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Former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya is planning to launch a run for Senate in Minnesota, giving Republicans a high-profile recruit as they look to put the state in play next year. Tafoya filed paperwork on Tuesday establishing a Senate campaign committee with the Federal Election Commission. Three sources familiar with her decision confirmed that Tafoya is running for Senate, and two sources said an official announcement is expected on Wednesday. While Republicans are looking to expand their four-seat Senate majority next year by targeting states President Donald Trump won in 2024, including Michigan and Georgia, some in the party have been optimistic that Democratic Sen. Tina Smith’s retirement could put Minnesota in play. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and Rep. Angie Craig are both competing for the Democratic nod. Tafoya, a longtime reporter who worked for NBC Sports and currently hosts a podcast, had been seriously weighing a Senate run for months and met with the National Republican Senatorial Committee in December, according to one source familiar with the meeting. Last year’s GOP nominee for Senate, former professional basketball player Royce White, is also in the race, along with former state GOP chairman David Hann and former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze. Tafoya’s entrance as a well-known reporter and relative political outsider could give her party a boost. A self-described “pro-choice” Republican, Tafoya could also have some bipartisan appeal. But Republicans have not won a statewide election there since 2006 and they have struggled to recruit candidates who can make the races close. White, known for controversial comments online, at times using slurs, lost to Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar by 16 points last year even as Trump made some gains in the state. Trump, who has long eyed Minnesota as a potential pickup, lost Minnesota by 4 points last year, a 3-point improvement on his 2020 margin. Trump administration 13 hours ago Trump administration says DOGE may have misused Social Security data Trump administration 15 hours ago Trump expresses frustration and says his team has made ‘some mistakes' after one year in office Trump administration 21 hours ago Trump's pardons forgive financial crimes that came with hundreds of millions in punishments But Tafoya’s path forward could be complicated by the state party’s primary process. The state Republican Party endorses a candidate at the party convention, which often boosts that candidate’s campaign. But others who do not get the endorsement can continue with a primary campaign. White won the state GOP’s endorsement last year, but he still faced a contested primary, winning the Republican nomination with 39% of the vote. It’s not clear yet if Tafoya will seek the party’s endorsement, or continue with a primary run if she does not win the nod. Tafoya has been mentioned as a potential candidate in recent years. She entered politics in 2022, co-chairing Republican Kendall Quall’s gubernatorial campaign covering her final Super Bowl. Qualls is running for governor again this year in a crowded GOP primary. Tafoya told WDAY Radio in February 2025 that she was close to making a decision about a Senate run and had spoken with NRSC Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C. She noted she was considering the impact on her family and questioning how long she would remain in Minnesota. “I think Minnesota is starving for a moderate Republican who doesn’t tell them that they’re going to ban abortion, but who also is the antithesis of the Tim Walz regime,” Tafoya said at the time when speaking broadly about the race.

President Donald Trump arrived at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, after a minor electrical issue aboard Air Force One had forced a return to Washington to switch aircraft. Shortly after he landed in Zurich, his Marine One helicopter took him to the site of the international gathering. The White House said arriving late wouldn’t push back his scheduled address at the forum in the Swiss Alps — where his ambitions to wrest control of Greenland from NATO ally Denmark could tear relations with European allies and overshadow his original plan to use his appearance at the gathering of global elites to address affordability issues back home. Trump’s speech is set to focus on domestic policy. But it may touch on Greenland as well as the U.S. military operation that led to the recent ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. On Thursday, Trump plans to more heavily lean into foreign policy, including discussing hemispheric domination by Washington, and the “Board of Peace” he’s creating to oversee the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas. That’s according to a White House official who spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that haven’t been made public. Trump will also have around five bilateral meetings with foreign leaders, though further details weren’t provided. Tariff threat looms large Trump comes to the international forum at Davos on the heels of threatening steep U.S. import taxes on Denmark and seven other allies unless they negotiate a transfer of the semi-autonomous territory — a concession the European leaders indicated they are not willing to make. Trump said the tariffs would start at 10% next month and climb to 25% in June, rates that would be high enough to increase costs and slow growth, potentially hurting Trump’s efforts to tamp down the high cost of living. The president in a text message that circulated among European officials this week also linked his aggressive stance on Greenland to last year’s decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize. In the message, he told Norway’s prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, that he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of Peace.” In the midst of an unusual stretch of testing the United States’ relations with longtime allies, it seems uncertain what might transpire during Trump’s two days in Switzerland. On Tuesday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told a Davos panel he and Trump, a Republican, planned to deliver a stark message: “Globalization has failed the West and the United States of America. It’s a failed policy,” he said. “This will be an interesting trip,” Trump told reporters as he departed the White House on Tuesday evening for his flight to Davos. “I have no idea what’s going to happen, but you are well represented.” In fact, his trip to Davos got off to a difficult start. There was a small electrical problem on Air Force One, leading the crew to turn around the plane about 30 minutes into the flight out of an abundance of caution. That pushed the president’s arrival in Switzerland back hours. Wall Street wobbled on Tuesday as investors weighed Trump’s new tariff threats and escalating tensions with European allies. The S&P 500 fell 2.1%, its biggest drop since October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.8%. The Nasdaq composite slumped 2.4%. “It’s clear that we are reaching a time of instability, of imbalances, both from the security and defense point of view, and economic point of view,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in his address to the forum. Macron made no direct mention of Trump but urged fellow leaders to reject acceptance of “the law of the strongest.” Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that should Trump move forward with the tariffs,…

Two Olympic cauldrons for the Milan Cortina Games will pay homage to Leonardo da Vinci. “For the first time in the history of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, two cauldrons (in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo) will be lit and extinguished simultaneously in two different locations,” organizers said in a statement. The design has been revealed and it is a sun-like structure that is inspired by Leonardo’s intricate knot patterns. Leonardo spent almost 25 years of his life in Milan and many of his most famous works are from his time in the city. An artist’s rendering of what the Olympic cauldrons designed by Marco Balich will look like for the 2026 Milan Cortina Games. (IOC) The cauldrons have been designed to open and close — with a diameter that expands from 3.1 meters to 4.5 meters — and will contain the Olympic flame at their core, encased in a glass and metal container. The cauldron in Milan will be at the city’s Arco della Pace, while it will be in Piazza Dibona in Cortina. 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics May 19, 2025 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina: See dates, sports, how to watch, more 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics Jun 16, 2025 Get to know Team USA Olympians ahead of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics Jun 9, 2025 How to watch the 2026 Olympics in Milan Cortina They will be lit simultaneously during the widespread Opening Ceremony on Friday, Feb. 6 and extinguished on Sunday, Feb. 22. They will burn with the Paralympic flame from March 6-15. There will also be a special show lasting three to five minutes, hourly at the Milan cauldron in the evenings during the Olympics.

Jason Robertson scored two goals, Justin Hryckowian had a goal and two assists, and the Dallas Stars ended a three-game skid while snapping the Boston Bruins’ six-game winning streak, 6-2 on Tuesday night. Wyatt Johnston, Mavrik Bourque and Esa Lindell also scored for the Stars, who had just three goals in their previous three games. Miro Heiskanen had three assists and Jake Oettinger had 16 saves. The Bruins trailed 6-0 when Morgan Geekie scored on the power play to end Oettinger’s shutout bid with 7:49 to play. Geekie ended a personal 12-game goal-scoring drought when he tipped in David Pastrnak’s shot. Fraser Minten also scored for Boston while Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves before he was lifted in favor of Joonas Korpisalo, who had three stops. The Stars played without leading scorer Mikko Rantanen (19 goals, 44 assists), who was out with an illness. Johnston’s goal with 3:52 left in the first was his NHL-leading 16th power-play goal this season. Bourque’s first-period goal also came on the power play. Johnston has six goals and six assists over the past 12 games. Robertson scored his 28th and 29th goals of the season early in the third period. The Bruins had allowed two goals or less per game during their six-game winning streak. The Stars outshot the Bruins 37-18 and won 65% of the faceoffs. Up next Bruins: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night. Stars: Visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.