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.

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 …

Trump doesn't understand his leverage is gone  —  The Post reports: … One wondrous result of the 2018 election, we will discover, is the near-total irrelevance of Trump's tweets.  He can say whatever wacky thing he wants, throw out whatever insults he pleases, but Pelosi (D-Calif.) …

Trump illegally asked Russia to help him win in 2016.  He shouldn't get away with it.  —  Trump's public request for Russian help in finding Hillary Clinton's emails was a violation of US law.  There are ways to hold him accountable.  —  CONNECT  —  Prosecutors triggered a national firestorm …

Jay Inslee Is Betting He Can Win the Presidency on Climate Change  —  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?  —  And what if the president, instead of doing anything to help …

Former NY Times editor rips Trump coverage as biased  —  President Trump appears content to ride out partial government shutdown stalemate over border security funding  —  A former executive editor of the New York Times says the paper's news pages, the home of its straight-news coverage, have become “unmistakably anti-Trump.”

‘They destroyed me.’ Wells Fargo's mistake forced her to sell her home … Michaela Christian lost a long battle with Wells Fargo in 2013 to save her Las Vegas home, a defeat she says changed the course of her life.  When the bank refused to modify her mortgage, Christian moved in with a friend and scrambled to rebuild her life.

In shutdown, national parks transform into Wild West — heavily populated and barely supervised  —  JOSHUA TREE, Calif. — The government shutdown has left America's national parks largely unsupervised.  No one is at the gate.  No one is collecting a fee.  The visitor centers are closed.

Nancy Pelosi Rams Austerity Provision Into House Rules Package Over Objections of Progressives  —  Despite pressure from progressive Democrats, the House rules package for the 116th Congress will include a pay-as-you-go provision, requiring all new spending to be offset with either budget cuts …

Pompeo to Netanyahu: Syria pullout doesn't alter commitment to Israel's safety  —  US secretary of state meets prime minister in Brazil, vows efforts to counter Iranian aggression will continue regardless of Trump's announced troop withdrawal  —  US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo …

Trump Fears His Jilted Ex-Advisers Will Come Back to Haunt Him  —  A number of top Trump officials have become critics in exile.  That could pose a major problem in the re-election campaign.  —  It was mid-November, and Donald Trump was once again enveloped in political scandals and legal woes.

Bernie Sanders Isn't Just Another White Male Candidate.  His Nomination Would Be Historic.  —  The 2020 Democratic primary will likely offer the most diverse field of candidates either party has ever put forward for the presidency.  At least four serious African-American contenders …

How Elizabeth Warren Could Win The 2020 Democratic Primary  —  It's as if we skipped right from 2018 to 2020.  On Monday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren became the first major Democratic candidate to formally dip a toe in the water of the 2020 presidential campaign, announcing the creation of an exploratory committee.

Tesla shares tumble 9% as company misses Wall Street vehicle delivery estimates, cuts prices  — Tesla boosted production during the quarter, churning out 86,555 vehicles, up 8 percent from 80,142 during the third quarter.  —  Tesla disappointed investors Wednesday, announcing …

Trump cries ‘fake!’ about media reports of White House chaos.  But they keep getting proven right.  —  The Trump White House isn't big on sharing information or answering questions asked on behalf of the public.  —  The so-called daily briefings are not even monthly.

The World Is Getting Quietly, Relentlessly Better  —  If we can solve global poverty, we can solve other problems like climate change  —  If you spent 2018 mainlining misery about global warming, inequality, toxic politics or other anxieties, I'm here to break your addiction with some good news …

RBG's Hubris Is a Gift for Donald Trump  —  The 85-year old Ruth Bader Ginsburg, appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton in 1993, is approaching her 25th anniversary as a justice.  She is historic in many respects: the second female to serve on the high court …

The Army, in Need of Recruits, Turns Focus to Liberal-Leaning Cities  —  SEATTLE — Army recruiters in Seattle can earn a Friday off for each new soldier they enlist.  But in a city with a thriving tech industry and a long history of antiwar protests, the recruiters haven't gotten many long weekends.

Yes, 2019 Is the Year You Were Worrying About  —  Once again, I bring you good tidings of great joy!  —  Unemployment in the United States is at its lowest level since 1969, consumer confidence is near its highest level since 2000, and crime in the nation's largest cities is at its lowest level since 1990.

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.

The walls around Trump are crumbling.  Evangelicals may be his last resort.  —  Why does President Trump continue to keep the government shut down over his demand for a border wall, when large majorities oppose it?  The most obvious answer is that he senses his long-term political survival depends …