November 23, 2025

Lizzie Johnson, et al., of the Washington Post: “U.S. and Ukrainian officials met in Geneva on Sunday to work through a new version of a controversial plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine ahead of a Thanksgiving deadline imposed by the United States, while ... Donald Trump faced mounting criticism from lawmakers and his own base over the proposal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is leading the U.S. delegation, sought to downplay widespread claims that the plan was written by the Russian side. The leaked draft ignores many of Kyiv’s red lines.... [Rubio] also de-emphasized the Thanksgiving deadline, suggesting more negotiations could be ahead.”

Oh, My. Ken W. Wonders (Rhetorically, No Doubt) if the Fix is In. Charlie Savage of the New York Times: “The U.S. attorney in Miami, who is running a sprawling investigation into former officials who investigated ... [Donald] Trump, has been granted an unusual request to convene an extra grand jury at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, Fla. The location ensures that just one judge can oversee it: Aileen M. Cannon.”

Marcy Wheeler tries to makes sense of the late week's biggest developments: “Three things happened in the last week that have befuddled a lot of observers, but which might best be understood as the kinds of developments we’ll see increasingly as the power structure around Trump grows fragile and fluid: A positively giddy Trump welcomed Zohran Mamdani to the White House[;] 'The White House' rolled out yet another plan to sell out Ukraine to Russia[;] Marjorie Taylor Greene announced she will quit in early January[.] All of these, in my opinion, arose out of and reflect Trump’s increasing political weakness, his separate mental and physical decline, and the fight for power that results.” ~~~

~~~ Steve M. with a sensible, cautionary note: "By going to the White House and charming Trump, Mamdani bought himself some time. But the truce won't last very long." 

Matthew Bigg of the New York Times: “Ukraine’s government has been insufficiently thankful for American aid..., [Donald] Trump said Sunday, appearing to repeat his criticism of President Volodymyr Zelensky just as representatives from both nations were meeting to discuss a peace plan with Russia.... Mr. Trump’s comment, which he shared in a post on social media, was only the latest expression of disdain for the Ukrainian leadership that he has made since his return to office. 'UKRAINE ‘LEADERSHIP’ HAS EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS,' Trump said. Hours later, Mr. Zelensky thanked Mr. Trump in a statement on social media. 'We are grateful for everything that America and President Trump are doing for security, and we keep working as constructively as possible,' he said.” (Linked earlier as an item in the liveblog linked below.)

New York Times live updates of whatever the hell Trump is doing:

Nick Cumming-Bruce: “Secretary of State Marco Rubio just briefed journalists in Geneva, saying that talks today with Ukrainian officials have been 'productive' and 'very, very meaningful.' He was accompanied by Andriy Yermak of Ukraine’s delegation. Neither took questions from reporters. The delegations, Rubio said, were working through the peace plan point by point and making adjustments, 'narrowing the differences and getting closer to something that Ukraine and obviously the United States are comfortable with.'”

Alan Feuer, et al., of the New York Times: “When Alexis Wilkins, an aspiring country singer dating the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, sang The Star-Spangled Banner at the National Rifle Association’s annual convention in Atlanta in the spring, she arrived with ... a SWAT team from the bureau’s local field office.... But seeing that the event at the Georgia World Congress Center had been secured, and that Ms. Wilkins was in no apparent danger, they left before the event was over.... Soon after, Mr. Patel ripped into the team’s commander, saying that his girlfriend had been left without taxpayer-funded defenders.... Mr. Patel’s heavy use of taxpayer-funded resources during his first nine months on the job has contributed to growing questions inside the administration about whether ... he is using taxpayer-funded resources inappropriately.... This includes an intense use of security to protect himself and his girlfriend. He has also used a government jet for some of his recreational travel, such as a golf trip with buddies to a private resort in Scotland over the summer.... Government security protection for Ms. Wilkins to attend events or performances has drawn particular attention....”

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A guy named Bruce Fanger who probably works at the Goodwill in Holland, Michigan, has some thoughts on the Mamdani/Trump press availability: this is “a case study in how a bully behaves when he can’t rely on fear, and how a principled politician behaves when he refuses the role of the victim. The meeting begins as all Trump meetings do — with noise. The first five minutes are pure Trump: monologues disguised as greetings, numbers inflated beyond physics, scattered recollections of the 1980s like the era froze and preserved him in amber.... . Mamdani gives him nothing.... It’s a small thing, but with Trump, it’s enough to break the cycle. Then comes the shift — the 'gracious Trump' phase. People mistake this for maturity or diplomacy. It’s not. It’s a reflex Trump only deploys when he can’t dominate the room. The tone goes soft, the eyebrows lift, the compliments come out in forced, syrupy bursts.... As Mamdani shifts to policy, Trump drifts into autobiography.... Once Mamdani refuses to bend, Trump compensates by overcorrecting into flattery[.]... It’s dominance disguised as benevolence.... Trump is only powerful when the room fears him.” Via digby. Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I think we should be clear here. This is one way a bully behaves when he can't rely on fear. We know for a fact that Trump often continues his bullying even when his guests don't succumb. Perhaps he does this most often when he has brought his gang to back him: say, JayDee & Little Marco. Remember what the bullies did to President Zelensky when he didn't back down. They were merciless. Trump threw him out of the White House. A few people can cow Trump with their prestige: Queen Elizabeth comes to mind. And the sheik of Araby MBS, who is grossly enriching Trump's family. A few people can get Trump to behave because he wants something from them. When the power imbalance is huge, Trump is relentless. Think how he treated Mary Bruce of ABC News less than a week ago. She stared at him steely-eyed throughout his childish diatribe. She did not appear remotely fearful. Trump insulted her & threatened her because he could get away with it. ~~~

     ~~~ Maureen Dowd of the New York Times has this take on Trump's behavior at the presser: “It just proved that Trump admires charismatic winners more than he cares about ideology — or consistency.”

Marie: You never have to wait long for a fine example of Trump's being his cruel bully self: ~~~

~~~ Tobi Raji of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump on Saturday heaped pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying he can either agree to the White House’s peace proposal by Thursday, or 'continue to fight his little heart out.'... However, Trump signaled some flexibility with Zelensky. When asked if this is his final offer to Ukraine, Trump said, 'No,' adding,  'I would like to get the peace. It should have happened a long time ago. … We’re trying to get it ended. One way or the other we have to get it ended.'” ~~~

     ~~~⭐BUT WAIT! Joe Gould of Politico: “U.S. lawmakers attempted Saturday to reverse days of confusion around a leaked peace plan for Ukraine, saying Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured them the document does not represent the Trump administration’s position. Rubio called the bipartisan delegation to the Halifax International Security Forum on Saturday afternoon, they said, while en route to Geneva for talks with Ukrainian officials. He described the plan as a Russian proposal, they said, and not a U.S. initiative. 'He made it very clear to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was delivered to one of our representatives,' said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.). 'It is not our recommendation. It is not our peace plan. It is a proposal that was received, and as an intermediary, we have made arrangements to share it — and we did not release it. It was leaked.'... Rubio told lawmakers that he was unaware of any plans by ... Donald Trump to cut off intelligence sharing or military assistance if Ukraine rejected the terms.

[BUT WAIT!] “Rubio, in a late Saturday message on X, disputed the notion that the U.S. wasn’t involved in drawing up the plan. 'The peace proposal was authored by the U.S.,' he wrote. 'It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations. It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.'”

     ~~~ Marie: For Pete's sake, Marco! Which is it? Are you standing up to Trump and telling us he has no idea WTF he's talking about? Or are you capitulating to the Trump/Putin cabal? This is not the place for "Whatever." Here's the AP: ~~~

     ~~~ Rob Gillies & Will Weissert of the AP: “Lawmakers critical of ... Donald Trump’s approach to ending the Russia-Ukraine war said Saturday they spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio who told them that the peace plan Trump is pushing Kyiv to accept is a 'wish list' of the Russians and not the actual proposal offering Washington’s positions. A State Department spokesperson denied their account, calling it 'blatantly false.' Rubio himself then took the extraordinary step of suggesting online that the senators were mistaken, even though they said he was their source for the information. The secretary of state doubled down on the assertion that Washington was responsible for a proposal that had surprised many from the beginning for being so favorable to Moscow. It all added up to a confusing — and potentially embarrassing — turn of events for a Trump administration-blessed peace plan that already faced a potentially rocky future....

“Independent Maine Sen. Angus King said Rubio told them the plan 'was not the administration’s plan' but a 'wish list of the Russians.' The bipartisan group of senators, who are veteran legislators and among those most focused on foreign relations, stood together at the press conference as they relayed Rubio’s message on the call.” MB: Whatever their biases, I can't believe this group of senators is so stupid that they couldn't understand what Rubio -- a former Senate colleague -- told them. ~~~

~~~ John Eligon & Michael Schwirtz of the New York Times: “Leaders of some of the world’s most powerful countries pushed back on demands that Ukraine cede territory and limit the size of its army included in ... [Donald] Trump’s latest proposal to end the war with Russia. But they said they believed the plan provided a basis for further negotiations, according to a joint statement released after they met in Johannesburg on Saturday.... Though couched in diplomatic language, public statements from European leaders about the new proposal, including at Saturday’s G20 meeting, made clear that their support for Ukraine was unwavering, whatever the pressure from the White House.... Mr. Trump ... said Saturday the plan was 'not my final offer' and suggested that the deadline could be extended should progress be made in negotiations.... Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s special envoy, will head to Geneva on Sunday, where they are expected to meet senior Ukrainian officials to discuss Kyiv’s response to the American proposal, a U.S. official said Saturday.” The link appears to be a gift link. ~~~

~~~ Tim  Zadorozhnyy of the Kiev Independent: "U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is running a shadow operation inside the White House in an effort to sideline pro-Ukraine officials.... Witkoff — a real estate mogul with no diplomatic background before his appointment — has emerged as one of the central architects of a new Washington peace proposal that Ukrainian officials say revives the Kremlin's most sweeping demands. A source in Ukraine's President's Office earlier said that Witkoff is shaping the plan in direct coordination with Kirill Dmitriev, Russia's top economic negotiator and an operator in Moscow's efforts to influence Washington. The plan, approved by ... Donald Trump earlier this week, includes requirements for Ukraine to cede territory, slash its military, and limit its alliances — proposals far more sweeping than those discussed in earlier negotiation rounds."

~~~⭐Anne Applebaum of the Atlantic: “The 28-point peace plan that the United States and Russia want to impose on Ukraine and Europe is ... not a peace plan. It is a proposal that weakens Ukraine and divides America from Europe, preparing the way for a larger war in the future. In the meantime, it benefits unnamed Russian and American investors, at the expense of everyone else. The plan was negotiated by Steve Witkoff, a real-estate developer with no historical, geographical, or cultural knowledge of Russia or Ukraine, and Kirill Dmitriev, who heads Russia’s sovereign-wealth fund and spends most of his time making business deals. The revelation of their plan this week shocked European leaders, who are now paying almost all of the military costs of the war, as well as the Ukrainians, who were not sure whether to take this latest plan seriously until they were told to agree to it by Thanksgiving or lose all further U.S. support. Even if the plan falls apart, this arrogant and confusing ultimatum, coming only days after the State Department authorized the sale of anti-missile technology to Ukraine, will do permanent damage to America’s reputation as a reliable ally, not only in Europe but around the world.” Thank you to RAS for this gift link. ~~~

~~~ Tom Friedman of the New York Times: “Finally, finally..., [Donald] Trump just might get a peace prize that would secure his place in history. Unfortunately, though, it is not that Nobel peace prize he so covets. It is the 'Neville Chamberlain Peace Prize' — awarded by history to the leader of the country that most flagrantly sells out its allies and its values to an aggressive dictator. This prize richly deserves to be shared by Trump’s many 'secretaries of state' — Steve Witkoff, Marco Rubio and Dan Driscoll — who together negotiated the surrender of Ukraine to Vladimir Putin’s demands without consulting Ukraine or our European allies in advance — and then told Ukraine it had to accept the plan by Thanksgiving.” ~~~

~~~ Marie: I can't access the firewalled column by conservative writer Daniel Hannan of the U.K. Telegraph, but the title of his column is, "Trump is behaving precisely as he would if he were a Russian asset." Hannan begins: “This ‘peace plan’ is not only a tragedy for Ukraine, but an immediate crisis for Britain  —  These are not peace terms. They are the exactions that a victorious power wrings from a conquered rival.” So you get his gist.

Noah Shachtman in a New York Times op-ed: “Now America is the planet’s leading producer of oil — and natural gas, too. And instead of trying to separate from the Persian Gulf petrostates, Mr. Trump is reshaping America to look more like them: top-down, iron-fisted, resource-rich and more than willing to flash those resources as weapons. Like the leaders of oil-rich Persian Gulf kingdoms, Mr. Trump demands total deference.... If energy executives are unhappy [with Trump's inconsistent, volatile policies], they can’t really be surprised. Mr. Trump’s favor is always transactional. More than helping any individual company, he wants to use energy as a tool for American leverage and, in his case, his own personal power. As he has shown over and over, he believes these chief executives now work for him, not the other way around.” MB Note: When Shachtman writes “America,” I assume what he means is “the United States.” But the annoying imprecision means I can't be certain.

Trump to Chicago: Drop Dead. Thomas Frank of Politico: “... Donald Trump, who has assailed Illinois’ governor and its largest city, denied disaster aid to thousands of Chicago residents even though his administration documented extraordinary damage from two major storms this summer.... Trump’s denials are the first time any president since at least 2007 — including Trump to this point — has refused to help residents recover from such extensive damage to their homes, federal records show. Trump denied both aid requests from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Oct. 22, two weeks after saying Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson — both Democrats — 'should be in jail' for 'failing to protect' federal immigration enforcement officers.” MB: The lesson? If you vote for Democrats, it will cost you.

One need not be particularly astute to see the parallels between Donald Trump & President Andrew Johnson. Heather Cox Richardson provides an interesting history lesson in her newsletter today, a lesson from which we can take hope. MB: Some of this is new to me, because I learnt my history lessons in Dade County, Florida, where such stories were not told. This was the early 1960s, and the popular girls in our class honored our Southern heritage by wearing "Gone with the Wind"-style gowns to the proms. I found this scandalous and said so, at my peril.

The Kennedy Center Is Now Just Another Trump Grift. Katie Benner of the New York Times (Nov. 20): “In the past [the Kennedy Center] was governed by a bipartisan board, but Mr. Trump pushed out the trustees who were appointed by Democrats. Under [Trump loyalist Richard] Grenell, the center has turned into an event space that caters to the president’s friends and supporters, run by his allies....  In addition to approving millions of dollars in special discounts to Mr. Trump’s supporters, receipts from catering services, hotels and restaurants show that aides in Mr. Grenell’s office approved tens of thousands of dollars in Kennedy Center funding on meals, champagne services and rooms at the Watergate Hotel — all while the Kennedy Center has faced serious financial troubles.... Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the [committee that oversees the Kennedy Center], said in a letter on Thursday that Democrats on the committee were investigating Mr. Grenell and his stewardship of the center’s approximately $268 million budget. They accused him of using the center to enrich friends and acquaintances and 'dole out political favors.'”

Yesenia Amaro & Fedor Zarkhin of the Oregonian: “Immigration officers detained a McMinnville High School student Friday off school grounds, the student’s family said. Christian Jimenez, 17, a U.S. citizen born in Newberg and a high school senior, was driving his father’s car around 12:30 p.m. during his lunch break when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers stopped his car, Jimenez’s older brother, Cesar Jimenez, said in an interview. The teenager told the officers he was a U.S. citizen, but an officer proceeded to break the car’s driver’s side window and detain him. In a video shared by Cesar Jimenez, the boy can be heard telling an officer that he is a citizen, to which the officer replies, 'Get out of the car' and 'I don’t care.'” The rest of the story is blocked, but this is kinda what you need to know. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I don't see how it is legal for federal officials to destroy property on the vague suspicions that are the bases for these Kavanaugh stops. Yet again & again, we read they are breaking car windows (and physically attacking people) with no provocation and no reasonable basis to suspect a person is breaking a law or is otherwise about to cause a dangerous situation. They don't have warrants and they don't have probable cause. They're just committing acts of violence against innocent people. ~~~

~~~ Doktor Zoom of Wonkette tries to keep up with what-all ICE & the Border Patrol are doing in Charlotte, N.C., but it ain't easy. Because conflicting accounting. 

Administration Strikes Back at Congressman for Demanding Transparency. Noah Robertson of the Washington Post: “The Pentagon is urging the House to investigate whether Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-Virginia) improperly consulted on behalf of the Ukrainian government before being elected to Congress — a claim the congressman denies and argues is an attempt by the Trump administration to 'intimidate' him.... Vindman this week led dozens of Democratic lawmakers seeking to pressure the White House into releasing a transcript of a call between Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2019, which the congressman argued would be 'shocking.'”

Two Sides of Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.):

~~~ (1) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: "She's carefully timing her departure just 1-2 days after her pension kicks in and after making millions of dollars insider trading stocks for weapons manufacturers and others while in office.... For all her talk, she's still voting ... to gut healthcare and advance self-dealing corruption schemes." Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

~~~ (2) David Frum of the Atlantic: agrees with AOC on MTG's insider-trading acumen and well-timed resignation: "She’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington only if the cinematic Mr. Smith had returned home to Montana hugely enriched by timely speculations on land holdings near the Boy Ranger camp he championed. But she never did get the joke on the biggest joke in town, the joke that MAGA is about anything more than manipulation, exploitation, corruption, lust, and cruelty.... Elected to Congress in Georgia in 2020, she became one of the loudest voices in American life for crackpot conspiracy claims.... For a long time, Greene’s seemingly fathomless gullibility qualified her as a MAGA leader in Congress. But the gullibility actually did have a limit. Sometime after her election, she began to realize that she’d been made a fool of. Of all the ridiculous things Greene believed, perhaps the single most ridiculous was that Trump, of all people on earth, was leading a heroic fight against a global network of pedophiles. Trump has a long and ample record on the sexual abuse of vulnerable people by powerful men. He’s for it.” Thanks to akaWendy for this gift link.

Jenna Russell of the New York Times: “Tatiana Schlossberg, the 35-year-old daughter of Caroline Kennedy and a granddaughter of John F. Kennedy, revealed in an essay published in The New Yorker on Saturday that she is fighting a rare and aggressive blood cancer, acute myeloid leukemia.... The essay was published on the magazine’s website on the 62nd anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination. In it, Ms. Schlossberg described her harrowing medical journey of the past 18 months, the enveloping support of her parents and siblings.... Ms. Schlossberg, a former science writer for The New York Times, lashes out at her cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., for policy decisions and budget cuts that put the nation’s well being, and her own fragile health, at risk.” 

Death of an Unlikely Art Collector. Alex Williams of the New York Times: “Dorothy Vogel, a librarian who, with her postal-clerk husband, Herbert, bought thousands of works from future art stars like Sol LeWitt and Donald Judd, stashing them in their cramped one-bedroom New York apartment and eventually handing over the entire collection to the National Gallery of Art without ever turning a profit, died on Nov. 10 in Manhattan. She was 90.”  

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Seth Borenstein, et al., of the AP: “United Nations climate talks in Brazil reached a subdued agreement Saturday that pledged more funding for countries to adapt to the wrath of extreme weather. But the catch-all agreement doesn’t include explicit details to phase out fossil fuels or strengthen countries’ inadequate emissions cutting plans, which dozens of nations demanded. The Brazilian hosts of the conference said they’d eventually come up with a road map to get away from fossil fuels working with hard-line Colombia, but it won’t have the same force as something approved at the conference called COP30. Colombia responded angrily to the deal after it was approved, citing the absence of wording on fossil fuels.”