Trump News for Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Why DHS is investigating its own killings, briefly explained

Cameron Peters, Vox

This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here. Welcome to The Logoff: After killing Alex Pretti in Minneapolis over the week…

Winklevoss Twins Shut Down NFT Marketplace in Another Sign Crypto Art Is Dead

Kyle Torpey, Gizmodo.com

You know what's cooler than a million dollars? A .jpeg that's been cataloged on an immutable blockchain that no one wants to buy.

‘Aside From That, Mr. Cook, What Did You Think of the Movie?’

John Gruber, Spyglass.org

Let them eat popcorn...

How Republicans Forced Trump to Shift Course in Minnesota

Jonathan Lemire, Russell Berman, The Atlantic

A flood of GOP statements sent an unmistakable message to Trump: Enough.

Elon Musk hurls insults at Vinod Khosla after VC founder tries to poach Musk's employees

Lloyd Lee, Business Insider

Elon Musk hurled insults at Vinod Khosla after the VC founder accused Musk of promoting racism and urged some of Musk's employees to quit.

What Should Americans Do Now?

George Packer, The Atlantic

We need a mass movement for basic decency.

How Trump transformed ICE, in two charts

Cameron Peters, Melissa Hirsch, Vox

Just a year into his second term, Donald Trump’s new, militarized immigration force is on full display. Agents in masks and plate carriers are seemingly everywhere, first in Chicago last year and now in Minneapolis, where they have killed two US citizens and …

TikTok Already Getting Shittier Under The Ownership Of Trump’s Billionaire Buddies

Karl Bode, Techdirt

You might recall how Republicans (with help from Democrats) suffered a three year embolism over the national security, privacy, and propaganda problems inherent with TikTok — only to turn around and let Trump sell the platform to his technofascist billionaire…

TikTok Raises U.S. Censorship Fears After Messages About Jeffrey Epstein Are Blocked

Miles Klee, Rolling Stone

After Trump-connected investors took a controlling stake in the U.S. version of the app, users have claimed that it's suppressing political topics

The US is facing a wrongful-death lawsuit after a lethal strike on a boat it says was smuggling drugs

Chris Panella, Business Insider

Two Trinidadian nationals were said to be among six people killed by a US strike. The lawsuit characterized the strike as 'unlawful.'

IEEPA Tariffs Update

Barry Ritholtz, Ritholtz.com

Two weeks ago, I wrote “It’s Tariff Week! *.” The asterisk added the word “Hopefully…” “This is likely the week the Supreme Court issues a ruling on the IEEPA tariffs in place since April 2025.” I wrote, getting it totally wrong. It turned out to be (mostly) …

Mozilla is Building an AI 'Rebel Alliance' To Take on Industry Heavweights OpenAI, Anthropic

msmash, Slashdot.org

Mozilla, the nonprofit organization behind the Firefox browser that has spent two decades battling tech giants over control of the internet, is now turning its attention to AI and deploying roughly $1.4 billion in reserves to fund what president Mark Surman c…

WATCH: President Trump calls fatal shooting of Alex Pretti 'a very sad situation'

ABC News

Trump told ABC News' Mary Bruce that the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by a federal agent in Minneapolis is a "very sad situation."

Border Patrol Thug Greg Bovino Gets Booted Back To The Border By The Trump Administration

Tim Cushing, Techdirt

Unexpected, but in the most delightful sense of the word — the sort of thing we’ve rarely seen since January 2025. Gregory Bovino has been removed from his role as Border Patrol “commander at large” and will return to his former job in El Centro, California, …

Kristi Noem met with Trump amid scrutiny over deadly Minneapolis shooting: Sources

Rachel Scott, Luke Barr, ABC News

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem met with President Trump on Monday, sources told ABC News, amid fallout the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

China is purging its military leaders. Is this a step toward war?

Joshua Keating, Vox

In recent years, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has been systematically purging his country’s senior military leaders, part of an overall campaign that has meted out punishment to some 200,000 officials since he took power. It’s officially an anti-corruption progr…

WATCH: Backup of 18-wheelers on Louisiana highway in aftermath of winter storm

ABC News

Vehicles were stuck for days on a stretch of Interstate 20 in Louisiana in the aftermath of the weekend winter storm, with local officials blaming the “lingering accumulations of snow/ice.”

PlayStation’s Spider-Man Calls For Blocking ICE Funding After Brutal Minnesota Killing

Ethan Gach, Kotaku

Yuri Lowenthal asked others to speak out against injustice The post PlayStation’s Spider-Man Calls For Blocking ICE Funding After Brutal Minnesota Killing appeared first on Kotaku.

Zoom Is the First Casualty in France’s War on American Big Tech

Ece Yildirim, Gizmodo.com

Homebrewed video conferencing may not be a moonshot, but you gotta start somewhere.

Bari Weiss fielded tough questions from CBS News staffers about political bias and the network's future at a town hall

James Faris, Business Insider

Bari Weiss was grilled by CBS News staffers in an all-hands meeting and said she's not "a mouthpiece for anybody" when asked about political bias.

A Reckoning for the Tech Right

Lila Shroff, The Atlantic

Silicon Valley’s top CEOs have been noticeably silent after the Minneapolis shooting.

Filipino Mayor Survives Rocket Launcher Assassination Attempt, on Video

TMZ Staff, TMZ

The mayor of a small town in the Philippines was attacked by a rocket-propelled grenade in an apparent assassination attempt and lived to tell the tale ... and it looks like his armored car saved his life. Ya gotta see this crazy footage out of…

ICE watchers in Maine say they were threatened by federal agents

Salomé Cloteaux, Dana Richie, Press Herald

Community members have been monitoring the activity of immigration agents in Greater Portland.

How long can ICE keep ignoring federal courts?

Ian Millhiser, Vox

The chief judge of Minnesota’s federal district court, a George W. Bush appointee who clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia, just issued a remarkable order commanding the head of ICE to appear personally before him to explain why he should not be held in contemp…

Neil Young Gifts Entire Music Archive to Every Greenland Resident

Alex Suskind, Pitchfork

The singer hopes the offer “will ease some of the unwarranted stress…you are experiencing from our unpopular and hopefully temporary government”

★ The Names They Call Themselves

John Gruber, Daringfireball.net

*Fascist* and *Nazi* weren’t slurs that were applied to the Italians and Germans by their political or military opponents. That’s what they called themselves. The job won’t be done, this era of madness will not end, until we make *the names Trump’s regime cal…

Can You Sue the White House Over an AI Deepfake?

Matt Novak, Gizmodo.com

The Trump regime's abuse of AI has opened up new legal questions.

Salesforce signs $5.6B deal to inject agentic AI into the US Army

Brandon Vigliarolo, Theregister.com

Analytics features arrive first; agentic AI comes later Salesforce is getting cosier with the US Army via a deal worth up to $5.6 billion, selling cloud analytics as the groundwork for a future agentic AI push across the service and the wider DoD.…

Science magazine: US government has lost more than 10,000 STEM PhDs since...

Jason Kottke, kottke.org

Science magazine: US government has lost more than 10,000 STEM PhDs since Trump took office.

Newly departed FBI director under Trump breaks silence: ‘Tired of these idiots’

Liesel Nygard, MassLive.com

The former FBI director is sharing his concerns after no longer being restrained by a government badge.

The Trump Administration Is Losing The Support Of Local Law Enforcement

Tim Cushing, Techdirt

The thing with an invasion is that it makes enemies of everyone being invaded, even those who may nominally support the end goal. Law enforcement officers and officials are no exception, especially when they see the invading force creating problems they shoul…

TikTok Swears It Didn’t Ban Sharing the Name ‘Epstein,’ as Gavin Newsom Announces Investigation

Bruce Gil, Gizmodo.com

The scrutiny follows a rocky first week under new U.S. ownership./

Canadian PM Carney denies walking back Davos speech in phone call with Trump

BBC News

The Canadian prime minister confirmed that he and the US president spoke by phone after Trump threatened 100% tariffs on Canada.

Google DeepMind Staffers Ask Leaders to Keep Them ‘Physically Safe’ From ICE

Maxwell Zeff, Wired

A federal agent allegedly tried to enter Google’s Cambridge campus in the fall, WIRED has learned. Now, staffers want policies that protect them from immigration officials.

Philip Glass cancels Kennedy Center symphony premiere in protest of Trump's leadership

HILLEL ITALIE, Yahoo Entertainment

Prize-winning composer Philip Glass has called off a scheduled world premiere at the Kennedy Center of a symphony about Abraham Lincoln, the latest in a wave...

US Pediatricians Give Middle Finger to RFK Jr., Issue Their Own Vaccine Recommendations

Ed Cara, Gizmodo.com

The American Academy of Pediatrics and 12 other medical groups are recommending the same childhood shots once endorsed by the CDC.

WATCH: Single-digit wind chills across Midwest, Northeast lead to deep freeze

ABC News

Dangerous cold is hampering cleanup after a deadly snowstorm that continues to disrupt air travel and power grids across the Midwest and Northeast.

Trump's shadow looms over India-EU trade deal

BBC News

Despite strong relations between India and EU, trade talks were stuck for two decades. So what changed now?

Donald Trump Can Be Stopped

Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic

The president’s retreat in Minneapolis is a stinging defeat for the national conservatives.

Josh Shapiro Takes a Gamble on His Faith

Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic

The presidential contender’s memoir presents his Jewishness as a unifying force—and in this morally fraught moment, it might just work.

Valve Fails To Get $900m Class Action Lawsuit Over Pricing Thrown Out

John Walker, Kotaku

The UK case claims Steam is overcharging players of PC games The post Valve Fails To Get $900m Class Action Lawsuit Over Pricing Thrown Out appeared first on Kotaku.

How to help the resistance to ICE in Minnesota — and beyond

Sara Herschander, Vox

In recent weeks, Minnesota has borne the brunt of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration strategy, with federal officials detaining thousands of people, from preschoolers to, occasionally, US citizens. Minnesotans on the ground have responded in tu…

Trinidadian Families Sue the Trump Admin Over Wrongful Deaths in October Boat Strike

Jim Vorel, Jezebel

The families of Trinidadian fishermen killed by the U.S. military in an October boat strike are demanding justice.

Families of killed men file first U.S. federal lawsuit over drug boat strikes

Carrie Johnson, NPR

The case filed in Massachusetts is the first lawsuit over the strikes to land in a U.S. federal court since the Trump administration launched a campaign to target vessels off the coast of Venezuela.

Trump left ‘amazed’ this top rival may run for president in 2028

Rachel Cohen, nj.com

The president believes this one project will hurt the Democrat's floated presidential chances.

Judge in Minnesota orders ICE chief to appear in court

Melissa Quinn, CBS News

The judge ordered the acting head of ICE to appear in his courtroom on Friday and explain why he should not be held in contempt of court.

Trump Admin Expands the Already Draconian Global Gag Rule to Target Trans Rights, DEI

Danielle Han, Jezebel

One human rights expert told Jezebel that the expanded rule pushes Trump’s agenda “of conditioning previously apolitical funding to control people’s bodies and decimate human rights internationally.”

Norway parliament approves $2 billion artillery plan

Reuters, Yahoo Entertainment

OSLO, Jan 27 () - Norway's parliament on Tuesday approved a $2 billion procurement plan for long-range artillery to boost the NATO country's ​deterrence...

Italians furious over deployment of ICE to bolster US security at Olympics

Sana Noor Haq, Barbie Latza Nadeau, Antonia Mortensen, CNN

Outrage is growing in Italy over the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to assist US security operations at the Winter Olympics next month.

Brendan Carr Again Threatens Talk Shows That Refuse To Coddle Republicans

Karl Bode, Techdirt

For more than fifty years the U.S. right wing has accused academia, journalism or science of having a “liberal bias” if it reveals absolutely anything the right wing doesn’t like. It’s an easy way to quickly discredit any critics of your worldview without hav…

After rocky start, Bari Weiss to cut staff, add commentators at CBS News

David Folkenflik, NPR

CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss came in with a mandate to reshape coverage. She is set to announce plans for newsroom cuts and the hiring of many new commentators.

Here’s How Martha Stewart Responded When Her 14-Year-Old Granddaughter Called Out Her Silence On The ICE Killings

Leyla Mohammed, Buzzfeed

“Her generation gives me hope.”View Entire Post ›

Trump sends border czar to Minnesota. And, trial over social media addiction begins

Brittney Melton, NPR

Border czar Tom Homan heads to Minnesota to replace Greg Bovino amid the immigration crackdown backlash. And a trial starts today to decide whether social media firms knowingly harm young users.

10 Tuesday AM Reads

Barry Ritholtz, Ritholtz.com

My snowbound morning train WFH reads: • Hedge Funds Are Back on Top After a Long ‘Alpha Winter’ Nearly half of investors plan to increase exposure to hedge funds, Goldman Sachs survey finds. (Wall Street Journal) • 24-hour trading? Log off: Treasury vigilante…

Democrats Finally Discover Leverage After 2 Americans Are Killed

Lauren Tousignant, Jezebel

Senate Dems have vowed to block ICE funding—an act of courage that somehow required dead U.S. citizens.

Maybe It Is Possible to Be Too Visibly a Nazi for the Trump Administration?

Jim Vorel, Jezebel

All it took was Gregory Bovino dressing like a Gestapo commander and fighting random citizens online to finally get him removed from sight.

Trump impeachment whistleblower Alexander Vindman launches Democratic Senate campaign in Florida

Kimberly Leonard, Politico

Vindman, a retired lieutenant colonel now challenging Republican Ashley Moody, testified before Congress about Trump’s call with Ukrainian President...

Minneapolis ICE shootings have pushed CEOs back into politics. Some are being more blunt than others.

Sarah E. Needleman, Business Insider

Leaders voicing alarm over ICE's actions risk backlash from a president known to target execs who cross him.

Jimmy Kimmel Calls Out 'One Atrocity After Another' Committed by ICE in Minneapolis

Drew Gillis, Jezebel

Since 2007, Jezebel has been the Internet's most treasured source for everything celebrities, sex, and politics...with teeth.

Trump to hold de facto midterm kickoff in Iowa focused on the economy, energy prices

Stephen Fowler, NPR

President Trump's rally in Iowa on Tuesday brings his message to a state disproportionately affected by his economic policies and whose voters could help determine control of Congress.

Trump heads to Iowa hoping to refocus attention from shootings to the economy

Franco Ordoñez, NPR

More Republicans are calling for an investigation after a second U.S. citizen was shot by a federal agent in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis killings put a focus on use of body cameras

Ximena Bustillo, NPR

Federal immigration enforcement authorities are facing scrutiny and criticism over their tactics, including the lack of body-worn cameras, following the killing of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.

Reporter's Notebook: Living and reporting from Minneapolis in crisis

Meg Anderson, NPR

In Minneapolis, disruption has become part of daily life for nearly everyone, including for NPR reporter Meg Anderson. Many residents are living in fear and uncertainty.

EU, India Reach Trade Deal After Nearly Two Decades

Bloomberg, Yahoo Entertainment

The European Union and India concluded a free trade agreement after nearly two decades of negotiations. The deal is expected to double EU goods exports to...

What to expect from January's Fed meeting as Powell faces looming DOJ probe

Allie Kelly,Madison Hoff, Business Insider

The Federal Reserve will likely hold rates steady at its January meeting, even as Jerome Powell faces mounting pressure from Trump amid the DOJ probe.

Venezuela Is Taking the Doublethink Approach with the Trump Administration

Jim Vorel, Jezebel

"Interim" President of Venezuela Delcy Rodríguez is walking a delicate line, pretending to oppose Trump while giving him everything he wants.

WATCH: Hotel roof collapses to lobby outside of Oklahoma City

ABC News

Workers at the hotel say the collapse did not impact the rest of the hotel and no one was hurt.

At least 6,126 people killed in Iran's crackdown on nationwide protests, activists say

The Associated Press, NPR

Iran's bloody crackdown on nationwide protests killed at least 6,126 people while many others still are feared dead, activists said Tuesday, as a U.S. aircraft carrier group arrived in the Mideast to lead any American military response to the crisis.

NATO chief wishes 'good luck' to those who think Europe can defend itself without US help

The Associated Press, NPR

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte insisted Monday that Europe is incapable of defending itself without U.S. military support and would have to more than double current military spending targets to be able to do so.

California's Newsom accuses TikTok of suppressing Trump criticism

Yahoo Entertainment

"Trump Is Just A Symptom" — People Are Sharing What They Think The US Will Be Like After Trump's Second Term

Julia Corrigan, Buzzfeed

"Every term ends the same way: different faces, same cycle."View Entire Post ›

Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino returning to position in El Centro: Sources

Luke Barr, ABC News

Customs and Border Protection commander-at-large Greg Bovino is returning to El Centro, California, to resume his duties as chief of that sector, sources told ABC News.

How Minnesotans Faced Down MAGA

Adam Serwer, The Atlantic

The pushback against ICE exposed a series of mistaken assumptions.

The Trump administration is admitting it lied about Alex Pretti

Eric Levitz, Vox

A federal agent shoves a woman to the ground. A young man walks over to help her up. Then the agent pepper-sprays them both.  Despite the burning in his eyes, the young man keeps trying to get the woman upright — until a pack of masked, camouflaged officers w…

TikTok Completes Deal to Create U.S. Entity and Avert Ban

Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork

Major investors Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX signed agreements to form the new joint venture

All the ways TikTok is broken: here’s what’s real and what’s not

Richard Lawler, The Verge

While social media rumors have suggested the errors are examples of censorship, more than a day after the issues began, TikTok USDS says the problems are the result of a power outage at a data center that it is working to resolve. Rumors of censorship targeti…

Hundreds of Target employees urge the company to keep ICE out of stores. Read the letter to leadership.

Dominick Reuter, Business Insider

More than 275 employees signed a letter to Target leadership that outlined four steps they say the company should take in response to ICE.

Donald Trump Still Wants Tariffs On Films Made Outside U.S., Says He Plans Low-Interest Bonds For Hollywood Movies

Ted Johnson, Deadline

Donald Trump still wants to impose tariffs on movies made outside the United States, while he’s talking about establishing low interest bonds for the...