Check out Mini-memeorandum for simple mobiles or memeorandum Mobile for modern smartphones.
4:00 PM ET, January 2, 2026

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Reuters:
Trump threatens Iran over protest crackdown as deadly unrest flares  —  U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to come to the aid of protesters in Iran if security forces fired on them, days into unrest that has left several dead and posed the biggest internal threat to Iranian authorities in years.
RELATED:
Jon Gambrell / Associated Press:
Trump and top Iranian officials exchange threats over protests roiling Iran  —  U.S. President Donald Trump and top Iranian officials exchanged dueling threats Friday as widening protests swept across parts of the Islamic Republic, further escalating tensions between the countries after America bombed Iranian nuclear sites in June.
Barak Ravid / Axios:
Trump threatens military force if Iran kills protesters
Ramsey Al-Rikabi / Bloomberg:
Trump, Iran Trade Threats as Protesters Seek Economic Relief
Reuters:
Grok says safeguard lapses led to images of ‘minors in minimal clothing’ on X  —  Elon Musk's xAI artificial intelligence chatbot Grok said on Friday lapses in safeguards had resulted in “images depicting minors in minimal clothing” on social media platform X and that improvements were being made to prevent this.
RELATED:
Parker Molloy / The Present Age:
Grok Can't Apologize.  Grok Isn't Sentient.  So Why Do Headlines Keep Saying It Did?  —  Over the past week, users on X discovered something horrifying: strangers were replying to women's photos and asking Grok, the platform's built-in AI chatbot, to “remove her clothes” or “put her in a bikini.”
Discussion: CNBC, more at Techmeme »
Kat Tenbarge / Spitfire News:
How Grok's sexual abuse hit a tipping point  —  Nonconsensual deepfakes on X are nothing new, but now it's built into the platform.  —  To start the new year off, Elon Musk's X has yet again become a conduit for sexual violence, sparking another wave of backlash.
Matthew Purdy / New York Times:
After Watergate, the Presidency Was Tamed.  Trump Is Unleashing It.  —  In the 1970s, Congress passed a raft of laws to hold the White House accountable.  President Trump has decided they don't apply to him.  —  A power-hungry president had twisted the government into a tool for his personal political benefit.
Discussion: Sky Dancing and Raw Story
RELATED:
Carl Hulse / New York Times:   A Diminished Congress Weighs Whether to Reassert Its Power
Punchbowl News:
1/2/26 ☀️ AM: … Today is the last day of Congress' winter break.
Discussion: Mercury News
New York Times:
The Full Transcript of Zohran Mamdani's Inauguration Speech  —  New York's new mayor challenged his supporters and his opponents to make the city better, and to hold him to account.  —  The following is a transcript of Mayor Zohran Mamdani's remarks at his inauguration, as recorded by The New York Times.
RELATED:
Pamela Herd / Can We Still Govern?:
Understanding Mamdani's Vision
Discussion: CNN and New York Times
Lisa Needham / Public Notice:
The blame for alleged fraud in Minnesota belongs to conservatives  —  🆕 🕛 PN 2026 SPECIAL 🆕 🕛 Click the button below to sign up for an annual paid subscription for the special price of $40 ⬇️  —  The internet is currently awash in right-wing propaganda …
Tom Phillips / The Guardian:
Maduro urges Trump to abandon ‘illegal warmongering’ and start ‘serious talks’  —  Venezuelan president warns of a ‘forever war’ similar to Iraq after US counterpart claims first land strike on dock  —  The Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro, has urged Donald Trump to abandon his …
RELATED:
Jack Ewing / New York Times:
Tesla Car Sales Dropped 9% in 2025, Falling Behind China's BYD  —  As the largest maker of electric vehicles in the United States, Tesla suffered more than other carmakers from the elimination of federal incentives.  —  Tesla has lost its status as the world's biggest seller of electric vehicles …
US Department of Justice:
FBI Disrupts Alleged New Year's Eve Attack, Man Charged with Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS  —  For Immediate Release  —  Today, the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina announced that a Mint Hill …
RELATED:
Reuters:
US says it thwarted potential ISIS-inspired New Year's Eve attack in North Carolina
Max Rego / The Hill:
Ex-Cheney physician says Trump aspirin regimen ‘makes no sense’  —  Dr. Jonathan Reiner, cardiologist to the late former Vice President Dick Cheney, dismissed President Trump's aspirin regimen Thursday.  —  The president told the Wall Street Journal that he takes a larger dose of the pain reliever …
RELATED:
Ed Mazza / HuffPost:
‘Makes No Sense To Me’: CNN Doctor Reveals ‘Hazard’ Of Trump's Health Revelation
Nicholas Wu / Politico:
‘Mighty mad’: Democrats prepare to harness public anger over expired Obamacare subsidies … “The public now gets that the subsidies are what's keeping health care costs down,” said Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.).  “I think the public's angry.  So I think they will blame the party in charge.”
RELATED:
Io Dodds / The Independent:
Elon Musk indicates he's ‘going all in’ on financing the GOP ahead of the midterms: ‘America is toast if the radical left wins’  —  After faltering in his plan to found a new ‘America Party’, the world's richest person is returning to the GOP fold  —  In the aftermath of his spectacular falling …
Adrian Carrasquillo / The Bulwark:
Scoop: ICE Plans to Descend on Phoenix  —  ALTHOUGH DONALD TRUMP'S IMMIGRATION AGENDA is becoming less and less popular with voters, the president has shown no interest in slowing it down or scaling it back in the new year.  —  In fact, the federal crackdown is likely to only grow in scope and intensity, as Reuters reported.
Discussion: Joe.My.God.
Mark Hertling / The Bulwark:
What ‘Regime Change’ in Venezuela Would Really Mean  —  It's not clear the administration has settled on a goal, much less considered the consequences.  —  AS THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION INCREASES military pressure on the Maduro regime in Venezuela, a debate has emerged about whether …
Ben Berkowitz / Axios:
Trump's wealth grew in 2025, but his investors took lumps  —  Retail investors had the chance in 2025 to put their money directly on Donald Trump, in a way unlike any American presidency in history.  — A couple of those bets didn't work out so well.
Discussion: Daily Mail and Raw Story
Gabe Cohen / CNN:
Exclusive: DHS begins slashing FEMA disaster response staff as 2026 begins  —  The Trump administration is abruptly cutting dozens of staff who are at the forefront of disaster response and recovery at the Federal Emergency Management Agency this week, according to internal emails obtained by CNN and sources familiar with the plan.
 
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of memeorandum at 4:00 PM ET, January 2, 2026.

View the current page or another snapshot:


 
 See Also: 
memeorandum: site main
memeorandum River: reverse chronological memeorandum
memeorandum Mobile: for phones
memeorandum Leaderboard: memeorandum's top sources
 
 Subscribe: 
memeorandum RSS feed
memeorandum on Mastodon
 
 
 More Items: 
Amanda Marcotte / Salon:
Marjorie Taylor Greene bets the Republican troll era is over
Discussion: Raw Story
Filip Timotija / The Hill:
SBA says it has suspended ‘6,900 Minnesota borrowers’ over suspected fraud
Steve Benen / MS NOW:
Trump gives away the game on his motivations for the first vetoes of his second term
Discussion: NewsMax.com, HuffPost and KUSA-TV
Caroline Vakil / The Hill:
Talarico brings in nearly $7M with latest haul for Texas Senate race
Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Trump says he ‘aced’ third cognitive exam in defense of ‘perfect’ health
Steven J. Horowitz / Variety:
Will Smith Sued by Tour Violinist for Sexual Harassment and Wrongful Termination
 Earlier Items: 
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
George Clooney Punches Back After Trump Attacks Him: “We Have to Make America Great Again. We'll Start in November”
Lauren Fedor / Financial Times:
US retreats from Donald Trump's Italian pasta tariffs
Jennifer Rubin / The Contrarian:
The Worst Foreign Policy Blunders of 2025
Patrick Djordjevic / The Hill:
EPA urged to classify abortion drugs as pollutants
Andrew Prokop / Vox:
Elon Musk created a monster that's tearing the right apart
Stephen Fowler / NPR:
With few Epstein files released, conspiracy theories flourish and questions remain
Discussion: Raw Story