memeorandum: Transcript: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Dec. 7, 2025 (CBS News)

3:40 PM ET, December 7, 2025

Top Items:

Jacob Wendler / Politico:

Trump sours on Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar after issuing pardon … He lambasted Cuellar for “a lack of LOYALTY, something that Texas Voters, and Henry's daughters, will not like.” At the same time, he criticized Democrats for “mercilessly” attempting to “destroy” Cuellar and his family in the post …

Discussion: The Guardian, NOTUS and Wall Street Journal

Bill Barrow / Associated Press:
Trump slams pardoned Democratic congressman as ‘disloyal’ for not switching parties

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Washington Post, New York Sun and The Independent

Avery Lotz / Axios:
Trump blasts pardoned Democrat as lacking “LOYALTY”

Discussion: Mediaite

Sophia Vento / The Hill:
Trump on Cuellar running as Democrat after pardon: ‘Such a lack of loyalty’

Discussion: Bloomberg, Mediaite, NewsNation, CBS News, Washington Examiner, MS NOW, IJR, NewsMax.com and New Republic

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Trump's plans to shatter the bureaucracy have a green light at the Supreme Court … President Donald Trump's drive to replace agency leaders and his mass firings across the federal government are all based on the same basic legal concept: the unitary executive theory.

Discussion: Bloomberg

Ann E. Marimow / New York Times:
Presidential Power Gets Tested Before Supreme Court After Long Conservative Project to Shrink Agencies

Discussion: Raw Story and Scripps News

Abbie VanSickle / New York Times: For Landmark Test of Executive Power, Echoes of a 1930s Supreme Court Battle

Melissa Quinn / CBS News:
Supreme Court to hear major test of presidential power over Trump's firing of FTC commissioner

Discussion: Bloomberg and New York Times

Washington Post:

Mom of Karoline Leavitt's nephew rejects White House narrative of her ICE arrest — In an interview, Bruna Ferreira, who chose the White House press secretary as her son's godmother, contested the portrayal of her as a criminal, absentee mom. — Just now

Discussion: Newsweek, Mother Jones, Raw Story, The Independent, The Gateway Pundit and Joe.My.God.

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:

Trump's latest anti-immigration push echoes the nativism of the 1920s — The president and his aides have escalated anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies in recent weeks. — Just now … Somalis are “garbage,” and “we don't want them in our country.” Migration from “all Third World countries” should be halted.

Discussion: Austin Kocher

Robert Tait / The Guardian:
Trump vows to slam America's doors shut as he heaps scorn on immigrants

Discussion: KDFX-TV

Cheyanne M. Daniels / Politico:
Homan defends Trump after president calls Somali community ‘garbage’

Discussion: Reuters, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, Joe.My.God. and Washington Times

NBC News:

Admiral told lawmakers everyone on alleged drug boat was on a list of military targets — Adm. Frank Bradley said U.S. intelligence had identified the 11 people on the boat and determined the military was authorized to kill them as part of Trump's campaign against alleged drug-smuggling vessels.

Discussion: The Independent, NewsMax.com, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, New York Times and Raw Story

Cheyanne M. Daniels / Politico:
Democratic lawmakers press for transparency over ‘double tap’ strike

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Examiner, The Independent, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Times

Megan Lebowitz / NBC News:
Sen. Tom Cotton says survivors of first September boat strike ‘were not incapacitated’

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Fox News and Washington Post

Rachel Muller-Heyndyk / BBC:

New US security strategy aligns with Russia's vision, Moscow says — Russia has welcomed US President Donald Trump's new National Security Strategy, calling it “largely consistent” with Moscow's vision. — The 33-page document, unveiled by the US administration this week, suggests Europe is facing …

Discussion: Reuters, France 24 and HuffPost

Shaun Walker / The Guardian:
Kremlin hails Trump's national security strategy as aligned with Russia's vision

Discussion: Associated Press, Axios and Washington Examiner

Anne Applebaum / The Atlantic:

Trumpian Corruption Is Worse Than Ukrainian Corruption — The people of Ukraine want an honest government, even as American and Russian kleptocrats circle their country. — A few days ago I called Oleksandr Abakumov, a senior detective at the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine.

Nahal Toosi / Politico:
Trump's son suggests president may walk away from Ukraine

Discussion: One America News Network, The Guardian and Joe.My.God.

Patrick Wintour / The Guardian:
US may end support for Ukraine war effort, says Donald Trump Jr

Discussion: Sky News, NewsMax.com and Newsweek

Aaron Krolik / New York Times:

How a Cryptocurrency Helps Criminals Launder Money and Evade Sanctions … Smugglers, money launderers and people facing sanctions once relied on diamonds, gold and artwork to store illicit fortunes. The luxury goods could help hide wealth but were cumbersome to move and hard to spend.

CBS News:

Transcript: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Dec. 7, 2025 — The following is the transcript of the interview with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Dec. 7, 2025.

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, NewsMax.com and New Republic

CBS News:
Transcript: Rep. Jim Himes on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Dec. 7, 2025

Discussion: NOTUS and The Hill

Max Griera / Politico:

Europe's populist right hails Trump team's EU bashing — Europe's far-right firebrands are rushing to hitch their fortunes to Washington's new crusade against Brussels. — Senior U.S. government officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Fox Business, Joe.My.God., Reuters, New York Sun, IJR, Breitbart and The Daily Caller, more at Techmeme »

Max Griera / Politico: Keep hitting US Big Tech with fines, Europe's Greens tell von der Leyen

Alan Feuer / New York Times:

Judge Stalls Justice Dept. Effort to Seek New Comey Indictment — The judge's decision prevented the government until at least next Friday from having access to much of the evidence it used to secure its original indictment against Mr. Comey. — A federal judge on Saturday night threw …

Politico:
Judge blocks prosecutors' access to James Comey's lawyer's emails and data

Discussion: Reuters, Associated Press, Axios, UPI, New York Sun, Joe.My.God., emptywheel, The Guardian, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit and Raw Story

Sahara Sajjadi / Copper Courier:

Three-year-old child forced to serve as her own attorney in Tucson immigration court — More than a dozen undocumented minors were forced to serve as their own attorneys in front of an immigration judge as the Trump administration ramps up removal proceedings.

Jeh C. Johnson / New York Times:

Not All Targeted Killings Are the Same. Hegseth's Boat Strikes Are Illegal. — With its strikes on suspected drug couriers in the Caribbean, our government is conducting extrajudicial killings on the high seas — plain and simple. Some Americans may wonder how this is any different …

Timothy Snyder / Thinking about:

Land War or Self-Terrorism? — Trump's Likely Next Step — In certain ways, the autumn of 2025 in the United States has recalled the autumn of 1938 in Nazi Germany. — The mass deportation of undocumented people was one of Hitler's largest coercive policies before the war.

Robert Klemko / Washington Post:

The U.S. citizens getting caught in Trump's immigration crackdown — Latinos describe being detained and assaulted by officers who want to know: “Where were you born?” — Just now … WAUKEGAN, Ill. — If you rolled past Bedrosian Park after the final bell rang at Waukegan High School …

Discussion: ProPublica

Christopher Flavelle / New York Times:

How Biden Ignored Warnings and Lost Americans' Faith in Immigration … In the weeks after Joseph R. Biden Jr. was elected president, advisers delivered a warning: His approach to immigration could prove disastrous. — Mr. Biden had pledged to treat unauthorized immigrants more humanely …

Discussion: NewsMax.com and San Diego Union-Tribune

NBC News:

Video shows masked Border Patrol agent chasing woman back to her Louisiana home — Jacelynn Guzman said she is a U.S.-born citizen. The Department of Homeland Security said Friday that it “determined the individual in question was not the target.” — Masked immigration authorities …

Discussion: New Republic

Jacob Wendler / Politico:

Jim Clyburn: ‘Michelle Obama is absolutely correct’ that America is not ready for a woman president … Clyburn — an ardent supporter of Harris' presidential campaign — said, “I understand exactly what Kamala Harris has said,” adding that he spoke with the former vice president last week.

Discussion: Breitbart