Trump praises ‘Fox & Friends’ for being named ‘most influential’ because he watches it  —  on Thursday praised “Fox & Friends” after a media website named it the “most influential” because he watches it.  —  “Was @foxandfriends just named the most influential show in news?”  Trump tweeted.

Mueller Avoids Pitfalls by Giving Trump the Silent Treatment  —  Some Republicans are escalating attacks on Russia probe  —  Special counsel aims to convey credibility, officials says  —  Through all the controversy, threats and noise surrounding the Trump-Russia investigation …

Nikki Haley Confronts the U.N.'s ‘Jackals’  —  The U.S. ambassador, like the president, knows that the organization is irrelevant without its richest member.  —  When U.N. member states vote Thursday on a resolution condemning America's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Ambassador Nikki Haley will be watching.

Pelosi to GOP: You're on Your Own With CR  —  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is urging her Democratic colleagues to vote against a bill to fund the government past Dec. 22, putting pressure on House Republicans to come up with a plan their conference can carry.

Prosecutors ask FBI agents for info on Uranium One deal  —  On the orders of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Justice Department prosecutors have begun asking FBI agents to explain the evidence they found in a now dormant criminal investigation into a controversial uranium deal that critics …

Mueller Is Looking Into a U.S. Foundation Backed by Russian Money  —  Foundation got $500,000 in undisclosed Russian donations  —  Representatives attended meeting with Trump campaign officials  —  Sara Peterson flew to Moscow in 2012 to take home two Russian orphans just as the Kremlin …

Virginia officials will randomly pick winner of tied House of Delegates race on Dec. 27  —  Politicos, mark your calendars for Wednesday Dec. 27.  —  That's the day the Virginia Board of Elections will randomly pick the winner of the high stakes and tied 94th House District race.  —  The impact?

Fueled by drug crisis, U.S. life expectancy declines for a second straight year … American life expectancy at birth declined for the second consecutive year in 2016, fueled by a staggering 21 percent rise in the death rate from drug overdoses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday.

The Politics of the Republican Tax Bill: A Dissenting View  —  I am not a fan of the new tax bill that the Republican Congress passed.  It will widen the gap between the wealthy and everyone else and increase the likelihood over a decade or so of another crash.

Exclusive: US making plans for ‘bloody nose’ military attack on North Korea  —  America is drawing up plans for a “bloody nose” military attack on North Korea to stop its nuclear weapons programme, The Telegraph understands.  —  The White House has “dramatically” stepped up preparation …

Facebook Job Ads Raise Concerns About Age Discrimination  —  This article was written through collaboration between The New York Times and ProPublica, the independent, nonprofit investigative journalism organization.  —  A few weeks ago, Verizon placed an ad on Facebook to recruit applicants …

Money Talks: Blackstone, Carlyle, KKR dial up donations to key GOP lawmakers as tax bill protects carried interest loophole  —  If you want to know how one of Wall Street's biggest players managed to keep a massive and controversial loophole in the GOP tax bill, just follow the money.

Dozens of lawmakers stand to reap a tax windfall due to a GOP loophole  — Dozens of lawmakers stand to reap a tax windfall thanks to a loophole inserted in the sweeping GOP tax overhaul bill, according to a review of federal financial disclosures.  — Those benefits will now go to …

Memphis removing Confederate statues from Downtown parks  —  Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal  —  The city of Memphis sold two public parks containing Confederate monuments to a nonprofit Wednesday in a massive, months-in-the-planning operation to take the statues down overnight.

You Cannot Be Too Cynical About the Republican Tax Bill  —  The rush to enact the tax bill was designed to mask — as a break for the middle class — what is in fact a $1.4 trillion package of benefits for key donors and lobbyists, the richest members of Congress, President Trump, his family and other families like his.

The Real Coup Plot Is Trump's  —  When Donald Trump's campaign was accused of spreading “fake news,” he quickly appropriated the term for himself.  The true purveyors of fake news, he claimed, were television networks like CNN and newspapers like this one.  —  Now, as Mr. Trump and his allies seem …

Janet Elder, a Top Editor at The Times, Is Dead at 61  —  Janet Elder, who in a three-decade career at The New York Times rose from reporter to deputy managing editor, along the way spending many years as the editor of news surveys and election analysis, died on Wednesday.  She was 61.

Long Island Iced Tea Soars 500% After Changing Its Name to Long Blockchain  —  There's a new leader in the sweepstakes for the zaniest name change in the crypto craze.  —  Long Island Iced Tea Corp. shares rose 238 percent after the company rebranded itself Long Blockchain Corp. It's …

Hell freezes over: Media start admitting that Trump's first year isn't a flop  —  I have sensed for weeks now that some in the media were on the verge of rolling out a contrary take on President Trump's first year in office.  —  And in the wake of yesterday's final passage of massive tax cuts, that moment has arrived.

Deducting a CEO's Jet, But Not a Cop's Uniform  —  What the Republicans' Tax Bill Really Means for People Like Us  —  Donald Trump often declares his support, even love, for police, firefighters and other first responders.  That isn't stopping him, however, from nicking their wallets …

Ryan Pushes Trump to Follow Tax Win With U.S. Welfare Revamp  —  Trump determined use momentum from tax win for big legislation  —  Ryan pressing to top agenda with limits on social safety net  —  Republicans want to channel momentum from the GOP's victory on taxes into a push to overhaul …

Chappelle to Trump voters in new special: 'You are poor.  He's fighting for me'  —  Dave Chappelle says he “feels sorry” for “poor whites” who voted for President Trump  —  in the 2016 election because the commander in chief doesn't have their best interests in mind.

Cochran's future in the Senate in doubt  —  Sen. Thad Cochran, chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, hasn't presided over a hearing since early September.  The Mississippi Republican has not given a speech on the Senate floor all year, and he's introduced only two bills during that time, both of them minor.

Trump Plans Tax Signing on Jan. 3 Due to Technical Issue  —  President Donald Trump plans to sign the tax bill on Jan. 3 to ensure automatic spending cuts to Medicare and other programs don't take effect, according to a House Republican aide familiar with the plans.

Forget what they say — House Democrats are readying for impeachment  —  To fill their top spot on the House Judiciary Committee, Democrats had a choice between experts in two critical policy arenas: a constitutional law ace with firsthand experience battling President Trump, and an architect of sweeping immigration legislation.

Billionaire Koch Brothers Invest Millions More to Promote Tax Overhaul  —  Groups backing the Republican tax-overhaul plan invested tens of millions of dollars promoting the legislation only to see its popularity decline over time.  That isn't stopping one group of conservatives from investing millions more in marketing.