ICE plans $100 million ‘wartime recruitment’ push targeting gun shows, military fans for hires … U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are planning to spend $100 million over a one-year period to recruit gun-rights supporters and military enthusiasts through online influencers …

The plot to redraw America … Donald Trump was confused.  —  His top political aide, James Blair, arrived in the Oval Office one afternoon this April to pitch a novel gambit: Republicans could begin padding their narrow U.S. House majority well before voters went to the polls in November 2026.

The Incident That Prompted Trump to Ban Epstein From Mar-a-Lago's Spa  —  Mar-a-Lago sent an 18-year-old spa worker on a house call to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.  She complained to her bosses that Epstein pressured her for sex.  —  Jeffrey Epstein wasn't just a frequent visitor to Donald Trump's Mar …

Trump vetoes bill to fund Arkansas Valley Conduit in Colorado  —  President Trump vetoed a bill to fund a pipeline project to bring clean drinking water to communities on the Eastern Plains between Pueblo and Lamar. … DENVER — President Donald Trump is using his first veto of his current term …

Unsealed: Abrego Garcia  —  The sealed order in the Abrego Garcia case that I wrote about in Sunday night's “The Week Ahead” column was unsealed today.  This is in the government's hastily manufactured criminal case against him, which seemed, at the time, to be some sort of face-saving gesture …

Kennedy Center changed board rules months before vote to add Trump's name  —  The new rules say only trustees appointed by the president can vote, barring other members, including Democrats who hold seats, from decisions.  The center said the change reflects “longstanding precedent.”

Trump Spent the Past Year Trying to Crush Dissent  —  “We took the freedom of speech away.”  —  That was part of President Trump's explanation in October of his executive order that purports to criminalize burning the American flag.  Though his words fail as a constitutional rationale …

The Separation: Inside the Unraveling U.S.-Ukraine Partnership  —  As President Trump sought a peace deal and Vladimir V. Putin sought victory, factions in the White House and Pentagon bled the Ukrainian war effort.

Former GOP Sen Jon Kyl announces dementia diagnosis, steps away from public life  —  Former Republican Sen. Jon Kyl announced on Tuesday he is withdrawing from public life after being diagnosed with dementia.  —  Kyl, 83, became one of Arizona's most prominent Republicans during a career …

Israel says it will halt operations of several humanitarian organizations in Gaza  —  The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs said the organizations that will be banned Thursday didn't meet new requirements for sharing staff members, funding and operations information.

Netanyahu raised possible “round 2” strikes on Iran with Trump  —  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the possibility of attacking Iran again in 2026 during his meeting with President Trump on Monday, according to a U.S. official and two additional U.S. sources familiar with the details of the meeting.

Justice Dept. Now Said to Be Reviewing 5.2 Million Pages of Epstein Files  —  The number represents a more precise, and potentially much larger, figure than earlier estimates.  The department is seeking to enlist about 400 lawyers to help in the review.  —  The Justice Department is seeking …

HHS freezes all child care funding for Minnesota … Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O'Neill alleged in a video posted to the department's YouTube channel Tuesday afternoon that “the state of Minnesota has allowed scammers and fake day cares to siphon millions of taxpayer dollars over the last decade.”

Phone Searches at U.S. Borders: What Travelers Need to Know  —  Customs agents have broad authority to search the electronic devices of travelers entering and leaving the U.S. Here are tips for keeping your data safe.  —  When U.S. border agents turned away a French scientist in March …

A Banner Year for Domestic and Global Censorship by the US  —  The Trump administration is using state muscle in unprecedented ways to suppress speech it dislikes  —  It's been a banner year for state-sponsored censorship in the name of “free speech.”  Just before Christmas …

Watching Bari Weiss Murder Investigative Journalism at CBS  —  I'M NOTICING A PATTERN among certain people within my profession who've jumped to the defense of Bari Weiss, the oligarch functionary installed at CBS by new owner David Ellison to enforce ideological discipline upon its journalists.

Immigrant Derangement Syndrome  —  Blaming brown-skinned people for everything bad  —  Americans suffered a litany of horrors thanks to the Trump administration during 2025 - refusal to disburse emergency aid, soaring measles cases, collapsing small businesses, vindictive prosecutions …

Trump Mobile delays plan to launch gold-coloured smartphone this year  —  Move marks latest setback for project that originally promised to sell a US-made device  —  Trump Mobile, the phone company launched by the Trump Organization, has delayed plans to ship its gold-coloured smartphone by the end of this year.

The many ways Zohran Mamdani's mayoralty could go wrong — fast … “Just like with FDR, it's the first 100 days that people remember,” said George Arzt, a lobbyist and public relations doyen who was the longtime spokesperson for the late Mayor Ed Koch.  “Everyday, I walked into City Hall and wondered what's going to happen.”

Even as Trump Targets Boats in Strikes, Coast Guard Continues Anti-Drug Operations  —  Cutters are still stopping smugglers and seizing drugs, but the prosecutions of go-fast boat crews are dwindling in a realignment of federal resources.  —  Long before the U.S. military began blowing …

Trump presides over America's coming-apart  —  The Trump administration has given us precious little to be thankful for this year.  As 2025 draws to a close, history will remember it as a year scarred by the chaos of a White House that seemed intent on breaking the back of our democracy once and for all.

Kennedy Center exodus: The 11 acts, creators pulling out amid Trump takeover  —  President Trump's takeover this year of the Kennedy Center — which was renamed to include Trump earlier this month — is continuing to trigger cancellations from scheduled acts.

US fines for dirty money drop 61% as Trump retreats from enforcement  —  Total penalties imposed by financial watchdogs fell to $1.7bn in the year to December 19  —  US regulators collected 61 per cent less in fines for money laundering and sanctions breaches in 2025, after watchdogs took …

Tilting at windmills: Trump laments death of bald eagle in the US ... which was really a falcon in Israel  —  A pity that Trump, or one of the 18 intelligence agencies reporting to him, did not trace the image back to its source  —  Even while on holiday at his Florida resort …