Week 59 — The Return – The Weekly List

This week, Trump is continuing to lose not only broad-based American support as he did during the first regime, but for the first time of either regime, he is also losing support from within the Republican base. At the same time, the Republican Party is in turmoil, amid infighting over the party’s direction post-Trump. The once mighty Heritage Foundation, architect of Project 2025, is imploding, a notion that would seem unthinkable just a year ago. MAGA influencers are attacking one another, this week quite publicly at Turning Point USA’s annual conference. More prominent Republicans announced this week they would not seek re-election.

Already there is a notable shift in Trump’s demeanor. During his address to the nation at the start of the week, he seemed frustrated and agitated that he even had to speak about affordability, or concerns of the American people. Although the question of a third term continues to be floated, Trump no longer speaks or acts as if this is a possibility. It is unclear if this is health-related or an unhappiness with the pushback he is feeling post-2025 election, and a sense that Democrats are likely to take control of at least part of Congress in midterms, but this is a different Trump. He is acting in some ways like he is running out of time. An example that continues this week is his frantically putting his name wherever he can, a sign of possible insecurity, and a manic effort to preserve what he hopes will be his legacy.

In the meantime, this week is filled with examples of Trump’s abuses of power. It is almost as if the country has normalized these broken norms, and is just hoping to run out the clock until midterms. The Epstein files are not going away, despite Trump and his Justice Department’s efforts — in fact, they have been feeding the flames. Just as CBS News did by pulling the plug on a “60 Minutes” segment, seemingly to placate Trump. There are many more examples this week of a federal government in decline and disarray. And at long last, a Supreme Court ruling against Trump that could set back his efforts to send U.S. military troops to American cities.

NYT reported during Trump’s second regime, he has become increasingly unbridled, noting this is “arguably the closest the country has come during a time of general peace to the centralized authority of a monarch” in our country’s 250 years.
Examples include Trump reinterpreting the Constitution; gutting federal agencies and departments; telling private institutions how to operate; mobilizing U.S. troops in U.S. cities; waging an unauthorized war; using the Justice Department for retribution; and handing out pardons.
WSJ reported as of December, ventures launched by Trump since his re-election into cryptocurrency, communications, financial products, and fusion-power have generated at least $4 billion in proceeds and paper wealth for him and his family.
NYT reported that hundreds of big post-election donors to Trump’s political causes and passion projects collectively donated nearly $2 billion, an amount that eclipsed his 2024 campaign and any presidency. Many took the option from the regime to donate anonymously.
Of the 346 donors of $250,000 or greater identified by the Times, at least 197 have personally or had their business directly benefit, or are in industries that have benefited from Trump’s policies and actions. Others were pardoned or given ambassadorships.
Twenty-five Democratic lawmakers called on the Commerce Department inspector general to review whether Sec. Howard Lutnick improperly promoted artificial intelligence data center projects in his government role to enrich his family’s businesses.
WAPO reported at least 20 people pardoned by Trump were excused from having to pay restitution to victims they had defrauded, in addition to avoiding jail time. Trevor Milton, the founder and former executive chairman of Nikola, no longer had to pay defrauded investors $660 million.
Trump’s pardons have also relieved restitution payments due to the U.S. government. Paul Walczak, a health care executive and convicted tax cheat pardoned by Trump, avoided prison and an order to pay over $4 million to the IRS.
WSJ reported that Trump, feeling aggrieved over his own experience as a criminal defendant, has spawned a pardon-shopping industry, where lobbyists are hired, some for upwards of $1 million with a success fee, some as high as $4 million, to get Trump’s attention.
Trump pardoned former nursing-home operator Joseph Schwartz, who pleaded guilty to defrauding the government of $38 million after conservative operatives Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman lobbied on his behalf. Schwartz paid the two $960,000 in the second quarter.
In addition to paid lobbyists, Trump has responded to claims of “unjust persecution.” Trump pardoned sports executive Tim Leiweke, who had been indicted by Trump’s DOJ, after former Rep. Trey Gowdy raised the case while golfing at Mar-a-Lago.
In many instances Trump knows little about the cases, and is responding to conversations with family members, allies, or lobbyists, and has totally circumvented the process for pardons. Even his chief of staff Susie Wiles has been caught off guard by some pardons.
On Sunday, CBS News’ editor-in-chief Bari Weiss pulled a “60 Minutes” segment on the brutal El Salvador maximum-security prison CECOT, where the Trump regime sent hundreds of Venezuelan migrants. The segment had been promoted by CBS on social media since Friday.
Veteran correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi wrote in a note to colleagues, “Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices,” adding, “after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.”
Weiss, who was appointed by David Ellison, asked to include an interview with White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. Alfonsi said her team had requested comment from the White House, the State Department, and DHS, and none had responded.
On Monday morning, Larry Ellison said he would provide a personal guarantee for Paramount’s bid for Warner Bros. The lack of Ellison’s personal guarantee had been cited by Warner as a rationale to go with the bid from Netflix.
TikTok announced it had signed a deal to spin off its U.S. entity. Among the American consortium of investors who will share 50% ownership were Oracle, which was owned by Larry Ellison, Silver Lake, and Emirati-backed investment firm MGX, all chosen by Trump.
Pollster Atlas Intel found Trump’s approval at 39%, 59% disapprove, a low for the second regime. His approval for handling issues went from a high of -16 net for immigration to a low of -35 net for healthcare, with a -25 net for handling the economy.
The poll also found the majority of Americans believe Trump acts like a dictator, is too close to Russia, and that his policies hurt the U.S. economy. In a generic ballot by party, voters preferred Democrats by 16 points, up from 8 in September.
Pollster Gallup found Trump’s approval fell to 36%, 60% disapprove, a new low for the second regime. Republican approval fell from 91% to 84% in one month. Trump’s approval of handling key issues also fell for immigration to 37%, the economy 36%, and healthcare policy 30%.
Gallup also found that only 35% of Americans believed that Trump puts the country’s interests ahead of his own political interests, 37% believed he keeps his promises, and 30% believed Trump is honest and trustworthy. The poll found Americans were ending 2025 in a gloomy mood.
On Wednesday, Trump delivered an 18 minute prime-time address to the nation, reading from a teleprompter and speaking in an angry and combative tone. He repeated many of the lines from his rallies and speeches, making numerous misleading or outright false claims.
Trump blamed Joe Biden, saying in the opening, “I inherited a mess,” making false claims about immigration, the economy, and crime. Trump yelled at times, seemingly put off by having to explain how good the economy was to Americans, dismissing concerns of American voters.
Trump said he was sending out a “warrior dividend” of $1,776 to 1.4 million military personnel, by utilizing tariff funds. He also promised tariff income would cut personal income taxes, but made no mention of the pending Supreme Court decision that could roll back his tariffs.
NYT reported funding for the “warrior dividend” bonus check that Trump announced would not come from tariffs as he claimed, but rather through funds allocated by Congress earlier in 2025 for military housing stipends.
Trump credited himself as a peacemaker, skipping mention of his escalation with Venezuela in recent days and weeks, and inaccurately bragging he had “settled eight wars in 10 months,” when several were not settled.
On Wednesday, U.S. Southern Command posted on social media that the military had struck the 26th alleged drug vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing four, and bringing the total death toll to 99.
On Thursday, the U.S. military said it had struck a 27th alleged drug vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing five, and bringing the death toll to 104.
On Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard stopped and boarded a Panamanian-flagged tanker, carrying Venezuelan oil, the second such action. The vessel was not on the Treasury Department’s publicly maintained list of entities under U.S. sanctions.
Later Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard tried to intercept a third oil tanker, the Bella 1, which was on its way to Venezuela but was not carrying cargo. The tanker fled, and on Sunday began broadcasting distress signals to other ships.
AP reported experts say Trump’s blockade of Venezuelan oil, and his use of aggressive tactics without congressional authority, stretched the bounds of international law. Experts also warned the provocations could escalate a response by Venezuela and lead to war.
A CBS News/YouGov poll found 47% of Americans said Trump is responsible for the state of the economy, 22% said Biden, and 22% said both. Half said they were financially worse off under Trump, 18% said better off. 61% said Trump made things sound better than they are.
The polls also found 65% said Trump’s policies favored the wealthy, 12% the middle class, 1% the poor, and 22% everyone equally. On healthcare costs, 61% said Trump’s policies would make prices go up, 14% go down, and 25% have no impact.
On Wednesday, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced on X that he would leave the role in January. ABC News reported he had already been cleaning out his office. Asked by reporters, Trump said, “Dan did a great job. I think he wanted to go back to his show.”
Eleven mostly red states expressed an interest in a deal from the DOJ that would hand the federal government a major role in the states’ election administration, including removing voters flagged by feds, a responsibility that belongs to the states under the Constitution.
On Wednesday, Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr told a Senate committee that his agency “is not formally an independent agency,” in response to questioning by Democrats on whether he was using the agency power to intimidate critics.
Shortly after, the word “independent” was removed from the agency’s website. An FCC spokesperson said with the new regime, “the FCC’s website and materials required updating. That work continues to ensure that they reflect the positions of the agency’s new leadership.”
On Wednesday, the Defense Department said it was initiating a “command investigation” of Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly over his participation in a video, marking an extraordinary step to pursue retribution against one of Trump’s perceived enemies.
On Wednesday, two Democratic senators put the nomination of Adm. Kevin Lunday to lead the U.S. Coast Guard on hold, citing the new policy in Week 58 to downgrade the definition of swastikas and nooses from hate symbols to “potentially divisive.”
On Wednesday, the Trump regime said it would dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a center founded in 1960 and credited with advances in understanding weather and climate. White House OMB Russell Vought called the center a source of “climate alarmism.”
On Wednesday, WSJ reported lawyer Alan Dershowitz shared a draft of his new book with Trump, which explores the constitutionally of Trump serving a third term as president.
On Wednesday, Trump installed what he dubbed the “Presidential Walk of Fame” in the West Wing, featuring partisan plaques of former presidents. “Many were written directly by the president himself,” according to the White House, while aggrandizing himself.
Former president Biden’s plaque baselessly claimed that he took office “as a result of the most corrupt election ever.” Former president Barrack Obama’s plaque baselessly claimed he was “one of the most divisive political figures in American history.”
On Thursday, the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, all of whom were named by Trump, voted unanimously to rename the institution the “Trump-Kennedy Center.” It was unclear if the name change was legal.
Asked by reporters, Trump said, “I was surprised by it. I was honored by it,” falsely claiming, “You know, we’ve, we’re saving the building.” The opposite was true as ticket sales plunged. A former staffer said Trump “has been floating that [name] change since the beginning almost.”
Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Democrat and an officio member of the board, posted on X, “I was muted on the call and not allowed to speak or voice my opposition to this move,” adding, “Also for the record, this was not on the agenda. This was not consensus. This is censorship.”
On Friday, in the morning, Trump’s name was added to the face of the Kennedy Center.
On Monday, Rep. Beatty sued Trump and the loyalists he appointed to the center board, saying the vote was illegal, because an act of Congress is required to change the name of the center.
On Monday at a ceremony at Mar-a-Lago, Trump announced a new class of Navy battleships, which he called the “golden fleet” and named after himself, the “Trump Class” battleships. The Navy said the ships “will be the most lethal surface combatant ever constructed.”
On Friday, in a memo to Smithsonian staffers, the Trump regime threatened to withhold federal funding from the institution if it does not submit extensive documentation proving a purging of what Trump called “improper ideology,” as part of his sweeping content review.
On Wednesday, former special counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers at a closed-door House Judiciary Committee hearing that he and his team found “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump engaged in a “criminal scheme” to overturn the 2020 election.
Smith, who was subpoenaed to testify, also said he and his team turned up “powerful evidence” that Trump “repeatedly tried to obstruct justice” in order to hide the fact that he had retained classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
On Wednesday, WAPO reported Health and Human Services Sec. Robert Kennedy Jr. cut millions in grants to the American Academy of Pediatrics, which has been critical of his actions, citing concerns about “identity-based language” and insufficient focus on agency priorities.
The organization said loss of the grants, which supported initiatives aimed at reducing sudden infant deaths, improving teen and young adult health, preventing birth defects, such as fetal alcohol syndrome, and identifying autism early, could harm children’s health.
NBC News reported whooping cough cases have soared to 26,632 cases in 2025, the highest number of cases since 2014, as DTaP vaccination rates plummeted across the country.
NYT reported that Kennedy is poised to swap the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule to the schedule used by Denmark, a small, homogeneous country whose schedule calls for far fewer shots, a move that medical experts say will lead to more cases of infectious disease.
On Thursday, Trump moved to end gender-affirming care for minors, saying the regime would pull federal funding from any hospital that offers it. Kennedy announced the new rules, which would effectively shut down hospitals that failed to comply, alongside Trump.
Another proposed rule would prevent Medicaid from paying for the treatments for minors. The AAP condemned the rules, calling them a dangerous intrusion of the federal government into private medical decisions.
On Tuesday, attorneys general of 19 states sued to block the Trump regime from ending federal funding to hospitals that provide gender-related care for minors.
On Thursday, Trump again appeared to fall asleep at his desk in the Oval Office during a ceremony to sign an executive order to reclassify the status of marijuana.
On Friday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News that the DOJ would release an initial batch of “several hundred thousand” Epstein files for that day’s deadline, and then more in the coming weeks, without specifying how long it would take beyond the deadline.
Congressional Democrats said the DOJ was breaking the law with its plan to release the files over time. Reps. Robert Garcia and Jamie Raskin said in a joint statement, “We are now examining all legal options in the face of this violation of federal law.”
The initial batch had 13,000 files, including multiple images of Bill Clinton, but Trump was rarely mentioned. The White House and MAGA ecosystem sought to put focus on Clinton. The files also showed Epstein attracted rich and famous people. There were no big revelations.
NBC News reported nearly 700 pages in Friday’s drop were fully redacted. Reuters reported several documents with 100 or more pages were completely blacked out. MS-NOW reported the released included just 5% of expected documents.
On Saturday, AP reported at least 16 photos and files disappeared from the DOJ’s public webpage a day after the drop, including photographs of Trump, such as one where he was surrounded by women or possibly teens in bathing suits. The DOJ did not provide an explanation of why.
On Sunday, after widespread reporting on the disappearing files, the DOJ reposted an image showing a credenza with a number of pictures, including the one of Trump, claiming “it was determined there is no evidence that any Epstein victims are depicted in the photograph.
On Sunday, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie told “Face the Nation” the Trump regime was “flouting the spirit” of the law with the redactions and limited release, adding, “the most expeditious way to get justice for these victims is to bring inherent contempt against Pam Bondi.”
On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced legislation to initiate legal action against the DOJ for failing to release the complete Epstein files, saying, “The law Congress passed is crystal clear: release the Epstein files in full so Americans can see the truth.”
On Monday, the DOJ released a second batch of Epstein files that were available for several hours in the afternoon on the website, before being taken down around 8 p.m. The DOJ reposted the files shortly before midnight on Monday. It was not clear if there were further redactions.
On Monday evening, after making no public comments about the files over the weekend, Trump said of the photos of Clinton which his DOJ featured, it’s “a terrible thing,” and claimed that the people who appear in the photos could be unfairly tarred.
In a statement Tuesday morning, the DOJ wrote, “Some of these documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election,” that it characterized as “unfounded and false.”
The files included a January 2020 email from a redacted assistant U.S. attorney in Manhattan, warning that Trump’s name appeared on the flight logs for Epstein’s private jet “many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware),” meaning at least eight times.
The files included an FBI intake form from October 2020, from a call to the FBI National Threat Operations Center Unit, much of which was redacted. The caller stated “he raped me” in reference to Trump, adding, “Donald J. Trump had raped her along with Jeffrey Epstein.”
The files included a 2021 email that flagged a photo found on Steve Bannon’s phone of Trump with Ghislaine Maxwell, searching for an unrelated inquiry, and sent it to a federal prosecutor in Manhattan, saying, “we wanted to flag this for you, in case it was of any importance.”
Pro-Trump influencers were conspicuously quiet after the release, in which Trump was prominently mentioned, after accusing Clinton of wrongdoing over his mentions in the first batch. The heavily redacted documents shed no additional light on Trump’s ties to Epstein.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee accused the DOJ of a “cover-up,” posting on social media, “The new DOJ documents raise serious questions about the relationship between Epstein and Donald Trump.” Just a small fraction of files had been released so far.
On Thursday, Trump Media, of which Trump is the majority owner, and which was down 75% since January, agreed to merge with fusion company TAE Technologies, months after steering into crypto. The Trump regime has a direct impact on both industries.
On Wednesday, a federal judge sided with Democratic lawmakers, saying the Trump regime must, for now, give them access to make unannounced visits to detention centers, saying new protocols by ICE violate federal laws.
NYT reported that new guidance issued to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field offices signaled that the Trump regime planned to ramp up efforts to strip foreign-born Americans who were naturalized of their citizenship.
In a new rule, the regime’s Transportation Department prohibited asylum seekers, refugees, and recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals from obtaining truck driver’s licenses, and tightened a rule saying drivers must be proficient in speaking English.
Trump ordered the Department of Homeland Security to pause the U.S. green-card lottery program, after it was learned that the suspected gunman for the Brown University shooting and the killing of an MIT professor had entered the U.S. under the program.
The Trump regime started conducting online presence reviews of all H-1B and H-4 visa applicants, including a review of their social media. The Department of Labor is also considering a wage protection law that could dissuade companies from hiring H-1B visa holders.
A federal judge ruled the Trump regime can move forward with a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications, saying Trump has broad statutory authority to issue the proclamation. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce lawsuit alleged the cost was prohibitive.
Reuters reported the Trump regime plans to expand its immigration crackdown, despite his falling approval. The regime deported an average of 746 people per day in 2025, one-quarter of Trump’s target number, 622,000 people total since January, well below his 1 million promise.
WAPO reported, according to a draft solicitation, ICE is looking for contractors to build out seven warehouses across the country that could hold 5,000 to 10,000 people each, as part of a feeder system to detain and deport people more quickly.
On Monday, federal judge James Boasberg ordered the Trump regime to submit plans to return over 200 migrants who were deported to CECOT.
Boasberg also certified a class representing all migrants sent to the prison.
On Monday, Trump’s DOJ sued the governor and attorney general of Illinois over a new state law passed in December which limited federal immigration agents from making arrests outside of courthouses and made it easier for residents to sue agents for violating their rights.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court blocked the Trump regime 6–3 from deploying hundreds of National Guard troops in Chicago, citing an 1878 law which bans the use of the military for domestic policing. The ruling cast doubt on the viability of similar deployments in other U.S. cities.
While the Supreme Court order was unsigned, as part of the so-called shadow docket, three conservative justices noted their objections in lengthy dissents. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker called the ruling an “important step” in “slowing Trump’s march toward authoritarianism.”
On Tuesday, Louisiana’s Republican governor Jeff Landry told Fox News that 350 National Guard troops were set to arrive in New Orleans by year’s end, and would stay at least through February, saying, “the National Guard complements cities that are having high crime problems.”
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the U.S. would ban five prominent European tech regulators and researchers from getting visas, calling them “radical activists and weaponized NGOs” who “have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states.”
The European Union, France, and Germany condemned the visa ban, saying they would “respond swiftly and decisively” against the “unjustified measures.” The EU had fined Elon Musk’s X earlier this month.
On Thursday, economists said that data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showing that inflation had eased to 2.7% in November, was distorted, questioning the workarounds used by the agency to deal with the collection issues during the government shutdown.
WAPO reported data from federal government agencies, seen for decades as the world’s most reliable source, has come under threat at multiple agencies under the Trump regime. In addition to the BLS, HHS, DHS, the FBI, the EPA, the Education Department and others.
Most federal agencies lost more than 20% of their staff in 2025. Many researchers have stopped relying on government data as a trusted source. Some researchers have taken to filing requests for hidden data under the Freedom of Information Act.
NYT reported a Department of Agriculture inspector general report found that the agency shed about one-fifth of its workers from January to June 2025, with more than 20,000 leaving the agency, including 15,114 who accepted a voluntary resignation program.
NYT reported after Elon Musk promised to cut federal spending by at least $1 trillion, federal spending actually went up under DOGE. Of the top 40 savings claims on the DOGE “Wall of Receipts,” a Times analysis found 28 claims, including the 13 largest, were inaccurate.
On Friday, in a 90 minute meandering speech in North Carolina, described as angry and bizarre, Trump spoke about FBI agents going through his wife’s panties, called Hillary Clinton “nasty,” and bragged about taking a cognitive test. He did not mention the Epstein files.
Trump continued to blame Biden alone for high costs, baselessly claiming, “I got the prices down” and things were getting better under his regime. AP reported residents in the town where he spoke have continued to feel squeezed, with many businesses closing.
WSJ reported on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts, after studying psychological profiles, to replace Keith Kellogg, a career diplomat and Trump’s envoy to Russia and Ukraine, with Steve Witkoff, a billionaire real-estate developer and golfing partner of Trump.
The U.S. does not have traditional diplomacy structures in place, including having no ambassador in Moscow since June. Putin matched up inexperienced Witkoff with Russian billionaire Kirill Dmitriev, leaving negotiations to businessmen, uncharted territory.
Late Sunday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he had appointed Gov. Jeff Landry of Louisiana, a political ally, to a newly created position of special envoy to Greenland. Landry posted, “It’s an honor to serve you in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the U.S.”
Trump renewed his calls to annex Greenland, posting that “Jeff understands how essential Greenland is to our National Security.” On Monday, Trump told reporters on Greenland, “We need it for national security,” adding, “We have to have it.”
Appointments of U.S. envoys are rare, and typically happen in war zones. Denmark’s foreign minister called the move “totally unacceptable.” PM Mette Frederiksen of Denmark said, “You cannot annex other countries.” 85% of Greenland residents oppose U.S. annexation.
On Monday, the Trump regime ordered 30 U.S. ambassadors at embassies around to world, who were appointed by Biden for three to four year terms, to leave their posts and return home by mid January. A union representing career diplomats called the move unprecedented.
On Monday, Trump paused leases on five offshore windmill projects, citing national security risks identified by the Pentagon, providing no details about the alleged risks. The pause marked Trump’s latest rationale to stop the use of windmills for energy.
Bourbon maker Jim Beam halted production at its main distillery in Kentucky. Among issues cited, the industry has been significantly impacted by Trump’s tariffs, with overall exports of American spirits down 9%, and exports to Canada down 85%.
On Friday, Rep. Elise Stefanik, a longtime Trump loyalist, dropped out of the New York governor’s face, and said she would leave Congress when her term was up in 2026. Despite her loyalty to Trump over six years, he had yet to endorse her run for governor.
On Sunday, cracks in the future of the GOP were on display at Turning Point USA’s annual convention. AP reported some of the biggest names in conservative media attacked one another during their time on stage, spending more time attacking right-wing than left-wing opponents.
On Monday, the Heritage Foundation suffered a mass exodus, in what one WSJ columnist described as a blow up, as the debate over the future of the Republican Party post-Trump continued to splinter the party. Most of those departing went to Mike Pence’s think tank.

A tarp covering the the Kennedy Center is dropped as workers finish installing President Donald Trump’s name on the facade of the building in Washington, D.C. on Friday, December 19, 2025. (Photo by Annabelle Gordon/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)