The president shapes the public character of the nation.  Trump's character falls short.  —  Mitt Romney, a Republican from Utah and the party's 2012 nominee for president, will be sworn into the U.S. Senate on Thursday.  —  The Trump presidency made a deep descent in December.

POLITICO Playbook: Welcome back ... Shutdown, Day 12  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  SHUTDOWN ... DAY 12 ... WELCOME BACK.  The new Congress begins tomorrow, and leaders are going to the White House this afternoon for a border security briefing with PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP and DHS officials.

US fires tear gas across Mexico border to stop migrants  —  TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — U.S. authorities fired tear gas into Mexico during the first hours of the new year to repel about 150 migrants who tried to breach the border fence in Tijuana.  —  U.S. Customs and Border Protection …

Ohio hospital condemns ex-resident who said she would give Jews ‘the wrong meds’  —  Lara Kollab, 27, stopped working at Cleveland Clinic in September; website publishes dozens of her anti-Semitic, Holocaust-minimizing tweets  —  A hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, said it has fired a doctor …

Jerry Falwell Jr. can't imagine Trump 'doing anything that's not good for the country'  —  He lives with his wife, Becki, in Bedford County, Va.  —  You said recently that conservatives and Christians should stop electing nice guys.  Aren't Christians supposed to be nice guys?  —  Of course, of course.

Trump goes after retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal for ‘big, dumb mouth’  —  President Donald Trump took on retired four-star Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal today, saying he “got fired like a dog” and is known for his “big, dumb mouth” — comments that come on the heels of the general criticizing the president.

The Trump Tax Cut: Even Worse Than You've Heard  —  Skeptical reporting has still been too favorable.  —  The 2017 tax cut has received pretty bad press, and rightly so.  Its proponents made big promises about soaring investment and wages, and also assured everyone that it would pay for itself; none of that has happened.

How Biden Has Paved the Way for a Possible Presidential Run  — A series of careful financial decisions and the creation of nonprofits and academic centers staffed by close advisers would help a campaign-in-waiting for Joseph R. Biden Jr.  — He is expected to reveal his plans early this year.

Gifting Daniel Snyder any money or land for a new Redskins stadium would be absolute madness  —  You've got to be either a drunk, a gambler or Daniel Snyder to tank your business in the NFL.  The Washington Redskins owner has firmly established just what a bad investment risk he is.

Harry Reid Has a Few Words for Washington  —  The former Senate majority leader on President Trump and Senator Chuck Schumer, and on why he doesn't regret ending the filibuster for judicial appointments.  —  Early on the afternoon of Dec. 11, about an hour after an Oval Office meeting between President Trump …

As China Talks Begin, Trump's Trade Negotiator Tries to Keep President From Wavering  —  WASHINGTON — In the middle of his crowded dinner in Buenos Aires with President Xi Jinping of China, President Trump leaned across the table, pointed to Robert Lighthizer, the United States trade …

'I'm embarrassed for America': Puzzled viewers slam NBC for its ‘train-wreck’ New Year's Eve coverage after it failed to show the ball drop and aired Chrissy Teigen talking about ‘vaginal steaming’  — Angry viewers described it as a ‘train-wreck’ after the network failed to show …

Jay Inslee Is Running for President  —  The Washington governor has a single-minded focus: pulling the country back from the climate-change brink.  —  OLYMPIA, Wash.—What if a meteor were hurtling toward the Earth, about to kill millions and reshape life on the planet as we know it?

The shutdown proves how redundant a lot of the government is … The DC media complex is not happy with the partial shutdown of the federal government.  The government shutdown drags into the New Year, they tell us!  It could go on for the rest of January, they cry!

MSNBC is surging  —  MSNBC host Rachel Maddow can speak at length on many topics.  The whims and demographics of her cable-news audience, however, are not among them.  “I think I may just be lucky that we're at a time in the news cycle where there is an appetite for that kind of explanatory work …

American Accused of Spying in Russia Is a Marine Veteran, Family Says  —  LONDON — The American man who was arrested last week in Russia on a spying charge is a Marine Corps veteran who was in Moscow to attend a wedding, his family said on Tuesday.  —  Russia's Federal Security Service …