President Trump says he has relaunched peace negotiations with the Taliban.
What he's saying: Trump said in a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Thursday that he believes the Taliban wants a ceasefire, per pool reports, and he wants to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan from 12-13,000 to 8,600.
President Trumpthrilled China hardliners in the U.S. yesterday by signing two bills backing human rights in Hong Kong, provoking a threat of "firm counter measures" from Beijing.
Why it matters: Trump signed the bills knowing they would complicate trade negotiations. That suggests that he thinks he has a winning hand, based partly on weak economic data from China and stronger signs in the U.S.
President Trump keeps losing in court, but his legal strategy is winning as he plays for time, The New York Times reports.
Why it matters: Even as the Democrats take Trump to court over ignored subpoenas, he benefits by letting it all bleed out slowly. Voters won't be learning new damaging facts about him before they hit the polls in 2020.
Ukraine's Prosecutor General Ruslan Ryaboshapka says Attorney General Bill Barr has not formally requested an investigation regarding the Bidens and Ukrainian gas company Burisma at the heart of the impeachment inquiry, the Financial Times reports.
Why it matters: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reassured President Trump during their July phone call that the next person to be appointed as the general prosecutor will "100%" be Zelensky's person, per the Financial Times. Ryaboshapka was appointed weeks later, and insists he is his own person.
Three women have come forward with public accusations of sexual misconduct against EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland in instances that span from 2003 to 2008, prior to his position as a U.S. ambassador, ProPublica reports.
Why it matters: “I have nothing to say about what he did or didn’t do [involving Ukraine]. But if people are asking what his moral character is, I have one more piece of evidence for them," magazine publisher Nicole Vogel told ProPublica, while accusing Sondland of twice making unwanted sexual advances — in a hotel room and separately in his car — as he considered investing in her magazine in 2003.
Rudy Giuliani called President Trump this week to say he was joking when he told reporters that he has "insurance" if the president "throws him under the bus," Giuliani's attorney told Reuters.
Why it matters: Giuliani is a central figure in the impeachment inquiry against Trump and has publicly said that he pushed for investigations in Ukraine with Trump's knowledge. Amid new revelations that federal prosecutors are now investigating Giuliani's activities in Ukraine, Trump has denied sending him to Ukraine to dig up dirt on his political opponents.
Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico's foreign secretary, said Wednesday that he is in contact with the U.S. government following President Trump's announced plans to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations.
What they're saying: Mexico's president characterized Trump's proposal as "interventionism" on Wednesday, emphasizing that he wanted to "avoid a political conflict," per the Washington Post.Ebrard tweeted that "Mexico will never accept any action that violates our national sovereignty," on Tuesday, following Trump's announcement.
The president's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani pursued thousands of dollars in business from Ukrainian officials in the same months he was attempting to unearth damaging information about Trump's political rivals in Ukraine, according to a pair of reports from the New York Times and Washington Post.
Why it matters: Giuliani has become a central figure in the impeachment inquiry and is now being investigated by federal prosecutors, who are examining whether he was working to advance the interests of Ukrainians as an unregistered foreign agent while also representing Trump.
A federal judge on Wednesday postponed the sentencing of former national security adviser Michael Flynn until after the Dec. 9 release of the Justice Department inspector general's report on alleged FBI abuses involving surveillance of the 2016 Trump campaign, CNN reports.
The big picture: The sentencing was set for Dec. 18, but the Justice Department and Flynn's defense asked Judge Emmet Sullivan to delay the sentencing, as the report “will examine several topics related” to a request by Flynn's lawyers to find prosecutors in contempt of court for misconduct, according to the Washington Post.
ICE has arrested about 250 foreign students since January for immigration violations because they enrolled in a fake university created by federal officials that advertises a graduate program for technology and computer studies, the Detroit Free Press reports.
Background: Federal law enforcement officials created the University of Farmington based in the Detroit metro area in January 2016. The school was staffed with undercover agents acting as university officials. DHS even went so far as to have the fake school listed on its own website, as well as on an accreditation agency's site.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) never had proper systems in place to keep track of separated migrant children under the "zero tolerance" policy, according to a new report from the agency's inspector general (IG).
Why it matters: Immigration officials knew about the tracking issues ahead of time and anticipated separating more than 26,000 children within a few months, but the policy was rolled out anyway. It took months for families to be reunited, causing thousands of kids to be traumatized. The IG could not confirm how many were impacted or whether all have been reunited.
The Democratic House candidate challenging GOP Rep. Devin Nunes in California told Axios he's raised over $310,000 since the public impeachment hearings began on Nov. 13.
Why it matters: This fundraising haul shows the potential political ramifications impeachment will have for some Republicans in down-ballot races — especially those who are key characters in the hearings and staunch defenders of the president.
Presidential candidates have called out more than 80 companies across 30 industries on Twitter over the past six months — mostly in a negative context — according to data compiled by High Lantern Group and provided exclusively to Axios.
Why it matters: From Amazon to Lyft, many of these companies are facing populist attacks from candidates including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren on the left — but also from the right by President Trump, who's lashing out over his own issues.
The 2020 Democratic field has more mayors and former mayors than any other presidential primary in recent memory, reflecting a hope that voters will want local leaders' practical, on-the-ground experience after four years of President Trump.
Why it matters: While public trust in Washington and Congress has hit record lows, city and local elected leaders enjoy more public trust and tend to be viewed as less partisan and ideological than those in national office.
The anonymous "senior Trump administration official" who authored a 2018 New York Times op-ed and a new book against President Trump told a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" session Tuesday they will reveal their identity.
Trump will hear from me, in my own name, before the 2020 election."
Two polls published Tuesday show a clear gap at the top of the Democratic presidential race, with only the four leading candidates achieving double digits. But Sen. Elizabeth Warren's numbers slipped in both.
By the numbers: Former Vice President Joe Biden has retaken the lead in the latest Quinnipiac University poll, with 24% of Democratic and independent voters who lean Democratic backing him. South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg jumped 6 points to snatch second place (16%). Warren's numbers fell 50% over the past month to receive 14% support. Sen. Bernie Sanders polled at 13%.
President Trump told Bill O'Reilly in an interview broadcast Tuesday that he plans to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations after they killed Americans in Mexico.
Why it matters: Trump's remarks to O'Reilly that he would act because "we are losing 100,000 people a year to what is happening and what is coming through on Mexico" mark a shift in U.S. policy that's sent Mexican officials scrambling.
In late August, White House lawyers briefed President Trump on the now-infamous whistleblower complaint about his dealings with Ukraine, the New York Times reports, citing "two people familiar with the matter."
Why it matters: The report suggests Trump knew officials had raised alarms about his July 25 phone call with Ukraine's president two weeks prior to his decision to unfreeze military aid, which Democrats allege he was using as leverage to pressure Ukraine to announce investigations into the Bidens and the 2016 election.
President Trump denied sending his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to dig up information on his political rivals, Bloomberg reports.
Why it matters: Giuliani has publicly said that he investigated concerns over 2016 Ukrainian collusion and corruption on behalf of the president. Federal prosecutors are now investigating Giuliani's actions in Ukraine. Trump's demand that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, over unsubstantiated corruption allegations is at the center of the ongoing House impeachment inquiry.
When President Trump visits London next week for the NATO summit, he'll also use his brief time on the ground there to raise big bucks for his 2020 campaign, according to an invitation reviewed by Axios and conversations with people familiar with the event.
Details: The Dec. 3 fundraiser, which hasn't previously been reported, will be hosted by Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, co-chair Tommy Hicks Jr., national finance chair Todd Ricketts, and Trump's campaign manager Brad Parscale, according to the invitation.
