It’s Monday, January 26. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Mike Solana talks to the superrich Californians fleeing the Golden State. Joe Nocera on the problem with Donald Trump’s credit-card plan. The shaky foundations of sanctuary cities. Rabbi David Wolpe on Conversations with Coleman. And much more.
But first: The killing of Alex Pretti.
On Saturday morning, Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was shot and killed by federal officers in Minneapolis. It was the second such incident in the city this month, and soon afterward, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem gave a press conference to explain what happened.
Noem said Pretti had been “brandishing” his weapon and suggested he was a “domestic terrorist.” According to a post on the DHS’s X account, Pretti “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller called the dead man an “assassin.”
Then the eyewitness videos came out—and told a very different story.
Our editorial today is on the information war that followed the killing of Alex Pretti, and the way in which the Trump administration is taking the American people for fools.
—The Editors
Superrich Californians have been preoccupied by one thing lately: a ballot proposal that seeks to institute a massive one-off “wealth tax.” Mike Solana spoke to 21 billionaires about the proposal, what they stand to lose, and why almost all of them are planning to leave.
Rabbi David Wolpe has spent his career thinking seriously about belief. He debated the New Atheists at the height of their influence, led one of the largest synagogues in the country, taught at Harvard Divinity School, and has written widely about theology in the modern age. Along the way,
Trump has proposed a one-year cap of 10 percent on credit-card interest rates to address the affordability crisis, an idea Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren also support. But such a move ignores the economics of credit cards, writes Joe Nocera. Instead of charging consumers less, banks will simply abandon those seen at risk of defaulting. In other words, most Americans would lose their cards.
Last week, Niall Ferguson wrote in these pages that “Trump won Davos, hands down.” But countless commentators and academics rushed to condemn the president’s treatment of our European allies. Today, Niall follows up on his piece by asking why Trump’s full-time haters are incapable of considering the possibility that, like any U.S. administration, this one might get some things wrong and some things right.
Rabbi David Wolpe has spent his career thinking seriously about belief. He debated the New Atheists at the height of their influence, led one of the largest synagogues in the country, taught at Harvard Divinity School, and has written widely about theology in the modern age. Along the way,
The winter storm that hit more than half the U.S. population over the weekend has killed two people in Louisiana and six in New York City. Ahead of the storm, New York governor Kathy Hochul refused federal assistance, writing that “the fastest way to help is for ICE to back off.”
In recordings obtained by Axios, Texas senator Ted Cruz torched President Trump’s tariff policy during private donor meetings, warning that the tariffs would cost Republicans the midterm elections. Cruz also portrayed Vice President J.D. Vance as a “protégé” of Tucker Carlson and accused Vance of pushing Carlson’s anti-interventionist foreign policy. (Read Peter Savodnik’s profile of Cruz here.)
China placed Zhang Youxia, its highest-ranking military official below President Xi Jinping, under investigation for corruption and undermining Xi’s authority. The move is the latest in a series of military purges by Xi, and observers said it suggests that he wants to consolidate power and ensure complete loyalty.
President Trump said the U.S. used a new secret weapon he calls “The Discombobulator” to capture Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. Trump said the weapon “made [enemy] equipment not work,” adding that “they had Russian and Chinese rockets, and they never got one off.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that Democrats would not vote for any spending bill that funds the Department of Homeland Security after the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis this weekend. Funding for more than three-quarters of the federal discretionary budget is set to expire on Friday.
President Trump said he would impose a 100 percent tariff on Canada if Prime Minister Mark Carney completes a trade deal with China. (A week ago, Trump said the deal would be “a good thing.”) Trump wrote on Truth Social: “If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken.”
A majority of Washington’s top lobbying firms reported revenue growth of at least 10 percent last year compared to 2024. Lobbyists say President Trump’s aggressive use of executive power and wide-ranging policy upheavals have supercharged K Street’s business, especially for firms with close administration ties.
The New England Patriots will face the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl in San Francisco in two weeks’ time. The Patriots’ AFC championship is the first since Tom Brady led them to a win in 2018. The Seahawks beat the Los Angeles Rams to return to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2015.
Hmmm….
A major report shows homicides fell about 21 % from 2024 to 2025 in the largest U.S. cities — the largest one-year drop ever on record, with 11 of 13 crime categories declining. 
Other serious offenses, like carjackings and aggravated assaults, also saw steep drops. 
Mass killings are at their lowest levels in decades, adding to the overall trend.
You know the best part about all this?
"Absolute immunity." - JD Vance