Fires Continue to Rage in Los Angeles

Happy Monday! Over the past few days, a “manufacturing error” has caused a donut shortage at Dunkin’ locations across Nebraska and New Mexico. Our hearts go out to all the local law enforcement officers navigating this difficult time.

“We nearly had to cancel our chief’s monthly breakfast this morning because of the shortage,” an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman said. “Fortunately, we averted tragedy when Roma Bakery came through with breakfast burritos.”

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

• Wildfires continued to spread in the greater Los Angeles area over the weekend, bringing the natural disaster’s total death toll to at least 24. The ongoing fires have now damaged or destroyed more than 12,000 buildings and burned through at least 40,000 acres in the neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades, Eaton, and Hurst, forcing 153,000 people from their homes. Though firefighters made progress in their efforts to contain the blazes over the weekend, meteorologists expect strong winds to return early this week, prompting expanded evacuation orders. 
• The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Friday in TikTok v. Garland, a case poised to determine the fate of legislation seeking to effectively ban the popular streaming platform over national security concerns. During more than two hours in court, the justices seemed skeptical of TikTok’s argument that the law constituted a First Amendment violation, potentially paving the way for a ban to take effect if the app’s Chinese parent company—ByteDance—doesn’t divest by January 19. “Congress is fine with the expression,” Chief Justice John Roberts said Friday. “They’re not fine with a foreign adversary, as they’ve determined it is, gathering all this information about the 170 million [Americans] who use TikTok.” 
• Israeli fighter jets carried out airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Friday, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The operation, which targeted two ports and a power plant, came in response to more than 350 missile and drone attacks on Israel by the Iranian-backed group since October 2023. The U.S. conducted its own strikes against the Houthis on Wednesday, U.S. Central Command said, as the militants continue to disrupt international commercial shipping through the Red Sea. 
• The State Department raised the reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to $25 million on Friday, as the authoritarian socialist leader was sworn in for a third term. The U.S. and other countries have rejected the results of the country’s July election, in which Maduro declared victory over opposition candidate Edmundo González amid widespread evidence of vote manipulation. The raised bounty coincided with the Treasury Department’s issuance of new sanctions on Friday against eight Venezuelan officials accused of committing human rights abuses on behalf of the Maduro regime.
• Special counsel Jack Smith resigned from the Justice Department on Friday after completing his final report on his investigations into President-elect Donald Trump. The news broke in a court filing on Saturday in which the Justice Department urged Judge Aileen Cannon not to extend her three-day injunction blocking the partial release of Smith’s report. Two of Trump’s co-defendants in the classified documents case asked Cannon on Friday to continue blocking Smith’s report until a hearing could be held over Attorney General Merrick Garland’s plan to show volume two of the report—which pertains to the classified documents case—to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate judiciary committees. 
• Judge Juan Merchan on Friday sentenced President-elect Trump to an “unconditional discharge” in his New York criminal case, designating Trump as a convicted felon but imposing no jail time or probation. As Trump appeared in court virtually from Mar-a-Lago in Florida, Merchan said the sentence represented the only judgment that would convict the incoming president “without encroaching” on his duties. Trump vowed to appeal the sentence, but—because the case was not brought by the federal government—he will not be able to pardon himself upon taking office. 
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that U.S. employers added 256,000 jobs in December—up from 212,000 in November and exceeding economists’ expectations. The unemployment rate ticked down slightly from 4.2 percent to 4.1 percent, while the labor force participation rate held steady at 62.5 percent. Average hourly earnings—a measure the Federal Reserve watches closely in its fight against inflation—rose 0.3 percent month-over-month in December, and 3.9 percent year-over-year. Those figures were 0.4 and 4 percent in November, respectively.

Southern California in Flames

Communities that look like “an atomic bomb dropped in these areas.” Bulldozers crashing through abandoned cars blocking roads, as the drivers run for their lives. High schools burned to the ground. And as-yet-unscathed neighborhoods, where residents wait anxiously with garden hoses to defend their homes.

Such are the scenes across Los Angeles County, where fires ignited last week and continued to spread over the weekend in what has become one of the largest and most destructive urban conflagrations in U.S. history. Fanned by some of the strongest Santa Ana winds in recent memory, multiple blazes have ignited throughout the county, covering a total area larger than the entire city of San Francisco. At least 24 people have died amid the disaster, and evacuation orders have forced 153,000 others to flee their homes.

As the fires continue to burn out of control in Southern California, finger-pointing among local and national officials has already begun. But, as multiple sources told TMD, the causes—and solutions—for this disaster do not fit neatly into prearranged narratives.

Firefighters made modest progress against the multiple fires tearing through Los Angeles as winds died down over the weekend, but …

As a non-paying reader, you are receiving a truncated version of The Morning Dispatch. You can read our 1,936-word item on the ongoing California fires in the members-only version of TMD.

Worth Your Time

• In December, many Syrian Alawites celebrated the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime—despite belonging to the same minority group as the deposed dictator. But the same people now fear for their lives as the Sunni rebels responsible for Assad’s downfall consolidate power, Omar Abdel-Baqui reported from an Alawite-majority village along Syria’s Mediterranean coast. “Masked men have terrorized the village, beating people, looting homes and using anti-Alawite slurs. Some community members have been missing for days after the attacks and are feared dead. Khodr Ibrahim, a 22-year-old resident of the village, said he was playing videogames in a shop when he and his 24-year-old brother were pulled outside by armed men. They pointed their rifles at the Ibrahims, cursing their Alawite backgrounds, staging mock executions and striking the elder brother until several older women in the village persuaded the militants to stop, the family and other townspeople said,” he wrote in the Wall Street Journal. “In nearly two dozen interviews, Syrian Alawites said they are worried about discrimination under the new government and the risk of attacks by the country’s many militias and gangs, who could seek revenge for abuses committed by the Assad dynasty during its long and brutal reign. They point to a collection of disparate incidents in the past two months—including alleged extrajudicial killings, claims of discrimination at checkpoints and the destruction of a religious shrine—that they say are beginning to resemble a pattern of anti-Alawite acts.”

Presented Without Comment

Bloomberg: TikTokers Put Hope in Online Campaign to Get Trump to End U.S. Ban

Also Presented Without Comment

The Hill: Steve Bannon Says He Will ‘Take Down’ the ‘Truly Evil’ Elon Musk

Also Also Presented Without Comment

NBC News: Chuck E. Cheese Makes a Comeback, With Trampolines and a Subscription Program

In the Zeitgeist 

After a nearly three-year wait, season two of Severance—starring Adam Scott of Parks and Recreation fame—premieres this Friday and is already receiving stellar reviews. If you want to catch up before the new episodes release, you can stream the first season on Apple TV+. 

Toeing the Company Line

• In the newsletters: Nick Catoggio looked at (🔒) the electoral incentives behind Democrats’ shifting immigration policy, Jonah Goldberg contemplated the role of cities while in London, and in Dispatch Faith, Norman Hubbard reflected on what lessons today’s Christians can learn from how first-century Christians addressed each other.
• On the podcasts: Sarah Isgur and David French recorded an emergency Advisory Opinions to unpack Friday’s oral arguments in TikTok v. Garland, Jonah ruminated on everything from the Dutch masters to personal pluralism, and Norman Hubbard joined Michael Reneau on The Skiff (🔒) to discuss what it means to be “beloved.” Keep an eye on your Dispatch Podcast feeds—Jamie Weinstein will be joined by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on an episode releasing later today!
• On the site over the weekend: Luis Parrales offered his interpretations of Robert Eggers’ new film Nosferatu, Tal Fortgang dug into Adam Kirsch’s On Settler Colonialism, and Knox Thames argued that the U.S. must prepare to offer support to Syria’s religious minorities.
• On the site today: David Drucker reports on Donald Trump’s efforts to consolidate control of the GOP ahead of the midterm elections and Leah Libresco Sargeant writes on her shifting views about the “death with dignity” movement in this week’s Monday Essay.