Speculation has turned to preparation among world leaders bracing for the surprises and disruption that would accompany a second Trump presidency, Axios' Dave Lawler reports.

• Why it matters: U.S. allies had never seen a president like Donald Trump, who threatened to rip up treaties and often made bilateral disagreements personal.

Just yesterday, Trump said at a rally in Conway, S.C., that he told the president of an unidentified NATO member he would "encourage" Russia "to do whatever the hell they want" if the NATO member were behind on its obligations to the alliance.

• "One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said: 'Well, sir, uh, if we don't pay and we're attacked by Russia, will you protect us?" Trump recounted.

"You didn't pay? You're delinquent?" Trump said he replied. "No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.' You gotta pay! You gotta pay your bills."

• White House spokesman Andrew Bates responded: "Encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and unhinged."

🖼️ The big picture: Many of America's European NATO allies are worried that with or without Trump, the U.S. is becoming less reliable. Some have started to talk openly about the need for members to ramp up military spending, and plan for an alliance without the U.S. (AP)

🔎 Zoom in: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government is preparing for the "uncertainty" Trump's return would bring.

• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz risked Trump's wrath by openly endorsing President Biden last year over the "division" he said Trump represents.
• European Central Bank Chief Christine Lagarde cited Trump's penchant for imposing tariffs on allies, his shaky commitment to NATO and his opposition to climate action when she labeled his political resurgence a "threat" to Europe.

👀 Perhaps no leader has more to fear from Trump's return than Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

• Trump's allies in Congress have held up additional military aid to Ukraine, and the former president has said he'd end the nation's war with Russia "within 24 hours" of taking office — an unsubstantiated claim Zelensky called "very dangerous."

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“I haven’t seen that,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ABC’s Jon Karl, when asked whether he has noticed problems with President Biden’s memory.

• “I’ve had more than a dozen extended phone conversations with President Biden. He also came on a visit to Israel during wartime, which is a historic first, and I found him very clear and very focused,” Netanyahu told Karl on ABC’s “This Week.”

👓 What we’re watching: Biden is expected to speak to Netanyahu later today, Israeli officials tell Axios’ Barak Ravid.

• The call comes amid mounting criticism from Biden against Netanyahu and U.S. concern regarding an Israeli operation in Rafah.

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Americans under 40 saw their wealth rise by a staggering 80% since pre-pandemic — a far higher rate than any other age group, Axios' Emily Peck writes from New York Fed data.

• What's happening: During the pandemic, those under 40, many flush with stimulus checks, took to the stock market and saw big gains.

The shift "likely reflects the fact that younger adults, further from retirement, can afford to invest in risky assets at a higher rate than older adults," the researchers write.

• "The youngest age group is also the poorest and thus received much of the COVID-era fiscal stimulus, granting them excess savings to invest in equities."
• Many also didn't have to make a student loan payment for most of that period.

🥊 Reality check: Overall, older adults are far wealthier. The net worth of those 55 and over was $97 trillion in the third quarter of 2023.

• That's compared to $8.6 trillion for Americans under 40.

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Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz saw double when they met in Washington this past week — and went on social media to share their mirror image.

• The senator, 60, and the leader of Germany's coalition government, 65, share an uncommon likeness — down to their bald tops and squinty smiles, AP's Brian P. D. Hannon writes.

Scholz was in Washington to encourage U.S. support for Ukraine. He met with President Biden and members of Congress, where he posed with Coons.

• "Wer ist wer?" Coons tweeted in German: "Who is who?"
• "Great to see my Doppelgänger again," Scholz posted in English.

Hackers made off with roughly $1.1 billion from ransomware attacks in 2023 — setting a record, Axios' Sam Sabin writes from a new report from cryptocurrency tracing firm Chainalysis.

Why it matters: Hackers follow the money, and are quick to adapt their tactics to counteract law enforcement attempts to squash ransomware.

🧮 By the numbers: In 2023, ransomware hackers brought in roughly double 2022's total of $567 million in cryptocurrency from cyberattacks.

🔎 Between the lines: For some businesses, it is sometimes cheaper to pay a ransom than to lose revenue from downed services and locked systems.

• Chainalysis also attributes the rise in payments in 2023 to the growing number of gangs getting involved in ransomware.

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Former President Trump draws massive crowds in early primary states:

• Here's an aerial view of his supporters waiting to enter yesterday's "Get Out the Vote Rally" in Conway, S.C.

South Carolina's Republican primary is Feb. 24.

Above: Trump speaks to an overflow crowd at the rally at Coastal Carolina University.

Doors opened at 11 a.m. for the 2 p.m. main event.

Saturn's small, crater-covered moon Mimas may have a vast ocean under its thick icy surface, Axios managing editor Alison Snyder reports.

• Why it matters: The discovery, published in Nature, suggests the conditions under which oceans — thought to be promising places to look for signs of life — can exist may be more varied than previously thought.

The team analyzed thousands of images of Mimas and other moons of Saturn collected over 13 years by the Cassini mission and concluded the rotation and orbit of Mimas could only be explained by an ocean hidden beneath the moon's icy shell.

• That ocean is about 45 miles deep and believed to make up more than 50% of the moon's volume.

The bottom line: The finding "makes you think that maybe you have habitability conditions in many, many, many other objects in the solar system," study co-author Valéry Lainey says.

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There's a growing crowd of pizza influencers, who have huge followings and can make or break your local slice joint, Axios' Jennifer A. Kingson writes.

• Why it matters: This is the biggest week for U.S. pizza sales, because of the Super Bowl-Valentine's Day combo.

📱 What's happening: The world of online pizza creators and influencers is flourishing, due partly to photogenic possibilities (drippy cheese pulls!).

• There are now published lists of the top pizza influencers, who include Monica Wojnilo of Boston (a.k.a. @PizzaBlonde, with 33,000 followers on Instagram) and celebrity pizza chef Tony Gemignani (@capopizza, 107,000).

Pizza influencing — promoting pizzas and pizza-making on social platforms and blogs — has become an actual career path.

• Slice, an online ordering platform, recently advertised a job opening for a "pizza influencer" at a salary of up to $110,000 a year — plus a weekly pizza stipend.

Read on.