memeorandum: Why the Trump presidency will end poorly (Jonah Goldberg/Los Angeles Times)

10:05 PM ET, December 25, 2018

Top Items:

Nomaan Merchant / Associated Press:

US says 2nd Guatemalan child has died in immigration custody — HOUSTON (AP) — An 8-year-old boy from Guatemala died in government custody in New Mexico early Tuesday, U.S. immigration authorities said, marking the second death of an immigrant child in detention this month.

Discussion: KTLA, The Gateway Pundit, No More Mister Nice Blog, Law & Crime and Axios

Lenny Bernstein / Washington Post:

An 8-year-old migrant has died in U.S. custody on Christmas Day — An 8-year-old Guatemalan child detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection died early Tuesday at a hospital in New Mexico, the agency reported. — The unidentified child is the second border-crosser to die in government custody this month.

Discussion: CBS News and RedState

Eliott C. McLaughlin / CNN:

8-year-old Guatemalan boy dies in US custody on Christmas — (CNN)An 8-year-old Guatemalan boy died Christmas morning in the custody of US Customs and Border Protection, the agency said. — He is the second Guatemalan child to die in CBP custody this month.

New York Times:
8-Year-Old Migrant Child From Guatemala Dies in U.S. Custody

Discussion: Department of Homeland … and Balloon Juice

Daniella Silva / NBC News: Guatemalan boy, 8, dies in immigration custody after being diagnosed with a cold

Hannah Alani / Post and Courier:

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

Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite

USA Today:

Government shutdown, day 4: Pelosi blames Trump for using ‘scare tactics’ over border wall — House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi accused President Donald Trump of using “scare tactics” to build support for his proposed U.S.-Mexican border wall, which she joked had been reduced from a giant …

Discussion: PBS NewsHour, Raw Story, Althouse and AOL

Deirdre Shesgreen / USA Today:

President Trump tells 7-year-old child it's ‘marginal’ to still believe in Santa Claus — President Donald Trump and his wife Melania fielded children's telephone calls in the White House on Christmas Eve. In a tradition going back to 1955, kids phoned to locate Santa. (Dec. 25) — CONNECT

Discussion: RedState, New York Times, Associated Press and alicublog

David Nather / Axios:
Trump: “I can't tell you when” shutdown will end

Discussion: Dallas Morning News, Breitbart, One America News Network, KTLA and Little Green Footballs

Bloomberg:
Trump Says He's Confident in ‘Very Talented’ Mnuchin After Slide

Discussion: The Hill, POLITICUSUSA, Joe.My.God. and Raw Story

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
‘I am all alone’: An isolated Trump unleashes a storm of Yuletide gloom

Discussion: Townhall, FOX31 Denver, Breitbart, ABC News, CNN, Mediaite and Raw Story

Makini Brice / Reuters:
During gloomy Washington Christmas, Trump takes kids' Santa calls

Discussion: Boing Boing

Darlene Superville / Associated Press:
Trump offers holiday greetings to US troops

Discussion: Breitbart, Joe.My.God. and The Daily Beast

Elyse Perlmutter-Gumbiner / NBC News:

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 …

Discussion: Raw Story and Political Wire

Jonah Goldberg / Los Angeles Times:

Why the Trump presidency will end poorly — As we celebrate Christmastime amid an unnecessary and indefinite government shutdown and the worst December for the stock market since 1931, I'm reminded once again of my longstanding prediction: The Trump presidency will end poorly because character is destiny.

Discussion: Joe.My.God., Mediaite and Raw Story

Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:

Trump is incompetent, impulsive and amoral. Heaven help us all. — The chaos all around us is what happens when the nation elects an incompetent, narcissistic, impulsive and amoral man as president. This Christmas, heaven help us all. — Much of the government is shut down over symbolic funding …

Discussion: Raw Story and The Atlantic

New York Times:

Christmas in Lebanon: 'Jesus Isn't Only for the Christians' — BEIRUT — The Iranian cultural attaché stepped up to the microphone on a stage flanked by banners bearing the faces of Iran's two foremost religious authorities: Ayatollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic, and Ayatollah Khamenei, the current supreme leader.

Discussion: Breitbart and Townhall

Mirror.co.uk:

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”.

Julián Aguilar / The Texas Tribune:

ICE dumps hundreds of migrants with nowhere to go at a bus station on eve of Christmas without warning shelters — Lawmakers and immigrant rights groups scramble after ICE releases hundreds of migrants without alerting local shelters. … EL PASO - Hundreds of asylum-seekers spent part …

Astead W. Herndon / New York Times:

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 …

Newsweek:

Hezbollah leaders targeted, reportedly hit in Israeli airstrike, U.S. official says — Several leaders of Hezbollah have reportedly been hit by an Israeli airstrike on the Syrian capital of Damascus. — The information was given to Newsweek from a Department of Defense source with access …