While Americans spent the end-of-year holiday season stressing about the affordability crisis and impending skyrocketing health care costs, Donald Trump and his Republican allies spent their holiday break covering up the Epstein files, starting wars all over the world, enriching Trump’s cronies, and more – all while ignoring economic woes at home. Trump used our military for foreign adventuring and prioritizing Venezuelan oil over Americans as health care costs spike for tens of millions and the U.S. economy buckles under the weight of tariffs and high costs. Here’s what Trump was up to while you were on a holiday break:
The Trump Epstein Coverup Continued
- Washington Post: Second big batch of Epstein files includes many mentions of Trump
- New York Times: Justice Dept. Is Now Said to Be Reviewing 5.2 Million Pages of Epstein Files
- Associated Press: At least 16 files have disappeared from the DOJ webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein
- Reuters: Trump flew on Epstein jet eight times in the ’90s, according to prosecutor email
- CBS: Videos released in Epstein files raise fresh questions about jail footage
- New York Times: Epstein Victims Upset About Lack of Transparency in Newly Released Files
- Washington Post: Two lawmakers seek to find Bondi in contempt over Epstein files
Trump’s Agenda Kept Hurting American Families
- CBS: 2026 price hikes hit ACA health insurance plans as subsidies expire for millions of Americans
- ABC: HHS freezing child care payments to all states after Minnesota fraud allegations: Official
- CNN: Trump suspends all large offshore wind farms under construction, threatening thousands of jobs and cheaper energy
- CNBC: Trump administration to start seizing pay of defaulted student loan borrowers in January
- Washington Post: How Social Security has gotten worse under Trump
The Year-End Reviews Are In: Trump’s Economy Has Gotten Worse and Worse
- The Guardian: Nearly half of Americans believe their financial security is getting worse, poll finds
- Semafor: Americans predict economic difficulty in 2026, poll finds
- Jezebel: Economic Sentiment Collapses to All-Time Lows, Why?
- Washington Post: Bankruptcies soar as companies grapple with inflation, tariffs
- Yahoo Finance: 2025 was a brutal year for layoffs
In the States: People Continued to Struggle Across the Country
- Lexington Herald Leader: Major Kentucky bourbon maker Jim Beam shuttering distillery for 2026
- Reuters: Long lines at the food pantry: Inflation tests Trump’s base in Michigan
- Detroit News: Electricity rates climb, powering calls for change in Michigan
- KFGO: Tariffs squeeze Minnesota small businesses
- Texas Tribune: “Construction can’t continue”: South Texas builders say ICE arrests have upended industry
TACO Trump Waffled on Tariffs
- Bloomberg: Trump Delays New Tariff Hike on Furniture, Kitchen Cabinets
- CNN: 107% tariffs on Italian pasta no longer set to take effect
While Americans Are Focused on Soaring Health Care Costs and the Sputtering Economy, Trump Is Starting Wars All Over the World
The US Is Now “In Charge” Of Venezuela While Voters Beg Their Leaders To Stay Focused On Affordability At Home
- Wall Street Journal: Trump Is Turning to Venezuela but Voters Are Focused on the Economy
- Strength In Numbers: Americans do not want war with Venezuela
- New York Times: Trump Says U.S. Is ‘In Charge’ of Venezuela, While Rubio Stresses Coercing It
- Wall Street Journal: Trump Says U.S. ‘Not Afraid’ to Have Boots on the Ground in Venezuela
- The Hill: Trump says US will ‘run’ Venezuela, control oil production
- Wall Street Journal: Finance Industry Eyes Investment Opportunities in Venezuela
- Axios: Someone made a huge profit predicting Maduro’s capture. Here’s what happened
- Popular Information: Venezuela raid enriches MAGA billionaire
Who’s Next?
- Military Times: A year of strikes: US military operations surge under Trump
- Axios: After capturing Maduro, Trump hints at military action in Cuba, Mexico and Colombia
- USA Today: Trump renews push to annex Greenland after Venezuela strike
- New York Times: Trump Says U.S. Is ‘Locked and Loaded’ if Iran Kills Protesters
- New York Times: U.S. Strikes ISIS in Nigeria After Trump Warned of Attacks on Christians
A Lot of Very Embarrassing Mad King Stuff Happened
- Washington Post: Trump unveils a new class of Navy battleship named after himself
- Wall Street Journal: As Signs of Aging Emerge, Trump Responds With Defiance
- Politico: Trump says construction of the ‘Triumphal Arch’ to begin in ‘2 months’
- CNN: Trump shops for marble for new White House ballroom
- Washington Post: Future of D.C. golf courses uncertain as Trump administration terminates lease
- Associated Press: Kennedy Center renaming prompts a new round of cancellations
- The Wrap: Trump-Hosted Kennedy Center Honors Ratings Sink to Ceremony’s Lowest With 3.01 Million Viewers
Elon Musk Is Back and He’s Flooding the Internet With Sex Abuse Photos
- The Independent: Elon Musk indicates he’s ‘going all in’ on financing the GOP ahead of the midterms: ‘America is toast if the radical left wins’
- Reuters: Elon Musk’s Grok AI floods X with sexualized photos of women and minors
Trump’s Cruel and Chaotic Immigration Policies Are Only Getting More Extreme
- Washington Post: ICE documents reveal plan to hold 80,000 immigrants in warehouses
- Reuters: Trump set to expand immigration crackdown in 2026 despite brewing backlash
- Washington Post: ICE plans $100 million ‘wartime recruitment’ push targeting gun shows, military fans for hires
Trump and His Cronies Enriched Themselves and Hobnobbed In Tuxedos At Mar-a-Lago While Americans Struggled
- New York Times: Hundreds of Big Post-Election Donors Have Benefited From Trump’s Return to Office
- New York Times: Trump Super PAC Raised More Than $100 Million in Recent Months
- Washington Post: Marble, ice sculptures and optics: Trump’s remote presidency draws scrutiny
- New York Times: Trump’s Tangled Web of Deal-Making, Policy and Riches
- CNN: A $6 billion nuclear deal has Trump’s name all over it. It’s raising serious ethics concerns
- Bloomberg: Trump Firm to Start New Cryptocurrency for Shareholders