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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.”

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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.