Top Items:
Mike Allen / Axios:
Reality bites: Trump's wake-up call — NEW YORK — On Twitter and in public, Donald Trump remains an uncompromising mix of bluster and bombast. Behind the scenes, he's confronting, and in some cases succumbing (slightly) to, the hard truths of governing and leading a world that hangs on his every word.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog, Occupy Democrats, The Mahablog, Taylor Marsh, Politicus USA and The Week
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Tara Fowler / ABC News:
Trump on Intel Briefings: 'I'll Solve the Problems' — President-elect Donald Trump admitted that receiving intel briefings has shown him that the U.S. faces some formidable “enemies” but said he will “solve the problems.” — “I've had a lot of briefings that are very …
Discussion:
Axios and Talking Points Memo
Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
How Donald Trump came up with ‘Make America Great Again’ … “Make America Great Again.” — The four words that would help propel Donald Trump to the White House were an inspiration born years before, when hardly anyone but Trump himself could imagine him taking the oath of office as the 45th president of the United States.
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Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Donald Trump's new 2020 campaign slogan is very, well, Donald Trump — Donald Trump, who wasted no time after the 2012 presidential election to pick his slogan for 2016, isn't waiting much longer when it comes to his reelection slogan. — It's “Keep America Great!”
Discussion:
RedState, CNBC, The Daily Caller and The Week
Joe Uchill / The Hill:
Assange lawyer: Manning commutation doesn't meet extradition offer's conditions — The attorney for Julian Assange said President Obama's commutation of Chelsea Manning's sentence does not meet the conditions of the WikiLeaks head's offer to be extradited to the United States if Manning were pardoned.
Discussion:
The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, RedState, Patterico's Pontifications, The Verge, Hot Air, Raw Story, USA Today, Gizmodo, TheBlaze, Associated Press, Sputnik International, The Daily Caller, NBC News, Towleroad, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com, Daily Wire, KTLA, emptywheel, New York Magazine, ThinkProgress and Techdirt
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Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Earnest: GOP intellectually dishonest on Manning pardon — President Obama's top spokesman on Wednesday blasted Republicans who criticized his decision to commute the sentence of former Army Pvt. Chelsea Manning. — White House press secretary Josh Earnest said GOP lawmakers have put on …
Discussion:
RedState
Matt Lewis / The Daily Beast:
Betsy DeVos Fight Demonstrates Donald Trump's Serious About Changing Washington — It's hard to grill something in just five minutes. But that didn't stop Democrats from trying. — Sen. Lamar Alexander's (R-TN) decision as chairman of the Senate education committee to limit senators …
Discussion:
Forbes, AR Squared, Hullabaloo, The Atlantic, RedState, Media Matters for America, Common Dreams, The Week and Eduwonk
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Tom McKay / Mic:
Trump Ed pick Betsy DeVos cites danger of “grizzlies” as reason to allow guns in schools
Trump Ed pick Betsy DeVos cites danger of “grizzlies” as reason to allow guns in schools
Discussion:
Raw Story, Washington Post, The Nation, Daily Kos, Mother Jones and The Slot
Eliza Shapiro / Politico:
De Blasio: Don't ‘overstate the threat’ DeVos poses to city
De Blasio: Don't ‘overstate the threat’ DeVos poses to city
Discussion:
RedState
Kyle Pope / Columbia Journalism Review:
An open letter to Trump from the US press corps — Dear Mr. President Elect: — In these final days before your inauguration, we thought it might be helpful to clarify how we see the relationship between your administration and the American press corps. — It will come as no surprise …
Discussion:
Common Dreams, Samizdata, Chicago Boyz, Raw Story and Occupy Democrats, more at Mediagazer »
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New York Times:
Obama to Hold His Last News Conference as President — WASHINGTON — President Obama will submit to one last questioning by the White House press corps on Wednesday, stepping behind the presidential lectern for a final news conference as president as his offices in the West Wing are being packed up before his departure on Friday.
Discussion:
Hot Air and Politico, more at Mediagazer »
Doina Chiacu / Reuters:
One habit Trump says he will keep as president: tweeting
New York Times:
Price: 'Nobody's Interested in Pulling the Rug Out' on Health Coverage — Right Now: President Obama is addressing the press corps for the last time from the White House. Follow our live coverage and analysis. — Representative Tom Price of Georgia, the nominee for health and human services secretary …
Discussion:
Political Wire, CNBC, NBC News and The Week
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Eric Wolff / Politico:
Pruitt on the issues — President-elect Donald Trump's nominee …
Pruitt on the issues — President-elect Donald Trump's nominee …
Discussion:
Vox, ABC News, Hit & Run, NPR, Talking Points Memo and BillMoyers.com
Leah Barkoukis / Townhall.com:
Ads in Dozens of Cities Offer to Pay Protesters Up to $2,500 to Disrupt Trump Inauguration; UPDATE: It Was a Hoax — Update: On “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Tuesday, the Fox News host exposed the group behind the ads as a fraud. The man claiming to be the director of operations …
Discussion:
The Slot
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Josh Feldman / Mediaite:
‘Tell Me What Your Real Name Is’: Tucker Carlson Confronts Guest Over Hoax in Bonkers Interview
‘Tell Me What Your Real Name Is’: Tucker Carlson Confronts Guest Over Hoax in Bonkers Interview
Discussion:
Daily Wire, BizPac Review, The Gateway Pundit and The Week
New York Times:
Earth Sets a Temperature Record for the Third Straight Year — Marking another milestone for a changing planet, scientists reported on Wednesday that the Earth reached its highest temperature on record in 2016 — trouncing a record set only a year earlier, which beat one set in 2014.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Met Office, New York Magazine, Vox, Outside the Beltway, Common Dreams, The Verge, FiveThirtyEight, Washington Post, Gothamist and Eschaton
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Robin Pogrebin / New York Times:
Museum Trustee, a Trump Donor, Supports Groups That Deny Climate Change
Museum Trustee, a Trump Donor, Supports Groups That Deny Climate Change
Discussion:
Instapundit
Washington Post:
Man apparently sets himself on fire outside Trump Hotel in D.C. — A man was burned Tuesday night after apparently setting himself on fire in the street outside the Trump Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue NW, according to a public safety source with knowledge of the incident.
Discussion:
RedState and New York Magazine
RELATED:
John Hudson / Foreign Policy:
Democratic Rep. Gabbard Makes Secret Trip to Syria — The Hawaii lawmaker, who has bucked both parties on the issue of Syria, met with government officials on a “fact finding” trip. — Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii has just departed war-torn Damascus following a trip her aides described as a …
Discussion:
Politico, The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, Business Insider, The Week and Political Wire
Mark Landler / New York Times:
Trump National Security Team Gets a Slow Start — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has written 275 briefing papers for the incoming Trump administration: nearly 1,000 pages of classified material on North Korea's nuclear program, the military campaign against the Islamic State …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Politico
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Michael Crowley / Politico:
Is Trump ready for a national security crisis?
Is Trump ready for a national security crisis?
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog
NBC News:
Democrats: Left in the Lurch — The curious decline and uncertain future of the Democratic Party — When President-elect Donald Trump replaces Barack Obama on January 20, the Democratic Party will find itself more removed from power than at almost any point since the party's creation.
Ben Kamisar / The Hill:
Haley: No Muslim registry under Trump administration — Nikki Haley, President-elect Donald Trump — 's pick for ambassador to the United Nations, repudiated the idea of a registry for Muslim immigrants or Muslim Americans during her confirmation hearing Wednesday.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Jenny Deam / Houston Chronicle:
Woodlands crowd grills Brady over ACA repeal — U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, faced a skeptical and at times testy crowd Tuesday as dozens of people arrived at an afternoon meeting to make sure he knew they would not let the Affordable Care Act end without a fight.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
The Daily Beast:
New Trump Adviser Being Sued for Hiring Whites to Attack Blacks — President-elect Donald Trump's newest White House adviser runs a real-estate company currently being sued by blacks who accuse it of racial discrimination and hiring white men to physically attack and eject them.
Discussion:
Raw Story and New York Magazine
Christopher Mele / New York Times:
Obama Commutes Sentence of F.A.L.N. Member Oscar Lopez Rivera — President Obama on Tuesday commuted the sentence of a man convicted for his role in a Puerto Rican nationalist group linked to more than 100 bombings in New York and other cities in the 1970s and 1980s.
Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
10 years ago today Obama made a huge promise. He didn't keep it. … Ten years ago today, then-Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois announced he was taking the first steps to run for president in 2008. In a three-minute video, he explained why — and what he hoped to accomplish.
Roger Simon / Politico:
Ill-informed. Impetuous. Reckless: The Trump years. — Donald Trump's goal is not to damage America or our allies. But that may well be the result of his ill-informed, impetuous, reckless actions over the next four years. — What can we do about this? Our fight is not to flee to Canada or South America.