Odds and Ends — 26 January 2026

Inside the Waldorf Astoria on Friday evening, President Donald Trump took to the stage at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and tried out some Don Rickles-like schtick, interspersed it with some of his greatest rally hits and fixated on some of his obsessions, including his plans for a White House ballroom.
What stood out during his one-hour-and-two minute remarks, though, was the silence in the crowd: many jokes didn’t land, he meandered into asides and veered into insider-ish attacks that likely went well over the heads of the TV audience. Much of what he said wasn’t humor, in contrast to the tightly scripted routines of his predecessors, but akin to a fever dream from someone who has spent a bit too much time watching right-wing TV.

https://x.com/marceelias/status/2080973378190499996

https://x.com/BillKristol/status/2081020759300874594

https://x.com/OurShallowState/status/2081150311822217720

https://x.com/farhip/status/2081055106447913053

Using the old playbook of Communist threat to justify a crackdown

https://x.com/mehdirhasan/status/2080788180702203958

US accuses American of allegedly wiping his phone using a ‘duress’ password during border search

———— Blatant In-Your-Face Corruption ————

https://x.com/kylegriffin1/status/2080724701513404757
https://x.com/scarylawyerguy/status/2080743764549587282

———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————

https://x.com/Libano145/status/2080248319230537999

https://x.com/jimsciutto/status/2080751698117570965

https://x.com/igorsushko/status/2080777950232973586

https://x.com/Kasparov63/status/2080786193243914342

———— Smoot-Hawley 2.0 ————

What Trump’s Latest Tariffs Mean for the Economy

The White House’s tariff revamp this past week represents yet another bend in President Trump’s continuing tariff saga. Beneath the headlines, the move likely means more of what businesses and shoppers have already learned to live with: sudden policy shifts, scrambled supply chains and higher prices on imported goods.
Eighteen months into Trump’s second-term trade war, tariffs have shown up mainly in higher prices, with goods inflation running well above its prepandemic pace.