“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants to meet President Trump “as soon as possible” — possibly over Thanksgiving — to finalize a joint U.S.-Ukrainian agreement on the terms for ending the war,” Axios reports.
“U.S. and Ukrainian officials have agreed in principle on most aspects of the plan, which has been modified heavily from the initial 28-point U.S. proposal. But Zelensky wants to negotiate on the matter of territorial concessions with Trump himself.”
“In the 25 years I served in the United States Congress, Republicans never, ever, one time, agreed on what a healthcare proposal should look like. Not once.”
— Former Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), quoted in 2017 by the Cook Political Report.
Abby Livingston: “If the new Texas map is ultimately struck down, and Democrats’ own revenge redistricting effort in California stands, Republicans could lose the House before a vote is even cast.”
“Indeed, immediately after the lower court ruling, I received an expletive-laced call from a Texas G.O.P. consultant. This person’s fury was not unique. Of the dozens of conversations I’ve had since Trump’s initial redistricting blitz this summer, I’ve only heard one Hill Republican praise the idea.”
“GOP distaste for the campaign has only grown since, especially after California passed its redistricting referendum. Now, as the generic ballot shifts further in Dems’ favor, the most likely outcome of new Republican maps would be that Democrats lose some seats in Republican-controlled states, while Republican incumbents lose some in Democratic states—in other words, a nine-figure wash.”
Tucker Carlson leveled a scorched earth attack on the Republican Party on The Shawn Ryan Show and went so far as to declare: “I’m going to have to oppose it because I hate them too much.”
He added: “That is the argument right now. Does the Republican Party exist to help its voters? Does every voter actually, every citizen, or does it exist for some other boutique corrupt reason, like serving a foreign government, serving your donors?”
“Rising Obamacare premiums are a political problem for Republicans. Rising premiums for workers who get health insurance from their employers could be an even bigger one,” Politico reports.
“Republicans in Congress are focused on finding a way to counteract an expected 26 percent rise in premiums for people who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act, without extending government subsidies that make insurance more affordable.”
“What the GOP isn’t talking about: Nearly seven times as many Americans get health insurance through an employer as those who buy it individually. Those 165 million people are expected to see their premiums spike by up to 7 percent.”
“Mike Huckabee remains a paid pitchman for the Florida-based American Behavioral Research Institute — makers of the Relaxium dietary supplement pill — even as he simultaneously serves as President Donald Trump’s U.S. ambassador to Israel, one of the world’s highest-profile diplomatic posts,” NOTUS reports.
Andrew Egger: “It wasn’t long before you could feel that overwhelming momentum start to slow. In retrospect, the Supreme Court’s slapdown of his lawless deportations to El Salvador was one inflection point; his shambolic rollout and subsequent panicked walkback of his ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs was another.”
“But now, in the wake of the government shutdown, we seem to be hitting a third phase in Trump’s second term, in which his forward momentum is in danger of stopping altogether. And in that environment, the incompetence so endemic in term one is making itself known again, with a vengeance.”
“Suddenly, everywhere you look, you see a White House flailing.”
Former Rep. David Trott (R-MI) reflects for the Daily Beast:
“Most of my peers were more capable and intelligent than the media portrayed them, although the place was completely dysfunctional. It still is. And it’s gotten worse. More toxic. The focus is on winning—i.e. beating the other party—and playing the blame game, not solving problems…”
“Members I have kept in touch with are miserable, and the deplorable state of affairs in our Capitol today is certainly a driving factor behind many recent lawmakers’ resignations… Republicans in particular have an untenable choice—stand up to President Trump’s unconstitutional actions or fall in line and accomplish nothing.”
Jake Sherman: “I’ve gotten countless text messages from House Republicans agreeing with this sentiment and saying why the hell should we stay in Congress if all we’re going to do is vote on censures and be a potted plant.”
A must-read: Apple in China by Patrick McGee.
New York Times: “This smart and comprehensive account makes a devastatingly clear case that Apple’s decision under Tim Cook, the current CEO, to manufacture about 90 percent of its products in China has created an existential vulnerability not just for Apple, but for the United States — nurturing the conditions for Chinese technology to outpace American innovation.”
U.S. consumer confidence slid in November by the most in seven months on growing anxiety about the labor market and the economy, Bloomberg reports.
“Russia has signaled it could reject a modified US peace plan to end the war in Ukraine if it fails to satisfy Moscow’s long-standing demands, even as Kyiv indicated it had agreed a framework with Washington,” the Financial Times reports.
“Democrats are announcing a new investment to win over voters in rural areas — where the party has suffered deep losses in recent elections — in their effort to win a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives next year,” NPR reports.
“This is the first time, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee says, that it’s had a program specifically dedicated to engaging rural voters.”
Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk said her organization’s efforts to support a potential JD Vance presidential campaign in 2028 are “in the works,” CNN reports.
“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there may be as many as four meetings between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping next year as both sides look to keep in place a fragile trade truce,” Bloomberg reports.
“Donald Trump is struggling to stay on message after accidentally boosting a call to impeach himself,” the Daily Beast reports.
“The president went on a social media posting spree attacking a group of Democrats who last week released a video urging U.S. service members and the intelligence community to refuse illegal orders.”
“But while doing so, he posted a screenshot of Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired naval officer and one of six Democratic lawmakers featured in the video, from an anti-Trump account named ‘Impeach Trump a 3rd Time.'”
Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the Justice Department would take “all available legal action, including an immediate appeal,” after a federal judge tossed out separate criminal charges against the former FBI director James Comey and New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, the New York Times reports.
Ukraine has agreed to the core elements of a peace proposal brokered by the Trump administration, with some details still to be worked out, The Hill reports.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
