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.

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.

Obama Commutes Bulk of Chelsea Manning's Sentence  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama on Tuesday largely commuted the remaining prison sentence of Chelsea Manning, the army intelligence analyst convicted of an enormous 2010 leak that revealed American military and diplomatic activities across the world …

Trump Ed pick Betsy DeVos cites danger of “grizzlies” as reason to allow guns in schools  —  D her confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Betsy DeVos, Republican President-elect Donald Trump's pick to serve as secretary of education in his forthcoming administration, cited grizzly bears as a reason …

George H.W. Bush hospitalized in Houston  —  Former President George H.W. Bush was recently admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital after falling ill.  —  “He's there.  He's fine and he's doing really well,” Bush's chief of staff, Jean Becker, said.  —  She said the doctors have a couple …

Trump: 'I don't like tweeting'  —  declared in an interview released late Tuesday that he dislikes tweeting and uses Twitter as a defense against media.  —  “Look, I don't like tweeting,” Trump insisted during a Fox News interview scheduled to air Wednesday.  “I have other things I could be doing.”

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 …

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.

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 …

Trump set to take office without most of his Cabinet  —  When Bill Clinton was sworn into office 24 years ago, every single member of his Cabinet but one was confirmed by the Senate within two days.  When Donald Trump is sworn in on Friday, he'll be lucky to have half that many installed.

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 …

One habit Trump says he will keep as president: tweeting  —  U.S. President-elect Donald Trump plans to select the media representatives who are given access to the presidential press briefing room, but will not move the room out of the White House, he said in interview with Fox News broadcast on Wednesday.

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.

Companies Are Recycling Their Old News to Avoid Being Blasted in a Trump Tweet  —  It's a “first strike” approach to jobs.  —  Companies eager to avoid becoming the target of the next attack by President-elect Donald Trump are preemptively — or retroactively — announcing U.S. job creation plans.

Rep. Steve King: John Lewis trades on status as civil rights icon, hasn't contributed since  —  Rep. John Lewis returns to the Edmund Pettus Bridge  — Iowa Rep. Steve King said Tuesday that Georgia Rep. John Lewis trades on his status as a civil rights icon.

Pruitt on the issues  —  President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, has a long history of fighting federal pollution rules.  —  If confirmed, he's expected to sharply alter the agency …

Trump's Commerce Nominee Has Business Ties Around Globe  —  Unlike his soon-to-be boss, the choice for commerce secretary has agreed to divorce himself from a vast financial empire.  —  Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross can expect questions about his business dealings at his Senate confirmation hearing.