Trump call with Turkish leader led to US pullout from Syria  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw American troops from Syria was made hastily, without consulting his national security team or allies, and over strong objections from virtually everyone involved …

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.”

What should worry Trump most: Republican allies are turning on him  —  Another reason this is a historic week — and what President Trump should really worry about — is that lots of different Republicans have been turning on him over different topics.  —  Why it matters: A former Trump aide …

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.

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 …

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg undergoes surgery  —  Washington (CNN)Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had two malignant nodules removed from her left lung Friday at a New York hospital, the Supreme Court announced.  —  There is no evidence of any remaining disease, says a court spokesperson …

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.

Please don't wish me ‘Merry Christmas’  —  It's impolite and alienating to assume I follow your religion.  —  'Twas five nights before Christmas, and my Lyft driver was the umpteenth person to wish me a “Merry Christmas” that day.  He probably just meant it the way most people do …

Trump doesn't need 60 Senate votes to fix the border and short-circuit a shutdown  —  Last night, Chuck Schumer said at a press conference, “The Trump temper tantrum will shut down the government, but it will not get him his wall.”  The truth is that if McConnell would actually lead and enforce …

Mattis Always Understood Trump's Severe Defects  —  In the spring of 2016, not long after The Atlantic published an article I had written about President Barack Obama's foreign-policy record, I visited the Hoover Institution, a think tank on the campus of Stanford University …

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  —  $1,658 of $200.0M goal Raised by 105 people in 21 hours  —  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 …

S&P 500 turns negative as week-long equity rout continues  —  U.S. stocks erased early gains Friday, falling into negative territory as a week-long equity exodus put the major indexes on track for one of their worst weeks of the year.  —  The Dow Jones Industrial Average trimmed gains …

Why Kirstjen Nielsen Sounds Like the Hulk  —  On a worrisome day in Washington—with a government shutdown looming and the defense secretary resigning—a clip of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen served as unexpected comic relief.  Nielsen, speaking before the House Judiciary Committee …

DNI Coats Statement on the Resignation of Secretary Mattis  —  I was deeply saddened to learn the news that General Mattis will resign from his post as Secretary of Defense at the end of February.  —  DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE  —  WASHINGTON, DC 20511  —  December 21, 2018

Republicans are responsible for the Trump fiasco  —  Let's put aside for the moment the question of whether President Trump committed crimes in obtaining the presidency (conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws by hush-money payments or receipt of assistance from a foreign power) …

In Defense of Philip Anschutz  —  The late William F. Buckley, Jr., published a book several decades ago titled Gratitude, in which, while making a case for mandatory community service, he argued that gratitude is one of the distinctively conservative virtues.

Trump pans Beto 2020 talk: ‘I thought you were supposed to win before you run for president’  —  President Donald Trump jabbed at Rep. Beto O'Rourke on Friday, wondering aloud during an exchange with reporters why the Texas Democrat has been suggested as a potential 2020 presidential candidate …

The Establishment Will Never Say No to a War  —  The question before us is a relatively simple one: What would be the criteria for removing our remaining troops from the Iraqi, Syrian, and more general Middle Eastern conflicts?  Or, for that matter, from Afghanistan, where we have been trapped …

Eliot Spitzer snuck me into his apartment in a suitcase: ex-mistress … She ain't heavy, she's my lover.  —  Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer used to smuggle his Russian-escort mistress into the luxury Upper East Side home he shared with his wife — by stuffing her inside a piece of luggage, she told The Post.

Barack Obama Joins Lin-Manuel Miranda on a ‘Hamilton’ Remix  —  In the early hours of Friday morning, Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of “Hamilton,” released “One Last Time (44 Remix),” a gospel reworking of a song from the hit musical.  Halfway through, Barack Obama — the 44 in question …

The death of our Siemens factory is the result of another Trump lie  —  Trump has the power to tell companies such as Siemens to keep plants open.  All he would have to do is sign an executive order  —  This week, days before Christmas, I will clock into my good, union job one last time.