The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rescinded a memo Wednesday that had ordered a "temporary pause" on federal funding and unleashed major confusion across the country.

Why it matters: It's an astonishing reversal by the Trump administration, a day after top officials defended the funding freeze — which a judge temporarily halted on Tuesday — as necessary to ensure all government spending was aligned with the president's vision.

The latest: "This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze. It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X.

• "Why? To end any confusion created by the court's injunction. The President's EO's on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented," she added.
• It's unclear what exactly Leavitt meant, as it was the now-rescinded memo — not the executive orders Trump signed previously — that outlined the "temporary pause."

Catch up quick: The memo ordering the freeze, issued Monday night, had called for a pause on federal grant, loan and other financial assistance programs — potentially affecting billions or even trillions of dollars in spending.

• White House officials said it would not affect Medicare, Social Security, or other direct assistance that Americans "rely on," but the lack of detail left state governments, nonprofits, schools and other programs scrambling to determine whether they'd be impacted.
• Outages affecting Medicaid reimbursement portals across the country only added to the confusion, and Democrats seized on the chaos to mount their first significant and sustained attacks on the Trump administration.

What they're saying: "This is an important victory for the American people whose voices were heard after massive pressure from every corner of this country — real people made a difference by speaking out," Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said in a statement.

• "Still, the Trump administration — through a combination of sheer incompetence, cruel intentions, and a willful disregard of the law — caused real harm and chaos for millions over the span of the 48 hours which is still ongoing," she added.
• "Round one goes to Team America. We remain in the ring until far right extremism has been completely and totally knocked out," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) tweeted.

The intrigue: Other Democrats argued the memo rescission was simply a sleight of hand, and that the Trump administration is seeking to circumvent lawsuits while keeping certain funding frozen.

• "Crisis is deepening, not abating. They are trying to ignore the court order," Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) warned.
• "This is just more confusion and chaos," tweeted New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading a group of states suing the administration. "We will be in court this afternoon."

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

A potential constitutional crisis erupted Tuesday over the Trump administration's surprise federal funding freeze, jolting Democrats into action after months of strategic paralysis.

Why it matters: For the first time since President Trump won the election, the so-called Resistance is showing signs of life.

Senate Democrats moved with rare dexterity to block a GOP-led bill in one of the few places where they have real leverage, and blanketed social media with panicked reports from their constituents.

• House Democrats called an emergency meeting for Wednesday to plot a "comprehensive three-pronged counteroffensive" — targeting appropriations, litigation and communications.

Nonprofits — later joined by Democrat-led states — stormed the federal court system with lawsuits, leading a judge to temporarily halt the funding freeze at 5pm ET Tuesday.

What they're saying: "This is cruelty, this is lawlessness, this is a heist done on a national scale," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters in one of several press conferences by top Democrats, vowing to "fight this every way we can."

• "We need Democrats to use every procedural maneuver to grind things to [a] stop and use every media tool to raise alarm and allow public pressure to build," Ezra Levin, co-founder of progressive group Indivisible, said in a statement.
• "Shut down the Senate, refuse to allow them to steamroll, and take this fight to every town hall, courtroom, and news outlet."

State of play: The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sent shockwaves through Washington on Monday night with a memo directing agencies to "temporarily pause" grants, loans and federal financial assistance programs to ensure they align with Trump's priorities.

• "This is not a blanket pause," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stressed as she was bombarded with questions about the freeze in her first press briefing Tuesday.
• "Social Security benefits, Medicare benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits, assistance that is going directly to individuals will not be impacted by this pause," she said.

Leavitt then told reporters she would check into whether Medicaid — the nation's largest health insurance program, covering 72 million mostly low-income Americans — would be affected.

• In the meantime, reports flooded in from all 50 states about Medicaid reimbursement systems being inaccessible — prompting the White House to issue a statement acknowledging an online "outage."
• "We have confirmed no payments have been affected — they are still being processed and sent. We expect the portal will be back online shortly," Leavitt said.

The big picture: For more than a week, Trump has overwhelmed his critics with an unrelenting flood of executive orders, government purges and bureaucratic maneuvering.

• On Tuesday alone, Trump offered to buy out any federal employees who resign by Feb. 6, and signed an executive order aiming to restrict youth gender-affirming care — diverting headlines from the funding freeze.
• Some of Trump's moves have pushed the lines of legality, including his mass firing of government watchdogs and purging of pro-worker influence at the National Labor Relations Board.
• But nothing has broken through like the funding memo, which sent state governments, nonprofits, schools, emergency workers and even some GOP officials scrambling to determine whether they'd be affected.

Between the lines: Besides billions of dollars in federal funding, something far more fundamental could be at stake in the coming legal battle — Congress' power of the purse.

• Trump and his nominee for OMB director, Russ Vought, have argued that the Impoundment Control Act — a Nixon-era law that restricts presidents from withholding funding passed by Congress — is unconstitutional.
• An FAQ sheet distributed by the OMB Tuesday claims Trump's "temporary pause" doesn't constitute an "impoundment." But that hasn't satisfied Democrats, given Vought's defense of the impoundment power in his confirmation hearing.
• "What happened last night is the most direct assault on the authority of Congress, I believe, in the history of the United States," Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) warned Tuesday.

The federal government is going MAGA — fast.

Why it matters: President Trump has only been in office a week, but the departments under his command are moving with blazing speed to transform the federal bureaucracy into an army of loyalists.

• The new administration immediately moved to freeze nearly all foreign aid, root out DEI programs, remove officials and whole offices deemed ideologically suspect, and muzzle public health agencies.
• "We're getting rid of all of the cancer ... caused by the Biden administration," Trump told reporters while signing a Day One executive order that stripped employment protections from civil servants.

Driving the news: Late Friday night, the White House fired 17 inspectors general — independent agency watchdogs responsible for identifying fraud, waste and corruption.

• The mass firings, relayed via email, appear to violate a federal law that requires the administration to notify Congress 30 days before removing inspectors general.
• Amid outrage from Democrats and ethics experts, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) — a Trump ally and longtime advocate for whistleblowers — called on the president to explain his decision to Congress.

Zoom in: DEI offices and programs have been shuttered across the government, including at the CIA, Department of Veterans Affairs, Army and Air Force, and the Federal Aviation Administration.

• Federal workers have been ordered to report colleagues who may seek to "disguise" DEI efforts by using "coded language."
• And Trump directed federal agencies to each identify "up to nine" major companies, universities or non-profits to investigate over their DEI practices.

There have been hundreds of staff removals or reassignments, including at the State Department, where far more career officers were asked to resign than in past administrations.

• The Department of Justice reassigned at least 15 senior career officials, including a top counterintelligence attorney involved in the FBI's investigation of classified documents Trump stashed at Mar-a-Lago.
• The DOJ also rescinded job offers to recent law school graduates who were placed through the Attorney General's Honors program.
• Trump's National Security Council sent home around 160 staffers while Trump officials conducted loyalty screenings to ensure they're aligned with his agenda.
• One of the administration's highest-profile firings so far was Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan, the first woman to lead a branch of the U.S. military. She was accused of leadership failures and an "excessive focus" on DEI at the Coast Guard Academy.

Between the lines: Trump loyalists have also moved to centralize control around public messaging, particularly when it comes to public health.

• The Department of Health and Human Services ordered an unprecedented "immediate pause" on all health reports and social media posts through at least the end of the month, leading scientists to cancel CDC meetings on the escalating bird flu outbreak.
• The Pentagon also ordered a global pause on all official social media posts until the confirmation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has promised a radical culture shakeup across the U.S. military.

The new administration is also moving quickly on issues including LGBTQ and civil rights.

• The State Department froze all passport applications with "X" designated as the gender.
• DOJ ordered a freeze on civil rights litigation and is weighing a potential reversal of police reform agreements negotiated by the Biden administration.
• It also ordered federal prosecutors to investigate local and state officials in so-called "sanctuary cities."
• Meanwhile, the Pentagon moved to abolish an office set up during the Biden administration focused on curbing civilian deaths in combat operations.

Zoom out: Trump made no secret of his intentions to build a MAGA-aligned federal workforce during the campaign, and he quickly imposed a hiring freeze after taking office.

• The vast majority of federal workers are career employees, not political appointments, but the president has made clear he wants them all to board the Trump train.
• His administration is currently testing the ability to email the entire federal government workforce from a single email address.

What to watch: Trump's nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, will be a key architect of the White House's efforts to re-engineer the administrative state.

• Vought has assailed "the woke and weaponized bureaucracy," and said in a 2023 speech to his conservative think tank that he wants to put federal bureaucrats "in trauma," ProPublica reported.
• "When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains," Vought said — comments he defended during his confirmation hearing.

President Trump left Washington four years ago touting a revolutionary new consensus on the threat posed by China.

• He returned this week seeming to downplay that threat — signaling a potential thaw in relations between the world's two leading superpowers.

Why it matters: The stakes are enormous. How Trump deals with Chinese President Xi Jinping over the next four years will have sweeping implications for the global economy, AI, climate change, national security and more.

The big picture: After mentioning China just once in his inauguration address, Trump revealed he's considering 10% tariffs on Chinese products — far lower than the 60% duties he had threatened during the campaign.

• Trump held a phone call with Xi just days before the inauguration to discuss trade, fentanyl and TikTok — the Chinese-owned app that the president is now seeking to protect from a U.S. ban.
• Beijing's readout of the call was exceedingly warm, with state media declaring the two superpowers "can become partners and friends ... prosper together, and benefit both countries and the world."

Trump has struck a similar tone with his own rhetoric, even while insisting on the need for trade "fairness" and criticizing China for its operations near the Panama Canal.

• "I like President Xi very much. I've always liked him. We always had a very good relationship," he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, acknowledging tensions ran high during the COVID pandemic.
• Trump went on to say he hopes China "can help us stop the war" in Ukraine, citing Beijing's close ties with Russia — and even suggested the three countries could work together on "denuclearization."

What they're saying: Trump's early actions undoubtedly signal a "more restrained" approach to Beijing, Jacques deLisle, a China scholar at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, tells Axios.

• In a remarkable moment on Fox News, Trump was pressed by interviewer Sean Hannity on why he has defended TikTok given its reputation as a "spying app for the Communist Chinese."
• "You can say that about everything made in China," Trump shot back, citing cell phones and other imports. "Is it that important for China to be spying on young people, on young kids watching crazy videos?"

Flashback: It was Trump who first signed an executive order in 2020 warning China could use TikTok to conduct disinformation campaigns, build data dossiers for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage on U.S. soil.

Between the lines: Investors like the sound of what Lu Zhou, CEO of investment firm Vanquor, called "a more pragmatic economic approach towards China."

• Zhou predicted Trump would "artfully implement certain tariffs on China" to satisfy the American people and his voters, but potentially hold back on blanket tariffs to satisfy certain Chinese officials.
• Mark Malek, chief investment officer of Siebert.NXT, agreed that Trump appears to be moderating his stance toward China — a dynamic that Wall Street and the bond markets "would love to see" continue.

The intrigue: Some experts believe Elon Musk could be a moderating influence on Trump's approach to China.

• Tesla has a factory in Shanghai and gets about 37% of its sales from China, according to Evercore ISI estimates, and Musk rarely criticizes Beijing —while constantly railing against "censorship" in Western countries.
• So if China were to retaliate against the U.S. over tariffs, TikTok or other Trump policies, Tesla would make a convenient target — especially now that Musk is so close to the new president.
• Chinese officials have also privately discussed the possibility of selling TikTok to Musk to allow the app to keep operating in the U.S., Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal reported last week.

Reality check: Trump's Cabinet is stocked with China hawks like Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Michael Waltz.

• Few experts view Trump's first week as a full retreat from his previous policy views, especially his plans for tariffs.
• "If the question is, 'Are we going to be back to sunshine and puppies?', the answer is definitely not," deLisle says.

What to watch: Trump's policies toward Taiwan, which Beijing has vowed to bring under its control, could be the ultimate indicator of where U.S.-China relations are heading.

• "Taiwan doesn't give us anything. Taiwan is 9,500 miles away. It's 68 miles away from China," Trump told Bloomberg Businessweek when asked whether the U.S. would come to the island's defense.
• "They did take about 100% of our chip business," he added. "I think, Taiwan should pay us for defense."

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) condemned Elon Musk for making a series of Nazi-related jokes on X, calling it "inappropriate and offensive to make light" of the "singularly evil" Holocaust.

Why it matters: Just days earlier, the ADL had defended Musk over an awkward hand gesture he made during an inauguration event that drew comparisons to a Nazi salute — saying "all sides should give one another a bit of grace."

• "This is a delicate moment. It's a new day and yet so many are on edge. Our politics are inflamed, and social media only adds to the anxiety," the ADL, an organization dedicated to fighting antisemitism, wrote on X.
• "It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge."

In the days since, Musk has mocked media outlets and liberals who fanned the controversy, accusing them of a "dirty tricks" campaign to smear him over his support for Trump.

• On Thursday morning, Musk rattled off a series of puns referencing prominent Nazis like chief propagandist Joseph Goebbels and Heinrich Himmler.
• "Bet you did nazi that coming," Musk wrote on X along with a laughing emoji.

What they're saying: "Making inappropriate and highly offensive jokes that trivialize the Holocaust only serve to minimize the evil and inhumanity of Nazi crimes, denigrate the suffering of both victims and survivors and insult the memory of the six million Jews murdered in the Shoah," the ADL said in a statement.

Flashback: Almost exactly one year ago to the day, Musk visited the former Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland, as part of an apology tour for endorsing an antisemitic post on X.

• Musk later said "it might be literally the worst and dumbest post I've ever done."

President Trump's threats of retribution are rapidly materializing in policies across the U.S. government, an early warning to Trump critics that bygones will not be bygones.

Why it matters: Trump is flexing his vast new powers to target what he's described as "the enemies from within" — enforcing loyalty tests, purging career officials and attempting to rewrite the history of the last eight years.

• Trump has at times downplayed his thirst for revenge — but his first moves back in office suggest resentment against Democrats, former allies, prosecutors and the media will be a driving force in his second term.
• "For those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution," the president promised supporters on the campaign trail.

Zoom in: Some of Trump's acts of vengeance this week have been petty and personal.

• On Day 1 as president, he revoked the security clearances of 51 former intelligence officials who signed a letter in 2020 saying the Hunter Biden laptop scandal carried "classic earmarks" of a Russian disinformation campaign.
• On Day 2, he publicly fired thousands of Biden presidential council appointees, including former Joints Chief of Staff chairman Gen. Mark Milley and Biden-supporting celebrity chef José Andrés.
• The Pentagon also removed a portrait of Milley — who Trump once suggested should be executed for treason — just hours after inauguration.

Other Trump moves have been far more serious.

• Within hours of taking office, Trump revoked Secret Service protection for his former national security adviser John Bolton, who has been targeted for assassination by Iran.
• He pardoned about 1,500 supporters convicted or charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, including hundreds who violently attacked the police officers protecting the building.
• Trump's new FCC chair plans to reinstate complaints against ABC, CBS and NBC for allegedly biased coverage, which the former Democratic chair had dismissed as a partisan attempt to "curtail freedom of the press."

The big picture: In his 2023 book, Trump's ultra loyalist nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, compiled a list of "government gangsters" he said should be targeted for sabotaging Trump's first presidency.

• Even with Patel's confirmation in flux, there are clear indications that the second Trump administration will channel his aggressive approach to rooting out the so-called "Deep State."
• On Day 1, Trump moved to strip thousands of civil servants of their employment protections. Roughly 160 National Security Council career officials already have been sidelined amid loyalty screenings.
• At least 15 senior Justice Department officials have been removed or reassigned, including one who played a key role in the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago in August 2022 as prosecutors sought evidence that Trump had mishandled classified documents.

Between the lines: In his final days in office, Biden pardoned Milley, Anthony Fauci, former Rep. Liz Cheney and members of his own family as a precautionary measure against the retribution Trump had telegraphed.

• Trump and his allies have harshly criticized Biden, and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) suggested Wednesday that House Republicans may investigate the circumstances of the pardons.
• Johnson also announced a new subcommittee that would continue investigating "the false narratives peddled by" the Jan. 6 committee — a sign Trump will have allies on Capitol Hill as he pursues his revenge tour.
• "I went through four years of hell by this scum we had to deal with," Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity when asked if the attorney general should investigate his enemies. "It's really hard to say they shouldn't have to go through it also."

President Trump moved to obliterate the outer bounds of executive power Monday, igniting a series of constitutional showdowns that could curtail — or enable — his vision for a maximalist second term.

Why it matters: Within hours of taking office, Trump dared the courts, Congress and his fragmented opposition to stand in the way of what could be his most enduring legacy: a radical expansion of presidential power.

• He did so publicly and with a flourish — signing an initial batch of executive orders in front of a roaring crowd at Capitol One Arena, before returning to the White House.
• There, Trump signed a barrage of executive orders, announced that Canada and Mexico are likely to face 25% tariffs beginning Feb. 1, and pardoned roughly 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants.

Trump also commuted the sentences of 14 Oath Keepers and Proud Boys convicted of seditious conspiracy— an extraordinary act of clemency for far-right extremists who sought to overthrow the government on Jan. 6.

• Many of the Jan. 6 defendants — targeted in the largest Justice Department investigation in U.S. history — were sentenced by Trump-appointed judges.
• "They've already been in jail for a long time," Trump said when asked if there should be any punishment for supporters who attacked police officers. "These people have been destroyed."

Zoom in: One of Trump's Oval Office executive orders stands out for its ambition and audacity: a declaration ending birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants.

• Birthright citizenship is enshrined in the Constitution, but Trump's order seeks to "clarify" the language in the 14 Amendment to exclude undocumented immigrants.
• The ACLU and other immigrant rights groups already are planning to sue to block the executive order, and legal experts widely expect it to be struck down by the courts.

Still, new evidence has emerged to suggest that Trump — emboldened by his historic political comeback and a record-high approval rating — may be willing to circumvent or openly defy U.S. law in his second term.

• Trump has refused, for example, to enforce the U.S. ban on TikTok — despite the law passing with the support of over 80% of Congress, and being unanimously upheld by the Supreme Court.
• Instead, he signed an executive order — without citing any legal authority — giving himself "the right" to find a buyer or ultimately ban the Chinese-owned app in 75 days.

The big picture: Trump's other Day 1 actions vividly illustrate his desire to concentrate power in the executive branch, even while Republicans control both chambers of Congress.

• The new president issued 10 executive orders on immigration, including a national emergency declaration allowing the Pentagon to redirect funds and deploy additional troops at the southern border.
• Trump also designated drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, potentially paving the way for the U.S. to deploy special forces in Mexico without permission from Congress.
• He issued an executive order that could strip thousands of civil servants of their employment protections, making it easier to fire federal employees deemed to be "disloyal."
• And even with U.S. fossil fuel production at record highs, Trump declared a "national energy emergency," unlocking new authorities to increase drilling and bypass environmental and climate regulations.

The other side: Trump allies argue President Biden's own actions in his final days in office amount to a greater abuse of executive authority than anything Trump has done.

• That includes Biden's unilateral declaration that the Equal Rights Amendment, which was passed by Congress in 1972 but not ratified by enough states in time, is "the law of the land."
• Biden also issued preemptive pardons for five members of his family in his final minutes in power, citing "unrelenting attacks and threats" of prosecution by Trump allies.

What they're saying: Trump's blizzard of executive orders has exhilarated his base, who see it as proof that he's willing to steamroll the "Deep State" to fulfill his campaign promises.

• But his rapid consolidation of power has unnerved liberals, institutionalists and even some Republicans who are skeptical of big government.
• "In America, we abide by the rule of law. Even when the law comes for a popular app — TikTok — that the MAGA king likes," Joe Lonsdale, a Silicon Valley magnate who supports Trump, wrote in the Free Press.

Years of debate, months of procrastination and weeks of panic have brought the U.S. to the brink of banning TikTok — a bipartisan achievement that top politicians suddenly want nothing to do with.

Why it matters: On the eve of his inauguration, President-elect Trump is facing an enormous challenge to his popularity, his executive power and his word. He has vowed to save TikTok — but failed to explain how he can do so without violating U.S. law.

The latest: The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the law passed by Congress last year that forces Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest from TikTok by Jan. 19, or else face a ban in the U.S.

• The decision was unanimous, with all nine justices shrugging off a brief from Trump asking the court to delay the ban so that his administration could "pursue a negotiated resolution."
• President Biden, who signed the TikTok bill into law, will not enforce the ban — saying in a statement Friday that "actions to implement the law simply must fall" to the Trump administration, given the timing.
• TikTok, meanwhile, said the app "will be forced to go dark" on Sunday unless the Biden administration "immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement."

State of play: Trump is now in a serious bind.

• It was his administration that spearheaded the initial push to ban TikTok via executive order in 2020, citing the national security threat posed by Beijing's potential influence over the app and its user data.
• Trump became a defender of TikTok once he realized how powerful it could be as a campaign messaging tool, especially among young people.
• Now, for many of the platform's 170 million American users, Trump's first day in office threatens to be overshadowed by — or worse, forever tied to — the disappearance of TikTok from app stores.

What to watch: Trump is considering an executive order delaying enforcement of the TikTok ban to give the administration time to find a U.S. buyer, despite ByteDance's refusal to sell for the past eight months.

• It's unclear how the executive order could bypass the letter of the law, and app stores run by Google and Apple could face fines and liability risk if they ignore the Supreme Court's ruling.
• Still, Trump is trying: He discussed TikTok with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a phone call Friday, and has invited TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to be a VIP at Monday's inauguration.

The intrigue: One of the biggest obstacles to Trump's salvation mission is his own party.

• Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), the chair of the Intelligence Committee, blocked Democrats' attempt to extend the deadline for the ban on Thursday.
• "Let me be crystal clear: there will be no extensions, no concessions, and no compromises for TikTok," Cotton said, echoing the hawkish language typical of most Republicans before Trump's change of heart.
• Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Trump's nominee for secretary of state, was among the very first lawmakers to raise the alarm about TikTok in October 2019 — though he has indicated he will now defer to Trump.

Between the lines: In many ways, the dynamics around banning TikTok are a microcosm of the broader debate over the U.S.-China competition.

• "Decoupling" the two economies may sound like the shrewd national security approach, but the practical consequences — and potential for public backlash — are staggering.
• In the days leading up to the ban, hundreds of thousands of self-described "TikTok refugees" have downloaded the Chinese app RedNote — its name believed to be a reference to Mao Ze Dong's "Little Red Book."
• The cross-pollination has led to an unprecedented cultural exchange between young Americans and Chinese users — and an anti-U.S. propaganda coup that Beijing could only have dreamed of.

LOS ANGELES — Elon Musk and his allies are waging a ruthless information war in California, sensing opportunity in the ashes of the most destructive wildfires in state history.

Why it matters: For decades, Republicans have tried and failed to end Democrats' near-monopoly on power in the nation's most populous state. This time, they insist, the conditions are ripe for a reckoning.

Driving the news: More than a week after the Palisades Fire erupted — and with three major infernos still burning — Republicans are still flooding the zone with allegations of gross mismanagement by California Democrats.

• For conservatives emboldened by Donald Trump's victory, the targets are familiar: DEI programs at the Los Angeles Fire Department, undocumented immigrants, red tape — even aid to Ukraine.
• Trump, Musk and other MAGA influencers have spread misinformation about water policies in California, while downplaying the role of climate change in fostering historically dry conditions.

As his allies gleefully mused about flipping California in the next election, Musk predicted the state's burdensome regulations would accelerate the electorate's rightward trend.

• "The real red pill will come when people try to get permits to rebuild their homes and face multiyear waits," Musk wrote on X, racking up nearly 50 million views on his post.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed an executive order this week waiving permitting requirements for fire victims seeking to rebuild their homes, and has pushed to slash red tape as the GOP attacks have escalated.

Zoom in: The political danger is most acute for LA Mayor Karen Bass, a former U.S. House Democrat who was on President Biden's short list to be his running mate in 2020.

• Bass, who was elected in 2022 and is up for reelection next year, has been pilloried for traveling to Ghana a day after the National Weather Service warned of dangerous fire conditions in LA.
• Her 2022 opponent Rick Caruso, a billionaire real estate developer and former Republican, has seized on the crisis as he weighs another run for mayor — or for governor.

Newsom — one of the most prominent Democrats in the country amid the party's post-election leadership vacuum — is widely expected to run for president in 2028.

• He's been front-and-center in countering MAGA's messaging offensive but expressed a desire to work with Trump on the recovery effort, despite their verbal sparring.
• "I get the California Derangement Syndrome. I've been living with that for years and years," Newsom told MSNBC, excoriating Trump and Musk for spreading "lies" about the wildfire response.

The big picture: Musk's bluster aside, Democrats acknowledge they face serious challenges in California that predate the fires — and that their supermajority in the legislature makes it difficult to blame Republicans.

• Crime, homelessness, illegal immigration, high prices and an intractable housing crisis helped Trump increase his vote share in 45 of California's 58 counties in 2024.
• In Los Angeles County — which shifted an astonishing 11 points to the right — a progressive district attorney was defeated by a former Republican who vowed to crack down on crime.
• California voters overwhelmingly passed a ballot measure, Prop 36, to increase penalties for drug and theft crimes, and recalled Oakland's mayor and local district attorney over public safety issues.

Reality check: The main beneficiaries of California's backlash have been independents and moderate Democrats — not Republicans, and certainly not the strain of MAGA Republicans publicly agitating for a revolution.

• Most Californians believe climate change is contributing to the fires, even if they're unhappy with state leadership's handling of the crisis.
• House Republicans' threat to condition federal aid to California, meanwhile, risks public blowback at a moment of vulnerability for Democrats.

What to watch: Republicans today are flush with billionaire cash and influence, much of it concentrated in Silicon Valley, Hollywood and other parts of California where supporting Trump is no longer taboo.

• Flipping the state is still a "long-term project," as pro-Trump activist Charlie Kirk put it last month — but one that could be accelerated by this type of systemic shock.
• "We don't see these shifts overnight," California Assembly Republican leader James Gallagher said in a local news interview. "Texas was once a blue state, and slowly but surely it became a red state."

Three of President-elect Trump's most provocative Cabinet picks have reversed key positions ahead of next week's confirmation hearings, softening their edges for an establishment they've been charged with tearing down.

Why it matters: For as powerful as MAGA has become, the Senate's confirmation process remains a significant obstacle — at least nominally — to injecting fringe beliefs directly into the heart of government.

The big picture: In the initial weeks after Trump unveiled his Cabinet picks, some establishment-minded Republicans raised red flags in the records of three picks:

• Tulsi Gabbard, tapped to lead the U.S. intelligence community, was deeply suspicious of the national security apparatus and publicly opposed Section 702 foreign surveillance authorities as a member of Congress.
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr., chosen to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, falsely claimed in 2023 that the polio vaccine caused cancer that killed "many more people than polio ever did."
• Pete Hegseth, an anti-DEI stalwart picked to be defense secretary, bluntly opposed women serving in combat roles in the military.

Flash forward: All three lightning-rod picks have spent weeks meeting with senators on Capitol Hill in an effort to secure 50 votes. The results are head-spinning:

• Gabbard told Punchbowl News on Friday that she now supports the Section 702 surveillance program thanks to updated whistleblower and civil liberty protections. Just days earlier, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) suggested reversing that one policy position could help her get confirmed.
• RFK Jr. told reporters on Capitol Hill last month: "I'm all for the polio vaccine." He also assured conservative senators that he will pursue anti-abortion policies at HHS, despite his past support for reproductive rights.
• Hegseth, after an early clash with Army veteran Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), said he supports "all women serving in our military today," including in combat roles. Hegseth also promised to stop drinking if confirmed, amid sordid allegations about his history with alcohol.

Reality check: Their maximalist impulses may have been tamed, but that doesn't mean Gabbard, Kennedy and Hegseth won't be able to radically transform their agencies in the way MAGA envisions.

• There's also been no indication yet that Trump's most controversial choice, Kash Patel for FBI director, will walk away from his incendiary promises to exact revenge on the president-elect's enemies.

Between the lines: Today's Republican coalition is diverse and unwieldy, and Trump's Cabinet reflects that reality.

• While some have been playing nice with senators to win confirmation, others have had to harmonize with Trump himself.
• Secretary of State pick Marco Rubio, for example, has long been a fierce critic of TikTok — but now appears to be deferring to Trump's interest in preserving the Chinese-owned app, according to Punchbowl.
• Treasury Secretary pick Scott Bessent — a former George Soros adviser who warned against the inflationary effects of tariffs just last year — will now be a key member of the economic team tasked with carrying out Trump's protectionist agenda.

What to watch: Senate Democrats are salivating at the chance to create fireworks and exploit divisions at the blockbuster confirmation hearings, which begin with Hegseth on Jan. 14.

Some of President-elect Trump's most audacious promises — lobbed from the comfort of the campaign trail — will be on a collision course with reality beginning Jan. 20.

Why it matters: Trump is at the peak of his influence and popularity, a status he achieved by vowing to detonate the status quo. But he and his allies know — and are starting to acknowledge — that their power will not be absolute.

1. Elon Musk last night scaled back his radically ambitious pledge to slash "at least $2 trillion" from the federal budget, suggesting in a new interview that achieving just half of that would be an "epic outcome."

• "I do think that you kind of have to have some overage," Musk, co-head of the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE), told former Clinton pollster Mark Penn on X.
• "I think if we try for $2 trillion, we've got a good shot at getting $1 trillion," he added, a tacit acknowledgment that his original goal — as many experts already warned — is highly implausible.

2. Trump's team has told European officials that the true deadline for ending the war in Ukraine is "several months," despite Trump long claiming he would do so within 24 hours of taking office, the Financial Times reported today.

• The president-elect himself suggested at a press conference this week that he hopes to broker a peace deal within six months, while his Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg has set a goal of 100 days.

3. Weeks after winning an election dominated by inflation concerns, Trump rejected the notion that his presidency would be a "failure" if he were unable to bring down grocery prices.

• "I'd like to bring them down. It's hard to bring things down once they're up. You know, it's very hard," Trump told TIME. "But I think that they will," he added.
• Federal Reserve officials, meanwhile, expressed concern last month that Trump's tariffs and immigration crackdown could stoke inflation — potentially leading to higher interest rates.

What they're saying: "This is fake news. President Trump and his team are working hard before even taking office to deliver on his promises and make life better for the American people," Trump-Vance spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Axios in a statement.

• "President Trump has every intention of delivering, and he will. Anyone who says otherwise has no idea what they're talking about."

Between the lines: Hyperbole is part and parcel of the Trump experience, and his supporters often advise the public and the media to "take him seriously, not literally."

• Still, there are clear examples from Trump's first term of him failing to fulfill lofty promises: Mexico did not, for example, ever pay for the border wall.

The big picture: This isn't to say Trump cannot, or will not, succeed in his ambitious plans to secure the border, downsize government and fundamentally reorder the global economy.

• He and his advisers previewed plans to unleash 100 executive orders — many on Day One — during a meeting with Senate Republicans on Wednesday night, as Axios scooped.
• And if Trump and GOP leadership can keep Republican lawmakers in line, the country could soon bear witness to a historic legislative agenda that implements exactly the mega-MAGA vision he has promised.

President Biden is infuriating critics in the twilight of his term, unburdened by optics as he resorts to raw instincts — and seemingly a bit of trolling — to write the final pages of his polarizing presidency.

Why it matters: Biden's legacy will be defined, in many ways, by Donald Trump's reelection. But the 82-year-old president appears too proud to allow MAGA's rising tide to sweep him into premature irrelevance.

Zoom in: The conservative frenzy around Biden's lame-duck behavior began with the December pardon of his son, Hunter, which upset even some Democrats who saw the move as morally inconsistent.

• Two days before Christmas, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal inmates on death row — drawing praise from criminal justice groups, but outrage from Republicans and some victims' families.
• Last week, Biden gave former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) — whom Trump has called to be prosecuted — the Presidential Citizens Medal for her work leading the House panel that investigated the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol.

Then on Saturday, Biden honored Hillary Clinton and liberal philanthropist George Soros with the Presidential Medal of Freedom — a move that might as well have been lab-engineered for maximum MAGA meltdown.

Zoom out: Partisan catnip aside, the bulk of Biden's lame-duck agenda has been aimed at extending the longevity of his core policy themes, primarily through a flurry of rules and regulations finalized in recent weeks.

• The latest: New consumer rules banning medical debt from being included on credit reports, which the White House touted as an example of making "every day count" in advancing Biden's economic vision.
• Biden also issued a sweeping executive order Monday blocking about 625 million acres of offshore areas from future oil and gas drilling, potentially hindering Trump's plans to quickly scale up fossil fuel production.
• Trump expressed disbelief at the move on Hugh Hewitt's radio show Monday, and later complained on Truth Social: "Biden is doing everything possible to make the TRANSITION as difficult as possible."

Reality check: Incoming Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles told Axios that the White House has been "very helpful" during the transition, despite the policy differences.

• That's not to mention Congress' uneventful 30-minute certification of Trump's victory on Jan. 6 — a striking contrast with the unprecedented political violence of four years ago.

What they're saying: "After inheriting an economy in freefall and skyrocketing violent crime, President Biden is proud to leave his successor the best-performing economy on earth, the lowest violent crime rates in over 50 years, and the lowest border crossings in over four years," White House spokesman Andrew Bates told Axios in a statement.

Between the lines: Biden, who declared "America is back" when he took office four years ago, has remained deeply engaged on global issues as he seeks to Trump-proof his legacy.

• He's continued to rush aid to Ukraine, and after the election approved Kyiv's request to strike deep inside Russia with American-made missiles — prompting claims of sabotage from Trump and his allies.
• A staunch Zionist, Biden also has refused to bow to progressive pressure to cut off military support to Israel — and even approved an $8 billion arms sale last week, while still working to secure a hostage deal in Gaza.
• "I might be the oldest president, but I know more world leaders than any one of you have ever met in your whole goddamn life," a feisty Biden scolded reporters at the White House on Sunday.

The intrigue: The clearest sign of Biden relying on gut instincts in his final days is his decision to block Nippon Steel's $14.9 billion takeover of U.S. Steel — a position that he and Trump share.

• Biden overruled several of his top advisers, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, in blocking the Japanese giant's acquisition, according to the Washington Post.
• Instead, "Scranton Joe" sided with the United Steelworkers union to ensure that the company remains American-owned — even at the risk of potential job losses and plant closures.

What to watch: The "Dark Brandon" era could end with preemptive pardons for Democrats and government officials targeted for retribution by Trump, including Anthony Fauci.

A MAGA-world civil war erupted over Christmas when a social media post on American culture turned into a pitched battle over race, immigration and billionaires versus the working class.

Why it matters: The fight exposes one of the MAGA movement's deepest contradictions: It came to prominence chiefly via the white, less-educated, working class but is now under the full control of billionaire technologists and industrialists, many of them immigrants.

• It also sets up a tense MAGA vs. DOGE moment that could infect the early stages of President-elect Trump's second presidency.
• While some want to make America great by restricting immigration and promoting the American worker, others want to cut costs and increase efficiency no matter who does the work.

Catch up quick: The skirmishes started Sunday when Trump named venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan as his adviser on AI policy.

• Krishnan's appointment triggered an anti-Indian backlash on social media, particularly given his past advocacy for lifting caps on green cards.

Vivek Ramaswamy escalated the conflict into a full-blown war Thursday morning with a post on X blaming an American culture that "venerated mediocrity over excellence" for the growth in foreign tech workers.

• "A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers," Ramaswamy wrote, calling for a 1950s-style "Sputnik moment" to prioritize "nerdiness over conformity."
• "That's the work we have cut out for us, rather than wallowing in victimhood & just wishing (or legislating) alternative hiring practices into existence," he said.

Between the lines: Elon Musk's X is the town square for the MAGA movement, and by stepping into that square and firmly criticizing American culture — while praising the immigrant work ethic and parenting model — Ramaswamy threw down a gauntlet.

• Musk spent most of the afternoon trying to defend his DOGE co-leader and explain his argument, framing it as using immigration to supplement, rather than replace, American workers.
• "Maybe this is a helpful clarification: I am referring to bringing in via legal immigration the top ~0.1% of engineering talent as being essential for America to keep winning," Musk wrote.

The problem for many MAGA adherents, though, was accepting the very notion of immigrants telling them America needs more immigration to fill lucrative jobs in America.

• It revived old tensions around the H-1B visa, which is reserved for people who "perform services in a specialty obligation" but practically speaking has become a crucial tool of Silicon Valley's growth.
• In some recent years, as many as 75% of those petitioning for that visa came from India, from where Ramaswamy's parents immigrated.

What they're saying: "The Woodstock generation managed to build out aerospace, the one before went to the moon, America was doing great. Underlying your post is that we were all living in squalor until being rescued by H-1B's. Then why did everyone want to come here?" right-wing personality Mike Cernovich responded to Ramaswamy on X.

• "There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture. All you have to do is look at the border and see how many want what we have. We should be investing and prioritizing in Americans, not foreign workers," Nikki Haley, the former GOP presidential candidate and herself a daughter of Indian immigrants, wrote.
• "I want the little guy to matter too. Not everyone has $1 million but they still love their country and want to MAGA and close the border," far-right activist Laura Loomer posted.
• Loomer posted a series of missives throughout the afternoon, calling out Ramaswamy, Musk and anyone else in Trump's orbit who isn't fully committed to closing the borders.

Zoom out: The fracture was familiar to anyone who's seen a movement expand — early adopters criticizing the latecomers for bringing different ideas.

• "Tech bros who took 8+ years to figure out that President Trump is not the bad guy and is in fact, the solution to America's problems, are really out here pontificating to MAGA patriots who figured it out a decade before them?" conservative streaming host Brenden Dilley posted on X.

The bottom line: For now the fight is mostly confined to X. But it's sure to raise difficult questions in the coming days about what Trump's administration will mean for immigration, labor and the American worker.

• It will also potentially settle a looming conflict over who has the most influence in Trump 2.0 — his historic base or his new-found techno-libertarian allies.

President-elect Trump is setting the stage for an explosive first day in office: pardons for Jan. 6 rioters, a vacuum sealing of the southern border and a massive regulatory rollback affecting vast swathes of the American economy.

Why it matters: The tone of the next four years will be set on Day One. Trump and his transition — armed with a cannon of executive orders — are preparing an early shock-and-awe campaign to lay the foundation for his ambitious second term.

The big picture: Trump's Day One promises largely fall under three themes, according to an Axios analysis of hundreds of his speeches, press conferences and interviews.

1. Immigration: No issue has defined Trump's political identity more than his crusade against illegal immigration, particularly after border crossings surged to record highs under President Biden.

• A brain trust of West Wing border hawks — led by Stephen Miller and former acting ICE director Tom Homan — will help unleash a flurry of executive orders ending Biden's temporary "parole" programs, restarting construction of the border wall and suspending refugee admissions.
• Trump is hellbent on immediately launching the largest deportation operation in U.S. history, despite the logistical challenges. Watch out for a Day One photo op flexing the new administration's deportation muscle.
• The president-elect has also vowed to issue an executive order ending birthright citizenship, setting up a constitutional clash over the 14th Amendment that could wind up at the Supreme Court.

2. Red meat for MAGA: The second bucket of executive orders will seek to institutionalize the conservative culture wars that have dominated Republican politics over the last few years.

• Top priorities for Day One include a ban on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and requirements across the federal government, and pardons for supporters convicted for breaking into the Capitol on Jan. 6.
• Trump, whose campaign spent millions of dollars on anti-trans ads, also wants to use executive action to ban trans women from women's sports, though the exact mechanism for doing so is not yet clear.

3. Big business: CEO and investor confidence has soared in the wake of the election, as Corporate America revels in Trump's promise to slash 10 regulations for every new one introduced during the Biden administration.

• Trump has vowed to expedite permits for drilling and fracking, even if it means acting like a "dictator" for one day. Inauguration will also start the clock on his one-year goal of reducing energy prices by 50%.
• Trump plans to aggressively target Biden's climate policies by cutting off support for electric vehicles and rolling back emissions standards, as well as any "job-killing" regulations affecting automakers.
• Wall Street, meanwhile, is working feverishly to persuade Trump not to impose sweeping tariffs on U.S. trading partners — but he seems intent on ushering in a new era of MAGA protectionism as quickly as possible.

Between the lines: Many of Trump's sweeping promises will require the support of Congress. Others have proven to be hyperbole, which Trump himself has acknowledged.

• "It's hard to bring [prices] down once they're up. You know, it's very hard," the president-elect told NBC's "Meet the Press," despite constantly pledging to crush inflation on the campaign trail.
• Trump has also tamped down his talk of settling the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking office, telling reporters last week that peace may even be "more difficult" than ending the Israel-Hamas war.

Luigi Mangione, charged in the brazen murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, left behind a tantalizing digital footprint with few parallels in the history of famed assassins.

Why it matters: Mangione's alleged crime and possible motivations have sparked nationwide debates over America's health care system and its culture of violence, which have already rippled through business and politics.

• Journalists, investigators and true-crime obsessives are now poring through the 26-year-old's extensive and eclectic online history, and coming to very different conclusions.

The emerging portrait is intriguing: High school valedictorian, Ivy League-educated data engineer, avid gamer, fitness buff, backpacker, amateur philosopher, victim of debilitating back pain.

• But it's also incomplete: Social media — which Mangione seemingly abandoned months ago — can only reveal so much about the true identity of any man, let alone an alleged killer.

Driving the news: In the immediate aftermath of Mangione's arrest, partisans of all stripes rushed to condemn — or claim, in the case of some edgy influencers — his perceived ideology.

• His posts had something for everyone: Conservatives saw an anti-capitalist San Francisco liberal; progressives saw an "anti-woke" rich kid who aligned with right-wing futurists.
• But a comprehensive review of Mangione's digital footprint suggests his politics don't fall neatly into one box — and that he had fairly anodyne interests for a 20-something tech bro.
• He engaged with a range of heterodox influencers, many of them focused on holistic health, self-improvement, psychedelic mushrooms, tech's role in society, and general anti-establishment sentiment.

What they're saying: "The world is getting worse and phones are killing us; politics won't save us but technology might; in the meantime, lift weights, take supplements, listen to podcasts," journalist Max Read summed up the subculture reflected by Mangione's media diet.

Zoom in: The most revealing online clue to what potentially drove Mangione is his experience with chronic back pain, which friends confirm caused major disruptions to his active lifestyle.

• On Reddit, Mangione shared that he had spinal fusion surgery in July 2023 — though his posts never mentioned any frustrations or anger toward the health insurance industry, according to the New York Times.
• His final post appears to have been on the subreddit r/tedkaczynski — a forum dedicated to the Unabomber, whose anti-tech manifesto received a four-star review from Mangione on GoodReads.

Between the lines: Anyone with an online presence knows digital breadcrumbs can only lead you so far, especially when they get hoovered up in a criminal investigation.

• More than at any point in human history, evidence lies in plain sight: Rather than seek a subpoena for Mangione's library list, investigators can openly peruse his preferred books, podcasts and communities online.
• But social media is also inherently performative: Mangione's persona is one that he curated — and reality is likely far more complicated than what he conveyed online.

Perhaps most critically, social media posts tend to capture a singular moment in time.

• Mangione, the scion of a wealthy Maryland family with a network of close friends and excellent career prospects, shared little online that would suggest he could be capable of a heinous murder.
• But his apparent disengagement and isolation beginning six months ago — from his family, friends and online spaces — likely hold clues that won't turn up in a Google search.

Axios' Meg Morrone and Scott Rosenberg contributed reporting.

Go deeper: How the internet cheered the UnitedHealth shooting suspect as a folk hero

The Syrian revolution has quietly played a seismic role in the trajectory of the 21st century, transforming global politics with shock waves still echoing 14 years after the Arab Spring.

Why it matters: The fall of Bashar al-Assad has ushered in an unpredictable new era not only for Syria and the Middle East, but for the great powers that have long treated the region as a battleground.

The big picture: Syria's 2011 uprising marked an inflection point in the history of global conflict, wedged between the Iraq War in 2003 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

• What began as an anti-government protest movement devolved into one of the bloodiest civil wars of the modern era, with an estimated death toll of more than 500,000 people.
• More than 14 million Syrians were forced to flee their homes amid Assad's brutal crackdown, with many finding refuge in neighboring Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.
• Millions also sought asylum in Europe — exacerbating the 2015 migrant crisis and giving rise to far-right forces that have since gained a foothold in governments across the continent.

Zoom in: Into Syria's power vacuum stepped the Islamic State, whose barbaric brand of jihad terrorized the world as it conquered vast amounts of territory in both Syria and Iraq.

• Donald Trump came to power pledging to ban Muslim immigration after a 2015 ISIS-inspired attack in San Bernardino, California — riding the same anti-migration fervor that helped fuel that year's Brexit vote.
• By 2019, the U.S. military and its international allies had largely vanquished the ISIS caliphate, assisted by Kurdish-led forces in Syria that Turkey views as terrorists.
• The U.S. still maintains a small military presence in northeast Syria, and carried out dozens of airstrikes on ISIS targets on Sunday to ensure the terrorist group cannot reconstitute.

Between the lines: For over a decade, Assad clung to power with the help of Russia, Iran and Hezbollah — three U.S. adversaries who exploited the Syrian crisis to advance their own regional goals.

• Russia, which maintained access to a critical Mediterranean naval base in Syria, honed the same private mercenaries and indiscriminate bombing tactics later deployed in its invasion of Ukraine.
• Iran used Syria as a pipeline to funnel weapons and militants to Lebanon, where Hezbollah comprised the core of the "axis of resistance" against Israel.
• The U.S., Turkey and other NATO countries funded various rebel factions as they called for Assad to step down — turning Syria into a proxy battlefield for the world's most powerful countries.

Zoom out: Eventually, as Assad reclaimed territory from the rebels and the conflict stabilized between 2020 and 2023, Syria and its suffering receded from the front pages.

• President Obama's retreat from his "red line," which had threatened Assad with military action if he used chemical weapons, dealt a blow to the credibility of the "rules-based international order."
• Trump's "America First" isolationism grew in popularity, and Assad seemed entrenched as the U.S. sought to pivot away from its misadventures in the Middle East.

The world's attention largely turned inward — or to the conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere that involve many of the same actors who helped shatter Syria.

• But millions of Syrians never gave up hope, determined to one day secure the freedom to chart their own future.
• That day has come, but what comes next is unclear: Whether it's a failed state, another authoritarian regime or a move toward democracy, the world will be watching with bated breath.

President Biden told reporters Sunday that the U.S. believes American journalist Austin Tice, who has been missing in Syria for 12 years, is alive and that "we think we can get him back."

State of play: The collapse of the Assad regime and the emptying of political prisons in Syria has raised new hope for the release of Tice, a freelance journalist who was abducted while reporting on the civil war in 2012.

• "We remain committed to returning him to his family," Biden said, though he cautioned that the U.S. does not have "direct evidence" of his condition.
• "We are reaching out to all contacts in government and the region. We encourage everyone to help us in our search for Austin. As a family, we are all in D.C. working for his fast and safe return," the Tice family told Axios in a statement.

Driving the news: Thousands of prisoners have poured out onto the streets of Damascus and other cities as Syrian rebels declared the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, who oversaw one of the most brutal police states in the world.

• Among the facilities being emptied is the notorious Sednaya prison on the outskirts of Damascus — known as the "human slaughterhouse" for its use of torture and mass hangings.
• Countless political prisoners and Syrians disappeared into the country's vast and shadowy detention system over the Assad family's five-decade rule. Many are now being reunited with their families.

Tice's mother, Debra, had said at a press conference in D.C. Friday that she believes her son is alive, citing a "significant source" that has been "vetted all over our government."

• Debra Tice did not identify the source, but said she has "no doubt" that Austin is alive and being "treated well." The family met with Biden administration officials earlier in the day.
• Tice's father, Marc, said the family has "fielded a lot of false propositions and statements" about Tice's whereabouts and condition over the years — but that this is "very different."

Flashback: Tice, a Marine Corps veteran and one of the few American journalists inside Syria, was abducted while reporting on the country's civil war on Aug. 12, 2012.

• A month later, a video was released showing a blindfolded Tice being held by armed and masked men. He was 31 at the time of his disappearance.
• On the 10th anniversary of Tice's captivity, President Biden said in a statement that "we know with certainty that he has been held by the Government of Syria."
• The Assad regime — which collapsed Sunday as Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus — has never acknowledged Tice's detention.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with comments from President Biden.

President-elect Trump has assembled an administration of unprecedented, mind-boggling wealth — smashing his own first-term record by billions of dollars.

• That's even without counting the ballooning fortunes of his prized outside adviser and the world's richest man: Elon Musk.

Why it matters: It's not hyperbole to call this a government of billionaires. Whether it acts as a government for billionaires — as Democrats argue is inevitable — could test and potentially tarnish Trump's populist legacy.

The big picture: Besides Trump, Musk and his fellow Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Vivek Ramaswamy, at least 11 billionaires will be serving key roles in the administration.

• They've been picked to lead the departments of Treasury (Scott Bessent), Commerce (Howard Lutnick), Education (Linda McMahon), Interior (Doug Burgum), the Small Business Administration (Kelly Loeffler) and NASA (Jared Isaacman).
• On Thursday night, Trump announced that tech investor David Sacks, an early executive at PayPal and top Musk ally, would serve as White House AI and crypto czar.
• Financier Stephen Feinberg has been nominated for the No. 2 position at the Pentagon; Trump family in-laws Charles Kushner (ambassador to France) and Massad Boulos (Middle East adviser) were tapped for diplomatic roles alongside billionaire donor Warren Stephens (ambassador to the U.K.).
• An additional four top appointees are hundred-millionaires: Celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz (Medicare and Medicaid administrator), Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano (Social Security commissioner), real estate executive Steven Witkoff (Middle East envoy) and fracking CEO Chris Wright (Energy Department).

By the numbers: Trump's projected Cabinet alone is worth at least $10 billion, according to research by Axios and the nonprofit Americans for Tax Fairness — an estimate that likely undervalues the true total.

• With Musk, Ramaswamy and other wealthy appointees included, the top of the Trump administration's net worth is likely higher than the GDP of hundreds of countries, including Finland, Chile and New Zealand.
• President Biden's Cabinet, by comparison, was worth an estimated $118 million when he took office, according to Forbes.

Between the lines: Trump's gilded Cabinet is the product of an election in which billionaires spent like never before in U.S. history — mostly on behalf of Republicans.

• And yet it was Democrats who shed major support among working-class voters, suggesting Trump's populist message — and the aspirational riches he represents — once again were underestimated.

What to watch: Still, by rewarding so many of his biggest donors and billionaire allies with plum postings, Trump could risk flying too close to the sun.

• With every billionaire appointee comes a minefield of conflicts of interest and ethical concerns — exactly the kind of swampy conditions that Trump has vowed to drain.
• The optics alone could turbo-charge the strain of populist left politics — championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — that characterizes America today as an "oligarchy."

The bottom line: Musk already has previewed the kind of clumsy messaging that could allow Democrats to paint Trump's billionaires as woefully out of touch.

• "We have to reduce spending to live within our means," Musk — whose PAC spent nearly $200 million to help Trump get elected — declared at town hall days before the election.
• "And, you know, that necessarily involves some temporary hardship, but it will ensure long-term prosperity," the world's richest man added.

President-elect Trump's bombastic policy threats, Mar-a-Lago missives and mere presence have become a driving force in markets and capitals around the world, six weeks before Trump's inauguration.

Why it matters: Only one man occupies the White House. But the norm-busting assertiveness of Trump and his transition team — and the rapidly fading relevance of President Biden — have given the U.S. something of a two-headed presidency.

Driving the news: "Promises Kept," the Trump transition team boldly declared Monday, claiming achievements on border security, diplomacy, economic growth and anti-diversity initiatives — all before Trump has even taken office.

Reality check: The Trump effect is real. But posturing and preparation by companies, allies and adversaries don't tell the whole story of what his record will actually look like once his policies are implemented.

1. Borders: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rushed to Mar-a-Lago this weekend after Trump threatened 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico in response to migrants and fentanyl crossing into the U.S.

• The two leaders dined together, and Trudeau promised to deploy additional helicopters and drones to help tighten up the northern border — earning praise from Trump.
• Trump also spoke with Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum and declared that she had agreed to effectively close the southern border — a message Sheinbaum contradicted in her own account of the call.

2. Foreign policy: Even as Biden officials have worked feverishly to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz credited Trump with bringing them to the table.

• Trump's team also claimed credit for Iran's apparent decision not to retaliate against Israel for its October attack, touting the doctrine of "peace through strength."
• Trump, meanwhile, has fully re-engaged in diplomacy-by-tweet — promising "ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East" if the Gaza hostages aren't released before his inauguration on Jan. 20.
• Still, plenty of global hotspots — Syria, Ukraine, even South Korea — appear to be heating up, not cooling down, as Trump prepares to take office.

3. Economy: Trump loves nothing more than to take credit for a booming stock market, and there are plenty of indications his business-friendly agenda is preemptively powering record highs — especially in crypto.

• But Wall Street has been defying gravity for years now, and Trump is fortunate to be inheriting a remarkably strong economy from Biden — just as he inherited a strong economy from Barack Obama in 2017.
• One dynamic more directly connected to Trump's return is Walmart's staggering rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives last week — a victory for MAGA activists years in the making.
• Trump on Monday also reiterated his campaign pledge to block the proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japanese-owned Nippon Steel, sending shares of U.S. Steel tumbling.

Between the lines: Biden's relatively low profile since the election — aside from his controversial pardon of his son Hunter — has only compounded the feeling that Trump is already in power.

• On Monday, Biden arrived in Angola for a long-promised and delayed visit to sub-Saharan Africa — making him the first president to travel to the region since Obama in 2015.
• "Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, I'm in the final weeks of my presidency," Biden said in a speech touting his administration's commitment to Africa.
• "You don't have to clap for that. You can if you want," he joked.

President Biden's extraordinary decision to pardon his son Hunter has exposed deep Democratic fissures that are spilling into public view, complicating the party's efforts to rebuild after a disastrous election.

Why it matters: For years, Democrats have responded to Donald Trump's brazen lying, shattering of norms and alleged corruption by emphasizing their own respect for the truth, institutions and the rule of law.

• By pardoning Hunter on gun and tax convictions — or any other crimes he "may have committed" between Jan. 1, 2014, and Dec. 1, 2024 — some Democrats believe Biden has sacrificed a moral high ground that's been foundational to the party's identity in the Trump era.
• Other Democrats see that framing as hopelessly naive, and have posed the blunt question: What's the point of holding the moral high ground when America just elected a convicted felon?

Zoom in: Biden's sweeping pardon of Hunter — arguably the broadest since President Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon — drew condemnation from even Biden's staunchest allies in Congress on Monday.

• Many sympathized with Biden's fatherly instincts, especially given the tragedies his family has endured — but warned that the pardon would further erode Americans' trust in government.
• For some liberal pundits, the about-face was an astonishing betrayal: Biden had explicitly ruled out pardoning his son on multiple occasions, including after it was clear that Trump — who's vowed revenge on his political enemies — had won the election.

The other side: For other Democrats, the outrage has revealed a laughable double standard.

• Trump made sweeping use of his pardon power to help out personal friends and family members, including his daughter Ivanka's father-in-law Charles Kushner — whom Trump just named ambassador to France.
• Trump also openly campaigned on pardoning supporters who participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot — discrediting the notion that the Hunter Biden case will somehow give Trump political cover to issue controversial pardons.
• "If you defended the 34x felon, who committed sexual assault, stole national security documents, and tried running a coup on his country…you can sit out the Hunter Biden pardon discussion," tweeted Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.).

The big picture: Some Democrats have grown sick of their party's pearl-clutching in the wake of the election, seeing it as symptomatic of a broader failure to fight Trump's fire with fire.

• "It's time to stop playing nice. We need to stretch the limits of what's possible and be as ruthless as Republicans when it comes to using every tool at our disposal," Democratic strategist Mike Nellis wrote last week.
• The focus on upholding norms has been especially frustrating to members of the populist left, who say Democrats' cultural elitism cost them enormously with working-class voters.
• Still, as swing-district Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) pointed out, the Hunter Biden saga threatens to reinforce the belief that there are two sets of rules: One for the well-connected, and one for everyone else.

The bottom line: As a new Trump era dawns in Washington, Democrats remain deeply divided over how to meet this moment. One thing's for certain: They'll no longer have Joe Biden to look to for answers.