President Trump returned to the White House this week seeming to downplay the threat from China — a threat he treated as existential in his first term.

• Why it matters: The stakes are enormous, Axios' Zachary Basu and Nathan Bomey write.

🇨🇳 How Trump deals with Chinese President Xi Jinping over the next four years will have sweeping implications for the global economy, AI, climate change, national security and more.

• After mentioning China just once in his inauguration address, Trump revealed he's considering 10% tariffs on Chinese products — far lower than the 60% duties he had threatened during the campaign.

📱 Trump and Xi talked on the phone just days before the inauguration to discuss trade, fentanyl and TikTok.

• Beijing's readout of the call was exceedingly warm, with state media declaring the two superpowers "can become partners and friends ... prosper together, and benefit both countries and the world."

💬 "I like President Xi very much. I've always liked him. We always had a very good relationship," Trump said during a videoconference with the World Economic Forum in Davos, where a huge screen showing the president loomed over the elite in the gathering's Congress Hall.

• Trump acknowledged tensions during COVID.

🚦 Trump's early actions signal a "more restrained" approach to Beijing, Jacques deLisle, a China scholar at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, tells Axios.

• In a remarkable moment on Fox News, Trump was pressed by Sean Hannity on why he has defended TikTok given its reputation as a "spying app for the Communist Chinese."
• "You can say that about everything made in China," Trump shot back, citing cell phones and other imports. "Is it that important for China to be spying on young people, on young kids watching crazy videos?"

🥊 Reality check: Trump's Cabinet is stocked with China hawks, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz.

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China hawk sworn in: The Senate (74-25) confirmed John Ratcliffe, 59, a Texan who was director of national intelligence during President Trump's first term, as CIA director.

• Ratcliffe is the second confirmed member of Trump's Cabinet, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio (Senate vote: 99-0).

Full lists: Cabinet appointments ... Sub-Cabinet ... Acting Cabinet and Cabinet-level ... Board & commission chairs.

DAVOS, Switzerland — The World Economic Forum this week was awash in optimism about the U.S. economy — and palpable fear of President Trump, Axios Pro Rata author Dan Primack writes.

Dan's Davos mindmeld:

1. 🔺 Unbridled optimism about the U.S. economy:

• Stocks are more than two years into a bull market. But CEOs still believe their companies were shackled by Biden regulations.
• The most common adjective for Trump's administration was "business-friendly."

2. ⏱️ AI timelines:

• The movers and shakers at Davos were divided over how long it'll take for companies to see a return on their massive AI investments. Energy companies will likely get a moment in the sun first, since AI will need a ton of power to truly take off.

3. 🫣 Scared of Trump:

• There was palpable fear of displeasing President Trump.
• Some of the world's most successful executives seemed completely cowed, willing to sidestep core beliefs that might be at odds with the MAGA movement. Masters of the universe at their smallest, Dan writes.

4. 🇪🇺 Europe on edge:

• European CEOs are worried about falling further behind the U.S., on everything from economics to tech. And, for the first time in a long time, think their elected leaders share that concern.
• The question is whether Trump's deregulatory push could possibly be matched by governments that still believe deeply in things like decarbonization.

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Huge investments in AI data centers will ultimately lead to a lot of new jobs — mainly in the South and West, so far.

📈 By the numbers: The U.S. had about 420,000 data-center jobs at the beginning of last year, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick reports.

• But that number is already growing, and is poised to jump higher and higher as the U.S. doubles down on building domestic AI infrastructure.
• Arkansas, South Dakota and Georgia have seen the biggest increase in data-center employment over the past several years.

Interactive version of the map, with state-by-state data.

The blueprint for Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) keeps changing — and each time, it comes closer into line with Musk's core interests.

• When Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy first outlined their plans for DOGE, it was a non-governmental entity focused on overturning regulations and shrinking the power of the federal bureaucracy.
• At some point, it also took on the mission of cutting federal spending by $2 trillion. Whether that was the main goal or incidental to curbing regulations depended on who you asked.

🖥️ Now Ramaswamy is out, DOGE has a home inside the government, and it's focused on streamlining federal data — a software-first enterprise that's much more in Musk's wheelhouse.

• Musk has spent the last two months promising DOGE would revolutionize the government.
• It's unclear how the new mandate to run a "Software Modernization Initiative" will deliver on that promise, Axios' Ben Berkowitz writes.

💾 DOGE appears to be usurping the U.S. Digital Service, an Obama-era creation designed to bring Silicon Valley's expertise to bear in Washington.

• The Digital Service succeeded in attracting top tech talent, and it's been lauded for its achievements, but it's not clear which (if any) of its efforts will survive the DOGE transition.

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So ... are we still calling it the Gulf of Mexico, as it's been known for 400 years? Or is it really the Gulf of America now, pursuant to President Trump's executive order?

• That tension — between the formal policy of the U.S. and longstanding common practice — is a real one for government agencies, map makers and even journalists.

📍 The Interior Department told AP it will abide by Trump's name change, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has also embraced "Gulf of America." But the U.S. does not exclusively control the gulf — it's not entirely up to us what it's called.

• Google and Apple Maps are both sticking with Gulf of Mexico.
• So is AP style, the gold standard for news writing.

🗻 Yes, but: AP style will adopt Trump's name change in Alaska, where he ordered the mountain known as Denali to revert to its past name, Mt. McKinley.

• Because the mountain is entirely contained within the U.S., it's the president's decision what to call it, AP explained.

Go deeper: Mapmakers, teachers flummoxed ... AP's new style rules.

Multiple new wildfires ignited around Southern California yesterday. The Hughes Fire, the one that started Wednesday, spread to more than 10,000 acres. And the Palisades Fire — the most destructive in California's history — is still burning.

• The Sepulveda Fire triggered evacuation warnings near LA's Getty Center and the UCLA campus, but was quickly contained.
• The Laguna Fire ignited in Ventura County later yesterday morning and was at 0% containment over 50 acres.
• San Diego County has seen at least seven fires this week, some prompting since-lifted evacuation orders.

⚠️ What's next: Rain is forecast for the weekend.

• LA County on X urged residents to "prepare for potential flooding, mudslides & debris run-off" over the weekend due to "an increased chance of mud & debris flow in recent burn areas, residents are urged to prepare for potential flooding, mudslides & debris run-off."

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The Economist's new cover story compares President Trump to President William McKinley, the 25th president — who served from 1897 until 1901, and raised protective tariffs to promote American industry:

• "McKinley was an imperialist, who added Hawaii, Guam, the Philippines and Puerto Rico to American territory. McKinley also loved tariffs, at least at first."
• "He was also backed by the commercial titans of the time: J.P. Morgan and John D. Rockefeller both donated about $8m in today's money to his campaign," the cover story says, noting parallels with Trump's desire to take over Greenland and impose new tariffs.

After 33 years, six presidential transitions, 12 head coach changes, 35 starting quarterbacks, three owners, two stadiums (and maybe soon another), one long nickname controversy, and whatever the absolute hell this play was ... Washington's football team is back at the gates of the Super Bowl.

• One more win in the NFC Championship on Sunday, and the Commanders will head to New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9.

🗯️ Axios' Michael Graff — a DMV native, now Southern bureau chief for Axios Local — writes about what this moment means to him:

• I just wish I could tell my granddad. He was the biggest fan I knew, and nobody came a close second.
• I have so much to tell him. Mostly about Jayden Daniels, the young man out of LSU who may be the best rookie ever to play the game.
• For most of us who grew up back then, "special" was what we thought all seasons would be. Forever.
• I have vague memories of wearing my first plastic burgundy and gold helmet on a January evening in 1983, when my parents took us to a Super Bowl party.
• There I was again last Sunday night after the win over the Lions, smiling quietly in my living room while my kids were asleep, thinking of their great-granddad and craving a Miller Lite and a song.

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