New York Times: “President Trump’s long love affair with his own name and likeness is peaking in his second term. There’s now the Donald J. Trump United States Institute of Peace and the Trump Kennedy Center, the performing arts venue. There are Trump Accounts for newborn babies and Trump Gold Cards for wealthy U.S. residency-seekers. Giant Trump portraits have been hung from select federal buildings and smaller ones will appear on national park passes. Coming soon: a so-called Trump class of battleships for the Navy and a Trump commemorative coin to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary.”

“This, of course, is the second chapter of Mr. Trump as eponymous self-promoter. In the first, he put his name on the projects he built as a developer. And in the 2000s, largely based on his fame as host of The Apprentice, he turned his name alone into a lucrative product, attaching it to steaks and wine and get-rich seminars and resorts and on and on…”

“That marketing strategy endures as he now pursues the golden legacy he believes he deserves. But as Mr. Trump normalizes norm-shattering, this self-aggrandizement, unheard-of in the history of the presidency, puts him in the company of conquerors and dictators.”

“The Justice Department has been discussing settlements with two former officials from Donald Trump’s first term who — like the president — claim they’re owed major payouts from the US government as victims of politically motivated actions,” Bloomberg reports.

“The administration has been in talks since at least late summer to resolve lawsuits brought by Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and former senior White House lawyer Stefan Passantino, according to court filings. Flynn is seeking $50 million for what he alleges was a wrongful prosecution, while Passantino says a House committee probing the 2020 election harmed his reputation by leaking private information.”

New York Times: “Mr. Trump is hardly the first 79-year-old to dwell on what may come after he departs this mortal coil — or to wonder whether he has earned entry into the pearly gates. But it is so unlike Mr. Trump to express self-doubt that his public rumination has raised questions. What is on his mind lately that makes him fear his fate in the hereafter? What sins might he be regretting?”

“He has not clarified his thinking, at least not on camera, nor for that matter has he shown any public signs of repentance for scandals that he may believe hold him back from grace. And yet the president’s curious contemplation comes at a time when Mr. Trump seems to be seeking a form of immortality. If absolution is out of reach, perhaps there are more achievable ways of living beyond his natural time on this earth.”

“And so, the man who over a long career in business slapped his name on buildings around the world now seems intent on leaving his mark in even more grandiose fashion.”

The Atlantic: “Thirty-four days into the previous government shutdown, in 2019, reporters asked President Donald Trump if he had a message for the thousands of federal employees who were about to miss another paycheck.

Said Trump: “I love them. I respect them. I really appreciate the great job they’re doing.”

“The following day, caving after weeks of punishing cable-news coverage, he signed legislation to reopen the government, lauding furloughed employees as ‘incredible patriots,’ pledging to quickly restore their back pay, and calling the moment ‘an opportunity for all parties to work together for the benefit of our whole beautiful, wonderful nation.'”

“Doesn’t really sound like the same guy, does it? This time, it took Trump fewer than 24 hours to turn a shutdown into a weapon wielded against the civil servants he once praised and the opposing party he has long derided.”

Susan Glasser: “During Donald Trump’s first term, the President’s demand that Congress fund his proposed wall on the Mexican border led to the longest shutdown in history—thirty-five days, from December 22, 2018, to January 25, 2019. In the end, Trump caved, agreeing to reopen the government even without the nearly six billion dollars in border-wall funding that he had demanded.”

“This capitulation was initially portrayed as a triumph for the new Democratic majority under House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a stinging defeat for Trump… but it was not. It was, in fact, a moment of revelation in which he realized that he could do just about anything he wanted. In the end, Trump got his border-wall money. He simply went ahead and took it. The history of the Presidency may never be the same.”

“Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr are backing a new blank check investment vehicle potentially positioned to capitalize on U.S. policy, marking the latest push into public markets by the president’s family,” the Financial Times reports.

“New America Acquisition I Corp will target a company in the U.S. that plays ‘a meaningful role in revitalizing domestic manufacturing, expanding innovation ecosystems, and strengthening critical supply chains,’ the group said in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.”