President Trump’s inauguration and first days, explained
And just like that, the Trump era is back. Trump’s official speech may have been a bit sleepy (the real speech was arguably the one that came afterward), but the administration’s first few days have been anything but. From taking a chisel to our definition of who’s a citizen to swinging a wrecking ball at the federal bureaucracy, Trump’s executive orders were the moves of a presidency unbound. One of the most pernicious of the EOs was the pardoning of some 1,500 January 6 participants — a breathtaking use of the pardon power that all but gives a pass to future political violence.
Elon Musk doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt
Nearly stealing the spotlight during the Inauguration Day festivities was Elon Musk. His gesture onstage at a celebration for Trump — was it a Nazi salute? was it an awkward flourish? — quickly took over the discourse. (Neo-Nazis, for what it’s worth, saw what we saw — and cheered.) Zack Beauchamp sides with those who perceived something menacing in the moment, but he has a larger point to make: Musk has hardly been shy about amplifying white nationalist and antisemitic ideas, and the very presence of Musk near the seat of power is a sign of a deep rot in 2025 America. The fact that Musk not only showed no contrition, but then followed that furor with more Nazi jokes on Twitter, underscores just how much the pro-Trump “vibe shift” has thoroughly eroded norms we once thought were unassailable.
🎧 It’s not easy being Greenland
One of Trump’s more idiosyncratic geopolitical fixations is his desire to bring Greenland — under Danish rule since the 18th century — into the US’s fold. Calling it a matter of “absolute necessity” for American national security, Trump has even refused to rule out the use of military force to make it happen. On Today, Explained, host Noel King spoke with a voice too often unheard during this mini-firestorm: the Greenlanders themselves. She spoke with Greenlandic government minister Naaja Nathanielsen about the view from their island.
There are no “acts of God” anymore
One of the most expensive disasters in US history — the wildfires in Los Angeles — continued this week, even as firefighters have begun to contain the worst of the blazes. In the 16th century, the phrase “act of God” came into use to apply to any disaster that was seen as beyond human capacity to understand or predict. But in the 21st century, on a planet that has been changed by both human action and neglect, pretty much every natural disaster can be traced to us. Whether it’s inaction on the climate, bad housing and land-use policies, or poor governance, human choices contributed to the fires. If we’re now the gods we used to blame for the disasters that befell us, then we need to get much, much better at playing god.
Introducing The Logoff, our newest newsletter
Trump is back — which means the Trump news cycle is also back. We went through this four years ago, when every day seemed to be punctuated by a cascade of unhinged tweets, unwelcome push alerts, and breaking news chyrons. We’ve heard from so many of you that you can’t go through another four years of that — so we present: The Logoff.
What’s The Logoff? It’s our new daily newsletter by Senior Politics Editor Patrick Reis that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting it dominate your every waking thought. Every afternoon, we’ll send you an email with the most important Trump news of the day. We’ll filter out the noise, ignore the bluster, and home in on what the administration did that day that’s truly consequential — and we’ll do it with an as-short-as-possible explainer. We will, of course, continue to go deep and broad on all things Trump on Vox.com — that will always be there. But if you’re looking for a more manageable vehicle to keep up without being overwhelmed, please check out The Logoff.
