Politics

New York justice Juan Merchan sentenced President-elect Donald Trump this morning for his conviction in the so-called “hush-money” case that saw a jury convict him last year of thirty-four felony counts of falsifying business records. As was predicted, Judge Merchan handed down an “unconditional discharge” sentencing, meaning Trump will not go to jail, be forced to pay fines or be punished in any way. Trump will remain, however, a convicted felon.The hush-money case, we’ll recall, centered around allegations porn star Stormy Daniels made that Trump paid her $130,000 to keep quiet about an alleged affair between the pair. Trump’s conviction had him facing up to four years in prison and steep fines.

Past, present and president-elect presidents, along with their wives — and current and former veeps — put on brave faces at the funeral of President Jimmy Carter Thursday. Not so much because they were in mourning, but because, Cockburn suspects, they had to interact with one another. The solemn event made for some interesting viewing: smooshed together in the front pews of the Washington National Cathedral were all five living presidents. President Joe Biden buffered himself from his predecessor/successor, President-elect Donald Trump, with First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff in between. Next came Trump and First Lady Melania. In the second row were President Bill and First Lady (is that what we call her?

Everyone wants to be an American, right? Or to enjoy our way of life anyway. So it would seem as millions continue to risk life and limb to get into the United States illegally, while others make monumental sacrifices to become naturalized. Still, things may get easier for people wanting a taste of America if President-elect Donald Trump’s imperial dreams come true.Left-leaning outlets have been panicking for a while now over the possibility that a second Trump term would result in an American Empire of sorts. Trump’s reign would be eerily similar to Julius Caesar’s, Politico warned ahead of the 2020 election; the pair’s similarities are “uncanny,” the Globalist declared in October 2024.

The nasty fight between Elon Musk and Steve Bannon over H-1B visas, meant for high-skilled workers, is the Ghost of Christmas Future. That’s not because the visas themselves will be a perennial problem. It’s because of three larger implications, foreshadowed by the visa dispute. One is the battle between populist nationalists (represented, in this case, by Steve Bannon) and growth-oriented American companies with extensive foreign markets. Those are led by hi-tech industries, represented here by Elon Musk, which benefit from bringing in foreign engineers, programmers and others. The second implication is that, in a country with only two major parties, there are bound to be major cleavages within each party on a wide range of issues.

Former congressman Matt Gaetz kicked off the 119th Congress by not showing up and taking the Capitol Hill press corps to school. After weeks of drama, Mike Johnson was reelected as speaker of the House on the very first ballot — exactly as Gaetz predicted. Some Hill reporters, such as Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman, and even Congressman Thomas Massie, had tweeted in response to Gaetz’s declarative prediction that he was wrong. Heading into the vote, everyone knew that Massie was implacably opposed to Johnson — but everyone else’s opposition proved to be quite placable. The drama kicked off almost immediately, when Democratic congressman Hank Johnson failed to show up before roll was called.

Jimmy Carter will be remembered as a decent, honorable man of faith, who lived a productive life according to those high standards, both publicly and privately.  He was an outlier in his forging of a productive life after leaving office. Instead of grifting and selling access to policymakers, like so many former politicians do today, he had a distinguished second career promoting and monitoring democratic elections around the world. That legacy will live on in the work of the Carter Center in Atlanta. So will his work with Habitats for Humanity, building homes for the poor.  He will be remembered, too, for his long, loving marriage to Rosalynn, whom he married in 1946, when he was a young naval officer. She died only a year ago.  It was a remarkable life.

It turns out that the campaign was the easy part. For Donald Trump, winning the election was just securing the beachhead. Now the real work begins. Cities must be retaken. The enemy’s fortifications stormed. Subject populations must be liberated. As I write, Trump is still trying to assemble his cabinet. You will probably know at least the major dramatis personae by the time you read this. Matt Gaetz, Trump’s embattled pick for attorney general, has bowed out of the confirmation process to avoid “becoming a distraction” for the Trump/Vance transition. How about RFK Jr.? Will he be confirmed as secretary of the sprawling Department of Health and Human Services? Will Tulsi Gabbard make it as director of national intelligence? Will Pete Hegseth become secretary of defense?

President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday gave his first rally speech since winning the 2024 presidential election, delivering the keynote address at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference for young conservatives. The former and future president spoke for more than an hour and made plenty of headlines with his suggestion that the United States take back control of the Panama Canal, a rejection of the Democrat attack that he is a shadow puppet of billionaire Elon Musk, and a renewed promise of his second-term priorities.

Congress is once again trying to avoid a holiday-eve government shutdown by ramming through a last-minute continuing resolution to fund the government through the new year. The process, per usual, is angering various factions within the House of Representatives as Democrats, budget-hawk Republicans and the establishment GOP are at odds over how much to spend and what to spend it on and whether or not to raise the debt ceiling.Johnson’s “Plan A,” which was a 1,500-page boondoggle negotiated primarily with Democrats, would have funded the government until March.

The tenure of Christoper Wray as FBI director represents a missed opportunity.  After the problematic directorship of James Comey, Wray’s appointment by President Donald Trump on May 9, 2017, was welcomed by most current and former agents as well as the American people, who wanted the Bureau restored to its position of trust. With a ten-year term and the principal malefactors of the Russian collusion farce already fired, Wray was in a position of strength.   Under the Mueller/Comey cabal, the bureau culture had changed from that of a law enforcement agency to an intelligence mindset. That’s what led us into the ugly morass of the Russian collusion narrative and ensuing fiascos.

Last night’s White House Christmas party with digital creators resulted in a cacophony of posts from social media influencers praising Hunter Biden. The swath of pro-Hunter posts following President Joe Biden’s hugely unpopular pardon of his son gave the impression that the Democrats were keen to rehab his image and tamp down accusations of nepotism. “Just met Hunter Biden at the White House Holiday Party.” Majid Padellan, or “BrooklynDad_Defiant!,” posted to his 1.2 million followers on X. “Super nice guy.”“This one is dedicated to all my favorite meme-making trolls out there!” Joanne Carducci, or “JoJoFromJerz” wrote with a picture of her and Hunter Biden. “Merry Christmas!” She has almost a million followers on X.