Top Items:
Helene Cooper / New York Times:
Trump, Angry Over Mattis's Rebuke, Considers Removing Him 2 Months Early — WASHINGTON — President Trump, angry over days of news coverage characterizing the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis as a rebuke of the president, has told administration officials that he is considering removing …
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Susan E. Rice / New York Times:
The Threat in the White House — With the impetuous decisions that drove Jim Mattis into retirement, President Trump does more to undermine American national security than any foreign adversary. — Ms. Rice is a former national security adviser and a contributing opinion writer.
David Brown / Politico:
Meet Trump's acting Pentagon chief — When Defense Secretary Jim Mattis wanted him to be his top deputy, Patrick Shanahan was instructed to focus “down and in,” as he describes the approach to managing the government's largest bureaucracy. — But the former Boeing executive who came to be known as …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast
Lolita C. Baldor / Associated Press:
After criticism, Trump pushes out Mattis sooner than planned — WASHINGTON (AP) — Irritated with the criticism and fallout from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' resignation, President Donald Trump on Sunday pushed the Pentagon chief out the door two months earlier than planned …
Discussion:
Splinter
Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Trump forces Mattis out two months early, names Shanahan acting defense secretary — President Trump, who aides said has been frustrated by news coverage of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis's scathing resignation letter, abruptly announced Sunday that he was removing Mattis two months …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Politico, Task & Purpose, Outside the Beltway and Joe.My.God.
David Axe / The Daily Beast:
Trump's Incoming Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan Pushed Military to Buy Weapons It Didn't Want
Trump's Incoming Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan Pushed Military to Buy Weapons It Didn't Want
Discussion:
Raw Story, The Resurgent, POLITICUSUSA and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Nancy A. Youssef / Wall Street Journal:
Departing Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to Leave Jan. 1
Departing Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to Leave Jan. 1
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Raw Story and USNI News
David Cohen / Politico:
Senators begged Mattis to stay, Durbin says
Senators begged Mattis to stay, Durbin says
Discussion:
One America News Network
Washington Post:
Treasury secretary startles Wall Street with unusual pre-Christmas calls to top bank CEOs — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin startled financial analysts, bankers and economists on Sunday by issuing an unusual s declaring that the nation's six largest banks had ample credit to extend to American businesses and households.
Discussion:
Splinter, Political Wire, The Guardian and Reuters
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Donna Borak / CNN:
Mnuchin speaks with US bank executives to reassure investors after Wall Street whiplash — When stock market swings should raise alarms — Washington (CNN)Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spent Sunday speaking with chief executives of large US banks in a bid to reassure investors that it's business as usual on Monday.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Axios, twitchy.com, AOL, One America News Network, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times and The Week
Kris Schneider / ABC News:
Mick Mulvaney says DHS can't ‘spend money from Mexico’ for wall: ‘We have to get it from the treasury’ — The president's incoming chief of staff said Sunday that any money for the border wall would have to come from the Treasury Department, saying “the Department of Homeland Security can't actually spend money from Mexico.”
Discussion:
The New Civil Rights Movement, POLITICUSUSA, The Daily Beast, Joe.My.God., Washington Times, Axios and CNN
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Jake Sherman / Politico:
The ‘all-I-want-for-Christmas-is-$5- billion-for-the-wall’ shutdown
The ‘all-I-want-for-Christmas-is-$5- billion-for-the-wall’ shutdown
Discussion:
The Hill
USA Today:
Government shutdown, day 2: White House makes ‘counter-offer,’ asks for less than $5B for border wall funding
Government shutdown, day 2: White House makes ‘counter-offer,’ asks for less than $5B for border wall funding
Discussion:
Fox News, The Daily Beast, Wall Street Journal and The Root
Washington Post:
‘Very possible’ shutdown could last into new year, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney says
‘Very possible’ shutdown could last into new year, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney says
Discussion:
KTLA, Mother Jones and CNN
David Cohen / Politico:
Merkley: Border wall ‘a fourth-century strategy’
Merkley: Border wall ‘a fourth-century strategy’
Discussion:
ABC News and POLITICUSUSA
Axios:
Trump says he had a “long” call with Turkish president Erdogan — Days after announcing the U.S. would exit Syria, President Trump tweeted: … Why it matters: Turkey is also the country that was most active in sharing information about the Saudi killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, CNN and One America News Network
Farah Stockman / New York Times:
Women's March Roiled by Accusations of Anti-Semitism — Within days of Donald J. Trump's election, a diverse group of women united by their concern about the incoming administration gathered at a restaurant in New York to plan a protest march in Washington.
Discussion:
Front Page Magazine
Kevin Bohn / CNN:
Chief Justice pauses contempt order for mystery company in Mueller investigation — (CNN)Chief Justice John Roberts on Sunday issued a temporary pause on an order holding an unnamed, foreign government-owned company in contempt over a mystery court case related to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
Discussion:
Political Wire and Joe.My.God.
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New York Times:
Far-Right Proud Boys Reeling After Arrests and Scrutiny — After his appearance in Manhattan led to a brawl, the founder of a far-right group, the Proud Boys, said it was little more than a “fun, silly, men's club” that had defended itself against an attack by leftist protesters.
NBC News:
Inside Bernie-world's war on Beto O'Rourke — As the Texas congressman's star rises, Sanders supporters turn up the heat: 'Reading Karl Marx is cool. Doing a livestream while you're doing your laundry is a gimmick.' — WASHINGTON — Forces loyal to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders are waging …
Discussion:
twitchy.com and The Guardian
David Reaboi / Security Studies Group:
Khashoggi: Qatari Asset in Life; Qatari Asset in Death — When Donald Trump announced that his first trip abroad as president would take him to Saudi Arabia and to Israel, it was a signal that the new administration had returned America's traditional alliances in the Middle East to their privileged status.
Discussion:
Al Arabiya
Washington Post:
Syria's once-teeming prison cells being emptied by mass murder — Assad's government is doubling down on the killing of political prisoners as the civil war heads toward its conclusion. — BEIRUT — As Syria's government consolidates control after years of civil war …
Associated Press:
Court says Justice Ginsburg up and working after surgery — WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is up and working as she recuperates from cancer surgery. — A spokeswoman for the court, Kathy Arberg, also says that Ginsburg remained in New York at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on Sunday.
Christopher F. Schuetze / New York Times:
Der Spiegel to Press Charges Against Reporter Who Made Up Articles — HANOVER, Germany — Der Spiegel has announced that it will press charges against a former star reporter accused of systemically faking interviews and articles, in what might be the biggest journalism scandal …
Discussion:
Spiegel Online, twitchy.com, American Thinker and NewsBusters, more at Mediagazer »
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Schiff: Democrats will subpoena Mueller report if Trump tries to hide it — Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, says Democrats will subpoena special counsel Robert Mueller's report if President Trump tries to invoke executive privilege to keep it secret.
Discussion:
Joe.My.God., Politico and Breitbart
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Eli Watkins / CNN:
Schiff: ‘Prepared’ to force Mueller report release if White House blocks
Schiff: ‘Prepared’ to force Mueller report release if White House blocks
Discussion:
The Guardian, POLITICUSUSA and Axios