Impeachment 2.0 as World Awaits New U.S. Leader: Weekend Reads

Follow Us Get the newsletter Donald Trump became the first U.S. president to be impeached twice in a single term, charged with inciting the mob that broke into the U.S. Capitol. As President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take the helm, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is ramping up tension by parading new rockets, while in China, the events at the Capitol prompted a rush among intellectuals seeking a three-decade-old book about how individualism will lead to U.S. decline. In Europe, an understaffed customs workforce is driving up shipping costs for Britain as trucks bearing goods struggle to negotiate the post-Brexit reality of increased paperwork. And Sweden is reversing its laissez faire approach to the coronavirus. Enjoy these and other stories from the past seven days in this edition of Weekend Reads. — Michael Winfrey A member of the National Guard stands in front of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. Ahead of Biden's inauguration, downtown Washington looks like a city preparing for war. Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg Click here for more of this week's most compelling political images and tell us how we're doing or what we're missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net. Paid Post There's a reason over 2.5 million people start their day with Morning Brew — the daily email that delivers the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Business news doesn't have to be dry and dense...make your mornings more enjoyable, for free. Check it out. Morning Brew GOP Veers Toward Years of Feuding as Trump Grip Starts to Crack Trump's hold over the Republican Party slipped as fellow members voted to impeach him in a rebuke that drew battle lines in the war for the soul of the GOP. Mark Niquette and Jordan Fabian explain how some senior officials see value in purging the party's once-unquestioned leader. Trump Supporters Flock to New Alt-Tech Hubs After Twitter Ban There's evidence that blocking Trump from Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites immediately reversed the trend of right-wing posts outperforming other political content. But as Daniel Zuidijk and Kurt Wagner report, his energized supporters are moving to other platforms. 'No Regrets': A Capitol Rioter Tells His Story From Inside Brandon Fellows drove to Washington after seeing a tweet from Trump promoting the rally that preceded the events at the Capitol. He told William Turton that, within hours of watching Trump's speech, he was smoking a joint with his feet propped up on a table in a Senator's office. Read more here about Trump's unprecedented second impeachment and here about what happens next with his trial in the Senate. Corporate PACs Donation Halt Chills a Congress Hooked on Cash The decision by U.S. companies to shut off contributions to 147 Republican lawmakers marks an unprecedented shift in the campaign money machine. Gregory Korte, Bill Allison and Ben Brody look into how it may impact the system that helps decide who wins elections. Pompeo Eyes Legacy and Stands by Trump in Farewell Tweetstorm Michael Pompeo chose impeachment day to call for Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Nick Wadhams reports how the secretary of state continues to back the man who lifted him from relative obscurity and whose followers he may need for his own political future. Kim Jong Un's New Missile Points to Early Provocations for Biden North Korea's leader has rolled out a lot of new missiles in recent months, including at least one more this week. As Jon Herskovitz and Jeong-Ho Lee explain, the next step could be for Kim to fire them to get Biden's attention. This photo provided by the North Korean government shows a military parade in Pyongyang on Jan. 14. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event and the content of this image cannot be independently verified.  Photographer: 朝鮮通信社/KCNA via KNS Stuck in Kent: How Brexit Red Tape Strangled Cross-Border Trade People who shuttle goods between Britain and the European Union are getting stuck. As Joe Mayes and Lizzy Burden write, they can't find brokers to prepare customs documents, underscoring a lack of trained workers that has pushed up shipping costs after Brexit. Odd Man Out Sweden, Slammed by Virus, Gets With the Program After taking arguably the world's softest approach toward the coronavirus, Sweden is tightening the screws. As Rafaela Lindeberg, Niclas Rolander, and Love Liman report, now the government is departing from its approach of relying on people to follow largely unenforced recommendations. Mysterious Wheat Deals Complicate Hunger Fight in Ethiopia Last year Ethiopia unveiled agreements to buy deeply discounted wheat. None was delivered, and it remains a mystery who was behind the deals. Samuel Gebre, Agnieszka de Sousa and Simon Marks dig into a blunder that could have ramifications for a country in desperate need of food. And finally ... The chaos in the U.S. prompted some Chinese to search for copies of an out-of-print book to make sense of the events. Prices for some copies of "America Against America," a tome forecasting the decline of the U.S. by the Communist Party's no. 5 leader, surged more than 3,000 times what it was sold for when it came out in 1991. The book on the Kungfuzi online marketplace site.   You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Balance of Power newsletter. Unsubscribe | Bloomberg.com | Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022