Welcome to the online edition of From the Politics Desk, our evening newsletter that brings you the latest reporting and analysis from the NBC News political team from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.
In today’s issue, technology reporter David Ingram delves into Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s sharp rightward pivot ahead of President Donald Trump’s inauguration. There is. Plus, chief political analyst Chuck Todd examines how long the new political status quo will last.
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Mark Zuckerberg’s shift to the right took months to materialize.
Written by David Ingram
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement that he would end professional fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram caused a stir in political and tech circles.
Tuesday’s news was the biggest story for Mr. Zuckerberg, the latest in a series of moves in recent months to position him and the social media giant in the incoming Trump administration.
Zuckerberg has been a supporter of several progressive causes, co-founded an immigration reform group to fight mass deportations, and met repeatedly with Barack Obama during his presidency.
But he began hinting last summer that he was preparing to lean politically toward Donald Trump. The first incident was in July, when Zuckerberg said President Trump’s raising his fist after the assassination attempt was “one of the worst things I’ve ever seen in my life.” But Zuckerberg tempered his praise at the time, saying he did not support the presidential candidate.
Also that month, Meta lifted special restrictions it had placed on Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts after the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. This means Trump is back on the platform after being suspended.
In August, Zuckerberg attacked the Biden administration’s response to coronavirus misinformation, claiming the government pressured the company to “censor” content. Later that month, Zuckerberg published a photo book saying that if Trump did “something illegal” to influence the presidential election, Zuckerberg would “spend the rest of his life in prison,” but Mehta declined to comment.
After the election, Mr. Zuckerberg posted his best wishes for Mr. Trump. Mehta announced last month that he donated $1 million to President Trump’s inaugural fund. And last week, Mr. Zuckerberg appointed Joel Kaplan, a longtime Republican insider, to replace former British deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, whose history was less conservative than Mr. Kaplan, to lead Meta’s global policy. promoted to person.
Meta announced new board members on Monday, including Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship and a longtime friend of Trump.
Zuckerberg is not alone in corporate America shifting policies to suit the political winds, but the dominance of meta in how Americans communicate online has made him a pivot. is unique.
Read more from David →
Which political party will be the first to disband in 2025?
Written by Chuck Todd
If there’s one thing that’s certain in politics these days, it’s that the status quo is rarely maintained.
And history teaches us that when one party gains control of the so-called trifecta of governing power (the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate), the new status quo has a shelf life of nearly two years instead of four. Republicans are already feeling time pressure to leverage their majority under President-elect Donald Trump, while Democrats face pressure on how to recover from their losses. The big question that will energize 2025 will be whether the pressure of defeat or the pressure of governance is greater.
The period in which one party has dominated three parties since the election of President Ronald Reagan in 1980 is illustrative. Immediately before President Reagan, Jimmy Carter had a four-year trifecta, but by his third year the party had split. This is the last time Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress and the White House for four consecutive years. Although Reagan and George H.W. Bill Clinton and the Democrats won it for two years (the first two years).
When George W. Bush was elected, it took less than six months for a party switch to give Democrats one seat in the 50-50 Senate. Bush would eventually regain the trifecta after the 2002 midterm elections and hold it until the Democratic wave in 2006 – the first time a Republican had won a trifecta since 1955!
Democrats then won a trifecta for two years after President Barack Obama’s election in 2008 until Republicans took control of the House in 2010. Republicans will again have a trifecta for the first two years of President Trump’s first term, but the 2018 midterm elections will be the only time the House will be Democratic. And while Joe Biden and the Democratic Party regained the trifecta after 2020, they lost it in the first midterm elections, as did Obama, Trump, and Clinton.
So begins the current Republican trifecta, which will begin when Trump takes office on January 20th. This will be Trump’s second time joining a Republican-led Congress, and this time he won’t be at war with his own party as Trump was. It was his first year in office. Indeed, judging by their rhetoric and actions, Republicans have no illusions that they will maintain this trifecta for more than two years, and are aiming to enact all of their promises into law by the 2026 midterm elections.
They realize that they are only renting a hold on power until their landlords (American voters) decide otherwise.
Read more about Chuck →
🗞️ Today’s Top News
⚫ California wildfires: Get the latest updates on the fires engulfing the Los Angeles area with NBC News’ live blog. 📔 SPECIAL REPORTS: The Justice Department said Attorney General Merrick Garland plans to release portions of the special counsel’s report on two felony investigations into Mr. Trump as long as the courts allow. Continue reading → ⌚ Last chance: President Trump wants the Supreme Court to block his ruling in the hush-money case in New York, scheduled for Friday. Continue reading → 🗓️Trump policy: The incoming Trump administration is considering carrying out large-scale raids targeting illegal immigrants in the early stages. The raids could target immigrants allegedly in the United States illegally at workplaces in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Continue reading → ➡️ Hope for a ceasefire: President Joe Biden’s aides are somewhat optimistic that Israel and Hamas could come close to a deal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages held by the terror group It shows a certain point of view. Continue reading → 👀 Looking back: Biden told USA Today he believes he would have defeated Trump had he not withdrawn from the race, but he doesn’t know if he would have won a full second term. Continue reading → 👶 The whole family: Biden became the first modern president to have a great-grandchild born while in office, after his eldest daughter Naomi gave birth on Wednesday. Read more → 🧊 Seeing red in Greenland: European leaders are pushing back against President Trump’s refusal to remove military force as a means to occupy Greenland. Continue reading → ✅ First Election of 2025: Democrats maintained a narrow majority in the Virginia General Assembly after two special elections were held in upheld districts Tuesday. Read more →
That’s all from the political desk for now. Today’s newsletter was edited by Adam Wolner and Ben Kamisar.
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