First Thing: What will Trump do next?

Good morning.

Donald Trump may have left the White House, but he’s doing his best not to depart the political scene altogether. The now-former president reportedly spent the weekend in discussions about how to maintain relevance and unseat his political opponents, suggesting he might create a new party. Some see the idea predominantly as a threat to keep senators on side ahead of his impeachment trial, which begins on the week of 8 February. The single article of impeachment, on a charge of inciting a deadly insurrection at the Capitol, will be delivered to the Senate this evening, and the Democratic majority leader, Chuck Schumer, has promised a quick but fair trial.

The New York Times released another explosive article this weekend, reporting that Trump had plotted with an official at the Department of Justice to sack the acting attorney general, and force Republicans in Georgia to overturn his defeat there in the presidential election. Meanwhile, the former acting US defense secretary Christopher Miller told Vanity fair that when he took the job in November, his goals were “no military coup, no major war and no troops in the street” – bleak aims for a country which considers itself a beacon of democracy worldwide.

So with controversy and condemnation still hanging over him, will Trump be able to re-enter society? Legendary political reporter Elizabeth Drew doesn’t think so. Writing in the Washington Post, she compared the presidencies of Nixon and Trump, saying: “For all their similarities, Nixon and Trump clearly are very different men. For one thing, Nixon was smart.”

• Sarah Sanders is tipped to run for Arkansas governor, according to multiple reports. Trump’s former chief spokesperson and one of his closest aides, Sanders left the White House in 2019 to return to her home state, and plans to launch her bid for office later today.

• Marco Rubio floundered when asked about challenge from Ivanka Trump this weekend. The former president’s daughter is reportedly considering a run for Senate in Florida, after she bought a house in Miami.

Covid skepticism within the White House ‘derailed’ the US’s pandemic response

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Trump presented graphs ‘I never made’, says Deborah Birx – video

There were people in the White House who thought coronavirus was a hoax, the former US coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx said this weekend. Speaking on CBS, she alleged that unknown advisors were giving the president alternative coronavirus data, saying she “saw the president presenting graphs that I never made.” Birx said that “political leaders” had made unhelpful statements which “derailed” her team’s response to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Dr Anthony Fauci revealed there was a running joke that he was the “skunk at the picnic” of Trump’s White House coronavirus taskforce, in an interview with the New York Times this weekend. Fauci said White House staff would underplay the severity of the pandemic, but he had never considered resigning because “someone’s got to not be afraid to speak out the truth”.

• The Chicago Teachers Union has voted to defy an order to return to classrooms over concerns about safety during the coronavirus pandemic, setting the stage for a showdown with district officials.

• The governor of Texas has taken a hands-off approach to the pandemic, rejecting lockdowns, and implementing ineffective restrictions on businesses. The move might have been an attempt to avoid political unpopularity, but its come at a high human cost, allowing the virus to thrive in the state.

World leaders condemned Russia’s detention of peaceful protesters

The US, EU and UK criticised the Russian government on Sunday after thousands of peaceful protesters were arrested as they called for the release of opposition leader Alexei Navalny from jail. the French foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, warned that the move was a “slide towards authoritarianism”, as the EU considers potential “next steps” against Putin’s government. The US said Russia was “supressing” the right to freedom of expression, and joined calls for Navalny’s release.

Navalny was detained when he returned to Russia, after receiving treatment in Germany following his poisoning with novichok. The Russian state has widely been blamed for Navalny’s poisoning.

• Colombia is confronting a surge in femicides, with the country’s vice-president joining activists in calling for an end to the violence. With the 14 recorded cases this year alone, and 229 verified, and 260 unverified cases last year, there are concerns that lockdowns have forced women and girls indoors with abusive men.

• Thousands of people have staged motorcades across Brazil, calling for the impeachment of the president, Jair Bolsonaro, with the demonstrations appearing in more than 20 state capitals. Support for the far-right president has dropped over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

In other news…

• Five people, including a pregnant woman, have been shot dead at a home in Indianapolis, in what appears to be a targeted attack. The city’s police chief said the killings were a “different kind of evil”. It is hoped that one boy who was thought to be shot in the attack, but was not in the house, will survive.

• There are “encouraging” signs for critically endangered North Atlantic right whales off the south-eastern coast of the US, wildlife officials have said. There have been at least 14 new calves born, three to first time mothers, and the total count of winter sightings has reached 65.

• Two people were injured when a police car plowed into pedestrians who were obstructing it while responding to reports of a street race. According to a witness, people tried to block the car from reaching the scene and were pounding on the windows, leading it to hit several people and run over at least one.

Stat of the day: Trump hired four times as many lobbyists as Obama — in half the time

While the Biden administration’s effort to restore political norms and ethical standards has been admirable, more needs to be done to define presidential conduct for the future, writes David Litt, former Obama speechwriter. Getting lobbyists out of office is one way to start — Trump hired more than four times as many as Obama in half the amount of time, setting a dangerous precedent.

Don’t miss this: will Biden make good on his pledge to improve racial equality?

In his inaugural address, Biden pledged that “we can deliver racial justice”, and condemned the rise of white supremacy in the US. Chris McGreal talks to activists about what they hope Biden can achieve – and whether racism is too deep in American society to root out.

Last Thing: Bernie Sanders has embraced his inauguration internet fame

Since his appearance at last week’s inauguration, wearing chunky knitted mittens and a waterproof coat, hunched cross legged on a folding chair, Bernie Sanders has become a meme. Photographs of him at the event have been circulated wildly across the internet, and edited into scenarios from the London Philharmonic Orchestra to a scene in Ghost. Now, Sanders has embraced it, selling sweatshirts and t-shirts with the image to raise money for charities combating food insecurity.

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