The Guardrails Are Gone

Today’s notice: So much for Trump the peacemaker. Don’t try betting at the White House. Even Democrats are embracing executive power. And: DOJ puts Don Lemon “on notice.”

THE LATEST

No more Mr. Nice Guy: President Donald Trump told Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in a weekend text message that he was pushing to acquire Greenland, at least partially because he had not yet been given the Nobel Peace Prize, saying the snub had freed him to no longer “think purely of Peace.”

Talk about bad timing: The stunning message, and a previous threat to impose across-the-board tariffs on a host of European nations unless negotiations on a sale of the semi-autonomous Danish territory begin promptly, came just as a bipartisan congressional delegation was wrapping up a trip to Denmark, part of a last-ditch effort to turn down the temperature between the two longtime allies. (Never mind that Norway’s government does not dole out Nobel Prizes).

So much for that: “The fact that a small handful of ‘advisors’ are actively pushing for coercive action to seize the territory of an ally is beyond stupid,” Sen. Thom Tillis, one of just two Republicans who joined the trip, posted on X.

“Very embarrassing conduct,” retiring Rep. Don Bacon added yesterday of Trump’s text to Støre.

The missive threatens to tear a permanent rift between the U.S. and European leaders who say any efforts to take Greenland would mean the end of the NATO alliance. Europe’s leaders are already debating whether to use what French President Emmanuel Macron has called the European Union’s economic “bazooka,” a series of punitive trade measures meant to exact maximum pain from rivals who threaten the bloc’s security. That includes putting Trump’s trade deal, negotiated in 2025 with EU lawmakers, “on hold” for the immediate future.

Caught in the crossfire: Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, Trump’s special envoy to Greenland, was disinvited from the island’s big sled dog race after Trump’s weekend of saber rattling.

Open tabs: Trump Invited Putin to Serve on Gaza ‘Board of Peace,’ Kremlin Says (NOTUS); Americans Are the Ones Paying for Tariffs, Study Finds (WSJ); Musk shocks with $10 million donation in Ky. Senate race (Axios); Poll: Just 6% of Americans satisfied with Epstein files release (CNN)

From the Hill

Try as he might, John Thune couldn’t convince Trump to back Bill Cassidy’s reelection bid. The president called Thune on Friday and told the Senate majority leader that he wanted to endorse a challenger, Rep. Julia Letlow, who has not yet announced a run, a source familiar with the matter told NOTUS’ Reese Gorman.

Despite the testimonial from Thune, who reminded Trump that Cassidy has been loyal to him this Congress, the president still threw a proverbial grenade into the Republican primary, writing on Truth Social, “RUN JULIA RUN!!!”

Letlow’s response all but confirmed she would do so: “I’m honored to have President Trump’s endorsement and trust. My mission is clear: to ensure the nation our children inherit is safer and stronger.”

From the White House

Are all bets off? Polymarket and Kalshi are blocked on White House press Wi-Fi. And on the House side of the Capitol as well. But if you are so inclined, you can bet on the length of floor speeches to your heart’s content on the Senate Wi-Fi. After viral bets on the invasion of Venezuela and the length of a White House briefing, NOTUS’ Violet Jira reports on how gambling predicting is sweeping Washington — and why one prediction market leader thinks insider trading means the market is working.

Pardon lobbyist speaks: Former Florida state Rep. Mike Beltran, a Republican, is now a registered lobbyist working to get a pardon for Yener Vahit Belli, an armed robber also known as The Hoodie Bandit. NOTUS’ Dave Levinthal talked to Beltran about the new industry around influencing the president to overturn federal convictions. It’s a lucrative gig: Beltran received around $15,000 to lobby on Belli’s behalf in the final weeks of 2025.

THE BIG ONE

The presidency will never be the same. “In order for us to correct the abuses that are happening now, we have to act the same in similar capacities that Trump has given himself,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told Violet recently, one of several Democrats she talked to who are actively advocating for the next Democratic president to embrace a vision of executive power put forward by the current one.

This is already the most important legacy of Trump 2.0, which officially hit its one-year mark today. After Trump’s first term, Democrats were excited to run on the theme of a return to normal. Sen. Michael Bennet’s (short-lived) 2020 bid for the presidency is best remembered for his line, “If you elect me president, I promise you won’t have to think about me for 2 weeks at a time.” It didn’t make Bennet the nominee, but it did seem to give Joe Biden’s bid a raison d’être.

‘Normal’ is no longer the mainstream Democratic promise. One could always find progressives arguing for sharper-elbowed governance. But now those who generally recoil from the left are saying it, too.

New Jersey will inaugurate Mikie Sherrill as governor today, one of the establishment stars who thoroughly humiliated Republican opponents in November. She promises to use emergency powers, move quickly and act boldly. She said this is what voters expect now.

“Energetic constitutionalism” is the extremely Rep. Ro Khanna-ish name for a Trumpy-but-legal vision for the presidency that Khanna detailed to Violet.

Of course, none of this actually means Democrats can have their own Trump. They also want something Trump decidedly does not want: a legislative branch. “I also think that we do need to reassert Congress’s authority,” AOC said.

In other words: normal stuff.

From your favorite podcast app

Rep. Pat Harrigan, a North Carolina freshman, joins Reese Gorman for today’s On NOTUS podcast. Harrigan talks about his military background and his push to get more veterans in Congress.

“I think kind of my personal philosophy that I’ve worked towards is I spend my time, I invest my money working towards getting Republican veterans elected. There’s a couple different forums by which we do that, and then I don’t really oppose my Democratic colleagues who are veterans,” Harrigan told Reese.

Every week, Reese sits down with a lawmaker and dives deep into their background, their journey to Washington and what motivates them. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

NEW ON NOTUS

DOJ puts Don Lemon ‘on notice’: The former CNN star found himself in federal prosecutors’ sights after filming anti-ICE demonstrators interrupting a Sunday church service in Minnesota.

“A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest! It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws! Nor does the First Amendment protect your pseudo journalism of disrupting a prayer service,” Harmeet Dhillon, the DOJ’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, posted on X in response to Lemon’s video documenting the scene.

NOT US

• Inside Bari Weiss’s Hostile Takeover of CBS News, by Clare Malone for The New Yorker
  
• Trump Store to Close as Sales Falter, With No Election Battles Ahead, by Ashley Ahn for The New York Times
  
• Author of Democrats’ ‘Don’t Say Abolish ICE’ Memo Is a Corporate Consultant, by Whitney Curry Wimbish for The American Prospect

WEEK AHEAD

Today: Supreme Court expected to release opinions.

Wednesday: Trump is scheduled to speak at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. SCOTUS is set to hear oral arguments in the Lisa Cook case.

Thursday: Gavin Newsom will reportedly also speak at Davos. Former Special Counsel Jack Smith is scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Committee. Trump is set to hold a “charter signing ceremony” in Davos for his Gaza “Board of Peace.”

Friday: The March For Life will be held on the National Mall.

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