Trump’s so-called friends slip away at the last minute

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a trust circle of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Trump’s [friends are abandoning him](. - Biden [shouldn’t make Obama’s biggest mistake](. - Inflation is about to [make its long-awaited return](. - [So is value investing](. Trump’s Circle of Trust Shrinking Rapidly President Donald Trump’s friends are abandoning him in the closing moments of his presidency, and with a history-making [second impeachment]( looming, which is sort of like if the Titanic’s captain had tried to quit just before it sank. Maybe we’d all be better off if these people had ditched Trump earlier, but they can still do some good. Maybe most notably, Representative Liz Cheney, of the Wyoming Cheneys, broke with her party and vowed to impeach Trump in paint-peeling terms. It’s a big risk for her, not unlike the one Newt Gingrich took when he shivved President George H.W. Bush over tax cuts, writes Robert George. That [ended up working out well for Gingrich](. It may not do the same for Cheney. For the past four years, Corporate America has been quicker to oppose Trump in word and deed. Maybe being relentlessly tweet-bullied hardened its resolve. But last week’s storming of the Capitol hastened business’s slow [breakup]( with the GOP. The National Association of Manufacturers called for Trump’s ouster. And led by the [Chamber of Commerce](, several companies have [cut off donations]( to GOP politicians who backed Trump’s election-fraud lies. Hallmark even asked for some of its money back! Hallmark! One industry dragging its feet on backstabbing the GOP is Big Oil. It has few friends left in this hard, rapidly warming world, Liam Denning writes, so [it’s reluctant to betray its nearest and dearest supporters](. But Joe Manchin is just standing right there like [Duckie](, waiting to be Big Oil’s rebound boyfriend. Even Mitch McConnell is reportedly [happy]( to see Trump impeached, though not quite happy enough to [hurry up]( his trial. He could still whip Republican votes even as the minority leader in the new Senate, and Clive Crook wonders if [he’ll do to Trump what Sir Geoffrey Howe did to Margaret Thatcher]( in 1990: End her era. That McConnell has soured on Trump shows [just how much damage he has done to the nation]( and to his party, Tim O’Brien writes. Trump does seem vaguely aware he must behave better to avoid real consequences; today he [asked supporters]( not to storm any more capitols if they could avoid it. But no matter the outcome, you can bet he’ll make sure the blame for his problems falls where it belongs: on his so-called friends. 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 What Biden Should and Shouldn’t Do We’re now less than a week from President-elect Joe Biden taking office, believe it or not. He’ll be greeted by two blazing emergencies that should consume all his efforts for a while: the pandemic and its associated recession. With a Democratic Congress, Biden has precious political capital to get stuff done, but Noah Smith implores him [not to make the mistake President Barack Obama did]( and get sidetracked in less urgent, and less popular, projects such as reforming health care. Biden will also have to act quickly to repair America’s relationship with the rest of the world, which has been badly damaged by the way Trump treats so-called friends. Bloomberg’s editorial board has some [advice for Biden on getting off to a quick, smart start](. These include easy fixes, such as ending Trump’s hopeless trade war and rejoining key international pacts, along with trickier ones, such as confronting, you know, [waves hand at China] China. Further Biden-Agenda Reading: The [military sees climate change as a national security threat]( and should like Biden’s seriousness about it. — James Stavridis It’s Almost Inflation O’Clock We haven’t seen inflation around these here parts in a [long, long time](. This will probably be the year it returns, writes Michael R. Strain, as [supply-constrained businesses try to meet an upwelling of demand]( from a freshly vaccinated America. What we don’t know is whether it will actually heat up so much that it scares the Fed into pulling back stimulus early. [That would be very bad for stock prices](, obviously, especially if we’re entering a period of generally rising commodity prices, writes John Authers. But for better or worse, labor-driven inflation still seems to be a distant threat, given how bad the labor market is. Further Inflation Reading: - The ECB should make clear it’s [willing to tolerate inflation for a good while](. — Ferdinando Giugliano - Price caps and export curbs [aren’t the right way to fight food-price inflation](. — Clara Ferreira Marques Telltale Charts The answer to the mystery of why value stocks have lagged growth stocks for so long is probably simple, writes Nir Kaissar: These things go in cycles. [Sometimes value just has bad years/decades](, but afterward it beats growth handily. This may be one of those times. Manufacturing has thrived in this recession, which is not how recessions usually go, notes Justin Fox. Meanwhile, the service sector has been decimated, affecting women and certain regions most. But [America’s economy is still a service-sector economy](, for better or worse. Further Reading [Georgia is more like Virginia than North Carolina](: getting bluer and bluer. — Conor Sen [China must stop stonewalling on Covid’s origins](, to help science and its own reputation. — Adam Minter Remote work [makes every team more disjointed and disloyal](, including the fraudulent ones. — Matt Levine 2021 will [probably be pretty wild, too](. — Tyler Cowen ICYMI Why [bother impeaching Trump now](? Bitcoin [isn’t like any other bubble](. How long will [China and Tesla be BFFs](? Kickers Scientists [transfer memories from one snail to another](. Also, snails have memories. (h/t Alistair Lowe) New [world’s oldest animal drawing]( just dropped. (h/t Mike Smedley) America could be on the brink of [several Ireland moments](, which is not good. You cannot stop [sea shanty TikTok](. You [can’t even hope to contain it](. You [shouldn’t even try](. Just [let it happen](. Note: Please send memories and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Twitter]( and [Facebook](.  Like Bloomberg Opinion Today? [Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access and get much, much more](. You’ll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](.  You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022