Wednesday Briefing: Trump’s opponents push back

Plus, an Israeli military operation in the West Bank.

View in browser|nytimes.com January 22, 2025 By Jonathan Wolfe and Emmett Lindner Good morning. We're covering the opposition to Donald Trump and an Israeli military operation in the West Bank. Plus: The movies that have shaped fashion. President Trump signed a series of executive orders in the first hours of his term. Doug Mills/The New York Times Trump's opponents push back President Trump's adversaries made their first moves yesterday, with 22 states suing to prevent him from denying citizenship rights to the children of unauthorized immigrants. It was the start of what's likely to be a long legal battle over immigration. A union representing career federal workers also filed a lawsuit over a Trump executive order that would make it easier to fire them. Two of America's most prominent far-right extremists, Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys and Stewart Rhodes of the Oath Keepers militia, left prison. They were freed as part of Trump's sweeping legal reprieves for all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. On his first full day in office, Trump met with Republican leaders in Congress to discuss his early priorities. Follow our live updates. Here's what else happened: Tech: Trump announced a joint venture among OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle to create a $100 billion A.I. initiative. Economy: Trump has proposed a new agency called the External Revenue Service, which he said would generate "massive" revenue through tariffs. Here's what we know about it. Panama: The country submitted a letter to the U.N. rejecting Trump's pledge to reclaim the Panama Canal during his inauguration speech. Russia: Trump said President Vladimir Putin was "destroying Russia" by waging war in Ukraine. Rallies: Elon Musk ignited chatter over a gesture he made that drew comparisons to the Nazi salute. A party to watch the Trump inauguration at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Davide Monteleone for The New York Times Europe braces for a new Trump era Trump's return to the White House has plunged Europe's business leaders and policymakers into a precarious era, and officials have been bracing for it. The European Commission — the European Union's executive arm — formed a never-officially-announced group, sometimes referred to as a "Trump task force," that spent much of 2024 working on possible responses to changes to American trade and foreign policy. There is almost no aspect of European policy that Trump does not seem poised to upend. He is threatening to impose sweeping tariffs and is pressing for much heftier European spending on defense. Two of his first acts as president were to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organization. How he will adjust America's stance toward Ukraine is one of the biggest questions. Jewish extremists burned buildings and vehicles in Palestinian villages in the West Bank, Palestinian officials and the Israeli military said. Jaafar Ashtiyeh/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Israel began an 'extensive' West Bank operation Israeli security forces began a military operation yesterday in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Eight people were killed and dozens injured within hours, the Palestinian health ministry reported. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said the operation was aimed at "eradicating terrorism." Israeli forces moved in shortly after Trump rescinded sanctions against Jewish extremists and settlers accused of violence against Palestinians. Trump's move came even as Jewish extremists raided and set fires in Palestinian villages to protest the cease-fire in Gaza, Israeli and Palestinian officials said. Related: The head of Israel's military said he would step down over the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack. He is the highest-ranking military leader to do so. MORE TOP NEWS Finbarr O'Reilly for The New York Times Ukraine: Two generals and a colonel who were blamed for the loss of territory in the Kharkiv region last year have been detained, the security service said. Turkey: A fire tore through a 12-story hotel at a ski resort, killing at least 76 people. U.K.: The teenager who pleaded guilty to killing three girls at a dance class in Southport, England, last year was obsessed with violence and death, investigators said. Royals: Prince Harry's trial in his lawsuit against London tabloids was adjourned amid signs that he was weighing a settlement offer from Rupert Murdoch. Afghanistan: The Biden administration secured the release of two Americans in a prisoner swap for a Taliban member imprisoned in the U.S. India: The economy is slowing down, with the stock market reversing gains and the rupee falling against the dollar. What went wrong? SPORTS NEWS Tennis: Novak Djokovic beat Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open. Soccer: Bayern Munich has confirmed the signing of Hoffenheim's Tom Bischof on a pre-contract deal. Formula 1: Haas has appointed Laura Muller as the sport's first female race engineer. MORNING READ Photo illustration by Christina Lee Fast-food restaurants, a symbol of pure Americana, are just as ubiquitous outside the U.S. — but there are twists. McDonald's in West Africa has jollof rice; in Canada, you can order poutine; and in India, the chain offers a menu with no beef. These restaurants are locally owned and supplied, and they're patronized by people who live there. Travelers obsessed with finding "authenticity" should take a look at them. Lives lived: Garth Hudson, the last surviving original member of the Band, the rock group that made hits like "The Weight," died at 87. CONVERSATION STARTERS When John Lennon came to school: A story of hazy memories, a reluctant rock star and a mysterious woman. The other side: After the death of Dr. Peter Fenwick, who studied near-death experiences, readers shared stories of their own encounters. Unspoken: Humans are known to invent private hand gestures. Chimps in the wild do, too, a new study suggests. ARTS AND IDEAS Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-wai in the film "In the Mood for Love." © Block 2 Pictures, via Photofest The movies that have shaped fashion For many contemporary designers, movies were an introduction to the power of fashion. Whereas most children were focused on the plot, these designers were often more interested in the visuals and — in particular — the clothes. We asked nine designers about the movies they watch again and again, and the cinematic fashion moments that continue to inspire them. Maximilian Davis, the Milan-based creative director of Ferragamo, remembers being fixated on the color palette of the 1999 Stanley Kubrick drama "Eyes Wide Shut" when he watched it as a preteen. Willy Chavarria, who designs his namesake brand in New York, first saw the 1973 horror classic "The Exorcist" when he was 12 and was entranced by a khaki dress. Here's what other designers said. We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. RECOMMENDATIONS Linda Xiao for The New York Times Cook: For a big flavor punch, add grated ginger and garlic to this sheet-pan coconut curry with squash and tofu. Watch: An ordinary locksmith turns action-hero brawler in "Night Call." Read: Marcus Chown's "A Crack in Everything" will suck you into a black hole. Play the Spelling Bee. And here are today's Mini Crossword and Wordle. You can find all our puzzles here. That's it for today's briefing. See you tomorrow. — Jonathan and Emmett Reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com. Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. 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TikTok comes back from the dead

PLUS: What we actually learned about Mark Zuckerberg last week 

Platformer TikTok comes back from the dead PLUS: What we actually learned about Mark Zuckerberg last week  By Casey Newton • 21 Jan 2025 View in browser View in browser (Solen Feyissa / Unsplash) If there’s one refrain I have repeated here more than any other over the years, it’s that time is running out for TikTok. Ever since President Trump attempted to forcibly divest the app from ByteDance during his first administration, the company’s future in America has looked grim. And yet two administrations, one federal law, a Supreme Court decision and a 12-hour ban later, TikTok remains infinitely scrolling on the phones of some 170 million Americans. You pass a law to ban TikTok, but it won’t be enough. You can remove it from the Apple and Google app stores, but it won’t be enough. After one of the wildest weekends in the history of tech regulation, TikTok is not dead. But nor is it fully alive. It exists instead in a state of quantum superposition, both there and not at the same time, its fate dependent on a series of random subatomic events that may or may not occur.  TikTok is Schrödinger's app. That’s the short version, anyway. The slightly longer one goes like this. On Friday, the Supreme Court voted unanimously to uphold the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. Justices waved away First Amendment concerns by arguing that so long as ByteDance divested the app, there would be no implications for America’s free expression. Instead they deferred to Congress’ stated concerns about national security, even though Congress never presented any public evidence that ByteDance had improperly used Americans’ data. Under PAFACAA, ByteDance had only until Sunday to divest TikTok. With no deal in hand, the company instead said the app would go dark.  In a true shock, the Biden administration — which had forcibly advocated for PAFACAA and warned incessantly about the dangers of letting the app remain in Chinese hands — said there was “no reason” for ByteDance to comply with the law that it had passed. Here’s Wes Davis in The Verge: White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called TikTok’s threat to “go dark” on Sunday, January 19th, a “stunt” and said there is no reason for TikTok to shut itself down before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in on the 20th. “It is a stunt, and we see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump Administration takes office on Monday,” MSNBC quotes Jean-Pierre as saying. “We have laid out our position clearly and straightforwardly: actions to implement this law will fall to the next administration. So TikTok and other companies should take up any concerns with them.” Jean-Pierre’s comments were particularly galling given that the law gave Biden the ability to extend the deadline for a sale by 90 days — which the president declined to do.  In the end, ByteDance chose to ignore the Biden administration’s advice to ignore the law it had passed. Instead, on Saturday evening, it began to shut down TikTok in the United States. Users of the app were greeted with a screen that TikTok “isn’t available right now.” It added: “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!” Upgrade to continue reading. Become a paid member of Platformer to get access to all premium content. Upgrade Comment Platformer © 2025 – Unsubscribe