Dear Everybody:
Trump’s dementia is back front and center with a new photo of him at Mar-a-lago:
--The photo, which shows him at breakfast leaning forward and looking totally blank, has gone viral. You can see it here:https://www.instagram.com/p/DRqpbj8jXA1/
--Facebook: "A picture has surfaced of Trump at Mar-a-lago sleeping and slumped over in the middle of his meal.
--Times Now: "President Donald Trump was seen at Mar-a-lago in Florida, sparking concern about his health. A photograph shows him by a window with his eyes closed and mouth open...Many viewers expressed worry about his well-being and called for the release of his MRI results."
--Twitter commenters said, "This picture reminds me of Jimmy Carter on his100th birthday. Release the MRI results," and "He’s clearly not well. I don’t even think MAGA can pretend like he is."
--His comments aren’t helping. He did an interview with Politico yesterday, and it was full of odd comments:
--Trump: "I watch everything, yeah. I watch everything. I see a lot of things."
--Trump: "NATO calls me Daddy."
--Trump: "I have vast knowledge."
--Trump: "If I put up George Washington and Abraham Lincoln to be US Attorney in New Jersey or to be US Attorney in Virginia, they will not approve them."
--He was asked, "Could you imagine receiving a Kennedy Center Honor next year?" Trump: "Yeah, I think I’m going to nominate myself for next year."
--Trump confused Pope Leo XIV with Pope Francis.
--Trump has also been in the news in the last week or so for his lashing out furiously at reporters (particularly female ones) and calling them names. In recent days, he’s called them "nasty," "piggy," and "a terrible reporter." (He has always done this, but it seems to be getting more frequent, and he also seems angrier.)
--He first said he had "no problem" with releasing the video of the second boat strike and then, a few days later, reversed himself. When a (female) reporter said, "Mr. President, you said you would have no problem with releasing the full video of that strike on September 2nd off the coast of Venezuela. Secretary Hegseth now says--" Trump: "I didn’t say that. That’s you said that. I didn’t say that. This is ABC fake news." When she insisted he had said it, he called her "the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place."
--When asked by the Politico reporter about Venezuela: "Can you rule out a ground invasion?" Trump lashed out suddenly: "Why would I talk to you, an extremely unfriendly publication that got $8 million from Obama to keep it afloat? Why would I do that?"
--pelagicray: "What I saw with the reporter yesterday was a demented old man denying what he’d said and getting angry at being pushed on that. I am convinced we have a crook, a con man, racist, and hateful person, a liar and now demented man in the seat of the Chief Executive and Commander in Chief. Watching dementia in progress, I’ve noticed plateaus and sudden drops in hours to a new WTF moment? I expect staff is seeing that now. I expect that is why there are few public appearances and those that are are being curated closely."
--(Note: People have reported that Trump’s public appearances mostly occur during a short window--between noon and 5 p.m.)
--Journalist Katie Couric: "He is different than he was." She’s covered him for many years and has seen "a noticeable decline in energy."
--Journalist Katy Tur: "He doesn’t have the same sort of energy. He’s not as coherent as he used to be. He’s always been not entirely coherent, but it’s different now. He’s slower. His speech is slower. You can see him falling asleep sometimes, or appearing to fall asleep, in the Oval Office."
--Trump lashed out again: "Katy Tur has long suffered from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. Tur is a Democrat activist, not a reporter, and should not be taken seriously whatsoever."
--Trump fell asleep again at a meeting where they announced a bailout for farmers. He nodded off and then very obviously jerked awake more than once during the meeting. (It’s the jerk that gives it away, as I know from many years of watching people nod off in church from the choir loft. You wouldn’t be sure if they were asleep or just resting their eyes until they suddenly jerked to attention.)
--And then there’s his makeup, which, except for that photo at Mar-a-lago, where he looks very pale, it just gets darker and darker.
--Ron Filipkowski: "Has Trump changed his bronzer shade to industrial grade because his natural skin color has gotten more cadaverous?"
--Trump is doing a rally in Pennsylvania tonight, which may not help the situation since many people think he’s sundowning.
The Epstein files are back in the news, too:
--A federal judge granted the DOJ’s request to unseal records from Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2021 sex trafficking case. These records are not part of the 300G of data the DOJ has.
--The Epstein files the DOJ does have are due to be released in ten days.
--The FBI was ordered to release the documents regarding how files were prepared for redaction and what the redactors were told, but they withheld a number of those documents.
--The FBI spent $1 million dollars redacting the files.
In The Pipe Bomber news:
--There’s a 22-day gap between when the pipe bomber was charged and when he was arrested (or the arrest was made public.)
--Kash Patel on the pipe bomber’s arrest: "When you attack our nation’s capital, you attack the very being of our way of life." (Except if you do it on January 6, beat up cops, break in through the windows, poop on the floor and smear it on the walls. Then you’re a patriot.)
--Michelangelo Signorale: "Please call the guy the January 6 pipe bomber. Fox is calling him the January 5 bomber because he planted the bombs the night before, but really because they don’t want to mention January 6 as a bad day."
--rebecca mcovy: "All you have to do is realize he was MAGA is to think about what would have happened if the bombs had gone off. The Capitol would have been evacuated because of a terrorist attack and the certification of Biden’s win would have been postponed, which was the same aim as the rioting insurrectionists on January 6."
--Jeff McCurry: "MAGA assumed that if he is African-American, he must be a liberal..."
In economic news:
--Trump was asked "What grade would you give your economy?" He answered, "A plus plus plus plus plus."
--Trump refuses to acknowledge that the economy is not doing well. A reporter said, "So right now, people are buying their holiday presents. They’re planning for--" Trump: Look, don’t be so dramatic." Reporter: "No, no--" Trump: "Don’t be dramatic." Reporter: "So will their premiums go up?" Trump snapped, "I’m giving them money."
--Trump keeps telling reporters that the economy is doing great and that voters perceive his economy as doing well. "It’s so painful!" Jamie Herrera Beutler, a former GOP lawmaker said, cringing.
--Karoline Leavitt yelled at Republicans for not being "more vocal" about the positive things in the economy. She insisted inflation has slowed and wages have increased.
--Trump alternates between saying "Affordability is a hoax that was started by Democrats," and saying it was caused by Biden (two mutually exclusive positions.)
--Salon reports that even Fox News is reporting on the bad economy, saying, "Trump tries to ‘hoax’ his way past bad economic news, but his once-loyal boosters won’t play along...Republicans on Capitol Hill, however, are waking up to a grim political reality that many of them can no longer afford to ignore: When people cannot pay rent, fill the tank, buy food, or keep a roof over their heads, they’re likely to take out their frustrations on the party in power, no amount of rhetoric or red-meat culture-war fodder can paper over the electoral risks."
--Today Fox had a graphic showing exactly how much different food items had gone up: coffee up 100%, ground beef up 14%, bananas up 8%, chicken up 5.3%, lettuce up 7.4%.
--Politico: "As affordability concerns mount, Hill Republicans are struggling to act. Top GOP leaders in Congress are keeping expectations low for major new economic legislation.
--Fox’s Jesse Watters: "It’s Trump’s economy now...he owns it now." (I can’t tell you how extraordinary this comment is, coming from one of Trump’s fiercest supporters.)
--Middle Age Riot: "It turns out Donald Trump doesn’t need a pandemic to destroy the economy."
In Trump’s Krazy Kabinet news:
--RFK, Jr. has come out against infant formula, saying it is not nutritious and everyone will have to be breast-fed.
--RFK, Jr. and Sean Duffy posted a video of themselves in airports doing pull-ups on newly installed pull-up bars. They want to install pull-up bars in all airports and plan to issue grants so airports can put them in "to make travel family friendly again."
--At the same time, Duffy continues to stress that he doesn’t want people wearing pajamas and flip-flops on planes--he wants the men in suits and ties and the women in dresses and heels.
--When asked what he was doing about lowering the price of flying, flight delays, TSA delays, and improving air traffic safety, he said, "I don’t have a plan to reduce costs."
--Duffy and Trump have withdrawn the plan to require passenger compensation for delayed flights.
--Beth in Wisconsin: "’Pull up bars at airports would make air travel so much more enjoyable,’ said no one ever."
--mwalker99: "Instead of worrying about air safety, planes arriving on time...you can do pull ups. Yay! How asinine!"
--Ron Ebert: "How are we supposed to do all this while all dressed up in our suits and ties and formal dresses?"
--(Note: It’s another example of how this administration thinks it’s all about branding and appearances, not about actually DOING anything.)
The big question in Washington right now is which Cabinet member will get fired first:
--Rumors are flying that Kristi Noem will be fired, possibly as early as January, but not because she’s openly committing crimes as the head of ICE or defying judges or overseeing cruel and inhumane treatment of immigrants (and US citizens) or because she’s flying all over the country having her picture taken in various costumes and spending money like a drunken sailor, buying two planes and living it up rent free in the head of the Coast Guard’s house.
--Nope, they’re mad because she isn’t deporting enough people.
--They’re also mad because she’s given tons of power to her boyfriend Corey Lewandowski (did I mention they’re both married with kids?) and is letting him virtually run the place. He’s her sort of unofficial chief of staff, but many people say he’s the one in charge. Lewandowski denied the rumors: "None of that is true."
--A White House official said Noem is on "very thin ice," that officials are growing increasingly "frustrated" with Noem and her rumored lover. One insider told the Bulwark, "It’s horrible, they’re going to destroy this place."
--Stephen Miller is reportedly seeking her ouster because she’s not building detention centers fast enough and not being tough enough on immigrants.
--The New Republic said Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin might replace her. (At first glance, Youngkin seems like he’d be better, but if he is, he won’t last, and he has already shown in Virginia that he’s sort of a political chameleon.)
--The online betting sites have a different take. They’re predicting that Kash Patel will be the first to be fired, then Pam Bondi.
--The one who seems to be in no danger of being fired is Pete Hegseth, who Trump really seems to like.
In yet another brewing scandal:
--Election integrity advocates are demanding a hand recount in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District after data shows that more than 31,000 votes materialized after 99.4% of the ballots were already counted.
--At 99.4% reporting, Decision Desk HQ displayed 148,853 total votes. The final certified tally: 179,899. The math doesn’t work. The remaining 0.6% of precincts should have produced roughly 1000 ballots. Republican Matt Van Epps won by 15,700 votes. --(Note: Maybe that’s why Speaker of the House Mike Johnson wanted to get him sworn in so quickly.)
In resistance news:
--In Charlotte, North Carolina, a towing company is offering free vehicle pickup for any cars left behind when ICE detained and arrested the occupants, so that the cars won’t get towed and/or fined for being abandoned.
--The Chief of Police in Minneapolis issued a directive to his officers saying, "If you as a Minneapolis police officer witness unlawful use of force by ICE, you need to stop them...or you will be FIRED as a police officer."
In other news:
--The government of Honduras issued an arrest warrant for the former president of Honduras, who Trump just pardoned.
--A federal judge turned down Tina Peters’ habeas petition, saying it must work its way through the state courts before federal courts get involved. (Peters, who was convicted of committing election fraud in the 2020 election for Trump--and Trump--are trying to get her case transferred from the state to federal so he can pardon her.)
--12 FBI agents fired for taking a knee during racial justice protests in 2020 are suing the FBI and Kash Patel for wrongful firing and violation of their freedom of speech rights.
In good news:
--A judge threw out a $250 million dollar court case against the Guardian by Trump’s media company.
--Bolsonaro is now safely in prison after Trump tried to help him escape the country.
--Researchers announced groundbreaking results from a breast cancer vaccine trial that has been going on for twenty years. The women in the trial all had advanced breast cancer. They were given a vaccine and are still alive today.
In Christmas news:
--Mendelssohn wrote the music for "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" as part of his cantata to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press and movable type, and Charles Wesley wrote the words. It’s regarded as one of the Great Four Anglican Hymns, and is always the recessional hymn and the last hymn sung at the annual service of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, England.
Best comment of the day, from JoJofromJerz: "History is going to remember the bodies, the chaos, the cruelty, the crumbling democracy, the global deaths from the aid he slashed, the parents who never found their children again, the allies he betrayed, the migrants vanished into black sites, the boats he blew apart, the economy he kneecapped twice, and the thirty-four fucking convictions rattling behind him like rusted tin cans on a getaway limo--he will still die a punchline."
Keep calm and carry on,
Connie Willis
Bonus Link: A report on what went on at the Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday Night (it will be broadcast Tuesday, December 23, 2025, at 8 PM ET/PT on CBS and streamed on Paramount+) at The Atlantic via a gift link from writer Alexandra Petri : https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/2025/12/trump-kennedy-center-honors-host-awards/685187/?gift=jQN1t1D1nkO2TQodBiz5KHpGQM09S-VrVwsJxBQUG_M&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share