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How to Have a Trumpy Christmas

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Washington Post: “It’s a little late for this year’s celebrations, but you can get a very early jump on next year and count down with the $38 Trump Advent calendar. Or trim the tree with a $95 Mar-a-Lago bauble or a $16 MAGA hat ornament, sold in nine colors. (A glass version of the hat ornament is $92.) Stuff stockings with an $86 ‘GIANT Trump Chocolate Gold Bar’ and a $22 pair of candy cane socks printed with ‘Trump.’ Prepare a holiday feast with a $14 Trump Christmas tree pot holder and $28 Trump apron featuring Santa waving an American flag.”

“The profits from these holiday trinkets do not benefit a political committee or a charitable cause, but the Trump Organization, the Trump family’s privately owned conglomerate of real estate, hotel and lifestyle businesses. As the company encouraged customers to celebrate the holidays with Trump gifts for all ages, President-elect Donald Trump personally profited off of his upcoming term in a manner that is unprecedented in modern history — even during his unconventional first stint in the White House.”

Trump’s Return Puts New Strains on NATO

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“Next year will bring new strains to the transatlantic alliance, with the return of Donald Trump to the White House,” CNN reports.

“The president-elect is certain to pile even more pressure on European nations to increase their spending on defense — and may use the threat of downgrading US support for NATO as leverage. And given the threat from Russia and rising global instability, he may well have a point.”

GOP Senators Prepare to Move Trump’s Agenda

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“Senate Republicans are preparing over the break to launch a quick party-line border funding bill in the new Congress,” Semafor reports.

“Everything is fluid, but the Senate Budget Committee may move a budget resolution in early- to mid-January; a very aspirational goal could put the budget resolution on the Senate floor before Donald Trump is sworn in. That would keep Congress on track for a Trump signature on border funding by sometime in February, pending the inevitable drama with such narrow margins in Congress (the House hasn’t fully signed off on this plan).”

“The budget and its unlimited vote-a-rama set the table for evading a filibuster with the subsequent reconciliation bill, which is currently around $100 billion for the border, paid for with energy leases and with a TBD national security component.”


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Trump Pledges Expanded Use of Death Penalty

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Just after President Biden commuted the sentences of 37 prisoners on death row, President-elect Donald Trump pledged “to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters.”

He added: “We will be a Nation of Law and Order again!”

U.S. Considers New Russia Sanctions to Weaken Putin

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“The Biden administration is weighing new, harsher sanctions against Russia’s lucrative oil trade, seeking to tighten the squeeze on the Kremlin’s war machine just weeks before Donald Trump returns to the White House,” Bloomberg reports.

“Details of the possible new measures were still being worked out, but President Joe Biden’s team was considering restrictions that might target some Russian oil exports, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations.”

Trump Will Confront More Vulnerable but Determined Iran

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New York Times: “Iran is suddenly far more brittle than it was during his first administration, its leadership more uncertain, its nuclear program more exposed and vulnerable to attack. That new reality has touched off an internal debate about how his administration should approach Tehran: with an openness to negotiations, or with an attack on its nuclear enrichment program — overt or covert, or perhaps initiated by Israel.”

“Or, as many suggest, a round of ‘coercive diplomacy’ that leaves Tehran to choose either a negotiated disassembly of its nuclear capability, or a forced one.”

Trump Dreams of Empire Expansion

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Axios: “Trump has been in a strikingly imperial mood since his election victory. He has floated acquiring Greenland, reclaiming the Panama Canal, annexing Canada, and potentially invading Mexico — to the intense consternation of their leaders.”

“In each case, Trump is blending trolling, negotiation and intimidation.”

Democrats Warm to Conservative Media

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Axios: “Nearly a dozen House Democrats tell Axios that party members need to increase their appearances on conservative-leaning and non-traditional platforms, or risk irrelevance.”

“They say they no longer can look past the huge audiences offered by Fox News and conservative podcasts, whose messaging power became evident when Republicans swept the White House and both chambers of Congress in last month’s election.”

There Aren’t Enough Officers for Mass Deportations

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Associated Press: “With Donald Trump returning to the White House, there is intense interest in how the Republican will carry out his immigration agenda, including a campaign pledge of mass deportations.”

“His priorities could run into the realities faced by agents focused on enforcement and removals, including the unit in New York that offered The Associated Press a glimpse into its operations: The number of people already on its lists to target eclipses the number of officers available to do the work.”

Trump’s Housing Pick Has Opposed Efforts to Aid the Poor

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“As Donald Trump’s nominee to run the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Scott Turner may soon oversee the nation’s efforts to build affordable apartments, protect poor tenants and aid the homeless. As a lawmaker in the Texas House of Representatives, Turner voted against those very initiatives,” ProPublica reports.

“Turner supported a bill ensuring landlords could refuse apartments to applicants because they received federal housing assistance. He opposed a bill to expand affordable rental housing. He voted against funding public-private partnerships to support the homeless and against two bills that called merely to study homelessness among young people and veterans.”

“Behind those votes lay a deep-seated skepticism about the value of government efforts to alleviate poverty, a skepticism that Turner has voiced again and again.”

Quote of the Day

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“I just felt like, he tried to kill me once. I’m not available for it again.”

— Rep. Ann McLane Kuster (D-NH), quoted by Roll Call, on Donald Trump, the Jan. 6 insurrection and one of the reasons she decided to retire.

Greenland Is ‘Not for Sale’

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Greenland’s prime minister said Monday the autonomous island is not for sale after President-elect Donald Trump said owning Greenland “is an absolute necessity” for the U.S., The Hill reports.

Said Prime Minister Múte Egede: “Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale.”

Biden Signs Defense Bill Despite Objections

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“President Joe Biden on Monday signed into law a defense bill that authorizes significant pay raises for junior enlisted service members, aims to counter China’s growing power and boosts overall military spending to $895 billion despite his objections to language stripping coverage of transgender medical treatments for children in military families,” NBC News reports.

Biden Vetos Bill to Add More Federal Judges

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“President Joe Biden has vetoed bipartisan legislation that would have added dozens of new federal judge positions in the coming years,” Politico reports.

“The president had threatened to veto the bill because he didn’t want to give the president-elect new appointment opportunities, according to one of the outgoing president’s closest allies.”

Get Ready for Turf Battles Among Trump’s Many Envoys

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“President-elect Donald Trump has tapped multiple people for overlapping foreign affairs posts. Get ready for turf battles and confusion over who’s in charge,” Politico reports.

“The positions include special envoys whose exact responsibilities are unusually vague and that echo roles traditionally played by ambassadors, assistant secretaries of State and National Security Council staffers.”

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan 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.

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