December 22, 2025

Dan Lamothe & Tara Copp of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump on Monday said he will oversee the development of a new class of Navy battleship — named after himself. The move was cast in part as an effort to give the nation’s stagnant shipbuilding industry a shot in the arm, but also will upend the Navy’s ship-naming norms and thrust presidential politics firmly into the program from its genesis. The announcement follows a flurry of recent actions by Trump to rebrand existing institutions to include his name, including the U.S. Institute of Peace and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.... A logo unveiled for the new ship class depicts Trump in the moments after a July 2024 assassination attempt, fist held high.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Congress should just forbid this. They could pass a law as by unanimous consent in both Houses as soon as they deign to come back to Washington, covering any future and past naming of any damned thing Trump thinks he can slap his or a family member's name on. This branding binge of Trump's is pathological. 

Noy Thrupkaew, et al., of the Guardian: “More than 100 organizations that support victims of human trafficking have lost funding since October, leaving thousands of survivors at risk, a Guardian investigation has found. Anti-trafficking advocates say the US Department of Justice’s failure to spend nearly $90m appropriated by Congress is impeding law-enforcement investigations and exposing survivors to homelessness and the risk of deportation, jail time or re-exploitation. This is the latest in a series of Guardian investigative reports, which in September revealed that the Trump administration had rolled back efforts to combat human trafficking across the federal government. That retreat has far-reaching implications....” Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is what journalism is for. Somebody should explain it to CBS "News" editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. Because that preening Trumpette has no effing idea.

Maxine Joselow & Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: “The Trump administration on Monday said it would pause leases for five wind farms under construction off the East Coast, essentially gutting the country’s nascent offshore wind industry in a sharp escalation of ... [Donald] Trump's crusade against the renewable energy source. The decision injected uncertainty into $25 billion worth of projects that were collectively expected to power more than 2.5 million homes and businesses across the Eastern United States, according to Turn Forward, an offshore wind advocacy group. The five wind farms were projected together to create about 10,000 jobs. The move left intact just two operational wind farms in U.S. coastal waters — one small project off Rhode Island that has been complete since 2016 and a larger project off New York that has been fully operational since 2023.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: There's a good reason for this: Trump is a stupid, crazy old man and the people who work for him are as bent as he is. 

Adam Liptak of the New York Times presents a case of the dog that did not bark that just might foil Donald Trump's hopes of denying birthright citizenship to children born in the U.S. to non-citzens.  

Clay Risen of the New York Times: “Jim Beam, the country’s largest maker of bourbon, has announced a one-year pause in production at its flagship facility in Clermont, Ky., a stunning move that underlines the immense challenges facing the American whiskey industry after more than two decades of rapid growth. The decision by the brand, owned by the Japanese conglomerate Suntory Holdings, is the latest in a series of production cuts, layoffs and financial crises across the wine, beer and spirits sector, which has seen sales drop by about 5 percent over the past year.... It was likely, industry experts say, that a correction was in order as retailers and consumers, flush with inventory, slowed down their purchases and the market returned to normal after the pandemic buying spree. Analysts also cite recent economic challenges related to ... [Donald] Trump’s tariffs.”

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Unpresidented. Francesca Paris, et al., of the New York Times asked historians and political scientists if they could find precedents for some of the [MB: deplorable] things Donald Trump has done and said since April of this year. The writers broke the events down into three categories: “No Clear Precedent”; “Has Happened, But Under Different Circumstances”; and “Not Uncommon.” Here are those they found had no clear precedent: “Used the military to attack and kill suspected drug smugglers...; Cast doubt on vaccine efficacy and safety...; Asked states to gerrymander to add more seats for his party...; Owned a company that received a major investment from a sovereign state...; Tried to remove a member of the Federal Reserve Board...; Ended data collection efforts across government...; Ordered a review of public museums to align with administration views...; Cast doubt on official Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs numbers...; Sought damages from the Justice Department for federal investigations into him.” Here is the April 30 report, by the same reporters, covering the unpresidented crapola Trump did and said during the first months of his second term. Both articles include detail and context.

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: “In their pursuit of power, Trump and his allies have done a lot of damage to the United States, and the world. But as this year comes to an end, I think it’s clear that they’ve reached the limits of what they can accomplish through brute force alone. More important, Trump’s attempt to consolidate authoritarian power has inspired a large and ferocious backlash, from mass protests and organized efforts to stymie his most draconian plans to election results that show a voting public ready for change....  A more able president would recalibrate, take control of his administration and try to salvage what is left of his standing before he loses the trust of everyone but his most devoted followers. Trump is not an able president.”

The Most Corrupt President in U.S. History, Ctd. Karen Yourish, et al., of the New York Times: “Since ... [Donald] Trump was elected a second time, he and his allies have raised nearly $2 billion for his favored political causes and passion projects. That total, which was confirmed by four people involved in the fund-raising, likely eclipses the amount raised to support his 2024 campaign. The astounding haul hints at a level of transactionalism for which it is difficult to find obvious comparisons in modern American history.... To shed light on what has been a largely opaque fund-raising apparatus, The New York Times conducted a comprehensive investigation.... The contributions do not personally enrich Mr. Trump, unlike some of his family’s cryptocurrency ventures. But many of the deep-pocketed individuals and corporations who have given large sums have a lot riding on the administration’s actions, raising questions about conflicts of interest.”

Marie: If you are horrified by Trump imposing his name atop the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, you may appreciate where Trump got his sense of the decorative arts. Even though Trump insists he long ago left behind his association with Jeffrey Epstein, it appears Epstein's influence keeps creeping into Trump's esthetic. Here is the fireplace in Epstein's Manhattan home:

 

 

Here is the Oval Office fireplace wall, which sports Trump's golden embellishments: 

      ~~~ Okay, with a little help from Home Depot and a can of gold metallic paint: ~~~

 Now, back to the, ah, "Trump-Kennedy Center" and a nod to the season:

In the United States of America, you don’t have to apologize for being white anymore.... By the grace of God we will always be a Christian nation. -- Hillbilly Veep ~~~

~~~ Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: “The bitter infighting over antisemitism, free speech and bigotry during Turning Point USA’s annual national conference not only exposed fissures in ... [Donald] Trump’s movement but also laid bare a challenge for his potential successor.... On Sunday, Vice President JD Vance ... suggest[ed] he was more than willing to forgo imposing any moral red lines.... As vice president, Mr. Vance has on multiple occasions refused to pick a side in interparty fights over bigotry.... On Friday, Vivek Ramaswamy, an Indian American who is running for governor of Ohio as a Republican..., went after those who have embraced the idea that so-called 'heritage Americans' — a predominantly white group whose families have been in the country for multiple generations — have a greater claim to the nation than more recent arrivals. Those comments appeared to put Mr. Ramaswamy at odds with Mr. Vance, who has spoken out against 'importing millions and millions of low-wage serfs' and argued that mass migration was the 'theft of the American dream.'... Mr. Ramaswamy also took on those who have issued derogatory attacks against Mr. Vance’s wife, Usha Vance.” The AP report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Notice that JayDee did not think to defend his own wife; he left that to somebody else. (Get out, Usha!) Here are some more racist comments JayDee managed to get into his KKK speech: “Mr. Vance said Omar Fateh, a Minnesota state senator and Somali immigrant, had previously run for mayor of 'Mogadishu.'... I mean Minneapolis,' Mr. Vance said of the city with a large Somali American population. 'Little Freudian slip there.'... He said that Representative Jasmine Crockett, a Black Democrat in Texas running for Senate, had a 'street girl persona' that 'is about as real as her nails.'” I don't “apologize for being white”; it's an accident of birth. But I apologize to Kanno-Youngs & every other person of color who has to endure this bigotry as part of his job. I remember when I thought Dan Quayle was the worst vice president since Andrew Johnson. Compared to JayDee, Quayle is a moral and intellectual giant. You can be a decent human being without knowing how to spell “potato.” A decent human being does not make overt and purposeful racist remarks in a public forum. ~~~

~~~ ⭐Heather Cox Richardson explains why JayDee was wrong when he said, “The only thing that has truly served as an anchor of the United States of America is that we have been, and by the grace of God we always will be, a Christian nation.” Not only that, JayDee's Christian nationalism is a Southern thing, Richardson writes, adopted to justify white male supremacy. 

Nicholas Nehamas, et al., of the New York Times: “The U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday tried to intercept an oil tanker linked to Venezuela that is now fleeing in the Caribbean Sea, according to three U.S. officials..., days after ... [Donald] Trump said he would crack down on sanctioned vessels involved in the country’s oil trade. The tanker, called the Bella 1, was en route to pick up oil in Venezuela and was not carrying cargo, according to one of the officials and ship-tracking data. The tanker has been under U.S. sanctions since last year for transporting Iranian oil, which federal authorities say is sold to finance terrorism. When U.S. forces approached the Bella 1 late on Saturday, it was not flying a valid national flag, the officials said, making it a stateless vessel liable to be boarded at sea under international law. American authorities had obtained a seizure warrant from a federal magistrate judge, which would allow them to take possession of the ship, two of the officials said.... But the ship did not submit to being boarded and continued sailing, one of the officials said. A second official referred to the situation as 'an active pursuit.'” The AP's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Gosh, this almost sounds like a legal, possibly ethical thing to do. I must be missing something. ~~~

~~~ Now, this is more Trumpy ~~~

     ~~~ Matthew Lee of the AP: “The Trump administration is recalling nearly 30 career diplomats from ambassadorial and other senior embassy posts as it moves to reshape the U.S. diplomatic posture abroad with personnel deemed fully supportive of ... Donald Trump’s 'America First' priorities. The chiefs of mission in at least 29 countries were informed last week that their tenures would end in January, according to two State Department officials.... All of them had taken up their posts in the Biden administration but had survived an initial purge in the early months of Trump’s second term that targeted mainly political appointees.... Ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the president although they typically remain at their posts for three to four years. Those affected by the shake-up are not losing their foreign service jobs but will be returning to Washington for other assignments should they wish to take them, the officials said.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ So is this ~~~    

~~~ Niha Masih of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump announced he is appointing Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) as special envoy to Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark that the president has said he wants to acquire for the United States. 'Jeff understands how essential Greenland is to our National Security, and will strongly advance our Country’s Interests for the Safety, Security, and Survival of Our Allies, and indeed, the World,' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Sunday. Landry, who was sworn in as Louisiana’s governor in 2024, described it as a  'volunteer position' that he plans to serve in alongside his role as governor. A staunch supporter of Trump and a hard-line Republican, Landry has previously expressed support for Trump’s push to make Greenland a part of the United States.” ~~~

      ~~~ Geir Moulson of the AP: “The leaders of Denmark and Greenland insisted Monday that the U.S. won’t take over Greenland and demanded respect for their territorial integrity after ... Donald Trump ‍announced the appointment of a ‌special envoy to Greenland. Trump’s announcement on Sunday that Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry would be the U.S. special envoy prompted a new flare-up of tensions over Washington’s interest in the vast, semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, a NATO ally. Denmark’s foreign minister said in comments to Danish broadcasters that he plans to summon the U.S. ambassador.” ~~~

~~~ AND this is All Trump ~~~ 

~~~ Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: “Two days before Christmas last year, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. commuted the sentences of nearly all prisoners on federal death row, sparing the lives of 37 men.... [Donald] Trump, who criticized Mr. Biden’s decision last year and told the commuted inmates to 'go to hell,' issued an executive order in January encouraging state and local prosecutors to seek new charges against those inmates, which could subject them to new death sentences. The Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that defendants could be prosecuted for the same offenses in both federal and state court. Now, prosecutors in South Carolina, Louisiana and Florida have either filed new state charges or promised to do so against at least four of the men.... 'This is completely uncharted territory,' said Brian W. Stull, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union. 'And it will prompt vigorous and time-consuming litigation in opposition.'” 

Marie: According to Google's Art Intel, "Americans consistently rate nurses as their most trusted profession." Well, gosh, nurses sure don't seem to be favorites of Republicans: ~~~

 ~~~ Paul Glastris of the Washington Monthly: “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which passed in July, reduces federal higher education spending by roughly $284 billion over a decade..., largely by tightening graduate student lending. It eliminates the Graduate PLUS program ... and limits future loan amounts based on the type of graduate program: $50,000 per year and $200,000 total for 'professional' degrees, $20,500 per year and $100,000 total for all others.... Lawmakers ... directed the Department of Education to clarify the final definition [of 'professional']... Nursing, teaching, social work, physical therapy, physician assistant programs, and audiology were not [deemed professional].... Nursing and social work are overwhelmingly female professions already facing shortages, burnout, and stagnant pay. Getting a raise in these fields often requires a master’s degree, and the Trump administration was putting up roadblocks.... Public outrage has been so intense that, in December, a bipartisan group of lawmakers asked the Education Department to restore nursing to the list of professional degrees.”  

Patrick Marley, et al., of the Washington Post: “Reps. Ro Khanna (D-California) and Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) said Sunday that they will seek to find Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt of Congress for not releasing more documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Bondi’s top aide, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, said in an appearance on NBC’s 'Meet the Press' that he didn’t take their threats seriously.... 'Bring it on,' he said. 'We are doing everything we’re supposed to be doing to comply with this statute.' Khanna said in an interview with The Washington Post that he and Massie were pursuing contempt findings because the measure would take effect when it got through the House and would not need to go through the Senate. He said they were likely to give Bondi a 30-day grace period and then start fining her daily until she released all the records....

“Among the records released Friday was a 119-page grand jury document that was entirely blacked out. After facing criticism, the Justice Department posted a link on X to a version of the document with minimal redactions. In the interview with The Post and in a message on X, Khanna said he saw the Justice Department’s post as a sign that it’s responding to the effort to hold Bondi in contempt.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Ben Casselman & Colby Smith of the New York Times: “After a chaotic year filled with trade wars, market gyrations and the longest government shutdown in history, the U.S. economy has, once again, proved more resilient than many forecasters feared. But 'resilient' isn’t quite the same thing as 'good.' Many Americans are entering 2026 worried about their jobs, stressed about their finances and unconvinced that things will improve in the new year. The flow of official economic data resumed last week after a prolonged delay caused by the government shutdown. The reports were muddled by technical quirks related to the shutdown, but on balance they suggested the economy remained stuck in the same uneasy limbo it was in before the data blackout began. Job growth was decent in November, but unemployment rose. Retail sales were solid, but wage growth slowed. Inflation cooled, but remains elevated.... A gradual deterioration ... is still a deterioration.” 

Annals of “Journalism,” Ctd. Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: “In a move that drew harsh criticism from its own correspondent, CBS News abruptly removed a segment from Sunday’s episode of '60 Minutes' that was to feature the stories of Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration to what the program called a 'brutal' prison in El Salvador. CBS announced the change three hours before the broadcast, a highly unusual last-minute switch. The decision was made after Bari Weiss, the new editor in chief of CBS News, requested numerous changes to the segment. CBS News said in a statement that the segment would air at a later date and 'needed additional reporting.' But Sharyn Alfonsi, the veteran '60 Minutes' correspondent who reported the segment, rejected that criticism in a private note to CBS colleagues on Sunday.... 'Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices,' Ms. Alfonsi wrote in [a] note [to CBS colleagues]. 'It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now, after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.'” Update: This link appears to be a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Liam Scott & Scott Nover of the Washington Post: “CBS News abruptly pulled an investigative '60 Minutes' segment on the Trump administration’s deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s CECOT prison after the Trump administration refused to grant an interview, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post. The decision came directly from the network’s editor in chief, Bari Weiss, according to an internal email sent to producers from the segment’s correspondent, Sharyn Alfonsi, who called the decision tantamount to handing the White House a 'kill switch.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Brian Stelter of CNN: “'60 Minutes' just suffered a severe blow to its credibility. Now one of its own correspondents fears the program is being 'dismantled,' and some employees are threatening to quit.... The correspondent who reported the story, Sharyn Alfonsi, said in an internal memo that 'the public will correctly identify this as corporate censorship.'... [Bari Weiss] has recently become personally involved in '60 Minutes' stories about politics, the CBS sources told CNN.” ~~~

     ~~~ Paul Campos in LG&$: "Bari Weiss is a fascist collaborator, and should be treated accordingly by all real journalists. Anybody at CBS News with any professional self-respect should quit tomorrow if not sooner[.]" Alfonsi wrote in her memo to colleagues: "These men risked their lives to speak with us. We have a moral and professional obligation to the sources who entrusted us with their stories. Abandoning them now is a betrayal of the most basic tenet of journalism: giving voice to the voiceless. 

Passengers Beware. Emily Steel of the New York Times: “Uber says its background checks are essential for keeping passengers safe, promising that all of its drivers have passed a screening for violent crimes. The claim, made in marketing materials, ignores a critical detail: The system approves people with many types of criminal convictions, including violent felonies.... Uber rejects prospective drivers who have been convicted of murder, sexual assault, kidnapping and terrorism. But in 22 states, The Times found, the company approves people convicted of most other crimes — including child abuse, assault and stalking — so long as the convictions are at least seven years old. There are also gaps in Uber’s screenings.... Women who reported being sexually assaulted during Uber rides said that the company’s vetting practices put them in harm’s way.... Drivers with convictions for assault, child abuse, armed robbery and other crimes have been accused of sexually assaulting passengers across the country, The Times found.”

Everyone Beware. Faiz Siddiqui & Artur Galocha of the Washington Post: “Tesla’s vehicles have long featured flush-mounted, electronically powered door handles — a unique design for aerodynamic gain. These sleek components have drawn scrutiny, including from federal safety investigators, for potentially complicating escape in an emergency.... A Washington Post review found at least a dozen cases since 2019 in which Tesla drivers, passengers or first responders were unable to immediately access or exit the vehicles in life-threatening situations. Two of the cases involve deaths in Cybertrucks. In several instances, passengers who survived the initial impact of a severe crash were trapped inside as fire spread through the Tesla after the interior buttons ceased to function. Manual latches can open the doors if the buttons fail, but the steps ... are not always obvious. Meanwhile, the Cybertruck’s rugged exterior — which is built to both withstand exterior blows and contain blasts from the inside — has in some cases factored into rescue efforts by first responders, according to documents reviewed by The Post.”

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Marie: Pot ... Kettle ... Black. If Central & South Americans are smuggling drugs across our southern border and killing Americans, so U.S. residents are smuggling guns across Canada's southern border and killing Canadians. ~~~ 

~~~ Canada. Norimitsu Onishi of the New York Times: “American firearms are spilling increasingly into a country where gun control is far stricter than in the United States, according to government data and the authorities. Smugglers are hiding them inside commercial and personal vehicles, but are also loading them on drones, concealing them in boats or stashing them in a dead drop in a library straddling the border. Many guns then fetch up to eight times their original price on Canada’s black market. The proliferation of illegal guns from the United States has fueled bloodshed in Canadian cities and even in remote northern communities.... Homicides have spiked in Canada in the past decade, most of them from guns.... Most guns used in crimes in Canada enter illegally across the border.... More and more illegal guns from the United States have been confiscated during stings in the past five years, said Det. Superintendent Lee Fulford of the Ontario Provincial Police.”

Ukraine/Russia, et al. Anushka Patil of the New York Times: “The Kremlin on Sunday appeared to throw cold water on the results of several days of peace talks in Miami, where American representatives met separately with Russian and Ukrainian officials in the latest round of negotiations aimed at ending Russia’s war with Ukraine. Steve Witkoff..., [Donald] Trump’s special envoy, and Rustem Umerov, a senior Ukrainian security official who has been leading his country’s delegation to the talks, had said in joint statements on social media that the Ukrainians had 'productive and constructive' meetings in Florida with U.S. and European representatives over the preceding three days.” ~~~

~~~ Oleh Velhan of RBC-Ukraine: "Vladimir Putin ... effectively selected Steve Witkoff as his preferred interlocutor from the Trump administration, according to The Wall Street Journal. According to the newspaper’s sources, Putin was interested specifically in meeting with Witkoff. The invitation to travel to Russia came from Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who used Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as an intermediary. The article notes that the Saudi crown prince has long been a close friend of Dmitriev. White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly, commenting to the newspaper, insisted that the decision to appoint Witkoff was made solely by ... Donald Trump.... The Wall Street Journal also reports that, according to sources, during Witkoff’s stay in Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed offered to recommend Trump’s special envoy to the Russian side.... As the sources say, Moscow had one condition for the meeting with the US representative: Steve Witkoff had to come alone, without CIA officers, diplomats, or even a translator." Thanks to RAS for the lead. ~~~

~~~ Abigail Williams, et al., of NBC News: More than once, Steve Witkoff has "attempt[ed] to make an end-run around [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio. [A recent] episode [in which Witkoff secretly raced Rubio to talks in Geneva, Switzerland] ... was the latest example of a long-running rift between the two senior figures in the Trump administration with sharply different views about how to end the war in Ukraine and how much the U.S. should trust Russia’s promises." The article cites a number of Witkoff stunts which certainly appear designed to undermine Rubio's objectives.  

Ivan Nechepurenko of the New York Times: “A senior Russian general was killed on Monday in Moscow after a bomb placed under his car exploded, the country’s investigative committee said in a statement, in what appeared to be the latest high-profile assassination of Ukraine’s opponents inside Russia. The statement identified the officer as Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, who served as the head of the Russian General Staff’s army operational training directorate. Investigators said that they were looking into whether the bombing had been orchestrated by the Ukrainian intelligence services and that they had opened a criminal investigation.”