or fair, and most certainly not democratic,” said Biden in the statement, calling the elections a “sham.”
“Long unpopular and now without a democratic candidate, the Ortega and Murillo family now rule Nicaragua as autocrats,” said Biden. The US leader also called on Ortega to take immediate action in restoring democracy in the country and release those who have been wrongly imprisoned. Biden also warned that the US would use every diplomatic and economic means to support the citizens of Nicaragua and hold the Ortega-Murillo government accountable for its actions.
The European Union has also imposed sanctions against the Ortega-Murillo family and its allies in the midst of the arrests that led up to the elections over the weekend.
In other related news, another slot in the Federal Reserve Board is opening as Randal Quarles announced Monday that he is stepping down from his position in the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors. This would signal another opening on the board for Biden to fill. This follows speculation as well as to whether Biden would renominate Jerome Powell to lead the Federal Reserve for another term. Powell’s term ends in February.
Biden is likely to renominate Powell. However, it is also possible that he may decide to nominate Lael Brainard, the only Democrat on the board, to the position.
