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12:20 PM 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.
Andrew Egger / The Bulwark:
The Psych-Ward Presidency  —  Another tranche of sour economic data came down from the Bureau of Labor Statistics today.  Jobs rose by 64,000 in November, but fell in October by 105,000, thanks in part to DOGE-induced federal layoffs that finally took effect.
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 …
Gregory Svirnovskiy / Politico:
Wiles says Trump was ‘wrong’ for tying Clinton to Epstein's criminal activity, according to Vanity Fair
Discussion: The Hill and The Wrap
Lauren Kaori Gurley / Washington Post:
Labor market lost 41,000 jobs over October, November; unemployment rate up  —  Federal worker deferred resignations pushed job losses in October to sharpest declines since the pandemic. … The U.S. labor market lost 41,000 jobs over October and November, and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.6 percent …
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.
Rebecca Davis O'Brien / New York Times:   Live Updates: Jobs Report Expected to Provide Overdue Clarity on Economy
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:
‘Absolute bulls—t’: Endangered House Republican blasts leaders over impending Obamacare lapse
Discussion: Washington Examiner
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:
Darlene Superville / Associated Press:
Trump administration says White House ballroom construction is a matter of national security
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:
Full video of Venezuela drug boat strikes will not be made public, Hegseth says  —  As Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was on Capitol Hill to address recent strikes on suspected drug smuggling boats off the coast of Venezuela, he told reporters that full videos of the strikes will not be made public, calling them “top secret.”
Discussion: Fox News
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
Lawfare:
The Situation: Why Can't Kash Patel Shut Up?  —  On the FBI director's penchant for commenting on pending matters.  —  benjaminwittes.lawfaremedia.org  —  Meet The Authors … The Situation on Sunday posed the question of who exactly is the “responsible United States Attorney” in the Eastern District of Virginia.
RELATED:
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
Marc Caputo / Axios:
“Quite a buffet”: U.S. ready to seize more tankers with Venezuelan oil  —  The U.S. is preparing to seize more sanctioned oil-filled tankers off Venezuela as the Trump administration opens a new phase of its pressure campaign on Nicolas Maduro's regime, officials tell Axios.
RELATED:
New York Times:
Venezuela's Oil Is a Focus of Trump's Campaign Against Maduro
Discussion: Raw Story and The Daily Caller
Peter Sigal / Automotive News:
EU drops 2035 zero-emission target, extending life of combustion engines in Europe  —  The EU has eased a 2035 zero-emission target to allow some internal-combustion cars to be sold after that date, throwing automakers a lifeline as doubts about cost, range and charging infrastructure kept European buyers …
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.
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.
Washington Post:
Trump has signed more executive orders in 2025 than in his entire first term  —  The threshold reflects Trump's efforts to dramatically expand presidential authority with moves that have tested the bounds of the Constitution.  —  Just now … President Donald Trump has signed more executive orders …
Discussion: The Hill
 
 
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 More Items: 
Charlie Trumbull / Lawfare:
The Administration's Drug Boat Strikes Are Crimes Against Humanity
Discussion: Reuters and Algemeiner.com
Thomas B. Edsall / New York Times:
The Trump Mind-Set Is Not Complex
Nate Silver / Silver Bulletin:
What is Heather Cox Richardsonism?
Mason Boycott-Owen / Politico:
Britain vows to tackle foreign meddling in politics after Reform's Russia bribes case
Discussion: Bloomberg, Reuters and HuffPost
Politico:
Judge refuses to grant Sarah Palin a new trial in her libel suit against New York Times
 Earlier Items: 
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
Zack Beauchamp / Vox:
Trump's war on democracy is failing
Jason Sattler / THE FARCE:
Call them ‘Nuzzi Pox’
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

The Information:
A look at Apple's iPhone roadmap; sources say the iPhone 18 Pro lineup will get under-screen Face ID, and the front camera will move to the top-left corner

David Pierce / The Verge:
Mozilla appoints Anthony Enzor-DeMeo as its CEO, after years of its for-profit arm juggling layoffs, restructuring, its Google dependence, and the AI landscape
 
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