Thursday, December 18, 2025
EU Commission Chief von der Leyen Says She Won't Leave Ukraine Summit unless a Deal Is In Place
Wednesday, December 17, 2025
Trump to Address the Nation Tonight: Timing, What to Expect
NBC NEW YORK: The White House says the president's national address is expected to start around 9 p.m. Here's what we know about it so far.
The White House offered few details about what the Republican president intends to emphasize in the 9 p.m. speech. Public polling shows most U.S. adults are frustrated with his handling of the economy as inflation picked up after his tariffs raised prices and hiring slowed.
Trump has said that he thinks more Americans would back him if they simply heard him describe his track record, which administration officials say will reverse the recent decline in manufacturing jobs and dramatically increase tax refunds next year.
The president announced the forthcoming address in a Truth Social post on Tuesday afternoon.
"My Fellow Americans: I will be giving an ADDRESS TO THE NATION tomorrow night, LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, at 9 P.M. EST," he said in the post. "I look forward to 'seeing' you then. It has been a great year for our Country, and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!" » | NBC New York Staff and The Associated Press | Wednesday, December 17, 2025
The White House offered few details about what the Republican president intends to emphasize in the 9 p.m. speech. Public polling shows most U.S. adults are frustrated with his handling of the economy as inflation picked up after his tariffs raised prices and hiring slowed.
Trump has said that he thinks more Americans would back him if they simply heard him describe his track record, which administration officials say will reverse the recent decline in manufacturing jobs and dramatically increase tax refunds next year.
The president announced the forthcoming address in a Truth Social post on Tuesday afternoon.
"My Fellow Americans: I will be giving an ADDRESS TO THE NATION tomorrow night, LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, at 9 P.M. EST," he said in the post. "I look forward to 'seeing' you then. It has been a great year for our Country, and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!" » | NBC New York Staff and The Associated Press | Wednesday, December 17, 2025
Steve Schmidt BLASTS Trump Administration for Incompetence
JD Vance is an AWFUL man! Marco Rubio is arguably even WORSE! I wouldn't trust that man further than I could throw him. And that is not very far! — © Mark Alexander
L'armée vénézuélienne «pas intimidée» par les menaces de Trump, selon le ministre de la Défense
LE FIGARO : Le président américain a annoncé mardi sur son réseau Truth Social que les États-Unis mettaient en place un blocus « total et complet» contre « les pétroliers sous sanctions », une nouvelle escalade dans la crise entre les deux pays.
Le ministre vénézuélien de la Défense a affirmé mercredi que l'armée n'était «pas intimidée» par les «menaces arrogantes» du président américain Donald Trump qui a annoncé un «blocus total» contre les pétroliers sous sanctions se rendant au Venezuela ou en partant. » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | mercredi 17 décembre 2025
Vive le Venezuela ! Paix aux Vénézuéliens ! Que Dieu protège les Vénézuéliens ! — © Mark Alexander
Le ministre vénézuélien de la Défense a affirmé mercredi que l'armée n'était «pas intimidée» par les «menaces arrogantes» du président américain Donald Trump qui a annoncé un «blocus total» contre les pétroliers sous sanctions se rendant au Venezuela ou en partant. » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | mercredi 17 décembre 2025
Vive le Venezuela ! Paix aux Vénézuéliens ! Que Dieu protège les Vénézuéliens ! — © Mark Alexander
Michael Bublé : It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas | Official Music Video
Putin bezeichnet europäische Staatschefs als „Schweine“
BERLINER ZEITUNG: Putin greift europäische Staaten scharf an und macht die frühere US-Regierung für den Krieg verantwortlich. Zugleich droht er, Russlands Ziele in der Ukraine notfalls militärisch durchzusetzen.
Russlands Präsident Wladimir Putin hat den Westen erneut mit scharfen Worten angegriffen. Die vorherige US-Regierung unter Joe Biden und die „europäischen Schweine“ seien davon ausgegangen, Russland in kurzer Zeit zerstören zu können, sagte Putin bei einer Rede vor Vertretern des russischen Verteidigungsministeriums in Moskau. Das meldete die staatliche Nachrichtenagentur Tass.
Der Kremlchef warf der Biden-Regierung demnach vor, den Konflikt um die Ukraine bewusst in einen Krieg geführt zu haben. Washington habe geglaubt, Russland militärisch schwächen oder zerstören zu können. Europäische Staaten hätten sich dieser Linie angeschlossen. Zugleich lobte der Kremlchef die Gespräche mit der neuen US-Regierung unter Präsident Donald Trump und sprach von Fortschritten bei den Verhandlungen. » | Alexander Schmalz | Mittwoch, 17. Dezember 2025
Russlands Präsident Wladimir Putin hat den Westen erneut mit scharfen Worten angegriffen. Die vorherige US-Regierung unter Joe Biden und die „europäischen Schweine“ seien davon ausgegangen, Russland in kurzer Zeit zerstören zu können, sagte Putin bei einer Rede vor Vertretern des russischen Verteidigungsministeriums in Moskau. Das meldete die staatliche Nachrichtenagentur Tass.
Der Kremlchef warf der Biden-Regierung demnach vor, den Konflikt um die Ukraine bewusst in einen Krieg geführt zu haben. Washington habe geglaubt, Russland militärisch schwächen oder zerstören zu können. Europäische Staaten hätten sich dieser Linie angeschlossen. Zugleich lobte der Kremlchef die Gespräche mit der neuen US-Regierung unter Präsident Donald Trump und sprach von Fortschritten bei den Verhandlungen. » | Alexander Schmalz | Mittwoch, 17. Dezember 2025
La Chine assure le Venezuela qu'elle s'oppose à toute tentative d'«intimidation unilatérale»
LE FIGARO : Pékin a dénoncé mercredi toute « intimidation unilatérale » après la décision de Washington de bloquer les pétroliers sous sanctions à destination ou en provenance du Venezuela.
Le chef de la diplomatie chinoise, Wang Yi, a indiqué mercredi 17 décembre à son homologue vénézuélien Yvan Gil l'opposition de Pékin à toute tentative d'«intimidation unilatérale», après que Washington a ordonné le blocus des pétroliers sous sanctions arrivant au Venezuela ou en repartant. » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | mercredi 17 décembre 2025
Trump souhaite-t-il déclencher la Troisième Guerre mondiale en attaquant le Venezuela ? Il serait bien préférable que Trump continue à vendre des maisons et des appartements ! Ainsi, il causerait moins de dégâts à l'échelle mondiale.
Will Trump durch einen Angriff auf Venezuela den Dritten Weltkrieg auslösen? Es wäre viel besser, wenn Trump weiterhin Häuser und Wohnungen verkaufte! So würde er der Welt weniger Schaden zufügen.
Does Trump want to start World War III by attacking Venezuela? It would be much better if Trump continued selling houses and apartments! That way he would cause less damage to the world. — © Mark Alexander
Le chef de la diplomatie chinoise, Wang Yi, a indiqué mercredi 17 décembre à son homologue vénézuélien Yvan Gil l'opposition de Pékin à toute tentative d'«intimidation unilatérale», après que Washington a ordonné le blocus des pétroliers sous sanctions arrivant au Venezuela ou en repartant. » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | mercredi 17 décembre 2025
Trump souhaite-t-il déclencher la Troisième Guerre mondiale en attaquant le Venezuela ? Il serait bien préférable que Trump continue à vendre des maisons et des appartements ! Ainsi, il causerait moins de dégâts à l'échelle mondiale.
Will Trump durch einen Angriff auf Venezuela den Dritten Weltkrieg auslösen? Es wäre viel besser, wenn Trump weiterhin Häuser und Wohnungen verkaufte! So würde er der Welt weniger Schaden zufügen.
Does Trump want to start World War III by attacking Venezuela? It would be much better if Trump continued selling houses and apartments! That way he would cause less damage to the world. — © Mark Alexander
Trump's Regime Change Operation Ramps Up with Blockade of Venezuelan Oil
Dec 17, 2025 | President Trump has ordered what he called a "total and complete blockade" of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, as the United States escalates pressure on the government of President Nicolás Maduro. The move comes amid a major U.S. military buildup in the region and days after U.S. forces seized an oil tanker carrying Venezuelan oil. Since September, the U.S. military has carried out at least 25 airstrikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific near Venezuela, killing at least 95 people.
The administration's actions against Venezuela signal "the total renunciation of liberal internationalism" and further abandonment of "a world governed by common laws," says Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Yale University professor Greg Grandin. This comes as Latin America is on a "knife's edge between the left and the right," with the Trump administration eager to boost its authoritarian allies across the region, says Grandin.
Democracy Now! can be supported here.
The administration's actions against Venezuela signal "the total renunciation of liberal internationalism" and further abandonment of "a world governed by common laws," says Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Yale University professor Greg Grandin. This comes as Latin America is on a "knife's edge between the left and the right," with the Trump administration eager to boost its authoritarian allies across the region, says Grandin.
Democracy Now! can be supported here.
Erst Drogen, jetzt Öl: Was will Trump von Venezuela wirklich?
Dec 17, 2025 | Die USA erhöhen den Druck auf Venezuela. US-Präsident Donald Trump hat eine Blockade aller sanktionierten Öltanker vor Venezuela angefordert und brachte nun die US-Militärpräsenz vor der venezolanischen Küste mit den Erdölvorkommen des Landes in Verbindung. Ging es ihm also schon immer um das Öl?
Bisher hat Donald Trump immer von einem Drogenkrieg gegen Venezuela gesprochen. Er erklärte, er wolle den Drogenschmuggel von Venezuela in die USA stoppen. Nun hat der US-Präsident in den sozialen Medien geschrieben, Venezuela habe den Vereinigten Staaten Öl, Land und andere Vermögenswerte gestohlen und er fordere die sofortige Rückgabe. Trump drohte zudem damit, die USA könnten weitere Schiffe in der Region beschlagnahmen. Venezuelas Regierung sprach von einer grotesken Drohung und bezeichnete sie als einen schwerwiegenden Verstoss gegen das Völkerrecht.
Was hat es mit Trumps Aussagen auf sich? Und was für eine Rolle spielen Venezuelas grosse Erdölvorkommen im Konflikt?
Bisher hat Donald Trump immer von einem Drogenkrieg gegen Venezuela gesprochen. Er erklärte, er wolle den Drogenschmuggel von Venezuela in die USA stoppen. Nun hat der US-Präsident in den sozialen Medien geschrieben, Venezuela habe den Vereinigten Staaten Öl, Land und andere Vermögenswerte gestohlen und er fordere die sofortige Rückgabe. Trump drohte zudem damit, die USA könnten weitere Schiffe in der Region beschlagnahmen. Venezuelas Regierung sprach von einer grotesken Drohung und bezeichnete sie als einen schwerwiegenden Verstoss gegen das Völkerrecht.
Was hat es mit Trumps Aussagen auf sich? Und was für eine Rolle spielen Venezuelas grosse Erdölvorkommen im Konflikt?
Vanity Fair Writer Responds to Trump Admin Criticism over Susie Wiles Interviews
What’s Happening in American Politics Right Now Should Scare You | Robert De Niro
This is a SUPERB video. Robert De Niro's synopsis is 100% accurate. It is a joy to hear him speak like this. But what is happening to America is so, so sad. — © Mark Alexander
Thom Hartmann: Are We Already At War with Russia and Pretending We’re Not w/ Lev Parnas
Suspect in Bondi Beach Massacre Is Charged With Murder and Terrorism
THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Australian authorities said the 24-year-old man, who had been shot by the police, woke from a coma on Tuesday afternoon.
The surviving suspect in the mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, was charged on Wednesday with murder, terrorism and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to murder, the police said.
The shooting at a beachside Hanukkah celebration on Sunday left 15 people dead, including a 10-year-old girl and a Holocaust survivor who was a grandfather of 11. Two gunmen, who the police said were father and son, were shot by officers; one died at the scene, and the other was taken to a hospital. The authorities said the men appeared to have been motivated by Islamic State-inspired antisemitism.
The younger suspect, 24, had been in a coma until Tuesday afternoon, according to Mal Lanyon, the police commissioner for the state of New South Wales. The suspect remains hospitalized under police guard, according to the police. He had a bail hearing through a video link on Wednesday and no bail was requested, according to a charge sheet from the court.
The man, identified in the charge sheet as Naveed Akram, faces 59 charges in all, including displaying a symbol of a terrorist organization and placing explosives with the intent to cause harm. Officials previously said that two black Islamic State flags and improvised explosive devices had been found in the vehicle that the gunmen drove to the site of the shooting. » | Victoria Kim and Yan Zhuang | Reporting from Sydney, Australia | Wednesday, December 17, 2025
The surviving suspect in the mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, was charged on Wednesday with murder, terrorism and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to murder, the police said.
The shooting at a beachside Hanukkah celebration on Sunday left 15 people dead, including a 10-year-old girl and a Holocaust survivor who was a grandfather of 11. Two gunmen, who the police said were father and son, were shot by officers; one died at the scene, and the other was taken to a hospital. The authorities said the men appeared to have been motivated by Islamic State-inspired antisemitism.
The younger suspect, 24, had been in a coma until Tuesday afternoon, according to Mal Lanyon, the police commissioner for the state of New South Wales. The suspect remains hospitalized under police guard, according to the police. He had a bail hearing through a video link on Wednesday and no bail was requested, according to a charge sheet from the court.
The man, identified in the charge sheet as Naveed Akram, faces 59 charges in all, including displaying a symbol of a terrorist organization and placing explosives with the intent to cause harm. Officials previously said that two black Islamic State flags and improvised explosive devices had been found in the vehicle that the gunmen drove to the site of the shooting. » | Victoria Kim and Yan Zhuang | Reporting from Sydney, Australia | Wednesday, December 17, 2025
Nick Reiner Formally Charged With Murdering His Parents
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Prosecutors said that Mr. Reiner killed his parents, Rob and Michelle Reiner, using a knife. He has not yet entered a plea.
Prosecutors in Los Angeles on Tuesday formally charged Nick Reiner with murdering his parents, the Hollywood fixtures and Democratic Party heavyweights Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner.
The son faces two counts of first-degree murder, with prosecutors requesting they be considered under “special circumstances,” in part because there were multiple murders. Special circumstances can add time to a sentence if convicted.
Nick Reiner, if convicted, could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty, although prosecutors have not said whether they would seek the death penalty. (Gov. Gavin Newsom has put a moratorium on executions, but the death penalty still exists in California.) Mr. Reiner has not yet entered a plea. » | Matt Stevens and Jill Cowan | Reporting from Los Angeles | Tuesday, December 16, 2025
Prosecutors in Los Angeles on Tuesday formally charged Nick Reiner with murdering his parents, the Hollywood fixtures and Democratic Party heavyweights Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner.
The son faces two counts of first-degree murder, with prosecutors requesting they be considered under “special circumstances,” in part because there were multiple murders. Special circumstances can add time to a sentence if convicted.
Nick Reiner, if convicted, could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty, although prosecutors have not said whether they would seek the death penalty. (Gov. Gavin Newsom has put a moratorium on executions, but the death penalty still exists in California.) Mr. Reiner has not yet entered a plea. » | Matt Stevens and Jill Cowan | Reporting from Los Angeles | Tuesday, December 16, 2025
Après les révélations explosives de Vanity Fair, Donald Trump et son administration volent au secours de Susie Wiles
LE FIGARO : Le président des États-Unis a une «personnalité d’alcoolique», JD Vance est «complotiste depuis une décennie»... Des déclarations de la directrice de cabinet du républicain ont déclenché une onde de choc à Washington.
Pour l’instant, les démocrates gardent le silence. L’occasion est-elle trop grande, trop téléphonée ? Trop facile ? Mardi 16 décembre, le magazine américain Vanity Fair a publié une enquête en deux parties sur le fonctionnement de l’administration de Donald Trump basée notamment sur une série d’une dizaine d’entretiens avec, selon le président des États-Unis, la femme la plus puissante du monde : Susie Wiles, surnommée la «Dame de glace», sa directrice de cabinet. Les révélations, également fondées sur les témoignages du vice-président JD Vance et du secrétaire d’État Marco Rubio - entre autres - sont explosives et dépeignent une administration très resserrée, entièrement dévouée au président.
Les révélations ne manqueront pas de faire du bruit dans le «Beltway», le Landerneau politique américain. À peine l’entretien publié, l’habituelle très discrète Susie Wiles a dénoncé un article «malhonnête». «Des éléments contextuels importants ont été ignorés et une grande partie de ce que moi-même et d’autres avons dit… a été omis de l’article», a-t-elle écrit sur X. Je suppose que cela a été fait dans le but de brosser un tableau extrêmement chaotique et négatif du président et de notre équipe.» » | Par Victor Mérat | mercredi 17 décembre 2025
Pour l’instant, les démocrates gardent le silence. L’occasion est-elle trop grande, trop téléphonée ? Trop facile ? Mardi 16 décembre, le magazine américain Vanity Fair a publié une enquête en deux parties sur le fonctionnement de l’administration de Donald Trump basée notamment sur une série d’une dizaine d’entretiens avec, selon le président des États-Unis, la femme la plus puissante du monde : Susie Wiles, surnommée la «Dame de glace», sa directrice de cabinet. Les révélations, également fondées sur les témoignages du vice-président JD Vance et du secrétaire d’État Marco Rubio - entre autres - sont explosives et dépeignent une administration très resserrée, entièrement dévouée au président.
Les révélations ne manqueront pas de faire du bruit dans le «Beltway», le Landerneau politique américain. À peine l’entretien publié, l’habituelle très discrète Susie Wiles a dénoncé un article «malhonnête». «Des éléments contextuels importants ont été ignorés et une grande partie de ce que moi-même et d’autres avons dit… a été omis de l’article», a-t-elle écrit sur X. Je suppose que cela a été fait dans le but de brosser un tableau extrêmement chaotique et négatif du président et de notre équipe.» » | Par Victor Mérat | mercredi 17 décembre 2025
Susie Wiles, JD Vance, and the “Junkyard Dogs”: The White House Chief of Staff on Trump’s Second Term (Part 1 of 2)
VANITY FAIR: Throughout the first year of Donald Trump’s second administration, Vanity Fair writer Chris Whipple has interviewed Wiles amid each moment of crisis. This insider’s account joins a portfolio of portraits for an unflinching, up-close look at power—and peril.
On the morning of November 4, 2025, an off-year Election Day, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles was meeting in the Oval Office with the president and his top advisers, men she calls her “core team”: Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff. The agenda was twofold: ending the congressional filibuster and forcing Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro from power. As she related it later, President Donald Trump was holding forth on the filibuster when Wiles stood up and started for the door. Trump eyed her. “Is this an emergency, that you have to leave?” he demanded. It was nothing of the sort—but Wiles left Trump guessing. She replied: “It’s an emergency. It doesn’t involve you.” With that, according to Wiles, she departed the Oval.
Wiles, wearing dark pants and a plain black leather top, met me in her office with a smile and a handshake. Over sandwiches from the White House Mess, we talked about the challenges Trump faces. Throughout the past year, Wiles and I have spoken regularly about almost everything: the contents, and consequences, of the Epstein files; ICE’s brutal mass deportations; Elon Musk’s evisceration of USAID; the controversial deployment of the National Guard to US cities; the demolition of the East Wing; the lethal strikes on boats allegedly being piloted by drug smugglers—acts many have called war crimes; Trump’s physical and mental health; and whether he will defy the 22nd Amendment and try to stay on for a third term.
Most senior White House officials parse their words and speak only on background. But over many on-the-record conversations, Wiles answered almost every question I put to her.
We often spoke on Sundays after church. Wiles, an Episcopalian, calls herself “Catholic lite.” One time we spoke while she was doing her laundry in her Washington, DC, rental. Trump, she told me, “has an alcoholic’s personality.” Vance’s conversion from Never Trumper to MAGA acolyte, she said, has been “sort of political.” The vice president, she added, has been “a conspiracy theorist for a decade.” Russell Vought, architect of the notorious Project 2025 and head of the Office of Management and Budget, is “a right-wing absolute zealot.” When I asked her what she thought of Musk reposting a tweet about public sector workers killing millions under Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, she replied: “I think that’s when he’s microdosing.” (She says she doesn't have first-hand knowledge.)
Wiles is the most powerful person in Trump’s White House other than the president himself; unlike any chief of staff before her, she is a woman. » | Chris Whipple | Photographer: Christopher Anderson | Tuesday, December 16, 2025
Part 2.
On the morning of November 4, 2025, an off-year Election Day, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles was meeting in the Oval Office with the president and his top advisers, men she calls her “core team”: Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff. The agenda was twofold: ending the congressional filibuster and forcing Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro from power. As she related it later, President Donald Trump was holding forth on the filibuster when Wiles stood up and started for the door. Trump eyed her. “Is this an emergency, that you have to leave?” he demanded. It was nothing of the sort—but Wiles left Trump guessing. She replied: “It’s an emergency. It doesn’t involve you.” With that, according to Wiles, she departed the Oval.
Wiles, wearing dark pants and a plain black leather top, met me in her office with a smile and a handshake. Over sandwiches from the White House Mess, we talked about the challenges Trump faces. Throughout the past year, Wiles and I have spoken regularly about almost everything: the contents, and consequences, of the Epstein files; ICE’s brutal mass deportations; Elon Musk’s evisceration of USAID; the controversial deployment of the National Guard to US cities; the demolition of the East Wing; the lethal strikes on boats allegedly being piloted by drug smugglers—acts many have called war crimes; Trump’s physical and mental health; and whether he will defy the 22nd Amendment and try to stay on for a third term.
Most senior White House officials parse their words and speak only on background. But over many on-the-record conversations, Wiles answered almost every question I put to her.
We often spoke on Sundays after church. Wiles, an Episcopalian, calls herself “Catholic lite.” One time we spoke while she was doing her laundry in her Washington, DC, rental. Trump, she told me, “has an alcoholic’s personality.” Vance’s conversion from Never Trumper to MAGA acolyte, she said, has been “sort of political.” The vice president, she added, has been “a conspiracy theorist for a decade.” Russell Vought, architect of the notorious Project 2025 and head of the Office of Management and Budget, is “a right-wing absolute zealot.” When I asked her what she thought of Musk reposting a tweet about public sector workers killing millions under Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, she replied: “I think that’s when he’s microdosing.” (She says she doesn't have first-hand knowledge.)
Wiles is the most powerful person in Trump’s White House other than the president himself; unlike any chief of staff before her, she is a woman. » | Chris Whipple | Photographer: Christopher Anderson | Tuesday, December 16, 2025
Part 2.
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