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Trump’s Own Mortgages Revealed to Be What He Calls Fraud The president has done the exact same thing he’s claimed is “crooked” and “deceitful” when his political opponents do it, records show. President Donald Trump’s crusade against political foes he claims have all coincidentally committed mortgage fraud may have just boomeranged and hit him square in the face.Records show Trump himself has done the very thing he has now routinely claimed constitutes “fraud” when it’s done by his critics, according to a new ProPublica investigation. Years before his rise to the White House, the president signed two mortgages weeks apart, declaring each as his principal residence, and then renting out both, according to a report. It’s the same move he branded as “deceitful and potentially criminal” when it was done by a political opponent he has since targeted. Records show Trump, 79, signed a mortgage on a “Bermuda style” Palm Beach house in December 1993 and, seven weeks later, a second on a neighboring seven-bedroom property—attesting that both would be his principal residence. The outlet found contemporary ads and spoke to the wife of his longtime real estate agent. She said the homes were marketed as rentals “from the beginning,” while there’s no evidence Trump lived in either, with legal papers from that period listing Trump Tower as his address. Mortgage-law experts told ProPublica that claiming multiple principal-residence loans is not illegal on its own—but the conduct matches what Trump and his loyalists at the Justice Department have labeled as fraud. “He’s going to either need to fire himself or refer himself to the Department of Justice,” said Suffolk University’s Kathleen Engel. A White House spokesperson told ProPublica, “President Trump’s two mortgages you are referencing are from the same lender. There was no defraudation. It is illogical to believe that the same lender would agree to defraud itself.” The spokesperson added that “this is yet another desperate attempt by the Left wing media to disparage President Trump with false allegations,” and said, “President Trump has never, or will ever, break the law.” The White House did not answer questions from ProPublica about other records—such as loan applications—that might show what Trump told the lender or whether any exceptions were granted. The investigation follows the administration’s crackdown led by Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte, 37, who has said “two primary residences” should be referred for criminal investigation. Pulte’s office helped drive a criminal referral against New York Attorney General Letitia James, 67, over her mortgage. That case was dismissed, and a grand jury last week refused to re-indict her. Trump has also targeted Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, 61, declaring he would fire her over alleged “dual primary” loans. Cook denies wrongdoing and is fighting removal. ProPublica previously found multiple Trump Cabinet officials also signed mortgages naming more than one “primary” home. In Palm Beach, Trump’s two Woodbridge Road properties—bought with Merrill Lynch loans of $525,000 and $1.2 million—carried standard clauses requiring occupancy as a principal residence within 60 days for at least a year unless the lender agreed otherwise. Rental listings show the larger home offered at $3,000 per day in 1997, while another advert touted “Mar-a-Lago privileges.” Bank of America, which now owns Merrill Lynch, declined to discuss the specifics. Even if any violation occurred, the mid-1990s loans are long since paid, and the statute of limitations has run out, the outlet notes. The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-own-mortgages-revealed-to-be-what-he-calls-fraud/? ps:Of course he'd accuse certain people with fraud, he knows all about about fraud!!

Bondi Busted Promoting What Trump Thinks Should Be Punishable by Death Pam Bondi highlighted that U.S. military personnel are required to refuse illegal orders. President Donald Trump threatened to execute a group of Democratic lawmakers over behavior his very own Attorney General Pam Bondi was actively promoting just last year—as part of an effort to keep him out of jail, according to the New York Times. “Military officers are required not to carry out unlawful orders,” Bondi wrote, in no uncertain terms, in a Supreme Court filing in March 2024, the NYT reported. “The military would not carry out a patently unlawful order from the president to kill nonmilitary targets,” she went on. “Indeed, service members are required not to do so.” She filed her “friend of the court brief,” the NYT reports, in her capacity as an attorney for conservative think tank America First Policy Institute, in March 2024, before Trump was re-elected in November 2024. The document came in support of Trump’s appeal to the Supreme Court for immunity from prosecution over allegations of election interference. Last month, Trump responded to a video posted by six Democratic lawmakers, reminding U.S. military service members they should disobey illegal orders, by claiming they’d committed “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOUR, punishable by DEATH!” Under Bondi’s watch, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has requested interviews with those officials, and is reportedly considering an official probe. The Daily Beast has reached out to the DoJ for comment.The attorney general’s comments in her brief, which would appear to counter the basis of both the president’s and the FBI’s response to the video, came as part of a legal campaign to keep Trump out of jail for his efforts to undermine the 2020 election. Bondi’s filing pertained specifically to a statement from one of Trump’s lawyers, D. John Sauer, who’d told an appeals court during earlier arguments that hypothetically, a president who’d ordered the military to kill a political rival should not be subject to criminal prosecution, the NYT reported. After Sauer’s comments apparently went down poorly with the judge, Bondi intervened to argue the hypothetical had been irrelevant because military officials would likely have disobeyed that order anyway. “A president cannot order an elite military unit to kill a political rival, and the members of the military are required not to carry out such an unlawful order,” she said. “It would be a crime to do so.” Trump won the case. https://www.thedailybeast.com/attorney-general-pam-bondi-busted-for-blatant-hypocrisy-over-illegal-military-orders-furor/?

Trump Blasts ‘Jilted’ MTG in ‘60 Minutes’ Meltdown The president slammed his former MAGA ally after her sit-down interview. President Donald Trump went on a blistering tirade against his former MAGA bestie Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene after she criticized him on 60 Minutes and slammed Paramount for her appearance on the program. The outgoing GOP congresswoman sat down with veteran journalist Lesley Stahl, where she talked about the threats she has received for going head-to-head with Trump and her disillusionment with MAGA. Trump fired back with a long grievance-riddled post on Truth Social Monday morning where he ranted about Greene, Stahl and 60 Minutes’ parent company. “The only reason Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Brown (Green turns Brown under stress!) went BAD is that she was JILTED by the President of the United States (Certainly not the first time she has been jilted!),” Trump wrote. “Too much work, not enough time, and her ideas are, NOW, really BAD.” The president’s rage at the 51-year-old congresswoman comes after she surprised many by tangling with Trump over the release of the Epstein files. Last month, she surprised many by announcing her resignation from Congress in January. On the program Sunday night, the Georgia lawmaker described herself not as MAGA but “America First.” “She sort of reminds me of a Rotten Apple! Marjorie is not AMERICA FIRST or MAGA, because nobody could have changed her views so fast, and her new views are those of a very dumb person,” Trump wrote in his post. The president did not just melt down over Greene appearing on 60 Minutes, but also attacked Stahl. He called the longtime correspondent“ washed up” and “Trump hating.” Trump argued Stahl “interviewed a very poorly prepared Traitor, who in her confusion made many really stupid statements,” but he wrote that wasn’t his biggest issue. “My real problem with the show, however, wasn’t the low IQ traitor, it was that the new ownership of 60 Minutes, Paramount, would allow a show like this to air,” Trump wrote. He declared the new owners of the media company better than the old ownership. In July, the Federal Communications Commission greenlit the $8 billion merger between Paramount and Skydance Media. The new Paramount Skydance is led by CEO David Ellison, son of Oracle billionaire and Trump ally Larry Ellison. The president has repeatedly praised the Ellisons in recent months as his supporters and declared they would make the right decisions when it came to CBS. In his post on Monday, Trump claimed Paramount just paid him “millions of Dollars for FAKE REPORTING about your favorite President, ME!” However, Paramount Global agreed to pay $16 million to settle the lawsuit brought by Trump over 60 Minutes’ editing of its interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 election, not over “fake reporting” on Trump. The settlement was reached as the media giant needed federal approval of its merger, but it did not include an apology or CBS admitting fault. Trump on Monday demanded a “complete and total APOLOGY” from Stahl and 60 Minutes for comments she made to him in 2020 about not covering the Hunter Biden laptop story. It was similar to the demand Trump made in October 2024 after he suddenly backed out of a sit-down with 60 Minutes ahead of the 2024 election. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-blasts-jilted-mtg-in-60-minutes-meltdown/?

Paramount goes hostile in bid for Warner Bros., challenging a $72 billion offer by Netflix NEW YORK (AP) — Paramount on Monday launched a hostile takeover offer for Warner Bros. Discovery, initiating a potentially bruising battle with rival bidder Netflix to buy the company behind HBO, CNN and a famed movie studio along with the power to reshape much of the nation’s entertainment landscape. https://apnews.com/article/paramount-warner-bros-discovery-netflix-trump-347540ae7a4f83fced833fe882f25680?

Trump is giving farmers $12B in aid. They’ve been hit hard by his trade war with China WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced a $12 billion farm aid package Monday — a boost to farmers who have struggled to sell their crops while getting hit by rising costs after the president raised tariffs on China as part of a broader trade war. https://apnews.com/article/trump-farmers-aid-07328f260d1ebf26c2bfde79b426230e? ps:Repeat of his first term when he had to bailout farmers!!!!!

Report alleges ‘culture of abuse and violence’ at Panhandle prison A nearly two-year investigation into a Panhandle state prison has concluded that overcrowding and understaffing has resulted in a high concentration of complaints by inmates about excessive force and staff misconduct. https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/12/07/report-alleges-culture-of-abuse-and-violence-at-panhandle-prison/?

Why Troops Are Blowing Whistle on Trump: Senator Elissa Slotkin says troops and intel officers are quietly raising alarms about illegal orders. One of the Democratic senators whom Donald Trump said should be executed for sedition isn’t backing down. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, one of six prominent Democratic lawmakers and former service members who appeared in a video urging U.S. troops and intelligence officers to reject any unlawful commands, said on The Daily Beast Podcast that military personnel have expressed anguish to her over carrying out questionable orders since then. “Certainly, since we made the video, people have been finding their way to us just to say, hey, we’ve been expressing this angst amongst ourselves,” the Michigan lawmaker said. “This was not coming out of nowhere.” The lawmakers remind service members in the video that they took an oath to uphold the Constitution and can refuse to follow illegal orders under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The group includes Slotkin and Sen. Mark Kelly, as well as Reps. Chrissy Houlahan, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander, and Jason Crow. “Know that we have your back, because now, more than ever, the American people need you,” the lawmakers said. Though they didn’t specify which orders they were referring to, the video was released amid intensifying scrutiny over the president’s deployment of federal troops in American cities and the Trump administration’s strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean. Following the video, Trump, 79, raged that the group should be punished by death in a Truth Social tirade: “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” he wrote.But Slotkin said she’s undeterred. “I just feel very strongly that one of the worst things that can happen from any administration, but from this one in particular, is that American citizens doubt their military,” she said. Citizens and lawmakers aren’t the only ones raising alarms, Slotkin added. Just last week, she recounted, a young Guardsman approached her after an event in Washington, D.C. “This young man who works here in Washington came up to me, pulled me aside…said, I just wanted to thank you,” she said. The Guardsman told her he and other intel officers worry they may be ordered to conduct “Intel collection and exploitation inside the United States.” “That the skills we learn to protect against foreign adversaries…we’re now maybe gonna be asked to do that inside a detention facility or inside somewhere in the United States with American citizens,” Slotkin said. “He said everyone was talking about it. That was the conversation quietly in the corners of the training.” The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and the Defense Department for comment. The worry comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is in crisis mode after a blatantly illegal strike on a boat in the Caribbean was highlighted in a Washington Post report last week. Two people survived the initial blast on Sept. 2 and were clinging to the burning vessel when a second strike hit—an incident that, if true, potentially amounts to a war crime. The strike was reportedly carried out under direct orders from Hegseth to “kill everybody.” “This fall, it really turned and it became a lot of people who were involved in the operations around the Caribbean asking…..’Hey, I’m not sure, I don’t know if this is legal,” Slotkin said. This week, members of Congress raised grave concern after viewing the video of the Sept. 2 boat strikes. Slotkin, who did not see the video, stressed it’s not a partisan issue. “All I want is basic oversight,” she said. “I’m looking for them to do oversight over something that’s fundamental to who we are as Americans.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-troops-are-blowing-whistle-on-trump-senator/?

Donald Trump Threatens to Intervene in Hollywood Megadeal The president has admitted the multibillion-dollar Netflix deal “could be a problem.” Donald Trump has threatened to personally intervene in Netflix’s $82 billion megadeal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. On Friday, Netflix agreed to pay $82.7 billion for Warner Bros., an offer that beat out bids by both Paramount and Comcast; however, the mammoth deal still needs to be approved by regulators. During a red carpet appearance at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington D.C., on Sunday, Trump confirmed he had met with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos at the White House last week ahead of the winning bid. “That’s gotta go through a process, and we’ll see what happens,” Trump said. “Netflix is a great company, they’ve done a phenomenal job. Ted is a fantastic man, I have a lot of respect for him... but it’s a lot of market share, so we’ll have to see what happens.” The Netflix deal will give the company, which began as a DVD rental business, the Warner Bros. library and its intellectual property, which includes DC Studios comic creations, the Harry Potter franchise, HBO dramas including Game of Thrones, and over 100 years of films from the studio. However, there has been backlash about how much market share the deal will give Netflix and what it will mean for the future of cinemas. Republican Sen. Mike Lee, who heads the antitrust subcommittee, said that the deal “should send alarm to antitrust enforcers around the world.” Lee posted on X, “This potential transaction, if it were to materialize, would raise serious competition questions—perhaps more so than any transaction I’ve seen in about a decade... increasing Netflix’s dominance this way would mean the end of the Golden Age of streaming for content creators and consumers." Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren called the deal “an anti-monopoly nightmare.” “A Netflix-Warner Bros. would create one massive media giant with control of close to half of the streaming market — threatening to force Americans into higher subscription prices and fewer choices over what and how they watch, while putting American workers at risk,” Warren said in a statement. “Under Donald Trump, the antitrust review process has also become a cesspool of political favoritism and corruption,” she added. “The Justice Department must enforce our nation’s anti-monopoly laws fairly and transparently — not use the Warner Bros. deal review to invite influence-peddling and bribery.” On Sunday, Trump was directly asked if Netflix “should be allowed” to buy Warner. “Well, that’s the question,” Trump said, before indicating he would be personally involved in the negotiations over the deal’s approval. “They have a very big market share, and when they have Warner Bros., you know, that share goes up a lot. So I don’t know. That’s going to be for some economists to tell… And I’ll be involved in that decision too, but they have a very big market share.” Bloomberg first reported Sarandos spent an hour with Trump at the White House, where Trump said Warner Bros. should sell to the highest bidder. The Netflix boss said the company was not an all-powerful monopoly and had survived shedding subscribers in the past few years. The publication reported Sarandos left the meeting believing he would not face immediate opposition from the White House. On Sunday, Trump was asked if Sarandos had made “any guarantees” during their meeting about the merger if it was approved by regulators. “No, no, not at all,” Trump insisted. “He came up. He was in the Oval Office last week. I have a lot of respect for him.” Trump said Sarandos had “done one of the greatest jobs in the history of movies and other things,” before comparing him to Louis B. Meyer, who co-founded the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios in 1924. “I mean, he had a company that was very troubled seven or eight years ago and he took it over and he really done a legendary job,” Trump said of Sarandos. The president then circled back to the scope of the deal, admitting, “It is a big market share. There’s no question about it. It could be a problem.” During a Friday conference call with Wall Street analysts, Sarandos said Netflix’s reputation had previously been for building content, not buying it. “We already have incredible shows and movies and a great business model, and it’s working for talent, it’s working for consumers, and it’s working for shareholders,” he said. “But this is a rare opportunity and it’s going to help us achieve our mission to entertain the world and to bring people together through great stories.” However, Cinema United, the largest exhibition trade organization in the world, spoke up for theatre owners. “The proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. by Netflix poses an unprecedented threat to the global exhibition business,” said its president and CEO, Michael O’Leary. The organisation said in a statement 25 percent of the annual domestic box office would be at risk if Warner Bros. movies go direct to streaming. Former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar said he could not think of “a more effective way to reduce competition in Hollywood than selling WBD to Netflix.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-threatens-to-intervene-in-hollywood-mega-deal/?

Immigrants ‘Plucked Out’ of Oath Ceremony Lines After Trump Order The Trump administration has reportedly canceled the naturalization ceremonies of immigrants from certain countries. Immigrants who are one step away from American citizenship have suddenly found themselves in limbo after President Donald Trump ordered a fresh immigration crackdown. All over the country, the Trump administration has been canceling naturalization ceremonies of people from certain countries in the wake of the murder of a National Guardsman in Washington, D.C., according to reports by WGBH and The New York Times. Project Citizenship, a nonprofit that works with immigrants in Massachusetts and New England, said that this month alone, 21 clients have received notices about the cancellation of their oath ceremonies, the last step in the lengthy process of becoming a U.S. citizen. “One of our clients said that she had gone to her oath ceremony because she hadn’t received the cancellation notice in time,” Project Citizenship executive director Gail Breslow told WGBH. “She showed up as scheduled, and when she arrived, officers were asking everyone what country they were from, and if they said a certain country, they were told to step out of line and that their oath ceremonies were canceled.” “People are devastated and they’re frightened,” she added. “People were plucked out of line. They didn’t cancel the whole ceremony.” Last month, Trump intensified scrutiny of people from 19 countries deemed to be “of concern” after 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal—an Afghan immigrant granted asylum in April under the current administration—was identified as the suspect in the shooting of two National Guardsmen in D.C., which killed Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and injured Andrew Wolfe, 24. The countries on that list include Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Cuba, Burundi, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. Joseph Edlow, director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, vowed in a statement after the D.C. shooting to “ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.” “Effective immediately, I am issuing new policy guidance that authorizes USCIS officers to consider country-specific factors as significant negative factors when reviewing immigration requests,” he said. “American lives come first.” An internal guidance at the USCIS obtained by CBS News instructed staff to “stop final adjudication on all cases,” including “all form types and making any final decisions (approvals, denials) as well as completing any oath ceremonies.” The Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of USCIS, confirmed in a statement to the Daily Beast that it “paused all adjudications for aliens from high-risk countries.” “The pause will allow for a comprehensive examination of all pending benefit requests for aliens from the designated high-risk countries. The safety of the American people always come first,” a DHS spokesperson said. The order halting naturalization ceremonies has stirred widespread confusion among immigrants and their lawyers, who are hard-pressed to provide answers. “There is no time frame—nobody knows how long this is going to be,” immigration lawyer Teresa Coles-Davila told The Times. “Literally, no one knows what is happening.” Rosanna, a student in Texas who was born in Libya and holds Canadian citizenship, told the outlet that she was looking forward to receiving an email setting the date for her oath ceremony but instead got a cancellation notice. “It’s definitely disappointing. Having come from a third-world country, it’s just never-ending disappointment,” she said. “I definitely feel unwelcome here.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/immigrants-plucked-out-of-oath-ceremony-lines-after-trump-order/?

Kennedy Center Boss Fumes After Trump Suck-Up Sessions Exposed Ric Grenell lashes out after a report said Kennedy Center board meetings have turned into Trump loyalty rituals. Donald Trump’s Kennedy Center chief has furiously denied a report that board meetings at the D.C. arts venue now resemble Cabinet-style praise sessions for the president.Trump, 79, took over as chair of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts board this year and installed loyalist Ric Grenell, 59, as interim president after ousting longtime boss Deborah Rutter. Trump has also hinted at the possibility of renaming the venue after himself. But a CNN article published on Sunday has given a glimpse behind the curtain about what goes on during Kennedy Center board meetings attended by Trump. CNN White House reporter Betsy Klein quotes one attendee as saying that they “now mirror Trump Cabinet meetings, with members going around the room to ‘talk about how great and visionary the president is and how he has so much class and taste.’” The outlet’s chief media analyst, Brian Stelter, honed in on that passage, quoting it in a post on X. Grenell hit back hours later, posting: “This isn’t remotely true. We’ve never done this. Stelter is so comfortable making stuff up.” In the replies, it was pointed out to Grenell that Stelter hadn’t even written the piece, with others saying his reaction suggested the story was “100% true.” CNN also described how Trump has moved the next trustees’ gathering to Palm Beach, Florida, nearly 1,000 miles from the D.C. venue, and has pushed a “Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture” at what he has called the “Trump Kennedy Center,” vowing it is “not going to be woke.” The report detailed a sharp slide in ticket sales, including about 10,000 seats sold for this year’s Nutcracker across seven shows, compared with roughly 15,000 in earlier seasons, leaving the production about $500,000 short of its $1.5 million revenue target. Internal data revealed by CNN also showed the center handing out about five times more complimentary tickets than in the previous four years. Artists including Issa Rae, Renée Fleming, Shonda Rhimes, Ben Folds, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater have walked away from the center, according to CNN. Former social impact chief Marc Bamuthi Joseph said leadership would ask if performers were trans and “make the conditions impossible for trans artists and gay artists to safely come,” adding that by driving away companies like Alvin Ailey, “You’re literally taking the culture out of the place.” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, 70, has opened a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee inquiry into Grenell’s stewardship, alleging in a letter that the center is “being used as a slush fund and private club for Trump’s friends and political allies,” and citing documents that claim steeply discounted rentals for NewsNation and the American Conservative Union Foundation and “free and exclusive use” of the complex for FIFA—which handed Trump its inaugural peace prize at the World Cup draw at the center last week. Kennedy Center spokeswoman Roma Daravi defended the finances, saying the Trump-led team had raised $131 million, and touting big corporate donations. A source told CNN that The Nutcracker alone could never cover the venue’s huge union and production costs. It’s not the first time Grenell has lost his head on social media in the past few weeks. Last month, he had a furious reaction to Whitehouse’s corruption probe that saw him accuse critics of “Trump derangement syndrome” and boast of a “whopping $117 MILLION” in fundraising. Then last week, he erupted on X after The New York Times published a story on plunging ticket sales. The Daily Beast contacted the Kennedy Center and the White House for comment. A Kennedy Center spokesperson called CNN’s source’s claims “lies.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/kennedy-center-boss-ric-grenell-fumes-after-donald-trump-suck-up-sessions-exposed/?

MTG Reveals Trump’s Mean Private Message After Death Threats The Republican has revealed how the president reacted to her cry for help. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has revealed alarming details of a message Donald Trump sent her after she alerted the president about death threats to her son. Greene, 51, shared details of her falling-out with Trump on Sunday’s 60 Minutes. During the interview with Lesley Stahl, Greene shared the consequences of the 79-year-old’s comments labeling her Marjorie “Traitor” Greene after she spoke out against him on issues including the Epstein files. “After President Trump called me a traitor, I got a pipe bomb threat on my house,” Greene told Stahl. “And then I got several direct death threats on my son.” Greene confirmed the “subject line” for the “direct” death threats on her son read “Marjorie Traitor Greene.” She said, “Those were death threats... directly fueled by President Trump.” The once-loyal Trump supporter admitted that after the death threats, she contacted both Vice President JD Vance and the president himself. Greene said Vance replied, saying, “We’ll look into it,” and added that she got a response from Trump that “wasn’t very nice.” She said she preferred to keep the exact conversation private. When pushed by Stahl, Greene expanded by saying of the message from Trump, “It was extremely unkind.” The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment. During the interview, Greene also claimed she has Republican colleagues who ridicule Trump in private but would be too “terrified” to say anything in public. “I watched many of my colleagues go from making fun of him, making fun of how he talks, making fun of me constantly for supporting him, to when he won the primary in 2024, they all started, excuse my language, Lesley, kissing his a--, and decided to put on a MAGA hat for the first time,” said Greene. It was Greene’s first major interview since announcing she plans to resign from office. Greene first took issue with Trump focusing on global issues rather than local concerns. “I have too much self-respect and dignity, love my family way too much, and do not want my sweet district to have to endure a hurtful and hateful primary against me by the President we all fought for, only to fight and win my election while Republicans will likely lose the midterms,” she wrote on social media at the time. The 60 Minutes interview also saw Greene renounce the “MAGA” movement. “Are you MAGA?” Stahl asked. “I’m America First,” Greene replied, adding that “MAGA is President Trump’s phrase. That’s his, his political policies. I call myself America First.” She went against the administration’s talking points again on Sunday by refuting the president’s claim that affordability is a Democrat “hoax.” She also discussed her problems with Trump’s international agenda, rather than fixing issues at home. “For an America First president the No. 1 focus should have been domestic policy and it wasn’t,” Greene told Stahl. “Once we fix everything here, then, fine, we’ll talk to the rest of the world.” The Georgia congresswoman also called out Trump’s focus on cryptocurrency and listed other complaints about his priorities. “He passed a crypto bill that helped out all the crypto donors. He has served Israel’s interest, even attacking Iran,” she said. “He has served Big Pharma—he didn’t take away the COVID vaccines that we want to see taken away. So those are the areas that are still getting everything they want, while the people, we’re still out here saying, ‘We wanna see action on areas for the American people, not for the major industries and the big donors.’” At one point, Stahl and Greene also clashed after the Republican was pressed on her “inflammatory” rhetoric. It began after Greene said Washington currently has “the most toxic political culture” and that it is “not helping the American people.” Stahl poked back, telling Greene, “But you contributed to that. You, you were out there pounding, insulting people.” Greene clapped back, saying “Lesley, you’ve contributed to it as well with your...” “Me?” Stahl, 83, said. “Yes, you’re accusatory, just like you did just then,” Greene replied. “I know you’re accusing me, but I’m smiling,” Stahl said, before Greene interjected, “You’re accusing me! But we don’t have to accuse one another.” Stahl tried to stay on topic. “I want you to respond to what you have done in terms of insulting people, yelling at people, and then saying...” Greene interjected again: “I’d like for you to respond for that.” “I don’t insult people,” Stahl concluded. “You just, you do in the way you question,” Greene shot back. “And you are, you’re accusing me right now.” Ahead of the 60 Minutes interview, Greene made a lengthy X post where she claimed her office had reported 773 death threats to Capitol Police since 2021, which does not include “countless” online threats. “And through all of this, I was never given a security detail, like the secret service details the President, VP, Cabinet, Speaker, Majority Leader, Whip, Minority Leader and others have,” she wrote. “Not once.” She also shared receipts of the death threats she forwarded to Trump, Vance, and FBI Chief Kash Patel, as referenced in the 60 Minutes episode. “All of the death threats came from the ‘left’ until I stood with the Epstein Survivors, woman who were raped as teenagers, abused, and trafficked by rich powerful men, and that’s when President Trump turned on me and called me a ’traitor’ and then new death threats and harassments came from the ‘right’ or somewhere,“ Greene said. She added she had sent the threats against her son to Trump and that “he responded with harsh accusatory replies and zero sympathy.” “I also sent these threats to Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Deputy Chief James Blair and received no response, nothing.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-reveals-trumps-mean-private-message-after-death-threats/?

Trump, 79, Cornered on Plot to Rename Kennedy Center After Himself The president doesn’t sound like he’s joking anymore. President Donald Trump is sounding increasingly serious about adding his name to the Kennedy Center. After months of “joking” about renaming the iconic D.C. arts venue after himself, Trump clarified that a name change wasn’t only up to him—but suggested that the center’s hand-picked board, which he leads, was considering it. Fielding softball questions on Sunday night ahead of the newly MAGAfied center’s annual ceremony honoring some of Trump’s favorite performers, the president was asked if the venue will eventually be named the Trump Kennedy Center. “I hear that, but I don’t know,” he replied. “And that’s not up to me, that’s up to the board. The board makes that decision. We have a very prestigious board. If you look at the names—I don’t think there is a board like it.” Trump purged the Kennedy Center’s bipartisan board of trustees in February and took over as chairman of the new board, announcing he would be actively involved in the center’s programming, and installing loyalist Ric Grenell as interim executive director. The list of trustees now reads like a who’s who of the president’s supporters in business and media—and includes many of his own officials and their spouses. Attorney General Pam Bondi, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino are all trustees, along with Second Lady Usha Vance and Allison Lutnick, who is married to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. On the media side, Fox News hosts Maria Bartiromo and Laura Ingraham are both trustees, as is country singer Lee Greenwood. The beleaguered arts venue has since been plagued by boycotts, protests, and an embarrassing drop in ticket sales. In the meantime, the president has been openly fantasizing since at least August about renaming the Kennedy Center in his own honor. “GREAT Nominees for the TRUMP/KENNEDY CENTER, whoops, I mean, KENNEDY CENTER, AWARDS,” he wrote Aug. 12 in a Truth Social post. On Thursday, he made a similar remark during an event at the Institute of Peace, which the State Department had renamed the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace a day earlier. “You have a big event on Friday at the Trump Kennedy Center. Oh, excuse me, at the Kennedy Center,” Trump said. “Pardon me, such a terrible mistake,” he added as the audience laughed. His remarks on Sunday, however, were offered with a completely straight face. About 10 minutes later, another reporter asked Trump if he could imagine receiving the Kennedy Center honors next year. “That’s an interesting one. I haven’t thought about that. Yeah, I think I’m going to nominate myself for next year,” he said while everyone laughed. The Kennedy Center was commissioned as a “national cultural center” in 1958 under President Dwight Eisenhower. His successor, President John F. Kennedy, worked hard to raise funds for its construction after taking office in 1961, but was assassinated in November 1963 before that started. The following year, President Lyndon Johnson, signed a bill to rename the future center after the slain president to honor his memory and his commitment to the arts. Construction of the sprawling building began in 1966 and it was finally opened in 1971, with Richard Nixon in the presidential box Trump now calls his own. The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-79-cornered-on-plot-to-rename-kennedy-center-after-himself/? ps:What a Vain human being!!!!!

👋 Good morning! Welcome back, friends. In today's edition: The CFP field is set, NFL Sunday scoreboard, Miami wins MLS Cup, Norris wins F1 title, Kent to Cooperstown, "Google me," and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🏈 SELECTION SUNDAY THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF IS SET (Yahoo Sports) The 12-team College Football Playoff bracket was finalized on Sunday. Shockingly, not everyone is happy. The controversy: Notre Dame was left out of the field in favor of Miami, who had been ranked behind them for every iteration of the CFP rankings prior to Sunday. How did the Hurricanes leapfrog the Irish despite neither team playing a game? It came down to head-to-head. With BYU losing in the Big 12 title game, there was no longer a buffer between Notre Dame and Miami, allowing the committee to prioritize the Hurricanes' win over the Irish back in August. After being snubbed, Notre Dame says it won't play a bowl game. Consider it a sign of the times: it's playoff or bust for the top programs now. What they're saying: "There is no explanation that could possibly be given to explain the outcome," Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua told Yahoo Sports. "Any rankings or show prior to this last one is an absolute joke and a waste of time." In an interesting wrinkle, as part of a memorandum of understanding signed by CFP officials last spring, Notre Dame will be assured of making the playoff if it is ranked in the top 12 starting next year, Bevacqua tells Yahoo Sports. So if this year's circumstances unfolded next year, the final at-large team (Miami) would have been automatically bumped from the field for No. 11 Notre Dame. Looking ahead: Duke's win in the ACC title game opened the door for both Tulane and James Madison to make the playoff, where they'll be significant underdogs. No. 9 Alabama (-1.5) at No. 8 Oklahoma No. 10 Miami (+3.5) at No. 7 Texas A&M No. 11 Tulane (+16.5) at No. 6 Ole Miss No. 12 JMU (+21.5) at No. 5 Oregon First-round byes: No. 1 Indiana, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 Texas Tech Good read: CFP committee sends a message by leaving Notre Dame out of the field (Dan Wolken, Yahoo Sports)   🏈 WEEK 14 NFL SUNDAY SCOREBOARD Christian Watson celebrates with fans after scoring a touchdown. (John Fisher/Getty Images) Packers 28, Bears 21 … A late INT helped Green Bay seal the win and take over first place in the NFC North. They'll meet again in Chicago in two weeks. Texans 20, Chiefs 10 … KC's streak of nine straight AFC West titles is officially over, and they're barely alive in the wild-card race. Jaguars 36, Colts 19 … Indianapolis lost its third straight game, and Daniel Jones likely needs season-ending surgery. Not great! Titans 31, Browns 29 … Shedeur Sanders (4 TD) had his breakout game, but fellow rookie Cam Ward got the victory. (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) Steelers 27, Ravens 22 … From "Fire Tomlin" to first place in the AFC North. Amazing what a win over a rival can do. Broncos 24, Raiders 17 … A penalty as time expired led to a meaningless Raiders field goal, and a bad beat for the ages (DEN -7.5). Saints 24, Buccaneers 20 … Tampa Bay (7-6) is now tied with Carolina atop the NFC South, and they play each other twice over the next month. Rams 45, Cardinals 17 … Matthew Stafford and company put on a show in Arizona, reminding us all why they're Super Bowl favorites. (Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images) Bills 39, Bengals 34 … Joe Burrow's back-to-back INTs sunk Cincinnati in a dazzling shootout with Josh Allen in a snowstorm. Seahawks 37, Falcons 9 … With its seventh loss in eight games, Atlanta (4-9) sealed an eighth straight losing campaign. Vikings 31, Commanders 0 … Minnesota flipped the script after getting shut out last week in Seattle. Dolphins 34, Jets 10 … Miami won its fourth straight game as Tua Tagovailoa improved to 8-0 against the Jets.   📸 THROUGH THE LENS PHOTOS ACROSS AMERICA (Rich Storry/Getty Images) Fort Lauderdale, Florida — Inter Miami beat the Vancouver Whitecaps, 3-1, on Saturday to claim their first MLS championship and provide the signature moment of Lionel Messi's brief but stunningly successful career in North America's top league. More hardware: After winning league MVP for the second straight year, Messi was named MVP of the MLS Cup. He had two assists in the final to give him 15 goal contributions in the playoffs (six goals, nine assists), the most ever in a single postseason. (Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images) Washington, D.C. — The World Cup draw was held on Friday at the Kennedy Center, where Spain (+400 at BetMGM) and England (+600) emerged as the favorites, France drew a tough schedule that includes an opener against Erling Haaland's Norway, and the USMNT caught a break with a favorable draw. Mark your calendars: The Americans open play in Group D against Paraguay in Los Angeles (June 12), then take on Australia in Seattle (June 19) before returning to Los Angeles for their final group stage matchup against either Turkey, Romania, Slovakia or Kosovo (June 25). (Ian Maule/Getty Images) Las Vegas — Petr Yan stunned Merab Dvalishvili on Saturday to reclaim the UFC bantamweight title with one of the most shocking upsets in recent memory, handing the Georgian his first loss since 2018 to snap the longest win streak in bantamweight history (13 in a row). End of an era: UFC 323 marked the final pay-per-view event of the year, if not ever. The MMA promotion is moving from ESPN to Paramount+ beginning next year, with all major events included in the standard subscription rather than put behind an additional paywall.   💯 STAT SHEET BIG NUMBERS (Mario Renzi/Formula 1 via Getty Images) 🏎️ 423-421 Though Max Verstappen (Red Bull) won Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Lando Norris (McLaren) finished third to eke out his first F1 championship by the slimmest of margins, snapping Verstappen's four-year title streak with a 423-421 advantage. Close calls: Norris' two-point victory was the closest since Lewis Hamilton won by a single point in 2008. Overall, in 76 seasons, there have been eight wins by one point and one win by a half-point (Niki Lauda over Alain Prost in 1984). ⚾️ 14 of 16 votes Jeff Kent was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday by the 16-member Contemporary Era Committee. Candidates needed 12 votes for election, and the five-time All-Star second baseman received 14. Who missed the cut? Carlos Delgado got the second-most votes with nine, followed by Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy with six. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Gary Sheffield and Fernando Valenzuela all got fewer than five, which means they'll be ineligible for the next Contemporary Era ballot in 2028. 🏀 28,303 points James Harden (28,303 points) made history on Saturday when he passed Carmelo Anthony (28,289) for 10th place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. LeBron James (first) and Kevin Durant (eighth) are the only active players ahead of him. All-time rankings: Harden is second on the 3-point list (behind only Stephen Curry) and fifth on the free-throw list (Karl Malone, James, Moses Malone, Kobe Bryant). He's also 13th on the assist list — and fourth on the turnover list. (Illinois State Athletics) 🏈 +23.5 Illinois State pulled off a stunning upset over North Dakota State in the second round of the FCS playoffs on Saturday, scoring 15 points in the final three minutes to beat the top-ranked Bison, 29-28, as 23.5-point underdogs. Even that undersells the magnitude of this upset, though. North Dakota State, which came in with a 16-game win streak, hadn't lost a home playoff game since 2016 and was so good this year that they received AP poll votes! Last eight standing: The Redbirds were the only unseeded team to reach the quarterfinals, where they'll play No. 8 UC Davis. The other matchups: No. 2 Montana State vs. No. 7 Stephen F. Austin, No. 3 Montana vs. No. 11 South Dakota and No. 4 Tarleton State vs. No. 12 Villanova. 🏀 81-58 No. 10 Iowa State stormed to an 81-58 victory over No. 1 Purdue on Saturday afternoon, overwhelming the previously undefeated Boilermakers in a way nobody does at Mackey Arena. Historic blowout: The 23-point margin of victory matches the largest-ever home defeat in college basketball history by a top-ranked program. Not since Villanova beat UConn, 96-73, in 1995 has the AP poll's No. 1 team suffered such a one-sided loss. ⚽️ 4 teams left The men's College Cup (Final Four) is set, with No. 15 NC State, No. 16 Furman, Washington and Saint Louis emerging from the 48-team field of an upset-laden tournament that saw five of the top six seeds lose before the third round. Davids vs. Goliath: Saint Louis has won an NCAA men's record 10 national championships, while NC State, Furman and Washington are all seeking their first.   📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: MONDAY, DEC. 8 (Kirby Lee/Getty Images) 🏈 Eagles at Chargers Philly and Los Angeles square off tonight at SoFi Stadium (8:15pm ET, ABC/ESPN) in a matchup of 8-4 teams trending in different directions. The Eagles have lost two straight while the Chargers have won four of five. Injury report: Chargers QB Justin Herbert is questionable after undergoing surgery on his non-throwing hand. If he can't suit up, former No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance will get his first start for the Bolts. ⚽️ Women's College Cup Final Top-seeded Stanford and third-seeded Florida State meet tonight in Kansas City (7pm ESPNU) for an all-ACC national championship. The Cardinal are seeking their fourth title, while the Seminoles are seeking their fifth (and third in five years). More to watch: 🏀 NBA: Suns at Timberwolves (7:30pm, Peacock) … Minnesota (15-8) has won five straight to pass Phoenix (13-10) for sixth in the West. 🏒 NHL: Lightning at Maple Leafs (7:30pm, NHL) … Tampa (16-10-2) has lost three straight but is still clinging to first place in the Atlantic.   🏈 NO PLAYOFFS NFL TRIVIA The Jets last made the playoffs in 2011. (Chris Coduto/Getty Images) The NFL's two longest active playoff droughts were extended on Sunday when the Jets (15 straight seasons) and Falcons (8 straight) were officially eliminated. Question: Which team has the third-longest active playoff drought (7 straight)? Hint: They've never won a Super Bowl (but they've appeared in two). Answer at the bottom.   🏈 "GOOGLE ME" TALKING THE TALK, WALKING THE WALK (Michael Reaves/Getty Images) On Dec. 20, 2023, Indiana's newly-hired football coach Curt Cignetti was asked how he planned to sell his vision to recruits. His response? "It's pretty simple. I win. Google me." Back then, it sounded like bravado. Two years later, it reads like prophecy. Walking the walk: Since his arrival in Bloomington, Cignetti's Hoosiers have authored one of the great turnarounds in college football history. They've gone 24-2, made back-to-back playoffs, and now they're Big Ten champions for the first time since 1967 and the No. 1 team in the land.   Trivia answer: Panthers

Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal For months, the Trump administration has been accusing its political enemies of mortgage fraud for claiming more than one primary residence. https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-mortgage-fraud-florida-principal-residences? Under Former Chemical Industry Insiders, Trump EPA Nearly Doubles Amount of Formaldehyde Considered Safe to Inhale Chemical industry lobbyists have long pushed the government to adopt a less stringent approach to gauging the cancer risk from chemicals, one that would help ease regulations on companies that make or use them. https://www.propublica.org/article/epa-formaldehyde-risk-assessment?

A year after Bashar Assad fled, Syria struggles to heal Monday marks the first anniversary of the ousting of former President Bashar Assad. But as thousands take to the streets to celebrate his fall, Syrians are still struggling to heal after the repressive 50-year rule and a 14-year civil war that killed an estimated half-million people, displaced millions more and left the country battered and divided. Read more. What to know: Assad’s downfall came as a shock, even to the insurgents who unseated him. In late November 2024, groups in the country’s northwest — led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamist rebel group whose then-leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, is now the country’s interim president — launched an offensive on the city of Aleppo, aiming to take it back from Assad’s forces. The economy has remained sluggish, despite the lifting of most Western sanctions. While Gulf countries have promised to invest in reconstruction projects, little has materialized on the ground. The World Bank estimates that rebuilding the country’s war-damaged areas will cost $216 billion. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Syrians celebrate a year after Bashar Assad’s fall, in photos Hamas official says the group ready to discuss ‘freezing or storing’ its weapons As tensions flare on Israel-Lebanon border, war-torn communities struggle to rebuild

Records reviewed by AP detail online monitoring, arrests in New Orleans immigration crackdown State and federal authorities are closely tracking online criticism and protests against the immigration crackdown in New Orleans, monitoring message boards around the clock for threats to agents while compiling regular updates on public “sentiment” surrounding the arrests, according to law enforcement records reviewed by The Associated Press. Read more. What to know: The intelligence gathering comes even as officials have released few details about the first arrests made last week as part of “Catahoula Crunch,” prompting calls for greater transparency from local officials who say they’ve been kept in the dark about virtually every aspect of the operation. Immigration authorities have insisted the sweeps are targeted at “criminal illegal aliens.” But the law enforcement records detail criminal histories for less than a third of the 38 people arrested in the first two days of the operation. Local leaders told the AP those numbers — which law enforcement officials were admonished not to distribute to the media — undermined the stated aim of the roundup. They also expressed concern that the online surveillance could chill free speech as authorities threaten to charge anyone interfering with immigration enforcement.

December 8, 2025 By Sam Sifton Good morning. President Trump was the host of the Kennedy Center Honors last night, an event he once shunned. China’s trade surplus officially surpassed $1 trillion, an excess of exports to imports that no country had ever reached. And Volodymyr Zelensky plans to meet with European leaders today. Let’s start there, with Ukraine, and look at how a corruption scandal is testing the government. Volodymyr Zelensky at a nuclear power plant in western Ukraine. Alex Babenko/Associated Press Corruption chaos “Is it possible to become president and not steal?” Volodymyr Zelensky asked before he became president of Ukraine in 2019. “It’s a rhetorical question, as no one has tried so far.” Now his top advisers are tangled in a graft investigation. It threatens his popularity and his government — all while Russia advances on the battlefield and President Trump pushes a peace plan that favors Moscow. A New York Times investigation details how that happened. The allegations Ukrainian investigators say that a criminal organization led by Zelensky’s former business partner embezzled $100 million from the country’s publicly owned nuclear power company, Energoatom. Even as Ukrainians endured blackouts caused by Russian bombing, members of the president’s inner circle skimmed money from Energoatom contracts. Here’s how the scheme worked: Energoatom awarded contracts to get work done. Then, a criminal group that included Energoatom employees and a former government adviser demanded that the recipients quietly give them up to 15 percent of those funds — basically after-the-fact bribes if they wanted to keep getting paid. New details When the war began, Ukraine’s Western allies wanted to figure out how to send money to Kyiv without seeing it vanish into the pockets of corrupt officials. To protect the money, they insisted that Zelensky’s government allow groups of outside experts, known as supervisory boards, to work as watchdogs. But the Ukrainian government has sabotaged that oversight, allowing corruption to flourish, the Times investigation found. Zelensky’s administration stacked the supervisory boards with loyalists, left seats empty or prevented boards from being set up at all. Leaders in Kyiv even rewrote various company charters to limit oversight, which allowed the government to spend hundreds of millions of dollars without outsiders asking questions about where that money was going. Zelensky has blamed Energoatom’s supervisory board for failing to stop the corruption. But, according to documents and interviews with officials, it was the government itself that prevented the board from doing its job. Zelensky’s role Zelensky himself has not been directly implicated in the corruption. But his policies may have enabled it. After Russia’s invasion, Zelensky relaxed anti-corruption rules in the name of boosting the war effort. He worked with political and business figures he had once called criminals, and, this summer, he tried to curtail the independence of anticorruption investigators as they pursued the case that ultimately implicated his associates. (He reversed course after Ukrainians poured into the streets in the country’s first large antigovernment protests during the war, saying that Zelensky was threatening Ukraine’s fragile democracy.) In the course of the investigation, Zelensky asked for the resignation of two ministers and his powerful chief of staff, Andriy Yermak. A backlash The scandal has thrown Zelensky’s government into chaos. Political opponents are coalescing around the first major anti-Zelensky movement since the Russian invasion began. And Yermak, now gone, had been running the country’s peace negotiations with Trump and others. It’s an awkward situation for Ukraine’s supporters abroad. They saw a smaller nation stand up to a larger bully that wants to tear it apart. It’s difficult to cast the victim as virtuous, though, when its government is engulfed in a corruption scandal. Let’s be clear: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had nothing to do with a domestic graft scandal. But the corruption does make it harder to tell a simplistic story about justice. More on Ukraine Russian troops continue to gain ground in eastern Ukraine. Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to prepare for winter combat, signaling after peace talks that he is not budging from his demands. The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that radiation levels have not increased outside Chernobyl, even though a part of the complex has been malfunctioning since a Russian missile strike earlier this year. COCAINE SUPERHIGHWAY The New York Times Washington has made combating fentanyl a priority. But that has meant cocaine trafficking has surged — especially in Ecuador. People there are living in fear as violence surges and cartels battle one another and the authorities. Ecuador is now the world’s largest exporter of cocaine, even though it’s not a major producer. It’s a superhighway for the drug, my colleague Maria Abi-Habib reports. Click the video above to watch her share what she learned on her trip there. THE LATEST NEWS Asia China’s trade surplus passed $1 trillion for the first time. The country’s weak currency has helped make Chinese products attractive. Thailand launched airstrikes on Cambodian military targets as the countries continued a border dispute. Hong Kong had a near-record low in its election turnout, Reuters reports. Many people are angry about the deadly fire there. Middle East In Gaza City. Saher Alghorra for The New York Times In Gaza, the war weakened Hamas — but the group has become more powerful since Israeli troops withdrew. Many Syrians celebrated the first anniversary of the fall of the Assad regime. The country is grappling with sectarian violence and deep economic challenges. More International News Food aid in Chad. Caitlin Kelly/Associated Press The U.N. is planning to halve its 2026 emergency aid budget, a response to the drastic cuts by the U.S. and European governments to foreign aid. A big social media experiment is starting this week in Australia: A new law intended to keep kids under 16 off social media is going into effect. In Benin, some members of the military attempted a coup. Washington Democrats called for the release of the classified video of deadly boat attacks. Congress is preparing to pass a $900 billion defense bill. The Supreme Court will hear arguments today in a case that challenges the president’s ability to fire independent government officials. Immigration The Trump administration sent a plane carrying Iranian deportees to Tehran for only the second time. Hundreds of people gathered in New York to protest ICE’s separation of a 6-year-old from his father. Restaurants in New Orleans, a city known for its food, are struggling to find workers because of immigration raids. Libraries Two men stole more than a dozen works of art, including eight by Henri Matisse, from a library in São Paulo, Brazil. A water leak damaged hundreds of documents at a library in the Louvre. OPINIONS Can we agree kids don’t need Doritos at school? Lindsey Smith Taillie examines a crisis for children’s health. Here is a column by Ezra Klein on social media regulation. Morning readers: Save on the complete Times experience. Experience all of The Times, all in one subscription — all with this introductory offer. You’ll gain unlimited access to news and analysis, plus games, recipes, product reviews and more. MORNING READS Circus dogs. Amy Lombard for The New York Times Good dogs! Alexis Soloski, who reports on the arts, went backstage at the Big Apple Circus recently to meet the dogs who perform in the show. They have different abilities and different personalities, she writes: “a diva, a sweetheart, a lunatic, a star.” Some even help to shape the act. There’s a bit when a dog goes down a slide backward. “That was a canine improvisation,” Alexis writes. “So is a gag in which a dog pushes down hurdles instead of jumping over them.” Aspen of the East? A developer wants invest $3 billion to to build a new base village at the Killington ski resort in central Vermont, which has never been known for its amenities. But is Vermont ready for that? Instagram-official: Katy Perry posted photos with Justin Trudeau in Japan. People freaked out. Your pick: The Morning’s most-clicked story yesterday was a review of an air wedge, a tiny airbag that can lift an entire fridge. Metropolitan Diary: 13 dinners, 13 records. TODAY’S NUMBER 8 — That’s how many months Dario Vitale was creative director of Versace for, before the Prada Group announced that he was leaving after presenting a single collection. SPORTS N.C.A.A.: Notre Dame opted out of playing a bowl game after missing the College Football Playoff by one spot. N.F.L.: For the first time in nine seasons, the Kansas City Chiefs will not win the AFC West division. The Chiefs also could miss the postseason for the first time since 2014. RECIPE OF THE DAY David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich. Here’s an excellent recipe for pad see ew from the chef and cookbook writer Arnold Myint: stir-fried noodles dressed in a fragrant mixture of soy and oyster sauces. It’s made here with skinless, boneless chicken thighs, but you could prepare it with beef, shrimp, tofu or pork belly. To replicate the smoky char you get in the dish when it’s prepared in a restaurant — or better yet in a Bangkok food stall — use your biggest stainless steel pan, and get it ripping hot. (Turn your stove vent to high and open some windows.) Finish with prik nam som, a chile vinegar you can make yourself in just a couple of minutes. A YEAR OF ART BASELS Art Basel Paris. Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times Our critic Jason Farago attended all four glittery Art Basel fairs this year, in Hong Kong, Switzerland, Paris and, most recently, Miami Beach. (Hey, it’s a living.) What he discovered, beyond some terrific art: Art fairs have not brought about the death of art galleries, as for years dealers and critics complained that they would. They didn’t become Walmarts for well-heeled collectors. In fact, the Basels were filled with galleries and gallerists. And despite all the spectacle, the art came first. More on culture Cast members of “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” who are on the most stylish list. Lyvans Boolaky/Getty Images Who was the most stylish person this year? We picked 67. The list includes Pope Leo and the “West Village girl.” Our critics Jon Caramanica and Lindsay Zoladz selected the 48 best songs of 2025. It’s a delight to explore the list for validations and discovery alike. Also, there’s fantastic wordplay. Here’s Jon on “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” from Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll: “Imagine salvation were a W.W.E. match.” Great news for fans of field guides. (That’s me!) They’re having a moment, and just in time for gift-giving. You might try “Fishes of the Chicago Region” for a pal on the South Side. “California Lizards and How to Find Them” for a cousin in Indio? Definitely “Moths of Western North America” for my in-laws in Oregon! THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Watch the Philadelphia Eagles play the Los Angeles Chargers tonight. They’re both 8-4, so it could be an enjoyably tense evening. Review what the jet-setters at Wirecutter have determined, over multiple long-haul flights, to be the best travel pillow. Stay healthy this winter with our guide to symptoms of cold, flu and Covid — and how to get tested for each. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was thrilling. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Sports Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times and me. See you tomorrow. — Sam Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Host: Sam Sifton Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Brent Lewis, Lara McCoy, Karl Russell News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren

🏠 Mapped: Where houses lost value Data: Zillow. Map: Kavya Beheraj/Axios Over half of U.S. homes (53%) lost value in the past year, Axios' Sami Sparber writes from Zillow data. Why it matters: That's the most since 2012 — but the vast majority of homeowners still "have plenty to feel good about," the real estate site says. Many homeowners bought before prices surged in the early 2020s. As of October, the median home value had jumped roughly 67% since the property was last sold. Just 4% lost value. Keep reading.

🤖 It's not hype Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios We may well be in an AI bubble. But that doesn't mean AI won't transform the way we live and work, Axios AI+ author Ina Fried writes. Why it matters: Bubble talk is everywhere. Mentions of "AI bubble" rose 880% since last quarter's investor calls, according to AlphaSense. "Some parts of AI are probably in a bubble," Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis told Mike at our AI+ Summit in San Francisco last week. But, Hassabis added, "It's not a binary." "I, more than anyone, believe that AI is the most transformative technology ever. So I think in the fullness of time, this is all going to be more than justified," he said. 🫧 Bret Taylor, OpenAI chairman and Sierra co-founder, acknowledged at our AI+ Summit that there "probably is a bubble." But he said businesses, ideas and technologies endure even after bubbles pop: "There's going to be a handful of companies that are truly generational." Such was the case with the dot-com boom. While companies like Pets.com and Webvan were washed away during the bust, Taylor noted that Amazon and Google grew from the rubble.

🚨 Part 2: The economic split Steve Bannon's fear is borne out by the data, Jim and Mike continue. While the AI sector is booming, traditional manufacturing is shedding jobs and losing business, weighed down by the administration's aggressive new tariffs — the opposite of what was supposed to happen. 🥊 Reality check: If AI were a political candidate, it would be getting clobbered. Poll after poll shows deep concern about AI, especially among young people, and particularly among those nervous about getting or keeping a job. Because Trump is the AI president, and because his views are de facto GOP orthodoxy, Republicans are the AI party, even if some like Bannon or Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) are sounding alarms about high AI risk for kids, jobs and safety. 🏛️ Between the lines: The administration has pushed away regulation by trying to block state-level AI rules. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) have pushed language to preempt state action, most recently in the annual defense bill, Axios tech policy reporters Maria Curi and Ashley Gold tell us. Congress has rejected these efforts twice now. So the administration is turning to executive action. The White House's AI action plan aims to slash red tape as part of a hands-off, pro-growth approach. 👀 The intrigue: A leaked executive order that would have made internet grants and other federal funds conditional on limiting AI regulation was put on hold but is back in play, sources tell Axios. Such a move would likely face legal battles and anger MAGA types, who view it as a giveaway to the tech industry. The bottom line: If White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks and others are right that AI juices economic growth and new jobs, Republicans will likely prosper. But if they're wrong, or the benefits come after a few years of pain, it could be politically catastrophic. That's Bannon's big concern.

Trump bets party, presidency on AI Photo illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios; Photo: Oliver Contreras/Pool/Getty Images President Trump is betting his presidency — and the future of the GOP — on lightly regulated, fast expansion of AI, Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen write in a "Behind the Curtain" column. Why it matters: Yes, Trump zigs and zags into countless political and diplomatic issues. But none comes close to his sustained, and surging, all-in alliance with tech billionaires and AI companies reshaping the U.S. economy. He won on the backs of working-class MAGA. But he governs, socializes and surrounds himself with tech swells and moguls. From his inauguration to last month's glitzy White House dinner for the Saudis, Trump basks in the support, gifts and affirmation of the most famous AI leaders and companies in the world. 🖼️ The big picture: Trump has essentially fused Silicon Valley and government in a race to both beat China to all-powerful AI and rescue an economy that's treading water outside of the AI boom. He has rolled back regulations, awarded huge contracts, and downplayed concerns about AI safety or downside risk. Trump has prioritized maintaining U.S. dominance in AI, including a Week 1 executive order, "Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence" ... in July, an AI action plan, "Winning the AI Race" ... and last month, a "Genesis Mission" to "unleash a new age of AI‑accelerated innovation and discovery that can solve the most challenging problems of this century." Tech companies have been partially shielded from some tariffs. AI companies will benefit from foreign investment promised to U.S. cities for chip plants and data centers. And Trump has helped broker deals that benefit U.S. AI companies in the Middle East and elsewhere. On a Joe Rogan podcast this past week, Nvidia co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang said Trump "saved the AI industry." Huang told us Trump responds to his texts at any hour. In Washington meetings, Huang is pushing back against national security objections to Nvidia selling its prized AI chips in China, saying restrictions haven't slowed Chinese AI. The White House argues AI will augment, not replace, workers by making them more productive — and that jobs will be created in manufacturing, construction and energy services as America builds the physical infrastructure to support galloping AI. Kevin Hassett, director of Trump's National Economic Council, said on Fox Business this past week: "The AI economy is moving much faster than the dot-com economy in the '90s. And the coaches [co-pilots] that AI is producing are going to help make a lot of productive workers a heck of a lot of money." 💥 The political risk: Trump is flooring the gas pedal at the very moment some of his most ardent MAGA backers are warning AI could destroy the working-class Americans who brought him to power. The fear is that AI and AI-powered robots will eat vital American jobs before the nation has time to prepare the U.S. workforce for sci-fi-level change. 🎙️ Steve Bannon — host of "War Room," one of the most influential MAGA podcasts — has been privately and publicly lighting up the administration, calling the new tech alliance "crony capitalism" and warning that the "technocratic elite" are building a future threatening the jobs of much of the MAGA base. Bannon told us that catering to "arrogant" Big Tech is a trap for Trump, since such policies will be a loser with his hardcore supporters. "The broligarchs are detested not simply by MAGA but America as a whole — they actually unite the populist left and right," Bannon said. "The tech bros will be the first to jump ship when the midterm fight turns ugly, as surely it will." ⬇️ Column continues below.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY December 08 1980 John Lennon shot John Lennon, a former member of the Beatles, the rock group that transformed popular music in the 1960s, is shot and killed by an obsessed fan in New York City. The 40-year-old artist was entering his luxury Manhattan apartment building when Mark David Chapman shot him four times at close range... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT American Revolution 1775 Americans join forces ahead of the siege of Quebec Arts & Entertainment 1894 Humorist James Thurber is born 1982 “Sophie’s Choice” premieres in Los Angeles Asian History 1949 Chinese Nationalists move capital to Taiwan Civil War 1863 President Lincoln issues Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction Cold War 1987 Superpowers agree to reduce nuclear arsenals European History 1542 Mary Queen of Scots born Inventions & Science 1942 Auto-factory architect Albert Kahn dies Natural Disasters & Environment 1794 Fire destroys much of New Orleans’ French Quarter 1881 Theater fire kills hundreds in Vienna Sports 1940 Bears beat Redskins 73-0 in NFL Championship game U.S. Presidents 1993 NAFTA signed into law Vietnam War 1969 President Nixon announces Vietnam War is ending World War I 1914 The Battle of the Falkland Islands 1919 John Maynard Keynes predicts economic chaos from the Treaty of Versailles World War II 1941 The United States declares war on Japan 1941 Jeannette Rankin casts sole vote against WWII

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