Politics
Commentary: Trump has this Latino mother and daughter divided. But the silent treatment won’t do
The setting: a two-story home in Whittier prettied with holiday decorations, pet beds, American flags and a shelf of tchotchkes dedicated to John Wayne.
The face-off: 63-year-old Gloria Valles and her daughter, 33-year-old Brittney Valles-Gordon.
The debate: What else these days? Politics. For two hours on a recent morning, the two went at it like the philosophical equivalent of UFC fighters.
Trump. Abortion. The economy. Democrats. Whether ICE agents should wear masks. Trump. Trump. Brittney, a Democrat who works in L.A.’s dining scene, lobbed barbs from the comfort of a couch with an elder shih tzu mix named Chuy by her side; Gloria stood her Republican ground from a recliner covered in a giant Dallas Cowboys blanket.
Soon they were going mano-a-mano over an issue roiling many Latinos: Trump’s unleashing of ICE and Border Patrol in many of their communities.
“Grandma came here as an illegal immigrant,” Brittney reminded her mother, referring to Gloria’s mother.
“But she made sure to make herself legal.”
“ICE doesn’t care about that — they would’ve netted Grandma.”
They’re one of many families across Southern California and the country split right now about what President Trump has wrought upon us in his second term. The divisions are especially pronounced among Latinos, a demographic that voted for him in record numbers last year — Gloria and three of her brothers included.
Trump had made historic gains among Latinos in the last presidential election, only to drop those gains faster than Tommy “The Hit Man” Hearns did Pipino Cuevas.
Among the likely reasons, which include the shaky economy: His rancid, malevolent policy toward immigrants, especially those in the country without papers.
Too many Latino families I know in this situation aren’t talking right now because of these deep political divisions — including some in my own life.
Such scenarios sadden me. But so do the public and private shamings I’m seeing on social media and in my private world of Trumper tíos or cousins who now regret their choice as the president has unleashed the dogs of deportation on Latinos regardless of citizenship status.
While it’s fun to be right, is schadenfreude really the best way to wean them off Trumpism once and for all?
The Valles family provide an intriguing case study that says as much about how Latino politics have evolved over the decades as about the power of patience with those you love.
Born in El Paso, Gloria grew up in L.A.’s Eastside in a family where John F. Kennedy was held in such esteem that one of her nieces was named Jacqueline.
“It was Democrat, Democrat, Democrat all the way,” she said, a party preference further instilled in her by a mother who raised five children on her own with the help of welfare.
“But they [the federal government] told her, ‘You need to go get trained into a job,’ and she did,” eventually working for the Housing Authority of Los Angeles. “Now, we’re just giving out welfare to anyone. ‘You’ve never been here? Here you go.’”
Brittney Valles-Gordon, left, and Gloria Valles at Gloria’s house in Whittier.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Gloria’s politics changed in 1979, after she met her husband. They shared El Paso and Eastside roots — but, unlike her at the time, Jaime Valles was a “straight up Republican.”
“He would get political pamphlets for us to read and say, ‘Think for yourself. Don’t vote one way just because people think Mexicans should vote one way.’”
For her first presidential election, she chose Ronald Reagan — “He was handsome, and he believed in rehabilitation [for welfare recipients]. ‘You’re not going to get free money if you’re not going to better your life.’”
The couple raised their four children on the values of hard work and faith. Jaime specialized in satellites for Northrup Grumman; Gloria volunteered as a catechist at the San Gabriel Mission while employed as a school health clerk, a job she still holds. Brittney remembers nights sitting alongside her late father watching Fox News. At Gabrieleno High School in San Gabriel, she started a Republican Club — “just six members” — that mostly amounted to “me telling everyone else, ‘You are all idiots.’”
Brittney was such a committed Republican that her AOL Instant Messenger handle was a tribute to John McCain and Sarah Palin’s failed 2008 presidential run. But the first seeds of political doubt started at a confirmation retreat, where she became upset when someone said her brother wouldn’t get into heaven because he was gay. Other family members said homophobic things about him — “the Venn diagram of being Catholic, Republican and Latino,” Brittney said as Gloria shook her head in disagreement.
Working in the food industry exposed Brittney to anti-Latino discrimination. Then she went to Rio Hondo College — “You take one Chicano Studies class, and wow. … My dad always said he regretted letting me go to higher ed,” Brittney said, as Gloria laughed.
Brittney nevertheless voted for Mitt Romney in 2012 for her first presidential vote and admitted that Trump initially intrigued her when he announced his candidacy in 2015.
“I read ‘The Art of the Deal’ and thought, ‘Maybe this is what we need.’ But then you quickly saw his cruelty on display,” mentioning his infamous remark secretly recorded about grabbing women “by the pussy.”
“There was times I was offended, but sometimes he said the truth and the truth hurts,” her mother responded. “How can I say it…”
“Just say it, girl!” Brittney exclaimed.
“We needed new blood.”
Brittney went with Hillary Clinton in 2016 and has voted for every Democratic presidential candidate since. But she became frustrated as progressives kept dismissing Latino Trump supporters like her parents as assimilated anomalies even as more Latinos drifted toward Trump every time he ran. The end result: 48% of them chose him in 2024 — the highest share of the Latino vote by any Republican presidential candidate.
“Liberals can be intolerant,” said Brittney, a flash of her old GOP days emerging. “You don’t change someone’s opinion by being a bully to them. You do it with empathy. And don’t expect someone to flip overnight. It makes them hold on to their beliefs more when you tell them that they’re dumb.”
Gloria voted for Trump a third time in 2024 because she felt Kamala Harris was “going to continue [Joe Biden’s] bulls—” but also because Trump’s promise to deport violent criminals resonated with her. She remembered shopping trips in Ciudad Juarez with family members that had to end because of cartel violence in the Mexican border town.
“Yes, this is what we need — clean it up,” she thought. “We want him to take out everyone who’s breaking laws and not trying to do things right.”
Then for the first time all afternoon, her tone turned serious in a kind of self-correct.
“That’s not happening.”
“Deporting people who are making an honest living — that’s wrong. Or people who are trying to legalize themselves. They’re doing it the right way and what we want them to do, but you’re killing their hope” by grabbing them during court appointments,” she said. “That upsets me a little.”
Gloria sounded like the living incarnation of a recent Pew Research Center poll that showed an 11% drop in support for Trump among Latinos who voted for him and that 47% of Latino Republicans think the Trump administration “is doing too much” on the deportation front — up from 28% in March.
Then, just as quickly, the Republican in her roared once more.
She said Trump didn’t deserve the blame for the cruelty of immigration agents (“His rhetoric is what inflames them,” Brittney countered) and blasted pro-immigrant activists for their protest tactics. She described how a family member earlier this year was nearly pulled out of their car when high school students protesting Trump marched on the 101 Freeway waving the flags of Mexico and other Latin American countries.
“They should be chill,” Gloria said.
“Mother! What ICE is doing is very violent!” Brittney replied. “It’s insane to say we [pro-immigrant activists] should be the ones to chill out.”
“Fine,” her mother agreed. “Both sides should be chill.”
Brittney shrugged. “No lie on that one.”
People rally in February at Alameda Street and the 101 Freeway in L.A. to protest President Trump’s deportation policies.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
I concluded my visit with the Valles ladies by asking why it’s important for politically split families to not reject each other. Gloria pointed to the wall beside her. High school graduation portraits of her, Jaime and their four children hung on the wall.
“If we had a world where everyone agreed on everything, it would be boring. I don’t expect my kids to be like me and my husband. My kids, we trust them.”
She then looked at Brittney.
“You shouldn’t lose out on your child’s life because you’re not the same politics. You’ll miss out and regret it.”
Politics
Kamala Harris blasts Trump administration’s capture of Venezuela’s Maduro as ‘unlawful and unwise’
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Former Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday evening condemned the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, calling the operation both “unlawful” and “unwise.”
In a lengthy post on X, Harris acknowledged that Maduro is a “brutal” and “illegitimate” dictator but said that President Donald Trump’s actions in Venezuela “do not make America safer, stronger, or more affordable.”
“Donald Trump’s actions in Venezuela do not make America safer, stronger, or more affordable,” Harris wrote. “That Maduro is a brutal, illegitimate dictator does not change the fact that this action was both unlawful and unwise. We’ve seen this movie before.
“Wars for regime change or oil that are sold as strength but turn into chaos, and American families pay the price.”
SEE PICS: VENEZUELANS WORLDWIDE CELEBRATE AS EXILES REACT TO MADURO’S CAPTURE
Vice President Kamala Harris had strong words for the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. (Montinique Monroe/Getty Images)
Harris made the remarks hours after the Trump administration confirmed that Maduro and his wife were captured and transported out of Venezuela as part of “Operation Absolute Resolve.”
The former vice president also accused the administration of being motivated by oil interests rather than efforts to combat drug trafficking or promote democracy.
“The American people do not want this, and they are tired of being lied to. This is not about drugs or democracy. It is about oil and Donald Trump’s desire to play the regional strongman,” Harris said. “If he cared about either, he wouldn’t pardon a convicted drug trafficker or sideline Venezuela’s legitimate opposition while pursuing deals with Maduro’s cronies.”
SECOND FRONT: HOW A SOCIALIST CELL IN THE US MOBILIZED PRO-MADURO FOOT SOLDIERS WITHIN 12 HOURS
President Donald Trump shared a photo of captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro aboard the USS Iwo Jima after Saturday’s strikes on Venezuela. (Donald Trump via Truth Social)
Harris, who has been rumored as a potential Democratic contender in the 2028 presidential race, additionally accused the president of endangering U.S. troops and destabilizing the region.
“The President is putting troops at risk, spending billions, destabilizing a region, and offering no legal authority, no exit plan, and no benefit at home,” she said. “America needs leadership whose priorities are lowering costs for working families, enforcing the rule of law, strengthening alliances, and — most importantly — putting the American people first.”
MADURO’S FALL SPARKS SUSPICION OF BETRAYAL INSIDE VENEZUELA’S RULING ELITE
CIA Director John Ratcliffe, left, President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio watch U.S. military operations in Venezuela from Mar-a-Lago in Florida early Saturday. (Donald Trump via Truth Social)
Maduro and his wife arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn late Saturday after being transported by helicopter from the DEA in Manhattan after being processed.
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Earlier in the day, Trump said that the U.S. government will “run” Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.”
Harris’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
CARACAS, Venezuela — It was about 2 a.m. Saturday Caracas time when the detonations began, lighting up the sullen sky like a post-New Year’s fireworks display.
“¡Ya comenzó!” was the recurrent phrase in homes, telephone conversations and social media chats as the latest iteration of U.S. “shock and awe” rocked the Venezuelan capital. “It has begun!”
Then the question: “¿Maduro?”
The great uncertainty was the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro, who has been under Trump administration threat for months.
The scenes of revelry from a joyous Venezuelan diaspora celebrating from Miami to Madrid were not repeated here. Fear of the unknown kept most at home.
Hours would pass before news reports from outside Venezuela confirmed that U.S. forces had captured Maduro and placed him on a U.S. ship to face criminal charges in federal court in New York.
Venezuelans had watched the unfolding spectacle from their homes, using social media to exchange images of explosions and the sounds of bombardment. This moment, it was clear, was ushering in a new era of uncertainly for Venezuela, a nation reeling from a decade of economic, political and social unrest.
Government supporters display posters of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, right, and former President Hugo Chávez in downtown Caracas on Saturday.
(Matias Delacroix / Associated Press)
The ultimate result was an imponderable. But that this was a transformative moment — for good or bad — seemed indisputable.
By daybreak, an uneasy calm overtook the city of more than 3 million. The explosions and the drone of U.S. aircraft ceased. Blackouts cut electricity to parts of the capital.
Pro-government youths wielding automatic rifles set up roadblocks or sped through the streets on motorcycles, a warning to those who might celebrate Maduro’s downfall.
Shops, gas stations and other businesses were mostly closed. There was little traffic.
“When I heard the explosions, I grabbed my rosary and began to pray,” said Carolina Méndez, 50, who was among the few who ventured out Saturday, seeking medicines at a pharmacy, though no personnel had arrived to attend to clients waiting on line. “I’m very scared now. That’s why I came to buy what I need.”
A sense of alarm was ubiquitous.
Motorcycles and cars line up for gas Saturday in Caracas. Most of the population stayed indoors, reluctant to leave their homes except for gas and food.
(Andrea Hernandez Briceno / For The Times)
“People are buying bottled water, milk and eggs,” said Luz Pérez, a guard at one of the few open shops, not far from La Carlota airport, one of the sites targeted by U.S. strikes. “I heard the explosions. It was very scary. But the owner decided to open anyway to help people.”
Customers were being allowed to enter three at a time. Most didn’t want to speak. Their priority was to stock up on basics and get home safely.
Rumors circulated rapidly that U.S. forces had whisked away Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
There was no immediate official confirmation here of the detention of Maduro and Flores, both wanted in the United States for drug-trafficking charges — allegations that Maduro has denounced as U.S. propaganda. But then images of an apparently captive Maduro, blindfolded, in a sweatsuit soon circulated on social media.
There was no official estimate of Venezuelan casualties in the U.S. raid.
Rumors circulated indicating that a number of top Maduro aides had been killed, among them Diosdado Cabello, the security minister who is a staunch Maduro ally. Cabello is often the face of the government.
But Cabello soon appeared on official TV denouncing “the terrorist attack against our people,” adding: “Let no one facilitate the moves of the enemy invader.”
Although Trump, in his Saturday news conference, confidently predicted that the United States would “run” Venezuela, apparently during some undefined transitional period, it’s not clear how that will be accomplished.
A key question is whether the military — long a Maduro ally — will remain loyal now that he is in U.S. custody. There was no public indication Saturday of mass defections from the Venezuelan armed forces. Nor was it clear that Maduro’s government infrastructure had lost control of the country. Official media reported declarations of loyalty from pro-government politicians and citizens from throughout Venezuela.
A billboard with an image of President Nicolas Maduro stands next to La Carlota military base in Caracas, Venezuela, on Saturday. The graffiti reads, “Fraud, fraud.”
(Andrea Hernandez Briceno / For The Times)
In his comments, Trump spoke of a limited U.S. troop presence in Venezuela, focused mostly on protecting the oil infrastructure that his administration says was stolen from the United States — a characterization widely rejected here, even among Maduro’s critics. But Trump offered few details on sending in U.S. personnel to facilitate what could be a tumultuous transition.
Meantime, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez surfaced on official television and demanded the immediate release of Maduro and his wife, according to the official Telesur broadcast outlet. Her comments seemed to be the first official acknowledgment that Maduro had been taken.
“There is one president of this country, and his name is Nicolás Maduro,” the vice president said in an address from Miraflores Palace, from where Maduro and his wife had been seized hours earlier.
During an emergency meeting of the National Defense Council, Telesur reported, Rodríguez labeled the couple’s detention an “illegal kidnapping.”
The Trump administration, the vice president charged, meant to “capture our energy, mineral and [other] natural resources.”
Her defiant words came after Trump, in his news conference, said that Rodríguez had been sworn in as the country’s interim president and had evinced a willingness to cooperate with Washington.
“She’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” Trump said.
Pro-government armed civilians patrol in La Guaira, Venezuela, on Saturday after President Trump announced that President Nicolás Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country.
(Matias Delacroix / Associated Press)
Somewhat surprisingly, Trump also seemed to rule out a role in an interim government for Marina Corina Machado, the Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize laureate and longtime anti-Maduro activist.
“She’s a very nice woman, but doesn’t have respect within the country,” Trump said of Machado.
Machado is indeed a controversial figure within the fractured Venezuelan opposition. Some object to her open calls for U.S. intervention, preferring a democratic change in government.
Nonetheless, her stand-in candidate, Edmundo González, did win the presidency in national balloting last year, according to opposition activists and others, who say Maduro stole the election.
“Venezuelans, the moment of liberty has arrived!” Machado wrote in a letter released on X. “We have fought for years. … What was meant to happen is happening.”
Not everyone agreed.
“They want our oil and they say it’s theirs,” said Roberto, 65, a taxi driver who declined to give his last name for security reasons. “Venezuelans don’t agree. Yes, I think people will go out and defend their homeland.”
Special correspondent Mogollón reported from Caracas and staff writer McDonnell from Boston. Contributing was special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal in Mexico City.
Politics
Marjorie Taylor Greene criticizes Trump’s meetings with Zelenskyy, Netanyahu: ‘Can we just do America?’
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on Sunday called for President Trump to only focus on America’s needs as the president meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The president has been heavily involved in the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts since returning to the White House.
Trump met with Zelenskyy on Sunday at Mar-a-Lago to discuss a peace plan aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war that began with an invasion by Moscow in February 2022.
Netanyahu arrived in Florida on Sunday ahead of their scheduled meeting on Monday at Trump’s estate to address Israel’s conflicts in the Middle East. It will be the sixth meeting of the year between the two leaders.
TRUMP ZELENSKYY SAY UKRAINE PEACE DEAL CLOSE BUT ‘THORNY ISSUES’ REMAIN AFTER FLORIDA TALKS
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized President Donald Trump’s meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Greene, responding to Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy and Netanyahu, said that the Trump administration should address the needs of Americans rather than becoming further involved in global conflicts.
“Zelensky today. Netanyahu tomorrow,” she wrote on X.
President Donald Trump welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida. (Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)
“Can we just do America?” the congresswoman continued.
The congresswoman has been a vocal critic of supplying U.S. military aid to foreign countries amid the conflicts in Europe and the Middle East.
She has also referred to Zelenskyy as “a dictator who canceled elections” and labeled Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as a genocide and humanitarian crisis.
ZELENSKYY READY TO PRESENT NEW PEACE PROPOSALS TO US AND RUSSIA AFTER WORKING WITH EUROPEAN TALKS
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and President Donald Trump had a public feud in recent months. (Getty Images)
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This comes after Taylor Greene, who is set to resign from the House in January, had a public spat with Trump over the past few months as Trump took issue with the Georgia Republican’s push to release documents related to the investigations into deceased sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump had withdrawn his endorsement of Greene and called her a “traitor” over the public feud.
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