Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked President Trump for a gradual pullout of U.S. forces from Syria — implemented over a lengthy period of time — in their Dec. 20 phone call, an Israeli official told reporters who traveled with Netanyahu to Brazil for the inauguration of Brazilian President-elect Jair Bolsonaro.
The big picture: Israel is concerned that a rapid U.S. withdrawal will embolden and encourage Iran to continue its military entrenchment in Syria. The official's statement echoed what Trump tweeted earlier Monday about U.S. forces "slowly" coming home from Syria.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren became the most prominent Democratic candidate to launch an exploratory committee for president on Monday, joining former HUD Secretary Julián Castro and several other Democrats who have already announced their intent to challenge President Trump in 2020.
The big picture: Presidential campaigns weren't always this lengthy, with Bill Clinton announcing his bid just 13 months before the 1992 election, the New York Times notes. But since then, it's become somewhat standard for major candidates to declare early — sometimes even a full two years before the election.
Once Democrats assume control of the House on Thursday, they plan to pass a stopgap spending bill that would fund the Department of Homeland Security through Feb. 8 without President Trump's requested funding increase for a border wall, per the Washington Post.
The big picture: They also plan to pass 6 other funding bills to fund closed portions of the federal government through Sep. 30. The DHS funding bill is the same as the one passed by the Senate before Christmas and, if again approved by a Senate with an increased GOP majority, could force a direct showdown with Trump on the border wall issue.
The big picture: "By the end of the year, Trump had accumulated more than 7,600 untruths during his presidency — averaging more than 15 erroneous claims a day during 2018, almost triple the rate from the year before."
Massachusetts Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren is launching an exploratory committee for president as she gears up for a 2020 presidential election bid, she announced in a new video on Monday.
Why it matters: Warren is the first prominent Democratic contender to launch this process.
The border wall is one of President Trump's best known campaign promises, and it's the reason we're in a partial government shutdown — but the Associated Press has a good roundup of comments by White House officials and allies that suggest it might end up being less than a complete physical wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
Between the lines: It's not surprising that Trump allies would float ideas to negotiate Trump's promise down to something he just calls a wall. But given how important Trump's promise is to his supporters, nothing will be resolved until Trump himself signs off on something less.
Sen. Lindsey Graham backed away Sunday from his criticisms of President Trump's decision to withdraw from Syria, telling reporters that Trumpshared "some things I didn't know" during a lunch at the White House that "make me feel a lot better about where we're headed in Syria."
Why it matters: Graham's initial goal for the lunch was to change Trump's mind on his decision to pull out of Syria. Graham was a vocal critic of Trump's decision to pull out when it was initially announced, and said it could be a "costly mistake" down the line.
The Supreme Court has kept a relatively low profile this term, but The Economist argues the spring is likely about to get more controversial.
What’s next: The justices will be examining the Trump administration’s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, the relationship between church and state, and whether agencies like the EPA should be able to interpret ambiguous regulations.
One of the most important trends likely to drive the 2020 presidential race: A growing disillusion with capitalism as practiced, and a coming struggle over how to recast this pillar of the Western order.
The bottom line: You could hardly challenge a more basic part of who we are as Americans and Westerners.
