President Trump on Tuesday expanded his administration's travel ban with full restrictions against five new countries and people with Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents, as well as partial restrictions on 15 countries.
Why it matters: The move is part of the administration's crackdown on travel and immigration into the U.S.
President Trump supported his chief of staff Susie Wiles on Tuesday, even after her candid Vanity Fairinterviews offered a startling portrait of his second White House term.
The big picture: Despite Wiles' unusually blunt descriptions of Trump, he told The New York Post that she has done a "fantastic job," and he wasn't offended by her characterization of him as having an "alcoholic's personality."
Susie Wiles, President Trump's current chief of staff, slammed Vanity Fair's article about her on Tuesday, calling it a "hit piece."
The big picture: The wide-ranging, two-part Vanity Fair piece featured multiple interviews with Wiles, who offered a behind-the-scenes look into Trump 2.0 and the president's Cabinet, as well as a deep dive into her 40-plus-year career lobbying and running political campaigns.
The ascendance of self-driving semi-trucks sets up a collision between autonomous vehicle advocates and union leaders who are signaling resistance to driverless vehicles.
Why it matters: There are some 3.6 million professional U.S. truck drivers, but the industry has struggled with retention amid the worst freight recession in recent memory.
Susie Wiles, President Trump's chief of staff, chronicled the chaotic inner workings of the White House in a series of shockingly candid, unfiltered interviews with Vanity Fair throughout the year, publishedTuesday.
Why it matters: Wiles discussedTrump's "alcoholic's personality," Elon Musk's drug use and USAID chaos, Vance's "sort of political" conversion, the Epstein files debacle, boat strikes targeting Maduro, and whether Trump will defy the 22nd Amendment.
Her interviews offer the most unvarnished look yet at power and peril in Trump's second term.
House GOP moderates are threatening to cut a deal with Democrats after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) ruled out giving them a vote on extending expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies.
Why it matters: House moderates, some in tough reelection fights, feel they need to do something on the subsidies, but they're nowhere close to convincing their leadership.
The White House rushed to defend chief of staff Susie Wiles on Tuesday after her blunt private views on President Trump's first year were revealed in a series of stunning on-the-record interviews.
Why it matters: Wiles is the most powerful aide in the White House — credited with running a more disciplined, loyal and effective operation than Trump's first term, which was routinely undercut by leaks and internal feuds.
The job market slowdown is real and ongoing. But it also isn't quite as bad as the headline numbers from delayed October and November jobs reports suggest.
The big picture: Yes, the unemployment rate hit a new four-year high last month, and overall employment contracted over the October-November window.
But the details are more consistent with the long, gradual labor market slowdown continuing apace — not taking some abrupt turn for the worse this fall.
President Trump's chief of staff Susie Wiles contradicted his claims about former President Clinton's ties to Jeffrey Epstein in a new interview with Vanity Fair published Tuesday.
The big picture: The president has repeatedly tried to deflect attention from his own ties to Epstein by spotlighting Clinton's relationship with the convicted sex offender.
The Trump administration argued in a Monday filing that construction on the president's massive ballroom project must continue due to "security concerns."
Why it matters: The president often invokes national security as a core motivator and justification for his sweeping policy changes, from immigration to trade policy to his overhaul of the federal workforce.
The U.S. economy added 64,000 jobs in November, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, the Labor Department said on Tuesday in a report delayed by the government shutdown.
Why it matters: Hiring slowed last month alongside a jump in the jobless rate, a sign of persistent weakness in the U.S. job market.
The big picture: The Reiners' death triggered mourning across Hollywood and far beyond. But President Trump used their deaths to mock Reiner, a progressive activist, for his political stances — sparking bipartisan condemnation.
Elon Musk has begun funding the GOP's House and Senate campaigns for the 2026 midterms — an indication his relationship with President Trump has thawed since their messy breakup earlier this year.
Why it matters: Musk — who threatened to launch a third party and support challengers to Republican incumbents during his dispute with Trump — is now firmly back in the GOP's camp.
People in the year 2100 will be younger in Africa, and dramatically older in East Asia and Europe, as power tilts sharply toward the global South, per the U.S. Census Bureau's latest global population projections.
Why it matters: This radical reshaping, with mega-nations rising in Africa while China risks the steepest population decline in recorded history, will upend today's geopolitical order.
The U.S. is preparing to seize more sanctioned oil-filled tankers off Venezuela as the Trump administration opens a new phase of its pressure campaign on Nicolas Maduro's regime, officials tell Axios.
That new phase also could soon include "land strikes on Venezuela," President Trump said Friday.
Why it matters: Impounding more tankers would threaten to further impoverish the already struggling oil-rich nation as Trump tries to force Maduro to leave office.
A Washington State county, just north of Seattle and one of the state's fastest-growing regions, is getting a new artificial intelligence-powered system to help with emergency 911 calls.
Why it matters: It's one of the first efforts to use AI to help with 911 emergencies in real time and could be a model for other regions as police expand AI to aid with patrols, investigations and first responders.
The deadly terrorist attack at Sydney's Bondi Beach that officials said targeted Jewish people was "motivated by Islamic State ideology," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday morning local time.
The big picture: Albanese said in an interview there's "no evidence" that the father and son suspected of killing at least 15 people and wounding over 40 others in the shooting were part of a "terrorist cell," but it seems they became "radicalized" and inspired by ISIS.
President Trump sued the BBC on Monday, seeking $10 billion in damages and alleging that a documentary, which aired shortly before the 2024 election, defamed him by editing his speech from Jan. 6, 2021, in a misleading way.
Why it matters: It marks the third lawsuit the president has waged against a media company while in office.
The U.S. military said it struck three more alleged drug boats in the Eastern Pacific on Monday and killed eight men suspected of being "narco-terrorists."
The big picture: The Trump administration's military drive targeting suspected drug boats has resulted in the deaths of an estimated 95 people since September and triggered congressional investigations into the legality of the action.
The Pentagon said Monday it is "escalating" a "preliminary review" into "serious allegations of misconduct" leveled against Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a retired naval officer, after he clashed with President Trump.
The big picture: A Pentagon spokesperson said in an emailed statement that Kelly now faces "an official Command Investigation" following his appearance in a video with five other Democratic lawmakers last month reminding military and service members they could disobey unlawful orders.
Why it matters: Cruz is putting Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on notice — both for the NDAA, but also for a government funding bill that Congress must pass next.
Dozens of Speaker Mike Johnson's own members are racing to solve Republicans' most urgent political problem — without his help.
Why it matters: House Republicans are nowhere close to consensus and the speaker's olive branch to moderates — a show vote extending the Affordable Care Act's enhanced subsidies that expire in two weeks — could be in trouble.
"We are rightly going to reject this enrichment of the insurance companies," Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas.), who sits on the powerful House Rules Committee, said today on Fox News.
Moderates are vowing to extract a concession — or derail the whole package on Wednesday — if their show vote is scuttled.
First it was Zohran Mamdani ally Chi Ossé flirting with — then skipping — a primary challenge against Jeffries.
Now it's Jonathan Paz mounting a left-wing primary challenge against House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.).
Why it matters: Clark is the highest-ranking Democrat to face an active intra-party threat to her reelection at a time when progressives across the country are trying to unseat establishment incumbents.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) voted "no" tonight on a procedural vote for the National Defense Authorization Act to protest House-passed language on air traffic safety, he told us.
Why it matters: Cruz is putting Senate Majority Leader John Thune on notice — both for the NDAA, but also for a government funding bill that Congress must pass next.
"We need to strike this section," Cruz said about a provision the House included in the NDAA. "It does not belong in the bill, and I'm gonna press very hard to strike okay."
He also hinted that he's going to use an appropriations bill next month to try and force Congress to adopt his approach to improving communication between military and civilian aircraft.
