General Petraeus on the Venezuela Raid. How Rubio Won. Plus. . .

It’s Tuesday, January 6. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Eli Lake on why Marco ain’t so “little” anymore. River Page on Grok’s AI porn problem. The scandal that finally sank Tim Walz. Matt Taibbi explains why he’s suing another journalist. And much more.

But first: General David Petraeus on America’s Venezuela raid.

In the days since U.S. forces captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, many observers—including those writing in these pages—have reacted with puzzlement at Trump’s decision to do business with Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez. Democracy and prosperity can come to Venezuela only with the ejection not just of Maduro, but everyone around him. Or so the argument goes.

David Petraeus sees things a little differently. In an interview with The Free Press, the famed former general and CIA director, a central figure in the U.S. campaign in Iraq, says that Trump’s approach is, for now, the least worst option. “I think the uncertainties of what might unfold lead you to agree that this is the way to go, until proven otherwise,” he tells Will Rahn. Read Petraeus’s perspective on the operation to grab Maduro, what the president means when he says the U.S. will “run” Venezuela, and what Trump should do next:

The decision to take action in Venezuela was Donald Trump’s. But, as Eli Lake reports, the move also marks a new high point for Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Not so long ago, writes Eli, Rubio looked like he was at odds with the Trump administration’s foreign policy. Just think of the famous image of Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance berating Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office while Rubio sat awkwardly on the couch.

Since then, however, Rubio has amassed power and influence and used it to great effect. In other words, Marco doesn’t seem so little any more. How did he do it? Eli has the story:

In our third offering on Venezuela today, Tanya Lukyanova talks to an American with firsthand experience of the Venezuelan regime. Matthew Heath, a Marine veteran, was detained by Maduro’s goons in 2020, tortured, and kept behind bars until his release in a prisoner swap two years later. He told Tanya why he was held, and what the Venezuelan regime did to him:

—Oliver Wiseman

Six Steps to Hack Your Health in 2026 with Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel

Oncologist and bioethicist Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel joins Rafaela Siewert in a wide-ranging conversation on the health hacks that inspired his book Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life. From ultra-processed foods to vitamin supplements, he sorts health facts from wellness myths—and argues that health is a means, not an end, worth pursuing only when it helps us live better lives.

Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen following a European Council meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on December 19, 2025. (Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

• The Department of Health and Human Services will revamp its childhood vaccination schedule and reduce the number of shots recommended for most children. Core immunizations will remain, but guidance for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), meningococcal disease, hepatitis B, and hepatitis A will be limited to children at higher risk.

• A U.S. attack on Greenland would mean the end of NATO, Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen warned on Monday. Frederiksen said she believes Trump “means it seriously” when he said he has his eye on Greenland following the U.S. military raid on Venezuela over the weekend.

• The Pentagon will cut Arizona senator Mark Kelly’s military retirement pay as part of disciplinary action over a video in which he told service members that they have the right to refuse illegal orders. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also issued a formal letter of censure and called Kelly’s remarks “seditious.”

• A man was taken into custody early Monday morning after allegedly vandalizing Vice President J.D. Vance’s home in Cincinnati while the Vance family was out of town. William Defoor, the 26-year-old suspect, has a history of mental illness and criminal vandalism charges, according to court records.

• As white-collar hiring cools off and corporate DEI priorities retreat, elite college degrees are regaining importance in an increasingly competitive job market. A 2025 survey found that 26 percent of companies recruit exclusively from a short list of schools, up from 17 percent in 2022.

• A French court found 10 people guilty of cyberbullying for spreading false claims that Brigitte Macron, wife of President Emmanuel Macron, is transgender and was born male. One defendant was sentenced to six months in jail, while others received eight-month suspended sentences on the condition that they complete court-ordered cyberbullying training.

• Russian air strikes on Kyiv and the surrounding region killed two people over the weekend. The deaths appeared to be the first of the year from attacks on the Ukrainian capital. One body was found at a medical facility.

• New Seattle mayor Katie Wilson denied claims from the city’s police union that city leaders told officers to stop making arrests for open drug use. The union said that steering offenders to diversion programs “is horrifically dangerous and will create more death and societal decay.”

The Free Press earns a commission from any purchases made through all book links in this article.