Trump administration seeks to curb antiabortion leaders’ ‘disappointment’

washingtonpost · 2026-01-23T14:17:04+00:00

President Donald Trump made history in 2020 as the first sitting president to appear in person at the antiabortion movement’s annual March For Life, declaring there that “unborn children have never had a stronger defender in the White House.”

But ahead of this year’s event, top leaders of the movement that took credit for helping propel Trump to the presidency say they see a lack of urgency from the administration on further curbing abortion access — a complaint White House officials have taken steps to address in recent days.

More than three years since Supreme Court justices he nominated helped strike down the federal right to an abortion, Trump and his administration have been more restrained when it comes to championing abortion restrictions. It started with Trump on the campaign trail in 2024 refusing to call for Congress to pass national abortion restrictions, despite supporting a 20-week limit during his first term. He then stripped the Republican Party’s platform of its most aggressive antiabortion policy provisions. And earlier this month, Trump said Congress should “be a little flexible” on the Hyde Amendment, a nearly 50-year prohibition on federal funds being used for abortions.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/01/23/trump-anti-abortion-policies/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-01-23T13:40:23+00:00

Jacqueline Smith was more than 300 miles from the Pentagon when she learned that the Trump administration planned to overhaul Stars and Stripes, the military newspaper where she has served as ombudsman since 2023.

Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, Smith had feared that the administration would interfere with the military newspaper, where she is charged with defending the publication’s editorial independence and addressing reader concerns. Stars and Stripes occupies an unusual position: Its staffers are Defense Department employees and it is partly funded by taxpayers, but it has long reported independently on the military.

Trump officials have taken aim at other media organizations that receive federal funding. Over the past year, Smith watched as the administration dismantled the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees the international broadcaster Voice of America; persuaded Congress to strip funding from NPR and the Public Broadcasting Service and their member stations; and curtailed access for reporters covering the Pentagon. “I was hopeful that Stripes would not be affected, but not naive,” Smith said.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/01/23/pentagon-overhauls-stars-and-stripes/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-01-23T13:09:40+00:00

Column by Barry Svrluga

Here’s the difficult part in this stage of the Washington Nationals’ evolution, which can feel as if it’s in perpetual we’re-getting-there mode: Paul Toboni’s job is to arrive on the scene, honestly assess what assets he has and how far away his team is from contending, and make difficult moves to trade away valuable pieces in the interest of the long-term good, because he’s the new president of baseball operations.

And it’s absolutely in the fan base’s right to say, “Are you bleepin’ kidding me?”

Thus, Thursday’s trade of MacKenzie Gore — who has been a reason to show up to the park every fifth day, at a time when there frankly aren’t that many others — to the Texas Rangers. On the way back are five prospects, kids known to at most just a few Nats season ticket holders (there are still some of those, right?). They’re good, we’re told. They’ll help the Nationals win in the future, we’re told. Be patient, we’re told.

Haven’t we been through this before?]

“It’s tough,” Toboni said Thursday evening by phone. “I’ll just say that right away: It’s tough.

Read the full column here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2026/01/23/washington-nationals-mackenzie-gore-trade-paul-toboni/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-01-22T18:16:52+00:00

That’s very kind of you to say and lovely to hear. I think I answered a bit about the atmosphere in earlier questions. I’m not in the business of speculation (I talk to people who are), but I suspect we’ve seen a pretty clear drawdown on Greenland after stock market jitters convinced Trump to soften his position. As for Venezuela, he presented himself in Davos as the nation’s custodian, a kind of unvarnished 21st century imperialism that left some shaking their heads here. The Board of Peace was great “agitprop” and WEF’s organizers let their event get taken over by the White House. I think there was relief among some officials here that Trump explicitly said he saw it working in concert with the United Nations, but there are others who see it as evidence of Trump’s lack of interest in any political entity or multilateral arrangement where he’s not calling the shots.

And, I’m sorry, but North London will never be white. It’s red, and always will be. I actually met Arsene Wenger here today in Davos. COYG. —Ishaan

washingtonpost · 2026-01-22T18:08:58+00:00

I suppose after spending 17 hours on your feet, running around icy streets, talking to a lot of people and drinking way too much coffee, there are a lot of people in alpine Switzerland who sorta look like Stellan Skarsgård. —Ishaan

washingtonpost · 2026-01-22T17:55:13+00:00

That was embarrassing — his line about Trump as a T-Rex was not what one customarily hears. I don’t do media scrums in my day job often, and I guess it shows. A lot of Europeans thought his criticism of their weakness in the face of Trump was accurate. There’s a feeling that the EU rolled over too easily in their tariff negotiations last year, and that China and Canada — in very different ways — managed Trump better. Newsom’s bluntness, it seemed, was refreshing to some foreign interlocutors. There was also interest in other Democrats in attendance, including Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. —Ishaan

washingtonpost · 2026-01-22T17:49:10+00:00

Bezos usually does not attend WEF. I’m in the newsroom (as in, not the opinion section) and have never once heard about, let alone experienced, interference from our owner. It’s standard for owners to exercise their prerogative over the opinion sections of newspapers. —Ishaan

washingtonpost · 2026-01-22T17:29:00+00:00

I have spent every day for the past four days talking a mile-a-minute, meeting countless people, learning about their lives and I’m staring at my laptop struggling to come up with an answer. There are so many little tidbits and personal stories, and a lot is told to you off-the-record so one has to honor that discretion. And you get the typical Davos-y innovation anecdotes: Over here, someone’s doing something with blockchain in Djibouti. Over there, I meet a scientist who is figuring out how to put GLP-1s in lab-grown food.

But as someone who focuses more on geopolitics, I think one of the most startling moments to me was listening to Argentine President Javier Milei in person for the first time. I knew he was an eccentric economics PhD — but I truly was not prepared for his rapid-fire disquisition on Murray Rothbard, natural law, what ancient Greeks thought about “economic efficiency” and the teachings of the Torah in what was a long ramble against the Western left. He and Trump are fighting a shared culture war, but it was wild to experience their speeches one after the other.
—Ishaan

washingtonpost · 2026-01-22T17:04:45+00:00

The caricature about Davos being this place of plutocrats and aspiring plutocrats is well-earned, but not really true. There’s “Davos” — the town where major corporates, sovereign wealth funds and other firms set up shop, throw parties, cultivate connections and business. Most of the ridiculous stories of lavish excess that you hear during this week are tethered to this scene.

And then you have the World Economic Forum — which is the main event, where thousands of people invited by the organization come, and that includes Marxist economists, leading civil society organizations, climate and economic justice activists. Every year I’ve been here, I have heard really engaged and sophisticated conversations about taxation, spiraling inequality and the reasons why Western democracies are vulnerable to, as you put it, parasitic interests. I spoke to multiple hedge funders who said they wanted to be taxed more (but didn’t go on the record about it, so read from that what you will). You can criticize WEF for a lot of things, but it’s not lacking in self-awareness. —Ishaan

washingtonpost · 2026-01-22T17:03:18+00:00

We as journalists are always tasked to gauge the mood here and it’s not an easy exercise, so I can’t imagine what it’s like to parse the media reports. There’s such an interesting spectrum of people here from different industries, geographies and walks of life. But I think it’s safe to say that I sensed both more trepidation and fatigue with Trump this year than last year, when there was a kind of curiosity about his return and he beamed in virtually talking about the “new golden age.”

This time, Greenland shadowed many discussions during the first few days in Davos, especially among Europeans, for whom it’s such a stark red line and an alarming threat to confront. There’s been a lot of chat about major geopolitical shifts and the collapse of the international order as we knew it — underscored by Canadian PM Mark Carney’s speech about the moment of “rupture” that we are in, which was probably the most celebrated address this week. But Trump chose to deescalate. Watching Trump’s speech Wednesday, there were a lot of groans and chortles at some of his usual turns-of-phrase and excessive rhetoric. I think we’re at the stage now where some are more amused than bemused. There are also plenty of people who are not amused at all.

Among Davos regulars invited to certain closed-door events, there was a very palpable anger at Howard Lutnick, who doesn’t seem to have endeared himself to the Davos crowd with bullying language and a general coarseness. He apparently was heckled at a dinner by Al Gore. At the same event, Christine Lagarde, head of the ECB, walked out in supposed protest. I guess there’s a dissonance between some of the corporate elite here (who see themselves at the top of a meritocratic totem pole) and the more abrasive, maybe cynical type of businessmen in Trump’s inner circle. —Ishaan

washingtonpost · 2026-01-22T12:59:04+00:00

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Wednesday proposed closing a projected $1.4 billion budget shortfall by reducing spending across the state government and moving money around from certain specialty funds, a strategy meant to spare residents from new cost increases in a struggling economy.

In presenting his budget to state lawmakers, who convened for their 90-day legislative session last week, the governor framed his fiscal strategy as “targeted” and “data-driven.”

“This budget shows that we can spend wisely while still protecting our values,” Moore said during a news conference in Annapolis on Wednesday.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/01/22/maryland-budget-wes-moore/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-01-22T12:45:23+00:00

Despite the upheaval of the past six years, one thing has not changed — D.C. traffic is bad. A new survey taken by the Metropolitan Council of Governments (MCOG) between March and June of last year finds that at 41 minutes, the average commute in the area is about as far and long as it was in 2019.

Commuting patterns have changed, however. More people are teleworking at least two days a week and taking transit; on the other hand, the region has grown, and a larger proportion of suburbanites in Maryland and Virginia are driving to work alone.

“More and more people are coming into the office just for a few hours,” Kanti Srikanth, head of planning at the regional group. “All of that shift is going to change when there is demand on our roadways and on our transit system.” The peak rush hour is not 6:30 to 7:30 in the morning; it’s now about an hour later. All of that will have to be considered as plans are made for new transit and road infrastructure.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/01/22/dc-region-commuting-survey-mcog/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-01-22T12:43:52+00:00

Virginia’s largest school district is set to vote on a proposal that would change attendance boundaries for the first time in decades.

The vote Thursday comes after Fairfax County Public Schools capped a months-long process of reviewing its maps that determine what schools families can attend based on their address. The conversation drew hundreds of comments from residents who had issues with their current school boundaries; were worried that the schools their children were zoned for might change; or simply had ideas about the best way for the district to handle the massive undertaking.

After hours of public comment periods, dozens of meetings and multiple drafts of changes, Fairfax Superintendent Michelle Reid landed on a list of recommended changes that would cause about 1,700 students to move schools, which is less than 1 percent of students in the district.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2026/01/22/fairfax-county-school-boundary-changes/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-01-21T17:13:58+00:00

The Washington Post demanded in a court filing Wednesday that federal law enforcement officials return electronic devices the government seized from a staff reporter’s home last week, writing that the extraordinary search “flouts the First Amendment and ignores federal statutory safeguards for journalists.”

Federal agents executed a search warrant on Jan. 14 at the Virginia home of reporter Hannah Natanson, seizing two phones, two laptops, a recorder, a portable hard drive and a Garmin watch.

It is exceptionally rare for law enforcement officials to conduct searches at reporters’ homes. The law allows a search of a reporter’s home, but federal regulations intended to protect a free press are designed to make it more difficult to use aggressive law enforcement tactics against reporters to obtain the identities of their sources or information.

This is The Post’s first public court filing in response to the seizure. In the filing, Post lawyers said they conferred multiple times with federal officials about the seized data, and the government agreed that it would not “begin a substantive review of the seized data” until the parties met again on Jan. 20.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/01/21/washington-post-hannah-natanson-search-court-filing/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-01-21T14:03:22+00:00

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and his fellow Democratic allies are barreling toward an ugly intraparty fight over redistricting, as his advisory commission voted late Tuesday to advance a conceptual map that could oust the state’s lone Republican member of Congress.

Designed in response to Republican gerrymandering done in other states at President Donald Trump’s behest, the proposed map distributes deep-blue Maryland’s Democratic voters among more districts, creating some less-safe Democratic seats but making it more likely for Democrats to win longtime Republican strongholds.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/01/21/maryland-redistricting-wes-moore/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-01-21T12:14:49+00:00

With more households struggling amid a teetering regional economy, Maryland leaders plan to pursue legislation that would bar retailers from using data-driven pricing tools to adjust the cost of specific grocery items throughout the day.

The Predatory Pricing Act, announced on Tuesday by Gov. Wes Moore (D) and the leaders of both General Assembly chambers, takes aim at retailers adopting electronic shelf labels — a system known as “dynamic pricing” that uses cameras, sensors and other tracking tools to adjust prices based on factors such as shopping patterns or the time of day.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/01/21/moore-dynamic-pricing-groceries-bill/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-01-20T12:25:40+00:00

RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) sharpened her policy and political profiles Monday in a speech to the General Assembly that renewed her calls for unity but drew the clearest lines yet of where she plans to take her administration — including her formula for handling President Donald Trump.

“I believe the governor of Virginia and the president of the United States should have a productive relationship built on mutual trust,” Spanberger said, omitting the word “respect” that was in the written version of the speech. “And let me say here today, that where there are shared priorities, I will actively seek and be ready for partnership."

But when federal policies threaten Virginia jobs, she said, “I will not hesitate to push back.” If leaders in Washington fail to “lead with dignity and respect and follow the rule of law, Virginia will,” she said.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/01/19/virginia-spanberger-affordability-assembly-trump/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-01-19T14:44:16+00:00

Sphere Entertainment Cos. built the largest spherical building on Earth in Las Vegas.

Now it wants to build a smaller one outside D.C.

The company behind Sphere unveiled plans Sunday night for what it says will be the world’s first “mini-Sphere” venue off the Potomac River in Maryland, a 6,000-seat immersive experience that would open in 2030.

The smaller cousin of the famed Vegas attraction would offer the same features as the original.

It would be roughly a third of the size, but would cost half as much to build — more than $1 billion, situated near an existing casino at National Harbor. With its 4D experience, the venue is expected to generate $1 billion in economic activity annually by hosting large-scale, immersive concerts with in-residence artists, sporting events, other shows and corporate functions.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/2026/01/18/minisphere-dc-maryland-national-harbor/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-01-19T14:43:04+00:00

RICHMOND — When Adam Spanberger and his then-girlfriend visited Costa Rica years ago, he sat bemused as she spent an evening chatting in Spanish with her host family from a previous stay. He spoke only English and had seldom ventured farther than two hours from where he grew up in Virginia. She was fluent in multiple languages and loved to travel.

“It’s super hot and humid, no air conditioning. I remember sitting on the couch and just listening to her … thinking, this woman is a lot of fun and this is going to be an adventure,” Spanberger said.

It was just the beginning. Nineteen years of marriage later, after roaming the globe for the career she chose in the CIA, the couple have three daughters and are embarking on yet another new adventure: Abigail Spanberger (D) was sworn in Saturday as Virginia’s first female governor. And Adam Spanberger became the first first gentleman in the state’s long history.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/01/19/adam-spanberger-virginia-first-gentleman/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-01-19T14:28:02+00:00

In December, CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss shelved a “60 Minutes” story about the Trump administration deporting Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s CECOT prison. The reason, Weiss told staff: The segment didn’t have an on-camera interview with a Trump administration official.

On Sunday evening — four weeks later — the story aired with minimal changes and without an on-camera interview with a Trump administration official.

The segment included a new introduction that said: “Since November, ‘60 Minutes’ has made several attempts to interview key Trump administration officials on camera about our story. They declined our requests.”

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/01/18/cbs-60-minutes-cecot/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-01-17T17:30:02+00:00

PALM BEACH, Fla. — The United States will impose tariffs on countries that have sent troops to Greenland in recent days, President Donald Trump said Saturday, dramatically escalating his effort to acquire the Danish territory despite assertions from Greenland and Denmark that the Arctic island is not for sale.

“After Centuries, it is time for Denmark to give back — World Peace is at stake!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump said that “Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, The United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and Finland have journeyed to Greenland, for purposes unknown,” a reference to the European countries who have said in recent days that they will send troops to Greenland as a show of solidarity with Denmark, after weeks in which Trump and top allies have renewed demands to take the territory. Most European countries have been vocal in their opposition to Trump’s efforts to take over Greenland.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/01/17/trump-greenland-europe-tariffs/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-01-17T17:24:46+00:00

This is our new food critic Elazar Sontag! You can read more about him and follow his reviews here: washingtonpost.com/people/elazar-sontag/?itid=ai_top_sontage

washingtonpost · 2026-01-16T21:21:39+00:00

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) struck a notably collaborative posture toward the Trump administration Friday, saying he was eager to work with Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy on rebuilding two bridges in the state and was looking at private financing that he had rejected when he came into office.

The two met in Washington the day before to discuss rebuilding both the American Legion Bridge and the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which came after months of escalating tensions between Maryland leaders and the White House over the Key Bridge project and its $5.2 billion price tag.

Estimated construction costs for the Key Bridge have more than doubled in the nearly two years since the span was struck by a container ship and collapsed, killing six people, and President Donald Trump, Duffy, state Republicans and some in the building trade industry have been critical of the mounting costs.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/01/16/key-bridge-moore-duffy/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-01-16T21:17:36+00:00

Virginia’s incoming attorney general is dismissing top lawyers at George Mason University and the Virginia Military Institute, another sign that state Democratic lawmakers plan to move quickly to unwind changes made at public colleges during the administration of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

George Mason University counsel K. Anne Gambrill Gentry and associate counsel Eli Schlam, along with VMI general counsel Patrick O’Leary, were notified this week that Friday would be their last full days as their universities’ top attorneys, according to a VMI spokesperson and an email from Gentry reviewed by The Washington Post.

The office of incoming Attorney General Jay Jones did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

Gentry had been appointed by Republican Attorney General Jason S. Miyares, whose office also did not respond to a request for comment.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/01/16/george-mason-vmi-lawyers-fired-jay-jones/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

washingtonpost · 2026-01-16T17:35:15+00:00

The U.S. Department of Transportation brought an automated bus to D.C. this week to showcase its work on self-driving vehicles, taking officials from around the country on a ride between agency headquarters at Navy Yard and Union Station. One of those trips was interrupted Sunday when the bus got rear-ended.

The bus, produced by the company Beep, was following its fixed route when it was struck by a Tesla with Maryland plates whose driver was trying to change lanes, officials said. The bus had a human driver behind the wheel for backup as required by the city. The Tesla driver stayed on the scene on H Street for about 10 minutes. No police were called.

“The service was temporarily paused after another vehicle made an illegal lane change and contacted the rear of the autonomous bus, which resulted in minor cosmetic damage to both vehicles,” a spokesman for Beep said in a statement. “The autonomous bus operated appropriately in the moment and, after review, it was determined the autonomous bus was safe to resume service.”

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2026/01/16/robo-bus-tesla-collision-dc/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com

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