A new Yahoo/YouGov poll found that more Americans are unhappy with President Trump’s stances on the economy and cost of living, with almost twice as many saying the president has helped raise prices rather than lowering them.
The survey also found more Americans (38%) now blame Trump more for inflation than his predecessor, former President Joe Biden (31%).
“President Donald Trump’s endorsement was supposed to clear the field for Rep. Byron Donalds,” Politico reports.
“Instead, the GOP governor’s race in Florida is veering toward a bitter and unpredictable brawl — with Gov. Ron DeSantis and his clout still lurking, adding to the drama in the fight to succeed him.”
“Donalds has every reason to expect a glide path to the nomination: He’s got Trump behind him, support from many top state Republicans, millions in his campaign accounts and a steady presence on Fox News. Polls show him far out in front of other GOP hopefuls.”
“But instead of the field collapsing, Donalds is drawing in new challengers with sharper attacks — including allies of term-limited DeSantis.”
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) celebrated his marriage to his partner Alexis Lewis in an intimate ceremony in Washington, D.C. on Saturday evening, less than three months after he announced their engagement in an Instagram post, the New York Times reports.
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on trial facing corruption charges, announced Sunday he had submitted a pardon request, saying the long-running cases were tearing the country apart,” AFP reports.
“There was a time, not that far in the past, when a shocking tragedy would bring the country together,” the Washington Post reports.
“Americans had the capacity to grieve as one — as they did, for instance, in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. This reflected their sense of a common purpose and shared values, whatever their political differences might be.”
“So far, almost the opposite is happening after two young National Guard members from West Virginia were ambushed, killing one and leaving the other in critical condition. It occurred on the eve of Thanksgiving and just a block away from the White House, against a national backdrop of rising political violence and deep polarization.”
“Republican-led committees in the Senate and the House say they will amplify their scrutiny of the Pentagon after a Washington Post report revealing that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a spoken order to kill all crew members aboard a vessel suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea several weeks ago,” the Washington Post reports.
“A live drone feed showed two survivors from the original crew of 11 clinging to the wreckage of their boat after the initial missile attack Sept. 2, The Post reported Friday afternoon. The Special Operations commander overseeing the operation then ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s directive, killing both survivors.”
New York Times: “More than a dozen candidates, as well as hundreds of state and county election officials across Texas, are watching and waiting for the Supreme Court to decide which congressional map will be used in Texas races in 2026, the old one drawn by Republicans in 2021 or the new one drawn by Republicans this summer.”
“The decision, which may come within days, could shift the outcome in several congressional races, and possibly impact which party controls the House. Regardless, it’s affecting the candidates.”
“Politics and debt don’t mix well. Americans would be wise to look across the Atlantic to see how tough things can get,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The U.K. government demonstrated the problem with its annual budget, where it is stuck in a trilemma, unable to please lenders and voters while also doing the right thing for the economy. Something had to give, so on Wednesday the government ignored its promises to go for growth, and focused on the bond market and its political base.”
“France has the same trilemma, only worse. Government debt is higher than in the U.K., the fiscal deficit is higher, and not only are tax rises politically impossible but taxes are already so high that raising them further might be self-defeating.”
“For decades, people have fretted about the financial sustainability of America’s bedrock retirement income program. Now, Social Security’s precarious fiscal state is an issue for the here and now,” Axios reports.
“How to fix it is set to be a defining political fight of the next several years, with millions of Americans’ benefits and the fiscal future of the United States at stake.”
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“President Trump has set free a private equity executive who had served less than two weeks of a seven-year sentence for his role in what prosecutors described as a $1.6 billion scheme that defrauded thousands of victims,” the New York Times reports.
“David Gentile, 59, a onetime resident of Nassau County, N.Y., had reported to prison on Nov. 14, and was released on Wednesday.”
“The US military carried out a follow-up strike on a suspected drug vessel operating in the Caribbean on September 2 after an initial attack did not kill everyone on board,” CNN reports.
Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) “announced Saturday that he will not seek reelection in next year’s midterm elections but instead focus on his family,” The Hill reports.
Axios: “Nehls joins a rapidly growing group of House members in both parties who have decided to call it quits, either to run for higher office or simply leave politics entirely.”
“Aftyn Behn, the Democratic nominee for next week’s special election in a heavily Republican Tennessee congressional district, has made affordability concerns a centerpiece of her campaign messaging – mirroring the playbook of the party’s victorious candidates for governor in Virginia and New Jersey earlier this month,” CNN reports.
“Tuesday’s contest is poised to test just how far Democrats can ride that argument in a district that President Donald Trump carried by 22 points last November.”
Just published: Nations Apart: How Clashing Regional Cultures Shattered America by Colin Woodard.
Our democracy has been purposefully dismantled, first in the states and now at the federal level.
“Republicans looking to recover after bruising electoral losses in November are sharply divided over one of the next big electoral tests: a statewide judicial race in battleground Wisconsin,” Politico reports.
“Wisconsin voters will head to the polls in April to pick the state’s next Supreme Court justice for the fourth time since 2020. In the last three contests, liberal candidates have demolished the GOP-backed ones, sending conservatives — who in as recently as 2023 enjoyed a majority on the court — deep into the wilderness.”
“Drug companies and lawyers for patients have thought for years that the federal program for people injured by vaccines is understaffed and too slow to offer compensation. They’ve been urging Congress to overhaul it,” Politico reports.
“Now, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is considering much more dramatic changes that industry insiders and public health experts worry could threaten the availability of vaccines for the public by prompting drug companies to flee the U.S. market.”
“MAGA entered the year at the apex of its power, but has become mired in its most bitter infighting since its founding by President Trump in 2015,” Axios reports.
“If the base can unite during the holidays against its perceived enemies — Democratic lawmakers branded ‘the seditious six,’ former FBI Director James Comey, the media — it might help the right turn a painful page.”
“If not, the turmoil could become a systemic problem that plagues MAGA through the midterms.”
Politico: How Trump’s base could break.
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.