Trump returns to power

Guide to altered inauguration schedule

MORNING REPORT  MORNING REPORT Monday, January 20 | By Alexis Simendinger & Kristina Karisch  NEW! Listen and Subscribe: In today's issue: ▪ Emboldened Trump gets to work ▪ Guide to altered inauguration schedule ▪ Amid ban, TikTok restored in the U.S. ▪ First hostages returned in Gaza ceasefire ©️ The Associated Press | J. Scott Applewhite Trump returns to power President-elect Trump today will revel with supporters during an indoor inauguration ceremony and publicly put foes on notice that he's wasting no time before remaking American governance.  The 47th president plans Monday and in the weeks that follow to use his executive power to thwart migrants, a federal workforce he doesn't trust and Biden administration energy and climate policies he opposes. He told voters he will ease inflation, end wars, close borders and restore a mighty economy with tough tariffs, more oil drilling and fewer regulations. The New York Times: Trump aims for a show of strength as he returns to power. Many of Trump's executive orders will be challenged in court by opponents who hope their resistance can galvanize a dispirited Democratic Party and perhaps some of the moderate voters who opted for Trump over Vice President Harris. Immigration enforcement will test that theory beginning today. The new Trump administration, eager for a showy start, had been preparing to conduct raids against migrants in Chicago as soon as Tuesday, until the details leaked. Trump will sign executive actions Monday evening geared to strengthening border security. ▪ The New York Times Magazine: Birthright citizenship defined America. Trump wants to redefine it. ▪ The Hill: Trump plans a barrage of Day 1 executive actions on border, energy and the federal workforce. And during a Sunday rally, he teased possible pardons for some of the more than 1,500 people charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. "Tomorrow everyone in this arena will be very happy with my decision on the J6 hostages," Trump said. "I think you'll be very, very happy." Trump, 78, serving in his second and final term, by definition becomes a lame duck as his party gazes over the horizon to a new generation of ambitious Republicans. Conservatives and progressives will soon focus on the 2026 midterm elections.  The Associated Press: JD Vance, 40, today becomes America's first millennial vice president and MAGA torchbearer. Trump will try to steer narrow Republican majorities in the House and Senate to follow his lead, but he's expected to run up against legislative hurdles. There is no precedent in today's starkly divided Congress to accomplish — in a single year and in a single bill — the sweep of ambitious tax, immigration and energy changes Trump seeks.  ▪ The Hill: Senate GOP wants a new start with Trump, despite tensions. ▪ The Hill: Five takeaways from Trump inauguration eve rally. And the rest of the world is on the lookout. Trump during his transition injected himself into a ceasefire accord between Israel and Hamas, the war between Russia and Ukraine and the battle involving TikTok and its Chinese parent company. Weeks before taking today's oath of office, Trump threatened ally Canada with tariffs, knocked NATO and Denmark and said Greenland and the Panama Canal should be controlled by the U.S. Nonetheless today, the red carpet rolls out for Trump, reports The Hill's Brett Samuels. 👉 Guide to Washington's weather-altered inaugural schedule, parade plans and Monday's access around the city. And how to watch it all on NewsNation, which, like The Hill, is owned by Nexstar Media Group. ▪ The Hill: Big Tech VIPs participate in today's inaugural festivities.   ▪ The Wall Street Journal: Trump wants to visit China during his first 100 days in office, he told advisers. He last visited Beijing as president in 2017. Vance met Sunday in Washington with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, who will attend the inauguration. The two men discussed fentanyl, balancing trade and regional stability, according to Trump's transition team. Trump's Cabinet will require time to gear up. Senate confirmation votes will dominate on Capitol Hill this week. At least one of his picks, former Democratic House member Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii), selected to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, is struggling to explain her past support for Edward Snowden, who was charged with espionage and lives in exile in Russia. Gabbard in 2020 urged Trump to pardon Snowden. The Senate Intelligence Committee awaits additional paperwork and has not as of this writing scheduled a confirmation hearing for her. Newsweek: Here's what Gabbard has said about Russia, Ukraine and China. White House and legislation: Trump on Saturday announced additional members of his incoming White House legislative affairs staff, including Jay Fields, to be deputy director after serving most recently as deputy policy director for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Jeffrey Freeland, to be deputy legislative director for the House, and Pace McMullan, to be deputy legislative director for the Senate. Trump previously said James Braid would direct his White House Office of Legislative Affairs. Smart Take  with Blake Burman Look how far it's come.  At the end of 2017 I asked a question in a White House press briefing that made headlines for some in finance and others on the internet: Has Trump been following cryptocurrency and Bitcoin? The answer involved a mention of the homeland security adviser.  That was then. This is now.  Over the weekend, Trump launched his first official cryptocurrency. I saw a ton of takes about the "$TRUMP" coin, which catapulted to billions in value ahead of Inauguration Day. Whatever you make of it, well, that's what makes markets. It will also lead to plenty of political conversations and debates.  The reality is crypto was one of the big winners of the election. Think about that question I asked in 2017. What will we be asking going forward?  Burman hosts "The Hill" weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation. The Hill & NewsNation are owned by Nexstar Media Group. 3 Things to Know Today President Biden issued five pardons on Sunday, including posthumous clemency for Marcus Garvey, a 1920s Black nationalist. Biden on Sunday made his final trip as president to Charleston, S.C., to address an audience at Royal Missionary Baptist Church to mark Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day. "We know the battle for the soul of America continues," the president said. He plans to leave Trump a letter as part of today's traditional White House handoff. Recap: Here are dramatic moments that shaped Biden's presidency.  LEADING THE DAY ©️ The Associated Press | Ted Shaffrey  FLIP-FLOPPING ON TIKTOK: The video-sharing platform TikTok briefly went dark this weekend as a ban on the app kicked into effect, before being restored hours later. A bipartisan law that required TikTok's China-based parent company ByteDance to divest from the app or face a ban went into effect Sunday. In anticipation of the ban, TikTok shut down access in the U.S. on Saturday shortly before midnight.  The Supreme Court rejected TikTok's challenge to the law Friday, finding the ruling did not violate the First Amendment. However, the Biden administration said it would not enforce the law and would instead leave implementation to the incoming Trump administration. Trump said in a Truth Social post on Sunday that he was asking companies "not to let TikTok stay dark" and planned to issue an executive order when he takes office to give the app an extension.  "We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive," TikTok said in a statement. "It's a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States."  While Trump seemingly gave TikTok the necessary assurances, the app is not entirely in the clear. ByteDance still faces pressure to divest, including from the president-elect himself. Johnson on Sunday dispelled the notion that Trump would bring TikTok back without the company's willingness to sell to a U.S.-based owner. "I think we will enforce the law," Johnson told NBC News's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. ▪ Forbes: Here's what Trump can and can't do to ensure access to TikTok. ▪ CNBC: Perplexity AI officially made a play for TikTok on Saturday, submitting a bid to ByteDance to create a newly merged entity combining Perplexity, TikTok U.S. and new capital partners. ▪ The Hill: Bans on cell phones in schools grow, but debates continue on how they are handled. WHEN & WHERE It's a federal holiday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  The House convenes at 10 a.m. and participates in inauguration events that were moved inside the Capitol. The Senate meets in session at 4:30 p.m.  President Biden will ride with Trump in the presidential limo to the Capitol from the White House to participate at noon in the transfer of power. The Bidens will fly to Santa Ynez, Calif., following a farewell event with staff at 1 p.m at Joint Base Andrews.     Harris will participate in the inaugural transfer of power to her successor, JD Vance. She and husband Doug Emhoff will fly to California after the inauguration at the Capitol. ZOOM IN ©️ The Associated Press | Matt Rourke  POLITICAL PIVOT: Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Trump's co-leader for his advisory endeavor dubbed the "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) wants to run for governor of Ohio. The news puts Ramaswamy's DOGE role in doubt as efficiency co-leader Elon Musk continues to weigh in on ways to identify at least $1 trillion in federal savings during Trump's term. ▪ The Hill: Republicans in Congress are poised to give Trump a big immigration win — while dividing Democrats. ▪ The Hill: Trump's return prompts a reset among struggling mainstream media outlets. COAST VS. COAST: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) are offering a striking split screen of how some red and blue states are readying for Trump's controversial second-term plans. DeSantis this week called a special session of the Sunshine State Legislature to swiftly implement Trump's immigration agenda — a stark contrast to Newsom, who called a special session in California after the election to protect progressive state laws. And while DeSantis only appears to be strengthening his ties to Trump, Newsom is positioning himself as a leader of the Democratic resistance. The rival governors, both stars in their respective parties, epitomize the national political divide as individual states brace for Trump's Day 1 agenda.    "It's no secret that both of these guys want to be president and they're jockeying now for the future," California-based Democratic strategist Steven Maviglio told The Hill. "They each want to play a leadership role on either side of the aisle in supporting or opposing Trump, and that is what they have in common."  ▪ The Hill: GOP Rep. Byron Donalds (Fla.), a Trump ally, is eyeing a bid to be Florida governor. ▪ The Hill: Harris faces tough decisions about her political future. ▪ The Hill: Some leading Democrats say they want a "political exorcism" for their party. ELSEWHERE ©️ The Associated Press | Ariel Shalit CEASEFIRE IN GAZA: Fighting in Gaza halted on Sunday as the negotiated ceasefire deal went into effect, ending the 15-month-long war between Israel and Hamas. Jubilant Israelis welcomed the return of the first wave of hostages from Gaza. "The vast majority" of the 33 hostages to be released in the six-week first phase of the ceasefire are alive, according to an Israeli military spokesperson. In exchange, Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners, all of them women and children, early Monday in the occupied West Bank. Biden on Sunday lauded the beginning of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, saying, "Today the guns in Gaza have gone silent." Still, many expressed hope that the deal — negotiated with mediators from the U.S., Qatar and Egypt — will usher in a permanent end to the fighting that has left more than 46,800 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, according to local health officials, and allow the rebuilding of the enclave, much of it reduced to ruins by ferocious Israeli airstrikes and shelling. Aid trucks arrived at the border with Gaza on Sunday, bringing much-needed supplies and humanitarian aid to the enclave. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the incoming Trump administration have emphasized in recent days that the reprieve in fighting is only temporary as they began to lay out conditions for resuming the war if the terms of the ceasefire are breached. ▪ NBC News: Steve Witkoff, Trump's envoy to the Middle East, plans to be a near-constant presence in Israel and Gaza in an attempt to prevent the deal from unraveling. ▪ The Hill: Three female Israeli hostages were released from Gaza out of 98 captured after being held for 470 days. It remains unclear how many hostages are still alive. ▪ The New York Times: What we know about the first three hostages released by Hamas. UKRAINE: As Trump returns to the White House today, he is promising peace in Ukraine but has publicly offered no strategy for how to achieve it — aside from his stated desire to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. So Ukrainians can only guess what the coming months will bring. Many Ukrainians feel frustrated, The New York Times reports, due to what some view as a cautious approach by the Biden administration, and months of delays in receiving U.S. military aid last year after it was held up in Congress. Kyiv remains deeply dependent on American military support as it faces a powerful opponent. Maj. Yaroslav Galas, who serves in the 128th Transcarpathian Mountain Assault Brigade, told the Times he thought Trump's desire to be seen as a winner would ensure he backs Ukraine. "Trump understands that the victory of Russia and the defeat of Ukraine is the defeat of the United States and his personal defeat as president," he said. "This is how the world would see it." Time magazine: Why Biden's Ukraine win was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's loss.   OPINION Inauguration Day: The pinnacle of a second Gilded Age, by Eugene Robinson, columnist, The Washington Post. I was an undocumented immigrant. I beg you to see the nuance in our stories, by Jose Antonio Vargas, guest essayist, The New York Times. THE CLOSER ©️ The Associated Press | Ace MacRitchie And finally … 🧊 Yep, it's an icy, frigid winter in much of the United States, which means many wild and domesticated animals have been rescued from unfriendly conditions in the past week.  Let's hear it for the saved creatures, compassionate witnesses who took action and the first responders who knew exactly what to do. (Tip if walking pets anywhere near slushy, frozen bodies of water: Keep them leashed!) Here are some examples that caught our attention: In Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, a panicked fawn struggled to gain stability after wandering onto precariously thin ice on the Potomac River. The deer received some life-saving assistance from the Metropolitan Police Harbor Patrol and a D.C. Fire and Rescue boat crew. Upstate New York rescuers from the Department of Environmental Conservation labored for more than two hours in and atop an icy lake last week to successfully save an enormous moose that could not climb out (video).  In Vermont, a fast-acting witness spotted a struggling 7-year-old mutt in trouble and waded into an icy river up to his waist to reunite the dog with its grateful owner.  "It was like one of those moments everyone probably has in their life like you're going to make a decision," Chris MacRitchie told the news media when asked about his winter dip into Vermont's Winooski River. "I felt I was obligated to at least try to fetch this dog out of the river, as I have two dogs myself, and I would hope someone would do that for them if they were in that spot." Stay Engaged We want to hear from you! Email: Alexis Simendinger and Kristina Karisch. Follow us on X (@asimendinger & @kristinakarisch) and suggest this newsletter to friends! 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