Second big batch of Epstein files includes many mentions of Trump  —  The Justice Department had been heavily criticized on Capitol Hill for including few Trump-related documents in its first release of files.  —  Three days after releasing a large tranche of Jeffrey Epstein documents …

Turmoil at CBS News After Bari Weiss Pulls a ‘60 Minutes’ Segment  —  Several veteran correspondents questioned how Ms. Weiss, the new CBS News editor in chief, had handled the segment, after she defended her decision on a call with the newsroom.  —  CBS News remained roiled on Monday …

U.S. Economy Posts Robust Growth in the Third Quarter  —  A long-delayed government report shows GDP grew at an annual 4.3% rate  —  The U.S. economy grew at an unexpectedly robust pace in the third quarter, according to a shutdown-delayed government report.

Ohio lawmaker sues Trump and others over Kennedy Center name change … “In scenes more reminiscent of authoritarian regimes than the American Republic,” Beatty wrote in the complaint, “the sitting president and his handpicked loyalists renamed this storied center after President Trump.

Poll: Major allies see US as unreliable and destabilizing … Unreliable.  Creating more problems than solving them.  A negative force on the world stage.  This is how large shares of America's closest allies view the U.S., according to new polling, as President Donald Trump pursues a sweeping foreign policy overhaul.

Former Sen. Ben Sasse announces terminal cancer diagnosis  —  Want to see more of NewsNation?  Get 24/7 fact-based news coverage with the NewsNation app or add NewsNation as a preferred source on Google!  —  Former Republican Sen. Ben Sasse announced that he had terminal stage-four pancreatic cancer.

Trump announces plan for new class of more powerful US battleships  —  President Donald Trump announced on Monday plans to build a new “Trump-class” of battleships — larger, faster and “100 times more powerful” than any before — aimed at cementing U.S. naval dominance, starting with two vessels as part of an expanded “Golden Fleet.”

US strikes another alleged drug-smuggling boat in eastern Pacific  —  The U.S. military said Monday that it had conducted another strike against a boat it said was smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing one person.  In a social media post, U.S. Southern Command said …

Brown University outlines enhanced safety measures, after-action review and security assessment  —  Following the senseless Dec. 13 shooting on campus, the University will conduct an external After-Action Review of the incident and a comprehensive Campus Safety and Security Assessment of the Brown campus.

Breaking: Cully Stimson and Hans von Spakovsky Resign From Heritage  —  Last night, Kevin Roberts told the Heritage staff that two people would be directing the Meese Center.  National Review reported: … I just spoke with Cully, who told me that both he and Hans resigned from the Heritage Foundation.

How Did DOGE Disrupt So Much While Saving So Little? … Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency said it made more than 29,000 cuts to the federal government — slashing billion-dollar contracts, canceling thousands of grants and pushing out civil servants.

Trump Administration Orders Nearly 30 U.S. Ambassadors to Leave Their Posts  —  A union representing career diplomats said such a mass recall had never happened in the history of the U.S. Foreign Service.  —  The Trump administration has ordered nearly 30 ambassadors in embassies around …

These 3 Republican senators are giving John Thune headaches … Thune ultimately wore the three Republicans down with some outside assistance from President Donald Trump, cutting deals to win their consent to advance the proposed trillion-dollar “minibus” funding package.

‘This is shattering’: Europe reels from Trump's new world order … But in many ways, Europe has survived the roller coaster — for now.  —  “The Europeans cannot afford to cut ties and to hand in the divorce papers because they are still too dependent, especially when it comes to security …