The Pandas Take Washington
The DailyYou’re reading The New Yorker’s daily newsletter, a guide to our top stories, featuring exclusive insights from our writers and editors. Sign up to receive it in your in-box.In today’s newsletter, D.C.’s newest animal power players. And breaking down Trump’s Day One. Plus:The TV spectacle of the inaugurationRevisiting Philip Roth’s “The Plot Against America”What to see at Under the Radar festivalPhotograph by Deng Xianlai / Xinhua / GettyRobin WrightReporting from the other side of Washington, D.C.Across town from the inaugural speeches and Presidential pardons, high-fashion billionaire balls and limousine motorcades, some traumatized inhabitants of Washington, D.C., were pinning their hopes on two panda cubs at the National Zoo. Their début, this week, is “perhaps the biggest highlight” of January in the world’s most powerful capital, Washingtonian magazine reported. On Sunday, I watched Qing Bao, who has the fluffier cheeks of the two and a birthmark on her hip, nosh bamboo, oblivious to the assembled crowd. Bao Li, a playful boy who bleats in excitement, climbed dangerously high up a tree. He is the grandson of pandas who were recalled by Beijing during a rupture in relations in 2023.Pandas are more of a symbol of Washington than either political party is—and a welcome distraction. “We are expecting huge, huge crowds,” Yael Krigman, whose kosher bakery, which is across the street from the zoo and specializes in panda-themed pastries, told me. Business picks up “exponentially” during panda events. The Watergate Hotel has offered special packages featuring panda pajamas, a stuffed bear, and binoculars. (Washington’s first pandas arrived after President Richard Nixon’s historic trip to Beijing, in 1972. Four months later, the Watergate became forever linked to Nixon, after the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and all that followed.)Trump is on day two of his second, and final, term, and has said that he wants to meet soon with China’s Xi Jinping, who is President for life. The two men spoke on Friday, although reports about what they discussed have varied. Trump cited trade and TikTok; Xi cited trade and Taiwan. Washington has “rented” the pandas from China, at a million dollars annually, through 2034. They will be important players in Washington longer than Trump, though possibly shorter than Xi.The First Days of Trump 2.0A “national energy emergency”: The President signed a slew of executive orders—such as pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate accords and revving up its fossil-fuel production—and vowed to reverse dozens of President Biden’s climate policies. Bill McKibben on what Trump’s actions could mean for the environment.A person fishes in Seal Beach, California, in January, 2025.Photograph by Mario Tama / GettyThe fate of Ukraine: Isaac Chotiner speaks to Stephen Wertheim, a senior fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, about why Trump’s approach to foreign policy may be different than it was in his first term—and how he might engage with Vladimir Putin.A favored vessel of the Almighty: At his Inauguration, Trump cast himself as chosen by God, and his selected speakers went along with it. As Vinson Cunningham writes, in a review of the televised proceedings, “Guys this full of shit recognize one another instantly.”Presidential clemency for the January 6th rioters: Trump offered pardons to more than fifteen hundred people charged in connection with the insurrection on the Capitol. Revisit Luke Mogelson’s definitive account from that day, and see the footage he captured.The attack on birthright citizenship: At least twenty-two states have already sued Trump for his executive order meant to limit birthright citizenship—a right long understood to be guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. Amy Davidson Sorkin has written about how the Republicans took up this crusade.More Top StoriesWhat D.C. Saw at Donald Trump’s Second InaugurationUnder the Radar Keeps Rollin’ AlongRevisiting “The Plot Against America”Daily Cartoon“I get it, honey, but it’s your night to make dinner.”Cartoon by Julia SuitsCopy link to cartoonCopy link to cartoonLink copiedShopShopMore Fun & GamesPlay today’s moderately challenging puzzle. A clue: Comrade of Porthos and Aramis. Five letters.Shouts & Murmurs: Dear Pepper: What a Way to Make a Livin’P.S. The esteemed cartoonist, illustrator, playwright, author, and teacher Jules Feiffer died last week, at the age of ninety-five. A winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a member of the Comic Book Hall of Fame, Feiffer also contributed to this magazine. In 2015, Feiffer sat for an interview with the New Yorker art editor Françoise Mouly. “As I do the serious work, I’m having the best time of my life,” he said. “I can’t stop giggling.”
In today’s newsletter, D.C.’s newest animal power players. And breaking down Trump’s Day One. Plus:
- The TV spectacle of the inauguration
- Revisiting Philip Roth’s “The Plot Against America”
- What to see at Under the Radar festival
Robin Wright
Reporting from the other side of Washington, D.C.
Across town from the inaugural speeches and Presidential pardons, high-fashion billionaire balls and limousine motorcades, some traumatized inhabitants of Washington, D.C., were pinning their hopes on two panda cubs at the National Zoo. Their début, this week, is “perhaps the biggest highlight” of January in the world’s most powerful capital, Washingtonian magazine reported. On Sunday, I watched Qing Bao, who has the fluffier cheeks of the two and a birthmark on her hip, nosh bamboo, oblivious to the assembled crowd. Bao Li, a playful boy who bleats in excitement, climbed dangerously high up a tree. He is the grandson of pandas who were recalled by Beijing during a rupture in relations in 2023.
Pandas are more of a symbol of Washington than either political party is—and a welcome distraction. “We are expecting huge, huge crowds,” Yael Krigman, whose kosher bakery, which is across the street from the zoo and specializes in panda-themed pastries, told me. Business picks up “exponentially” during panda events. The Watergate Hotel has offered special packages featuring panda pajamas, a stuffed bear, and binoculars. (Washington’s first pandas arrived after President Richard Nixon’s historic trip to Beijing, in 1972. Four months later, the Watergate became forever linked to Nixon, after the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and all that followed.)
Trump is on day two of his second, and final, term, and has said that he wants to meet soon with China’s Xi Jinping, who is President for life. The two men spoke on Friday, although reports about what they discussed have varied. Trump cited trade and TikTok; Xi cited trade and Taiwan. Washington has “rented” the pandas from China, at a million dollars annually, through 2034. They will be important players in Washington longer than Trump, though possibly shorter than Xi.
The First Days of Trump 2.0
- A “national energy emergency”: The President signed a slew of executive orders—such as pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate accords and revving up its fossil-fuel production—and vowed to reverse dozens of President Biden’s climate policies. Bill McKibben on what Trump’s actions could mean for the environment.
The fate of Ukraine: Isaac Chotiner speaks to Stephen Wertheim, a senior fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, about why Trump’s approach to foreign policy may be different than it was in his first term—and how he might engage with Vladimir Putin.
A favored vessel of the Almighty: At his Inauguration, Trump cast himself as chosen by God, and his selected speakers went along with it. As Vinson Cunningham writes, in a review of the televised proceedings, “Guys this full of shit recognize one another instantly.”
Presidential clemency for the January 6th rioters: Trump offered pardons to more than fifteen hundred people charged in connection with the insurrection on the Capitol. Revisit Luke Mogelson’s definitive account from that day, and see the footage he captured.
The attack on birthright citizenship: At least twenty-two states have already sued Trump for his executive order meant to limit birthright citizenship—a right long understood to be guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. Amy Davidson Sorkin has written about how the Republicans took up this crusade.
- What D.C. Saw at Donald Trump’s Second Inauguration
- Under the Radar Keeps Rollin’ Along
- Revisiting “The Plot Against America”
Daily Cartoon
- Play today’s moderately challenging puzzle. A clue: Comrade of Porthos and Aramis. Five letters.
- Shouts & Murmurs: Dear Pepper: What a Way to Make a Livin’
P.S. The esteemed cartoonist, illustrator, playwright, author, and teacher Jules Feiffer died last week, at the age of ninety-five. A winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a member of the Comic Book Hall of Fame, Feiffer also contributed to this magazine. In 2015, Feiffer sat for an interview with the New Yorker art editor Françoise Mouly. “As I do the serious work, I’m having the best time of my life,” he said. “I can’t stop giggling.”
