Whelp, that happened. Trump, “saved by God to make America great again,” kicked off his first day as the 47th President of the United States with a flurry of executive orders, wielding his signature big Sharpie like a pro. Whether you dealt with those pangs of existential dread by way of drowning them in booze, talking it out to a teletherapist, or marching in the streets (no judgment from someone who partook in all three, at times simultaneously), we got through the first day of the Trump administration, now only 1,459 of these suckers to go… 

Meanwhile, Melania, back in her role as First Lady, showed us how to ward off predators and defend borders—one oversized hat at a time. She’s not an icon, she’s complicit! Alright, let’s get into it.

Good Day for Seattle Cops, Bad Day for Capitol Ones: Trump pardoned around 1,500 defendants, including six officers from the Seattle Police Department who formed the largest known cop contingent at the January 6 Capitol riot. With a stroke of his pen, Trump erased all consequences for his supporters, among them Caitlin Everett and Alexander Everett—the only two SPD officers fired for trespassing Capitol barriers that day. Federal inmates serving related sentences are set to be released shortly, as the pardons cover those convicted of assaulting Capitol Police with pipes, poles, and chemical sprays. The “QAnon Shaman,” the spear-wielding, bare-chested rioter, plans to “buy some motha f***in’ guns” to celebrate his newfound freedom.

Let’s Rewrite History: Fourteen members of the extremist groups—Proud Boys and Oath Keepers—had their sentences commuted, erasing over 100 years of prison time. They walk free, but their convictions—almost all for seditious conspiracy—remain on the record. Among them is Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys. Tarrio’s family issued a statement Tuesday, announcing his release late Monday from FCI Pollock, a medium-security federal prison in Louisiana. Meanwhile, the Proud Boys marked Inauguration Day by marching through the streets of D.C., carrying pro-Trump and anti-Antifa signs.

Speaking of Erasure: Trump ordered that the federal government will recognize only two genders, defined by “biological sex,” with an Executive Order titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” The directive mandates that federal agencies use the term “sex” instead of “gender” and requires the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to “ensure that official government documents, including passports and visas, reflect sex accurately.” (Stay updated on these changes with Stranger writer Vivian Mccall, who will be updating our document guides as we know more). The order also prohibits taxpayer dollars from being used for gender-affirming health care and introduces provisions for “privacy in intimate spaces”—banning gender-affirming housing in facilities like prisons and detention centers. 

Bye, Bye DEI: The Trump administration has called diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs “illegal and immoral discrimination programs.” The order states that Americans deserve all taxpayer resources to be allocated “only on making America great,” which apparently involves placing an American flag on Mars. That one’s for Elon, baby! 

ICE Raids Are Coming: Immigration agents are set to begin nationwide raids today to arrest and deport undocumented migrants, according to Trump’s former border czar, Tom Homan. Homan emphasized that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will now fully enforce immigration laws after being limited for the past four years. While he did not specify locations or whether sanctuary cities would be targeted, he confirmed that the raids would happen across the U.S. The actions are part of new executive orders signed by Trump to enforce his draconian immigration policies.

DOGE Already Down a Dumbass: Mere hours after Trump was sworn into office, Vivek Ramaswamy, who was supposed to help lead the “Department of Government Efficiency,” aka DOGE, suddenly decided to bail, leaving Elon Musk holding the bag. Ramaswamy is supposedly leaving to run for Ohio governor. Meanwhile, Musk, the world’s richest guy, is now in charge of the whole operation, even though his companies have massive government contracts. Oh, and did I mention Doge is being sued for violating transparency rules? Off to a roaring start so far.

Passing it over to HMW for a second, who talked to some local abortion advocates yesterday. 

Rest in Peace: Just hours before Trump’s inauguration yesterday, Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood, passed away from an aggressive brain cancer. “This morning our beloved Cecile passed away at home, surrounded by her family and her ever-loyal dog, Ollie,” her family wrote. Richards was only 67 when she passed away. Richards retired from Planned Parenthood in 2018, but she emerged as a powerful voice when Roe was overturned in 2022. “If I have one regret from my time leading Planned Parenthood,” she wrote that year, “it is that we believed that providing vital health care, with public opinion on our side, would be enough to overcome the political onslaught.”

“Every Moment Spent in the Struggle Changes the World”: As news of her death broke through the din of yesterday’s inauguration, I reached out to local abortion advocates about her legacy. Rebecca Gibron, the CEO of our regional chapter of Planned Parenthood, called Richards “a visionary whose leadership fundamentally reshaped the reproductive health landscape.” Amelia Bonow, the founder of Shout Your Abortion said: “Cecile Richards dedicated her life to service and was completely undeterred by bad news, whether it be political or her own terminal cancer diagnosis. Her participation was not contingent on whether she’d be around to see the big wins; like every good organizer, she lived with the conviction that every moment spent in the struggle changes the world.”

Auburn Man Among the Confederacy of Dunces Set Free by Pardon: In yet another reminder that MAGA morons walk among us, Ethan Nordean, an Auburn man and Proud Boys leader who got 18 years for seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6 riot, had his sentence wiped clean by none other than President Trump. That’s right, the guy who tried to overturn an election is now handing out pardons like Halloween candy, making sure his foot soldiers get off scot-free. Washington state had about 30 folks wrapped up in this mess, and Senator Patty Murray ain’t too thrilled, calling it a “sad day for America.” No surprise that when you let the arsonist back in the firehouse, things start burning down again.

Weather: It’ll be cold all day with a high of 42 and a low of 29 degrees, but at least we’ll start with some sunshine before the afternoon clouds roll in. Been enjoying the relatively dry weather we’ve been having this month, which is on track for the driest January in 40 years? It could change starting Thursday, with the potential for a few showers. 

Warming Centers in King County: A reminder that with sub-freezing temperatures expected to continue through Thursday, King County has opened up warming centers. Emergency daytime and overnight shelters, including libraries, are available, with transportation options provided to shelter sites. King County libraries are open to the public during regular hours, while Seattle Public Libraries will reopen today after being closed for MLK Day. Warming centers and shelter locations are accessible for those in need throughout the week.

CA Preparing for New Wildfires: Winds in southern California picked up again on Tuesday morning, sparking new wildfires as firefighters continue battling blazes from earlier this month. The extreme fire weather, with gusts reaching up to 100 mph, has kept fire crews on high alert. So far, the California fires this year have already killed at least 27 people and destroyed thousands of homes. Authorities issued warnings for explosive fire growth due to dry conditions and strong winds, while evacuations were ordered for several small fires.

66 Dead after Fire at Turkey Ski Resort: A fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya, Turkey, killed at least 66 people and injured 51 others during the country’s winter holiday season. Many families, including children, were vacationing at the 12-story ski resort hotel when the fire broke out before dawn, sending thick smoke and flames through the building. Survivors reported a lack of fire alarms and clear fire escapes, with some escaping through windows. Authorities have detained four people, including the hotel’s owner, and an investigation is underway.

Thousands flock to MLK Day March: Thousands gathered at Garfield High School for the 42nd annual Martin Luther King Day march and rally, celebrating Dr. King’s legacy while taking a strong stand against Trump’s agenda and Project 2025, the far-right initiative aimed at radically reshaping the federal government. Participants carried signs calling for an end to war and efforts to stop Trump, highlighting concerns over threats to diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as potential mass deportations. While Seattle is often seen as a progressive stronghold, speakers emphasized the city’s deep connection to national policies that impact communities across the country. Yours truly went to the march—keep an eye out for a post later today, highlighting the voices of people there. 

Let there be light: Who says there’s no light from the darkness? On January 25, Seattle will see its first 5 pm sunset of the year. That’s right, after months of feeling like extras in Nosferatu, we’re slowly crawling back to the light, gaining about an hour of daylight by the end of January. But wait, it gets even better! February and March will bring even more sunshine, with March delivering the biggest boost, thanks to our old frenemy, daylight saving time, on March 9. By the end of March, sunsets will hit 7:38 pm, and we can all pretend, for a little while at least, that Seattle isn’t a damp, overcast wonderland.

Fall City Quake: Monday at 1:35 pm, the earth decided to give Fall City a little shake—a 3.5 magnitude quake, about four miles northeast. Thankfully, it was no biggie. No damage, no injuries—just a little reminder that Mother Nature’s got a few tricks up her sleeve. Geologists say real damage doesn’t happen until we hit a 4 or 5, so for now, just another day in the Pacific Northwest. 

Possible Dementia Treatment: Science is still a thing! In a groundbreaking study, experts are urging the repurposing of existing medications, including antibiotics, antivirals, and vaccines, to address the global dementia crisis. With the number of dementia cases expected to nearly triple by 2050, the study suggests that using drugs already approved for other conditions could expedite the search for effective treatments. Research led by the University of Cambridge and the University of Exeter found promising associations between certain medications and reduced dementia risk, including anti-inflammatory drugs and vaccines. However, while these findings offer hope, experts emphasize that clinical trials are crucial to confirm the potential of these repurposed drugs in combating dementia.

Song to start your day: It’s my opinion, no fuck it, it’s an indisputable fact that David Ryan Harris is the most underrated musician of his generation. Disagree? You’re wrong. But if nothing else, here’s a song to infuse your morning with a jolt of joy. 

 

97 replies on “Slog AM: Capitol Rioters Set Free, ICE Raids Underway, Warming Centers Ready to Go”

  2. What is with The Stranger’s California fire coverage?

    I thought The Stranger was for as much natural habitat restoration as possible. Shouldn’t they be rooting for the fire?

  4. Democrats in denial over Trump defeat, voters say: ‘Haven’t learned the lessons’

    Voters in swing-state Michigan unimpressed with party’s election critique and say fundamental shift is needed

    Trump’s decisive victory in Saginaw, a bellwether county that he won in 2016 and then lost four years later, came as a shock to the local Democratic party but not to many of its supporters.

    Community leaders in some of the poorest parts of Saginaw, where voter turnout dropped, repeatedly warned that the Harris campaign’s focus on attacking Trump as unfit for office and winning the support of middle class white women, particularly over abortion rights, was alienating a large part of the Democratic constituency simply struggling to pay the bills and looking for economic reform.

    [..]

  8. @4 With 20/20 hindsight, it’s easy to say that Democrats ran the wrong campaign. That said, Harris should have learned the lesson of 2016 that just saying that Trump is unfit for office isn’t enough.

    Of course, your analysis completely ignores the fact that Harris had a raft of economic policies and plans that would have benefited those folks. They just got lost in Republicans claiming that she had no plans until it became an article of faith regardless of reality.

  9. @4 Those folks are about to learn a hard lesson about purity politics. You can’t address every single person’s every concern. But keep defending people who are too shellfish to understand representative democracies.

  10. @3

    Did you listen to his speech to be able to put his gesture into context or are you just one of the many people committed to being offended by everything?

    The BBC has a decent and reasonably balanced article about it if you’re open to the possibility that you’re wrong.

    I doubt you are

  14. The two genders order is most refreshing to common sense and science. Doesn’t negate gender affirming care and isn’t transphobic. Indeed, the origin of trans is going from one gender to the other.

    Non-binary is not a gender. It’s an expression.

  15. This debacle is entirely the responsibility of Sleepy Joe Biden and his corrupt enablers. Any number of younger Democratic Representatives, Governors or Senators could have defeated Trump following an open primary and nominating convention. Whatever his lifetime of accomplishments might be, they are all now a footnote to the coming chaos. I will happily play the role of Madame Defarge as the Democratic Party toadies are trundled to the guillottine. I hate that fucker.

  16. Oops! I overlooked the sentence “The order also prohibits taxpayer dollars from being used for gender-affirming health care” – so strike that part from @14.

  19. @8 I am not ignoring Harris economic offerings that came well short of being game changers (like medicare for all would be) or Biden’s finally breaking with market fundamentalism but it was not sufficient to convince many whose financial situation has grown even more precarious due to inflation. Campaigning while saying the economy was basically great thus ignoring the chasm in economic well being fueled by 50 years of neoliberal policies portrayed a tone deafness that fit neatly into the narrative that Democrats are the party of urban elites.

    It’s not really 20/20 hindsight since progressives (including here) warned these were major issue during the campaign

  20. @14:

    ALL gender is an expression – because gender is a social construct, not a biological one. You should know that by now. And the fact you had to backpedal so quickly on your own statement just goes to show how insidious this really is.

  21. @9 The economic well being of the ~60% who can’t make ends meet is not “every single person’s every concern”. It’s fundamental. May be you are the selfish one, think about it.

  23. @14, Gender isn’t science. You’re thinking of biological sex, which is not binary.

    It must feel good to finally get to praise Trump after years pretending you’re not into this.

  24. Simple fact;

    That while gender is not binary, U.S. elections are. You either tried to elect Harris, or you helped elect Trump.

    If you didn’t try and elect Harris, you own part of everything that happens during Trump’s tenure.

  25. @18 but you spent the better part of 2024 telling us the lack of support for Hamas was the main thing driving voters from the Democrats?

  28. @25, Now you’re just being stupid. Even the most hateful transphobes understand that gender is a social expression of sex that anyone can subvert, they just think trans people believing they are a different gender than their birth sex is a mental illness that can be shamed out of them.

  29. 26 ???? do you think rhinoceroses understand what a social construct is? Can you think of any other ways humans are different than other animals? Are you able to wipe your own ass or do you need help with that too?

  30. TS just can’t kick its zombie twitter addiction (every time it looks like they make progress the next writer regresses).

    “Meanwhile, Musk, the world’s richest guy, is now in charge of the whole operation, even though his companies have massive government contracts”

    So then maybe stop putting money, power, control in Musk – which you do when you use / promote his plaything.

  32. 30, Buddy, we already covered this. He’s a nazi regardless of whether he accidentally gave the nazi salute or if he’s trolling. It being accidental doesn’t change his support for race science or various far-right political movements globally. If he weren’t simping for fascists there wouldn’t be any reason for you to bend this hard.

  33. Thedonolde

    will NOT be stopping at

    stomping on the Transgendered

    LGBQetal’re a bit

    more Difficult for the

    Reichwing to erase but once

    they get up a head of Steam there’ll

    be No Slowing them Down — off-Whites

    ‘Intellectuals,’ the Educated, libs, progs, Every-

    one’s gonna be Targeted by our crop of neofascists

    for how Long

    will the magas hold

    out after they’ve discovered

    Eggs’re suddenly Unafforable and

    jBiden’s no Longer around for scapegoating

    and their children sick and dying from our Wonderful

    Profiteeing “Healthcare” system?

  37. @24 I never said it was the “main” thing. I said that Gaza was probably a significant factor that would drive turnout down, which was critical in swing states. It turns out that I was probably right according to the available data:

    “Hammond said that the Democratic leadership erroneously thought it could gloss over core issues, such as anger over the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza, and a thirst for structural economic change which helped drive support for Trump. That’s a view backed by a YouGov poll released on Wednesday, which found that 29% of people who voted for Biden in 2020 but not for Harris last year said the Gaza war was the main reason why. Another 24% cited economic policy.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/18/democrats-trump-michigan-swing-voters

    Note that none of this forecast necessitated clairvoyance since both Democrats and independents were outraged by the conduct of the war, which your side repeatedly denied.

    @23 How do you square the fact that if Harris had done what her intra-party critics suggested, she may have won?

    Campaigning for victory may demand that the candidate listen to the party base

  38. @32

    Likely a while, I’ve found magats to be largely disconnected from reality.

    The probable scenario will be; when trumps plans inevitably end in disaster, they’ll blame all sorts of other people.

    Trump, Musk, and their toadies will engage in stochastic terrorism, the magats will carry out a wave of terror against imagined enemies.

    Be careful out there

  39. “He’s not a nazi he is just openly espousing nazi beliefs and blew $44B ok twitter so nazis can use it to spread their propaganda” lol ok sure

    To be fair we should be calling them neo-nazis but we’re not being graded on this

  41. Yup. I have feared to learn & believe that whatever the drumpfster is saying he will do, he is going to do. And I really think he stays up at night reading how big a response he gets from the left as is concerned to how much they would disagree with his stated opinions. Then he decides on which policies to pursue based on the amount of the response. He said the left is the enemy to America and I know he means and believes this. If he had his way he would be a leader equal to Hitler and I bet he believes he could at least make it at par to what Putin has enjoyed early in his rise to power. He probably hopes to have Vance finish what he could not aspire to. Fuck the GOP, Fuck Trump and Fuck all his ball fondling cronies.

  42. nyt:

    “Here I am,”

    Mr. Trump said

    in his inaugural address.

    “The American people have spoken.”

    Mr. Trump is at once a president at the absolute peak of his powers yet also closer to a lame-duck period than any newly inaugurated predecessor in the modern era.

    The great uncertainty is how that contradiction plays out — in terms of his ability to enact his agenda and to sustain his unmatched hold on Republican voters.

    He is already racing to use his authority while he has it, with a raft of sweeping executive orders on immigration and energy, and is also unraveling diversity initiatives in the federal government.

    He moved so swiftly that he began by signing his first orders at a post-inauguration rally, even before he had returned to the White House as president.

    Mr. Trump’s honeymoon with the public could last, or his pursuit of so expansive an agenda so quickly could spark intense backlash.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/21/us/politics/trump-power-era.html

    so:

    National

    Strike on Labor Day?

    better

    start Stockpiling

    them torches & pitchforks

    Comrades.

  43. Welcome Marcus. But not sure it is only 1459 days to go, took Hitler only 53 days to destroy the Republic in Germany. How long before it is “President for Life”?

  47. Trump’s compunction to always boldly sign with a Sharpie is related to the syndrome found afflicting men who must drive huge, LOUD, ostentatious trucks, cars, cycles, boats………It’s like wearing a banner that says, “I’m the current holder of the World’s Tiniest Dick championship!!”

  48. @10: uh huh. I did actually, AND the mealymouthed post from the ADL. Did YOU read the article I posted pointing out that actual Nazis recognized and celebrated the gesture? I mean they ought to know. Oh, and since you seem so confident why don’t you just go ahead and repeat this “innocent” gesture at work today and see what people have to say about it.

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