‘You Can’t Be an Absolutist’: Weighing a 2020 Run, Bloomberg Talks Compromise (Washington Post)
Mike Bloomberg appeared in Annapolis on Tuesday to chide Washington over the government shutdown and talk about the importance of compromise. He gave the keynote speech Tuesday at a leadership conference at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, praising the late senator John McCain — an academy alumnus — for his independence and willingness to work across the aisle.

The three-term mayor of New York has emerged as a vocal critic of President Trump. He donated millions to Democrats in November’s midterm elections, and has spent millions more, dating back years, on climate and gun control initiatives. Asked about the timing of an announcement about 2020, Bloomberg said: “Well, I said I’d take a look at it in January, February. We’re still in January.”

Following meetings with Maryland lawmakers and the state Attorney General, Bloomberg spoke at a news conference where he called the partial federal government shutdown, now in its fifth week, a “disgrace.”

“You can’t be an absolutist . . . life is much more complex than that,” he said. “I think everybody should come together. If you have one issue that you really care about, you don’t shut everything down if you can’t get your way.”

Comment of the Day (from a reader on WashingtonPost.com): I don’t know about [not being an absolutist], I’ve been downing about a fifth a night of Absolut since 1/20/2017, makes me absolutely forget about Trump until at least the next morning.

U.S. Government Shutdown Day 33:
-Trump’s Pet Projects Thrive During Shutdown While Others Falter (Bloomberg)
-Shutdown Deprives Data-Dependent Fed of Data It’s Dependent On (Bloomberg)

U.S. Intelligence Warns That Russia and China Are Seizing on Global Turmoil (Bloomberg)

Advisers to Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz are Looking at Him Running as an Independent for President in 2020 (Washington Post)
“Anyone thinking of running for president as an independent would have to think really hard about splitting the anti-incumbent, anti-Trump vote and just playing the spoiler role and reelecting Trump,” said Howard Wolfson, a strategist for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. He now advises former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is considering his own presidential campaign, as a Democrat. “I think that would be a terrible legacy for anyone to leave,” Wolfson said.

2020: Waiting on the Four B’s – Biden, Beto, Bernie and Bloomberg (NBC News)

Davos Headlines:
-Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Not Optimistic on Lasting U.S.-China Trade Deal (Bloomberg)
-Jair Bolsonaro Says Brazil Must Reform or Become Next Venezuela (Bloomberg)
-Angela Merkel: Global Architecture Will Only Work if We Are Ready to Compromise (TicToc by Bloomberg)

Venezuelans Set to March Against Government Today as They Ask: ‘Is It Real This Time?’ (Bloomberg – Balance of Power)

Going Backwards: Supreme Court Revives Transgender Ban for Military Service (Bloomberg)

Going Forward: Boeing’s Flying Car Has Taken Off – Successfully Completes Test in Manassas, Virginia (Bloomberg)
Propelled by electricity, the model is designed for fully autonomous flight, with a range of as much as 50 miles.

London Restaurant News: Backers of World’s Best Restaurant (New York’s Eleven Madison Park) Will Open Site in London Claridge’s (Bloomberg)

Best of late night.

Best of Satire:

Ann Coulter Demands to Deliver State of the Union Address (The New Yorker’s Borowitz Report)
“Tradition dictates that I deliver that speech next week, and I intend to do just that,” Coulter told reporters.

Best of Late Night:

On the U.S. Government shutdown:

“Speaking of the shutdown, to earn money I heard that some TSA agents are now driving for Uber. You know your Uber driver is a TSA agent when they don’t offer you a bottle of water, and they take yours away.”
— Jimmy Fallon

For more best of late night from the New York Times, click here.