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January 16, 2026

Angelina Katsanis/Reuters

Notable

The right is furious with liberal white women. “No normal administration would contemplate a military response to such small-scale disorder. Trump doesn’t want to crush just criminal defiance, but the civil defiance that he wishes he could criminalize.”

— Michelle Goldberg, Opinion columnist

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Iran’s regime is losing its greatest weapon: fear. “Authoritarian regimes do not fall when they are exposed as cruel. Cruelty is their currency. They fall when they are exposed as fragile.”

— Abbas Milani, a director of Iranian studies at Stanford University

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This is how your mind works. “The fact is that your emotions are not primitive and dumb. Positive emotions encourage risk-taking. Awe encourages you to broaden your focus beyond your narrow self. Sadness encourages you to change your way of thinking.”

— David Brooks, Opinion columnist

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Some programming notes: This newsletter will be off on Monday, returning Tuesday. And if you happen to be in Los Angeles on Tuesday, please join our colleagues Jamelle Bouie, Ross Douthat and Kathleen Kingsbury for a live event where they will discuss the first year of President Trump’s second term. Get tickets here.

Spotlight

Trump wants Greenland?

Its previous colonizer has some thoughts.

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ICYMI

Democrats will lose in 2028 unless they change course now. “Right now, Democrats have no credible path to sustained control of the Senate and the White House.”

— David Plouffe, a Democratic political strategist

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Watch (or Listen)

The New York Times Interesting Times with Ross Douthat Minneapolis Feels ‘Like Being in a Civil War’ Documenting ICE is dangerous. This man wants you to do it anyway. 47 MIN LISTEN

More in Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show Has Trump Achieved a Lot Less Than It Seems? The conservative political analyst Yuval Levin gives Ezra Klein his review of Trump’s first year back in office. 1 HR 1 MIN LISTEN

Guest Essay Hope and Fear Mingle in Cuba With the Loss of Maduro, and Oil The electricity may go off, but islanders see a glimmer of hope in Maduro’s departure. By Yoani Sánchez

letters The Geopolitics of Greenland and NATO Readers respond to articles about the U.S. threats against Greenland. Also: A woman’s aging face.

In Your Words

Re: “Trump Picked the Right Stage to Act Out His Imperial Ambitions”

It’s impossible to see how Trump’s short-term strongman tactics can turn into long-term success. People don’t normally like being bullied and denigrated, certainly not bombed. Is it any wonder that Latin America is increasingly more interested in negotiating with China and Europe?— A comment posted by Steve from Portland, Maine

Read more comments on the story here and check out our Letters to the Editor.

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