December 2, 2025

Exit, Tap-Dancing, Stage Right. Helene Cooper of the New York Times: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday that he had not noticed survivors in the water during U.S. military strikes that killed 11 people in the Caribbean in September. His remarks, at a cabinet meeting at the White House in which he cited the “fog of war,” were the latest from Trump administration officials meant to address questions about whether the U.S. military committed a war crime when it launched a second strike on a boat on Sept. 2, killing two survivors of the initial attack who were clinging to the burning wreckage. Mr. Hegseth had said that he watched the operation live on video before he 'moved on' to his next meeting. But following news reports about the second U.S. strike, Mr. Hegseth said he 'didn’t stick around' to see it. The defense secretary said Adm. Frank M. Bradley, the commander of the operation, 'made the right call,' in ordering the second strike. 'He sunk the boat, sunk the boat and eliminated the threat, and it was the right call.'...” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is of course the same Pete Hegseth who went on the Fox “News” teevee in September to boast, “I watched it live.” Now, suddenly, we hear Pete had hurried away to another meeting and just plain missed the most egregious and most obvious war crime committed that day. As Akhilleus wrote in Tuesday's Comments, “He preaches tough guy ethos, but when it comes to standing up for what he truly believes in (war crimes, illegal murder, lethality) he runs and hides.”

Paul Sonne & Valerie Hopkins of the New York Times: “President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia held talks for nearly five hours late Tuesday with Steve Witkoff..., [Donald] Trump’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, negotiating with the two U.S. emissaries as Washington pushed for an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine. The negotiators discussed the substance of U.S. peace proposals but did not delve into the wording of any provisions, reach any specific compromises or agree to a new summit between Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump, the Kremlin’s top foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, told journalists after the marathon talks concluded.”

Christopher Sherman & Mike Catalini of the AP: “Former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández, sentenced last year to 45 years in prison for his role in a drug trafficking operation that moved hundreds of tons of cocaine to the United States, was released from prison following a pardon from ... Donald Trump, officials confirmed Tuesday. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons inmate website showed that Hernández was released from U.S. Penitentiary, Hazelton in West Virginia on Monday, and a spokesperson for the bureau on Tuesday confirmed his release.” ~~~

I have never seen such open corruption in any modern government anywhere. -- Steven Levitsky, author of How Democracies Die ~~~

If you’re just an average citizen, you can’t even get in the line. I told my guy he’d probably be better off if he broke into the Capitol or made a major donation to Trump’s inauguration. -- Lawyer for an ordinary ex-con who meets DOJ criteria for a pardon but won't get one ~~~ 

~~~ Don Moynihan: Juan Orlando Hernández, the former President of Honduras, was tried and convicted of exactly the accusations that Trump is using to drum up a pretext for war against Venezuela. Hernández was convicted of receiving millions from violent drug gangs for facilitating the flow of 400 tonnes of cocaine into America, while corrupting state institutions.... Trump is also invading Democratic cities with military or paramilitary forces. His justifications for their presence is to improve public safety and enable his immigration sweeps.... But if Trump was interested in law and order, why does he keep pardoning criminals?... [Moynihan lays out a number of ways Trump has abused the pardon power.] He is pardoning politicians who have been convicted of corruption, even as he is using the justice system to target political opponents.... One analysis by Democratic House Judiciary staffers found that Trump’s pardons eliminated $1.3 billion in restitution and fines.... Trump is using pardons in the same way he has used other parts of the government, such as peace deals or tariffs: not as a demonstration of reasoned mercy, but as an opportunity to extract benefits for himself, his family or supporters.” Thanks to RAS for the link.

Nicholas Kulish of the New York Times: “Michael and Susan Dell announced on Tuesday that they would deposit $250 in individual investment accounts for 25 million children, an amount totaling $6.25 billion. It is one of the largest philanthropic gifts ever to go directly to Americans. The money expands the number of children who will receive seed money for the investment accounts, known as 'Trump accounts.' The federal government will give $1,000 to babies born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028. The Dells’ gift extends to children up to 10 years old, though it limits eligibility to those who live in a ZIP code where the median household income is below $150,000.”  The AP report is here. MB: Whatever these savings accounts are, they are not “Trump accounts.”

~~~~~~~~~~ 

Patti Daniels posts these two photos on Bluesky. She says both photos were taken this weekend: 

~~~ RAS: "Which one of these men are we supposed to be worried doesn't/didn't know what he has been signing and orders given under his authority?" ~~~

~~~ Marie: Some helpers dressed up this old guy in a ridiculous red hat and white golf shirt and pushed him out into the lunchroom. They put a sign in front of him with his name on it. Maybe the sign has has name on the back, too, to help him remember who he is. When he's conscious. Which he is not. He cannot make it through a meal, even one being served in the middle of the day. This is what you see in a nursing home. Not an assisted living home, where most of the residents are elderly but chipper. A nursing home, where people cannot take care of themselves. 

Gina Kolata of the New York Times: “The White House released a letter from ... [Donald] Trump’s physician on Monday about the results of 'advanced imaging tests.' The statement, by Dr. Sean P. Barbabella, said the tests on his cardiovascular system and abdominal region showed the president 'remains in excellent overall health.' Some medical experts said it was unclear what tests doctors conducted, why they were done or what the results mean. And, they said, a person without symptoms would not have imaging tests as part of a routine medical exam under ordinary medical circumstances. Mr. Trump, the oldest president ever sworn into his office, had M.R.I. scans in October as part of a semiannual physical exam.” 

Is This What a POTUS* Should Be Doing? David Gilmour of Mediaite: “... Donald Trump unleashed a frenetic, late-night posting binge on Monday, flooding Truth Social with more than 160 posts in less than five hours, in a wild spectacle that saw him teeing off on political opponents and policies. From 7 p.m. to nearly midnight (ET), the president reposted an endless stream of clips, some of which were duplicated in what appeared to be an automatic loop, amplifying MAGA-friendly pundits and conspiracy theories. The torrent swung between nostalgia – including a ‘Make Christmas Great Again’ video featuring Trump’s cameo in Home Alone 2 – and a parade of attacks on his usual Democratic targets, from California Governor Gavin Newsom and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and former President Barack Obama.”

The Amazing Biden Set-up
Biden's Aides Did It While Trump Was President* and Before Biden Became President 

... I was asked by Honduras, many of the people of Honduras, they said it was a Biden setup... I don’t mean Biden – look, Biden didn’t know he was alive, but it was the people that surround the Resolute Desk, surround Biden when he was there, which was about very little time, and the people of Honduras really thought he was set up and it was a terrible thing. He was the president of the country and they basically said he was a drug dealer because he was the president of the country, and they said it was a Biden administration setup, and I looked at the facts and I agree with them. -- Donald Trump, on why he plans to pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, a major facilitator of an international drug-trafficking ring ~~~

... much of the investigation occurred during Mr. Trump’s first term, and one of the lead investigators in the case was Emil Bove III, then a prosecutor for the Southern District of New York and later one of Mr. Trump’s personal lawyers. -- Tyler Pager, in a New York Times report

Juan Orlando's brother "Tony Hernández was arrested in late 2018, and during his trial exposed evidence linking [Juan Orlando] to illicit activities.... [In August 2019,] US prosecutors identified the sitting president in court documents that said he had taken part in a conspiracy in which drug proceeds went to support his election campaign.... The trial against Tony [which began in October 2019], along with prosecutions of other drug traffickers, exposed allegations that Juan Orlando had taken millions in drug money to help fund his political campaigns in return for assisting drug traffickers while in office. -- Sam Woolston, Parker Asmaan & Mike LaSusa of Insight Crime ~~~

Anyone know who was president in 2018 supposedly making up evidence on Juan? DJT, correct. -- RAS, in Monday's Comments ~~~

Charlie Savage, et al., of the New York Times: “The Trump administration on Monday defended the legality of a Sept. 2 attack on a boat in the Caribbean Sea as calls grew in Congress to examine whether a follow-up missile strike that killed survivors amounted to a crime.... At the White House on Monday, Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary, read a statement that said [Defense Secretary Pete] Hegseth had authorized the Special Operations commander overseeing the attack, Adm. Frank M. Bradley, 'to conduct these kinetic strikes.' She said that Admiral Bradley had 'worked well within his authority and the law directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated.'

“According to five U.S. officials, who spoke separately and on the condition of anonymity..., Mr. Hegseth, ahead of the Sept. 2 attack, ordered a strike that would kill the people on the boat and destroy the vessel and its purported cargo of drugs.... As that operation unfolded, they said, Mr. Hegseth did not give any further orders to [Adm. Bradley].... Speaking to reporters on Sunday night, Mr. Trump said that Mr. Hegseth had denied ordering a second strike to kill two people who were wounded but still alive after the first one, saying, 'Pete said he did not order the death of those two men.'... In [a] social media statement, on Monday, Mr. Hegseth said he stood by Admiral Bradley and what he called the admiral’s 'combat decisions' in the strike.” An AP story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Paul McCleary of Politico: “The White House on Monday confirmed a second strike in September had killed wounded civilians after the first effort failed, and put responsibility largely on the naval commander leading the mission.” MB: Another confirmation that Nicolle Wallace played tape yesterday of Drunk Pete appearing on Fox “News” & saying of the September 2 strike, “I watched it live.”

     ~~~ Marie: For what it's worth, Retired Coast Guard Admiral William Baumgartner, in an appearance on MS NOW yesterday, said that it was highly unlikely that the boat struck on September 2 was on a drug-trafficking run. Traffickers don't fill a little open boat like that, he said, with eleven people. They fill it with drugs. So the whole premise of the strikes -- that U.S. forces were taking out tons of dangerous drugs bound to kill unsuspecting American addicts -- was far-fetched. Moreover, if your real purpose is to curtail the drug trade, you want to keep traffickers alive and capture them, so you can coerce them into ratting out leaders and others in the drug gang. ~~~

~~~ David Sanger & Helene Cooper of the New York Times: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been a political problem for ... [Donald] Trump since his confirmation in the Senate early this year, which he survived thanks to a single, tiebreaking vote cast by Vice President JD Vance. He survived the leaked Signal chat episode, even when it became clear he had copied classified battle plans and pasted them into an encrypted, but unclassified, messaging chain. He blamed the press, began kicking news organizations out of the Pentagon press room and insisted they sign a pledge never to seek news not approved by his public affairs office. Almost no one signed, not even his previous employer Fox News. Now, the political price of Mr. Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon has increased. As investigations mount into the legality of strikes that have killed scores of people in the waters off Venezuela, his take-no-prisoners, leave-no-survivors approach has led even Republican supporters to demand answers. So far, few have been forthcoming. With claims flying that Mr. Hegseth’s orders might have led to the commission of war crimes — if not by the secretary, then by senior commanders following his general orders — Mr. Trump sounded over the weekend like he was putting some distance between himself and his defense secretary....”

“Even as Mr. Trump was answering questions aboard Air Force One about whether his defense secretary had stepped over the legal lines with the Venezuela killings, the same defense secretary was on social media cracking jokes about the affair. Mr. Hegseth posted a meme on Sunday depicting Franklin, the turtle from a children’s book series, firing a weapon at a vessel laden with cargo from a helicopter. 'For your Christmas wish list,' Mr. Hegseth wrote on social media. The joke fell flat, eliciting a storm of criticism, including from conservative social media users.” MB: Notice how Trump surrounds himself with people who are as psychologically warped as he is. ~~~

     ~~~ Seb Starcevic of Politico: “The publisher of children’s book series “Franklin the Turtle” hit out at 'unauthorized' depictions of its main character after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted a mock cover of Franklin shooting at drug traffickers.... 'Franklin the Turtle is a beloved Canadian icon who has inspired generations of children and stands for kindness, empathy, and inclusivity,' the publisher Kids Can Press wrote in a statement on X. 'We strongly condemn any denigrating, violent, or unauthorized use of Franklin’s name or image, which directly contradicts these values,' the publishing house added.... The Franklin books see the young turtle dealing with life’s everyday challenges ... and teach about themes such as courage and empathy.” ~~~

~~~ Noah Robertson & Tara Copp of the Washington Post: “Officials in Congress and the Pentagon said Monday they are increasingly concerned that the Trump administration intends to scapegoat the military officer who directed U.S. forces to kill two survivors of a targeted strike on suspected drug smugglers in Latin America, as lawmakers made initial moves to investigate whether the attack constituted a war crime.... When two survivors were detected, the military commander overseeing the operation, Adm. Frank M. Bradley, directed another strike to comply with [Defense Secretary] Hegseth’s order that no one be left alive, people with direct knowledge of the matter told The Post.... [Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt's] scripted remarks at a news briefing elicited a furious backlash within the Defense Department, where officials described feeling angry at the uncertainty over whether Hegseth would take responsibility for his alleged role in the operation — or leave the military and civilian staff under him to face the consequences.... 

“Hegseth, writing on social media Monday night, said he stands by the admiral 'and the combat decisions he has made — on the September 2 mission and all others since.' His statement is likely to deepen the sense of furor among military officials who suspect Hegseth is attempting to insulate himself from any legal recourse and leave Bradley ... to account for the fallout alone.”

Worst case scenario is what The Washington Post has reported and what CNN has reported, which is that Secretary Hegseth is the one who told Admiral Bradley that he wanted to ensure that there would be no survivors.... The best case scenario for him is that he gave some instruction to Admiral Bradley, who then interpreted it to mean the very same thing. That would also hold Secretary Hegseth responsible. -- Ryan Goodman, former DOD general counsel, speaking on CNN ~~~ 

     ~~~ Michael Luciano of Mediaite: “Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made clear that he believes Admiral Frank 'Mitch' Bradley is the man responsible for a U.S. attack on the survivors of a boat bombing in the Caribbean.... On Monday night, Hegseth tweeted 'support' of Bradley while also making sure to say that the admiral was responsible for 'combat decisions[.]'... Fox News Chief Political Analyst Brit Hume quote-tweeted Hegseth and wrote, 'How to point the finger at someone while pretending to support him.' Earlier in the day, Hume said on Fox News that the story could be 'a big problem' for the Trump administration.” MB: Why, it's almost as if Brit doesn't care for his former colleague, Drunk Pete. 

     ~~~ Marie: You can feel sorry for Adm. Bradley if you want to, because the White House & Hegseth are scapegoating him. On the other hand, when Dana Bash asked Sen. Mark Kelly, a former Navy captain, whether or not he would have carried out an order to make the second strike, he said without hesitation, "No." In fact, Adm. Baumgartner said that the Defense Department manual cites that specific situation -- enemy survivors at sea -- as an example of people the Navy must not kill but must attempt to rescue. So, IMO, any officer should have known not to order the second strike, not only as a moral matter but also as an element of their formal training and U.S. policy. If it turns out that Bradley did order the second strike -- whether or not Drunk Pete told him to -- he should face the appropriate consequences. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Max Boot of the Washington  Post: “The Defense Department’s Law of War Manual specifies: 'Orders to fire upon the shipwrecked would be clearly illegal.'” 

~~~ Spencer Ackerman: "The wages of [degraded special operations forces over more than a decade] irresponsibility and lack of accountability have compounded to produce a new and appalling reality: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the then-leader of the Joint Special Operations Command [-- Adm. Mitch Bradley --] ... directly ordering open murders at sea....  The strikes are a blatant attempt at provoking a war with Venezuela or a coup against Nicolas Maduro, who rules over a country that just so happens to possess the world's largest oil reserves. And then the strikes operate under the invented pretext of combatting narcotrafficking while Trump plans on pardoning a convicted narcotrafficker and former right-wing president of Honduras in order to bolster the campaign of that country's conservative presidential candidate....   

"Unless Hegseth and Bradley face criminal penalties for their illegal order, the bottom will drop out of military ethics. There will be no order too blatantly criminal for officers and enlisted personnel in the world's largest and most forward-deployed military to refuse.... Ever since he inserted himself in the Iraq debate to lobby for the 2007 troop surge that began his public career, Hegseth has shown himself to be a grifter, a narcissist, a man of petty resentments, and an abuser of his power. His adulation of violence translated into his successful televised lobbying for clemency for those accused and even convicted of war crimes." Ackerman's Wikipage is here.

~~~ Jennifer Rubin of the Contrarian: "Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who makes up in false bravado what he lacks in judgment and expertise, appears to have committed an inexcusable, unjustified violation of black-letter international and domestic law, according to a stunning Washington Post story released last Friday.... The Trump regime claims the report is false, but the evidence has not been specifically debunked. No explanation has been given as to why the video was edited to omit this part of the attack. Putting aside for the moment the legitimacy of the underlying order to shoot these boats out of the water (which, frankly, is hard to justify based on a false theory and made-up facts), it is impossible to imagine any Pentagon lawyer blessing this action. The concept of hors de combat — literally, out of combat — is a fundamental aspect of the law of war that prevents harming those disabled from combat." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Also, see Patrick's comment in yesterday's thread about clarifying and modifying the pardon power. 

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: “During the early days of ... [Donald] Trump’s second term, he suggested there could be exceptions to his crackdown on immigration, specifically for those who had been brought to the United States as children and those who were stuck in limbo after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan under President Joseph R. Biden Jr. His intentions spoke to a common bipartisan belief that those groups should be treated with some degree of leniency. But the past couple of weeks have shown just how far even Mr. Trump has moved to block immigration and to demonize immigrants in his second term, erasing the lines around people who traditionally have been seen as special cases.”

Hamed Aleaziz, et al., of the New York Times: “The sweeping crackdown ... [Donald] Trump declared last week after an Afghan national was accused of shooting two National Guard members is poised to radically curtail immigrants from legally entering and living in the United States, putting up roadblocks unparalleled in recent history. Within a matter of days, the administration rolled out a series of far-reaching policy changes: pausing all asylum decisions for migrants currently in the United States; reviewing the green cards that allow people from 19 countries, mostly from the Middle East or Africa, to live and work permanently in the United States; reassessing the asylum approvals issued during the Biden administration; indefinitely halting immigration applications filed by Afghan nationals; and barring Afghans from entering the country. 

“The new rules are poised to potentially upend the status of as many as 1.5 million migrants with pending asylum cases in the country, the more than 50,000 who gained asylum from the Department of Homeland Security under the Biden administration and untold more who had been hoping to seek refuge in the United States. And Mr. Trump has hinted that further action could come as a result of the attack, floating the possibility of denaturalization, or stripping people of citizenship.” ~~~

~~~ Chris Cameron of the New York Times: “Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland security, said in a statement on social media on Monday that she recommended that ... [Donald] Trump enact 'a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.' It was not immediately clear what countries could be targeted by such a ban, or how broad it would be, and Mr. Trump would have the final say. The president reposted Ms. Noem’s statement on his own social media account later Monday night, without offering any comment. Ms. Noem’s statement, which demonized immigrants as 'foreign invaders,' came amid a wider crackdown on legal pathways of immigration after the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., by a gunman identified by the authorities as an Afghan national last week. Afghanistan is already on a list of 12 countries, primarily in Africa and the Middle East, that Mr. Trump instituted a travel ban on in June.” ~~~

~~~ Susannah George, et al., of the Washington Post: “The course of [Rahmanullah] Lakanwal’s journey from a trusted U.S. battlefield ally to the suspected shooter of two National Guard members on the streets of downtown D.C. remains unclear, in part. But like many Afghans who had worked for the United States and came to this country after the chaotic August 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, he appeared to struggle to adapt to his new circumstances and refused to take many of the entry-level jobs available to him as a recent immigrant.... Lakanwal, in addition to his earlier vetting to join the Zero Units, underwent extensive vetting by U.S. counterterrorism authorities, including the CIA and the National Counterterrorism Center, before entering the United States, according to people with direct knowledge of the case.... Lakanwal’s humanitarian parole expired in mid-2024, before his visa status was fully approved, so he applied for political asylum instead late last year and was approved in April 2025, multiple people familiar with the matter said.” ~~~

~~~ Ana Ley of the New York Times: “The Trump administration fired eight immigration judges in New York City on Monday, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The firings followed an earlier round of job cuts in New York immigration courts and are part of a broader disruption across the country, which is taking place as the president seeks to accelerate deportations.... All the judges were dismissed from the immigration court’s offices at 26 Federal Plaza, a building that houses the New York City headquarters for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and has become the epicenter of migrant arrests in the city.... Immigration judges who were fired earlier this year suggested that the administration was targeting judges who were considered too lenient and was also trying to create a feeling of fear.” 

Reveling in Racism. Paul Waldman: “The [Republican] party of today, embodied as it is in Donald Trump and the administration he leads, is no longer so worried about being called racist, because it has unashamedly taken white supremacy as its cause.... Here are some recent developments from the president and his administration[. Read on. It's a long list.]... To be fair, this is not all completely new; the anti-anti-racism backlash from the right has been in motion for some time....”

Marie: The great thing about tearing down part of the White House? Not so much space to decorate for Christmas! You remember Melanie's hall of blood-red trees? It's been reduced to asbestos dust. This little "Best Best" cranberry topiary propped on a side table in the Red Room will have to suffice: ~~~

      ~~~ Rachel Kurzius of the Washington Post: “The Grand Foyer also has a painting that depicts Trump bloodied yet triumphant after the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024, with three small holiday bouquets sitting on the table beneath and flanked by a flower-filled light.” So Christmas-y! (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times has a story here. Both stories include multiple photos of the decorations.

This Was Yesterday. Maxine Joselow of the New York Times: “The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Monday reinstated 14 employees who had been on administrative leave since August, when they wrote a letter to Congress warning that ... [Donald] Trump was gutting disaster response in the United States. The move ended more than three months of uncertainty for the employees, who had been subject to an internal investigation into what the Trump administration deemed their 'misconduct.' In notices sent to the workers last week, copies of which were reviewed by The New York Times, FEMA officials wrote that 'the misconduct investigation has been closed, and as a result you are being removed from administrative leave.' The notices did not disclose the inquiry’s findings.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~  This Is Today. “Suspended FEMA Workers Who Criticized Trump Administration Got Their Jobs Back — Until DHS Leaders Found Out.” Gabe Cohen of CNN: “In a dramatic about-face, the Trump administration on Monday re-suspended more than a dozen FEMA employees mere hours after CNN broke the news that they’d been reinstated to the agency following a three-month exile and a probe into alleged misconduct.... 'CNN reporting revealed that 14 FEMA employees previously placed on leave for misconduct were wrongly and without authorization reinstated by bureaucrats acting outside of their authority,' a DHS spokesperson said in a statement. 'Once alerted, the unauthorized reinstatement was swiftly corrected by senior leadership. The 14 employees who signed the Katrina declaration have been returned to administrative leave.'... Just last week, the workers received reinstatement notices from FEMA.” MB: Happy Holidays, Folks!

Ivan Nechepurendo of the New York Times: “President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is set to host Steve Witkoff..., [Donald] Trump’s special envoy, in Moscow on Tuesday, as the United States pushes for an end to the war in Ukraine. Mr. Witkoff is expected to present Mr. Putin with a U.S.-backed peace proposal that was revised by American officials after recent negotiations with Ukrainian diplomats. The initial version of the plan that emerged last month was seen by Ukraine and its European allies as echoing the maximalist demands Russia has made since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Mr. Witkoff’s visit to Moscow, his sixth since January, is to take place two days after American and Ukrainian delegations met in Miami to discuss the details of the potential peace plan, parts of which Ukraine has sought to soften. Both sides called those talks constructive but said more work was needed, without detailing the unresolved issues.”

All the Emperor's Men ... Are Billionaires & Sycophants. Jonathan Lemire of the Atlantic: “Every president, of course, deals with being in a bubble, distanced by the demands on his time and the extraordinary security concerns that come with the office. But in his return to the presidency this year, Trump has seldom ventured across the country to anywhere other than his own clubs. He also inhabits something of a news silo, watching far-right cable channels such as One America News Network and Newsmax along with Fox News. Even his social-media consumption has become narrower: Instead of being on the app formerly known as Twitter, where he’d occasionally encounter contrary views, he now posts solely on Truth Social, which he owns and where he is surrounded by sycophants. And his own White House staff, this time largely populated by true believers and yes-men (and a few yes-women), only adds to the echo chamber.” Thanks to akaWendy for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jonah Bromwich & Tracey Tully of the New York Times: “A federal appeals court said on Monday that Alina Habba had been serving unlawfully as the U.S. attorney in New Jersey, dealing a blow to the Trump administration and most likely setting up a showdown at the Supreme Court. Ms. Habba is one of a number of U.S. attorneys whom the Trump administration has sought to keep in power through a series of unusual maneuvers even though she was neither confirmed by the Senate nor appointed by district trial court judges.... In its ruling, the three-judge panel, based in Philadelphia, affirmed an earlier ruling by a Federal District Court judge. The court said that the government’s tactics had violated the law as written.... It was not immediately clear how the ruling would affect legal proceedings in the New Jersey federal courts or whether Ms. Habba will continue to lead the office in the near future. The courts had already been operating in a kind of limbo, given her uncertain status. Certain types of criminal cases were slowed, and some grand jury proceedings were halted.” The AP's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Andrew Jeong of the Washington Post: “Retail giant Costco, which sells hundreds of imported items..., is suing the Trump administration, seeking a full refund on the duties it has paid as a result of ... Donald Trump’s global tariffs imposed this year. Costco filed a lawsuit at the U.S. Court of International Trade on Friday, saying the administration’s tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) are unlawful. The 1977 law has historically been used to impose sanctions against other nations. It comes as the Supreme Court is considering whether Trump has legal authority to impose tariffs on a vast range of goods from nearly all countries.” An NBC News story is here. ~~~

~~~ Surprise! Peter Eavis of the New York Times: “... this year..., [Donald] Trump closed a loophole that had allowed goods worth $800 or less to enter the United States tariff free. The loophole, known as the de minimis exemption, ended for items from China in May and for the rest of the world in August. Shoppers must now pay duties for the first time, often in amounts far higher than they expected.... The abruptness with which the United States closed the loophole caused major disruptions for sellers of all sizes, as well as for express carriers like FedEx and UPS, postal networks and American shoppers.... Some sellers choose not to pay the tariffs themselves, and ask their customers to do so. That’s why shoppers need to scrutinize the checkout process and look at the fine print on sellers’ websites.... The big surprises occur when sellers don’t collect tariffs from buyers at the time of purchase — and don’t say how much consumers might have to pay later.... Some sellers give clear warnings that duties might have to be paid but don’t state the amount.” ~~~

~~~ Jaclyn Peiser of the Washington Post: “From spreading out payments to dodging impulse purchases, holiday shoppers this year took a more judicious approach to spending over the Black Friday-Cyber Monday sales weekend, recent data shows. Underscoring this trend, 'buy now pay later' services such as Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay and PayPal Pay Later are increasingly popular among consumers of all income levels — whether shoppers are looking for convenience or seeking to spread out their budget, according to David Tinsley ... [of] the Bank of America Institute.... More broadly, the rising cost of groceries, housing and energy — as well as tariff-induced price increases on core gifting categories including apparel, toys and electronics — has forced consumers to be savvier when their dollar isn’t going as far, analysts said.... 

“While the National Retail Federation forecasts spending in November and December will break a record $1 trillion — an increase of between 3.7 and 4.2 percent over the same period last year — that doesn’t mean people are buying more, rather that things are costing more, analysts say.... Still, there were signs of strength. Online sales on Black Friday reached $11.8 billion, according to Adobe Analytics. That’s a 9.1 percent surge over last year.... But in-store shopping slumped. Visits to malls and downtown areas on Black Friday fell a respective 2.5 percent and 2.6 percent compared to last Black Friday....” Emphasis added.

AP: “Air travelers in the U.S. without a REAL ID will be charged a $45 fee beginning in February, the Transportation Security Administration announced Monday. The updated ID has been required since May, but passengers without it have so far been allowed to clear security with additional screening and a warning. The Department of Homeland Security says 94% of passengers are already compliant and that the new fee is intended to encourage travelers to obtain the ID. REAL ID is a federally compliant state-issued license or identification card that meets enhanced requirements mandated in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.”

~~~~~~~~~~ 

Tennessee Congressional Race. Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: “Speaker Mike Johnson put the president on speakerphone during a Monday stop in [Tennessee], underscoring the unusual amount of national attention on a House special election.... It is the final special election of 2025 and, as Mr. Johnson told reporters, 'we think what will happen here will be a bellwether for the midterms next year.' [Republican Matt] Van Epps is running against State Representative Aftyn Behn, a Nashville Democrat who has energized many in her party despite a political record perceived by some as too liberal for Tennessee.... The district, which cuts through part of Nashville and stretches between the borders with Alabama and Kentucky, was left vacant after Representative Mark Green stepped down for a private sector job this year.... An Emerson College survey last week showed Mr. Van Epps beating Ms. Behn by only two percentage points, an uncomfortable margin in a district carefully drawn to favor a Republican candidate. Mr. Trump won the area by more than 20 points last year.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Honduras. CBS/AFP: "A businessman who has ... [Donald] Trump's backing for the presidency of Honduras was locked in a 'technical tie' with a rightwing TV host after a preliminary vote count, the Central American country's electoral body said Monday. Nasry Asfura, 67, led 72-year-old rival Salvador Nasralla by just 515 votes, making it a 'technical tie,' National Electoral Council (CNE) head Ana Paola Hall said on X after a partial digital tally of Sunday's down-to-the-wire ballot. She called for "patience" as the CNE starts a manual count in a vote that left the ruling left-leaning party out in the cold in one of Latin America's most impoverished and violent countries. Days before the vote, former Tegucigalpa mayor Asfura won Mr. Trump's backing — as the U.S. president sought to put his finger on the scale of another Latin American election. In a Monday post on his own Truth Social platform, Mr. Trump accused the Honduran electoral body of 'trying to change the results' of the vote, adding: 'If they do, there will be hell to pay!'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So the thug who tried to overturn his own U.S. presidential election is now threatening another country's presidential election results. It figures.