Top Items:
Washington Post:
Kennedy Center adds Trump's name to building — The signage change follows a vote by the board of trustees to rename the performing arts complex “the Trump Kennedy Center.” … The Kennedy Center began updating signage on the exterior of the building Friday morning, a day after its board voted …
Discussion:
Straight Arrow News, Salon, ABC News, Los Angeles Times, NOTUS and The Wrap
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Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
Trump, Hunger Games, and the Kennedy Center — The dystopia everyone said was impossible is already here. — ∙ Paid — The Secret Podcast will drop later today. It's a long one. — 1. Back to the Future — Imagine that it's October 2024.
Discussion:
CNN and NBC4 Washington
Matt Vespa / Townhall:
What Trump Did to the Kennedy Center Triggered a Level-Five Lib Meltdown — When Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), aka Temu Obama, says this move was illegal, a) you know you struck a chord with the Left, and b) prepare to watch some fireworks. President Trump, who has low-key assimilated the Kennedy Center …
Discussion:
Axios, The Moderate Voice, NBC News, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, Deadline, NPR, The Wrap, The Independent, Raw Story, IJR, Newsweek, HuffPost, New York Times, Fox News, USA Today, Showbiz411, Gazette, Fortune, UPI, New York Daily News, Plain Dealer, Associated Press, Breitbart, Rolling Stone, New York Sun, Roll Call, New York Magazine, Variety, MS NOW, Mediaite, LGBTQ Nation, FOX 11 Los Angeles and Scripps News
Helene Cooper / New York Times:
Trump Administration Live Updates: Kennedy Center Adds Trump's Name to Facade — Where Things Stand — Kennedy Center: President Trump's name was already being added to the performing arts center in Washington early Friday, just a day after its board moved to rename it the Trump-Kennedy Center.
Discussion:
NBC News, Associated Press, The Hollywood Reporter, RTÉ, The Hill and Daily Mail
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
Screw It. Let's Rename the Moon.
Discussion:
Julie's Substack and America, America
Damian Paletta / Wall Street Journal:
With Trump-Kennedy Center, President Doubles Down on U.S. Culture
With Trump-Kennedy Center, President Doubles Down on U.S. Culture
Discussion:
Variety, IJR, Newsweek, The Hill, Al Jazeera, New Jersey Online, The Hollywood Reporter and CBS News
Gregory Svirnovskiy / Politico:
DOJ won't meet Friday deadline to release all the Epstein files … “I expect that we're going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks, so today several hundred thousand and then over the next couple weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more,” Blanche said.
Discussion:
The Guardian, Bloomberg, Axios, Los Angeles Times, The Mahablog, Raw Story, Mediaite, Salon, The Wrap, Metro.co.uk, The Hill and Fox News
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Rebecca Beitsch / The Hill:
Blanche says DOJ won't release full Epstein files to Congress by Friday deadline — Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Department of Justice (DOJ) would not be releasing the full Epstein files to Congress Friday as required under new legislation, instead sending over a partial batch.
Discussion:
HuffPost, NBC News, NewsNation, Fox News, Associated Press, Raw Story, NOTUS, Washington Post, CBS News, NewsMax.com, ABC News and The Guardian
Axios:
Dems threaten lawsuit as DOJ says it will miss Epstein files deadline — The lead Democrats on the House Judiciary and Oversight committees said they are “exploring all legal options” after a top Justice Department official signaled the agency won't produce all its documents on Jeffrey Epstein by the statutory Friday deadline.
Ankush Khardori / Politico:
5 Rules for Reading the Epstein Files
5 Rules for Reading the Epstein Files
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Democracy Docket, Bloomberg, Fox News, PoliticusUSA, UPI, The Independent, Vox, Business Insider, New York Sun, New Jersey Online, Roll Call, The Hill, Eurasia Review, CNN, MS NOW and The Daily Caller
Faris Tanyos / CBS News:
Motive sought after suspect in Brown University shooting, MIT professor's killing found dead, officials say — What to know about the investigations into the Brown University shooting and the killing of an MIT professor: — The suspect in the Dec. 13 mass shooting on the campus …
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Rebecca Falconer / Axios:
Trump pauses green card lottery program after Brown University, MIT shootings — President Trump ordered the suspension of a green card lottery program that enabled the suspect in the Brown University mass shooting and killing of an MIT professor to live in the U.S, a top official announced late Thursday.
Discussion:
Associated Press, CBS News, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, The Washington Free Beacon, New York Post, Blaze Media, One America News Network, MS NOW, WAGA-TV, Bloomberg, Washington Times, UPI, The Gateway Pundit, RTÉ, The Daily Wire, The National Pulse, NewsMax.com, New York Sun, American Greatness, New Republic, Business Insider, Fox News and New York Daily News
Associated Press:
Man suspected in shooting at Brown University has been found dead in New Hampshire, AP source says
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Providence Journal, New York Times, The Stranger, Salon, Deseret News, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, The Times of Israel, The Daily Caller, Al Jazeera, NewsMax.com, The Gateway Pundit, CBS News, The Hill, NBC News, Gazette, CNBC, Townhall, HotAir, WTTG-TV, Washington Examiner, masslive.com, Fox News, Vanity Fair, The Post Millennial, Reuters, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, The Daily Wire, WWL-TV, New York Post and Blaze Media
HuffPost:
ICE Says U.S. Citizen's Birth Certificate Is Fake After Arresting Her: Attorneys — Dulce Consuelo Diaz Morales was arrested on Sunday. ICE won't release her despite extensive documentation of her citizenship, her attorneys told HuffPost. — A Maryland woman has spent days …
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Jesse Arm / City Journal:
Everyone Wants to Know What Gen Z Republicans Think. We Asked Them. — Twenty GOP Zoomers on Trump, Hitler, dating, racism, politics, the economy, and more — Gen Z conservatives are often portrayed by the media as a cohort radicalized by economic despair.
Discussion:
New York Times, more at Techmeme »
Mitt Romney / New York Times:
Tax the Rich, Like Me — In 2012, political ads suggested that some of my policy proposals, if enacted, would amount to pushing grandma off a cliff. Actually, my proposals were intended to prevent that very thing from happening. — Today, all of us, including our grandmas …
Discussion:
The Lever, Washington Examiner, Breitbart, Raw Story and New Jersey Online
Washington Post:
Trump's pardons wipe out payments to defrauded victims — In addition to clearing prison sentences, the president's clemency actions have erased millions in restitution payments. … By the time a federal judge in 2023 sentenced convicted fraudster Trevor Milton to four years in prison …
Samuel Moyn / The Guardian:
It's time to accept that the US supreme court is illegitimate and must be replaced — We need to remake the US high court so Americans don't suffer future decades of oligarchy-facilitating rule — The justices of the US supreme court - even its conservatives - have traditionally valued their institution's own standing.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Raw Story and Divided Argument
Madeline Fening / Cincinnati CityBeat:
Cincinnati ICE Leader Charged Federally, Booked into Butler County Jail — “This may be the first time an ICE agent is incarcerated in his own ICE jail,” said Lynn Tramonte, executive director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance. — Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
Oren Oppenheim / ABC News:
As polls show low approval for Trump on the economy, will taking his economic agenda to voters help? — The president is set to make remarks on the economy in North Carolina Friday. — President Donald Trump delivers an address to the Nation from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Dec. 17, 2025.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, MS NOW, masslive.com and Newsweek
RELATED:
G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:
Voters blame Trump for their economic woes
Voters blame Trump for their economic woes
Discussion:
NOTUS, Colorado Politics and Fox News
April Rubin / Axios:
Facing Trump's wrath, Jack Smith requests public hearing in House GOP probe — Former special counsel Jack Smith requested to testify in “an open and public hearing” in a Thursday letter from his attorneys to House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The Daily Caller, The Hill, MS NOW and Breitbart
RELATED:
Hailey Fuchs / Politico:
Jack Smith's lawyers ask Jordan for open hearing after closed-door testimony
Jack Smith's lawyers ask Jordan for open hearing after closed-door testimony
Discussion:
NewsMax.com and CBS News
Sam Levin / The Guardian:
Revealed: FBI opened domestic terrorism investigations into anti-ICE activity across US — Internal report shared with Guardian shows FBI has launched cases in 23 regions, some linked to Trump memo on thwarting ‘terroristic activities’ — The FBI has launched “criminal …
Discussion:
New Republic
CNN:
Exclusive: Top lawyer for military joint chiefs told chairman that officers should retire if faced with an unlawful order — How should a military commander respond if they determine they have received an unlawful order? — Request to retire — and refrain from resigning in protest …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Washington Post:
H-1B workers flew to India to renew U.S. visas. Now they're stuck. — H-1B holders who returned to India this month to renew their visas had consular appointments canceled, stranding them far from their homes and jobs, lawyers said. — Just now … NEW DELHI — Indian H-1B visa holders …
Politico:
‘You cannot hide’: Democrats' swaggering approach stymies House Republicans … “Our message to Mike Johnson is clear — you can run, but you cannot hide,” Jeffries said as he took a victory lap on the House steps Thursday. — The New Yorker was referring to his party's effort to address …
Discussion:
HuffPost, Washington Post, Raw Story, emptywheel, Fox News, Punchbowl News and The Hill
Santul Nerkar / New York Times:
Trump-Appointed Judge Flays ICE Over Conditions in Long Island Lockup — A detainee and eight others were held in a tiny room with an open toilet in freezing, filthy conditions. — The cell was poorly heated, designed to hold only a single person, briefly, and measuring about 6 feet by 6 feet.
Discussion:
New Republic, Courthouse News Service, Law & Crime, Raw Story and New York Daily News
NBC News:
Trump not ruling out war with Venezuela — In an exclusive phone interview with NBC News, Trump talked about his offensive against Venezuela, his plan for health care and his outlook for the midterm elections. — Add NBC News to Google — President Donald Trump said Thursday …
Discussion:
New Jersey Online, Townhall, The Hill, The Cross Section, Salon, The Daily Wire, Politico, The Daily Caller and Mediaite
The Athletic:
Rams star Puka Nacua apologizes for antisemitic dance on livestream — Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua apologized on Thursday after appearing on a livestream in which he practiced an antisemitic touchdown dance. — “When I appeared the other day on a social media livestream …
Catherine Rampell / The Bulwark:
Trump Is Walloping Construction Businesses. The Industry Stays Quiet. — Raids on work sites. Roofers under siege. But builders keep mum. — ∙ Paid — WHEN LEO FELER GOT HOME, there was blood everywhere. On his front door, the window sills, the foyer.
Radley Balko / The Watch:
104 murders in 107 days — One of the more surreal phenomena of the last year is the way in which our fleeting news cycle and plodding legal system combine to distract us from this administration's atrocities. — On the legal side, the federal courts operate on a “doctrine of regularity” …
Discussion:
New York Times and CBS News
Bloomberg:
White House Investigates Mystery Video Stream on Website — The White House said it was investigating after a video of a Youtube livestream about investments appeared on its website. — The White House is aware of the incident and looking into the matter, a White House official said on the condition of anonymity.
Discussion:
New Republic
Ryan Cooper / American Prospect:
The Transphobic Mask Is Off — The goal is a ban on all trans health care and the end of civil rights for trans people. — Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email — For many years now, conservatives, along with an influential group of centrists and liberals …
Discussion:
Slate, New Hampshire Public Radio and MS NOW
Andrew Howard / Politico:
MAGA infighting erupts at Turning Point USA Conference … “The conservative movement is in serious danger,” Shapiro said, arguing the danger is not just on the left, but “from charlatans who claim to speak in the name of principle but actually traffic in conspiracism and dishonesty.”
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Independent, Raw Story, NBC News, Fox News, New Republic, Straight Arrow News, To the Contrary, MS NOW, Gazette, Deseret News, LGBTQ Nation and Mediaite
Amanda Moore / Mother Jones:
The Horns and Whistles Work — What it's like to watch community activists stand up to a Border Patrol raid. — In a residential neighborhood in Kenner, Louisiana, two vehicles full of Border Patrol agents speed down the street. Their goal is to work quickly, before the protesters show …
Paul Krugman:
Lies, Damned Lies and Trump Speeches — What MAGA genius thought that Trump's “affordability” speech was a good idea? — Source — Today is a travel day so this will be a short post. Fortunately the main topic that I want to talk about is uncomplicated - the speech that Donald Trump gave on Wednesday night.
Discussion:
The Hill, Meidas+ and New York Magazine

