Welcome to the online version From the political deskis an evening newsletter bringing you the latest reporting and analysis from the NBC News Politics team from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.
In today's edition, we take a deep dive into the final days of the president's term and his legacy. As for the incoming president, the team laid out the key storylines to watch after he takes office on Monday. With a ban on TikTok looming this weekend, some in Washington are changing their minds about the app's future.
—Adam Wallner
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There are now less than 72 hours until Donald Trump is sworn in for the second time. Mother Nature is already at work: Trump announced that the inauguration will be moved to the Capitol Rotunda due to a cold forecast for Washington.
(Side note: When was the last time a ceremony was held indoors? At Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration in 1985, the temperature was 7 degrees.)
No matter where it takes place, once Trump is sworn in as the 47th president, he will face a long to-do list and a host of challenges.
There's a lot to address, so we asked our NBC News colleagues what they'll be focusing on in Trump's first week back in the White House.
This is what they said:
Kelly O'Donnell: For Trump, returning to the presidency provides a fresh start for his second term. It will be new yet familiar, using his authority to sign executive orders on a core set of issues involving border security and deportations while using his pen to issue pardons.
I expect he will use his office megaphone to reinforce his argument that the November vote gives him a broad mandate. The challenge is that the expectations of his supporters are high, and external events such as the California fires and conflicts overseas will demand his attention. After years of campaign posturing, he faces the daily burden of delivering on promises and demands while responding to crises.
Peter Alexander: Beyond the executive order and his promise to start mass deportations on day one, I will be watching Trump's tone. His speech at the Republican National Convention last summer began with a unifying message but quickly soured. He promised his inaugural address would also unite. But it's been eight years since his "American Carnage" speech, and we'll get our first taste of his tone just minutes after he was sworn in.
Christine Welker: I will be watching developments in the war in Ukraine. One of Trump's most ambitious campaign promises was that he would end wars early in his administration. He told me last December that he was actively working on it. But Trump recently said he believed six months was a realistic timetable and that it would be inappropriate to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the issue before he takes office. So will there be any progress in the first week?
Andrea Mitchell: The Middle East will also be a major foreign policy flashpoint in Trump's first week in office. One question is whether the ceasefire in Gaza is effective, especially since no American hostages will be released until at least the second week of the deal. Related to this is whether the United States can extend Lebanon's two-month cease-fire agreement, which is due to expire at the end of next week. Trump will have to decide whether to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria as he has recommended in the past, despite the new threat posed by the resurgence of the Islamic State in Syria after the fall of Assad's regime.
Garrett Hacker: Trump and congressional Republicans have taken pains to start the new year seemingly singing from the same hymn. But December's debt and spending collapse highlighted how fragile the cross-town alliance between Republican-controlled branches actually is. Trump's first week on Capitol Hill will be carefully crafted, but how long can a handful of people withstand the tension between Trump's expensive promises, mounting debt and vows to cut costs through DOGE's outside forces? When these priorities all begin to collide, what will Trump do?
Vaughan Mountain Villa: Speaking of DOGE, the world's richest man, Elon Musk, has a uniquely powerful relationship with the incoming president -- Trump has historically held hands on his closest aides or cabinet members (even the vice president) The relationship feels uncomfortable.
Will his grand plan to subvert the machinations of governance in Washington come to fruition? He has followed through on his promise to cut the annual federal budget by one-third, and the accompanying reorganization of federal departments and agencies will require significant support from lawmakers. Is this a power dynamic that can create lasting change, or will the pressure of commitment cause the relationship to break down?
🗣️Swing voters say: We also spoke with 18 voters who did not support Trump in 2020 but did support him last November. They have high hopes for the next administration, although some doubt he will be able to deliver on his promises. Read more →
Last year, amid a heated presidential campaign, Democratic and Republican lawmakers jointly passed a bill that could have resulted in the popular social media app TikTok being banned in the United States. President Joe Biden signed it into law without objection.
Now, with the Supreme Court ruling upholding the law on Friday and a TikTok ban set to take effect on Sunday, neither side wants to take credit for the bipartisan legislative victory.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said enforcement of TikTok laws "has to be the responsibility of the next administration." Congressional leaders who supported the law have now shied away from calling for a ban to begin Sunday. Instead, they said they wanted to see a delay to give TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance more time to sell the app to a U.S. buyer.
“We know a lot is up in the air and the TikTok ban is set to go into effect this weekend,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Friday ahead of the court’s ruling.
“But everyone — the Biden administration, the incoming Trump administration, even the Supreme Court — should continue to work to find a way (to find) a U.S. buyer for TikTok so that we can move the app out of China Liberate the Communist Party from human influence and control and let TikTok continue to grow, which will save the jobs of millions of creators.”
During his first term as president, Trump sought to ban TikTok over national security concerns. But last month, he said he now had a "passion" for TikTok, met with TikTok CEO Shou Chew (whom he invited to his inauguration) and called on the Supreme Court to halt the TikTok ban as he tried to negotiate a deal .
Trump said in a Truth Social post on Friday that TikTok was one of the topics discussed during his phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier in the day.
Read more from Scott and Sahil →
Natasha Koretsky, Carol E. Lee, and Jonathan Allen provide a must-read, in-depth look at President Joe Biden's final weeks in the White House. He began his term by promising to unite the country, strengthen his party and defend democracy. But he left behind a divided country, fragmented political parties, and Americans questioning a self-proclaimed institutionalist’s respect for the rule of law.
Here are some highlights:
Read full text→
More on Biden's final days in office:
For now, that's all the Political Desk has to offer. Today's newsletter is written by Adam Wollner and Faith Wardwell.
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