Análisis por Aaron Blake, CNN

El deseo insaciable de Donald Trump de ponerle su nombre a todo ha sido evidente desde hace mucho tiempo. Y como presidente, ha llevado ese impulso al extremo, nombrando cosas en su honor de maneras que, al parecer, ningún otro presidente ha hecho.

Pero incluso para sus propios estándares, este afán ha dado un giro desesperado, y aparentemente poco prudente desde el punto de vista político.

El mes pasado, Trump intentó que el Congreso cambiara el nombre del Aeropuerto Internacional Dulles, cerca de Washington, y de la estación Penn de Nueva York para que llevaran su nombre.

Manu Raju y Adam Cancryn, de CNN, informaron que Trump propuso estos cambios de nombre al líder de la minoría en el Senado, Chuck Schumer, como condición para liberar miles de millones de dólares en fondos congelados destinados a un importante proyecto de infraestructura en Nueva York. Schumer, demócrata de Nueva York, la rechazó. La noticia fue reportada primero por Punchbowl.

De alguna manera, esto podría parecer algo habitual. Trump ya ha puesto su nombre (legalmente o no) a un sinfín de cosas: desde el Centro Kennedy, hasta el Instituto de la Paz de EE.UU., una clase de buques de guerra y cuentas de ahorro para niños. Incluso lanzó una plataforma de medicamentos llamada “TrumpRx” el jueves, el mismo día que supimos de sus planes de poner su nombre en los principales centros de transporte de Washington y Nueva York.

Si bien hay cosas que llevan el nombre de presidentes, los expertos han dicho que simplemente no existe precedente para nombrar cosas en honor a un presidente en funciones de esta manera. The New York Times analizó recientemente los datos, confirmando que otros presidentes casi siempre esperan hasta dejar el cargo.

Para los estándares que el propio Trump ha establecido, su intento de renombrar esta estación de tren y este aeropuerto está en otro nivel.

La diferencia clave aquí es que el presidente ha intentado poner su nombre a estas cosas no mediante acción ejecutiva, sino a través de presión, negociándolo como un favor político.

Hay buenas razones para pensar que está eligiendo ese camino. Sus intentos anteriores de poner su nombre en edificios, como el Centro Kennedy, son posiblemente ilegales y podrían revertirse fácilmente, especialmente cuando deje el cargo. Sería realmente sorprendente que el próximo presidente demócrata no quite el nombre de Trump del Centro Kennedy.

Para que la marca Trump tenga poder duradero en entidades gubernamentales, realmente necesita que el Congreso codifique los cambios. Pero el Congreso no es eficiente a la hora de actuar, especialmente cuando no hay mucho que ganar.

Trump no está tratando de aprovechar el proyecto de infraestructura de Nueva York para lograr una victoria política conservadora, algo que importe a la base republicana o a los miembros del Partido Republicano en el Congreso antes de las elecciones intermedias de 2026. Está tratando de aprovecharlo para su propio homenaje y glorificación.

El presidente, aparentemente, podría usar esto como moneda de cambio para cualquier otro propósito, pero ha intentado usarlo en beneficio propio.

Ha sido transaccional en muchos aspectos, especialmente en su segundo mandato. Incluso ha utilizado su influencia recientemente para que una líder opositora venezolana le regalara su recién otorgado Premio Nobel de la Paz. Como escribí en ese entonces, eso planteó la posibilidad de que Trump estuviera, en efecto, negociando su glorificación personal a cambio de importantes decision

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By Jacob Lev, CNN

(CNN) — Penn State hockey forward Gavin McKenna will not face a felony aggravated assault charge after it was dropped by the Centre County District Attorney’s Office on Friday.

On Wednesday, 18-year-old McKenna was charged with four counts by the State College Police Department after an altercation on January 31, according to court documents. The incident came hours after the No. 6 ranked Nittany Lions lost in overtime to No. 2 Michigan State in an outdoor game at Beaver Stadium in College Park, Pennsylvania.

While the felony charge has been dropped, prosecution will go ahead with the misdemeanor simple assault and other summary charges as “they relate to the serious injuries suffered by the victim,” the District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

According to the State College Police Department, McKenna was involved in an altercation at approximately 8:45 p.m ET on January 31. He allegedly struck a 21-year-old male in the face, causing injuries that required corrective surgery.

According to police, McKenna was involved in an altercation at approximately 8:45 p.m ET on Saturday. He allegedly struck a 21-year-old male in the face, causing injuries that required corrective surgery.

A follow up by police confirmed that the victim “suffered two fractures to one side of his jaw, as opposed to both sides of his jaw, and that he is not missing a tooth.” The victim had surgery and is now recovering, the statement said.

According to the District Attorney’s release, probable cause for a felony charge of aggravated assault would have to show McKenna “acted with the intent to cause serious bodily injury or acted recklessly under circumstances showing an extreme indifference to the value of human life.”

After the District Attorney’s Office and State College police reviewed video footage of the incident, both came to the conclusion that a charge of aggravated assault was not supported by the evidence, the statement said.

CNN has reached out to Penn State hockey and McKenna’s representation for comment.

A preliminary hearing, originally scheduled for February 11, has been rescheduled for March 11.

A freshman forward from Whitehorse, Yukon, McKenna has 11 goals and 21 assists in 24 games this season while leading Penn State to an 18-8-0 record. Hockey experts have referred to the Canadian as a generational talent who could likely hear his name called first at June’s player draft in Buffalo, New York.

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By Susana Erazo, Krecyte Villarreal, CNN

(CNN) — Rigo Mendoza tearfully recalls the last conversation he had with his son Kevin before his death in early January.

The 15-year-old boy, who had been diagnosed with cancer in November, could only think about his father’s safety. “I don’t want anything to happen to you,” he kept repeating.

His mother had just been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents the previous day, a fact that may have negatively impacted Kevin’s health, Mendoza recalls one of the doctors saying. “I told him, ‘I don’t want you to get upset. If you’re OK, your mom will be OK. We’re going to fight to get her home.’ But I think he got scared that she wasn’t coming back,” Mendoza says.

His wife, Arlith Martínez, who like him is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, was on her way to work in Maryland on January 3 when she was arrested by ICE. She was held at a temporary facility in the state before being transferred to a detention center in New Jersey, where she was able to contact her husband hours later.

“She told me she had been detained, but not to worry because since she has no criminal record, she was going to be released,” Mendoza says. CNN confirmed that Martínez has a traffic violation on her record, but no serious crimes. Mendoza says that during her arrest, she was surrounded as if she were a criminal.

Mendoza and Martínez have spent more than 20 years in the United States, where they’ve raised four children, all of whom are American citizens.

Two days after Martínez’s arrest by ICE, Kevin died.

Now, Mendoza tells CNN, the couple is no longer fighting to remain the United States. Instead, they plan to return to Mexico with their three children – two daughters and a son – and the remains of Kevin.

An uncertain diagnosis

In November, Kevin told his parents he was experiencing knee pain. “The doctors said we should just put ice on it, and it would go away, but I wasn’t convinced,” his father recounts. So, they decided to take him to a hospital in Baltimore, where he was diagnosed with cancer. From that moment on, his life changed.

Mendoza and Martínez had been working at a fast-food restaurant until they received Kevin’s diagnosis. “I quit my job the second day after I got the news that he had cancer. I told my wife, ‘My child is more important,’” Mendoza says. From then on, he devoted his time to his son’s care and medical treatment, while his wife earned money for the family.

“When he was receiving treatment, his doctors congratulated us and my son because we were doing everything so well,” Mendoza says. When they received the diagnosis, he didn’t want to know what type of cancer Kevin had, but the doctors told him it would be “a battle Kevin could win.”

“When you hear the word cancer, it’s devastating, even more so for a parent,” Mendoza says.

The family never found out about the nature of illness.

CNN contacted some of the medical team at the hospital where Kevin Mendoza was treated but they declined to reveal details of his diagnosis for privacy reasons.

After Martínez’s arrest on January 3, Mendoza says he didn’t want to tell Kevin about it, but the news reached him through social media, and that night his condition began to worsen.

“I kept asking him if he felt OK. He said yes, and it wasn’t until around 1 a.m. that I realized he was sweating cold.”

Mendoza had taken Kevin to a local hospital on January 4, but given his symptoms, they attempted to transfer him by helicopter to another facility further away to receive treatment. However, due to the boy’s condition, they were unable to take off. So they remained at the local hospital.

Minutes earlier, Mendoza had a final conversation with Kevin, when his son asked if he would go with him by helicopter or car, because he was

Story by Jessie Yeung, Yoonjung Seo, CNN. Graphics by Rosa de Acosta, CNN.

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) — Excited young couples roam a bustling convention center trying on baby carriers, testing strollers and learning the latest safety features of car seats.

This scene in Seoul in January may seem totally contrary to the usual headlines from South Korea, of plummeting birth rates and a looming demographic crisis that also threatens to swallow neighboring Japan and China.

But against all odds, South Korea is finally having more babies. The numbers have been slowly ticking up for over a year – a rare bit of good news for a government that has spent billions of dollars for more than a decade encouraging people to do just that.

Whether it can last, however, is another matter.

Attendees at the baby fair in Seoul nodded to the government’s many initiatives, including subsidies and support programs for young parents. But all of them also described how hard it is to have kids in a country with rising costs of living, a grueling work culture, ingrained gender norms, and lingering conservative attitudes.

“After I became pregnant, I quit my job,” said 31-year-old Yun So-yeon, who’s expecting her first child in March. She felt she didn’t have a choice. “There wasn’t enough support at my work. When someone gets pregnant, they all end up quitting.”

Another attendee, 34-year-old Park Ha-yan, is a stay-at-home mom expecting her third child in June. “It all comes down to money,” she said.

“The more children you have, the more (government) support you receive. But the expenses become greater … And this isn’t for just one or two years, it’s all the way until they grow up so, it’s definitely a heavy burden.”

Experts also voiced caution about celebrating too soon. Some of the reasons for the rise could also suggest that it’s a temporary bump.

“Now we see some rebound … but our levels never recovered (to what they were) before Covid,” said Sojung Lim, Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Studies at the SUNY University at Buffalo. “We still have the lowest fertility of advanced economies.”

South Korea’s fertility rate, defined as the average number of babies born in a woman’s lifetime, had been steadily dropping since 2015 – and is now the lowest among all countries worldwide.

Demographers say a society needs a fertility rate of at least 2.1 to maintain a stable population, without immigration. By 2023, South Korea’s fertility rate had slumped to 0.721 – deepening the sense of panic that permeated the country. At one point, former President Yoon Suk Yeol called the decline in births a “national emergency.”

So, it was a surprise when in 2024, the country’s fertility rate rose for the first time in nine years. It was a small increase, up to 0.748, but it was enough for people to ask: Is this the end of the tunnel? Has South Korea turned a corner on its population crisis?

For 17 consecutive months now, the country has seen a year-on-year increase in monthly births, according to the latest figures released in January. That means more babies were born each month than the same month the previous year – a sign that the overall fertility rate could see a second