Outside the Beltway

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1. DK says:
   Friday, 23 January 2026 at 06:22

   From Robert Guest, deputy editor of The Economist:

   It is testimony to America’s unmatched power that hundreds of the world’s richest and most influential people elbowed their way into a room this week to listen to Donald Trump ramble, lie and insult them for more than an hour. But listen they did, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, perhaps groaning inwardly when he suggested that China has no wind farms (it is the largest generator of wind power in the world), that economic growth in America will soon be faster than it has ever been anywhere (it won’t), or that there was “nothing wrong” with old-fashioned imperialism (please).

   Mr Trump commands the world’s attention because no one knows what he will say next, and his office gives him the muscle to turn terrible ideas into action. This week’s crisis concerned Greenland. Though Mr Trump struggles to remember the Danish island’s name (he called it “Iceland” four times in his speech), he yearns to annex it. He says America needs it for national security. But since America can already build as many military bases on Greenland as it likes, and American firms are free to bid for mining contracts there, cynics suspect that what Mr Trump really cares about is adding a huge piece of real estate (which looks supersized in the Mercator projection) to American territory.

   …Though Mr Trump switched to a more conciliatory tone, suggesting he would not use force against a fellow member of NATO and promising to make some kind of deal, he revealed a snarling contempt for Europe—and for alliances based on democratic values. We argue that Europeans should preserve what they can of NATO, but prepare for a world without it.

   The next president has a doozy of a repair job, assuming we make that long with anything savalagable (big if, far from guaranteed). Hillary called the orange pedo Putin’s puppet nearly a decade ago. She was right.

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2. charontwo says:
   Friday, 23 January 2026 at 08:14

   Here is an opportunity for D J Trump to do a bit of grifting:

   “WaPo Gift”

   At least one firm has raised the prospect of getting government support to build out more data centers. OpenAI’s chief financial officer, Sarah Frier, said in November that it will require “innovation” on the finance side, with government providing a “backstop” or “guarantee.” Her comments triggered backlash from politicians and tech critics, who questioned whether taxpayers should take on some of these private companies’ risk. Frier and CEO Sam Altman both later clarified that they weren’t seeking federal guarantees for OpenAI data centers specifically, although Altman did say in a lengthy social media post that a government-funded “strategic national reserve of computing power” would make sense.

   The Trump administration has gone all in on AI, pushing aside concerns within the MAGA movement and seeking to sweep away regulations that it says hamper innovation. But neighbors of the vast warehouses of computer chips that form the technology’s backbone — including in conservative states — have objected to how the facilities sap power from the grid, guzzle water to stay cool and secure tax breaks from local governments. Trump has recalibrated his approach, pushing tech companies to fund their own power.

   Maybe some dick measuring going on here.

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3. CSK says:
   Friday, 23 January 2026 at 08:20

   I’m curious: What are the 8 plus wars Trump claims to have stopped?

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