November 27, 2025

Luke Barr & Ivan Pereira of ABC News: "... Donald Trump said Thursday evening that U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, one of the two West Virginia National members wounded in a 'targeted shooting' near the White House on Wednesday, has died.... The other wounded National Guard member, Andrew Wolfe, 24, was in critical condition." ~~~

~~~ Ted Hesson, et al., of Reuters: "The Trump administration on Thursday blamed Biden-era vetting failures for the admission of an Afghan immigrant suspected of shooting two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., but the alleged gunman was granted asylum this year under ... Donald Trump, according to a U.S. government file seen by Reuters.... FBI Director Kash Patel and Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, both Trump appointees, said during a press conference on Thursday that the Biden administration had failed to conduct adequate background checks or vetting on [Rahmanullah] Lakanwal before allowing him to enter the U.S. in 2021. Neither official provided any evidence to support their assertion. Patel said Lakanwal, who had worked with U.S. government forces during the U.S. war in Afghanistan, was improperly allowed to enter the U.S. because 'the prior administration made the decision to allow thousands of people into this country without doing a single piece of background checking or vetting.'... 

"The government file on Lakanwal said he had been vetted by the U.S. because of his work with U.S. government partners during the war in Afghanistan, and no potentially disqualifying information had been found.... The incident plays directly into Trump’s narrative on immigration.... In a video message posted by the White House on Wednesday, Trump called Lakanwal an 'animal' and the shootings 'an act of terror.' Trump called for a 're-examination' of all Afghan nationals who entered the U.S. during the Biden administration. All immigration applications by Afghan nationals were suspended by the Trump administration on Wednesday night."

Digby republishes an X thread by Norwegian journalist Їne Back Їversen, which highlights Steve Witkoff's and Donald Trump's ties to shady Russians. Very much worth a read. Thanks to RAS for the link. MB: The only thing I'd quibble with: Iversen writes that "Witkoff is of russian descent." Actually, he's of Russian Jewish descent, and that makes a big difference. Fortunately for Witkoff, the promise of millions & millions of rubles allowed him to get over any (quite natural) dislike of Russian oligarchs & Kremlin operatives. The notion that Russia has not compromised Trump & Witkoff is more ridiculous than the assertion that they are Russian assets.

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Gregory Svirnovskiy of Politico: “... Donald Trump lashed out at The New York Times for a story this week that pointed to his advanced age and a diminished White House schedule, extolling what he sees as his administration’s wins and accusing the publication of unfair coverage. '[T]he Radical Left Lunatics in the soon to fold New York Times did a hit piece on me that I am perhaps losing my Energy, despite facts that show the exact opposite,” he wrote Wednesday on Truth Social. 'They know this is wrong, as is almost every thing that they write about me, including election results, ALL PURPOSELY NEGATIVE.'... 'There will be a day when I run low on Energy, it happens to everyone, but with a PERFECT PHYSICAL EXAM AND A COMPREHENSIVE COGNITIVE TEST (“That was aced”) JUST RECENTLY TAKEN, it certainly is not now!' the president boasted on social media.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Aaron Rupar on Bluesky: "Trump responds to a detailed report about his waning energy and propensity to sleep through on-camera events by calling the New York Times's Katie Rogers ugly." Thanks to akaWendy for the link. MB: Not that Rogers' appearance has anything whatsoever to do with Trump's physical and mental decline, but I did just look up images of Katie Rogers. As a former beauty pageant owner, Trump should know that in a beauty competition between Rogers and him, he wouldn't stand a chance. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Despite Trump's screeching objections, Paul Campos points out in LG&$ that the NYT story is "mealy-mouthed" and "more in the way of a whitewash than an actual investigation." (Also linked yesterday.) 

Jonathan Edwards & Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump has argued with the architect he handpicked to design a White House ballroom over the size of the project, reflecting a conflict between architectural norms and Trump’s grandiose aesthetic.... Trump’s desire to go big with the project has put him at odds with architect James McCrery II, the people said, who has counseled restraint over concerns the planned 90,000-square-foot addition could dwarf the 55,000-square-foot mansion in violation of a general architectural rule: don’t build an addition that overshadows the main building.... The renovation represents one of the largest changes to the White House in its 233-year history, and has yet to undergo any formal public review.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Steve M.: "Maybe we should be pleased that Trump is micromanaging the design of his ballroom -- this monomania probably allows us to avoid a Trump monument building boom all over the country." (Also linked yesterday.)

⭐Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: “A judge in Georgia dismissed the last pending criminal prosecution against ... [Donald] Trump on Wednesday, effectively ending efforts to hold him criminally responsible for attempts to overturn the 2020 election. The president has now seen three criminal cases against him dissolve since he was re-elected last year. Charges were also dropped against Mr. Trump’s remaining co-defendants in the Georgia racketeering case, including Rudolph W. Giuliani, his former personal lawyer, and Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff.... A motion to end the prosecution was filed Wednesday morning by Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the state’s nonpartisan prosecutor council. In his 22-page filing, Mr. Skandalakis, a career prosecutor who ran for office early in his career as a Democrat but later as a Republican, shredded the case originally brought by Fani T. Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, taking it apart charge by charge. He asserted that 'it is not illegal to question or challenge election results.'... He noted that the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last year, which granted presidents 'absolute immunity' from criminal prosecution for acts within their constitutional authority, meant that it would take 'months, if not years' to litigate immunity issues in the Georgia courts — and that all of that would have to occur after Mr. Trump leaves office in 2029.” The AP's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Skandalakis is wrong in claiming that Trump merely "questioned" or "challenged" election results. He told a person of much lower political status than he to find him 11,700 votes and suggested to that person there would be criminal consequences if he didn't comply. Under those circumstances, many people would not have had the fortitude to stand up to Trump the way Brad Raffensperger did. Although election interference by a POTUS* is a fundamental affront to a democracy, I suppose Skandalakis might be right that spending years on a case against Trump is not a productive use of taxpayer resources. (On the other hand, I wouldn't disagree with any arguments in favor of chasing that old fart till he breathes his last breath.) Several years ago, before Trump even began to run for re-election in 2023, Akhilleus said he would never go to jail for any of his crimes. This settles it. Akhilleus was right. 

Oh, Well. There's This. Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: “A federal appeals court has upheld a penalty of nearly $1 million against ... Donald Trump and attorney Alina Habba, concluding they committed 'sanctionable conduct' by filing a frivolous lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and former FBI Director James Comey. 'Many of Trump’s and Habba’s legal arguments were indeed frivolous,' 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge William Pryor Jr. wrote for a unanimous, three-judge panel, including Trump appointee Andrew Brasher and Biden appointee Embry Kidd. The Atlanta-based appeals court also rejected Trump’s bid to reinstate the 2022 lawsuit targeting Clinton, Comey and others over allegations about ties between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.... And Pryor, a George W. Bush appointee, concluded that the district court judge who originally ruled against Trump had properly considered Trump’s 'pattern of misusing the courts' when deciding to sanction Trump and Habba. The ruling is the latest rejection of Trump’s legal crusade against his perceived adversaries....” (Also linked yesterday.)

Today in Spycraft. Marcy Wheeler has some thoughts on the leaked phone call between Steve Witkoff “— whom Michael Weiss has dubbed 'Dim Philby' —” & Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s top foreign policy advisor. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: “The transcript of the call, published by Bloomberg News on Tuesday, touched off a fury in Washington because it showed Mr. Witkoff appearing to coach the Kremlin on how to negotiate with Mr. Trump and undermine an upcoming visit by President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. But it also laid bare something else: Mr. Trump’s stubborn determination to make some kind of deal with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, even if it is mostly on Russia’s terms — and despite months of false starts and rejections by Mr. Putin.” ~~~

~~~ Anne Applebaum of the Atlantic: Steve “Witkoff, a former real-estate developer, is supposed to be negotiating a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine. He is in theory acting on behalf of the United States but also on behalf of millions of people who want peace in Ukraine and security in Europe.... 'With a single phone call,' one insider told Politico last month, 'Putin appears to have changed President Trump’s mind on Ukraine once again.' This was Witkoff’s achievement.... This war will end only when Russia stops fighting.... Yet Witkoff is seeking to persuade Trump not to put pressure on Russia, and we don’t really know why.... Witkoff is prolonging the conflict. He is not promoting peace.... If this were a normal American administration, he would be fired immediately. But nothing about this negotiation, or this administration, is normal at all.” Thank you to akaWendy for this gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Joseph Gedeon of the Guardian: “A handful of US representatives have reacted furiously to a leaked recording in which the special envoy to Ukraine reportedly coached Moscow on how to handle Donald Trump, but most have so far remained mute on the revelation that American officials were advising a US adversary. Don Bacon, a Republican representative, called for Steve Witkoff’s immediate dismissal. 'For those who oppose the Russian invasion and want to see Ukraine prevail as a sovereign & democratic country, it is clear that Witkoff fully favors the Russians,' the Nebraska lawmaker wrote on X. 'He cannot be trusted to lead these negotiations. Would a Russian paid agent do less than he? He should be fired.'... Democratic representative Ted Lieu went further, calling Witkoff an 'actual traitor,' and adding: 'Steve Witkoff is supposed to work for the United States, not Russia.'... Trump defended Witkoff on Tuesday night.... The president’s special missions envoy, Richard Grenell, meanwhile, called for the leaker to be fired, not Witkoff.” ~~~

     ~~~ The befuddled old president* remains clueless. Perhaps not realizing he was riffing on a derisive joke about himself, Trump told reporters on AF1 that the much maligned Russian appeasement plan is merely "a concept" of a plan. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Tom Nichols of the Atlantic:  “In a more sensible and serious world (and, yes, I know this is not the one we live in right now), [Pete] Hegseth would be fired — and [Sen. Mark] Kelly would take Hegseth’s job as secretary of defense.For now, the White House seems content to let Hegseth preen and strut and yell, but the United States still needs an actual secretary of defense, and Pete Hegseth is completely unqualified for any position of public trust, elected or appointed, in the government of the United States.” Thanks to akaWendy for this gift link. 

Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has bad advice for consumers facing punishing inflation: “Mr. Bessent suggested that if consumers were not happy with inflation where they lived, they should move to Republican-led states, where, he said, inflation is slightly lower. 'You know the best way to bring your inflation rate down?' Mr. Bessent said. 'Move from a blue state to a red state.' The cost of living in red states, which tend to be more rural, is often lower than in blue states with larger urban centers.... Mr. Bessent’s comments ... appeared to overlook the expense of moving, which is especially costly given high mortgage rates.” 

Camilo Montoya-Galvez & Julia Ingram of CBS News: "The number of immigration detainees without criminal records who are held in federal detention centers after getting arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement has increased by over 2,000% since the start of the second Trump administration in January, according to official government data.... On Nov. 16, the government figures show, ICE was holding 65,135 people in detention facilities throughout the U.S., the highest level ever publicly reported by the agency, which was created in 2003 following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.... The official figures indicate that 30,986 – or 48% — of the ICE detainees in custody as of Nov. 16 lacked any criminal charges or convictions in the U.S. and were being held solely because of civil violations of U.S. immigration law. ICE calls them 'immigration violators.'" Emphasis added. (Also linked yesterday.)

Alanna Richer & Gary Fields of the AP:  “An Afghan national has been accused of shooting two West Virginia National Guard members just blocks from the White House in a brazen act of violence at a time when the presence of troops in the nation’s capital and other cities around the country has become a political flashpoint. FBI Director Kash Patel and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said the guard members were hospitalized in critical condition after Wednesday afternoon’s shooting.... The rare shooting of National Guard members on American soil, on the day before Thanksgiving, comes amid court fights and a broader public policy debate about the Trump administration’s use of the military to combat what officials cast as an out-of-control crime problem.” ~~~

     ~~~ Jenny Gathright, et al., of the Washington Post: “As news of the shootings ricocheted around the nation, Trump, who is in Florida, appeared set on increasing the military presence in the nation’s capital in response, ordering 500 more soldiers into the city — a signal that the ongoing debate about the Guard’s presence in the city would intensify.... Shortly after the president’s remarks, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a social media post that the processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals has been 'stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols.'” The link is a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ New York Times liveblog updates are here. ~~~

~~~ As Usual, Trump Does All the Wrong Things. Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Wednesday called for a crackdown on immigration and ordered 500 more troops to Washington after the shooting of two National Guard members patrolling the capital and the identification of an Afghan national as the suspect. Mr. Trump posted a video shortly after 9 p.m. from Palm Beach, Fla..., describing the shooting as an 'act of terror' and 'a crime against humanity.' He called the suspect, whom people familiar with the investigation identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an 'animal' who shot the guard members 'at point-blank range in a monstrous, ambush-style attack just steps away from the White House.' Although many details about the shooting were still unknown by nightfall on Wednesday, Mr. Trump did not hold back. He used the attack to launch a broadside against immigration, saying the shooting 'underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation' and vowing to redouble his mass deportation efforts.” ~~~

     ~~~  Phil Helsel & Jennifer Jett of NBC News: “... Donald Trump called for a 're-examination' of all Afghan nationals who came to the U.S. during the Biden administration, hours after an Afghan man was named as the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on X that the suspect came to the U.S. in September 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden-era program designed to help Afghans who assisted U.S. forces and were facing a Taliban takeover.” MB: This is classic bigotry: blame a group of people for the bad deeds of one person who is in some way part of the group. Of course this doesn't happen when the perp is part of the bigot's own group: when a White American citizen commits an atrocious crime, you don't hear Trump saying we have to "re-examine" all White American citizens. ~~~

~~~ Julianna Bragg of Axios: "The Trump administration filed an emergency motion Wednesday asking a federal appeals court to halt a judge's ruling from last week that deemed the president's deployment of the National Guard to D.C. unlawful.... The filing came after two National Guard members were shot and critically injured just minutes from the White House, though the motion did not cite the attack as a reason for the administration's request."

Annie Karni of the New York Times: “After several bruising weeks for Speaker Mike Johnson, a soft-focus podcast interview alongside his wife, conducted by Katie Miller, the wife of Stephen Miller, one of ... [Donald] Trump’s top advisers, had all the ingredients for a flattering reset. What emerged from the interview instead was a portrait of a Republican leader barely keeping his head above water in a job to which he does not appear particularly well suited, a conversation full of tragically revealing details packaged as rueful humor but with the biting sting of truth.... The throughline [of the conversation] was Mr. Johnson’s sense of being crushed by his workload and the demands of his job managing an unruly Republican majority.” The link has been updated to what appears to be a gift link.

Marie: This report got almost no press. I heard about it only by accident. From the executive summary: "Since taking office, President Donald J. Trump and his allies in Congress have cut funding to Medicaid and Medicare, thrown millions of Americans off their health insurance, refused to extend tax credits that help make healthcare more affordable, and used a government shutdown as an excuse to illegally fire federal civil servants and withhold food benefits for 42 million American citizens, including children, individuals with disabilities, and veterans. At the same time, President Trump and his family have been pocketing billions of dollars through corruption of unprecedented scale. This report shows how the President has leveraged his office to make himself a crypto billionaire and how he has extended broad protection to fraudsters, scam artists, and other online criminals—who, in turn, repay the President and his family with millions of dollars in tribute. Perhaps most troublingly, these crypto ventures allow anyone — including foreign governments, organized crime groups, corporate interests, and criminals seeking pardons and persons seeking government contracts, appointments, or other presidential favors — to secretly place huge sums of money directly into the President’s pockets."

Ann Marimow of the New York Times: “The Supreme Court on Wednesday deferred a decision about whether ... [Donald] Trump could remove the government’s top copyright official until after the justices resolved a pair of related cases testing the president’s power to fire independent regulators. The court’s order is a placeholder and means that Shira Perlmutter, the head of the U.S. Copyright Office, can remain in her role as an adviser to Congress at least until January. The order represents a rare departure from recent cases in which the conservative majority has allowed Mr. Trump to immediately remove agency leaders while litigation over their status continues in the lower courts.” The AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: “A panel of three federal judges in North Carolina on Wednesday allowed the state’s newly redrawn congressional map to go into effect for the 2026 midterm elections, a victory for the Trump administration and Republican efforts to retain control of the U.S. House next year. The judges, at the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, unanimously sided with the state’s Republican leaders, whose lawyers had argued that their motivations to draw a new map were partisan — not because of race or political retaliation, as the plaintiffs had claimed. That distinction was important because the U.S. Supreme Court effectively blessed partisan gerrymandering in a 2019 ruling. The new North Carolina map is very likely to give Republicans an extra House seat.” The AP report is here.

Thanksgiving -- a day to give thanks not so much for bounty but for the nation's triumph over the attempt by elite Southern slaveholders to turn a democracy operating under the rule of law into an oligarchy: ~~~

When I was a girl, we had a president who know how to hold press conferences. He did not abuse and insult the reporters who queried him, he did not call them names -- not "Piggy" or "ugly" or "radical left lunatics" -- he did not disparage their news organizations, he did not call them "fake news," he did not threaten to revoke their licenses, he did not call them "enemies of the people." Instead, he answered reporters' questions with wit, with self-deprecating humor, with respectful, intelligent and articulate replies. ~~~

This interview came up on my YouTube feed earlier this week, and I'm thankful that it did: ~~~

Mr. Ferencz died in 2023 at the age of 103.

Marie: There are some things to be thankful for, and they are not all in the past. As Akhilleus put it just yesterday, the current POTUS* "is not only the most corrupt president* in history, he is also the most proficient and indefatigable criminal to ever hold court in the White House. He is a rapist, a liar, a con man, a racist, a white supremacist, and a greedy pig." His Team of Villains is scarcely better. Millions of Americans voted for that. Not because they were ignorant or naive, but because a fascist, racist misogynist is the leader they wanted. Few imagined when JFK was president that any nation -- much less our own -- could embrace Nazism. Yet human nature is what it is, and here we are, engaged in another struggle to put down a new gang of malignant oligarchs. For today's heroes, most of them "ordinary" people who are standing up to today's oligarchs & profiteers, I am thankful.

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