May 2026 be filled with love, laughter and dogs.

And, of course, politics.

Thanks for making Political Wire part of your new year!

“So much has happened since President Trump took office again that it can be hard to keep track of it all,” the New York Times reports.

“At home and abroad, he has driven change at warp speed, upending policy and challenging democratic norms. Along the way, he’s provided an often unfiltered narration of his own presidency, almost in real time.”

“Here, out of the blur of events, are some of the most consequential, illuminating or just plain remarkable moments from his first year back in the White House.”

“We want to make sure that he’s not infiltrating, that we’re not infiltrating into our country and ban Santa.”

— President Trump, speaking to a four year old and ten year old on Christmas Eve.

Our boys are home for the holidays and it’s best gift Sara and I could ask for.

Whatever you celebrate, I wish you a very peaceful holiday.

And thank you for gifting me your precious attention each day.

I truly love doing this.

“A majority of judges on a Brazil Supreme Court panel upheld the arrest of Jair Bolsonaro, voting to keep the former right-wing president behind bars while he awaits the start of a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup attempt,” Bloomberg reports.

“A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to halt its National Guard deployment to Washington while a lawsuit over the matter plays out in court, siding with D.C.’s Office of the Attorney General and writing that the administration has ‘exceeded the bounds of its statutory authority’ in requesting National Guard assistance from other states,” the Washington Post reports.

“Mikie Sherrill has advice for her fellow Democrats heading into the 2026 elections: follow the lead I set in New Jersey to win again,” Politico reports.

“A new campaign memo written by Sherrill’s campaign manager Alex Ball makes the case to Democrats that Sherrill’s success in the gubernatorial race last week in the Garden State can be replicated nationally by keeping their affordability messaging solutions-focused, reengaging with the traditional Democratic base and competing with ‘the right-wing online ecosystem.’”

“Discontent with the economy is once again proving to be the primary force in U.S. politics, defining elections in three states on Tuesday and punishing the party in power,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“President Trump’s global tariffs ran headlong into a skeptical Supreme Court on Wednesday, with justices across the spectrum expressing doubt that a 1970s emergency-powers law could be read to provide the president unilateral authority to remake the international economy and collect billions of dollars in import taxes without explicit congressional approval,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“But even if the court strikes down the tariffs Trump initiated on his self-declared Liberation Day last April, the justices gave little indication how they might unwind the president’s signature economic policy and favorite diplomatic tool. That left unclear whether previously paid duties would be refunded or whether Congress could be invited to step in, perhaps by ratifying the levies retroactively.”

“ABC News’ Jonathan Karl reports in Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America, out next Tuesday, that Hunter Biden was furious with former President Obama for taking President Biden’s hand to lead him off the stage at a Hollywood fundraiser last year,” Axios reports.

“The snippet went viral, reinforcing the impression that Biden was doddering.”

Said Hunter Biden: “I almost jumped up on the stage and said, ‘Don’t ever fucking do that to the president of the United States again — ever.”

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“The era of A.I. propaganda is here — and President Trump is an enthusiastic participant,” the New York Times reports.

“After nationwide protests this weekend against Mr. Trump’s administration, the president posted an A.I.-generated video to his Truth Social account depicting himself as a fighter pilot, careening through major cities and dropping excrement on protesters.”

“It was the latest example in a yearslong shift by Mr. Trump to deploy fake imagery, generated by artificial intelligence, as part of his social media commentary.”

Polymarket gives the government shutdown a 75% chance of ending sometime after October 15.

For members: How This Shutdown Might End

“The Trump administration is seeking an equity stake of as much as 10% in Lithium Americas as it renegotiates terms of the company’s $2.26 billion Energy Department loan for its Thacker Pass lithium project with General Motors,” Reuters reports.