memeorandum: The emerging MAGA fractures (Adam Wren/Politico)

1:45 PM ET, November 28, 2025

Top Items:

Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all — As two men clung to a stricken, burning ship targeted by SEAL Team 6, the Joint Special Operations commander followed the defense secretary's order to leave no survivors. — Just now

Discussion: CNN, The Independent and DNYUZ

Barak Ravid / Axios:

Zelensky's chief of staff resigns amid corruption probe … - Yermak was the most powerful political figure in Ukraine after Zelensky, with influence over domestic politics, military issues and foreign policy. — “This is the perfect storm. … - Two Ukrainian officials …

Discussion: Politico, Associated Press, Reuters, Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, France 24, The Daily Caller, New York Times, NewsMax.com, Agence France-Presse, Euractiv, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, Al Jazeera, Semafor and RTÉ

Jakub Krupa / The Guardian:
Zelenskyy chief of staff resigns after property raid by Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies - Europe live

Discussion: DNYUZ, New York Times, CBS News and France 24

Joe Barnes / Telegraph:
Trump hands Putin Ukraine's occupied territories

Discussion: NewsMax.com and UPI

Phillips P. OBrien / Phillips's Newsletter:
The Change From Biden To Trump Has Been Devastating For Ukraine

Discussion: NewsMax.com and The Kyiv Independent

Associated Press:
Zelenskyy's chief of staff resigns after anti-corruption investigators search home

Discussion: New York Sun, Washington Times, France 24, NewsMax.com, Agence France-Presse and CBS News

Andrew E. Kramer / New York Times:
Home of Ukraine's Lead Negotiator Is Searched in Corruption Case

Discussion: Reuters, Breitbart, RTÉ, France 24, The Kyiv Independent, DNYUZ, Associated Press, Wide World of News, Bloomberg, Politico and Foreign Office

Josh Boak / Associated Press:

Trump vows to ‘permanently pause’ migration from poor nations in anti-immigrant social media screed — President Donald Trump vowed on Thanksgiving night to “permanently pause migration” from poorer nations in a blistering anti-immigrant screed posted to social media.

Discussion: Salon, No More Mister Nice Blog, CBS News, Political Wire, New York Post and Semafor

Adam Wren / Politico:

The emerging MAGA fractures — With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine, Ali Bianco and Rachel Umansky-Castro — Happy Friday. This is Adam Wren, hoping you and yours had a gratitude-filled Thanksgiving. Drop me a line. — D.C. SHOOTING LATEST: President Donald Trump announced that Sarah Beckstrom …

Adam Wren / Politico:
How Trump's base could break

Discussion: DNYUZ

Wall Street Journal:

The Ambush on the National Guard — The alleged shooting by an Afghan ‘partner’ shouldn't condemn all who assisted the U.S. and now live here. — The ambush of two West Virginia National Guard members near the White House Wednesday afternoon is horrifying on its own.

New York Times:
For Shooting Suspect, a Long Path of Conflict From Afghanistan to America

Discussion: The Wrap, Associated Press, Columbian, USCIS, NOTUS, The Independent, The Gateway Pundit, Wall Street Journal, Mediaite, New York Post, Fox News, FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth, NPR, KGW-TV, CBS News, Forbes, Raw Story and FOX 32 Chicago

Juliette Kayyem / The Atlantic:
A Terrible and Avoidable Tragedy in D.C.

Discussion: DNYUZ, Washington Examiner, NPR, Rolling Stone, Semafor, CBS News, Reuters, CNN and New York Times

Bill Mahoney / Politico:

The real political shift in New York wasn't Mamdani — it was everywhere else … “It was about peoples' anxiety,” said Leslie Berliant, who ousted a Republican incumbent to win a seat in the Otsego County Legislature. “It definitely was a feeling that we don't feel protected by what's happening …

Discussion: The Hill, DNYUZ and NewsMax.com

Niall Stanage / The Hill:
The Memo: 6 Democrats whose stars have risen, or fallen, in 2025

Discussion: The Guardian

Heather Digby Parton / Salon:
The Trump train — and its conductor — are losing steam

Discussion: The Hill and Alternet.org

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

More than 220 judges have now rejected the Trump admin's mass detention policy … Courts, increasingly aware of the one-sided rejection of the administration's policy, have grown exasperated by the deluge of litigation that has flooded their dockets. Some have made a partial accounting …

Discussion: Alternet.org, DNYUZ and Raw Story

Reuters:

Trump says he may cut income tax ‘completely’ because of tariff income — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday his administration may slash income tax completely over the next couple of years because of government revenue generated from tariffs. — “Over the next couple of years …

Discussion: Newsweek and The Post Millennial

Ben Berkowitz / Axios:
Income taxes could be eliminated soon due to tariffs, Trump says

Discussion: Breitbart and The Japan Times

Megan Brenan / Gallup:

Trump's Approval Rating Drops to 36%, New Second-Term Low — WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump's job approval rating has fallen five percentage points to 36%, the lowest of his second term, while disapproval has risen to 60%. The latest decline follows three months of stability …

Ramsey Al-Rikabi / Bloomberg:

Trump Demands ‘Reverse Migration’ in Push for Sweeping Crackdown — President Donald Trump called for “reverse migration” in the US as he outlined a series of potential measures to crack down on immigration, including halting admissions from unspecified developing nations and revoking citizenship from some naturalized migrants.

BBC:
Trump says US will pause migration from ‘third-world countries’

Discussion: Bloomberg, MS NOW, Blaze Media, New York Times, NewsMax.com, The Independent, New York Sun, HuffPost, NBC News, NewsNation, The Guardian and France 24

Shawn McCreesh / New York Times:
Trump Uses National Guard Shooting to Cast Suspicion on Refugees

Lori Rozsa / Washington Post:

New Mar-a-Lago no-fly zone means endless plane noise for neighbors — Flight rules altered in October by the Secret Service send planes over the Palm Beach homes of millionaires and billionaires, even when President Trump isn't at his estate. — PALM BEACH, Fla. — The best days …

Discussion: Straight Arrow News, DNYUZ and Raw Story

Paul Krugman:

Getting Ready to Party Like It's 2008 — Trump's cronies are undermining financial stability — On Sept. 15, 2008 Lehman Brothers failed. Within weeks the whole U.S. financial system was caught in the downward spiral of a massive bank run, on a scale not seen since the 1930s.

Discussion: Financial Times and Raw Story

Gillian Tett / Financial Times:

Brazil offers lesson in winning the ‘Taco’ trade — Global politicians need to understand that White House policy is driven by melodrama and instinct — How do you say “Taco” — as in “Trump Always Chickens Out” — in Portuguese? It is a question some Brazilians might ask now, with a smile.

Eleanor Hawkins / Axios:

Social media users flee X, flock to TikTok and Reddit — Americans' social media habits are splintering in ways that echo the fractured traditional news landscape, according to a new Pew Research report. … - Reddit and Twitter, now known as X, were also founded in 2005 and 2006, respectively, but have smaller user bases.

Discussion: The Hill, The Verge and DNYUZ

Erika Edwards / NBC News:

Surging measles cases are ‘fire alarm’ warning that other diseases could be next — As measles cases continue to rise around the globe, the World Health Organization warns it's a signal that other disease outbreaks could soon follow. — The surging number of measles cases around the world …

Discussion: STAT, Alternet.org and Techdirt

Ben Kamisar / NBC News:

Poll: In a dramatic shift, Americans no longer see four-year college degrees as worth the cost — The latest NBC News poll shows two-thirds of registered voters down on the value proposition of a degree. A majority said degrees were worth the cost a dozen years ago.

Discussion: IJR

Paul Waldman / Public Notice:

Why MAGA is coming apart at the seams — 🚨 PN Black Friday special offer 🚨 Click the button below to sign up for an annual paid subscription for the special Black Friday price of $40 ⬇️ — 🦃 🛍️ PN Black Friday Special 🛍️ 🦃