MNI POLITICAL RISK- Trump White House Offers More Press Access

Executive summary:

• President Donald Trump will sit down with Fox News' Sean Hannity for his first post-inauguration network interview.
• Trump suggested he may impose tariffs on the EU and China on February 1, broadening a tariff threat he issued to Canada and Mexico shortly after his inauguration.
• Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) promised to keep the Senate in session through the weekend after Democrats blocked quick passage for Trump’s CIA Director nominee.
• Two Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the nomination of Trump’s Treasury Secretary pick Scott Bessent, teeing up a confirmation vote in the coming days.
• Trump announced the “largest AI infrastructure project in history” alongside the CEOs of OpenAI, Softbank, and Oracle.
• A series of meetings between Trump and Congressional Republican leaders at the White House appear to have done little to resolve a dispute over reconciliation strategy.
• Democrats have warned House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) against linking California wildfire relief to the debt limit.
• Two Treasury Department hires appear to have shifted the centre of tax negotiations from Congress to the executive branch.
• The SEC announced it will launch a “crypto task force” to develop a “comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets.”
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio's first meetings at the State Department signalled continuity of the Biden administration's Indo-Pacific multilateralism with Japan, India, and Australia.
• Poll of the Day: Trump starts his second term with a healthy approval rating. 

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