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9:50 AM ET, December 17, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
New York Times:
Trump Dangles Cash Payments to Buoy Voters' Views of the Economy  —  With tariffs unpopular and prices still high, the White House has teased the promise of tariff rebates and large tax refunds next year.  —  Tariffs are unpopular, prices remain stubbornly high and Americans are souring on President Trump's handling of the economy.
Discussion: Reason and Fox News
RELATED:
Josh Boak / Associated Press:
Trump is previewing his 2026 agenda in an address to the nation as his popularity wanes  —  President Donald Trump intends to preview his agenda for next year and beyond in a live speech from the White House on Wednesday night, remarks that come at a crucial juncture as he tries to rebuild his steadily eroding popularity.
Discussion: The Hill, NewsMax.com and Bloomberg
Amanda Marcotte / Salon:
Republicans are quiet quitting on Trump  —  The White House chief of staff says the president has “an alcoholic's personality”  —  Donald Trump is worried that Republicans aren't as afraid of him as they used to be.  Despite his self-billing as a dealmaker, the president has only ever had one tool to control his party: fear.
Discussion: Raw Story
Justin Glawe / Public Notice:   2025 was a political disaster for MAGA
Joey Garrison / USA Today:
Trump moves to dismantle major US climate research center in Colorado  —  WASHINGTON ‒ The Trump administration is moving to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, according to a senior White House official, taking aim at one of the world's leading climate research labs.
RELATED:
Ruby Mellen / Washington Post:
Trump administration to dismantle key climate research center
Discussion: CBS News
Matt Dixon / NBC News:
White House scrambles to address Susie Wiles' explosive Vanity Fair interviews  —  One former Trump administration official said they were surprised the White House participated in the interviews, saying, “I'm not sure what they were thinking here.”  —  Susie Wiles generally helps quietly shape headlines.
RELATED:
Steven Nelson / New York Post:
Trump stands by chief of staff Susie Wiles after bombshell Vanity Fair interviews — admits he has 'alcoholic's personality'  —  President Trump defended White House chief of staff Susie Wiles in an exclusive interview with The Post Tuesday — saying she was right to tell Vanity Fair he has an …
Victoria Craw / Washington Post:
Marjorie Taylor Greene says ‘dam is breaking’ within GOP against Trump  —  In a CNN interview, the Georgia congresswoman said Trump's reaction to the death of Rob Reiner was “classless” and she didn't see the GOP winning in the midterms. … Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) …
Discussion: CNN, The Wrap, Raw Story, Breitbart and PinkNews
RELATED:
Lisa Kashinsky / Politico:
Republicans push mail-in voting for the midterms in defiance of Trump … The nonprofit Citizens Alliance, which aided efforts to get Republicans to return their mail ballots in Pennsylvania last year, is planning to knock 750,000 doors ahead of the midterms to encourage infrequent voters to embrace the practice.
Discussion: Raw Story and The Federalist
Paul Krugman:
An A+++++  Economy, My A++  —  Trump made big boasts but he isn't delivering  —  When Politico recently asked Donald Trump to grade the current U.S. economy, he replied “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus.”  He made this boast at a time when actual economic data were still scarce …
RELATED:
Rachel Louise Ensign / Wall Street Journal:
Spooked by AI and Layoffs, White-Collar Workers See Their Security Slip Away
Discussion: Washington Examiner and Townhall
Alicia Wallace / CNN:
Unemployment rate hit a four-year high last month
The Hill:
Republican tensions boil over as ObamaCare deadline approaches  —  Republican tensions boiled over Tuesday in the Capitol over the fate of expiring ObamaCare subsidies that could play an outsized role in the race for the House next year.  —  Republican moderates lashed out at House GOP leadership …
RELATED:
Politico:
Fitzpatrick declines to turn off ACA discharge petition as amendment talks drag on
Rebecca Santana / Associated Press:
Trump expands travel ban and restrictions to include an additional 20 countries  —  The Trump administration announced Tuesday it was expanding travel restrictions to an additional 20 countries and the Palestinian Authority, doubling the number of nations affected by sweeping limits announced earlier …
RELATED:
ProPublica:
Inside the Trump Administration's Man-Made Hunger Crisis  —  The End of Aid: Trump Destroyed USAID.  What Happens Now?  —  ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.  —  Reporting Highlights
RELATED:
ProPublica:   The Summer of Starvation: Amid Trump's Foreign Aid Cuts, a Mother Struggles to Keep Her Sons Alive
Associated Press:
Trump orders blockade of ‘sanctioned oil tankers’ into Venezuela, ramping up pressure on Maduro  —  President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is ordering a blockade of all “sanctioned oil tankers” into Venezuela, ramping up pressure on the country's authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro.
RELATED:
Bloomberg:
Trump Orders Blockade of Sanctioned Oil Tankers in Venezuela
Reuters:
They prosecuted the Capitol rioters.  Now the rioters and the DOJ are after them.  —  After Trump's mass pardons of the U.S. Capitol rioters, some have gained influence inside the Justice Department, meeting with officials to push for prosecutions of the federal lawyers who once helped convict them, Reuters found.
RELATED:
Sarah N. Lynch / Reuters:   Unprecedented errors are eroding the credibility of Trump's Justice Department
John Dowd / MS NOW:
I was Donald Trump's lawyer.  Jack Smith should be celebrated, not vilified.  —  House Republicans are depriving the American people of a chance to hear from a career prosecutor who investigated serious allegations against the president.  —  Former special counsel Jack Smith is scheduled …
RELATED:
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Judge lets Trump's ballroom construction proceed … “The court will hold them to that,” Leon said during a packed federal court hearing in Washington.  “They've got until the end of this month.”  —  Leon issued the ruling after accepting a classified filing from the government detailing …
RELATED:
NBC News:
Federal judge allows Trump's White House ballroom construction to move forward
Victoria Guida / Politico:
Trump officials privately raise doubts about Hassett for Fed chair … “He is ever present in media, appropriately defending the president, and that has value to the president,” the person added.  “But being a great communicator at the top of the Fed is probably not what anyone who seeks real change at the Fed is seeking as a skill.”
Discussion: CNBC
RELATED:
Colby Smith / New York Times:
Next Fed Chair in ‘No-Win Scenario’ as Selection Process Draws to a Close
Discussion: Reuters
Don Moynihan / Can We Still Govern?:
Democrats need a theory of power, but democracies need a theory of accountability  —  We are at a crucial, once-in-a-century moment for American governance.  Those on the right are, whether they admit it or not, aligning themselves with an increasingly authoritarian model of governance under Trump.
Marist Poll:
2026 Economic Outlook, December 2025  —  More Than Six in Ten Say Economy is Not Working for Them Personally.... Economic Pessimism for 2026 Widespread  —  Americans have serious concerns about the economy and how these larger economic forces will influence their personal finances in 2026.
Discussion: PBS NewsHour, NPR and NewsMax.com
Justin Baragona / The Independent:
Bari Weiss' much-hyped CBS News town hall with Erika Kirk was a massive ratings flop  —  According to Nielsen, the Saturday night town hall saw a 41 percent decline in in the key 25-54 advertising demographic compared to the network's standard programming in that time slot year to date.  —  in New York
John Podhoretz / Commentary Magazine:
Norman Podhoretz, 1930-2025  —  My father died tonight, December 16, a month shy of his 96th birthday.  Norman Podhoretz passed peacefully and without pain, with a new translation of The Odyssey on his desk that had been sent to him by his friend Roger Hertog.
Pete Muntean / CNN:
Second near midair collision reported near Venezuela involving US Air Force tanker  —  South America Federal agencies US military Airplane crashes  —  Radio transmissions reviewed by CNN show that the pilots of a private jet narrowly avoided a collision with a United States Air Force refueling …
Discussion: Fox News and The National Pulse
Vic Verbalaitis / The Daily Beast:
Trump's Son-In-Law Backs Out of Paramount's Takeover Bid  —  SEE YA!  —  Jared Kushner's firm will no longer back Paramount's takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery.  —  President Donald Trump's son-in-law has withdrawn his financial backing for a massive media merger that could give …
Johnny Ryan / The Guardian:
This is Europe's secret weapon against Trump: it could burst his AI bubble  —  Growth in the US economy - and the president's political survival - rest on AI.  The EU must use its leverage and stand up to him  —  The unthinkable has happened.  The US is Europe's adversary.
Discussion: Politico
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Jared Kushner's firm backs out of Paramount's Warner Bros. bid  —  Affinity Partners, the fund tied to President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, has backed out of Paramount's bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, Axios has confirmed. … - If the board does reject Paramount's offer …
 
 
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 More Items: 
New York Times:
Harvard Secretly Investigates Students Over Larry Summers Video on Epstein
Aaron Blake / CNN:
Who loves Trump? Apparently fewer people than ever
Discussion: Raw Story and HuffPost
Jacob Ware / Lawfare:
A Terrorism of Vengeance  —  Understanding incels, school shooters, and the new category of terrorism …
David A. Fahrenthold / New York Times:
Two More Heritage Foundation Trustees Resign Over Support for Tucker Carlson
Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story and Mediaite
Vivek Ramaswamy / New York Times:
What Is an American?  —  There are two competing visions now emerging on the American right, and they are incompatible.
Jamelle Bouie / New York Times:
The Man Who Rules the Country Presides Over Nothing
 Earlier Items: 
Arne Delfs / Bloomberg:
Merz Says German Troops Could Counter Russian Attacks in Ukraine
Discussion: Reuters, Politico and Deutsche Welle
Wall Street Journal:
The Final Hours and Shocking End to Rob and Michele Reiner's Efforts to Save Their Son
Charlie Nash / Mediaite:
Trump Says Miriam Adelson Offered Him ‘Another $250 Million’ to Run for a Third Term
Discussion: The Independent
Ivan Penn / New York Times:
Heating Costs Expected to Rise 9.2% This Winter
Discussion: The Korea Herald and Scripps News
David K. Li / NBC News:
James Woods praises ‘patriot’ Rob Reiner, slams insults of slain director as ‘infuriating’
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Steven Portnoy / ABC News:
Members of the Senate Commerce Committee accused FCC Chairman Brendan Carr of making “mafia threats” and encroaching on broadcasters' First Amendment rights

Wall Street Journal:
WBD recommends shareholders reject Paramount's unsolicited cash bid, calling the offer “illusory” and saying it believes Netflix's proposal is still superior

Scott Feinberg / The Hollywood Reporter:
The Academy signs a multi-year deal that will give YouTube the exclusive global rights to the Oscars, beginning in 2029 and running through 2033
 
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