“They call me the president of Europe. Which is an honor.”
— President Trump, speaking to reporters.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“We’re going to be doing numbers on the cost of drugs in this country. I’m not talking about a 20% decrease, I’m talking about a 1000% decrease.”
— President Trump, speaking to reporters.
Exchange of the Day
Oliver Darcy interviewed Wired editor Katie Drummond for his Status newsletter:
DARCY: Stepping back, what do you think it means for American democracy and for the tech sector when Silicon Valley leaders are openly bowing before Donald Trump? And, in an attempt to end on a positive note: Where, if anywhere, do you find reasons for optimism?
DRUMMOND: We’re witnessing, in real-time, a profound consolidation of power and collusion among political and tech elites—the ruling class of this country, and the world – wherein the tools and technologies that this industry has built, and continues to build, can now be deployed in service of an authoritarian regime…
Don’t think for a second that these companies and their executives won’t get in line. They’re already in the Oval Office with a custom glass and 24-karat-gold statuette, for god’s sake.
What gives me optimism? People in tech doing novel, subversive, transformational things—grassroots or otherwise. That, and my second passport.
Quote of the Day
“A lot of people are saying maybe we’d like a dictator.”
— President Trump, speaking to reporters.
America Tips Into Fascism
Garrett Graff: “The United States, just months before its 250th birthday as the world’s leading democracy, has tipped over the edge into authoritarianism and fascism. In the end, faster than I imagined possible, it did happen here. The precise moment when and where in recent weeks America crossed that invisible line from democracy into authoritarianism can and will be debated by future historians, but it’s clear that the line itself has been crossed.”
“I think many Americans wrongly believe there would be one clear unambiguous moment where we go from ‘democracy’ to ‘authoritarianism.’ Instead, this is exactly how it happens — a blurring here, a norm destroyed there, a presidential diktat unchallenged. Then you wake up one morning and our country is different.”
Bernie Sanders to Rally Maine Democrats
Sen. Bernie Sanders will rally with Maine Democrats this weekend, the Bangor Daily News reports.
The Vermont independent will be in town boosting gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson and insurgent U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner.
Opposition Struggles to Unite Against Mamdani
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Electoral College Could Tilt Further From Democrats
New York Times: “The year is 2032. Studying the Electoral College map, a Democratic presidential candidate can no longer plan to sweep New Hampshire, Minnesota and the ‘blue wall’ battlegrounds of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and win the White House. A victory in the swing state of Nevada would not help, either.”
“That is the nightmare scenario many Democratic Party insiders see playing out if current U.S. population projections hold.”
Trump May Ban Covid-19 Vaccine ‘Within Months’
One of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s closest associates said the Trump administration will move to pull the Covid vaccine off the U.S. market “within months,” the Daily Beast reports.
Trump In Denial About His Terrible Poll Numbers
President Trump appears to be in deep denial about his historically low approval ratings, the Daily Beast reports.
Said Trump, on Truth Social: “Except what is written and broadcast in the Fake News, I now have the highest poll numbers I’ve ever had, some in the 60’s and even 70’s. Thank you.”
Trump Wants ABC and NBC to Lose Broadcast Licenses
President Trump attacked ABC and NBC’s news coverage of his administration—claiming it was “97%” negative—and said he supports the idea of the two networks having their broadcast licenses revoked, Forbes reports.
In a follow-up post, the president reiterated the license revocation threat, before suggesting that “at a minimum,” they should be forced to “pay up BIG” for their licensed broadcast spectrum.
Government Will Take Stakes in More Companies
“The U.S. government is likely to take ownership stakes in more companies — just as it did with Intel — toward the goal of building a sovereign wealth fund, National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett said Monday,” Axios reports.
“It’s a new paradigm for the U.S. government’s relationship with the private sector, and raises fresh questions about how much authority the administration intends to exert over corporate America.”
CNBC: Trump says government will make deals like Intel stake “all day long.”
Pilot of Last Flight Out of Afghanistan Runs for Congress
“Alex Pelbath, the Air Force pilot who flew the last U.S. aircraft out of Kabul when America ended its 20-year war in Afghanistan, is now running for Congress in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, calling himself a ‘Trump conservative’ and pledging to be the political reinforcement the president needs,” the Charleston Post & Courier reports.
Said Pelbath: “Combat leaders understand that mission is everything. My mission is clear. Provide President Trump the reinforcements he needs, deliver common sense leadership that will make the Lowcountry proud and bring an outsider’s perspective to Washington. I was the last one out. But the mission’s not over.”
Barrasso PAC Launches New Ads in Ohio and Florida
“A PAC aligned with Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) is going up with new ads Monday bolstering GOP senators in Ohio and Florida,” Axios reports.
“The group will spend half a million dollars between the two states. It’s another sign of Republican leaders moving early to try to sway voters ahead of next year’s midterm elections.”
Making a Federal Case Out of Low-Level Arrests
Washington Post: “The stream of defendants who shuffled through a federal courtroom on Thursday afternoon illustrated the new ways in which laws are being enforced in the nation’s capital after the president’s takeover of the city’s police. They were appearing before a magistrate judge on charges that would typically be handled at the local court level, if they were filed at all.”
“One man had been arrested over an open container of alcohol. Another had been charged with threatening the president after delivering a drunken outburst following his arrest on vandalism. And one defendant’s gun case so alarmed prosecutors that they intend to drop the case.”
Trump Plans to Order End of ‘Cashless Bail’
President Trump plans to sign an executive order that aims to eliminate “cashless bail” for arrested suspects in Washington, D.C., Axios reports.
Under cashless bail, a suspect doesn’t need to pay money to be released from custody before trial.
Freedom Caucus Exodus Could Reshape Congress
NOTUS: “The House Freedom Caucus, as Washington knows it, will look fundamentally different next year. Some staffers — particularly delighted Democrats — are speculating that with so many ideological leaders of the caucus looking for the exits, the group might functionally cease to exist, or, at least, cease to be a serious thorn in leadership’s side.”
Trump May Not Have the Votes for the Nobel Peace Prize
“President Donald Trump has long quested after a Nobel Peace Prize, a distinction that would put him in a vaunted and exclusive club. But unlike a U.S. presidential campaign, winning a Nobel Peace Prize depends on an electorate of five — and Trump may not have a majority,” the Washington Post reports.
“Trump’s desire for a Nobel has been a through-current of both of his terms, but his effort has escalated in recent months. He has mused aloud that the peace deal in Ukraine that he worked on in recent weeks might be one key to the prize. But at least three of the five Norwegian deciders have criticized Trump publicly, making his path to winning their votes far from clear.”
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