Monday Briefing: How Trump re-wrote Jan. 6

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January 6, 2025

	By Justin Porter

Good morning. We’re covering the anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot and “gray zone” attacks on the West.

Plus, Hong Kong tries to clean up its taxi cabs.

Rioters on the steps of the Capitol, where President-elect Donald Trump will take his oath of office. Kenny Holston/The New York Times

How Trump redefined the Jan. 6 riot as “a day of love”

Four years ago today, protesters stormed the Capitol with clubs, chemical irritants and other weapons, inflamed by Donald Trump’s lie that the election had been stolen from him.

Several people died during and after the riot, including one protester by gunshot and four police officers by suicide. More than 140 officers were injured. After the attack, Trump’s political career seemed done. But in two weeks, he takes the oath of office.

In the years since the riot, both he and his supporters have devoted considerable effort to reinventing the events of the day. They have spread conspiracy theories to their ultimate political gain. As his allies in Congress and the media played down the attack and redirected the blame, violent rioters — prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned — were turned into patriotic martyrs.

Now, Trump has the platform to further spin the attack into what he has called “a day of love.” He has vowed to pardon rioters in the first hour of his new administration, while his congressional supporters are pushing for criminal charges against those who investigated his actions. This is how Trump inverted a violent day and turned it into political capital.

Analysis: Trump refers to the U.S. as ravaged by crisis, calling it a desolate hellscape of crime, chaos and economic hardship. The numbers tell a very different story.

Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Ronald Wittek/EPA, via Shutterstock

Russia and others are using hybrid tactics to target the West

Russia, Iran and other hostile states have become increasingly brazen in using “gray zone” attacks — such as the hacking of sensitive computer systems, alleged assassination plots and surveillance drones flown near military bases — against Western countries.

Britain, Germany, the U.S. and Baltic and Nordic countries close to Russia’s border are among those most targeted by hybrid threats, in part because of their prominent support for Ukraine, officials said. Russia has denied launching hybrid attacks against NATO, but NATO officials have said that Moscow has set up a special directorate focused on carrying them out.

They present defense officials with a complicated problem: How do countries deter such acts without touching off a broader conflict? And how do they assign blame when the strikes are designed to evade culpability?

Mount Qasioun, which overlooks the Syrian capital, Damascus, is being revived as a leisure spot. Laura Boushnak for The New York Times

Syrians are reclaiming ordinary freedoms

There are now picnics and fireworks on a mountaintop that once was off limits to anybody but soldiers to fire at rebel-held areas below. Protest songs that could have once meant a prison sentence can now be heard on the streets. Hundreds gathered to hear a speech from an activist, and there is an open trade in dollars and imported Nescafé.

“We feel like the city has returned to us,” Muhammad Qatafani, 21, a dental student, said of Damascus.

But in the middle of this rush of freedom, people are keeping one eye on their new government, one being formed by Islamist rebels. Each announcement or decision could hold clues on how they plan to govern, and what new restrictions and limitations they might put in place.

The wreckage of the Jeju Air plane last Sunday. Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

Sports

Oli Scarff/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Edgar Matobato in the Philippines in June. Jes Aznar for The New York Times

“For almost 24 years, I killed and disposed of many bodies. I am trying to remember, but I cannot remember everyone.”

Edgar Matobato says he killed again and again for former President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines. He was part of Duterte’s brutally violent, extrajudicial campaign against drugs and other social ills that claimed at least 20,000 lives. Now he’s on the run and trying to stay alive to testify.

Lives lived: Tomiko Itooka, who was believed to be the oldest person in the world, died at a nursing home in Ashiya, Japan. She was 116.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times.

Anthony Kwan for The New York Times

Hong Kong’s cabbies face the end of an era

Often grumpy and rushing to their next fare, cabbies in Hong Kong have done things their own way for decades. They often drive fast and recklessly, treat customers curtly and usually accept only cash. They’re an anomaly in the city’s sleek transit network, emblematic of the high-stress, no-frills culture of its working class.

But because of passenger complaints and the need to revitalize a struggling tourist economy, the government adopted new regulations last month: By 2026 all cabs must have installed systems for credit cards and digital payments and added surveillance cameras.

There may be no harder task in this city of seven million than to change a taxi driver’s habits, but, as one cabby sees it, “the world has changed — you have to accept it.”

Gentl and Hyers for The New York Times

Cook: This kale pasta sauce is vivid and vegetarian.

Listen: Sun Studio, where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Howlin’ Wolf all recorded, turned 75. Check out some of the studio’s best singles.

Watch: This month’s horror picks include a killer in a Mickey Mouse mask and a thriller that goes to extremes.

Avoid: These are the fitness trends that irk experts.

Play: Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all our games here.

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow. — Justin

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