1. Trump finally issues a Presidential tweet
Have they finally wrested his Tweeter from him?
After a true-to-form tweet from the President, (yes he's the President now!!!) criticising the women's marches against him, Trump then took a more conciliatory, and dare we say it, Presidential tone. [Bloomberg]
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Celebrities lead anti-Trump rally
Scarlett Johansson, Madonna and Ashley Judd deliver powerful speeches at the Women's March a day after President Donald Trump's inauguration.
Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn't these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2017
Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don't always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2017
![Demonstrators make their way through the streets holding posters during the Women's March in Barcelona.](/web/20170125175818im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/w/5/r/v/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtwiwr.png/1485115491905.jpg)
On both points Trump is absolutely right.
While the protesters have every right to demonstrate as often as they like and I daresay will continue to do, it is quite fair for Trump and his supporters to ask: where was this mobilisation against him on election day when it materially mattered?
And as discussed before in Double Shot, while celebrities are just as entitled to voice their opinions, does it actually help?
![Beyonce and Jay Z endorsed Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170125175818im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/j/c/p/d/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1478479109562.png)
Beyonce and Jay Z endorsed Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Photo: Getty Images
Hillary Clinton had a litany of pop culture royalty endorsements but she still didn't win.
![Madonna performs during the Women's March on Washington, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)](http://web.archive.org./web/20170125175818im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/w/6/q/k/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1485039566127.png)
Madonna performs during the Women's March in Washington. Photo: AP
In fact, it's probable the celebrity endorsements/launcing-f-bombs-at-a-rally actually aids Trump's anti-establishment crusade.
(A good recap on PBS on how the "several million" Democrats who voted for Obama but failed to turn out in 2016 cost Hillary Clinton the election. [Michael D. Regan] The 2016 result also highlighted some of the structural issues the Democrats are facing, which were masked by having such a media savvy and sellable couple in the Obamas in the White House. This is something Obama acknowledged in one of his final interviews and said he took "some responsibility" for. [Business Insider])
But back to Trump. Even if there's a glimmer of a shift in tone from Trump, his key people are maintaining their dogged styles.
![Kellyanne Conway, senior adviser to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170125175818im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/w/j/4/s/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1485104212398.png)
Kellyanne Conway, senior adviser to US President Donald Trump. Photo: Bloomberg
Kellyanne Conway has been on Meet The Press saying the dispute between the President and reporters over crowd size (is it just me or does it always seem to come back to size with The Donald...?) at his inauguration versus Obama's was not a case of the White House telling porkies but providing "alternative facts." [NBC News]
I'm sure I've read this in a George Orwell novel somewhere before...
Conway also said signatories of a petition calling for Trump to release his tax records can forget it because "people don't care." [Full transcript]
Conway underlines what many left-leaning supporters seem to be struggling with since the election and the inauguration: Trump has rewritten the rule book. We are in a Brave New World indeed.
The test for Trump's opponents is whether or not they can adapt, effectively.
2. Israel: 'Now we can finally build'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: AP
Israel has responded to Trump's election by flexing its muscle in approving hundreds of new settlement homes in occupied East Jerusalem. [Reuters]
Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Meir Turgeman is quoted as saying: "Now we can finally build." [BBC]
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump are scheduled to speak by phone Sunday night local time. Israeli media is reporting Trump will announce as soon as Monday local time that the US embassy will be moved to Jerusalem. [Tom Batchelor/The Independent]
3. May first to meet Trump
![UK Prime Minister Theresa May.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170125175818im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/w/j/4/q/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1485104050976.png)
UK Prime Minister Theresa May. Photo: Bloomberg
But it's Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May who looks set to become the first world leader to travel to Washington DC to meet the newly sworn-in President.
Theresa May will travel to the US on Friday. Appearing on the Andrew Marr Show on BBC on Sunday morning local time, May was diplomatic when asked what she thought of Trump's inauguration speech – hardly surprising, that a leader would want to put their own country first, she said.
May said she would not be afraid to stand up for women with the President, who in the past has boasted about grabbing women by the you-know-where.
![The Vanguard-class submarine HMS Vigilant, one of four Royal Navy submarines armed with Trident missiles.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170125175818im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/w/j/6/1/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1485105327354.png)
One of four Royal Navy submarines armed with Trident missiles. Photo: PA
Domestically, May is under pressure over a cover-up of a reported misfire of the UK's nuclear weapons system known as Trident. [Fairfax]
In a cracking scoop from The Sunday Times, an unarmed missile veered off course just weeks before MPs debated the issue in the Commons. Parliament was not told of this crucial detail.
May repeatedly refused to answer questions about whether she knew about the misfire at the time of the debate. [The Guardian]
4. Australian politics
![Australia passport generic](http://web.archive.org./web/20170125175818im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/s/u/f/e/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1484613823098.png)
Fairly major. Forget the passport. Australia is set to begin biometrics-based screening at airports by the end of the year. This means the government will collect not just fingerprints but possibly also scans of eye irises. [Alexandra Beech/ABC]
In other news, Scott Morrison is looking at adopting a government-backed bond vehicle to fund construction of more affordable housing. The Treasurer is visiting London for a week-long trip. [Michael Koziol/Fairfax]
Quite the story from Aaron Patrick, who reports the vice-president of the Fair Work Commission, the workplace tribunal established by the former Labor government, has quit claiming the organisation is "partisan, dysfunctional and divided."
Expect the strident Employment Minister Michaelia Cash to jump on this, and expect Labor to point out that Graeme Watson represented Patrick stevedores in the 1998 Waterfront dispute. [The Financial Review]
![Senator Pauline Hanson and her increasingly powerful chief of staff James Ashby.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170125175818im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/0/n/o/d/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1484085090651.png)
Senator Pauline Hanson and her increasingly powerful chief of staff James Ashby. Photo: Andrew Meares
Pay careful attention to James Ashby, the brains behind Pauline Hanson's political resurrection, in The Guardian today. Ashby says One Nation is "reinvigorating the regions" in Queensland.
With Ashby, a staffer, now dropping the pretence of providing his comments through his spokeswoman, Hanson, it's now clear who is in control of One Nation and how dangerous its appeal in the country is for the Liberals and Nationals. [Joshua Robertson]
5. French left-wing primary
![A campaign brochure for former French prime minister and left-wing candidate Manuel Valls.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170125175818im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/l/h/o/b/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1483464951607.png)
A campaign brochure for former French prime minister and left-wing candidate Manuel Valls. Photo: AP
Former prime minister Manuel Valls is the leading contender in the first round of the French socialist primary. The left in France is struggling because of President Francois Hollande's business reforms, and the backlash against immigration. Hollande is not standing again for president. [AP]
6. Yotam for Masterchef
![Israeli-born chef, cookery writer and restaurant owner Yotam Ottolenghi.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170125175818im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/0/h/p/6/y/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1411360337982.png)
Israeli-born chef, cookery writer and restaurant owner Yotam Ottolenghi. Photo: Chris Floyd
This is huge!
Yotam Ottolenghi, the man who changed the way we consider, cook and taste our vegetables, is appearing on Australia's Masterchef for season nine. [Holly Byrnes/Daily Telegraph]
I've long been a signed up Yotam devotee, (his restaurant NOPI in Soho is one of my favourite haunts) and saw him in conversation in Melbourne a few years ago. Warm, charismatic, very down-to-earth and very funny, Yotam is going to be an even bigger hit in Australia after this season airs.
And that's it from me today – you can follow me on Facebook for more.
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