The first 296 days of President Trump's second term, while precedent-shattering, are producing a lot more one-off, giveth-or-taketh-away deals than actual new U.S. laws, Axios' Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen write in a "Behind the Curtain" column.

🎁 Why it matters: It's the Santa and Grinch presidency, in which almost every day reveals a new promise to give something of financial value to a nation, group or individual — or take it away. But rarely do these transactions cement new laws.

• This reality reflects Trump's improvisational and dealmaking impulses. But it also means that a lot of what he does will be easily reversible.

⚡️ The last few days show the pattern: Trump, increasingly vocal about affordability after the Democratic romp in Tuesday's elections, called for two actions — tariff rebate checks and 50-year mortgages.

• Both were in-the-moment ideas, tossed out by the president on social media, that don't require new laws.

🏡 Zoom in: On Truth Social on Saturday afternoon, Trump floated the idea of a 50-year mortgage to improve housing affordability.

• Bill Pulte, the powerful director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), then tweeted: "Thanks to President Trump, we are indeed working on The 50 year Mortgage — a complete game changer."
• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) argued on X that the idea would "ultimately reward the banks, mortgage lenders and home builders while people pay far more in interest over time."

🌎 Then on Truth Social on Sunday morning, Trump said: "A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone." (An idea he's floated on and off since July, without any concrete plans.)

• In a real-time reflection of Trump improv, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told George Stephanopoulos shortly thereafter on "This Week": "I haven't spoken to the president about this yet ... [T]he $2,000 dividend could come in lots of forms ... [I]t could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on the president's agenda." (Trump later clarified that it would, in fact, be a direct payment to people.)

⚖️ Reality check: The Supreme Court might nullify the tariffs, in part because he didn't get them signed into law.

• Herein lies the downside to Trump's approach: Anything not codified by law can be easily undone by the courts — or by Democrats when they win back the White House.

🚙 The intrigue: These measures can also be undone by Trump himself, if the winds shift the right way. Auto companies, for instance, now get a partial refund for the tariffs that Trump imposed on the industry.

💊 Another case in point: Trump has pushed for lower prescription drug prices — not by seeking legislation, but by directly pressuring pharmaceutical companies, including last week's Oval Office announcement that they'll reduce the price of GLP-1 weight loss drugs.

• He has attacked health insurance companies in recent days and over the weekend called for Americans to receive cash directly with which to buy health insurance.
• But he hasn't engaged in negotiations with congressional Democrats over extending Affordable Care Act subsidies that currently help millions afford insurance — the core of the shutdown fight.

💡 The bottom line: Almost all of Trump's astonishing expansions of precedent-stretching presidential power flow not from law, or even congressional approval. It's just Trump doing what he wants ... to whoever he wants ... when he wants.

• Axios' Tal Axelrod, Ben Berkowitz, Courtenay Brown and Neil Irwin contributed reporting.

Correction: This version removes an outdated GovTrack tally that was from Trump's first term, not this term.

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On Day 41, the Senate last night passed a bipartisan package to end the record-long government shutdown.

• After Sunday's breakthrough procedural vote, unanimous agreement was reached to expedite final passage, Axios' Stef W. Kight reports.

The House vote is expected late tomorrow.

The final vote was 60 to 40, with seven Democrats and independent Angus King of Maine voting "yes" and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voting "no."

• The seven Democrats are Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire ... Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia ... Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat ... Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania ... and Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada.

What's in the bill ... Dems who voted nay.

ChatGPT and Google's Gemini are the two fastest-growing brands this year among people earning more than $100,000 a year, Axios' Emily Peck writes from a new Morning Consult report.

• AI brands didn't even make it into the top 20 for lower-earning households.
• For those earning less than six figures, brands that ranked higher were more "value-focused," like Fruit of the Loom and Discount Tire.

📊 How it works: Morning Consult measured growth in "purchasing intent"— the share of consumers who said they were considering buying, or "engaging with," a brand.

• 89% of high-income consumers are familiar with the ChatGPT brand, more than any other AI tool.

Lists of fast-growing brands ... Download the report.

This unusual photo shows the presidential limo — The Beast — driving with President Trump in the back and the trunk open, as his motorcade traveled from Mar-a-Lago to Palm Beach International Airport on Sunday.

• The Secret Service says it was a mechanical issue that's been fixed: "No items were lost or displaced while in transit."

President Trump shakes hands with Sergio Gor, his former director of presidential personnel, in the Oval Office yesterday during his swearing-in ceremony as U.S. ambassador to India.

• Trump abruptly invited the press pool into an event that was to be closed-press, and said Gor's "leadership was essential to fulfilling the historic mandate entrusted to us by the American people."
• The president joked that Gor made a couple of mistakes in staffing up the administration — but those officials are now gone. (AP)

Turning Point CEO Erika Kirk attended and told Gor: "Charlie loved you." (Fox News)

The right wants to make Zohran Mamdani the public face for the case against legal immigration, Axios' Brittany Gibson reports.

• The New York mayor-elect is a Muslim who was born and raised in Uganda, and moved to NYC with his family at age 7. He became a naturalized citizen in 2018, and carries dual citizenship with Uganda.
• "Import communists, become communists," White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller posted before last week's election. He shared a poll showing Mamdani was winning a majority of foreign-born voters.

Where it stands: The U.S. has slashed refugee admissions from 100,000 slots in President Biden's last year to 7,500 in 2026.

• The citizenship test will get more difficult, with stricter enforcement of English language proficiency for immigrants.
• The U.S. now screens for "good character" — including community involvement, contributions to the U.S. and ties to the country, among other factors.

Keep reading.

Major League Baseball and the sportsbooks it works with will cap bets on individual pitches and exclude them from parlays, after two Cleveland Guardians were indicted and accused of rigging pitches.

• Cleveland pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were indicted Sunday on charges they took bribes from sports bettors to throw certain types of pitches.

💬 "The creation of a strict bet limit on this type of bet, and the ban on parlaying them, reduces the payout for these markets and the ability to circumvent the new limit," MLB said.

• Go deeper ... MLB statement.

California is home to the most expensive cheeseburger meals in the continental U.S., according to new DoorDash data shared exclusively with Axios.

• The combo of a cheeseburger with fries and a soda will run you an average of $25.20 in Chula Vista, $22.94 in Anaheim, $22.01 in Santa Ana, $21.60 in Long Beach, $21.58 in Riverside, and $21.53 in Fremont.

🍟 If you're looking for a cheaper cheeseburger, place your order in Lincoln, Neb. ($10.75), Milwaukee ($11.36), or Detroit ($12.90).

• Interactive version of the map.

This year's Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree — a 75-foot-tall, 11-ton Norway Spruce from East Greenbush, N.Y. — arrived in Manhattan over the weekend.

• It'll be lit Dec. 3.

If you're going.