Friday News: “Trump looks ready to bomb Iran again. Why?”; “Video analysis shows how two federal agents escalated Alex Pretti encounter”; “MAGA’s War on Empathy”; “Trump’s Plans to Interfere in the Midterms Are Becoming More Dangerous”; Trump Approval at Just 37%; Candlelight Vigil in Reston

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, January 30.

• The Lowdown on Debasement (“How seriously has investors’ confidence in America been shaken?”)
• Trump says Putin will not attack Ukraine cities during cold week
• Trump claims Putin agreed to halt strikes on Ukraine energy sites amid extreme cold (“US president says he made appeal to Russian leader, but no ceasefire has been confirmed by Moscow or Kyiv”)
• Ukraine Can No Longer Spare Its Youngest Soldiers From the Front Lines (“A shortage of soldiers is Ukraine’s most serious challenge as it enters another year of war with Russia”)
• Trump’s Board of Peace Is Anything But
• Trump says ‘very dangerous’ for UK to get into business with China
• War Threats and Ambiguous Evidence: Trump Again Confronts Iran (“There’s little sign that Iran has made progress in reconstituting its nuclear program, leaving questions about the timing and motive behind potential plans for attacks.”)
• Trump Weighs New Military Options Against Iran
• Trump tells Iran: end nuclear ambitions and stop killing protesters or face US military (“President issues warning as warships deployed to Middle East but says ‘it would be great if we didn’t have to use them’”)
• Trump looks ready to bomb Iran again. Why? (“This Iran war may not end as quickly as the last one.”)
• Carney says he expects U.S. to ‘respect Canadian sovereignty’ after Alberta separatists meet with Trump team
• Trump threatens Canada with 50% tariff on aircraft sold in US, expanding trade war
• Trump Threatens to Decertify, Levy Tariff on Canadian Planes (Trump is batshit crazy.)
• Scoop: Trump expects Panama Canal court win for “Donroe Doctrine” (“The White House expects Panama’s Supreme Court on Thursday to cancel a crucial Panama Canal ports contract operated by a firm with ties to China’s government, two sources tell Axios.”)
• Trump says Americans will be “safe” as Venezuelan airspace reopens
• Venezuela’s acting president signs oil industry overhaul, easing state control to lure investors
• Critics Torch Trump After Shocking Middle-Of-The-Night Attack On Alex Pretti (Trump is a sick, sick motherf***er.)
• Frantic Trump, 79, Launches Midnight Tirade Against Slain Nurse (“The president suggests Alex Pretti may have been an ‘insurrectionist’ in an incendiary Truth Social post.” Trump, of course, is the insurrectionist.))
• Operation Trump Rehab (“After a wave of public revulsion over the President’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota, he offers a familiar playbook: distraction, disinformation, denial, delay.”)
• Video analysis shows how two federal agents escalated Alex Pretti encounter (“While law enforcement should aim to defuse situations, experts say two agents did the opposite — right until Pretti’s death”)
• Walz says Trump compared Minneapolis surge to Venezuela mission
• ICE’s excuse for wearing masks has never actually manifested
• MAGA’s War on Empathy (“This crisis in Minneapolis reveals a deep moral rot at the heart of Trump’s movement.”)
• De-Escalation Is a Lie (“Don’t believe the momentary softening rhetoric toward Minneapolis. It’s only meant to quiet the opposition.”)
• ICE Pretends It’s a Military Force. Its Tactics Would Get Real Soldiers Killed
• Libs of TikTok is doxxing teachers and nurses who support Alex Pretti or oppose ICE, trying to get them fired (Dangerous and unacceptable.)
• ‘I don’t have words’: 2 more kids from Liam Ramos’ Columbia Heights school taken into ICE custody
• ICE Begins Buying ‘Mega’ Warehouse Detention Centers Across US (“Plans for such centers and jails in nearly two dozen communities have sparked protests over suitability, proximity to homes and schools.”)
• ICE buys warehouses for mass detention network, rattling locals
• Trump Administration Knew About Minnesota Fraud And Did Nothing
• VA Attorney General Jay Jones Joins Multistate Coalition Condemning DOJ Threats Against Minnesota; Letter Sent to AG Pam Bondi and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem (Obviously, if Jason Miyares were still Virginia AG, we wouldn’t be joining this…)
• Anti-ICE protests to be held across US as organizers urge national strike (“Activists call for Friday ‘blackout’ in protest against administration’s violent immigration crackdown”)
• The Case Against the Department of Homeland Security (“The Rot Goes Deeper Than ICE”)
• ICE agents shatter window, leave 1-month-old baby, mother in car after Portland arrest (“Video shows federal immigration agents leaving behind an infant and broken glass after detaining a Guinean immigrant with no known criminal history.” EVIL.)
• Battles Are Raging Inside the Department of Homeland Security (“Officials overseeing Trump’s mass-deportation campaign are fighting one another for power.”)
• Markets brace for change at Fed as Trump set to name new chief (“U.S. President Donald Trump looks set to pick a new Federal Reserve chief on Friday, lifting the uncertainty that has hung over markets ​for months and leaving investors to assess how monetary policy in the world’s biggest economy will now evolve.”)
• Trump Is Expected to Announce Kevin Warsh as Fed Chair
• Trump Administration Prepares to Back Warsh for Fed Chair
• Trump Is Making America Stupider (“How MAGA is purging scientists and other skilled workers from both the private and public sectors.”)
• Senate aims to vote on funding deal before shutdown deadline (“Republicans and Democrats in the Senate reached an agreement late Thursday but are still working to tee up a vote.”)
• Senate shutdown deal stalls over Graham objection
• Senate leaders scramble to save bipartisan deal and avert partial government shutdown at midnight
• Senate strikes deal to avert partial shutdown
• Mike Johnson braces for conservative revolt over ICE funding deal
• Trump says he and Democrats are ‘getting close’ to a deal to resolve shutdown fight
• Trump-blessed deal to keep government funded gets snagged in Senate
• Spy Chief Tulsi Gabbard Is Hunting for 2020 Election Fraud (This is literally insane. Also very dangerous.)
• Bondi Hands St. Louis Prosecutor Nationwide Election Fraud Remit (Bondi is a disgrace.)
• Trump posts discredited conspiracy theories following seizure of 2020 ballots in Georgia
• Patel defends FBI raid as Georgia officials demand answers (Wildly indefensible.)
• F.B.I. Search in Georgia Shows Trump’s Willingness to Pursue 2020 Grievances
• Tulsi Gabbard under scrutiny for showing up at FBI raid of Georgia election hub
• Election officials push back against Trump administration after Fulton County raid and voter roll demands
• House Republicans propose voting changes as Trump administration eyes the midterms (ABSOLUTELY NOT.)
• From Minnesota to Georgia, Trump’s Plans to Interfere in the Midterms Are Becoming More Dangerous
• Trump Sues IRS, Treasury for $10 Billion for Tax-Return Leak (Completely insane.)
• Trump Sues I.R.S. Over Tax Data Leak, Demanding $10 Billion
• Talk radio isn’t a target of FCC’s ‘equal time’ notice, Brendan Carr says (Of COURSE not! LOL)
• Confidence in Trump Dips, and Fewer Now Say They Support His Policies and Plans (“Trump’s approval rating stands at 37%, down from 40% in the fall. By more than two-to-one, Americans say the administration’s actions have been worse than they expected (50%) rather than better (21%).”)
• Fox News Poll: An early look at the 2026 midterms (“The current 52% Democratic support is the highest recorded for either party; the previous high was 50% for the Democrats in October 2017.”)
• Amy Klobuchar’s governor run sets up Senate leadership shakeup (“The Minnesota Democrat is the No. 3 party leader and was seen as a credible successor to Chuck Schumer.”)
• Clinton contempt votes will hit the House floor next Wednesday
• What Bari Weiss Doesn’t Get About CBS News (“Her plan to focus on ‘scoops of ideas’ will only make the news network’s offerings more like (pretty much) everything else in media.”)
• Washington Post Plans Cuts to Reshape Newsroom (“The changes are expected to include significant layoffs in areas like sports and international coverage.”)
• Pizza Cutter and a Fork: A Bizarre Bid to Break Mangione Out of Jail
• Man allegedly tried to break Luigi Mangione out of jail by impersonating FBI agent: Sources
• Sen. Mark Warner: “Why is Tulsi Gabbard at an FBI raid on an election office in Fulton County?” (Sen. Jon Ossoff: “This is a shot across the bow at the midterm elections.”)
• FBI’s search of Georgia election center is “dangerous,” experts warn (“Experts described the raid as a significant escalation in President Donald Trump’s breaking of democratic norms”)
• Video: Sen. Mark Warner Says ICE Has “Run Amok,” That Even “a Very Conservative community” Like Hanover County Doesn’t Want a New ICE Facility (Warner: “I sure as heck don’t want to see roving ICE patrols showing up at Virginia polling stations”)
• MSNOW’s Nicolle Wallace Asks Sen. Tim Kaine About His Vote to Confirm Kristi Noem
• Kaine, Beyer file bill to increase transparency for police misconduct
• Virginia’s Redistricting Decision Moves Ahead: Don’t Get Distracted (“Headlines are not a substitute for facts and legal maneuvering does not replace democratic participation.”)
• Virginia Democrats seek emergency halt to ruling that blocks redistricting
• Redistricting bill will test Spanberger’s bipartisan promises, GOP state senators say (This headline reflects what Republican state senators said, but it should also note that they are completely full of crap, dishonest, in bad faith, etc., so basically who gives a f*** what they say. But then the media wouldn’t be “neutral”…ugh.)
• Pope & Schapiro: Redistricting, immigration enforcement, and the Spanberger administration
• Spanberger undoes one of Youngkin’s last actions. It involves a would-be ICE facility.
• Buddhist monks cross into Virginia on ‘Walk for Peace’
• Spanberger rescinds Youngkin directive to sell Augusta Correctional Center; unclear if move linked to ICE interest (“The shuttered prison in Augusta County is one of six facilities identified to expand immigration detention and deportation efforts by the federal government.”)
• Democrats try to ‘balance’ renters’ rights with landlords’ rights in proposed housing bills
• General Assembly bill aims to address ‘benefits cliff’ for subsidized child care
• Va. delegate’s bill would limit where high-voltage transmission lines can be built
• Five Virginia localities awarded opioid settlement funds for new programs
• Virginia Senate votes to amend Virginia Beach charter in favor of 10-1 votes
• Trumpers looking at former Augusta Correctional Center as possible ICE detention site
• Energy group leader: Virginia should stick with the utility model that works (I’m including this only to point out that the author of this piece works for Power for Tomorrow, “a Virginia-based and utility funded group that opposes efforts to introduce greater competition to monopoly utilities and provides a platform for former regulators to advocate for utility interests.”)
• Eastern Shore residents help defeat proposal to inject chicken waste deep underground (“Del. Rob Bloxom is pursuing state legislation to ban similar proposals in areas that rely on groundwater.”)
• Virginia Beach School Board to consider changes to rules for student demonstrations
• Dusting, blizzard, bomb cyclone? Forecast depends on where you live in Virginia
• Updated snow forecast for Hampton Roads and southeastern Virginia
• CWG Live: Deep freeze continues as coastal storm delivers gusty weekend winds