The big picture: A think tank studied all 6,337 political jokes in the monologues last year, and Trump was the subject of nearly half of them. He beat his own record from 2016, notes the study, which used monologues from Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Trevor Noah. The prior record-holder was President Bill Clinton in 1998, the year of the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
House Democrats plan on passing aggressive gun control legislation in response to the recent mass shooting that killed 12 people in Thousand Oaks, California when they take over the House in January, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Why it matters: If they do pass a bill, it is likely to be some of the strongest gun control legislation the country has seen in decades. This response from Democrats runs in stark contrast to responses to mass shootings from legislators in recent years.
On his way to Paris, President Trump tweeted his dissatisfaction with French President Emmanuel Macron's suggestion that Europe should build its own military defense against the U.S., China and Russia, calling the idea "very insulting" that Europe feels it needs protection from the U.S. instead of by the U.S.
The backstory: Macron is a proponent of "European sovereignty," meaning that Europe must have its own foreign and defense policy rather than relying on the U.S., Axios' Dave Lawler explains. Trump appears to be taking offense to Macron's characterization of the U.S. as one of the powers Europe must be wary of .
Cesar Sayoc could face life in prison after being charged in a 30-count indictment that includes five counts of using weapons of mass destruction, five counts of illegal mailing of explosives and five counts of threatening interstate communications, the Washington Post reports.
The backdrop: Sayoc addressed at least 16 possible explosive devices to prominent critics of President Trump including former president Barack Obama, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, philanthropist billionaire George Soros and John Brennan by way of CNN's New York office.
The American Civil Liberties Union, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Center for Constitutional Rights filed a federal lawsuit Friday against President Trump's proclamation that prevents migrants who cross the border illegally from receiving asylum.
Why it matters: "The lawsuit currently charges the administration with violating the Immigration and Nationality Act as well as the Administrative Procedure Act," according to the ACLU. It claims that laws passed by Congress have made it clear that any migrant on U.S. soil is entitled to apply for asylum regardless of whether they entered legally or illegally.
President Trump is using Robert Mueller's lack of Senate confirmation to defend his decision to name Matt Whitaker as his acting attorney general.
Reality check: Axios spoke with several legal experts and former DOJ officials about the legality of Whitaker's appointment, and they told us that the key difference between Mueller and Whitaker is the seniority of their current positions, which makes Trump's attempt to compare their lack of Senate confirmation irrelevant.
President Trump directed or was personally involved in multiple payments of hush money to women claiming to have had sexual encounters with him — potentially breaking campaign finance laws, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Why it matters: We’re now starting to get a picture of what Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, tabloid exec David Pecker and former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg have been telling federal prosecutors, Axios' Jonathan Swan says.
President Trump is accusing Florida Democrats of attempting to rig the Senate and Governor elections in favor of gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum and incumbent Senator Bill Nelson as the races inch closer to recounts.
Why it matters: Despite his claims, the president has presented no evidence that officials are attempting to rig the election in favor of Democratic candidates. Rick Scott, the Republican Senate candidate, is suing Broward County's supervisor of elections and accusing officials of withholding information on the number of outstanding ballots in the Senate race. Under state law, a recount is required when the winning margin is within .5% or less. Gillum is currently behind gubernatorial opponent Ron DeSantis by .47% and Nelson is behind Scott by .20% in the Senate race.
President Trump told reporters Friday that he hasn't decided when or if he will return CNN reporter Jim Acosta's White House press credentials, and suggested that other reporters, like American Urban Radio Networks' April Ryan, could lose their press passes too.
“I haven’t made that decision, but it could be others also ... I don’t think [Acosta] is a smart person but he’s got a loud voice ... The same thing with April Ryan. I mean, you talk about somebody who’s a loser. She doesn’t know what the hell she’s doing. She gets publicity and then she gets a pay raise.”
President Trump issued a proclamation Friday morning suspending "for a limited period" any immigrant who crosses the U.S. southern border illegally — disqualifying them from asylum due to the new rule established by Homeland Security and the Justice Department.
Between the lines: The proclamation is specifically targeted at the caravan of Central Americans currently making its way through Mexico. Trump claims in the proclamation that the suspension is in order to "channel these aliens to ports of entry" so that they can enter "in an orderly and controlled manner." But this is likely to face serious legal challenges.
Of the 138 elected and appointed officials accused of sexual misconduct in the last election cycle, 104 will be out of office by January 2019, according to a new study by Georgetown Law Professor Jamillah Bowman Williams.
The big picture: The #MeToo movement swept across industries, and confronted politicians from state legislature to the top of federal government. Men accounted for 135 of the officials accused of harassment, assault, violence against women, or other sexual misconduct.
Democrats have won at least 33 seats, but they look poised to win closer to 40 — there are 13 races that are either not called or too close to call, and Democrats have a solid chance of winning seven of those.
Why it matters: We're officially in "blue wave" territory. Even if Democrats didn't win any additional House seats, they've already won the most number of seats since Watergate, when the party picked up 48 seats in 1974.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama writes in her new book, "Becoming," that she will "never forgive" President Trump for encouraging the birther conspiracy about her husband in 2011, ABC News reports.
Details: Per ABC, Obama writes that playing into the conspiracy is "crazy and mean-spirited... But it was also dangerous, deliberately meant to stir up the wingnuts and kooks. What if someone with an unstable mind loaded a gun and drove to Washington? ... Donald Trump, with his loud and reckless innuendos, was putting my family's safety at risk. And for this, I'd never forgive him."
House Democrats have retaken the majority from Republicans, setting the stage for potentially contentious leadership fights on both sides of the aisle.
Driving the news: Republicans will be without their former leader in the retiring Paul Ryan, while ten Democratic incumbents or incoming members told Politico that they plan to vote against Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who has expressed confidence that she is 100% going to be speaker again.
Matt Whitaker has been acting attorney general for just one full day but he's already under extreme pressure.
Why it matters: President Trump, who shocked even some of his senior most staff with the hasty timing of his firing of Jeff Sessions, threw Whitaker into an immediate political and legal storm. The White House expected opposition from Democrats but the blowback is widening and now includes a growing body of conservative legal opinion.
The suburban shift toward the Democrats helps explain why they're about to take control of the House. The graphic below shows the shift — and it shows that even the deep-red rural districts elected Republicans with smaller margins than in 2016.
Why it matters: Races tend to be much closer in the suburbs, and that's where Democrats picked up the most seats. With few exceptions, Democrats in conventionally blue districts won by larger margins than Clinton in 2016 and Republicans won by slimmer margins than Trump in 2016.
In Michelle Obama's new memoir, "Becoming," the former first lady denounces Trump's behavior on the campaign trail and in his past, particularly toward women, accusing Trump of using body language during an election debate to "stalk" his 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton, the Associated Press reports after receiving an early copy.
The details: In the book, scheduled to hit shelves Tuesday, Obama discusses how Trump followed Clinton around the stage, saying he "stood too close and tried to diminish her presence," and criticizes Trump for bragging in 2005 about sexually assaulting women in the "Access Hollywood" tape. She recalls the night she found out Donald Trump would become president and how she tried to "block it all out."
