omg the prez is buying my two favorite rock-type pokemon

The White House is reconstituting a fine arts review panel — after firing Biden holdovers — looking for people willing to approve Trump's ballroom. The panel's former Trump appointees — themselves fired by Biden — in line to be invited. WH also considering Trump loyalists w little arts expertise.

5 million-plus kindergartners now live in counties where schools don’t have “herd immunity” for measles, Washington Post reporters found. WaPo also built a tool to look up your own county. Exceptional, and alarming work by @laurenweberhp.bsky.social @caitlingilbert.bsky.social et al. (Gift link.)

Some NYE news: the White House has a nine-week plan to get Trump’s ballroom approved. Prior projects have taken years to navigate the same federal review process. With @jonathanreports.bsky.social.

“You have been asleep since November,” said Frog. “Well then,” said Toad, “a little more sleep will not hurt me.”

Big local story here in Rochester, Minnesota — the Trump administration’s abrupt changes to research funding this year

Incredible obituary in NYT for Betty Reid Soskin, who served as a National Park Service ranger until age 100 and witnessed so much in her life. Her great grandma was born into slavery. Then she stood with America’s first black president. “What could be more American than that?”

Coming back to? No. But haunted by, yes. We’re torturing people here & having people tortured abroad & living a/ it. But it IS being covered & activists are exposing it. We need to react. This was among the best of many good exposes. Disappeared to a Foreign Prison www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Climate reporting by Sarah Kaplan www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Curious about something. What were the *articles* that stood out to you — that impressed you most — this year? Pieces of writing or reporting from 2025 that you keep coming back to? (Asking bc I think it’s grown ever harder to answer this Q in a world of social media, and video supplanting text.)

"'When you saw the lack of impact to earnings of the initial companies’ deals, for most coming after, it’s a no-brainer,' said Chris Meekins." Despite the perception that these deals are weak, the administration continues to choose to keep key details confidential, which is unlikely to help.

Pharma execs have lined up in the White House ahead of Trump's announcement. Can see nine brand names on display: GSK, Sanofi, Genentech, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Amgen, Merck, Novartis, Gilead

Great, painstaking reporting by @bethreinhard.bsky.social and @aaronschaffer.com — a story you're only going to find at The Post.

When Trump declared he wanted drug companies to voluntarily cut their prices, few executives wanted to go first. Now, no one wants to be last — and risk the wrath of the president. At least seven more drug-price deals coming at White House today.

Our modern life 1) redditor offers key tip in Brown shooting 2) reporter highlights Reddit comment 3) national TV show uses reporter’s post, but drops some context 4) TV viewers congratulate reporter for being the tipster

given rising global populism — and tendency to demonize people with little power in society — worth reflecting that the hero in Australia's mass shooting was a Syrian refugee, and the key witness in the Brown University shooting was a homeless man

Sign of the times: the affidavit released by the Rhode Island attorney general tonight credits Reddit for this credible + helpful tip

Wrote last week how Trump was joking on stage about the “Trump Kennedy Center,” and how his supporters claimed the building deserved the name change. Ten days later, Trump’s handpicked board voted to make it a reality.

Trump is ordering federal agencies to quickly ease restrictions on marijuana and make CBD more available, the latest sign of how the once-taboo drugs have increasingly become part of America’s mainstream. He is *not* decriminalizing marijuana. with @davidovalle.bsky.social @jacobbogage.bsky.social

“Trump in Sept. posted a video endorsing Medicare coverage of CBD, suggesting it could help ease pain, improve sleep & reduce stress for older Americans. The video was produced by the Commonwealth Project, founded by Howard Kessler, a Palm Beach billionaire who has pushed to expand access to CBD.“

After almost 19 years, @politico.com's newspaper comes to an end with tomorrow's edition. I've been at the helm of the newspaper for over a decade, and it's been an opportunity unlike anything I would've gotten to do at another organization. I'll miss the newspaper, but I'm not going anywhere.

Trump is expected to announce today that Medicare will begin reimbursing some older Americans for CBD treatments The pilot program is part of Trump’s bigger announcement on easing restrictions around marijuana w @davidovalle.bsky.social @jacobbogage.bsky.social

Pool report from @joeygarrison.bsky.social — new plaques installed outside the Oval Office that mock past Democrat presidents. The one that names Barack Hussein Obama says he presided over the "highly ineffective 'Unaffordable' Care Act," among other critiques.

Thinking about the Gaterlode again

"Teachers at Cardozo said temperatures in their classrooms have fallen to as low as the mid-40s in recent days, making it hard for them and their students to focus on learning." @jonathanreports.bsky.social with important coverage of DC public schools amid our city’s cold snap.

The White House says its ballroom construction must continue for national security reasons. (They won’t specify why, but a presidential emergency bunker has long been below the former East Wing.) Argument comes ahead of a showdown in court this afternoon. With @jonathanreports.bsky.social.

This summer, Brett Murphy, @peterdicampo.bsky.social and I went to South Sudan, where the U.S. had been supporting the response to a historic cholera outbreak in the world’s poorest country before pulling the plug. We found shuttered clinics and dead bodies. www.propublica.org/article/usai...

I’ll never forget his warmth and unpretentiousness. Rob Reiner was the proverbial mensch. May he and his wife rest in peace. His memory will always be a blessing to me from that one small interaction we had. I’m sure he touched people’s lives like this everywhere he went. We’ll miss him.

Terrific story about Rob Reiner being as much of a mensch in real life as he seemed.

utterly incapable of grace

The White House has put up barriers around the ballroom construction, and told government workers not to share photos without permission. So if we’re taking our own pictures, they have to be from distance. (I say that as someone who has tried, too, and snapped this from the Washington Monument.)

Exclusive: Historic preservation group sues Trump over planned ballroom. The National Trust, charged by Congress with preserving historical buildings, says lawsuit is “last resort” after Trump officials ignored pleas. They’re asking for immediate halt to project. w @jonathanreports.bsky.social

President Donald Trump is expected to direct federal agencies to pursue reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III substance through an upcoming executive order, six people familiar with the discussions tell @jacobbogage.bsky.social and @ddiamond.bsky.social

Helpful tips for reporters from Poynter, especially in the Trump era when this is increasingly common. (Example: tried to interview Kari Lake at the Kennedy Center. She began with a series of insults, invited a nearby conservative reporter to denounce us too, and then got an aide to record us.)

CONFIRMED: Eileen Higgins, a Democrat, will be the new mayor of Miami. She'll be the city's first Democratic mayor since the 1990s. She flipped the office from Republicans, and does so easily. She leads the DeSantis-endorsed Emilio González 59/41 right now with most ballots counted.

Elon Musk’s favorite food is apparently cheeseburgers

Inbox: Cassidy says he’s seeking public feedback on AMA’s coding system, ramping up pressure around their CPT codes.

👋 Breastfeeding & infant feeding expert here! All babies need safe, accessible nutrition. Most people already want to breastfeed and 84% start out doing so but can’t realize their goals. What we need are *policies* that make it possible to breastfeed for all who desire to do so and…

Heh. I’m just seeing this - it doesn’t look great! And I’m sure I do some code-switching. Policy stories thrive on Bsky and die on X, for instance. But here, was just juggling a ton + reception was bad + was having new observations all night Also wasn’t hiding the ball - I put it in the newspaper

An, um, unusual moment at Kennedy Center tonight: the U.S. President calling the crowd “miserable” TRUMP: “I know so many of you, and you are persistent. Many of you are miserable, horrible people. Sometimes I wish you'd give up, but you don't.” (It was a joke about value of persistence. I think)

This claim by Ric Grenell, director of the Kennedy Center, was posted hours after we published a story that included his comments about record-breaking fundraising, and hours after I tweeted about it too. 🤷🏻

EXCLUSIVE: Mom of Karoline Leavitt’s nephew rejects White House narrative of her ICE arrest www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Trump claims he’s “fixed” the Kennedy Center as its signature weekend gets underway. He received a 2 min-plus standing ovation from allies last night. But stars are staying away. Kelsey Grammer was arguably the highest-profile performer, outside of the honorees to walk the red carpet last night.

At Kennedy Center medallion dinner, Trump riffing on White House ballroom construction Shared a new piece of information: the president just said that Carrier contributed $17 million worth of air conditioning for the ballroom Donors have generally refused to disclose the value of their donations

Awaiting President Trump at the State Department for Kennedy Center medallion dinner Spotted on the red carpet: actor Kelsey Grammer, White House official Stephen Miller and his wife Katie

More from our story on FDA: —Officials have held meetings at the WH this week to discuss turmoil at agency —Prasad’s vaccine email wasn’t cleared with HHS or RFK Jr. with @ddiamond.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/ddia...

Trump brands himself around peace while threatening war. The "Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace" and his FIFA peace prize arrived as Trump issues new threats and his "Department of War" touts its lethal strikes. "Orwellian is about the nicest term I can come up with,” @coons.senate.gov told me.

Trump calls for reviewing childhood vaccine schedule RFK's handpicked CDC advisers roll back recommendation for newborns to get Hep B shots. One CDC adviser who dissented: “We will see hepatitis B infections come back." @lenasun.bsky.social @davidovalle.bsky.social on a dark day for public health

The Kennedy Center got its event, FIFA got its audience … and Trump got his prize. Our report on a World Cup draw unlike other, shaped by the U.S. president's pet projects and personal desires.

The top drug regulator abruptly resigned. Staff complaints piled up. Outside experts warned FDA was in trouble. That was a month ago, prompting urgent meetings. Leaders soon claimed problems were fixed. Then it all happened again in the past week. On FDA chaos w @rachelroubein.bsky.social