Exclusive: Iconic White House tree to be cut down  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  —  Washington (CNN)The south facade of the White House will undergo a dramatic change this week: the historic Jackson Magnolia, a tree that has been in place since the 1800s, is scheduled to be cut down and removed.

TRUMP SNUB FEAR Government pleads with Prince Harry not to invite Barack Obama to his wedding  —  Prince, 33, became friends with former US President after bonding with them at the Invictus Games  —  GOVERNMENT mandarins are urging Prince Harry not to invite the Obamas to his wedding for fear of infuriating Donald Trump.

Where is Trump's Cabinet?  It's anybody's guess.  —  The Cabinet members carrying out President Donald Trump's orders to shake up the federal government are doing so under an unusual layer of secrecy — often shielding their schedules from public view, keeping their travels under wraps …

What's a Wendy's doing there?  The story of Washington's weirdest traffic circle.  —  First things first.  There's a Wendy's in the middle of the intersection.  Hard to get around that.  —  It's been there since the mid-'80s, on a wedge of land bordered by First Street NE and Florida …

Investigating the Investigators at DOJ and FBI  —  Why do heads seem to be rolling—or at least tilting—at the Department of Justice and FBI?  —  Eight high ranking Department of Justice and FBI officials have been removed, reassigned or are rumored to be leaving.

New York's Attorney General in Battle With Trump  —  Eric Schneiderman, New York's attorney general, reached a milestone of sorts recently.  —  By moving to sue the Federal Communications Commission over net neutrality this month, his office took its 100th legal or administrative action …

GOP lawmaker calls for ‘purge’ of FBI … (R-Fla.) on Tuesday called for a “purge” of the FBI, warning of “deep state” figures at work in the agency.  —  Rooney said during an interview on MSNBC that the American people have “very high standards” for the country's government agencies, and suggested they aren't being met.

13 Days in July: The Trump White House's crucible  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — They were the 13 days that transformed the White House.  —  Even for an administration that spent most of 2017 throwing off headlines at a dizzying pace, events in the second half of July unfolded at breakneck speed.

What happens when Trump targets you on Twitter  —  Five Americans named by the president on social media talk about the unexpected fallout in their real lives. … It was a fitting way to end the first year of his presidency, which has been punctuated by his targeting of individuals …

China halts oil product exports to North Korea in November as sanctions bite  —  Ryan Woo, Muyu Xu  —  BEIJING (Reuters) - China exported no oil products to North Korea in November, Chinese customs data showed, apparently going above and beyond sanctions imposed earlier this year …

What's Bill de Blasio's Problem?  —  DES MOINES—The website for the Progressive Agenda Committee that Bill de Blasio launched in 2014 is now just an error message.  —  The mayors of Detroit, Chicago, New Orleans and Boston all declined or didn't return several requests seeking comment on him.

Trump: GOP and Dems ‘will eventually come together’ on new health care plan  —  President Donald Trump said Tuesday morning that Republicans and Democrats “will eventually come together” to create a new health care plan as a result of the recently passed tax reform bill.

Russia never stopped its cyberattacks on the United States  —  Michael Morell is a former deputy director and twice acting director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2010 to 2013.  Mike Rogers, a Republican from Michigan, served in the House from 2001 to 2015 and was chairman of the Intelligence Committee from 2010 to 2015.

America Is Not Yet Lost  —  Many of us came into 2017 expecting the worst.  And in many ways, the worst is what we got.  —  Donald Trump has been every bit as horrible as one might have expected; he continues, day after day, to prove himself utterly unfit for office, morally and intellectually.

Hatch tweets praise for editorial criticizing him for ‘utter lack of integrity’  —  (R-Utah) on Monday tweeted praise for a newspaper editorial that harshly criticized him and called for him to retire.  —  “Grateful for this great Christmas honor from the Salt Lake Tribune,” Hatch tweeted …

Cities sue Defense Dept. over gun-check system failures  —  Three large U.S. cities filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the Department of Defense, arguing that many service members who are disqualified from gun ownership weren't reported to the national background check system.

Trump's first year was even worse than feared  —  Grit your teeth.  Persevere.  Just a few more days and this awful, rotten, no-good, ridiculous, rancorous, sordid, disgraceful year in the civic life of our nation will be over.  Here's hoping that we all — particularly special counsel Robert S. Mueller III — have a better 2018.