The Morning: When history rhymes

Plus, Congress, South Korea and darts.

View in browser|nytimes.com January 3, 2025 Good morning. We're covering the surprising parallels between Donald Trump and a president from the past — as well as Congress, South Korea and darts. Grover Cleveland's 1893 inauguration. Library of Congress An echo By Ian Prasad Philbrick A once-defeated president is headed back to the White House. He's a populist New Yorker who won a popular-vote plurality and scored an Electoral College landslide. He flipped states he lost four years earlier and gave his party full control of Washington. The race scrambled political allegiances, with some voters splitting their tickets. Tariffs were a key issue. That paragraph describes the 2024 election. It also describes 1892, the only other time that an American president has won a second, nonconsecutive term. That year, Grover Cleveland, a Democrat, defeated President Benjamin Harrison, the Republican who had beaten him. Today's newsletter looks at The Times's coverage of that particular moment 132 years ago — and its surprising echoes in Donald Trump's return today. Déjà vu "President Once Again," said The Times's front-page headline about Cleveland's inauguration. "The people made a mistake in not electing Mr. Cleveland in 1888, and they have been confronted with evidence of this mistake for the last four years," one reader wrote in a letter to the editor. Before Cleveland's inauguration, stories speculating about who might fill his second administration filled the paper. As with Trump, some appointees were loyalists. The Times described Cleveland's postmaster general and secretary of war as "unwaveringly faithful to the aims that Mr. Cleveland himself has pursued." His choice for interior secretary had stuck with Cleveland even as other Democrats opposed his third presidential bid. Cleveland's aides would help him with his biggest governing priority: lower tariffs. Republicans had raised them to protect U.S. industries, lifting prices and triggering the backlash that brought Cleveland back to power. Some appointees, though, were converts. Trump's decision to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard, two former Democrats, riled some Republicans. Cleveland likewise shocked Democrats by choosing a longtime Republican who had backed him during the campaign to be secretary of state. "The country can furnish enough men who are Democrats to run the government under a Democratic administration," one of Cleveland's co-partisans groused. Yet, just as many Republicans have rallied around Trump's unorthodox picks, many Democrats gave Cleveland a pass. One party official proclaimed that Cleveland's choice was "a good enough Democrat for me." A parade of visitors Well-wishers and favor-seekers flocked to meet with Cleveland after his win. Trump has Mar-a-Lago and his golf clubs; Cleveland had a house and a law office in New York City as well as a cottage in Lakewood, N.J. For months, Cleveland welcomed friends, cabinet hopefuls, former officials, party insiders, ladder-climbers and journalists (including Adolph Ochs, The Times's future publisher). Spoils of victory Many business leaders celebrated Trump's win; their predecessors reacted similarly to Cleveland's. His supporters felt like "part of a conquering army," The Times reported. Republican businessmen "took on an air of acquiescence which indicated that, while they were not great as prophets, everything was all right anyway." A gracious loser After Trump's win, President Biden hosted him at the White House. Harrison, the departing president who had also defeated his successor four years earlier, took a similar approach. He sent Cleveland a letter "proffering the hospitalities of the White House," and they rode to Cleveland's inauguration together. The incoming president was "escorted back to the place he vacated by the man for whom he had given up the White House," The Times wrote. It was "an association that is not likely to be again witnessed in the history of the country." That prophecy was wrong. History turns, again Then as now, much of the country predicted success for the incoming administration. The Times assessed that voters had given Cleveland "a clear, intelligible and intelligent mandate," akin to the "unprecedented and powerful mandate" Trump claims today. Cleveland's former Navy secretary called it "a popular uprising" that "breaks the back of the Republican Party." Cleveland, like Trump, was not above crowing. In a speech to allies, he celebrated "a stupendous and complete triumph." It was not to last. The country soon fell into a depression, which Harrison's policies likely helped bring on. It consumed much of Cleveland's term, dealt Democrats a landslide defeat in the midterms and handed Republicans the presidency in 1896. For a while, voters turned on Cleveland's party. A Democrat would not occupy the White House for another 16 years. THE LATEST NEWS New Orleans Attack At the reopening of Bourbon Street. Emily Kask for The New York Times A day after the deadly terrorist attack in New Orleans, cautious crowds returned to Bourbon Street. On one corner, a brass band played "I'll Fly Away," a staple of the city's jazz funerals. Investigators now believe the man who carried out the attack, Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, worked alone. He planted explosives in coolers before driving through the crowd, officials said. In videos posted online before the attack, Jabbar said he had joined ISIS before this past summer, an F.B.I. official said. Five years ago, a security review determined that Bourbon Street was vulnerable to a vehicular attack. At the Superdome, a heavily armed police force watched over the almost 60,000 fans who turned out for the rescheduled Sugar Bowl. Notre Dame beat Georgia, 23-10. The F.B.I. has not found a link between the New Orleans attack and the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded the same morning outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas. Biden Administration Biden is expected to block the Japanese company Nippon Steel's takeover of U.S. Steel on the grounds of national security. The president also plans to permanently ban new oil and gas drilling in large sections of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as other federal waters. The Biden administration announced that it would nearly double funding to battle a potential outbreak of bird flu in humans. Congress Mike Johnson Maansi Srivastava for The New York Times The House is set to vote on its next speaker today. Though no Republican has emerged to challenge Mike Johnson, the party's thin majority means that he can't afford to lose more than a few protest votes. John Thune, an affable traditional conservative from South Dakota, today becomes the first new chief of the Senate Republicans in two decades. South Korea Supporters of President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul. Chang W. Lee/The New York Times Officials in South Korea abandoned an attempt to take President Yoon Suk Yeol in for questioning on insurrection charges after an hourslong standoff with his security team. Investigators said they would decide later whether or when to try again to detain him. Yoon's critics have called for the dismissal of those who helped block the first attempt. Thousands of Yoon's supporters camped near his residence for days, vowing to stop his detention. More International News In Balakot, Pakistan. Saiyna Bashir for The New York Times In a deal with Islamist parties, Pakistan is abandoning a requirement that religious seminaries — which Western officials see as a threat — register with the government. Kenyan officials are investigating the origin of a half-ton piece of space junk that crashed in a remote village. Other Big Stories An appeals court struck down federal net neutrality rules. The regulations, enacted by the Obama administration, prevented internet providers from degrading competitors' services. Arctic air will descend on the U.S. this weekend, bringing frigid temperatures next week. Tesla sales fell slightly in 2024, the first annual decline in the company's history, as competition grew in the electric vehicle market. Opinions Palestinians are going through a catastrophe. But they still have their most powerful tool: international support, Khaled Elgindy writes. We're all trying to escape boredom. But Chris Hayes of MSNBC encourages you to appreciate idleness. A subscription to match the variety of your interests. News. Games. Recipes. Product reviews. Sports reporting. A New York Times All Access subscription covers all of it and more. Subscribe today. MORNING READS At Alexandra Palace, in London. Craig Bernard for The New York Times Costumes, beers and cheers: How darts became London's rowdiest winter party. TikTok star: After being diagnosed with A.L.S., Brooke Eby opened up — and found a fan base online. Anniversary: The Times's "52 Places to Go" list turns 20 this year. See how the list, and travel, has changed. Family treasures: Read the story of fine china in the U.S., as seen through a dinner set passed down through five generations of women. Lives Lived: Rosita Missoni, with her husband, Ottavio, built a luxury brand on a foundation of colorful striped and zigzagged knitwear. Their clothing helped make Milan a capital of Italian high fashion. She died at 93. SPORTS N.B.A.: The Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler has requested a trade, a league source said. N.F.L.: The Jets interviewed the former Panthers and Commanders coach Ron Rivera for their vacant head-coaching job and the ESPN analyst Louis Riddick for the open general manager role. ARTS AND IDEAS A rabbi researching with an A.I. program.  Michael Starghill Jr. for The New York Times Modern religious leaders are experimenting with artificial intelligence in the same way earlier generations did with television and the internet. However, the use of the technology in religious settings has raised ethical questions. Read about the debate. More on culture Read what Times critics are looking forward to in 2025. Their picks include the second season of "Severance" and Paul Mescal onstage in "A Streetcar Named Desire." These European art exhibitions are worth traveling for. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Dane Tashima for The New York Times Serve this beans Marbella with a some thickly sliced, toasted bread. Work out your whole body in 10 minutes. Stretch using an app. Block blue light. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was vaunted. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. —Ian Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, 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. 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