In exclusive sit-down, Biden reveals his biggest regret and the compliment Trump gave him  —  Interviews like this one have been rare in Biden's tenure.  He has held fewer news conferences and individual sessions with reporters than any president since at least Ronald Reagan.

Biden Has Presidential Immunity.  He Should Use It.  —  1. Shiny Objects  —  I want to talk about all of the Trump insanity.  I want to talk about his insistence on “taking” Greenland.  And the Panama Canal.  And making Canada a U.S. state.  And renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”

Trump camp was fed questions for Fox News town hall in advance from person inside network, new book says  —  New York CNN —  President-elect Donald Trump's team was given the questions asked by Fox News anchors at an Iowa town hall last January in advance by someone inside the network …

Merchan subtweets John Roberts ahead of Trump's sentencing  —  The chief justice thinks intimidating judges is bad — some of the time.  —  👨‍⚖️ 🏛️ ⏳ With corporate outlets obeying in advance, independent political coverage will be more vital than ever in 2025.

Lack of water from hydrants in Palisades fire is hurting firefighters, Caruso says  —  As wildfires raged across Los Angeles on Tuesday, crews battling the Palisades blaze faced an additional burden: Scores of fire hydrants in the Pacific Palisades had little to no water flowing out.

Poking Fun at Trump, Mexico's President Suggests Renaming the U.S.  —  President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico also said Donald Trump was ill-informed when he said Mexico was “essentially run by the cartels.”  —  Mexico's president rejected several of President-elect Donald J. Trump's assertions …

Gavin Newsom cancels DC trip for Carter funeral as wildfire devastates LA area  —  The conflagrations puts a renewed spotlight on the Democratic governor as he considers a potential White House run in 2028.  —  SACRAMENTO, California— Gavin Newsom is staying in California to respond …

Annual ‘winners’ for most egregious US healthcare profiteering announced  —  Selling body parts without consent and billing desperate parents $97,599 for air transport among worst examples  —  The 2024 “winners” of the annual Shkreli awards, given each year to perpetrators of the most egregious examples …

The Growing Push to Ban Renewable Energy in Oklahoma  —  There's a nascent, concerted effort to make Oklahoma the first state to ban new renewable energy projects.  And it's picking up steam.  —  Across the U.S., activism against wind and solar energy has only grown in intensity, power …

All signs point to Moody for Senate  —  Presented by Good morning and welcome to Wednesday.  —  Time is running short for Gov. RON DESANTIS' first big decision of 2025 — picking MARCO RUBIO's replacement in the Senate.  —  Asked on Tuesday if he's made up his mind, the governor said he still …

Watchdog group accuses RFK Jr. of voter fraud  —  The former independent candidate faces scrutiny over an address he used to vote in New York.  —  With less than two weeks before Donald Trump is sworn in as President, his pick to lead Health and Human Services is facing a new legal challenge — over alleged voter fraud.

Why and How to Hold John Roberts Accountable  —  I want to explain why and how to hold John Roberts accountable for Trump's corruption.  It is based on the following presumptions.  — Blaming Merrick Garland for Trump's reelection has required inventing facts about the timeline, which is why I argue it is conspiratorial thinking.

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Supporting Robust Response Efforts to California Wildfires  —  Under President Biden's leadership, the Biden-Harris Administration is taking significant actions to support state and local response efforts for the wildfires in Los Angeles, California.

UK universities join retreat from Elon Musk's X, citing misinformation on platform  —  Universities and other higher education establishments have joined a retreat among British institutions from Elon Musk's X social media platform, citing its role in spreading misinformation that fuelled race riots last year.

Trump is considering a national economic emergency declaration to allow for new tariff program, sources say  —  President-elect Donald Trump is considering declaring a national economic emergency to provide legal justification for a large swath of universal tariffs on allies and adversaries …

Lifeboat Capitalism  —  Some burn, some drown, and some make money either way.  —  The phrase “women and children first” may sound unforgivably patriarchal today, but the rule expressed a noble purpose when it was coined.  Namely, “In a disaster situation, we will not let the strong save themselves at the expense of everyone else.”

The GOP Is Rewriting What It Means to Be a Person … It's a chilling fact that the Project 2025 playbook written for Donald Trump's administration is just a roadmap for the first 180 days.  But based on the contents of that manual, the MAGA movement's longer-term goals aren't exactly a mystery.

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman accused of sexual abuse by sister in lawsuit  —  Tech entrepreneur and family say Ann Altman's claims that abuse started in childhood are ‘utterly untrue’  —  The sister of the OpenAI chief executive, Sam Altman, has filed a lawsuit alleging …

The Anti-Social Century  —  Americans are now spending more time alone than ever.  It's changing our personalities, our politics, and even our relationship to reality.  —  The Bar Is Closed  —  a short drive from my home in North Carolina is a small Mexican restaurant …

Transcript: Trump's Angry Rants to Media Show How Bad Things Will Get  —  The following is a lightly edited transcript of the January 8 episode of the Daily Blast podcast.  Listen to it here.  —  Greg Sargent: This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR network.