Week 58 — The Return – The Weekly List

There continues to be a notable shift this week of Trump losing his grip on power. First and foremost, the American people are unhappy with the economy, the cost of living, and increasingly even with his handling of immigration. They are showing their displeasure at the polls, in the polls, and speaking to their representatives. For the first time in either Trump regime, we see growing dissatisfaction with Trump from within his base, and a movement away from identifying as “MAGA” to “Traditional Republican.”

Increasingly, Republicans are standing up to Trump. Not only in the House of Representatives, where his proxy and junior assistant, Speaker Mike Johnson, is losing control, but also at the state level. In Indiana, where Trump and his proxies tried bullying to get redistricting, it backfired, turning state Republicans against them. Trump threw in the towel on installing loyalists to U.S. attorney positions, as another resigned.

Even members of Trump’s regime are beginning to see pushback from their base. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin saw blowback from MAHA Moms over his siding with the chemical industry lobby. Fox News started covering the alarming outbreak of measles under Health and Human Services Sec. Robert Kennedy Jr., in which they noted cases had increased by 14,608% since 2020! FBI Director Kash Patel continued to try to jump ahead of tragedies to take credit on social media, raising a chorus to criticize his incompetence.

The week was already feeling heavy with sadness, after yet another mass shooting at a school in America, this time at Brown University, followed by an anti-Semitic inspired mass shooting in Australia. Trump again showed his inability to rise to the occasion, show empathy, or lead. In what was perhaps a defining moment of his second regime, after the murder of Rob and Michele Reiner by their son who struggled with addiction, Trump’s response on social media of blaming Reiner for having “Trump Derangement Syndrome” led to widespread blowback from Republican and conservative corners, many of which had previously been too fearful to speak out publicly against him. Conservative WSJ columnist Peggy Noonan wrote “Trump May Be Losing His Touch,” noting, “he’s surrounded by mood shifts, challenges and ominous signs.”

On Wednesday, FairSquare, a group which seeks to promote greater accountability in sports, filed a complaint against FIFA President Gianni Infantino, saying he breached the organization’s rules on political neutrality by awarding Trump with an inaugural FIFA peace prize.
On Wednesday, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn dropped charges against Hernán López, a former Fox executive who was convicted in 2023 of bribing officials to secure soccer broadcasting rights, an abrupt shift. The case grew out of corruption investigations at FIFA.
Reuters reported the Trump regime threatened the International Criminal Court that unless it agreed to amend its founding document to ensure that it does not investigate Trump or top regime officials, the U.S. would impose new sanctions on the court.
On Wednesday, the U.S. seized an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast, an escalation of Trump’s campaign to oust President Nicolás Maduro. Trump also told reporters “other things are happening,” but declined to provide any further details.
Trump also threatened Colombia President Gustavo Petro, saying, “He better wise up or he’ll be next,” adding, “I hope he’s listening: He’s going to be next.” He accused Colombia of producing cocaine, a charge which Petro has denied. Petro has criticized Trump’s boat strikes.
Trump also inserted himself in the battle for Warner Bros., telling reporters any deal should include the sale of CNN, claiming the people running the company now are a “very dishonest group of people, I don’t think that should be allowed to continue.”
Later Wednesday, Trump launched his regime’s “gold card” fast-track visa on Truth Social, with a price tag of $1 million, saying because of the program, “our Great American Companies can finally keep their invaluable Talent.” The website promises residency in “record time.”
The program has a $15,000 nonrefundable application fee. Critics say the program benefits wealthy individuals, and could encourage corruption and money laundering. Trump claimed it would be embraced by corporations, and bring in “probably billions of dollars.”
Trump-appointed federal judge Emil Bove faced an ethics complaint with the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Pennsylvania after he attended a Trump rally, violating rules that prohibit judges from “the appearance of impropriety” and engaging in “political activity.”
Bloomberg reported that nearly 400 Jan. 6 insurrectionists who were pardoned by Trump are seeking millions of dollars of payouts from the federal government for alleged injuries and property damage during their arrests and imprisonment.
NYT reported victims of the $1.6 billion fraud committed by David Gentile are furious at Trump for pardoning him after one day in prison. Many of the victims were older Americans living on a fixed income. Prosecutors spent years working to expose the fraud.
An AP-NORC poll found just 31% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, 67% disapprove, his lowest approval in the first or second regime. His approval on handling immigration fell to 38%, 60% disapprove, also a low for both regimes.
On Wednesday, 13 House Republicans joined Democrats to advance a bill that would nullify Trump’s March executive order that stripped collective bargaining rights from roughly one million federal workers. The vote marked an usual break from Trump for Republicans.
NYT reported that FEMA has been selectively giving federal disaster aid to states which voted for Trump. Westernport, Maryland, a working class area in a blue state, was repeatedly denied, while aid was approved for disasters in red states Alaska, Nebraska, and North Dakota.
Gregg Phillips, who Trump appointed to take over FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery, which oversees the federal disaster response, is a 2020 election conspiracist, who posted on social media that millions of noncitizens voted, a false claim that was amplified by Trump.
On Thursday, the Department of Housing and Urban Development said it was opening an investigation into the housing policies of the city of Boston, accusing the city of discriminating against white people, marking the first HUD investigation against DEI efforts.
NYT reported that Trump’s rollback of diversity programs has ended crucial aid for programs that helped deafblind children. Funding for programs in seven Democratic states has been cut, citing language in their grant applications related to DEI goals.
The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump regime over the National Park Service plans to place Trump’s face on some annual passes to national parks starting Jan. 1, saying the passes have traditionally featured photos of scenic landscapes and wildlife.
The U.S. Mint, under orders from Treasury Department Sec. Scott Bessent, rejected the recommendations of the 11 member Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, a bipartisan group mandated by Congress to review the Mint’s proposed designs, for the 250th anniversary coins.
The committee, none of whom attended the ceremony to announce the coins, had recommended coins to commemorate the abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, and the civil rights movement. Bessent’s choices will feature white men, including a two-sided coin of Trump.
The Trump regime mandated that in order to get federal funding for cancer research, starting in 2026, researchers must only identify patients as male, female, or unknown — essentially erasing transgender people.
NBC News reported South Carolina’s measles outbreak is “accelerating” following Thanksgiving and other large gatherings. Some students who are unvaccinated were in a second 21-day quarantine. So far in the 2025, the CDC reported a total of 1,912 measles cases.
California hired two former CDC officials who were publicly critical of the Trump regime for the California Department of Public Health: Susan Monarez, a former director of the CDC, and Dr. Debra Houry, a former chief medical officer, who quit over Monarez’s firing.
The House passed a $900 billion defense bill, 312–112, which requires the Pentagon to send Congress unedited videos of maritime attacks, and which withholds 25% of Sec. Pete Hegeth’s travel budget until he turns over video footage and the command orders behind Sept. 2 strikes.
On Thursday, Indiana lawmakers rejected a congressional redistricting plan, 31–19, despite pressure from Trump, senior regime officials, and MAGA groups, including threats at Republican lawmakers. Twenty-one Republican lawmakers voted along with Democrats.
On Friday, Trump threatened to take away federal funding from Indiana as punishment, adding Indiana’s Republican Senate “has done a tremendous disservice,” and threatening the GOP Senate leader: “I’ll certainly support anybody that wants to go against him.”
On Thursday, in another rebuke of Trump, 20 House Republicans joined Democrats, circumventing Speaker Mike Johnson, forcing a vote and passing a measure to overturn Trump’s executive order stripping union protections from scores of federal workers.
Two House Republicans are also seeking Democrats to join their discharge petitions to force votes, as midterms near and Republicans fear their lack of legislative progress. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene weighed supporting every discharge petition before she leaves office.
On Thursday, a second grand jury in Virginia refused to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James. This marked the second attempt by Trump’s DOJ to seek an indictment, after the initial case was dismissed.
NBC News reported Trump’s rhetoric against political opponents had resulted in threats against at least 22 elected officials from both parties in the House and Senate in the recent weeks.
On Thursday, the Trump regime sued Fulton County, Georgia, seeking to seize and inspect ballots from the 2020 election. The move came after Trump continued to baselessly claim that he won the state, and the election was stolen from him.
On Friday, Colorado officials rejected Trump’s pledge to pardon former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who was found guilty of interference in the 2020 election, and was the last high-profile election denier in prison. Officials said Trump could not pardon her conviction in a state court.
After Trump’s DOJ tried unsuccessfully to intervene in the case in Week 17, lawyers for Peters planned to make the argument that the president can pardon people for offenses “against the United States,” and that this applies to federal crimes and also to state-level charges.
On Sunday, while hosting a White House Christmas party, Trump told reporters that his regime has “truckloads” of evidence to show Democrats “rigged” the 2020 election, adding, “We have all the ammunition, all the stuff, and you’ll see it come out.”
On Monday, a Wisconsin judge ruled there was enough evidence to proceed with a trial for the 11 felony forgery charges against Trump aides Jim Troupis and Mike Roman for their role in a 2020 fake elector scheme.
On Friday, the Trump-appointed Delaware U.S. Attorney, Julianne Murray, abruptly resigned in a statement on social media, citing the New Jersey ruling against former U.S. Attorney Alina Habba. Murray was the state’s former Republican chair.
Politico reported Trump is giving up on the tactic of installing loyalists in U.S. attorney roles, and will instead try to eliminate a Senate procedural tool, the “blue-slip” process, which on Thursday he called “a scam.”
NYT reported the National Labor Relations Board has been in legal limbo for most of 2025, after Trump fired its Democratic chair Gwynne Wilcox, the first such firing in its 90 years of existence, and a Republican member termed out, leaving just one member, not enough for a quorum.
Two of Trump’s nominees await Senate confirmation. Advocates worry about damage to labor protections if the Supreme Court upholds Trump’s firing of Wilcox. New York and California strengthened their labor oversight, a move challenged by the NLRB acting general counsel.
AP reported that the Trump regime has separated thousands of immigrant families. Unlike the first regime when it was done at the border, this time it comes as the regime was holding more than 66,000 people in detention centers, a record number.
ICE arrested Susan Tincher, a 55 year-old U.S. citizen in Minneapolis, after she confronted ICE over the arrest of three of her neighbors, the first observer arrested during the Twin Cities immigration surge. Tincher said the agents threw her on the ground and handcuffed her.
On Friday, a federal judge blocked the Trump regime from seeking to re-detain Kilmar Abrego Garcia and deport him again, fearing they might take him into custody just hours after she had ordered his release from a detention center.
On Friday, attorneys general of 20 states sued the Trump regime over his September proclamation imposing a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers, asking the court to declare the policy illegal and ban it from being implemented.
NBC News reported ICE has routinely been arresting green card applicants married to U.S. citizens when they show up for appointments, in what experts say is an “unprecedented” break in decades-long practice.
NYT reported the Trump regime quietly rolled back a program for undocumented youth migrants who could prove that they had been abused or neglected by at least one parent, which had allowed them to be protected from deportation, known as deferred action.
On Friday, a federal appeals court upheld a lower court ruling that the Trump regime must remove California National Guard troops ordered to Los Angeles, saying the Trump regime had illegally prolonged the military presence there, saying it must end by Monday.
On Monday, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser fired back at Republicans who accused the city’s police of manipulating crime statistics to make them appear lower, saying Republicans rushed to judgment “in order to serve a politically motivated timeline.”
On Monday, Fox News reported the Department of Homeland Security said it would shift its approach, arresting illegal immigrants with serious offenses, rather than conduct mass raids. Approval of Trump’s handling of immigration has fallen from 42% in March to 33%.
On Monday, ICE agents clashed with dozens of residents in Minneapolis, after an agent pinned a pregnant woman face down, with a knee on top of her. At one point, the woman was handcuffed and dragged by one arm, as tensions escalated.
CBS News reported that small businesses in Minneapolis say business is down significantly since Trump’s escalation there, during which the regime has arrested 400 people. The pastor of Dios Habla Hoy Church food bank said thousands are afraid to leave their homes to get aid.
On Wednesday, a federal appeals court ruled 3–0 that the National Guard troops deployed by Trump in August could remain in D.C., for now, while the Supreme Court considers the legality of the deployment.
WAPO reported according to an internal Department of Veterans Affairs memo, the agency plans to abruptly cut 35,000 mostly unfilled health care positions, including doctors, nurses, and support staff. The cuts come after the agency had already shed 30,000 employees in 2025.
On Thursday, Trump repealed Biden-era land protections from energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and federal lands in Wyoming, North Dakota, and the Central Yukon in Alaska.
NYT reported the Trump regime, in a draft memo by the EPA, is proposing to nearly double the allowable amount of formaldehyde, a cancer-causing chemical, that is used in many consumer products, despite an assessment that there is no safe level of the carcinogen.
The move came after years of lobbying by the chemical industry, and could result in rolling back limits on other chemicals. The industry groups said products using formaldehyde support more than 1.5 million U.S. jobs, and criticized Biden-era efforts to regulate the industry.
Several prominent MAHA (Make American Healthy Again) Moms called on Trump to fire EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, saying in a petition that he was prioritizing the interests of the chemical industry over the well-being of American children.
NYT reported the Trump regime joined with Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iran in weakening a U.N. environment report three years in the making, that had warned of the dire state of the planet, and was meant to call for phasing out fossils fuels and plastics.
The U.S. switching its position led to the United Nations Environment Program being unable to issue a “summary for policymakers” outlook report for the first time since the effort began in 1997 .
On Friday, the National Trust for Historic Preservation sued Trump over his White House ballroom project, seeking to halt the project until Trump goes through multiple independent reviews, and gets approval from Congress.
The Trust also claimed Trump “has committed multiple violations of the Administrative Procedures Act and the National Environmental Policy Act,” and that “no president is legally allowed to construct a ballroom on public property without giving the public the opportunity to weigh in.”
On Friday, the White House released a partial list of 37 ballroom donors for the $300 million raised, including crypto billionaires, charitable organizations, sports team owners, financiers, tech and tobacco giants, media companies, rich individuals, and Mar-a-Lago neighbors.
On Monday, the DOJ filed its first response, saying complaints about demolition of the East Wing “are moot because the demolition has already occurred and cannot be undone.”
On Tuesday, a federal judge said he would not immediately halt the White House ballroom project, for now, after the Trump regime claimed it would submit plans for the new ballroom to two federal oversight entities for review by the end of the month.
The two entities were National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts. The former is chaired by a Trump appointee, but its membership includes non-Trump appointed members. The latter had all six of its members fired by Trump.
Later Tuesday, Trump said the costs of the ballroom could now reach $400 million, double the original estimate, claiming, “For 150 years, they wanted a ballroom,” and thanked the judge “for the courage in making the proper decision.”
WSJ reported that in addition to his changes to the White House, Trump also planned to paint the gray granite facade of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building white. Preservationists have sued to stop him there too. Trump is also targeting changes to other historic landmarks.
WAPO reported the Trump regime issued a notice of default to the National Links Trust, which manages Washington’s three public golf courses, putting the group’s 50 year lease in jeopardy. The move seem aimed at Trump taking over operations of the courses.
On Monday, Trump disparaged actor and producer Rob Reiner, the day after he and his wife were murdered by their son, posting it was “due to the anger he [Reiner] caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with…TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”
Russell Moore, editor of Christianity Today and former policy director of Southern Baptist Convention said of Trump’s post, “How this vile, disgusting, and immoral behavior has become normalized…is something our descendants will study…the shame of our generation.”
Speaking to reporters later Monday, despite many conservatives and GOP lawmakers condemning his Truth Social post, Trump doubled down, calling Reiner “a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned,” and adding, “the Russia hoax. He was one of the people behind it.”
On Monday, Trump also signed an executive order “formally classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction,” branding the narcotic not as a public health issue but as a national security threat, in an apparent escalation of his drug war.
Trump criticized Colorado Gov. Jared Polis over Tina Peters’s conviction, saying he will not “allow our wonderful Tina to come out of a jail,” and calling him “a weak and pathetic man who was run by Tren de Aragua,” claiming “criminals from Venezuela took over sections of Colorado.”
On Monday, the Trump regime struck three more suspected drug boats in the eastern Pacific, killing eight people. The attacks brought the total boats hit to 25, and the death toll to at least 94 people.
On Monday, Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit in Miami against BBC over their editing of a Jan. 6 documentary, alleging BBC defamed him and violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
On Monday, FBI Director Kash Patel again faced criticism for taking to social media to brag about the agency’s work, after a person of interest in a shooting at Brown University that the FBI had helped to identify was released from custody hours later.
Trump also inaccurately posted the night of the shooting, saying, “I have been briefed on the shooting…The FBI is on the scene. The suspect is in custody,” only to walk that claim back 20 minutes later.
On Tuesday, a long-awaited jobs report by the Labor Department showed the labor market added just 64,000 jobs in November, and lost more than 100,000 jobs in October, bringing the unemployment rate up to 4.6%, the highest level since July 2021.
An NYT analysis revealed Trump has significantly pulled back enforcement of the crypto industry: the S.E.C. has dismissed seven cases, and the S.E.C. has not brought any cases during the second regime, down from 105 under Biden and 50 in Trump’s first regime.
Trump named Mark Uyeda, one of the S.E.C.’s Republican commissioners, who was pro-crypto, as acting chair. Uyeda reassigned Jorge Tenreiro, the agency’s head of litigation who helped lead the crypto unit and oversaw most of the cases, to a lesser job in IT.
During the second regime, a third of all Biden-era crypto cases were dropped. Crypto companies with ties to the Trumps, including Binance, Coinbase, Consensys, Cumberland, and Kraken had their cases dismissed; Ripple, Gemini and Tron had their cases stayed.
On Tuesday, Trump blasted his former allies the Ellisons on Truth Social, posting, “For those people that think I am close with the new owners of CBS…60 Minutes has treated me far worse” since the takeover, adding, “If they are friends, I’d hate to see my enemies!”
On Tuesday, AP reported that Jared Kushner’s private equity firm is no longer backing the bid by the Ellisons through Paramount to buy Warner Bros.
ABC News reported according to a report by advocacy group Climate Power, energy bills for U.S. households have increased by 13% since Trump took office, citing clean energy projects that were delayed or canceled that could have powered more than 13 millions homes.
NYT reported according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, heating costs were expected to rise by 9.2% this winter. The GOP-led Congress lowered its allocation to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program from $6.1 billion to $4 billion this year.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll found Trump’s approval for handling the economy had dropped to 33%, a new low, with 58% disapproving, and Republican approval dropping from 81% to 71% during 2025. Trump’s approval for handling the cost of living fell to 27%, a new low.
An NBC News poll found Trump’s approval within the MAGA base dropping from 78% in April to 70% now. Additionally, of self-reported Republicans, 50% identify as “MAGA,” down from 57% in April, and 50% identify as “Traditional Republican,” up from 43% in April.
WAPO reported on infighting within the MAGA movement, with its future up for grabs. Right-wing media personality Candace Owens has gone to war with other MAGA personalities over her claims that French or Israeli government agents were behind Charlie Kirk’s murder.
Owens also floated a conspiracy that someone at Turning Point USA may have been behind his murder. Online clashes with Owens by MAGA voices follows clashes between Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson over his interview of Nick Fuentes, and statements by Marjorie Taylor Greene.
WAPO reported Defense Department Sec. Pete Hegseth has proposed a total restructuring of the U.S. military, which would shift and consolidate power among generals, marking the most significant changes in power in the military in decades.
The plan would reduce the power and prominence of headquarters of U.S. Central Command, U.S. European Command, and U.S. Africa Command, placing them under the control of a new organization called U.S. International Command.
The plan would also place U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Northern Command under a new headquarters to be known as U.S. Americas Command. Details of the proposal have not been shared with members of Congress, rankling Republicans on pertinent committees.
WAPO reported the U.S. Coast Guard enacted a new policy on Monday, the third shift in recent weeks, under which the definition of swastikas and nooses would be changed from overt hate symbols to “potentially divisive.”
On Tuesday, Hegseth refused to show lawmakers a video of the second strike on Sept. 2, despite a bipartisan call for more transparency. Hegseth said the video would be shared only with members of congressional national security committees.
Asked by reporters if the videos would be made public, Hegseth said, “Of course, we’re not going to release a top-secret, full unedited video of that to the general public.” This came after Hegseth and Trump have posted several videos of strikes on social media.
On Tuesday, Vanity Fair released an explosive article, compiling interviews with Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, over the past 11 months, in which she spoke candidly about Trump and other members of his inner circle.
Wiles, whose father was an alcoholic, said Trump “has an alcoholic’s personality,” adding, “high-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink,” and that Trump “operates [with] a view that there’s nothing he can’t do.”
Wiles also called Vice President JD Vance a “conspiracy theorist for a decade,” White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought “a right-wing absolute zealot,” Elon Musk an “odd duck” and said that AG Pam Bondi “whiffed” on the Epstein files.
Wiles also said that she was confident Trump will not seek to run for a third term, even though he has repeatedly floated the idea, saying, “He knows he can’t run again,” adding that the 22nd Amendment makes it “pretty unequivocal,” and he knows this.
Wiles called the article “a disingenuously framed hit piece.” Trump and other members of the regime, including the ones she said critical things of, defended Wiles and blamed the media. Trump said Wiles has “done a fantastic job.”
On Tuesday, Trump posted on Truth Social that he had designated the Venezuelan government a “terrorist” organization, and ordered “A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela.”
Trump added the blockade would continue “until such time as they return to the United States all of the oil, land, and other assets that they stole from us.” It was unclear what land and other assets Trump was referring to.
Trump also signed a proclamation doubling the number of countries in his travel ban from 19 to 39. Of the 39, seven countries face a total travel ban, and fifteen a partial ban. The proclamation added an entry ban for those traveling with documents issued by the Palestinian Authority.
On Tuesday, Trump said he would address the nation on Wednesday at 9 p.m., saying, “THE BEST IS YET TO COME!” No reason was given, but aides and pollsters have warned Trump that he needs to address American’s concern with the cost of living, rather than call it a “hoax.”
Later Tuesday, Rep. Greene told CNN “the dam is breaking” within the Republican Party against Trump, saying he has “real problems” within the party, and is out of touch with voters on key issues like affordability, adding, “I don’t see Republicans winning the midterms right now.”
On Wednesday, in another sign of Speaker Johnson’s, and by extension Trump’s, waning influence, four Republicans signed a Democratic discharge petition for a three-year extension of health care subsidies, minutes before Johnson’s package, without subsidies, was coming to the floor.

Visitors pause at a makeshift memorial for the victims of Saturday’s shooting, at the Van Wickle Gate at Brown University, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in Providence, R.I.(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)