Top Items:

Trump's sudden love of TikTok shows he needs disinfo more than he hates China — Not too long ago, Donald Trump was a big fan of banning TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media app that went offline in the U.S. early Sunday under a controversial ban. On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the law …
Discussion:
Mediaite, New York Post, CBS News and Washington Examiner, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:

TikTok goes dark for US users; Trump signals intervention — TikTok app with the message “Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now” are seen in this illustration taken, January 19, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Purchase Licensing Rights — President-elect Donald Trump …
Discussion:
Associated Press, DNyuz and Fortune, more at Mediagazer »

Apple, Google remove TikTok from stores as app halts service in US … Apple and Google removed TikTok from their app stores Saturday night, complying with a law requiring China's ByteDance to divest the social app or see it face an effective ban in the U.S.
Discussion:
Breitbart, Wired, Digital Trends, Variety, Mediaite, Fox Business and New York Daily News, more at Mediagazer »

TikTok Goes Dark in the U.S.
Discussion:
Associated Press, CNN, Forbes, DNyuz, Politico, TechCrunch, Metro.co.uk, Fortune, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Post, NPR, New Jersey Online and Deadline, more at Techmeme »
Ethan Zuckerman / The Atlantic:
America Is No Longer the Home of the Free Internet
America Is No Longer the Home of the Free Internet
Discussion:
New York Post and The Intercept
Anissa Gardizy / The Information:
Oracle Prepares to Start Shutting TikTok Servers Saturday Night
Oracle Prepares to Start Shutting TikTok Servers Saturday Night
Discussion:
Scripps News, Washington Post, TMZ.com, Wired, 9to5Google, The Hill, 9to5Mac, USA Today, Politico, CBS News and Kevin Drum, more at Techmeme »
Politico:
TikTok goes dark in the US
TikTok goes dark in the US
Discussion:
DNyuz, Washington Examiner, Rolling Stone, SheKnows, Fox Business, Daily Mail, The Hill, Bloomberg, Forbes and NBC News, more at Mediagazer »

Donald Trump, crypto billionaire … - After another massive overnight rally, as of Sunday morning Trump's crypto holdings were worth as much as $58 billion on paper, enough — with his other assets — to make him one of the world's 25 richest people.
Discussion:
Washington Times, Business Insider, Townhall, Scripps News, Decrypt, Forbes, Mediaite and CoinDesk, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:

Trump begins selling a new crypto token, in a move assailed as an ethical breach.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Salon, The Information and IJR
Jasper Goodman / Politico:
Trump launches crypto meme coin, ballooning net worth ahead of inauguration
Trump launches crypto meme coin, ballooning net worth ahead of inauguration
Discussion:
The Guardian, MarketWatch, CoinDesk, Fox Business, Forbes, The Gateway Pundit, Bloomberg, New York Post, Mother Jones, Fortune, UPI, CBS News, Daily Mail, Axios and The Hill

A president's final days — As Biden leaves office, his term is ending where it began: Trump. — On a recent Tuesday morning, in a dim underground parking garage in west Los Angeles, President Joe Biden sat idly in his car, seemingly paralyzed by events.
RELATED:

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Trump Returns to White House With More Deferential Allies and Foes
Trump Returns to White House With More Deferential Allies and Foes
Discussion:
Election Law Blog
David Strom / HotAir:
Democrats Now Threatening People Who Donated to Trump's Inauguration
Democrats Now Threatening People Who Donated to Trump's Inauguration
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and Townhall

National Guard troops worry Trump will deploy them for mass deportations — “I don't want to be seen as a Gestapo,” one former senior military official said. — National Guard members fear landing in the center of a political tussle between red state governors and blue state attorneys general …
Discussion:
Raw Story

Exclusive: German ambassador warns of Trump plan to redefine constitutional order, document shows — Germany's ambassador to the United States has warned that the incoming Trump administration will rob U.S. law enforcement and the media of their independence and hand big tech companies …
The White House:
Statement from President Joe Biden on Clemency Actions — America is a country built on the promise of second chances. As President, I have used my clemency power to make that promise a reality by issuing more individual pardons and commutations than any other President in U.S. history.
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, The Hill, Associated Press, Fox News, WRIC ABC 8News and New York Magazine

Fox News Prepares to Cover a Government Filled With Fox News Alumni — President-elect Donald J. Trump has leaned heavily on familiar faces from the cable network as he fills out his second-term cast. — Nineteen ... and counting. — That's the number of former Fox News hosts …
Discussion:
Raw Story

A Trump Oligarchy Is Moving to Washington, and Buying Up Prime Addresses — Billionaires and multimillionaires are flocking to a city where power has been more important than money, but is now deeply intertwined with it. — President Biden warned in his farewell address to the nation …
Discussion:
The Guardian

Bannon: Billionaire CEOs have surrendered to Trump — Ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon said he sees the presence of billionaire CEOs and tech moguls at President-elect Trump's inaugural events as a white flag of surrender from “the oligarchs.” … - “I will have Elon Musk run out of here by Inauguration Day …
Discussion:
Raw Story, The Verge, The Guardian and The Independent

Texas Has a Perverse Idea of Religious Freedom — The Supreme Court of Texas just heard oral argument in a case challenging a remarkably punitive and malicious attack on religious liberty by the state of Texas. That attack isn't just dangerous on its own terms, it's also a potential preview …

'We'd Have Been Better Off if Trump Won in 2020': Three Columnists Brace for the First 100 Days — Patrick Healy, the deputy Opinion editor, hosted an online conversation with the Times Opinion columnists David Brooks, Ross Douthat and Michelle Goldberg about Donald Trump's presidential inauguration …

‘Reactionary nihilism’: how a rightwing movement strives to end US democracy — Money, Lies, and God exposes a Christian nationalist movement funded by the super-rich seeking to secure their wealth at the expense of others — There is a “real and very, very present” threat to the US …

Trump's return to office greeted with optimism, high expectations — CBS News poll — A majority of Americans are optimistic about the next four years with Donald Trump, even more so than they were in 2017 before his first term. And most are hopeful about the coming year.

Trump Triggers a Crisis in Denmark—And Europe — What a single phone call from the president-elect did to an unswerving American ally — What did Donald Trump say over the phone to Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, on Wednesday? I don't know which precise words he used, but I witnessed their impact.
Discussion:
Digby's Hullabaloo, Raw Story and nationalinterest.org