Bolton's Hawkish Syria Plan Backfired, Pushing Trump to Get Out  —  The national security adviser expanded U.S. goals in Syria to challenge Iran.  But Trump wasn't on board, senior officials say, and Turkey took an opportunity to push the U.S. out.  —  A fateful decision by national security …

Trump lashed out at Whitaker after explosive Cohen revelations  —  Cohen says he lied about project in Moscow  —  Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump has at least twice in the past few weeks vented to his acting attorney general, angered by federal prosecutors who referenced …

Trump Discusses Firing Fed's Powell After Latest Rate Hike, Sources Say  — Advisers warn ousting Fed chairman would lead to market rout  — President's legal authority to remove Powell is unclear  —  President Donald Trump has discussed firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell …

Government Shuts Down as Talks Fail to Break Impasse  —  WASHINGTON — The federal government shut down early Saturday after congressional and White House officials failed to find a compromise on a spending bill that hinged on President Trump's demands for $5.7 billion for a border wall.

Supreme Court denies Trump administration request to immediately enforce new asylum rules  —  The Supreme Court on Friday denied the Trump administration's request that it be allowed to immediately enforce a new policy of denying asylum to those who illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border …

Mick Mulvaney in 2015: Trump's views on border wall ‘simplistic,’ ‘absurd and almost childish’  —  (CNN)Incoming White House acting-chief of staff Mick Mulvaney once called President Donald Trump's views on a border wall and immigration “simplistic” and “absurd and almost childish.”

The budget breakdown of a 25-year-old who makes $100,000 a year and is excellent with money  —  Trevor Klee, he admits, is a “terrible employee.”  But he's great at working for himself — and at taking tests.  —  So the 25-year-old entrepreneur started a thriving business of his own.

How Russian Money Helped Save Trump's Business  —  After his financial disasters two decades ago, no U.S. bank would touch him.  Then foreign money began flowing in.  —  In the fall of 1992, after he cut a deal with U.S. banks to work off nearly a billion dollars in personal debt …

Bill Barr Just Argued Himself Out of a Job  —  His recent memo to President Trump seriously damages his credibility and raises questions about his fitness for the Justice Department's top position.  —  Mr. Hemel and Mr. Posner are professors of law at the University of Chicago Law School.

Conservative Facts  —  The problem conservatism faces these days is that many of the loudest voices have decided to embrace the meanness while throwing away the facts. … D  —  ear Reader (including all you mole-rat monarchists),  —  One or two times a year I wake up in a Japanese family's living room …

Billionaire megadonor Robert Mercer cuts back on support for GOP after being scrutinized for backing Trump  — Yet people close to Mercer say he's “disappeared” and he's no longer playing as big a role in supporting the Republican Party as he used to.  — “He's out,” said a former associate of Mercer.

As Markets Tumble, Tech Stocks Hit a Rare and Ominous Milestone  —  When it comes to the stock market, America's technology giants have become a harbinger of more pain to come.  —  If Facebook, Apple or Google looked shaky this year — as investors worried about growth, regulation or mismanagement — the rest of the market felt it.

Taliban greets Pentagon's withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan with cries of victory  —  “The 17-year long struggle and sacrifices of thousands of our people finally yielded fruit,” said a senior commander in Helmand.  —  PESHAWAR, Pakistan — News that the White House had ordered the Pentagon …

Justice Alito, you owe President Obama an apology  —  The recent guilty plea by Maria Butina for her scheme to use Russian money to impact U.S. politics — including, potentially, part of the $30 million that the National Rifle Association spent to support President Trump's election …

Glee in Russia Over Trump's Foreign Policy Largess  —  MOSCOW — A note of glee crept into Russian commentary and news coverage on Friday about the current turmoil in Washington around national security, with President Vladimir V. Putin seemingly checking off one item after another that he might have written on his wish list for Santa.

None of Us Deserve Citizenship  —  On what moral grounds can we deny others rights, privileges and opportunities that we did not earn ourselves?  —  Late last month, 19-year-old Maryury Elizabeth Serrano-Hernandez reportedly scaled a wall along the United States-Mexico border …

Alice Walker, Answering Backlash, Praises Anti-Semitic Author as ‘Brave’  —  In a statement addressing the widespread outrage over her praise for a book with anti-Jewish overtones, the novelist Alice Walker called its author “brave enough to ask the questions others fear to ask” and denied that he was anti-Semitic.

Michael Cohen discussed mysterious $1.8 million loan to pool boy that Jerry Falwell Jr and his wife befriended: report  —  Jerry Falwell Jr. confirmed that he loaned $1.8 million to a young pool attendant he and his wife had befriended while staying six years ago at a luxury hotel.

Build a Giant Escalator Over the Wall  —  $4,100 of $200.0M goal Raised by 223 people in 1 day  —  The wall is never going to be built but just in case it is we will build a series of giant escalators that are spaced out a half mile along the wall on either side and if that doesn't happen we'll …