Wednesday, December 17, 2025

December 17, 2025

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

White House Chief of Staff Offers Candid Views in Vanity Fair Interview . . . Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles, known for running a tight, low-drama White House, stepped into the spotlight through a series of interviews that rattled allies. She offered sharp character sketches of top figures and unvarnished takes on internal dynamics, handing critics fresh ammunition. The White House quickly dismissed the profile as a hit piece, underscoring tensions between disciplined governance and a media eager to stir personality-driven narratives. Wall Street Journal

Highlights: Trump, who doesn't drink, has an "alcoholic's personality;" Elon Musk is an "odd duck;" and Vice President JD Vance has been "a conspiracy theorist for a decade." They all got a glamorous photo shoot. Incomprehensible, yes, but somehow liberal journalists get conservatives to trust them all the time. Trump is trying to be calm about this, but that won't last.

'Why Vanity Fair?' — Aides and allies wonder what Wiles, West Wing were thinking

Trump stands by Susie Wiles — admits he has 'alcoholic's personality' . . . President Trump brushed aside media buzz over Susie Wiles describing him as having an alcoholic's personality, saying the remark was accurate and not offensive. The president reaffirmed full confidence in his chief of staff, crediting her steady hand and discipline. Rather than fueling drama, Trump framed the comment as self-awareness, undercutting attempts to turn a candid aside into a palace-intrigue scandal. New York Post

Politics

Biden DOJ forced Mar-a-Lago raid despite FBI doubts . . . New records show the FBI repeatedly warned it lacked solid probable cause to raid President Trump's Mar-a-Lago home, but Biden's Justice Department pushed ahead anyway. Internal exchanges reveal agents flagging thin, outdated, and uncorroborated evidence before the August 2022 search. DOJ overrode those concerns and pursued a sweeping warrant, fueling claims the raid was driven more by politics than justice. Washington Examiner

Biden — yes, kindly old lunch-bucket Joe! — takes a page from third-world dictators: Put your opponent in jail, and then you don't have to run against him.

House Investigates SPLC's Profiting, Partisanship in Attack on Conservative Groups . . . The Southern Poverty Law Center quietly wielded outsized influence under Biden, shaping federal policy, policing, and even school decisions while branding mainstream conservative groups as hate outfits. Critics told Congress the group's expanding hate map is used to intimidate and marginalize dissent, not track extremism. Its recent addition of Focus on the Family undercuts claims of neutrality, raising alarms about an activist nonprofit driving government action from the shadows. Daily Signal

The Biden admin was driven by outside left-wing organizations funded by people like George Soros.

Trump approval rating rebounds after second-term low . . . President Trump's approval rating is climbing again after hitting a second-term low, signaling resilience amid months of economic noise. New polling averages show a 3.5-point rebound, while disapproval has steadily cooled from its November peak. The uptick comes as Trump leans into economic messaging and pushes back on affordability attacks, suggesting voter frustration may be easing—or at least shifting—after a rocky stretch. The Hill

Trump To Address The Nation Wednesday Night, Tease Policies Coming In 2026

Johnson blocks ObamaCare subsidy vote, sparks anger from moderates . . . Speaker Mike Johnson shut down a push to vote on extending expiring ObamaCare subsidies, enraging Republicans in swing districts eager to show independence. Roughly a dozen moderates wanted a recorded vote on the COVID-era handout before it sunsets. Leadership refused, leaving members exposed back home and highlighting growing tension between party control and political survival as election pressure builds. The Hill

Schumer pushes gun control as gun-free zone fails . . . Sen. Chuck Schumer seized on a handgun attack at gun-free Brown University to demand more gun laws, sidestepping the school's strict ban that already disarms even permitted carriers. The response followed a familiar script: ignore failed restrictions and double down anyway. Schumer even praised Australia's post-terror crackdowns, casting foreign-style controls as courage while critics note criminals keep slipping past rules meant for the law-abiding. Breitbart

Judge lets Trump's ballroom construction proceed

'I Know What It's Like': Vance Shines as Republican Messenger on Affordability . . . Vice President JD Vance leaned into personal hardship to sharpen the administration's affordability pitch, invoking family struggles over food versus medicine. At a Pennsylvania rally, he framed high prescription prices as a squeeze on working families and a symbol of corporate excess. The message casts Trump's economic agenda as relief for households forced into impossible choices, aiming straight at voters feeling the everyday bite of rising costs. Daily Signal

National Security

Trump orders blockade on Venezuela . . . President Trump ordered a full blockade of tankers, branding Nicolás Maduro's regime a foreign terrorist organization. The administration accuses Caracas of stealing U.S. assets and using oil profits to bankroll trafficking, drug terror, and violence. Warships now encircle the country, signaling a sharp escalation aimed at forcing the regime to surrender control of seized resources. Fox News

Trump widens travel ban after terror surge . . . President Trump expanded U.S. travel restrictions to five more countries, citing a spike in global terror threats and security failures. The move adds nations with weak vetting systems to an already broad list and blocks travelers using Palestinian Authority documents. The White House says the crackdown is about vigilance, not symbolism—tightening borders to stop dangerous actors before they reach American soil. Daily Wire

Mark Kelly Faces Escalated Review of Alleged Misconduct From Pentagon . . . The Pentagon is escalating an investigation into Sen. Mark Kelly after he told service members they could refuse illegal orders, a message critics say flirts with undermining military discipline. Officials have opened a formal command investigation into the retired Navy captain, citing serious misconduct allegations. Kelly, a Gulf War veteran, is casting the probe as political retaliation, even as questions mount over civilian leaders encouraging selective obedience in uniform. Daily Signal

International

Israel hunted down Iran's nuclear scientists in run up to war . . . As war plans locked in, Israel launched a covert campaign to cripple Iran's nuclear ambitions by targeting its scientific core. In the opening hours of a 12-day conflict, precision strikes hit Tehran apartments, killing top physicists and engineers tied to weapons development. Eleven senior nuclear scientists were eliminated, aiming not just to damage facilities, but to erase the expertise behind Iran's atomic push. Washington Post

Money

Heating Costs Expected to Rise 9.2% This Winter . . . Heating costs are spiking just as households are already stretched thin by higher energy prices. Families are expected to spend nearly $1,000 to heat their homes this winter, a sharp jump driven by pricier electricity, natural gas, and colder forecasts. New York Times

Spooked by AI and Layoffs, White-Collar Workers See Their Security Slip Away . . . Office workers are feeling the squeeze as layoffs mount, hiring cools, and AI fears grow louder. Unemployment edged up to 4.6%, with white-collar-heavy sectors quietly shedding jobs. Even college-educated workers, long shielded from downturns, are seeing rising joblessness. Paired with years of inflation, the unease is dragging consumer confidence near historic lows and rattling a class once confident in its security. Wall Street Journal

And no, they shouldn't all become plumbers. Robots will eventually do that too. And there aren't enough pipes anyway.

Big Tech scrambles as AI hubs turn toxic . . . Tech giants are pouring millions into political ads and lobbying as voters sour on data centers powering the AI boom. Once sold as engines of growth, these massive facilities are now blamed for land grabs and resource strain, costing candidates elections. The sudden image overhaul signals industry panic ahead of 2026, as Silicon Valley fights to rebrand its digital backbone before local backlash hardens into national resistance. Politico

You should also know

MIT professor shot, killed in Brookline home . . . A respected MIT professor was gunned down inside his Brookline apartment, a stark reminder that even affluent, heavily policed communities aren't immune to violent crime. Nuno F.G. Loureiro, 47, was shot Monday night and died at a hospital early Tuesday. Police responded to reports of a shooting in a three-story building, leaving investigators probing how a fatal attack reached the doorstep of one of America's top academic minds. Fox News

Help CTTN reach more people by forwarding it to your family and friends. Click below to write your message and share the signup link by email.