Washington, DC

1. Deadly weekend attacks
2. House GOP mood dims
3. Health care deadline shifts
4. Scott pans Netflix-WBD deal
5. Race to wrap Ukraine talks
6. More Americans use AI

Washington View: Trump’s bet on AI

Trump holds Christmas reception … Hardline conservative wins Chilean election … WSJ: Trump leaning toward Warsh or Hassett for Fed

White House grapples with tragedies

President Donald Trump’s effort to focus on the US economy is hitting a roadblock, as tragedies — foreign and domestic — consume his attention. A manhunt is underway after two people were killed and nine others injured when a shooter opened fire at a Brown University building on Saturday. The incident may heap further pressure on FBI Director Kash Patel, after he posted Sunday that the FBI had arrested a “person of interest” — only for the detainee to be released hours later. The weekend also saw a deadly assault on American troops in Syria, which Trump said was “an ISIS attack against the US”. The president vowed “very serious retaliation” and sought to distance Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa from the incident. Meanwhile, the US is assisting Australia after a father and son allegedly linked to the Islamic State group opened fire during a Hanukkah event in Sydney over the weekend, killing at least 15

— Shelby Talcott

GOP recoils after Indiana map rebuke

Republicans are frantically searching for more ways to keep the House next Congress after Indiana legislators decided not to redraw their state’s congressional districts. The decision could deter parallel pushes in other states. “There will be a lot of primaries” against Indiana lawmakers who voted “no,” Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., warned on Fox News. “It’s not about Donald Trump; it’s about the country, it’s about keeping the Republican majority in the House of Representatives.” Trump made similar comments earlier in the weekend. Expect Indiana’s decision to hang over the chamber this week as vulnerable Republicans make the case for extending enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, warning of a loss of more seats in the midterms. Meanwhile, Trump isn’t even sure his economic policies — like the sweeping tax bill — will help Republicans hold the House, he told The Wall Street Journal.

— Eleanor Mueller

Shutdown deadline, ACA fight converge

The House will vote this week on extending the Affordable Care Act’s expiring enhanced premium tax credits, though that’s not going to produce a law before the end of the year. Instead, the real deadline is shifting toward when open enrollment for the Obamacare marketplaces ends on Jan. 15 — and when a swath of government funding expires on Jan. 30. Progressives see that shutdown date as a point of leverage, and Republicans see it as the last chance for a deal with Democrats. That “gives us at least a deadline. It feels like a pretty real deadline, too,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. “If we don’t have a bipartisan bill worked out by Jan. 30, then I think we have to consider reconciliation.” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said recent failures could lead to “a number of opportunities to bridge a compromise.”

— Burgess Everett

Scott sounds alarm over Netflix-WBD deal

Opposition to Netflix’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery is growing in Washington. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., chair of the Banking Committee and a close White House ally, said in a letter to antitrust regulators that the deal raises “significant antitrust problems” and could hurt “moviegoers, on-camera talent, writers, producers, and everyone who loves the entertainment industry,” Semafor’s Rohan Goswami, Max Tani, and Liz Hoffman scooped. Scott argued the $83 billion merger risks hurting consumers by entrenching Netflix, which “seems to have the power to increase prices regularly” as the dominant streaming app. It would also leave Hollywood showrunners with fewer buyers and “create a crisis for brick-and-mortar movie theatres,” Scott wrote, echoing concerns voiced by Hollywood unions.

Trump envoys race for progress on Ukraine

Trump’s envoys are trying to make progress toward ending the war in Ukraine as two days of talks wrap up today in Berlin. Trump sent special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to attend the discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders, rather than attend himself. Zelenskyy suggested Sunday that Ukraine could accept security guarantees from the US and Europe in lieu of Kyiv’s aspirations to one day join NATO. But he also rejected the “free economic zones” proposed by Trump’s team. The conversations take place against a backdrop of combat: Russia struck Ukraine’s power grid and the port city of Odesa over the weekend, while Kyiv conducted a strike on Russia. Meanwhile, EU leaders will gather this week to discuss military aid for Ukraine — and prove they’re not “weak,” Bloomberg writes.

More Americans use AI at work

The number of Americans using artificial intelligence in their jobs is on the rise. The share of US employees who said they used AI at work at least “a few times a year” rose to 45% from 40% between the second and third quarters of this year, according to polling from Gallup taken in August. Those who reported using AI frequently rose to 23% from 19% during the same period. Chatbots and virtual assistants were overwhelmingly the top AI tools used by US workers, per the study, and while majorities working in technology, finance, and professional services said they used AI at least a few times a year, that number shrinks for front-line workers. It’s the latest signal of AI’s prevalence in the workforce, which faces likely disruption as employers turn to the technology.

The great mystery of the Trump administration is: When did he decide to become the AI president? Trump barely mentioned AI on the campaign trail. His deepest engagement on the subject seems to have been, believe it or not, a lucid 2024 conversation with the YouTuber Logan Paul. Trump mused about the “dangerous” capacity of deepfakes to start a nuclear war, but concluded that AI is “going to happen — and if it’s going to happen, we have to take the lead over China.”

“We have to be very careful with it,” he said. That was pretty much it. The real campaign was immigration, prices, culture wars. And yet, the day after his second inauguration, Trump stood in the Roosevelt Room with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for a $500 billion investment announcement.

Semafor will be on the ground in Davos next month for the World Economic Forum, the annual gathering where the world’s most powerful come together to strike deals, tout their good deeds, and navigate the snow — sometimes getting stuck long enough to share a scoop or two with us. We’ll deliver exclusives on the high-stakes conversations shaping the world. Expect original reporting, scoops, and insights on all the deal-making, gossip, and lofty ambitions — with a touch of the pretentious grandeur Davos is famous for.

Get the big ideas and small talk from the global village — subscribe to Semafor Davos.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Illinois Democrats are rethinking possible redistricting after Indiana Republicans declined to redraw their map. “It was going to be a retaliatory measure,” Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., said. “And more importantly, the people of Illinois didn’t want it.”

Axios: Advisers to President Trump are angry with Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., for setting up an anti-abortion group, viewing it as a losing issue for Republicans in the 2026 midterms.

Playbook: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is endorsing firefighter union head Bob Brooks in a key Democratic congressional primary in the state.

WaPo: Trump’s second-term administration has been “notably less consumed” by the firings that marked his first term in office.

Congress

• State Secretary Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will brief senators today on recent Trump administration actions in the Caribbean. — Roll Call
• Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he fears mid-decade partisan redistricting efforts will lead to political violence.

Outside the Beltway

• Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said ICE agents pulled over her son, but released him after he showed them his passport.
• Illinois legalized medical aid in dying.

Education

• Justice Department attorneys sent to investigate the University of California for alleged antisemitism felt pressured to find the school system had violated Jewish students’ rights. — LA Times

Inside the Beltway

• The Trump administration issued a