“Donald Trump will start his second term in a far more dominant position than his first: The Democratic resistance is largely silenced, the legacy media is eroded and the Republican Party is reshaped in his image,” Semafor reports.
“Now the president-elect may need some new adversaries. After all, he thrives on battles.”
“In June 2019, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. traveled to the small Pacific island nation of Samoa, where he met with activists calling for Samoans to skip measles vaccines and opt for alternatives instead. Now that visit — and the country’s subsequent measles outbreak — are receiving new political attention, as Democrats and advocates seek to block Kennedy’s confirmation as America’s top health official,” the Washington Post reports.
“Five months after Kennedy’s visit, Samoa declared a measles emergency, with leaders warning that vaccination levels had declined precipitously.”
A far-right publishing house that publishes the works of historical and contemporary fascists is hosting a “Coronation Ball” at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C., to celebrate Donald Trump’s second inauguration, the HuffPost reports.
New York Times: “Greenland’s vast ice sheets and glaciers are quickly retreating as the Earth warms through accelerating climate change. That melting of ice could allow drilling for oil and mining for minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel and cobalt. Those mineral resources are essential to rapidly growing industries that make wind turbines, transmission lines, batteries and electric vehicles.”
“Because of higher temperatures, an estimated 11,000 square miles of Greenland’s ice sheets and glaciers have already melted in the past three decades, an area roughly the size of Massachusetts.”
Charlie Sykes: “Trump can flick Marco Rubio aside like dandruff; brush Mike Johnson off like an errant crumb; turn Pam Bondi into Nikki Haley by midnight tonight. His orbit is filled with botoxed disposables who hang upon his favor; courtiers who can be stripped of their livelihoods and status — and exiled from MAGA altogether — if they offend the Orange God King. Trump can’t fire JD Vance, but he could destroy his truckling veep’s political future with a single Truth Social post.”
“Not so with Elon Musk.”
“Musk is the world’s richest man; a cult-figure in his own right, and the master of his social media domain. Now, in part thanks to Trump’s own patronage, he also holds sway over much of his domestic agenda via DOGE. If that were not enough, Musk is rapidly fashioning himself into a global power broker — with a decidedly Trump-like flavor.”
“Indeed, the two men seem to be dueling for attention — vying with one another with competing distractions, as Musk conducts his own independent foreign policy.”
New York Times: “The scale of overlap between Mr. Trump’s family members and their business interests, and the government he will lead, all showcased on the same day, underscores how unprecedented the second Trump presidency and the potential for conflicts of interest will be.”
“The march through Mar-a-Lago (aka the ‘Winter White House’) continues this week with a dinner for Republican governors on Thursday,” Politico reports.
“It comes as Trump prepares to host a slew of House Republican groups there this weekend to game plan his ambitious 2025 agenda.”
“The number of individuals with direct access to the president will be more limited when Donald Trump takes office in two weeks, as incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles seeks to streamline the new West Wing operation,” NBC News reports.
“In an effort to tighten the lines of communication with Trump, the transition team is cutting back on the number of top White House staff members given the designation of ‘assistant to the president,’ which provides a staffer the privilege of walking into the Oval Office and bringing nonstaff guests in to meet with the president.”
“The press secretary won’t be in the press secretary’s office in Donald Trump’s new White House,” CBS News reports.
“The media operation will be revamped, and a deputy chief of staff will be moving into the spacious office with a wood-burning fireplace.”
“West Wing office real estate has long been a status symbol in official Washington, where proximity and access to the president can equate to influence. And White House press secretaries have traditionally enjoyed one of the biggest rooms in an otherwise cramped building.”
“President-elect Donald Trump is expected to hold his second news conference since winning the election in November on Tuesday morning at his Florida residence and club, Mar-a-Lago,” the New York Times reports.
“The ostensible topic is expected to relate to an economic development announcement. But Mr. Trump is likely to take questions, and if history is a guide, he will do so on a range of issues.”
“If Donald Trump thought he was settling the GOP’s most important strategy dispute, Senate Republicans are not getting the message,” Politico reports.
“Less than 24 hours after Trump endorsed ‘one powerful bill’ to carry his domestic policy agenda, a dozen senators said in interviews that the legislative path to its enactment remains an open question. It underscores the mounting confusion as Republicans feel pressure to show quick progress on border, energy and tax priorities.”
“The senators do agree on this: They’re ready to follow Trump’s lead. But they’re not convinced he is firmly planted yet in the one-bill camp.”
Peter Hamby: “Unlike in 2017, when a shell-shocked Washington establishment was contemplating the horror of an eight-year Trump run, D.C. pros this time around are mostly just eyeing the next two years. Trump is a known commodity. The midterm season arrives in 18 months or so, and Democrats could easily flip the House. After that, media attention inevitably drifts to the next presidential election and the long primary process.”
“Sure, by that time, the 81-year-old Trump will still have the nuclear codes and the power of the executive order. But as George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Trump 1.0, and Joe Biden learned, presidents usually just walk through mud in their final two years before leaving office.”
“Republicans are publicly and privately acknowledging the enormous task ahead in tying together a sprawling package that includes new immigration laws, energy policies and a complex tax overhaul – along with an increase of the national debt limit and spending cuts to federal programs,” CNN reports.
“Plus, they’ll have to maintain near total unanimity in a narrowly divided Congress, especially in the unruly House where Republicans are already expressing competing views on what the policy should entail.”
“On top of that, the Senate’s complex budget rules could rein in some of the GOP’s most ambitious agenda items, all as Republican leaders in both chambers are already divided over whether to pursue Trump’s agenda as one big bill or divide it up into two smaller ones.”
A long-time Trump friend told Maggie Haberman that Donald Trump is “a one-ring circus” and that there’s not room for Elon Musk.
Said Haberman: “I’m not sure that Musk has figured that out yet. And Trump does complain a bit to people about how Musk is around a lot,”
She added: “So he really parked himself in Trump’s face. But what that looks like… when Trump becomes president? I don’t know.”
President-elect Donald Trump on Monday accused President Biden of making the presidential transition difficult, citing recent executive orders on climate and other official acts Biden has taken in his last weeks as president, The Hill reports.
“Donald Trump Jr. will travel to Greenland this week in a surprise visit to the Arctic territory, just weeks after his father, US President-elect Donald Trump, rekindled the idea of buying the island from Denmark,” Bloomberg reports.
President-elect Donald Trump publicly said that he’s open to a two-bill approach to budget reconciliation, slightly walking back his Sunday night endorsement of tackling the border, energy and taxes in one mammoth package, Politico reports.
Said Trump: “While I favor one bill, I also want to get everything passed. And you know, there are some people that don’t necessarily agree with it.”
Trump did reiterate his “preference” for “one big beautiful bill,” while noting it would take longer, which he could “live with” and he thinks would be “cleaner.”
Bill O’Reilly spent time with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago last week, leading him to observe: “Trump well understands the vast power he now possesses.”
He adds that Trump “good-naturedly cited some examples of once enemies who are now currying favor. He does not gloat, but it’s clear he is savoring his prominence…”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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