Situation Reports

U.S. President Donald Trump met with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado behind closed doors in Washington, D.C., and while there was no statement to the press, Machado greeted supporters outside the White House and said Venezuelans count on Trump "for the freedom of Venezuela," The Wall Street Journal reported on Jan. 15.

The United States and Taiwan signed a trade deal to drop U.S. tariffs on Taiwanese goods from 20% to 15% and for Taiwan to invest $250 billion into U.S. manufacturing, including of semiconductors, which includes $100 billion already pledged by Taiwan's main chipmaker TSMC, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 15.

U.S. President Donald Trump stated in a Reuters interview on Jan. 14 that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, not Russian President Vladimir Putin, was the primary impediment to finalizing a peace agreement to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran would cease executing detained protesters, a key demand of the Trump administration amid threats of military intervention, but the president declined to firmly rule out strikes on Iran, Reuters reported on Jan. 14.

In the northern town of Weldiya, Ethiopia's federal police seized a freight truck with 57,000 rounds of ammunition, which authorities claimed were destined for Fano insurgents in the country's Amhara region, Reuters reported on Jan. 15.

Mozambican President Daniel Chapo said his government could secure a new support program with the International Monetary Fund following an IMF staff visit to the country scheduled for March, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 15.

U.S. President Donald Trump and acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez spoke by phone, El Pais reported on Jan. 14.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed a presidential proclamation on Jan. 14 placing a 25% tariff on certain advanced semiconductors under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act.

The United States, Denmark and Greenland agreed on Jan. 14 to establish a high-level working group on Greenland's future following trilateral talks in Washington, the Financial Times reported the same day.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met in Washington and released the TRIPP implementation framework outlining plans to grant a U.S.-majority consortium exclusive rights to develop a transit corridor linking Azerbaijan to its Naxcivan exclave through southern Armenia, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 13.