Opinion: Two Pragmatists For President

In one of his first acts as president, Donald Trump issued a proclamation declaring a national emergency at the southern border. The proclamation authorizes the Secretary of Defense to move money within the department to fund construction of the border wall. It further authorizes the Secretary to call up reservists to assist the Department of Homeland Security in its border activities. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Six years ago, with illegal border crossings hovering near a 40-year low, Trump also declared an emergency to secure funding for the border wall and to call up reservists.

For most Americans, the past few days have felt like a whirlwind; for intersex Americans like myself, the past week has been one of unimaginable whiplash. On Jan. 16, then President Biden’s department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a groundbreaking report on the health inequities our community suffers—believed to be the first ever federal policy acknowledging the existence of, let alone challenges faced by, intersex individuals in the United States.

When Demi Moore won the Golden Globe for her turn as aging star Elisabeth Sparkle in French director Coralie Fargeat’s body-horror hit The Substance on Jan. 5, she shared in her acceptance speech that it was the first real award she’d received in her more than 45 years in Hollywood.

The 97th Academy Awards will move forward in spite of the devastating Los Angeles fires, which have taken at least 28 lives and destroyed thousands of buildings and homes in the county. Recovery from the wildfires and community will likely set the tone for the event, which will be hosted by comedian and television host Conan O’ Brien in early March.

Nominations for the 97th Academy Awards, scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 2, arrived on Jan. 23 after multiple delays owing to the Los Angeles wildfires. The devastation is likely to cast a shadow over the remainder of this awards season, but in keeping with the spirit of Tinseltown, the show must, and will, go on. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Following a largely predictable awards season dominated by Oppenheimer, 2025 is looking a lot more open.

Donald Trump spent a noteworthy chunk of the transition period provoking controversy—and insulting NATO allies—with his proposals for expanding the U. S. Maybe most prominently, he has repeatedly discussed buying Greenland from Denmark, a stance he robustly reaffirmed on his first day in office, earlier this week. While American expansion hasn’t been discussed much in recent times, the proposal to buy Greenland makes more sense if one understands the history of the Arctic.