The Sunday — February 1

This is the Tangle Sunday Edition, a brief roundup of our independent politics coverage plus some extra features for your Sunday morning reading. 

What the left is doodling.

What the right is doodling.

Monday, January 26.

The latest shooting in Minneapolis. On Saturday, January 24, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) shot and killed a 37-year-old man in Minneapolis, Minnesota, following an altercation with federal agents. Earlier this month, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and killed Renee Good, 37, in her vehicle in a Minneapolis neighborhood, setting off large-scale protests. The latest shooting led to renewed calls from state officials for President Donald Trump to pull federal immigration enforcement agents out of the state. 

Our take: “I feel like I’m screaming into the void, desperately hoping the right people will hear my pleas for de-escalation. Both the responses from the administration and some of its supporters are incredibly disorienting. The political tides are shifting, and an emerging majority is against DHS’s approach.”

Reader Survey:

Tuesday, January 27.

The latest on the Gaza peace deal. On January 14, the Trump administration announced the start of “phase two” of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said the second phase will transition from “ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance, and reconstruction.” On Thursday, January 22, President Donald Trump formally launched the Gaza “Board of Peace,” initially presented as a transitional body to oversee Gaza’s reconstruction. However, the board’s charter has since been expanded to cover a broader mandate for peace globally, raising questions about how it will interact with the United Nations (UN). 

Our take: “After years of bad news, there is a glimmer of hope in Gaza. Both sides are making concessions, which is a good thing. Even though Trump’s plan gives us plenty to criticize, I welcome its genuine steps forward.”

Reader Survey:

Wednesday, January 28.

The measles outbreaks. In mid-January, South Carolina officials reported that measles is transmitting rapidly in the state, with 789 confirmed cases so far. South Carolina is the fifth state to accumulate at least 100 measles cases since January 2025, joining Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas (where the first cases in 2025 were reported). During the current outbreaks, over 150 children have been hospitalized with measles; two children and one adult (all unvaccinated) have died from measles complications, the first such deaths in the U.S. in a decade.

Our take: “One of the biggest contributors to vaccine skepticism is an unwillingness to discuss it. When you take skeptical points one by one, the argument against the MMR vaccine fails. Secretary Kennedy wants to rhapsodize fear; don’t let him.”

Reader Survey:

Thursday, January 29.

Shakeups in Minnesota immigration enforcement. On Monday, January 26, President Donald Trump announced that border czar Tom Homan would go to Minnesota to oversee immigration enforcement efforts. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, who had previously spearheaded the operations, reportedly left Minnesota on January 27 along with an unspecified number of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents; Bovino returned to his previous post in California. Separately, two Customs and Border Patrol agents who fired guns in the Saturday shooting death of 37-year-old U.S. citizen Alex Pretti were placed on leave; Bovino had previously shared that the agents had been reassigned to another state but were still working. The moves follow widespread, bipartisan scrutiny of DHS over Pretti’s death and the earlier shooting death of 37-year-old U.S. citizen Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer.

Our take: “Trump’s reactivity to public sentiment and polling is one of my favorite things about him as a president. ICE targeting immigrants who have criminal charges or convictions would be a major departure from their methods thus far, and would also constitute a pivot toward Trump’s previously stated goal to focus on the ‘worst of the worst.’ Whatever happens in Congress, DHS must allow an independent investigation into both of the agent-involved shootings.”

Reader Survey:

Friday, January 30.

Rapper and cultural icon Kanye West, now known as Ye, took out a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal earlier this week apologizing for his past antisemitic remarks and blaming some of his actions on manic, bipolar episodes. In the Friday edition, Executive Editor Isaac Saul writes about that apology, how he views it, and what the response to Ye tells us about American cultural values. 

You can read the piece here.

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What just happened.

Here’s a rundown of the major stories that have broken since our last newsletter on Thursday.

• On Thursday, White House Border Czar Tom Homan said the Trump administration could reduce the number of federal agents in Minnesota if state officials cooperated with the administration’s immigration enforcement operations. (The comments) Separately, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem notified her that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has ceased its enhanced operations in Maine. (The announcement)
• On Thursday, President Donald Trump said that Russia agreed to a temporary pause in its missile attacks on Kyiv as the Ukrainian capital experiences extreme cold. (The pause)
• On Friday, President Trump announced Kevin Warsh as his pick to succeed Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair when Powell’s term ends in May. Warsh served on the Fed’s board of governors from 2006 to 2011. (The pick)
• On Friday, journalist Don Lemon was arrested, reportedly on charges of conspiracy to deprive others of their civil rights related to an anti-immigration protest that disrupted a church service on January 18 in Minnesota. Lemon’s attorney called the arrest an “unprecedented attack on the First Amendment.” (The arrest)
• On Friday, the Department of Justice released 3 million pages of documents from the Epstein Files, the largest release to date. (The files)
• On Friday, government funding lapsed after Congress failed to pass a funding bill before the deadline. The Senate passed a compromise bill, but the House has not yet voted on the measure. (The shutdown)
• On Saturday, U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez denied a request from the state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul to halt ICE’s Operation Metro Surge in their jurisdictions. (The order)

Reader essay.

At the age of twenty, Tangle reader Matthew Kessler became an “incidental vegetarian” while living on a farm in Hawaii. He didn’t mean to stop eating meat; he was just surrounded by so many other foods that it simply left his diet. Now, Matthew works for TABLE, a global platform that examines food-system debates with the goal of understanding each other — and the question of eating meat is at the forefront of his mind. In this week’s reader essay, Matthew dives into how different people can come to different conclusions about meat-eating from the same evidence.