memeorandum: Trump Says Americans Are Doing Great, Even as Views on the Economy Sour (David E. Sanger/New York Times)

11:10 AM ET, December 10, 2025

Top Items:

Molly English / CNN:

Eileen Higgins will win Miami mayor's race, CNN projects, breaking a nearly 30-year GOP hold — Donald Trump State & local races — Eileen Higgins will be the next mayor of the city of Miami, according to a projection from CNN's Decision Desk, breaking a nearly 30-year Republican streak …

David Nir / The Downballot:

Georgia Democrats flip conservative seat in yet another upset — Georgia Democrats scored a major upset in a special election on Tuesday night, flipping a conservative legislative district in the Athens area—the 25th such gain for the party nationwide this year, against zero for the GOP.

Discussion: Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Oconee County Observations

Kimberly Leonard / Politico:

Miami elects first woman mayor, ends GOP's 28-year control of City Hall … Though the race and the job of mayor are nominally nonpartisan, the election generated sizable interest from national Democrats and Republicans. Higgins' win adds to the slew of victories and close calls Democrats …

Discussion: Miami Herald, WTTG-TV, The Daily Caller, NBC News, Forbes, Washington Examiner and CBS News

Matthew Yglesias / Slow Boring: A Senate majority could be within Democrats' reach

Caroline Vakil / The Hill:
Democrats flip Miami mayor's office, winning control for first time in nearly 30 years

Ethan Cohen / CNN:
Georgia Democrat Eric Gisler flips a state House seat in district Trump won by double digits, CNN projects

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Times, NOTUS, Associated Press, Newsweek, Raw Story, Democrats and Alternet.org

Washington Post: Do Democrats have a brewing primary problem?

Nick Corasaniti / New York Times:
Democrats Make a Fresh Push to Win State Legislatures

Discussion: Mother Jones, Newsweek, Townhall and Alternet.org

Anne Kim / Washington Monthly:
Tough Medicine for Democrats: “Too Liberal” and “Out of Touch”

Discussion: The Hill, MS NOW, The Argument and Grabien

Matt Viser / Washington Post:

At the first stop on his affordability tour, Trump mocks affordability — What was supposed to be a speaking tour to connect with Americans struggling with higher prices and stagnant wages was instead a greatest-hits campaign speech. … MOUNT POCONO, Pa. — He had charts that he read from, touting economic data.

Discussion: NBC News, Reason, CNN, IJR, Roll Call, NOTUS, Washington Times, The Post Millennial, CBS News, New York Post, Independent Women and The Hill

David E. Sanger / New York Times:

Trump Says Americans Are Doing Great, Even as Views on the Economy Sour — President Trump's speech in Pennsylvania was meant to alleviate concerns about affordability. But he kept wandering off script and dwelling on his favorite targets, like immigration.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, CBS News, Raw Story, MS NOW, Alternet.org and Politico

Paul Krugman:
Trump Says That You Are the Problem — Last night Donald Trump gave an important speech …

Discussion: Politico, El País, So What, Axios, New Republic, LGBTQ Nation, Breitbart, Democrats, Mediaite, New Jersey Online, New York Magazine, Raw Story and The Hill

Chris Cameron / New York Times:
Trump's Speech on Economy Veers Into an Anti-Immigrant Tirade

Discussion: Associated Press, TMZ.com, RedState and HuffPost

Humeyra Pamuk / Reuters:

Rubio Stages Font Coup: Times New Roman Ousts Calibri — The secretary of state called it a “wasteful” diversity move, according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters. — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font …

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and Raw Story

New York Times:

At State Dept., a Typeface Falls Victim in the War Against Woke — Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the Biden-era move to the sans serif typeface “wasteful,” casting the return to Times New Roman as part of a push to stamp out diversity efforts. — Secretary of State Marco Rubio waded …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, New York Post, Mock Paper Scissors, twitchy.com, Gothamist, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion and Althouse

New York Times:

Inside the Pentagon's Scramble to Deal With Boat Strike Survivors … The Pentagon was in a bind. The military had plucked two survivors from the Caribbean Sea in mid-October after striking a boat that U.S. officials said was carrying drugs, and it needed to figure out what to do with them.

Discussion: Mediaite

The Bulwark:
Voters Got Us Into This Mess. They're Getting Us Out.

Discussion: Alternet.org

Washington Post:

DHS inks contract to create its own fleet of Boeing 737s for deportations — The agency will spend nearly $140 million to buy the planes, funding that comes from a massive budget increase for immigration enforcement approved by Congress. … The Department of Homeland Security recently signed …

Peter Andringa / Financial Times:

Trump's immigration data dragnet — The US is pulling in vast amounts of personal information in its drive to deport 1mn people this year — Share Trump's immigration data dragnet on X, formerly known as Twitter (opens a new window) — Share Trump's immigration data dragnet on Facebook (opens a new window)

Discussion: Techdirt, more at Techmeme »

Christine Chung / New York Times:

U.S. Plans to Scrutinize Foreign Tourists' Social Media History — Even visitors from countries like Britain and France, whose citizens don't need visas, would have to share five years' worth of social media. — Travelers visiting the United States from countries like Britain, France …

Discussion: Axios, Quartz, New York Post, KDFX-TV, Washington Post, Bloomberg, The Independent, Real Patriotism … and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »

Jack Queen / Reuters:

US judge blocks Trump's National Guard deployment in Los Angeles — A federal judge on Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump's deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles and ordered them returned to the control of the state's governor. — U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer rejected …

Discussion: Democracy Docket, New York Times, Scripps News, Bloomberg, Fox News and Raw Story

Laurel Rosenhall / New York Times:
Judge Says Trump Must End Guard Deployment in Los Angeles

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Times, CBS News, The Guardian, All Rise News and Los Angeles Times

Annie Karni / New York Times:

House Democrat Seeks to Impeach Kennedy for Undercutting Public Health — The move by Representative Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat who is running for Senate, does not have the support of her party's leaders and is all but certain to fail. — Representative Haley Stevens of Michigan …

Discussion: Axios, The Guardian, IJR and Newsweek

Devlin Barrett / New York Times:

Judge Suggests Prosecutor on Comey and James Cases Should Resign as U.S. Attorney — Lindsey Halligan's indictments against James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, and Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, were dismissed last month over Ms. Halligan's appointment.

Discussion: Raw Story, Alternet.org and Associated Press

Liz Dye / Public Notice:
Habba booted by Senate and judges who did their damn jobs

Discussion: The Daily Wire, Ace of Spades HQ and Wonkette

Financial Times:

The Maga push overturning US policy in the Balkans — South-eastern Europe jolted by Trump's support for pro-Russia Serb leader — For more than a year European officials have warned that the Balkan state of Bosnia and Herzegovina is on the brink of a crisis threatening the stability of south-eastern Europe.

Reuters:

Exclusive: Tax prosecutions plunge as Trump shifts crime-fighting efforts — Federal tax prosecutions fell to their lowest level in decades this year, declining more than 27% from the year before as the Trump administration cut the ranks of attorneys and agents who pursue those cases, a Reuters examination has found.

Associated Press:

Judge grants Justice Department request to unseal records from Epstein's 2019 sex trafficking case — Secret grand jury transcripts from Jeffrey Epstein's 2019 sex trafficking case can be made public, a judge ruled Wednesday, joining two other judges in granting the Justice Department's requests …

Jon Collins / MPR News:

Federal agents arrest citizen observer watching ICE — A 55-year-old woman who is an American citizen was arrested early Tuesday after confronting ICE officers over the arrests of three of her neighbors in the Willard Hay neighborhood of north Minneapolis. She appears to be the first observer arrested …

Discussion: KARE-TV

Matthew Futterman / The Athletic:

Martina Navratilova discusses her criticism of Donald Trump: 'I just can't be compliant' — Martina Navratilova has never been shy about putting herself in line for criticism. — She defected from Czechoslovakia to the United States in 1975, saying that she did not get the chance to fulfill …

Discussion: The Independent

Humeyra Pamuk / Reuters:

Exclusive: US threatens new ICC sanctions unless court pledges not to prosecute Trump — President Donald Trump's administration wants the International Criminal Court to amend its founding document to ensure it does not investigate the Republican president and his top officials …

Politico:

Trump aides and allies float potential Noem successors as speculation grows over her tenure … This story is based on conversations with 17 people, including administration officials, people close to the White House, and lawmakers. Many were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel issues.

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

Politico:

GOP moves to let Obamacare subsidies expire as Trump promises ‘money to the people’ … Yet after months of pressure from competing factions, lawmakers inside the meeting didn't reach a conclusion and Johnson is still trying to figure out what that plan should be.

Rebecca Falconer / Axios:

Musk says DOGE was only “somewhat successful,” wouldn't do it again — Elon Musk told Katie Miller in an interview for her podcast on Tuesday that DOGE, the Trump administration cost-cutting department he spearheaded, was “somewhat successful.” … - “We were a little bit successful,” …

Discussion: CBS News, The Hill, Straight Arrow News, Washington Examiner, Quartz, New York Sun, Forbes, The Wrap, Raw Story, New York Post, Mediaite and Fox News

John Knefel / Media Matters for America:

Right-wing media are poised to escalate attacks on women as MAGA cracks emerge — As MAGA begins to fracture, elements of the coalition may seek to rally behind anti-feminism — The right-wing media and policy ecosystem appears poised to escalate its attacks on the basic rights of women …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, New York Times and Mercury News

Reese Gorman / NOTUS:

National Republicans Propped Up Jasmine Crockett to Push Her Into a Senate Run — Republicans' Senate campaign arm has actively worked behind the scenes to encourage Rep. Jasmine Crockett to jump into the Senate Democratic primary in Texas, believing she will be the easiest opponent to beat.

Discussion: HotAir, Sabato's Crystal Ball, Fox News, The Independent, NewsMax.com, Raw Story, The Hill and The Gateway Pundit

David Daley / The Atlantic:

John Roberts's Dream Is Finally Coming True … in 1982, when the Voting Rights Act was up for reauthorization, the Reagan Justice Department had a goal: preserve the VRA in name only, while rendering it unenforceable in practice. A young John Roberts was the architect of that campaign.

Nicholas Wu / Politico:

Spanberger endorses Elaine Luria in her House comeback bid — Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger is endorsing her former House colleague Elaine Luria's comeback bid in the latest effort by Democrats to clear the primary in a highly targeted purple district.

WKYT-TV:

One dead, multiple injured after shooting on Kentucky State University's campus; suspect in custody — FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT) - One person is dead and multiple people have injuries after a shooting on Kentucky State University's campus Tuesday. — The Frankfort Police Department said it responded …

Shaun Walker / The Guardian:

Zelenskyy ‘ready for elections’ after Trump questions Ukrainian democracy — Zelenskyy says he would hold wartime elections within months given help from allies and Ukraine's parliament — Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is ready to hold a wartime election within the next three months …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, Chicago Tribune, NBC News, Associated Press, UPI, New York Times, KDFX-TV, NewsMax.com, Semafor, Washington Examiner, Fox News, The Counteroffensive … and New York Post

Connor O'Brien / Politico:

'It's done' — House Armed Services chair sees no need to further probe boat strike — The Republican chair of the House Armed Services Committee said he doesn't see the need to further investigate a controversial military strike that killed survivors of an attack on an alleged drug running vessel in September.