The New York Times

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Four years ago, Donald Trump denounced TikTok as a threat to America’s national security. Now, as he eyes a White House return, he calls it a ‘unique medium for freedom of expression’.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: American officials are wary as they try to persuade the rebels now in control in Syria to govern with an inclusive and moderate hand in a bid to avoid repeating history.

Could Trump’s second term be as bad as his most fervent critics fear? Yes. Is it time to drop the heavy moralizing and incessant doomsaying that typified so much of the Never Trump movement? Yes, please.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Mounting evidence, and lack thereof, suggests that perhaps the whole craze has been a sort of communal fever dream.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Are more people exhibiting the traits of autism, or are more people with such traits now being identified?

THE NEW YORK TIMES: What began as smaller-scale attempts to seize aid early in the year — often by hungry residents of Gaza — has now become ‘systematic, tactical, armed, crime-syndicate looting’.

THOMAS L FRIEDMAN: The Chinese still need the US market for their exports. But they will not be pushovers. Both Beijing and Washington will be much better off with a bargain.

Culturally, even if he continues to be a font of memes — recently, athletes have taken to doing his herky-jerky ‘Trump dance’ — his presidency represents a long-in-the-tooth show in its 10th season or so.

The primary question is whether these rebels, who are now trying to form a national government, can scale up what they achieved in Idlib, a poor, agrarian region with a relatively small population.

From desperate stabs at diplomacy to fanciful flattery, Ukrainian officials are doing everything they can to bring Donald Trump into their corner to strengthen their position in the war against Russia.

JAMELLE BOUIE: The Republican Party could wither and die, and Donald Trump would not care, provided it did not disrupt his ability to enrich himself and his family. 

MICHELLE GOLDBERG: Javier Milei, the wild-haired Argentine president known by his supporters as “the madman,” has lately edged out Hungary’s Viktor Orban as the MAGA movement’s chief international inspiration.

Great powers have fought for centuries for influence in the territory known today as Syria, each seeing a prize in its strategic position. That struggle continues today.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Given the complexity of Syria’s internal dynamics, some think that Assad’s departure is more likely to widen the rifts left by the country’s 13-year war than heal them.

US spy agencies are closely monitoring chemical weapons storage sites, looking for indications that forces loyal to President Bashar Assad are preparing to use them against rebel groups fighting to depose him.