Friday evening, President Trump tweeted, "Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named "Man (Person) of the Year," like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!"
Why it matters: Trump has been tweeting about Time Magazine since 2012, when he said, "I knew last year that @TIME Magazine lost all credibility when they didn't include me in their Top 100." He complained in 2015 that they didn't choose him as person of the year, and earlier this year the Washington Post discovered that there were fake Time Magazine covers featuring Trump in several of his golf clubs.
One of Sen. Jeff Flake's sons has filed a malicious prosecution lawsuit against Sherriff Joe Arpaio, claiming the sheriff pursued charges of animal cruelty against him and his wife for publicity's sake and to hurt his father's political reputation, AP reports. The case will go to trial on December 5.
Why it matters: This is just the latest in a list of serious accusations of misconduct against Arpaio. President Trump pardoned Arpaio over criminal contempt charges earlier this year.
The Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu claims President Trump promised to stop arming the Syrian Kurds during a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, AP reports.
Why it matters: The White House has yet to comment on the claim, but some U.S. officials told the AP they were caught off guard by the announcement. Turkey views Kurdish fighters in Syria as terrorists because of the affiliation with the Kurdish fighters in their own country, but the Kurds have been effective in the anti-ISIS fight.
Former U.S. attorney Preet Bharara tweeted on Friday that the only "rational move" for former national security adviser Mike Flynn is to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller. The tweet follows a NY Times report that Flynn's lawyers have cut ties with Trump's, possibly in order to cut a deal with Mueller.
"If you're dead to rights, flipping on others and cooperating with the prosecution is the only sane and rational move. Also, prosecutors accept cooperation only if you can provide 'substantial assistance.' Higher up in the food chain."
President Trump took to Twitter early on the Friday after Thanksgiving:
Worth noting: This White House treats golf as a clandestine operation, never saying whether or not Trump is actually playing, so this is a rare bit of candor.
