Trump gave two major interviews this week: the first on Thursday with the New York Times, and the second on Sunday with CBS before the airing of the Super Bowl.

In the Times interview, Trump said he feels there's little point in negotiating with Congress regarding the border wall and again said he may declare a national emergency to access the funds he needs. He also seemed dismissive of the progress of Mueller's Russia investigation (indeed, earlier in the week Trump promised not to interfere in the Justice Department's decision of whether to release Mueller's report to the public, though this promise is by no means formal or binding). He also attempted to minimize his role in the 2016 Moscow Trump Tower construction project, distanced himself from Roger Stone, and denied helping Jared Kushner receive security access despite evidence to the contrary from the FBI and the CIA.

Trump seemed nonchalant despite reports that his son, Trump Jr., met with an organization, Wikistrat, that created simulations of foreign election interference, Russians hacked Mueller's investigation in an attempt to discredit it, the NRA tried to deny ties to Russia despite a bevy of evidence, and House Democrats complained that Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin lifting Russian sanctions constituted a conflict of interest.

In the CBS interview, Trump's topics ranged from Iraq to US intelligence to US employment gains among minorities. He indicated that he wants to keep troops in Iraq to keep an eye on its neighbor, Iran, a country that he says he perceives as a real threat. He also defended his willingness to dismiss the information provided by the US intelligence committee, using the long and costly war War on Terror as an example of why he should be able to dismiss them. His interviewer also confronted him with recent polls showing that 63% of Americans disapprove of the way he's handled the topic of race; Trump responded by claiming that he's to thank for large increases in minority employment in the US.

Meanwhile, tensions international and domestic continue to rise. The US is withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a 1987 agreement that bans both the US and Russia from possessing land-based cruise missiles capable of traveling long ranges. Russia has already been violating the agreement for five years and did not respond to calls from the US for compliance.

At home, neither Trump nor the Democrats are giving up ground in the battle over the border wall. With the deadline looming and no sign of progress, it's possible the government could shut down again in about 12 days.

Lastly, Trump once again displayed his ignorance of the basic theory of climate change this week in the face of deadly record-low temperatures throughout much of the Midwest and Northeast US.