5 things to know before the bell on Monday

Here’s what to know:

• Many members of Maduro’s security team were killed, but his top allies still have control over the South American country. Trump said that Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodríguez could pay a “bigger” price than Maduro if she “doesn’t do what’s right.”
• Trump’s military operation is facing scrutiny from Democrats in Congress and from some world leaders. The drug trafficking charges have also reignited criticism over Trump’s pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was convicted of using his position to aid the flow of cocaine into the U.S.
• In an address from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, Trump said the U.S. could “run” Venezuela until a political transition could be completed. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later explained that the U.S. would use leverage from its oil blockade and regional military presence to achieve policy goals.
• Venezuela is a crude-rich country that could see billions of dollars in investment from U.S. oil companies following Maduro’s ouster, Trump said. But Venezuela is also saddled with distressed debt, resulting in a yearslong financial crisis.
• Following the strike, regulators closed airspace in the Eastern Caribbean to U.S. airlines. After the restrictions expired, air carriers added flights for the tens of thousands of travelers stranded in the region.

“Do more with less.” This phrase-turned-governing principle has been a bedrock for Anthropic president and co-founder Daniela Amodei.

As Amodei puts it: “Anthropic has always had a fraction of what our competitors have had in terms of compute and capital, and yet, pretty consistently, we’ve had the most powerful, most performant models for the majority of the past several years.” Read and watch the full interview here.

The company reported 418,227 deliveries in the fourth quarter on Friday, missing Wall Street’s forecast and marking a 16% decline from a year ago. Tesla’s 2025 calendar year total of 1.64 million placed it behind China-based company BYD, which sold 2.26 million vehicles in the year.

Users also criticized Musk’s xAI company last week over recent Grok chatbot posts showing AI-generated, sexualized images of children shared on X. Meanwhile, Musk’s Starlink business said it would provide free broadband internet service to Venezuela users until early February following the U.S. strike.

As CNBC’s Amelia Lucas found, the fast-food chain is dishing out retro packaging, collectible cups, special merchandise and freebies to mark the occasion. The company said the theme at the heart of the campaign is “newstalgia” — a combination of the words new and nostalgia.

Chick-fil-A’s marketing blitz comes as the restaurant industry grapples with sliding traffic. The company’s franchise disclosure documents show system sales growth came in at 5.4% in 2024, which marked the first year in more than a decade with an increase in the single digits.

Here’s what we’re keeping an eye on this week:

• Wednesday: ADP jobs data; Job Openings & Labor Turnover report
• Thursday: Productivity report for the third quarter
• Friday: Nonfarm payrolls report

CNBC’s Spencer Kimball, Victor Loh, Dan Mangan, Justin Papp, Hayley Cuccinello, Jessica Dickler, Leslie Josephs, MacKenzie Sigalos, Sam Meredith, Lora Kolodny, Samantha Subin, Amelia Lucas and Sarah Min contributed to this report. Melodie Warner edited this edition.