President Trump said last week he was thinking "very strongly" about commuting the prison sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But now, he may have already stopped looking.

Trump "appears to have backed off" the idea after pushback from Republicans and after Reps. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) and Mike Bost (R-Ill.) met with him directly, CNN reports. According to the report, LaHood and Bost "laid out the litany of crimes" committed by Blagojevich, who was recorded discussing plans to sell a Senate seat.

The president previously referred to this tape as "a phone call where nothing happens" while arguing that Blagojevich was treated "unbelievably unfairly." But Bost told CNN that after he walked through Blagojevich's various crimes and argued that commuting him would send the wrong message, Trump said, "I wish I had the perspective before." While discussing Blagojevich, Trump reportedly "did not seem aware of the details of Blagojevich's case," CNN writes.

One White House official told CNN that there hasn't been any progress on the issue since last week, and one said it "appeared to be on ice." Trump had already signaled he could be backing away from the idea after changing his description of it from something he's considering "strongly" to something that White House staff is "continuing" its "review" of, The New York Times noted.

Another White House official objected to this and told CNN there is "no pumping the brakes" happening here, but it sounds like it would not be surprising if following this GOP backlash, the Blagojevich issue is one Trump simply never mentions again. Brendan Morrow

A fire burning near the Australian capital city of Canberra is the worst threat to the region since the 2003 bushfires that took four lives and destroyed 470 homes, said Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Chief Minister Andrew Barr, per The Guardian.

The Orroral Valley bushfire, sparked earlier this week in the Namadgi National park, has blanketed the city in hazardous smoke, reports Reuters. The fire was ignited after a military helicopter landing created enough heat to set grass ablaze.

As of early Wednesday morning in Australia, the fire spanned 9,498 hectares, per ACT government. The fire was downgraded overnight from an emergency warning to a watch and act warning, but ACT Emergency Services Agency commissioner Georgeina Whelan said the fires are expected to burn in the park for several weeks.

Dry, hot weather in Australia, exacerbated by climate change, is creating the perfect conditions for the fires to grow, and the fires themselves are contributing to the climate crisis via carbon emissions, notes Gizmodo.

Meanwhile, Australia is preparing for a heatwave, expected to hit later this week and into the weekend. Since September, the bushfires have killed 33 people and claimed the lives of roughly 1 billion animals, Reuters reports. Taylor Watson

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) is taking a stand against one of the Senate's strictest rules.

When in the hallowed halls of the Senate chamber, lawmakers may only sip water or milk, the latter of which has been spotted in the glasses of a few senators throughout the past week of impeachment. But on Tuesday, Romney became the first senator to be seen drinking chocolate milk in the Senate — a bold step that comes as he's considering taking a few more.

A slew of reporters spotted Romney, safely outside the Senate camera's view, drinking the chocolate milk from an approved glass on Tuesday — he'd tried to bring it to the floor in a "contraband bottle" earlier, per The Wall Street Journal. It's not the healthiest choice, but as Romney's wife Ann Romney told Politico in 2011, it's his guilty pleasure food.

Romney's cocoa-dusted decision begs another question: What other unconventional choices might Romney be angling to make? Like the smoke signal that determines a pope's selection, does this indicate Romney has opted to push for witnesses in the Senate trial? Perhaps he's chosen to vote to convict President Trump altogether? Only time — and perhaps another sign in the form of dairy — will tell. Kathryn Krawczyk

After a second Harvey Weinstein accuser took the stand in his rape trial this week, her former roommate just corroborated the account.

Former Project Runway production assistant Mimi Haleyi testified Monday in the trial of the disgraced producer, telling jurors Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006. The rape and sexual assault charges Weinstein is facing stem from Haleyi's allegation, as well as the allegation of Jessica Mann, who says Weinstein raped her in 2013. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty and denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex acts.

On Tuesday, Haleyi's roommate in 2006, Elizabeth Entin, testified that Haleyi told her about the alleged assault at the time.

"I said, 'Miriam, that sounds like rape' and told her to call a lawyer,” Entin said, Variety reports.

Entin reportedly testified she "very clearly" remembers the day Haleyi told her about the alleged assault and that she "was pacing" and "seemed anxious." In the weeks afterward, Haleyi was "much more withdrawn," Entin said.

Actress Annabella Sciorra last week became the first Weinstein accuser to testify in the New York trial, telling jurors he raped her in 1993 or 1994. Her account was backed up by Rosie Perez, who testified that Sciorra told her about it at the time.

Several additional witnesses are expected to testify in the trial, including Mann, who Deadline reports is "scheduled to appear in the coming days." Deadline additionally reports that although the trial was "initially projected to last through March," it has "moved at a steady clip and could conclude by mid-February." Brendan Morrow

President Trump unveiled his administration's Middle East peace plan alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, just hours after Netanyahu was indicted on corruption charges.

The two leaders touted the two-state plan as a "win-win" for Israel and Palestine. Trump promised $50 billion in international aid to build up the Palestinian state, which would house its capital in East Jerusalem, leaving Israel in control of a unified Jerusalem. The White House included a perplexing-looking map of the proposed solution, complete with a tunnel connecting Gaza and the West Bank.

Many of the early reactions to the proposal were critical — analysts like Nicholas Burns, a Harvard professor and former U.S. diplomat, anticipate a rejection from the Palestinians and even an escalation of tensions between the two sides since it does little to curb Israeli settlements in the West Bank in the long run.

Neighboring Jordan warned against the "annexation of Palestinian lands" in response to the plan, as well. But it does have at least one potential fan. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly said that after speaking with Trump earlier in the day, he thinks it could help pave the way forward. Tim O'Donnell

For cursing out a reporter and accusing her of lying, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has earned high praise from President Trump.

Trump on Tuesday celebrated Pompeo after his recent confrontation with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly. Kelly last week said Pompeo angrily berated her after an interview in which she asked about Ukraine, cursing her out and demanding she find Ukraine on a map. Pompeo in a subsequent statement only doubled down, claiming Kelly "lied to me" and that she incorrectly pointed to Bangladesh and not Ukraine, even though Kelly has a master's degree in European studies from Cambridge University. The State Department subsequently removed another NPR reporter from an upcoming Pompeo trip in apparent retaliation.

This earned Trump's seal of approval on Tuesday, as after Pompeo received a round of applause during a White House event, Trump said, "That reporter couldn't have done too good a job on you yesterday, huh? I think you did a good job on her, actually."

Trump then asked if Pompeo is running for Senate but quickly added, "I guess the answer's no after that, huh?" The New York Times' Michael Barbaro wrote Tuesday this is "the latest case of Trump celebrating poor treatment of the media." Brendan Morrow

Former Vice President Joe Biden isn't bashful about the reason he's running for president.

Biden, though not bereft of policy plans, isn't leading a specific "movement" like some of his Democratic competitors, namely Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). In that sense, there doesn't appear to have been an ideological motivation that spurred the 77-year-old's decision to jump into the crowded Democratic primary last year, except for defeating the incumbent, President Trump, The New York Times reports.

In fact, Biden reportedly told the Times while campaigning in Iowa before the state's caucus kicks off the election process next week that he likely wouldn't even have launched a campaign if someone like Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) was the one seeking re-election, amplifying Biden's message that Democrats and Republicans need not be in a state of "perpetual war" in a post-Trump America. It's Trump, and Trump alone, that compelled former President Barack Obama's right hand man to take one last crack at the Oval Office. Read more at The New York Times. Tim O'Donnell