U.S. and world news for Jan. 16

Trump wins in Iowa: Donald Trump has won the Iowa caucuses with 51% of the vote. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis finished a distant second with 21.2% and Nikki Haley received 19.1%. Haley had been hoping to achieve second place to help her build momentum going into the New Hampshire primary, where she is hoping to win. Snow and bitter cold kept the Iowa turnout down to about 110,000, compared with about 186,000 who had turned out in 2016. In comments about his win, Trump again made false claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent. Surveys of Iowa caucus participants showed that a strong majority believe Trump’s claims about the election and also his claims that the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was a peaceful demonstration.

New Trump trial begins: Donald Trump goes back on trial in Manhattan today in the new defamation case brought by journalist E. Jean Carroll. Trump was previously convicted of defaming her when he denied having sexually abused her and claimed that she was lying. Trump was ordered to pay her $5 million in damages. When Trump continued to verbally assault her after the jury verdict, Carroll filed a second defamation lawsuit against Trump. This time Carroll is seeking $10 million in damages.

Ramaswamy drops out: Vivek Ramaswamy, the 38-year-old businessman who saw himself as the next head of the MAGA movement, replacing Donald Trump, has dropped out of the Republican presidential race. Ramaswamy gave his endorsement to Trump. Ramaswamy finished fourth in the Iowa caucuses, with about 8% of the vote. Ramaswamy visited all 99 counties in Iowa twice during his campaign, spending millions of dollars of his own money on his campaign.

Davos meeting: Ukrainian President Zelenskyy today was meeting with business executives and government economic leaders from around the world who have gathered in Davos, Switzerland, for their annual World Economic Forum. Zelenskyy is seeking new support for Ukraine in the war with Russia. He’s also calling for new economic investment in Ukraine. Artificial intelligence and technology were expected to dominate discussions among the conference participants.

Goldman’s financials: The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. today reported net revenues of $46.25 billion and net earnings of $8.52 billion for 2023. Net revenues were $11.32 billion and net earnings were $2.01 billion for the fourth quarter of 2023. David Solomon, the company’s chairman and CEO said, “With everything we achieved in 2023 coupled with our clear and simplified strategy, we have a much stronger platform for 2024.”

Emmy Awards: The 2023 Emmy Awards were given out last night and “The Bear” was named the best comedy series. The best drama series award was won by “Succession.” The leads in the series, Kieran Calkin and Sarah Snook, won the awards for best actor and actress in a drama. “Beef” won for best limited series. The award for best reality competition program went to “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” The best talk show series was “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.”

Cover photo courtesy NASA Godard Space Flight Center / Flickr Creative Commons