“President Donald Trump is expected to unilaterally reinterpret a 38-year-old arms control treaty to sell sophisticated ‘Reaper’ style and other advanced military drones abroad,” Reuters reports.
“The new interpretation would unlock the sale of more than 100 MQ-9 drones to Saudi Arabia, which the kingdom requested in the spring of this year and could be part of a $142 billion arms deal announced in May. U.S. allies in the Pacific and Europe have also expressed interest.”
“The Republican National Committee has green-lit early party aid for Michael Whatley as he campaigns for an open, battleground Senate seat in North Carolina — giving the former national party chair access to help that’s rarely granted to nonincumbents who have yet to win their primaries,” NBC News reports.
Wired: “At a White House dinner Thursday night, America’s tech executives put on an uncanny display of fealty to Donald Trump.”
“One by one, Trump asked the executives how much they were investing in the United States. One by one, they obliged, praising Trump’s leadership along the way. The president has run this play previously with his cabinet members, powerful people tripping over themselves in the race toward Trump’s good graces. But there was an eeriness to see that same dynamic among Big Tech’s braintrust, like passing a camera around to take turns wishing a distant, unloved uncle a very happy Thanksgiving.”
Tom Nichols: “The leaders of Russia, China, and North Korea are not good men. They preside over brutal autocracies replete with secret police and prison camps. But they are, nevertheless, serious men, and they know an unserious man when they see one.”
“For nearly a decade, they have taken Donald Trump’s measure, and they have clearly reached a conclusion: The president of the United States is not worthy of their respect.”
“The Trump administration is expected to issue an executive order as early as Friday establishing a designation for state sponsors of wrongful detention, in a move that would allow the U.S. to punish countries that illegally detain U.S. nationals or take them hostage,” CBS News reports.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh acknowledged that while the Supreme Court’s decisions are supposed to be the last word, that word isn’t always so clear, Politico reports.
Said Kavanaugh: “It’s possible we screwed up, very possible, we’re human. But it’s also possible, and oftentimes is the case, that it’s the product of nine of us, or at least five of us, trying to reach a consensus or a compromise on a particular issue that might be difficult.”
He added: “I’m fully aware that can lead to a lack of clarity in the law and can lead to some confusion, at times.”
“Those governments will help us find these people and blow them up. They might do it themselves, and we’ll help them do it.”
— Secretary of State Marco Rubio, quoted by the New York Times, on drug cartels.
The Guardian: “A draft White House fact sheet on Trump’s rebranding initiative implicitly acknowledges that only Congress can formally change the department’s name, saying that the order would authorize the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, to propose legislation that would make the change permanent.”
“In the meantime, the order instructs Hegseth and the department to start using ‘Department of War’ as a secondary title in official correspondence, public communications and executive branch documents. The order also authorizes Hegseth to refer to himself as the ‘secretary of war.'”
President Trump is considering New York City Mayor Eric Adams for an ambassadorship to Saudi Arabia, Politico reports.
Time: “The last time Congress faced a deadline to extend government funding, Senate Democrats flinched, giving Republicans the votes needed to avert a government shutdown without extracting any concessions. The move angered much of the Democratic base, who had been calling for their party’s leaders to aggressively fight the Trump Administration’s reshaping of the federal government.”
“Now, with another funding deadline less than four weeks away, Democrats in Congress say they are prepared to fight back and that healthcare will be the battlefield.”
“Party leaders have signaled that they plan to use the looming funding showdown to press for reversals of Medicaid cuts, extensions of expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, and limits on President Donald Trump’s spending authority—even if it means shouldering the political risk if negotiations collapse.”
The Hill: “Up to now, the focus on Capitol Hill has been on which Republicans might buck President Trump and GOP leaders and endorse a procedural tool, known as a discharge petition, to force that proposal to the floor even over the objections of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). The effort, sponsored by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), has the support of 216 lawmakers — two shy of the number needed to compel the vote.”
“But there are currently four vacant seats in the House, and three of them cover deep blue districts where the Democrat is expected to prevail in special elections slated for later this year. Two of those elections will happen this month, and both of the Democratic candidates are vowing to sign the petition as soon as they arrive on Capitol Hill — enough to hit the magical 218 number required to force the Epstein bill to the floor.”
“President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics operated a since-deleted Twitter account that featured sexually degrading attacks on Kamala Harris, derogatory remarks about gay people, conspiracy theories, and crude insults aimed at critics of President Donald Trump,” CNN reports.
“E.J. Antoni, a 37-year-old economist for the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, posted the comments from approximately 2017 through 2020 under a series of usernames and display names.”
“Job creation sputtered in August, adding to recent signs of labor market weakening and likely keeping the Federal Reserve on track for a widely anticipated interest rate cut later this month,” CNBC reports.
“Nonfarm payrolls increased by just 22,000 for the month, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for payrolls to rise by 75,000.”
G. Elliot Morris: “Trump’s approval rating in our average is hovering near the low point for his term, around 41.9% approval with all adults. And he scores a 53.7% disapproval rating — making him the most unpopular president ever at this point in a president’s term. Other than the record he set in his first term, that is.”
“But Trump’s problem is not just that his disapproval is high. He also faces a disproportionately high percentage of people who say they strongly disapprove of his presidency.”
Washington, D.C. delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), who is 88 years old, told Axios that “of course” she is running for reelection despite mounting concerns about her fitness for office.
Norton spokesperson Sharon Nichols, who has repeatedly walked back the lawmaker’s statements about running for reelection, said: “We don’t have anything to add.”
“President Donald Trump has grown increasingly pessimistic about the chance of brokering an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict anytime soon or seeing the leaders of the two warring countries meet in person,” NBC News reports.
New York Times: “The mission had the potential to provide the United States with a stream of valuable intelligence. But it meant putting American commandos on North Korean soil — a move that, if detected, not only could sink negotiations but also could lead to a hostage crisis or an escalating conflict with a nuclear-armed foe.”
“It was so risky that it required the president’s direct approval.”
“For the operation, the military chose SEAL Team 6’s Red Squadron — the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden. The SEALs rehearsed for months, aware that every move needed to be perfect. But when they reached what they thought was a deserted shore that night, wearing black wet suits and night-vision goggles, the mission swiftly unraveled.”
“A North Korean boat appeared out of the dark. Flashlights from the bow swept over the water. Fearing that they had been spotted, the SEALs opened fire. Within seconds, everyone on the North Korean boat was dead.”
“The SEALs retreated into the sea without planting the listening device.”
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.