The Morning: How Trump divided Republicans on immigration

Plus, the war in Gaza, Mars and Taylor Swift.

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story January 26, 2024 A congressional bill that would both strengthen border security and provide aid to Ukraine appears to be in trouble. My colleague Annie Karni, who covers Congress, takes over the newsletter today to give you the back story. — David Leonhardt By Annie Karni Congressional Correspondent, Washington Good morning. We're also covering the war in Gaza, Mars and Taylor Swift. Mitch McConnell Valerie Plesch for The New York Times Trump's influence Just as senators were closing in on a deal that Republican negotiators said would constitute the most conservative border security bill in decades, Donald Trump was closing in on the G.O.P. presidential nomination. And his vocal opposition to the compromise, which would also send tens of billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine, now threatens the chances of the entire package in a divided Congress. Trump's twin primary victories have forced Republicans to once again fall in line. Now, he is wielding a heavier hand over his party's agenda in Congress than at any other time since leaving office. Republicans are "in a quandary," Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, told his conference in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday, according to lawmakers who attended. What was supposed to be the sweetener for conservatives opposed to sending tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine had become as politically treacherous as the foreign aid itself, he said. Trump's growing influence was dividing Republicans on an issue that once united the party. A hard line on immigration Trump burst onto the national political scene in 2015 with a dark warning about dangerous immigrants invading the country's Southern border and with a slogan that outlasted them all, "Build the Wall." More than eight years later, he is agitating against compromise: "We need a Strong, Powerful, and essentially 'PERFECT' Border and, unless we get that, we are better off not making a Deal," he wrote on social media. With more than half of Senate Republicans now officially backing Trump's candidacy, those entreaties are becoming harder to ignore as mere prattle from Palm Beach. Senators have been working on a border deal since just before Thanksgiving. But as the complicated talks have dragged on, Trump has begun collecting delegates and pressing for the party to coalesce around him and his agenda. His allies in Congress regard him as the party's de facto leader and urge their colleagues to fall in line with his policies. Even Republicans who are not die-hard fans of Trump have said in recent days that they will do what they can to support him as the party's nominee. His policies include severe immigration measures that President Biden and Senate Democrats would never support. Trump and most House Republicans want to block migrants from living and working temporarily without visas in the United States while they await the outcome of their immigration claims. And conservatives seek a revival of the "Remain in Mexico" policy, which forced immigrants to wait elsewhere to see if they would be permitted entry. Speaker Mike Johnson, who talks about immigration regularly with Trump, has said that a Senate deal without those policies would be dead on arrival in the House. The collapse of a deal Yesterday, Republican supporters of a border deal were livid at the notion that Trump might tank their work. "We have to have people here who support Trump, who have endorsed President Trump, go to him and tell him what a compelling case this is," Thom Tillis, a North Carolina senator, said. Trump has always had far more power to derail things than to help lawmakers find consensus. The former House speaker Kevin McCarthy knew that — and worked hard last year to keep Trump quiet during negotiations with Biden to avoid a federal debt default. Trump didn't weigh in until after the deal was done. McCarthy was able to pass the bill with a majority of G.O.P. support. But back then, Trump was not yet winning nominating contests, and spending cuts were never the animating issue of his political identity. Attacking Biden's border policy is already a main plank of Trump's campaign. He has accused the president of opening the door for terrorists and for fentanyl to pour into the country. A Trump campaign ad claims that Biden's immigration policies raise "the possibility of a Hamas attack" in the United States. And Trump vows to build "even more wall" along the Southern border. On Thursday, McConnell tried to assure alarmed senators that he was still moving ahead with the border-Ukraine package. Still, the road is less certain than it was last year, before Trump began winning nominating contests. Senator Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama Republican and a staunch Trump supporter, said the breathless atmosphere that enveloped Capitol Hill yesterday was nothing but hot air. "We haven't even seen the text yet and everyone is panicking," he said. "Just get it done and see if you got enough votes." Related: Britain's government is lobbying Republicans to support Ukraine, fearing that a Russian victory would threaten European security. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Israel-Hamas War The U.N.'s highest court is expected to decide today whether Israel should suspend its war in Gaza. It will not yet rule on a broader genocide charge. The court has no means of enforcement, and Israel would not have to comply. The C.I.A. director plans to renew a push for a cease-fire. The U.S. and Britain imposed new sanctions on Houthi leaders. Trump Trials E. Jean Carroll Brendan McDermid/Reuters Trump briefly testified at his defamation trial. The jury will decide how much he must pay E. Jean Carroll, a writer he defamed after she accused him of rape. Trump's lawyers pushed to disqualify Fani Willis from overseeing the Georgia criminal case against him, arguing that she created a conflict of interest by hiring a prosecutor they say is a romantic partner. 2024 Election Donald Trump Doug Mills/The New York Times Win or else: Read how Trump's campaign swept Iowa and New Hampshire. A super PAC supporting Nikki Haley raised more in the second half of 2023 than Trump's main super PAC. Trump said her donors would be "permanently barred from the MAGA camp." The liberal activist group MoveOn will spend more than $32 million this year to back Biden and Democratic candidates for the House and Senate. Establishment Republicans are trying to keep an election-denying congressman out of the Senate race in Montana to increase their chances of beating a vulnerable Democrat. More on Politics Peter Navarro, a former Trump adviser, received a four-month prison sentence for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. A Republican-appointed judge denounced the attempts by prominent Republican politicians to recast Jan. 6 in a positive light. The House Ethics Committee ended its investigation of Representative Jamaal Bowman, a New York Democrat, for pulling a House fire alarm but called his explanation "less than credible." Senator Chuck Schumer called for a crackdown on ZYN, a nicotine pouch popular with influencers. Read more about nicotine pouches. Alabama Outside an Alabama prison. Edmund D. Fountain for The New York Times Alabama executed a man using nitrogen gas, becoming the first state in the U.S. to use the previously untested method. Read more about the execution. The state attorney general called the new method "humane and effective." Some experts disagree. Tech The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Microsoft, Amazon and Google's investments in A.I. start-ups, part of its efforts to curtail the power of big tech. Explicit, fake images of Taylor Swift, most likely generated by A.I., spread across social media. Global Economy The U.S. economy accelerated in 2023, driven by strong consumer spending and a hot job market. Many forecasters had expected a decline. Japan's stock market, overlooked by investors for decades, is making a comeback as China's struggles. Other Big Stories Ingenuity NASA/JPL-Caltech Ingenuity, NASA's tiny helicopter on Mars, ended its mission. It was searching for evidence that life was once on the planet. Someone struck a South Korean lawmaker on the head with a blunt object, leaving her with injuries that weren't life-threatening. It was the second public attack on a Korean politician in less than a month. Obituary pirates are publishing dubious articles about everyday people's deaths to capture Google traffic. Arkansas authorities recaptured one of two men who escaped from a jail there. The other remains missing. Opinions People are acutely pessimistic about humanity's future right now. Periods of panic are a pattern throughout history, Tyler Austin Harper writes. "Killers of the Flower Moon" asks Americans to confront the shame of their colonial history, Maggie Blackhawk writes. Here are columns by Paul Krugman on "Bidencare" and by David Brooks on classic art. Discover more of the insight you value in The Morning. The Times is filled with information and inspiration every day. So gain unlimited access to everything we offer — and save with this introductory offer. MORNING READS Grand Anse Beach, Grenada. Tony Cenicola/The New York Times 36 Hours: Scuba dive through an underwater art gallery on Grenada. Live fast, die young: Male antechinus, rodent-like animals from Australia, will forgo sleep for sex during their breeding season — after which they die. Paris: Want to go to the summer 2024 Olympics? It's going to be really expensive. Lives Lived: Bill Hayes logged 2,141 episodes on "Days of Our Lives" over five and a half decades and recorded a best-selling single, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett," in 1955. Hayes died at 98. SPORTS Women's college basketball: No. 1 South Carolina beat No. 9 L.S.U., the defending national champions, 76-70 on the road. N.F.L.: The Atlanta Falcons hired Raheem Morris — their interim head coach in 2020 — to the full-time position, ending a search originally focused on Bill Belichick. Sports wagers: The former L.S.U. wide receiver Kayshon Boutte was arrested in Louisiana on an underage gambling charge. Australian Open: Novak Djokovic lost today, ending a flawless record. Lawsuit: A former employee of W.W.E. sued Vince McMahon, its longtime chairman and chief executive, accusing him of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault and trafficking. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS The New York Times Artificial art: A movie concept artist and an artificial intelligence expert teamed up to test whether A.I. image generators were learning from, and reproducing, copyrighted images. Sure enough, their requests — and subsequent tests by Times reporters — led the systems to generate replicas of images from movies and video games. The A.I. companies say they are exempt from copyright restrictions, under a rule known as "fair use," though many experts disagree. "What they're doing is clear evidence of exploitation," the artist, Reid Southen, said. More on culture Florence Pugh and Kylie Jenner at Valentino in Paris. Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Celebrities are in Paris for the fashion shows. See what they're wearing. "I'm gonna faint. I'm gonna black out": Natalie Portman and Rihanna discovered they are fans of each other. Watch the video. Some American arts organizations shun the Sackler family for its role in the opioid crisis. British institutions are taking the money. Late night hosts mocked Trump's testimony. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Sarah Anne Ward for The New York Times Use a cast-iron skillet to make these thick, golden brown sourdough pancakes. Work out even when it feels impossible. Brighten the dark corners of your home with a lantern. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangrams were twitching and witching. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Lauren Jackson, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for the Morning newsletter from The New York Times, or as part of your New York Times account. To stop receiving The Morning, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018