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11:30 AM ET, December 16, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Trump's Top Aide Acknowledges ‘Score Settling’ Behind Prosecutions … President Trump's chief of staff said she tried to get him to end his “score settling” against political enemies after 90 days in office, but acknowledged that the administration's still ongoing push for prosecutions …
RELATED:
Vanity Fair:
Susie Wiles, JD Vance, and the “Junkyard Dogs”: The White House Chief of Staff On Trump's Second Term (Part 1 of 2)  —  Throughout the first year of Donald Trump's second administration, Vanity Fair writer Chris Whipple has interviewed Wiles amid each moment of crisis.
Vanity Fair:
Susie Wiles Talks Epstein Files, Pete Hegseth's War Tactics, Retribution, and More (Part 2 of 2)  —  Trump's chief reveals her thoughts on the first year, and on the team she's built with JD Vance, Karoline Leavitt, Marco Rubio, and 3 more key players.  Vanity Fair writer Chris Whipple reports.
Paige Lavender / HuffPost:
Susie Wiles Calls Explosive Vanity Fair Story A ‘Disingenuously Framed Hit Piece’  —  White House chief of staff Susie Wiles posted on X for the first time in more than a year to slam Vanity Fair for what she called a “disingenuously framed hit piece” that was based on a series of regular interviews …
Discussion: The Hill, Raw Story and Mediaite
The Bulwark:
The Psych-Ward Presidency  —  The president has no moral core.  And, according to his own chief of staff, he's surrounded by amateurs, opportunists, and drug users.  —  Another tranche of sour economic data came down from the Bureau of Labor Statistics today.
Gregory Svirnovskiy / Politico:
Wiles says Trump was ‘wrong’ for tying Clinton to Epstein's criminal activity, according to Vanity Fair
Discussion: The Wrap
Politico:
White House weighs risks of a health care fight as ACA subsidies set to expire … As congressional Republicans duke out their intraparty divisions on how to address the expiration of some Affordable Care Act subsidies, administration officials don't believe Trump should engage — more than he already has.
Discussion: Raw Story
RELATED:
Politico:
House GOP moderates signal they'll fall in line with Johnson's health plan … “I haven't seen anything objectionable yet,” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) said Monday.  “For me to vote against it, I'd have to find something objectionable.  I wouldn't vote against it in protest.”
Politico:   ‘Absolute bulls—t’: Endangered House Republican blasts leaders over impending Obamacare lapse
Politico:
Capitol agenda: Parallel pushes for an 11th-hour health deal
RELATED:
Paul Wiseman / Associated Press:
Employers likely added 40,000 jobs in November as government releases report delayed by shutdown  —  The United States gained a decent 64,000 jobs in November but lost 105,000 in October as federal workers departed after cutbacks by the Trump administration, the government said in delayed reports.
Politico:
Jobless rate rises, adding to Trump's economic messaging woes
Rebecca Davis O'Brien / New York Times:   Live Updates: Jobs Report Expected to Provide Overdue Clarity on Economy
Asawin Suebsaeng / Zeteo:
BREAKING: Trump Dances on Rob Reiner's Grave  —  On Sunday, news broke that acclaimed Hollywood filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles estate.  By Monday morning, the president of the United States - widely known …
RELATED:
Cheyanne M. Daniels / Politico:
Republicans rebuff Trump's post on Rob Reiner … The director of “The Princess Bride” and his wife were found dead in their Los Angeles home Sunday.  Police are currently investigating the deaths as an “apparent homicide.”  Authorities announced on Monday that Reiner's son, Nick Reiner, is in custody as a suspect.
Will Neal / The Daily Beast:
Former Trump Adviser Eviscerates President's Shocking Response to Rob Reiner Murder
Arden Farhi / CBS News:
Raskin to introduce bill to require review of White House renovation plans  —  Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland plans to introduce legislation Tuesday that would subject White House renovations like President Trump's ballroom project to the same reviews as other federal projects.
RELATED:
Lydia Wheeler / Wall Street Journal:
Trump's Renovation Spree Is Spreading to More Washington Landmarks
Discussion: Raw Story and Roll Call
Joe St. George / Scripps News:
Congress questions Hegseth on drug boat deaths as Venezuela military operations expand  —  Trump administration claims 94% reduction in seaborne drug trafficking while considering expansion to land-based strikes.  —  U.S. military kills 8 in Eastern Pacific drug vessel strikes.
Discussion: The Guardian
RELATED:
Associated Press:   US military says strikes on 3 boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean kill 8 people
Piper Hudspeth Blackburn / CNN:
US military strikes 3 more boats in the Pacific Ocean, killing 8
Alex Isenstadt / Axios:
Scoop: Musk diving into 2026 midterms for the GOP  —  Elon Musk has begun funding the GOP's House and Senate campaigns for the 2026 midterms — an indication his relationship with President Trump has thawed since their messy breakup earlier this year.
Discussion: HotAir, Raw Story and Election Law Blog
Deutsche Welle:
Ukraine-US talks ‘real chance for peace process’ — Germany  —  Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Berlin for talks with Germany's Friedrich Merz and other European allies.  European leaders proposed a multinational force to enforce a Ukraine peace deal.  Follow DW for more.  —  What you need to know
RELATED:
Financial Times:
Donald Trump says Ukraine peace deal ‘closer than ever’ after talks in Berlin  —  Germany says US to provide security guarantees as Kyiv and Washington admit differences on territorial issues  —  Max Seddon and Anne-Sylvaine Chassany in Berlin, Christopher Miller in Kyiv and Amy Mackinnon and Steff Chávez in Washington
Liv McMahon / BBC:
Negotiations over US-UK tech deal stall  —  Negotiations over a technology deal between the UK and US have stalled due to stumbling blocks in wider trade negotiations between the two sides.  —  The Technology Prosperity Deal - which was billed as “historic” when it was unveiled during US …
RELATED:
Financial Times:
US suspends technology deal with the UK
Discussion: Reuters
BBC:
Trump sues BBC for defamation over Panorama speech edit  —  US President Donald Trump has sued the BBC for defamation over an edit of his 6 January 2021 speech in a Panorama documentary.  —  Trump accused the broadcaster of defamation and of violating a trade practices law, according to court documents filed in Florida.
Leigh Kimmins / The Daily Beast:
Trump, 79, Told to Hand Over His Medical Records  —  BIG REVEAL  —  The president's revenge tour against the “fake news media” is coming back to bite him.  —  President Donald Trump is facing a bombshell demand to turn over his medical records as one of his lawsuits against his enemies backfires.
Discussion: Crooks and Liars
RELATED:
Matt Naham / Law & Crime:
Pulitzer Prize Board members dump broad discovery demands on Trump for tax returns, psych records, and ‘any’ prescription meds history
Discussion: New Republic and Raw Story
Paul Waldman / Public Notice:
The tech industry will come to regret its embrace of Trump  —  PN is supported by paid subscribers.  Become one ⬇️  —  🤖 Subscribe to PN 🤖  —  Over the course of Joe Biden's presidency, a great awakening took place among the nation's tech industry leaders.
New York Times:
Eager for Center Stage, Patel Casts Aside Caution in Statements as F.B.I. Leader  —  Kash Patel's impulse to publicize the work of the bureau under his leadership has revived questions about his competence and his future in the administration.  —  A heinous act of violence.  A faceless killer on the loose.
Washington Post:
Pentagon plan calls for major power shifts within U.S. military  —  If adopted, the changes would complement other efforts by the Trump administration to shift resources away from the Middle East and Europe. … Senior Pentagon officials are preparing a plan to downgrade several …
Politico:
Judge refuses to grant Sarah Palin a new trial in her libel suit against New York Times … Regarding the request to recuse himself, the judge said the trial transcript shows he frequently ruled in Palin's favor during the trials.  —  Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokesperson for the newspaper …
 
 
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 More Items: 
New York Times:
Venezuela's Oil Is a Focus of Trump's Campaign Against Maduro
Discussion: Raw Story and The Daily Caller
Siena Research Institute:
Hochul Holds 19-Point Lead Over Stefanik & Leads Blakeman by 25 Points
Jeffrey Mervis / Science:
NSF pares down grant-review process, reducing influence of outside scientists
Washington Post:
Statue of Black teen who fought segregation replaces Robert E. Lee at U.S. Capitol
Discussion: Associated Press
Alex Abad-Santos / Vox:
Please don't make airports healthy again. Just make them more efficient.
Zack Beauchamp / Vox:
Trump's war on democracy is failing
Jennifer Rubin / The Contrarian:
Words & Phrases That Have Lost All Meaning
 Earlier Items: 
Jason Sattler / THE FARCE:
Call them ‘Nuzzi Pox’
Washington Post:
Trump has signed more executive orders in 2025 than in his entire first term
Discussion: The Hill
Axios:
Pentagon says it's “escalating” Kelly review to “official” investigation
Michael S. Rosenwald / New York Times:
Robert Samuelson, Award-Winning Economics Columnist, Dies at 79
Discussion: Washington Post
 

 
From Techmeme:

Rachel Metz / Bloomberg:
OpenAI updates ChatGPT Images to generate images up to 4x faster and edit more precisely, and adds a new section in ChatGPT's app and website for images

Belle Lin / Wall Street Journal:
Databricks is raising a $4B+ Series L at a $134B valuation, up from $100B in September and $62B in December 2024, and had a $4.8B annual revenue rate in October

New York Times:
The US threatens economic penalties against European companies like Spotify if the EU does not roll back regulations and lawsuits targeting US tech giants
 
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