Did a Queens Podiatrist Help Donald Trump Avoid Vietnam?  —  In the fall of 1968, Donald J. Trump received a timely diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels that led to his medical exemption from the military during Vietnam.  —  For 50 years, the details of how the exemption came about …

CBP Shares Additional Information about Recent Passing of Guatemalan Child  —  An eight year-old Guatemalan national, previously apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, died shortly before midnight on December 24 at Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

POLITICO Playbook: Shutdown standoff continues  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN ... DAY 5.  WE ANTICIPATE that talks to end the government shutdown will pick up a smidge.  The White House may chat with the congressional leadership and some offers may be swapped beginning today.

Black Voters, a Force in Democratic Politics, Are Ready to Make Themselves Heard  —  BALTIMORE — The first “Amen!” rang out after a couple of minutes, as Senator Elizabeth Warren, speaking to an almost all-black audience at Morgan State University's winter commencement, described how America has …

I thought fraud in reporting was done for.  I was wrong.  —  Nearly 30 years ago, the Cold War's end opened Germany's border to the formerly Soviet-dominated east.  Asylum seekers from poor and war-torn nations poured across it.  A violent backlash from ultra-right-wing Germans ensued.

Trump becomes first president since 2002 not to visit troops at Christmastime  —  Though he called military personnel on Tuesday, Trump did not visit a hospital or a military base.  —  On Christmas Day, President Donald Trump took part in a long-running practice of presidents …

Do a ‘marginal’ number of 7-year-olds believe in Santa?  That's what Trump told a SC girl.  —  Collman Lloyd, 7, talks to President Donald Trump on Christmas Eve inside her Lexington kitchen.  Trump asked Lloyd if she still believed in Santa.  “Yes, sir,” she replied.  Erica Lloyd/Provided

Queen's speech in front of lavish gold piano blasted for being ‘out of touch’  —  Queen Elizabeth referred to Brexit in her Christmas day message as she sat beside a golden piano  —  The Queen's Christmas Day speech has been slammed on social media for being “out of touch” and disrespectful to families “struggling to make ends meet”.

A Gutted I.R.S. Makes the Rich Richer  —  With enforcement enfeebled, as much as 20 percent of potential tax revenues go uncollected.  —  The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher.  It is separate from the newsroom and the Op-Ed section.

Selling Real Estate in Russia?  Are You Crazy?  —  MOSCOW — Elena Y. Kotova's one-room apartment on the outskirts of Moscow had started to feel cramped.  Her son was almost 4 years old.  She and her husband had solid jobs, she as an economist and he as a manager of a construction company.

Mattis works from Pentagon on Christmas, tells troops: ‘You hold the line’  —  Defense Secretary James Mattis wished U.S. troops a merry Christmas and worked Christmas Day after President Trump pushed the secretary out two months earlier than he planned to resign.