Inauguration Moved Indoors, Citing Weather Concerns
On Monday at 12 noon E.S.T., Former President Donald Trump will be sworn in as America’s 47th president. Due to the cold weather in D.C., the inauguration has been moved inside, to the U.S. Capitol Rotunda building, incidentally the same building where protesters entered on the fateful day of January 6, 2021. The first (and last) president to be sworn in indoors was Ronald Reagan, in 1985, also due to inclement weather.
This announcement also comes after a report by the Daily Caller that, due to various reasons, more than half a dozen local D.C.-area police departments will not be assisting Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) with security for the inauguration, potentially leaving MPD with hundreds fewer officers than they would typically have for an event of this magnitude.
Foreign dignitaries will be in attendance from countries such as Argentina, China, Italy, Australia, India, Japan, Ecuador, and Poland. Three of the world’s richest men (Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos) will be there, too.
Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Deal Signed
The agreement — which takes effect today — begins with a six-week ceasefire, during which Hamas will release 33 hostages, including women and children. The deal is very similar to one that was on the table six months ago. President Biden’s State Department spokesman Matthew Miller gave credit to President Trump’s involvement:
“When it comes to the involvement of President-elect Trump's team, it has been absolutely critical in getting this deal over the line. And we, of course, thank the Trump team for working with us on this ceasefire agreement. We think it's important that they were at the table."
CNN Loses Bombshell Defamation Suit to Navy Vet Zachary Young
Zachary Young, a U.S. Navy veteran and former government operative, sued CNN for defamation over a segment aired on "The Lead with Jake Tapper" on November 11, 2021. The broadcast, aired at the time of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, portrayed Young as exploiting Afghan refugees by charging excessive fees for evacuation help, allegations that Young said harmed his reputation and business operations.
Internal messages released throughout the trial showed CNN national security reporters Alex Marquardt and Katie Bo Lillis misleading Young about their intentions, giving him a two-hour deadline to comment, ignoring his objections and legal threats, and insulting him behind his back. The messages also showed that CNN editors also raised issues with the reporting on Young and stated clearly that the piece wasn’t ready to be aired.
Zachary Young sued CNN in December 2021. On Friday, as the jury awarded $5 million to Young and began deliberating on an amount for punitive damages (a figure that could have been in the tens of millions of dollars), CNN rushed to a settlement with Young, paying him an undisclosed sum.
Read more here.
Biden Signs Off
In a 17-minute, prime-time farewell address to the nation, President Biden capped his 52 years in politics by warning of “the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people”: “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”
He also warned of a “tech-industrial complex” and of the dangers posed by unchecked misinformation on social media. “Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power,” he said. ”The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.”
“Now it's your turn to stand guard,” Biden concluded. “May you all be the keeper of the flame. May you keep the faith. I love America. You love it, too.”
President Biden departs office with a 36% approval rating—the lowest of his four-year term.
Other News
TikTok has gone dark in the U.S.: President Trump plans to revisit the issue on Monday after he becomes president, potentially implementing a 90-day extension. Over 120 million of TikTok’s 2 billion users are in the U.S., and the app is deeply embedded in U.S. e-commerce. In the meantime, U.S. users are flocking to “Xiaohongshu”, which means “little red book” in Mandarin, and is a reference to a book of Mao Zedong’s sayings. If the idea was to move away from apps tied to China, it may be safe to say that we’re worse off now.
Red 3 dye banned: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda is starting to take effect before his hearing even begins to consider him for Secretary of Health and Human Services. On Wednesday, Health and Human Services authorized Red 3 to be banned from food products. According to Time Magazine, “In 1990, the FDA barred the dye from being used in cosmetics and topical drugs after a study found that it caused cancer in male rats. For years, consumer and health advocates have pushed the agency to do the same for foods, since federal rules require the FDA to prohibit additives that have been found to cause cancer in animals or humans.”
Britain and Ukraine announce 100-year alliance British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer made a surprise trip to Ukraine, where he announced another surprise: a 100-year alliance between the U.K. and Ukraine—an “unbreakable bond.” The agreement includes long-term collaboration across various sectors including defense, economy, and social development. This partnership includes military aid commitments, with the U.K. promising at least $3.6 billion annually. And the agreement lasts for the next 100 years. Till death do us part…
Washington Post: Biden declares there is now a 28th Amendment. There is not. The Equal Rights Amendment was passed by Congress in 1972. At that point, like all Constitutional amendments, it needed to be ratified by three-fourths of the states, or 38 of them. The deadline was 1982, which came and went without the amendment being ratified. President Biden surprised many constitutional experts on Friday when he posted on X, “The 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex.” Mollie Hemingway, editor in chief of The Federalist, fired back, “Sir, this is not how the Constitution works. Dementia is not a magic ticket to become a dictator that asserts Constitutional amendments into existence.” Gift link to the Washington Post article here.
Argentina makes stunning economic gains in trade From January 2024 to November 2024, Argentina logged a $17.20 billion trade surplus, turning around their $7.94 billion trade deficit in the first 11 months of 2023. Argentina elected populist Javier Milei, a libertarian economist and outspoken media personality, as president in December 2023. He campaigned on a promise to combat the country's severe economic problems, including hyperinflation, currency devaluation, and widespread poverty.
