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.

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.

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.

Nikki Haley breaks with Trump on Russia  —  Another one of President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees has broken with him on how to deal with Russia — to a degree, anyway.  —  South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley told senators reviewing her nomination for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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 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 …

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.

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.”

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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.

Public Sees Wealthy People, Corporations Gaining Influence in Trump Era  —  More say people like them will lose than gain influence in D.C.  —  As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office, the public has starkly different expectations about which groups in society will gain influence …

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.