Donald Trump has posted his traditional rambling Christmas message calling out various foes, taunting adversaries, reiterating his desire for U.S. territorial expansionism — retaking the Panama Canal, incorporating Canada into the union, and buying Greenland.
A Danish official said an announcement that the country is boosting defense spending for Greenland, was an “irony of fate.”
Troels Lund Poulsen, the Danish defense minister, told the paper Jyllands-Posten Tuesday that the country plans to spend a “double-digit billion amount” in krone — about $1.5 billion — to make sure they have a “stronger presence” in the Arctic.
Trump said the “ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity” for the U.S., which operates a base in the territory’s northwest.
After seemingly joking about Canada becoming the “51st” state, the incoming president fired off ominous messages alleging the Panama Canal and Greenland pose serious economic and national security threats to the United States and might be targeted for some kind of annexation or purchase.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is reeling after an ethics committee report into former congressman Matt Gaetz “determined there is substantial evidence” that he paid tens of thousands of dollars for sex and used illicit drugs while he was a member of Congress.
Key Points
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Trump posts rambling Christmas Day greeting about US expansionism
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Trump promises to ‘vigorously pursue the death penalty’ in Christmas Eve message
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Greenland prime minister balks at Trump’s renewed play for territory
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Biden signs 50 bills into law on Christmas Eve – including legislation supported by Paris Hilton
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Denmark boosts funds for Greenland defense after Trump threats
Trump tweets himself as dancing Santa
22:53 , Oliver O’Connell
Watch: Merry Christmas from Nancy Pelosi
22:45 , Oliver O’Connell
Biden slams Russia’s ‘outrageous’ Christmas Day attack on Ukraine
22:31 , Oliver O’Connell
The White House has released the following statement from President Joe Biden regarding Russia’s overnight aerial attacks against Ukraine:
In the early hours of Christmas, Russia launched waves of missiles and drones against Ukrainian cities and critical energy infrastructure. The purpose of this outrageous attack was to cut off the Ukrainian people’s access to heat and electricity during winter and to jeopardize the safety of its grid. Let me be clear: the Ukrainian people deserve to live in peace and safety, and the United States and the international community must continue to stand with Ukraine until it triumphs over Russia’s aggression. In recent months, the United States has provided Ukraine with hundreds of air defense missiles, and more are on the way. I have directed the Department of Defense to continue its surge of weapons deliveries to Ukraine, and the United States will continue to work tirelessly to strengthen Ukraine’s position in its defense against Russian forces.
‘It never left’: GOP senator mocked for claiming Trump has brought Christmas ‘back in America’
22:15 , Rhian Lubin
GOP senator Tommy Tuberville has been mocked for claiming that Donald Trump has brought Christmas “back in America.”
The Trump loyalist posted the festive message on social media platform X on Christmas Eve.
“Thanks to President Trump, Christmas is back in America,” Tuberville said. But the former football coach was widely mocked in the responses.
“When idiots say stupid things,” Democratic Party strategist Chris D. Jackson responded.
“Someone has been [at] the eggnog,” one person jibed.
Read more:
GOP senator rinsed for claiming Trump has brought Christmas ‘back in America’
Watch: Doug Emhoff delivers Hanukkah message
21:55 , Oliver O’Connell
A very MAGA Christmas: How Trump’s inner-circle are marking the holidays
21:30 , Rhian Lubin
Vowing to “never surrender,” cheering mass deportations, and claiming Donald Trump has “brought Christmas back to America” – this is how MAGA is marking the holidays this year.
Trump, perhaps surprisingly, has toned down his annual festive message, simply posting on Truth Social on Christmas morning: “MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!”
Last year Trump delivered a scathing Christmas message to President Joe Biden and Special Counsel Jack Smith where he wrote: “MAY THEY ROT IN HELL. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!”
Read more:
A very MAGA Christmas: How Trump’s inner-circle are marking the holidays
Watch: Biden wishes Merry Christmas with stunning drone tour of White House decorations
21:15 , Oliver O’Connell
Trump names his ambassador to Panama
20:55 , Oliver O’Connell
Donald Trump has named his pick for US ambassador to Panama — a position that might have once merited a footnote but could in theory be especially important in the coming years given the president-elect’s demands for the return of the Panama Canal.
Here’s what Trump wrote on Truth Social:
I am pleased to announce that Kevin Marino Cabrera will serve as the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Panama, a Country that is ripping us off on the Panama Canal, far beyond their wildest dreams.
Kevin is a fierce fighter for America First principles. As a Miami-Dade County Commissioner, and Vice Chairman of the International Trade Consortium, he has been instrumental in driving Economic growth, and fostering International partnerships. In 2020, Kevin did an incredible job as my Florida State Director and, this year, advanced our MAGA Agenda as a Member of the RNC Platform Committee.
Few understand Latin American politics as well as Kevin – He will do a FANTASTIC job representing our Nation’s interests in Panama!
Trump encourages Wayne Gretzky to run for PM of Canada — or Governor as he believes it will soon be
20:45 , Oliver O’Connell
Donald Trump is encouraging Canadian former professional ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky to run for prime minister of Canada, noting that (at least in his mind) the position will soon be known as Governor of Canada.
Here’s what the president-elect had to say on Truth Social:
I just left Wayne Gretzky, “The Great One” as he is known in Ice Hockey circles. I said, “Wayne, why don’t you run for Prime Minister of Canada, soon to be known as the Governor of Canada – You would win easily, you wouldn’t even have to campaign.” He had no interest, but I think the people of Canada should start a DRAFT WAYNE GRETZKY Movement. It would be so much fun to watch!
Trump posts rambling long form Christmas greeting
20:32 , Oliver O’Connell
Just in case you thought Donald Trump was going to deliver a simple “Merry Christmas” as his holiday greeting, here’s what we’ve really been waiting for — a bizarre, rambling message to [checks notes] China’s soldiers, Justin Trudeau, the people of Greenland, and Radical Left Lunatics.
The president-elect also refuses to wish Merry Christmas to the “37 most violent criminals” pardoned by Joe Biden, instead telling them to “GO TO HELL.”
Here’s the two-part Truth Social post in full:
Merry Christmas to all, including to the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal (where we lost 38,000 people in its building 110 years ago), always making certain that the United States puts in Billions of Dollars in “repair” money, but will have absolutely nothing to say about “anything.” Also, to Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada, whose Citizens’ Taxes are far too high, but if Canada was to become our 51st State, their Taxes would be cut by more than 60%, their businesses would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected like no other Country anywhere in the World. Likewise, to the people of Greenland, which is needed by the United States for National Security purposes and, who want the U.S. to be there, and we will!…
…Page 2: Merry Christmas to the Radical Left Lunatics, who are constantly trying to obstruct our Court System and our Elections, and are always going after the Great Citizens and Patriots of the United States but, in particular, their Political Opponent, ME. They know that their only chance of survival is getting pardons from a man who has absolutely no idea what he is doing. Also, to the 37 most violent criminals, who killed, raped, and plundered like virtually no one before them, but were just given, incredibly, a pardon by Sleepy Joe Biden. I refuse to wish a Merry Christmas to those lucky “souls” but, instead, will say, GO TO HELL! We had the Greatest Election in the History of our Country, a bright light is now shining over the U.S.A. and, in 26 days, we will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Biden signs 50 bills into law on Christmas Eve – including legislation supported by Paris Hilton
20:16 , Gustaf Kilander
President Joe Biden spent Christmas Eve signing 50 bills into law, including one piece of legislation supported by Paris Hilton and another designating the bald eagle as the U.S. national bird.
The Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, backed by Hilton, a socialite and activist, is designed to hold teenage treatment centers and care facilities accountable. Hilton spent time on Capitol Hill promoting the measure.
This month, the Senate voted unanimously to support the bill, and it passed the House by a vote of 367 to 33. Biden signed the law Tuesday. Hilton, meanwhile, has expressed interest in possibly becoming an elected official.
Read more:
Biden signs 50 bills into law – including and Paris Hilton-backed legislation
Trump wants to purchase Greenland. How would that actually work?
20:00 , John Bowden
The re-emergence of Donald Trump’s territorial ambitions related to Greenland has added another strange new wrinkle to the presidential transition process.
And while it’s highly unlikely that the president-elect will have any success in convincing the governments of either Greenland or Denmark to sever the ties between the European country and its autonomous North American territory, it’s worth looking into the process of how the U.S. acquires new territories — and how that territory could be classified.
Greenland has been tied to Denmark politically and culturally for more than a century. Perhaps not recognizing the strength of those ties, the United States has repeatedly expressed interest in acquiring the land and its people; the first push by U.S. politicians to purchase Greenland began in 1867, led by then-Secretary of State William Seward.
Read more:
Trump wants to purchase Greenland. How would that actually work?
‘People people coordinated to lie about me,’ Matt Gaetz says
19:30 , Gustaf Kilander
Trump’s FCC chair sends ominous letter to Disney CEO: ‘Americans no longer trust the national news media’
19:15 , Alex Woodward
After Donald Trump threatened to strip ABC’s broadcast license and forced the network into a $15 million settlement, the president-elect’s pick to lead the Federal Communications Commission warned its parent company that Americans “no longer trust the national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly.”
In a letter to Disney’s CEO Bob Iger, Brendan Carr lamented the “erosion in public trust” in news media, and suggested ABC was partially to blame.
Carr — who wrote Project 2025’s chapter on the FCC — said the agency would be “monitoring” ABC’s negotiations with local television stations that carry its programming.
Read more:
Trump’s FCC chair sends ominous letter to Disney CEO
President and First Lady speak to service members ‘to share just how grateful we are for their courage and sacrifice’
19:07 , Gustaf Kilander
Trial of man accused in Trump assassination attempt in Florida pushed back to September
18:56 , AP
A man accused of attempting to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump in South Florida won’t be tried until September 2025, a federal judge ruled this week.
Ryan Routh’s trial will begin Sept. 8 instead of the previously scheduled Feb. 10, 2025 start date, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon said in an order released on Monday.
Routh, 58, a Hawaii resident, has pleaded not guilty.
Routh’s attorneys had asked the judge to delay the trial until no earlier than next December, saying they needed more time to review the evidence against him and decide whether to mount an insanity defense.
Routh owned 17 cellphones and numerous other electronic devices, and there are hundreds of hours of police body camera and surveillance videos that have been provided to the defense, Routh’s attorneys argued during a hearing two weeks ago in Fort Pierce, Florida.
In her order, Cannon said she wanted to err on the side of providing more time given the seriousness of the allegations, but that starting the trial no earlier than December would be an excessive amount. A September trial date didn’t amount to an “unreasonable delay,” she said.
The judge said that any insanity defense or any request related to Routh’s mental competency must be made by early February. Any visit to the scene of the assassination attempt must be made by the end of February.
Prosecutors say Routh methodically plotted to kill Trump for weeks before aiming a rifle through the shrubbery as Trump played golf on Sept. 15, 2024 at his West Palm Beach country club. Before Trump came into view, Routh was spotted by a Secret Service agent. Routh allegedly aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire, causing Routh to drop his weapon and flee without firing a shot. Prosecutors say he left behind a note describing his intentions.
He was arrested a short time later driving on a nearby interstate.
Routh’s charge of attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate carries a potential life sentence in the event of a conviction. Other charges include assaulting a federal officer and three firearms counts. He is being held without bail at the federal jail in Miami.
Routh’s arrest came two months after Trump was shot and wounded in the ear in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The Secret Service acknowledged failings leading up to that shooting but has said security worked as it should have to thwart the potential Florida attack.
Trump’s Ukraine-Russia envoy slams Kremlin’s Christmas Day attack
18:47 , Gustaf Kilander
Trump’s chosen Ukraine-Russia envoy, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, slammed Russia’s Christmas Day attack on Ukraine in a post on X.
“Christmas should be a time of peace, yet Ukraine was brutally attacked on Christmas Day,” he said. “Launching large-scale missile and drone attacks on the day of the Lord’s birth is wrong. The world is closely watching actions on both sides. The U.S. is more resolved than ever to bring peace to the region.”
John Bolton warns: I’m ‘very worried’ about how Trump would handle ‘much more likely’ international crisis
18:30 , Katie Hawkinson
John Bolton, President-elect Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, said that an international crisis is “much more likely” during the Republican’s second term.
Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security adviser from 2018 to 2019, told The Guardian the president-elect has an “inability to focus” and bases his decisions on personal relationships and “neuron flashes.”
“It’s typical Trump: it’s all braggadocio,” Bolton told the outlet. “The world is more dangerous than when he was president before. The only real crisis we had was COVID, which is a long-term crisis and not against a particular foreign power but against a pandemic.”
Read more:
John Bolton warns of ‘much more likely’ international crisis under Trump
Matt Gaetz sends fundraising message after bombshell House Ethics report: ‘I need your help’
17:45 , Alex Woodward
Hours after the publication of a bombshell report revealing “substantial evidence” that Matt Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars for sex, including with a 17-year-old girl, the former congressman issued a fundraising plea through his recently launched political action committee.
Gaetz — who was Donald Trump’s first pick for U.S. attorney general — is accused of violating federal and state laws against statutory rape, prostitution, illicit drug use and abusing the power of his office.
The results of a years-long House Ethics Committee investigation is a “sham witch hunt — just like the ones they conducted against President Trump,” Gaetz said in an email through his Florida Firebrand PAC Monday.
Read more:
Matt Gaetz sends fundraising message after bombshell ethics report
Aspiring MAGA congresswoman performs mock ‘execution’ of migrant in disturbing campaign video
17:00 , Mike Bedigan
Aspiring congresswoman and controversial MAGA cheerleader Valentina Gomez has sparked outrage once again after posting a video in which she appears to simulate executing an immigrant.
The 25-year-old, who tried and failed to be elected as the Missouri Secretary of State earlier this year, said in the disturbing clip that undocumented persons who committed violent crimes “deserve to be ended.”
In the video, posted to X on Monday, Gomez is seen firing a handgun into the back of the head of a dummy tied to a chair with a black bag over its head.
Read more:
Aspiring MAGA congresswoman performs mock ‘execution’ of migrant in disturbing video
Watch: Stephen A. Smith reverses position on President-elect Donald Trump
16:15 , Gustaf Kilander
Nigel Farage willing to work with Lord Mandelson to secure Trump trade deal
15:30 , Archie Mitchell
Nigel Farage has said he would be willing to help incoming ambassador to the US Lord Mandelson negotiate with the Trump administration.
Labour peer Lord Mandelson has indicated he believes the Reform UK leader, a friend of Mr Trump, could serve as a link between the British Government and the Republican president-elect.
Downing Street would not be drawn on whether Sir Keir Starmer would like Lord Mandelson to work with Mr Farage, saying when asked only that the Prime Minister had “already started to begin to build a relationship with President-elect Trump”. But No10 insiders have made clear Mr Farage will not be being used as a bridge between Sir Keir and Mr Trump.
Read more:
Farage willing to work with Lord Mandelson to secure Trump trade deal
Trump issues unusually short Christmas message
15:02 , Gustaf Kilander
(Donald Trump / Truth Social)
From halibut and hot dogs to unlikely friendships: This is what happens inside the Senate lunch room
14:45 , Eric Garcia
During President Joe Biden’s final major address on the economy, he did what he does best: wax poetic about the old days of the United States Senate, the institution that defined him. He told an especially instructive story about when he returned to the Senate as vice president and went into the Senate dining hall, where a central dining room table used to stand. That’s were Democrats and Republicans would once meet and talk.
“You walk in — a long table sitting, I guess, 16, 18 people on the right, parallel with the table,” he said. “And you walk through an archway, and there was a table going the other way. One was the Democratic table. One was Republican table. And when there weren’t enough to sit at any one table, then they all sit together.”
Read more:
Inside the Senate lunchroom: From Mormon hot dogs to Alaskan halibut
Denmark boosts defense spending for Greenland following Trump’s ‘ownership’ comments
14:22 , Gustaf Kilander
Denmark is boosting defense spending for Greenland. A Danish official said Tuesday that the timing of the announcement, coming as President-elect Donald Trump made comments that the U.S. should own the territory, was an “irony of fate.”
Troels Lund Poulsen, the Danish defense minister, told the paper Jyllands-Posten Tuesday that the country plans to spend a “double-digit billion amount” in krone — about $1.5 billion — to make sure they have a “stronger presence” in the Arctic.
Trump said Sunday that the “ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity” for the U.S. The U.S. military operates a base in northwest Greenland.
The president-elect’s comments are an expansion of what he said during his first term, when he suggested that the U.S. buy Greenland.
“Greenland is ours,” the territory’s Prime Minister Múte Egede said in response on Facebook Monday. “We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our years-long struggle for freedom. However, we must continue to be open to cooperation and trade with the whole world, especially with our neighbours.”
Texas buys billboards in Central America warning migrants of danger of rape and abuse on journey to US
14:00 , Alex Woodward
The state of Texas is paying an estimated $100,000 to install on blunt and at-times graphic billboards across Mexico and Central America in the coming weeks in the hopes of deterring future illegal immigration.
The Independent’s Josh Marcus reports:
Texas buys billboards in Central America warning migrants of danger of rape
Trump calls for death penalty against violent offenders
13:00 , Josh Marcus
The political fallout remains ongoing for Joe Biden’s decision to commute the sentences of most people on federal death row to life in prison.
In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, Donald Trump promised to “vigorously” pursue the death penalty against violent offenders.
“As soon as I am inaugurated, I will direct the Justice Department to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters,” Trump wrote. “We will be a Nation of Law and Order again!”
Trump oversaw a historic 13 federal executions in office, the most of any modern U.S. president.
Here’s more on the Biden commutations.
The three federal death row inmates Biden chose not to save
‘Confused’ congresswoman tracked to nursing home shines spotlight on troubling aging issues facing lawmakers
12:00 , Alex Woodward
The discovery by a local newspaper of a “confused” Texas Republican congresswoman living in an assisted care facility after she dropped out of sight last month has triggered concerns about aging lawmakers clinging to their powerful roles in the face of fears about diminishing competence.
The Independent’s John Bowden reports:
Aging DC in the spotlight after ‘confused’ lawmaker found living in a nursing home
Trump’s FCC nominee sends ominous letter to Disney CEO: ‘Americans no longer trust the national news media’
11:00 , Alex Woodward
After Trump threatened to strip ABC’s broadcast license and forced the network into a $15 million settlement, the president-elect’s pick to lead the Federal Communications Commission warned its parent company that Americans “no longer trust the national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly.”
In a letter to Disney’s CEO Bob Iger, Brendan Carr lamented the “erosion in public trust” in news media, and suggested ABC was partially to blame.
Inside Trump’s latest fight with the media, and what Carr – a Project 2025 co-author — plans to do in office:
Trump’s FCC chair sends ominous letter to Disney CEO
Colombia’s president denounces ‘American fascist’ Colombian-American calling for public executions of immigrants
10:00 , Alex Woodward
Far-right Republican figure Valentina Gomez, who has made headlines for stunts like taking a flamethrower to banned books, is now calling for public executions for any immigrant in the country illegally who “rapes or kills an American.”
“They don’t deserve deportation. They deserve to be ended,” she says in a video moments after shooting an effigy tied to a chair in the back of the head.
The caption reads “Public executions for any illegal that rapes or kills an American.” The video posted on X has been flagged for potentially violating the platform’s “rules against Violent Speech.”
Gomez, who is Colombian-American, came sixth in an eight-person primary for Missouri’s secretary of state, and last week she said she’s moving to Texas to challenge congressman Dan Crenshaw’s seat
Colombia’s own president called her an “American fascist.”
“She is not just an American fascist. She is Colombian,” Gustavo Petro wrote in Spanish. “And being a migrant, what she wants is to unleash hatred against migrants. Most Americans are killed by Americans.”
ICYMI: Biden vetoes legislation that would have allowed Trump to add more judges to the federal judiciary
09:00 , Alex Woodward
President Joe Biden has vetoed legislation that would have added dozens of judges to the federal judiciary, dealing a blow to Trump’s incoming administration and his plans to build on his first term’s radical reshaping of the courts with more right-leaning judges.
The bipartisan bill would have awarded roughly 66 new federal judicial slots over the next three presidential terms. Trump would have been able to appoint a first batch of 25.
The bill passed the Senate unanimously in August but lingered in the Republican-controlled House for months, until after Trump’s victory in the 2024 election. It cleared the House on a largely party-line in December.
The JUDGES Act would have increased the number of trial court judges in 25 federal district courts in 13 states, including California, Florida and Texas, in six waves every two years through 2035.
The bill “seeks to hastily add judgeships with just a few weeks left” in the current Congress, Biden wrote in a letter to lawmakers Monday night.
“The House of Representatives’ hurried action fails to resolve key questions in the legislation, especially regarding how the new judgeships are allocated, and neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate explored fully how the work of senior status judges and magistrate judges affects the need for new judgeships,” he added.
“The efficient and effective administration of justice requires that these questions about need and allocation be further studied and answered before we create permanent judgeships for life-tenured judges,” the letter continued.
The bill “would create new judgeships in states where senators have sought to hold open existing judicial vacancies,” efforts that suggest “concerns about judicial economy and caseload are not the true motivating force behind passage of this bill now,” according to Biden.
(EPA)
John Bolton: I’m ‘very worried’ about how Trump would handle ‘much more likely’ international crisis
08:00 , Alex Woodward
John Bolton, President-elect Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, said that an international crisis is “much more likely” during the Republican’s second term.
John Bolton warns of ‘much more likely’ international crisis under Trump
Trump wants to purchase Greenland. How would that actually work?
07:00 , Alex Woodward
Greenland’s strategic military and economic interests — compounded by two-thirds of the territory falling within the Arctic Circle — make the island attractive to Trump and other U.S. politicians over the years. So what would an attempt to acquire or seize Greenland actually look like?
Trump wants to purchase Greenland. How would that actually work?
Watch: Rudy Giuliani dressed up as Santa to promote his coffee
06:00 , Alex Woodward
As his financial woes look ever bleaker in light of the $150 million defamation ruling against him in favor of two Georgia election workers he falsely accused of interfering in the 2020 election, Rudy Giuliani appears to be resorting to more unusual efforts to raise cash.
Broke Rudy Giuliani dresses up as Santa in odd coffee ad
Biden’s Christmas gift: A new (old) national bird
05:00 , Josh Marcus
Joe Biden isn’t taking it easy on Christmas Eve.
The president signed 50 bills into law Tuesday evening.
Most of them won’t make headlines—one names a post office, while another deals with congressional pensions—but one is just too weird to ignore.
On December 24, 2024, the bald eagle became the national bird of the United States.
While the eagle has always been the de facto national symbol, that status was never enshrined into law, a fact that prompted a Minnesota man and eagle obsessive named Preston Cook to lobby for the change.
These are some of the most notorious January 6 rioters could pardon when he returns to the White House
04:00 , Alex Woodward
More than 1,500 people who have been criminally charged in connection with a mob’s assault on the Capitol — fuelled by his bogus narrative that the 2020 presidential election was rigged and stolen from him — are now awaiting potential pardons for alleged crimes live-streamed to millions of viewers.
Trump could issue mass amnesty to hundreds of defendants as soon as his first day in office, maintaining that even violent offenders could be granted clemency on a “case-by-case” basis.
Here are some of their stories:
The notorious January 6 rioters Trump could pardon
How Kamala Harris is celebrating Christmas Eve
03:00 , Josh Marcus
With Donald Trump and Elon Musk dominating the headlines, we’ve heard a little less these days from Vice President Kamala Harris.
So what has she been up to?
On Christmas Eve, at least, she and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff checked out homemade ornaments from Washington-area students.
Denmark boosts funds for Greenland defense after Trump threats
02:45 , Josh Marcus
People often say to take Trump seriously but not literally.
It seemed on Monday that Denmark was doing both, announcing a funding package to defend Greenland worth at least $1.5 billion.
The timing, however, was apparently coincidental.
Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told the BBC the announcement falling as Trump toyed with somehow buying Greenland was an “irony of fate.”
Trump wants to purchase Greenland. How would that actually work?
Are you part of the lucky 1m taxpayers getting a check this month?
02:08 , Josh Marcus
The Internal Revenue Service is sending unclaimed stimulus checks of up to $1,400 to 1 million US taxpayers in the coming weeks.
Here’s why the payments are going out — and how to find out if you’re eligible for the credit.
Katie Hawkinson has the details.
The IRS is sending unclaimed stimulus checks. Here’s how to see if you’re eligible
‘Confused’ congresswoman tracked to nursing home shines spotlight on troubling aging issues facing lawmakers
02:00 , Alex Woodward
The discovery by a local newspaper of a “confused” Texas Republican congresswoman living in an assisted care facility after she dropped out of sight last month has triggered concerns about aging lawmakers clinging to their powerful roles in the face of fears about diminishing competence.
The Independent’s John Bowden reports:
Aging DC in the spotlight after ‘confused’ lawmaker found living in a nursing home
Trump administration might let police reform stall even more than it did under Biden
01:30 , Josh Marcus
In the final weeks of his administration, Joe Biden has sought to shore up his criminal justice legacy, issuing pardons and commutations to reformed offenders, while removing most people from federal death row.
However, in another key area, policing, the Biden administration’s progress could stall once Trump takes over.
During the last four years, the Biden administration has secured just one federal oversight agreement, known as a consent decree, with a department investigated for misconduct.
Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
The DOJ has investigated 12 departments this administration, but so far only this month’s agreement with Louisville has translated into more long-lasting, binding reform steps.
Trump, who has frequently called for harsher, law-and-order-style policing, and who has been critical of past police reform efforts, is unlikely to do as much as Biden on this front, leaving the future status of these agreements in doubt.
Biden also failed to pass a long-sought police reform bill after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in 2020.
Here’s more on Biden’s death penalty policy as the administration comes to a close.
Biden flips the script on drone drama with aerial Christmas tour
01:17 , Josh Marcus
The Biden administration has spent weeks trying to assure the public there’s nothing to fear about drones and aircraft spotted buzzing over New Jersey and other states.
Trump would have solved drone mystery by now, claims Johnson
On Christmas Eve, it highlighted a different kind of drone, taking viewers on an aerial tour through the White House’s Christmas decorations.
It may not quell the raging conspiracy theories about the drones, but it is still a pretty cool video.
Watch below.
‘It’s clear he’s in charge now’: Lawmakers react to Trump’s ‘unprecedented’ involvement ahead of inauguration
01:00 , Alex Woodward
As President Joe Biden winds down his presidency, Trump is behaving as though he is already in office, writes Rhian Lubin.
Within the last week, Trump launched a campaign against last week’s temporary bill and issued threats against the Panama Canal and Greenland.
‘He’s in charge’: Trump’s ‘unprecedented’ involvement ahead of inauguration
Texas buys billboards in Central America warning migrants of danger of rape and abuse on journey to US
00:30 , Josh Marcus
The state of Texas is paying an estimated $100,000 to install on blunt and at-times graphic billboards across Mexico and Central America in the coming weeks in the hopes of deterring future illegal immigration.
The Independent’s Josh Marcus reports:
Texas buys billboards in Central America warning migrants of danger of rape
ICYMI: Here are all the allegations against Matt Gaetz
00:00 , Alex Woodward
As a sitting member of Congress, Matt Gaetz paid for sex with a 17-year-old high school student, used cocaine and ecstasy, and spent thousands of dollars on sex- and drug-fueled partying, according to a bombshell report from the House Ethics Committee.
Monday’s report found “substantial evidence” the now-former Republican congressman “regularly” paid for sex and met women through a “sugar dating” website through a former associate who has since pleaded guilty to sex trafficking.
We combed through the report.
All the allegations against Matt Gaetz revealed in explosive report
Trump continues posting debunked January 6 conspiracy theory
Tuesday 24 December 2024 23:44 , Josh Marcus
Donald Trump is the latest prominent Republican to claim a recent Justice Department watchdog report vindicates theories that the federal government somehow provoked or guided the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump shared a video of sports commentators Stephen A. Smith making a similar point.
In fact, the Justice Department report in question found “no evidence” undercover FBI agents joined in on the riots, though confidential bureau sources were near the riot on January 6.
Here’s what you need to know about the actual FBI presence that day.
Video: Aspiring MAGA congresswoman performs mock ‘execution’ of migrant
Tuesday 24 December 2024 23:24 , Josh Marcus
Aspiring congresswoman and controversial MAGA cheerleader Valentina Gomez has sparked outrage once again after posting a video in which she appears to simulate executing an immigrant.
The 25-year-old, who tried and failed to be elected as the Missouri Secretary of State earlier this year, said in the disturbing clip that undocumented persons who committed violent crimes “deserve to be ended.”
In the video, posted to X on Monday, Gomez is seen firing a handgun into the back of the head of a dummy tied to a chair with a black bag over its head.
“It’s that simple, public executions for any illegal that rapes or kills an American. They don’t deserve deportation, they deserve to be ended,” she says.
Mike Bedigan reports.
Aspiring MAGA congresswoman performs mock ‘execution’ of migrant in disturbing video
Canal threats, money-laundering claims and a hotel battle: Trump’s long, weird history with Panama
Tuesday 24 December 2024 23:00 , Alex Woodward
Trump rattled North American diplomatic relations over the weekend with a threat to retake the Panama Canal, two-and-a-half decades after the U.S. transfered control of the vital global trade route to Panama.
The Independent’s Josh Marcus dives into Trump’s long strange trip with the Central American country:
Canal threats and a hotel battle: Trump’s long, weird history with Panama
Colombia’s president denounces ‘American fascist’ Colombian-American calling for public executions of immigrants
Tuesday 24 December 2024 22:37 , Alex Woodward
Far-right Republican figure Valentina Gomez, who has made headlines for stunts like taking a flamethrower to banned books, is now calling for public executions for any immigrant in the country illegally who “rapes or kills an American.”
“They don’t deserve deportation. They deserve to be ended,” she says in a video moments after shooting an effigy tied to a chair in the back of the head.
The caption reads “Public executions for any illegal that rapes or kills an American.” The video posted on X has been flagged for potentially violating the platform’s “rules against Violent Speech.”
Gomez, who is Colombian-American, came sixth in an eight-person primary for Missouri’s secretary of state, and last week she said she’s moving to Texas to challenge congressman Dan Crenshaw’s seat
Colombia’s own president called her an “American fascist.”
“She is not just an American fascist. She is Colombian,” Gustavo Petro wrote in Spanish. “And being a migrant, what she wants is to unleash hatred against migrants. Most Americans are killed by Americans.”
Trump’s Christmas Eve message promises to expand death penalty
Tuesday 24 December 2024 22:30 , Alex Woodward
Trump, who touts himself as America’s “most pro-life” president, continues to attack Presidnet Joe Biden after he announced the largest single-day commutation of federal death row inmates in modern history.
The White House announced early Monday morning that the president would commute the sentences of 37 inmates awaiting execution in the federal prison system, which Trump has pushed to expedite once in office.
Biden explicitly said in his announcement that he could not let Trump do that.
“In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted,” he wrote.
On Christmas Eve, Trump hpromised to direct the Department of Justice to “vigorously pursue the death penalty” as soon as he enters office.
“As soon as I am inaugurated, I will direct the Justice Department to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump’s Christmas Eve meltdown over Biden’s commutation of death row prisoners
Matt Gaetz sends fundraising message after bombshell House Ethics report: ‘I need your help’
Tuesday 24 December 2024 22:00 , Alex Woodward
Hours after the publication of a bombshell report revealing “substantial evidence” that Matt Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars for sex, including with a 17-year-old girl, the former congressman issued a fundraising plea through his recently launched political action committee.
Matt Gaetz sends fundraising message after bombshell ethics report
John Bolton: I’m ‘very worried’ about how Trump would handle ‘much more likely’ international crisis
Tuesday 24 December 2024 21:30 , Alex Woodward
John Bolton, President-elect Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, said that an international crisis is “much more likely” during the Republican’s second term.
John Bolton warns of ‘much more likely’ international crisis under Trump
Can Trump actually try to buy Greenland?
Tuesday 24 December 2024 20:52 , Alex Woodward
Trump’s territorial ambitions have added another strange new wrinkle to the transition process.
It’s highly unlikely that the president-elect will have any success in convincing the governments of either Greenland or Denmark to sever the ties between the European country and its autonomous North American territory, it’s worth looking into the process of how the U.S. acquires new territories — and how that territory could be classified.
The Independent’s John Bowden explains:
Trump wants to purchase Greenland. How would that actually work?
Republican senator endorses Trump’s calls to seize Panama Canal
Tuesday 24 December 2024 20:10 , Alex Woodward
Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn told Fox News that voters gave Trump a “mandate” after suggested that his administration would try to seize control of the Panama Canal.
“The American people have given President Trump a mandate,” she told the network Monday night.
“They are tired of our nation not putting Americans first,” she added. “So, when it comes to dealing with the Panama Canal and making certain that China is not being advantaged in this, and America disadvantaged, of course. Let’s put this issue on the table and talk about it.”
On Truth Social, Trump – who has also suggested that the United States should launch campaigns to seize Canada and Greenland — said the nation “has a vested interest in the secure, efficient, and reliable operation of the Panama Canal, and that was always understood.”
“We would and will NEVER let it fall into the wrong hands! It was not given for the benefit of others, but merely as a token of cooperation with us and Panama,” he added. “If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question. To the Officials of Panama, please be guided accordingly!”
More on Trump’s relationship to Panama from The Independent’s Josh Marcus:
Canal threats and a hotel battle: Trump’s long, weird history with Panama
Trump’s FCC chair sends ominous letter to Disney CEO: ‘Americans no longer trust the national news media’
Tuesday 24 December 2024 19:45 , Alex Woodward
After Trump threatened to strip ABC’s broadcast license and forced the network into a $15 million settlement, the president-elect’s pick to lead the Federal Communications Commission warned its parent company that Americans “no longer trust the national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly.”
In a letter to Disney’s CEO Bob Iger, Brendan Carr lamented the “erosion in public trust” in news media, and suggested ABC was partially to blame.
Inside Trump’s latest fight with the media, and what Carr – a Project 2025 co-author — plans to do in office:
Trump’s FCC chair sends ominous letter to Disney CEO
Gavin Newsom reportedly mulling immigrant support plan to combat Trump’s deportation threats
Tuesday 24 December 2024 19:10 , Alex Woodward
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration is drafting a plan to help undocumented immigrants in the state who could be targeted by Donald Trump’s mass deportation threats, according to Politico, which obtained a draft of a proposal.
A draft titled “Immigrant Support Network Concept” proposes the “creation of an Immigrant Support Network comprised of regional ‘hubs’ to connect at-risk individuals, their families, and communities with community systems — such as legal services, schools, labor unions, local governments, etc,” Politico reported.
The Democratic governor’s alleged efforts glimpse how some blue state leaders could be bracing for Trump’s agenda. On the other side of the country, however, New York City Mayor Eric Adams seems open to embracing Trump’s plans, as he announces his intention to loosen sanctuary protections and welcomes “border czar” Tom Homan to City Hall.
More on how New York is preparing for Trump 2.0:
America’s biggest ‘sanctuary city’ opens the doors to Trump’s border czar
‘It’s clear he’s in charge now’: Lawmakers react to Trump’s ‘unprecedented’ involvement ahead of inauguration
Tuesday 24 December 2024 18:30 , Alex Woodward
As President Joe Biden winds down his presidency, Trump is behaving as though he is already in office, writes Rhian Lubin.
Within the last week, Trump launched a campaign against last week’s temporary bill and issued threats against the Panama Canal and Greenland.
‘He’s in charge’: Trump’s ‘unprecedented’ involvement ahead of inauguration
Trump taps Katie Miller, wife of key aide Stephen Miller, for Musk’s DOGE panel
Tuesday 24 December 2024 18:00 , Alex Woodward
The wife of far-right activist Stephen Miller — the architect of Trump’s anti-immigration agenda in his first administration — is joining the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency.
She will join billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to recommend slashing hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal budget.
Trump taps Katie Miller, wife of key aide Stephen Miller, for Musk’s DOGE panel
Matt Gaetz rose quickly to power in the House. It ended with a damning ethics report
Tuesday 24 December 2024 17:35 , Alex Woodward
A former attorney in northwest Florida, Matt Gaetz styled himself as a fighter for a “more open and transparent government.” In 2010, he was elected to serve in the Florida House of Representatives to represent portions of Okaloosa and Santa Rosa county.
Fourteen years later, days before Christmas, he was trying to stop a damning report about allegations of sexual misonduct and drug use during his time in Congress from becoming public.
Charting Matt Gaetz’s swift rise to power — and spectacular fall from grace
Just in: Bill Clinton discharged from hospital after he was admitted with fever
Tuesday 24 December 2024 17:11 , Alex Woodward
Former president Bill Clinton has been discharged from hospital one day after he was admitted with a fever, according to a spokesperson.
He was treated for the flu.
“He and his family are deeply grateful for the exceptional care provided by the team at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and are touched by the kind messages and well wishes he received,” Clinton’s deputy chief of staff Angel Ureña said Tuesday.
“He sends his warmest wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season to all,” he added.
Bill Clinton wishes supporters a ‘healthy holiday season’ after hospital discharge
Congressman who pushed for Gaetz report to be public: ‘Victory for the American people’
Tuesday 24 December 2024 17:00 , Alex Woodward
A Democratic congressman who tried to force the House Ethics Committee to publish its report into Matt Gaetz said the release marks a “victory for the American people.”
Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee, who introduced failed legislation that would force the committee to publicly release a report, said in a statement that the “public had a right to know what was uncovered in this thorough and long-lasting investigation.”
“Matt Gaetz called it a ‘witch hunt’ — and he knew that was a lie,” he added. “He claimed it was about drinking and partying, but [the] report proves it was far worse: it wasn’t just alcohol and marijuana, it was cocaine, ecstasy, and more disturbingly it was about paying women for sex, including a 17-year-old girl.”
The allegations go “far beyond ‘partying’ — it exposes a pattern of unethical, illegal, and deeply troubling behavior,” he said.
Inside the report:
All the allegations against Matt Gaetz revealed in explosive report
Ex-ethics committee chair on bombshell report: ‘Matt Gaetz has a real problem here’
Tuesday 24 December 2024 16:30 , Alex Woodward
A former Republican chair on the House Ethics Committee said he can’t see any GOP lawmakers in Washington, D.C., coming to Matt Gaetz’s defense in the wake of a damning report about the former congressman.
“Matt Gaetz has a real problem here,” former Rep. Charlie Dent told ABC News.
“There’s clearly issues here of sex, money, and drugs. And really, these are big issues, big problems,” he added. “Boy, this is really powerful stuff.”
If Gaetz was still in Congress, there likely “could have been an expulsion recommendation.”
“I can’t see any members of the Republican Party in Washington, D.C., in Congress coming to his defense in this matter,” he said. “He’s made his own bed, they’re going to let him lie in it.”
(REUTERS)
John Bolton: International crisis ‘more likely’ under Trump
Tuesday 24 December 2024 16:02 , Alex Woodward
Trump’s longest-serving national security adviser John Bolton is warning that an international crisis is “much more likely” under Trump’s incoherence around decision making when it comes to foreign policy.
“The world is more dangerous than when he was president before,” he told The Guardian.
“The only real crisis we had was Covid, which is a long term crisis and not against a particular foreign power but against a pandemic,” he added. “But the risk of an international crisis of the 19th century variety is much more likely in a second Trump term. Given Trump’s inability to focus on coherent decision making, I’m very worried about about how that might look.”
The hawkish former diplomat is among prominent conservative critics of the president-elect, whom he declared “unfit” office. During debate over whether Trump can be considered a fascist, Bolton suggested that Trump is incapable of having a guiding set of principes.
“To be a fascist, you have to have a philosophy,” he told CNN earlier this year. “Trump’s not capable of that.”
(Getty Images)
Trump promises to ‘vigorously pursue the death penalty’ on Christmas Eve
Tuesday 24 December 2024 15:45 , Alex Woodward
After railing against President Biden for commuting the sentences of federal death row prisoners, Trump has promised to direct the Department of Justice to “vigorously pursue the death penalty” as soon as he enters office.
“As soon as I am inaugurated, I will direct the Justice Department to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters,” he wrote on Truth Social on Christmas Eve.
“We will be a Nation of Law and Order again! to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters. We will be a Nation of Law and Order again!” he said.
In his first term, Trump — who touts himself as America’s “most -pro-life president” — carried out 13 federal executions, more than under any president in modern history.
He has promised to make more people eligible for capital punishment, including child rapists, immigrants who kill citizens, and people convicted of drug trafficking.
Canal threats, money-laundering claims and a hotel battle: Trump’s long, weird history with Panama
Tuesday 24 December 2024 15:20 , Alex Woodward
Trump rattled North American diplomatic relations over the weekend with a threat to retake the Panama Canal, two-and-a-half decades after the U.S. transfered control of the vital global trade route to Panama.
Josh Marcus dives into Trump’s long strange trip with the Central American country:
Canal threats and a hotel battle: Trump’s long, weird history with Panama
Biden vetoes legislation that would have allowed Trump to add more judges to the federal judiciary
Tuesday 24 December 2024 15:17 , Alex Woodward
President Joe Biden has vetoed legislation that would have added dozens of judges to the federal judiciary, dealing a blow to Trump’s incoming administration and his plans to build on his first term’s radical reshaping of the courts with more right-leaning judges.
The bipartisan bill would have awarded roughly 66 new federal judicial slots over the next three presidential terms. Trump would have been able to appoint a first batch of 25.
The bill passed the Senate unanimously in August but lingered in the Republican-controlled House for months, until after Trump’s victory in the 2024 election. It cleared the House on a largely party-line in December.
The JUDGES Act would have increased the number of trial court judges in 25 federal district courts in 13 states, including California, Florida and Texas, in six waves every two years through 2035.
The bill “seeks to hastily add judgeships with just a few weeks left” in the current Congress, Biden wrote in a letter to lawmakers Monday night.
“The House of Representatives’ hurried action fails to resolve key questions in the legislation, especially regarding how the new judgeships are allocated, and neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate explored fully how the work of senior status judges and magistrate judges affects the need for new judgeships,” he added.
“The efficient and effective administration of justice requires that these questions about need and allocation be further studied and answered before we create permanent judgeships for life-tenured judges,” the letter continued.
The bill “would create new judgeships in states where senators have sought to hold open existing judicial vacancies,” efforts that suggest “concerns about judicial economy and caseload are not the true motivating force behind passage of this bill now,” according to Biden.
Trump blasts Biden for commuting death row prisoners
Tuesday 24 December 2024 15:00 , Alex Woodward
Trump, who touts himself as America’s “most pro-life” president, continues to attack Presidnt Joe Biden after he announced the largest single-day commutation of federal death row inmates in modern history.
“Joe Biden just commuted the Death Sentence on 37 of the worst killers in our Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Christmas Eve. “When you hear the acts of each, you won’t believe that he did this. Makes no sense. Relatives and friends are further devastated. They can’t believe this is happening!”
The White House announced early Monday morning that the president would commute the sentences of 37 inmates awaiting execution in the federal prison system, which Trump has pushed to expedite once in office.
Biden explicitly said in his announcement that he could not let Trump do that.
“In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted,” he wrote.
Here are the stories of the three federal death row inmates Biden chose not to save:
The three federal death row inmates Biden chose not to save
Matt Gaetz ‘got a great note’ from Trump… on a month-old story
Tuesday 24 December 2024 14:45 , Alex Woodward
Matt Gaetz shared a photograph of a printed-out article in The Federalist about the former congressman’s ethics probe.
“I got a great note from President Trump!” Gaetz shared Monday night, hours after the House Ethics Committee shared “substantial evidence” he paid tens of thousands of dollars for sex, including with a high school student, and frequently used cocaine and ecstasy while in office.
“Matt very unfair!” reads the note, drawn in Trump’s classic thick Sharpie print.
The article, however, is from November,
