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DONALD DUCK
Donald Trump’s wild kickoff to 2026 has the world questioning what the hell is wrong with this guy. One theory: He knows his power is slipping away, and he hates it.
Why does this January feel like it began at the dawn of time, and may never end? Because President Donald Trump has caused more chaos since New Year’s Day than most presidents do in two terms. Washington lawmakers and foreign dignitaries have scrambled to make sense of his mercurial zigzags. One minute he’s threatening America’s central banker, the next he’s plotting invasions of Greenland and Minnesota. It feels like he made a New Year’s resolution to outdo even his past screwloose actions.
Some close Trump-watchers have a pet theory about his recent hyperactivity: His power is about to be seriously diminished, and he knows it. By this time next year, Trump will be quacking like a lame duck [ [link removed] ]. Before that happens, the theory goes, he’s trying to shoot the moon.
“This is his last year to accomplish anything significant,” a senior Trump official, granted anonymity to speak candidly, told What a Day.
Democrats are widely expected to retake the House later this year. That will mean investigations, subpoenas, roadblocks — and possibly, as Trump recently predicted, a third impeachment [ [link removed] ]. Some Dems even sound bullish on winning back the Senate, which would only double Trump’s headaches.
“Confirmations will grind to a halt,” the official explained. “You could be working on something … and then Democrats send letters over. ‘We want this, and we want this person to come testify. We want this and that.’ It just slows down whatever you’re doing.”
Battles to succeed Trump will kick off in both parties, stealing the spotlight Trump craves. “He might lash out more just to get the attention,” the official added.
Trump’s wild swings are alienating some of the key constituencies that voted him into the White House.
How unpopular is Trump right now? Check out this fresh New York Times poll, which features extremely unflattering numbers [ [link removed] ]: Nearly half of Americans believe the country is worse off under his rule. Sixty-one percent believe ICE’s tactics have gone too far. Only 19 percent think he’ll go down as one of the best presidents ever… while 42 percent believe he’ll be seen as among the worst. Worryingly for Republicans: Young people [ [link removed] ] and Hispanics [ [link removed] ] are turning away from Trump.
Trump and his allies aren’t even trying to persuade Americans that his kookiest ideas are worth supporting. “They don’t believe that anyone who didn’t vote for Trump matters,” Crooked’s Dan Pfeiffer told the What A Day [ [link removed] ]podcast [ [link removed] ]. “Their political theory is [to] fire up the base.”
Trump officials often frame their actions as tough but necessary, from DOGE federal workforce cuts to kidnapping the Venezuelan president. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, meanwhile, prefers to suggest he is being led by divine will. “May our God be the Lord in the conduct of our activities in this department, wherever they may be or around the world,” he said during a Christian prayer service [ [link removed] ] hosted at the Pentagon this week.
Democrats may seem powerless for now. But Trumpworld knows that could change this year. “Their ability to … throw a wrench into the process is significant,” the official said.
WHAT ELSE? 👀
TikTok finalized a $14 billion sale [ [link removed] ] that means it won’t get banned in the United States. The company formed a new entity with American investors to divest from ByteDance, its Chinese owner. Is my feed about to become flooded with the Trump Dance [ [link removed] ]? Ugh.
Trump said that a U.S. “armada” is sailing toward Iran [ [link removed] ]. “We have a lot of ships going that direction, just in case,” he said. “I’d rather not see anything happen, but we’re watching them very closely.”
Germany can’t join Trump’s so-called [ [link removed] ] “Board of Peace” as it is currently set up for “constitutional reasons,” Chancellor Friedrich Merz said. Is that it? Or is it really because Trump invited dictators [ [link removed] ] to join, or the fact that he disinvited Canada? The U.K. and other American allies also aren’t on board [ [link removed] ], but at least Trump got, uh, Hungary, Russia, Belarus and Israel.
Trump’s Department of Justice charged [ [link removed] ] a Pentagon contractor for allegedly leaking information to a Washington Post reporter, whose home was raided by the FBI last week.
Remember Project 2025, that far-right plan [ [link removed] ] to reshape the government which Trump distanced himself from on the campaign trail? Paul Dans, the plan’s mastermind, told the Financial Times that he gives Trump’s team “a healthy A-minus” on implementing Project 2025. “There is much more to be done,” Dans said. “We need to codify the DOGE cuts. We need DOGE 2.”
Trump provided a suspicious explanation [ [link removed] ] for the new massive bruise on his hand. “I clipped it on the table. I put a little… what do they call it… cream on it,” he explained. “I would say, take aspirin if you like your heart, but don’t take aspirin if you don’t want to have a little bruising. I take the big aspirin, and when you take the big aspirin, they tell you, you bruise.”
LIGHT AT THE END… ☀️
Hundreds of Minnesota businesses are taking part [ [link removed] ] in a general strike today, protesting ICE’s aggression across the state. Residents are showing “deep resilience and willingness to stand together in ways I haven’t seen folks do in a very long time,” one organizer told the New York Times.
On that note, a Minneapolis resident sent me a screenshot of an Instagram story posted by their friend, detailing “glimmers and reminders of how much we all love our communities in Minnesota.” One example I loved: While their friend was outside observing ICE’s actions, “an auntie pulled over in her car to pour us some Somali tea from a kettle and give us homemade cookies. I ran into her the next day and she poured me some chai.”
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration [ [link removed] ] from retaliating against scholars and students for their pro-Palestinian activism.
A 31-year-old entrepreneur was mistakenly [ [link removed] ] detained in Davos, Switzerland on suspicion of being a terrorist. His jail time may have been brief, but it didn’t sound too bad! “The [spring] water was good to drink. The food was phenomenal. They brought it from the hospital, apparently — chicken lasagna, amazing,” he said. Now I’m gonna brainstorm how to get some chicken lasagna….
Have you ever wondered how celebrities talk to each other? [ [link removed] ] Some of Taylor Swift and Blake Lively’s texts were made public today as part of the lawsuit involving director Justin Baldoni. They show how Swift counseled her friend through the drama: “I love you so much,” Lively wrote to Swift. “I would not be ok through any of this if it weren’t for you.” Awww.
British people who are bad at singing [ [link removed] ] are finding community in “Tuneless Choirs,” which is exactly what it sounds like. Dozens of chapters have popped up in the U.K. over the past decade, and two chapters recently launched in Canada. “It’s just so much fun,” one participant said. “We say, ‘Sing like no one’s listening.’ And that is what they do.”
Attention Washington, D.C. residents! There’s a snowball fight [ [link removed] ] at Walter Pierce Park in Adams Morgan planned for 10 a.m. on Sunday morning, and another [ [link removed] ] at 11 a.m. on the National Mall. “Neighborhoods are expected to be blanketed in what meteorologists are calling ‘extremely throwable snow,’” one of the invites reads.
What’s your plan to make it through [ [link removed] ] this massive, national winter storm? Steaming cups of tea? Board games? Wool socks? Roaring fire? Let us know at [email protected]! And stay warm out there, fam!
Meet Huge Sloth! Not only does he bark at mailmen, he impersonates them, too. Good boy!
“Sloth was his name given by the rescue shelter. Hugo is 3 1/2 years old.”
— Kim
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