Principals

1. Gabbard in limbo?
2. GOP on TikTok
3. Immigration curveball
4. Davos awaits Trump
5. Kennedy clan olive branch
6. Permitting possibilities

PDB: Trump’s immigration crackdown takes shape

New fire roars north of LA … Saudi crown prince vows $600B in new US investment … UK probes Apple, Google

Gabbard’s nomination on shaky ground

At least some Republicans are nervous about Tulsi Gabbard’s bid to become President Trump’s director of national intelligence, and the president is urging her to get aggressive. “There are very serious concerns by enough members to put her nomination in jeopardy,” one GOP senator told Semafor. While no one is saying her path to confirmation has fully closed, some close to the White House — who remain behind Gabbard — are worried. “There’s a problem, and nobody can figure it out,” one such person said. Trump himself is supportive of Gabbard but has told people this is her time to step up. (Gabbard spokeswoman Alexa Henning noted there is no public GOP opposition and that intelligence panel members of both parties “have shown positive support for her nomination.”)

— Burgess Everett and Shelby Talcott

Trump puts GOP in a bind on TikTok

Trump’s attempt to delay implementation of a TikTok ban in the US is putting Republicans who voted in favor of the divest-or-ban bill last year in a tight spot, Semafor’s Kadia Goba and Morgan Chalfant report. “The law is very clear, right? If you don’t have a deal, and if TikTok wasn’t sold to an American company by Jan. 19, or at least have a contract,” then the ban takes effect, said California GOP Rep. Young Kim. “There is no gray area on this issue.” Trump signed an executive order this week directing the Justice Department not to enforce the ban for 75 days. For now, TikTok remains open to US users but without a clear path forward on a sale, and Republicans are left with few options but to cross their fingers that Trump can pull off a deal.

Kelly leads Dems’ border bid

Democrats are making a play to get involved in Republicans’ border security negotiations, potentially disrupting their plans to approve new border money on a party-line basis, Semafor’s Burgess Everett reports. The leader of that effort, Sen. Mark Kelly, told Semafor that Republicans would do well to agree on a permanent, bipartisan solution instead of combining executive orders with new spending. “They are interested, because they know that there are things that they can do here by working with us that they can’t do otherwise,” Kelly said, after sending a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Thune didn’t rule it out entirely, but said Republicans want to move fast. And one GOP senator said they were immediately going to start warning colleagues not to get bogged down by negotiations with Democrats and to keep any bipartisan talks very narrow.

Trump set to address WEF virtually

Trump is due to deliver a virtual keynote address to the World Economic Forum this evening 5 p.m. Davos time. Global and business leaders gathered there will be watching closely for clues of Trump’s plans for imposing tariffs on foreign goods that he’s relentlessly previewed, and for handling global conflicts, like the war in Ukraine. Trump has used harsh language towards Russia since taking office, threatening Vladimir Putin’s country with harsher sanctions if it doesn’t come to the table to negotiate an end to its war in Ukraine. Trump looms large over WEF, the start of which coincided with his inauguration earlier this week. Business leaders are “restless to get into the room with him,” Semafor’s Ben Smith writes from Davos. “American, and even European, CEOs are looking for excuses to travel to Washington and call on the White House.”

The Kennedy clan’s olive branch

Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy told Semafor’s Andrew Edgecliffe Johnson that he believes his cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., would be open to a bipartisan alliance to overhaul the government’s approach to mental health and addiction — and that he raised the prospect of working together in a conversation they’d had after the election. Patrick Kennedy campaigned for Biden, and many other family members disavowed Kennedy Jr.’s campaign. “That was then. This is now. We lost. So I can’t go away for four years, and this movement can’t go away for four years,” the former congressman said. He said he hopes to build alliances within the Trump administration — “including with my cousin Bobby” — related to its pledge to “make America healthy again.”

Limited possibilities for permitting

It may be harder than ever for the US Congress to pass comprehensive legislation to streamline the process for building new energy infrastructure, the House Democrat who has helped lead recent negotiations told Semafor. In general, there’s still broad bipartisan support for permitting reform, Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., said, and a recognition on both sides of the aisle that none of the country’s energy goals — including those of Trump and of hardline climate activists — are possible without making it easier to build transmission lines and pipelines. Congress got closer than ever last year with a permitting bill compiled by former Sen. Joe Manchin, and Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., but it never reached the floor. Now, the policies Republicans may push for in a successor bill may be hard for a sufficient number of Democrats to swallow, Peters said.

— Tim McDonnell

Blindspot: State moves on immigration, contraception

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the state placed more buoys in the Rio Grande following President Trump’s inauguration in order to deter migrants from illegally crossing into the state.

What the Right isn’t reading: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed bills designed to make it easier to access hormonal birth control.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Close to 20 lawmakers are actively exploring gubernatorial bids in their home states.

Playbook: President Trump seems unlikely to offer the calming words on security and trade that foreign leaders and business elites are hoping for when he speaks at the World Economic Forum later today.

Axios: The Trump administration distributed a memo to federal agencies warning federal workers of “adverse consequences” if they continue diversity, equity and inclusion-related work and calling on employees to report any colleagues who continue it.

White House

• President Trump’s immigration crackdown is coming further into focus. The administration deployed hundreds of active-duty troops to the southern border; ordered criminal investigations of state and local officials who don’t carry out federal immigration orders; redirected federal anti-terrorism squads to assist with immigration; instructed Border Patrol to summarily deport migrants without asylum hearings; and scrapped rules barring ICE from raiding locations like churches and schools.
• Trump escalated his threat of sanctions on Russia if Moscow does not come to the table to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.

Congress

• The House passed the Laken Riley Act in a bipartisan vote, sending it to President Trump’s desk to sign. The bill received support from 46 House Democrats, in addition to all Republican members.

Outside the Beltway

• In an interview with Sean Hannity, President Trump doubled down on conditioning California fire aid: “I don’t think we should give California anything until they let water flow down.” (His repeated threats have put the state’s GOP House delegation in a jam.)
• Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., is considering running for governor in her home state in 2026. — AP

Business

• JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon downplayed the potential impact of President Trump’s planned tariffs.

Courts

• The Justice Department ordered its civil rights division not to seek new indictments.
• President Trump pardoned two DC police officers who killed a young Black man in a 2020 pursuit.

National Security

• The Trump administration told the Democrat-chosen members of the national security watchdog known as the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to resign or be fired, which would paralyze the body. — NYT
• The sunglasses-wearing agent in the iconic AP photo of President Trump’s assassination attempt will now be his Secret Service chief.

Foreign Policy

• Anna Corbett was reunited with her husband, Ryan Corbett, earlier this week after the Taliban released him in a prisoner swap.

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the US would need to contribute to any peacekeeping force in Ukraine. — Bloomberg

Technology

• Elon Musk publicly questioned the $500 billion AI project announced by President Trump and other tech executives earlier this week, saying companies involved in it don’t have the necessary funding. Microsoft’s Satya Nadella’s reply: “I’m good for my $80 billion.”

Health

• Senate Democrats blocked a GOP measure that could expose some doctors who perform abortions to criminal penalties.
• An advocacy group with ties to Mike Pence launched a campaign opposing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. — The Hill

Media

• Trump FCC Chair Brendan Carr is reviving fairness complaints filed by a pro-Trump nonprofit against CBS, NBC and ABC.

Principals Team

Edited by Morgan Chalfant, deputy Washington editor

With help from Elana Schor, senior Washington editor

Contact our reporters:

Burgess Everett, Kadia Goba, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel

Steven Moore is the founder of the Ukraine Freedom Project, a Ukraine funding advocate, and former House chief of staff.

East Africa is likely to see increased interest from mining companies, many of which are smarting from disputes with military governments around the Sahel, Semafor’s Alexis Akwagyiram reported.

Several companies have launched arbitration cases against authorities in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger in recent weeks. East African countries, meanwhile, “have plenty to offer Western miners in the coming years, notably the relative absence of strongarm tactics,” Akwagyiram wrote.