Today’s notice: Can Trump change the subject in Davos? The president’s allies start to examine ICE as a political liability. The fly-in votes are getting fewer and fewer fly-ins. And: The politics around data centers are kinda all over the place — like data centers, now that we think about it.
THE LATEST
The Davos plan: A major focus of Donald Trump’s speech to world leaders — and those who own multiple yachts — in Switzerland today will be affordability, a White House official told Jasmine.
The president has been teeing this up for weeks in posts on Truth Social and in public remarks. Despite what you may have read lately, or seen on your social feeds, or heard from any anxious Europeans you may know, earning American voter trust on the economy remains at the top of the administration’s agenda.
Trending
The White House official said Trump will “unveil details about what the Trump administration will be doing next to increase housing affordability” and “will be putting American leadership on full display in Davos by showcasing how America is, on his watch, rejecting the failed policies that are dragging our peer nations down.”
“A lot of them could use some of the advice as to what we did,” is how Trump put it to reporters at a press conference yesterday.
But there’s an elephant in the room. Plenty of those world leaders do, in fact, have affordability issues to deal with, and might welcome some advice. But it’s likely what they’d really like to hear from Trump are his plans for the future of NATO, tariffs and, you know, invading Greenland.
It’s kind of drowning out everything at the moment. “It was laughed at, the strategic importance of Alaska at the time of the purchase,” Rep. Brian Mast, a Republican and the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told reporters after votes last night. “And I think, you know, someday people are gonna laugh: ‘Well, I can’t believe that we thought Greenland was a bad idea to purchase for America.”
What does the head of the U.S. delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly have to say about this speech? “Talk to me after he gives it,” Rep. Mike Turner, a Republican, told NOTUS’ Helen Huiskes last night, before skedaddling out of view.
Open tabs: Dollar and US stocks fall as Donald Trump says ‘no going back’ on Greenland (FT); A “tough” vote to fund DHS and ICE gives Democrats heartburn (Axios); Maryland Redistricting Panel Approves New Congressional Map (NOTUS); Vance to visit Minneapolis as tensions over immigration operations escalate (NBC)
From the White House
Implicit recognition of public opinion: That’s what Trump appeared to show yesterday during his 100-minute-long press conference, where he held up “Cops”-style images of alleged criminals DHS has detained in Minnesota amid growing concern over ICE’s escalating deportation tactics.
“I say to my people all the time, and they’re so busy doing other things, they don’t say it like they should. They’re apprehending murderers and drug dealers and a lot of bad people,” Trump said, as he engaged in some reputational rehab.
The president and his allies see a messaging problem. “I think the imagery of the raids are a political challenge, but an unavoidable one,” said one MAGA strategist close to the administration. Their proposed solution wasn’t to change ICE’s practices but rather to talk more about crime.
There’s no appetite from the White House or the base to scale deportations back. Though, Trump appeared to say his administration should “lighten up” on undocumented people who have established productive lives.
Remember, Trump’s base still loves mass deportations. “The reason Trump is getting even a little pass right now for his international adventurism is because of the raids,” the strategist told Jasmine.
From the Hill
The Garfield conundrum: Lawmakers love voting, but they hate voting on Mondays.
NOTUS’ Riley Rogerson and Emily report on the high percentage of absences in a given week’s evening “fly-in” votes. Across the House’s first-of-the-week votes this Congress, on average more than 28 lawmakers’ votes weren’t recorded. In the Senate, an average of six senators didn’t make it for votes like these.
Not family friendly? “We try to check what types of votes there are, how significant they are,” Rep. Grace Meng, a Democrat who has missed over 10 fly-in votes this term, said. “And I balance that with, if my child has something that he needs me to be at.”
From the campaign trail
Emily’s List 2026 plan: The Democratic spending group focused on women candidates is releasing a new plan detailing how nine states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — will be “the foundation of our work this cycle” on building Democratic power at the state and local level. The group says it intends to spend $15 million on the plan, which will be used to bolster women candidates up and down the ballot.
NEW ON NOTUS
DHS policy shifts: “They’re determined to weed out any less-than-legitimate applications, but, unfortunately, the very broad-stroked way that they’re going about doing this is going to harm legitimate victims,” former USCIS policy analyst Sarah Pierce told NOTUS’ Jackie Llanos about the Trump administration’s changes to how it fulfills obligations to immigrant victims of domestic abuse under the Violence Against Women Act.
Data center politics: “This absolutely plays into affordability. People are concerned about rapidly rising energy prices.” That’s Wisconsin data center opponent Christine Le Jeune, who is leading an effort to recall her mayor over one of these projects. NOTUS’ Jade Lozada reports on the strange politics of AI infrastructure at this moment.
More: The Trump Administration Says It’s Safe for Venezuelans to Return Home. María Corina Machado Says It’s Not. By Oriana González
NOT US
- 6,000 Truth Social Posts Later, Here Are the Promises Trump Kept—and Broke, by Anthony DeBarros and Kara Dapena for The Wall Street Journal
- Kamala in La La Land, by Will McCarthy for Politico
- The Congresswoman Criminalized for Visiting ICE Detainees, by Jonathan Blitzer for The New Yorker
MEET US
Welcome to Meet Us, where we introduce you to a member of the NOTUS team. Jackie Llanos is a NOTUS reporter and Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow covering immigration policy.
Hometown: Bogotá, Colombia
Past work: I covered immigration for the Florida Phoenix in Tallahassee for two years after graduating from the University of Richmond. Before that, I was the editor in chief of the student newspaper and interned at Nashville Public Radio and Virginia Public Media.
Why journalism: I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make being nosy my career.
NOTUS + AJI highlight so far: Getting to know the other fellows.
Thing you can’t live without: My lip balm from the Savannah Bee Company. I order them online and refuse to use any other brand.
Thank you for reading! If you liked this edition of the NOTUS newsletter, please forward it to a friend. If this newsletter was shared with you, please subscribe — it’s free! Have a tip? Email us at tips@notus.org. And as always, we’d love to hear your thoughts at newsletters@notus.org.
Authors
