Von der Leyen: “In 2026, the EU Commission will continue to keep up the pressure on the Kremlin, sustain our support to Ukraine, and work intensely to accompany Ukraine on its path toward EU membership.”

Ukrainian delegation arrived in Palm Beach, Florida.

More than a thousand flights were canceled or delayed across the Northeast and Great Lakes regions due to snow as thousands took to U.S. roads and airports during the busy travel period between Christmas and New Year’s.

A reasonable interpretation of the Trump-Vance play is they are telling Europe that in unless it gifts Greenland to the US we will abandon Europe to Russia. So our madman leader is now simultaneously attempting to take all of Venezuela's oil and a big chunk of mineral-rich European territory.

I’d love to know what the next 100 years in this chart will look like.

When stuff like this happens, a president has a choice: own it and change course or blame it and go to the golf course. Bets? www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Just tell them what they want to hear: Lawyers at the Legal Adviser Office worry they will face repercussions if they suggest the administration’s plans could break domestic or int'l law....The office now consists of Trump cronies.

It's ironic that the man who has most wanted his name and face to be seen everywhere, is now also the most panicked person ever over ... his name and face being seen.

Also this on Wexner/Epstein: 👀⚖️💵 www.justice.gov/multimedia/C...

The domino theory wasn’t wrong. But opposing it with major military intervention was a bad idea.

Sometimes I recall that my great grandpa was an egg-candler. Held eggs in front of candles to check yolks Brought double yolks to his family And I’m a college professor And I think: the US, land of immigrants, land of hope It takes a nanosecond to see how out of step this regime is w/that truth

To recap: *The Trump administration illegally renamed the Kennedy Center. They broke the law. *Now they are suing a guy who refused to perform because of the name change for $1 million.

Putin, again dressed in military uniform, said he plans to continue the war because “the heads of the Ukraine regime are not in a hurry to solve this conflict with peaceful means."

Denmark lost more troops per capita in the post 9/11 war on Afghanistan. Saying they “are not a good ally” because they won’t surrender their territories to the US is lunacy. We are betraying our allies to satisfy the whims of a would-be Emperor for whom the US is not enough.

This dramatically enhanced pressure on Europe/Denmark and the new outrageous sanctions on info researchers coming at a time when Putin is escalating his physical attacks on Ukraine suggests that the US is now *coordinating* with Russia to weaken Europe and Ukraine. bsky.app/profile/donm...

Our Congressional leaders need to assert themselves far more forcefully now for "Putin is a ruthless murderer who has no interest in peace and cannot be trusted" and Trump is a corrupt, venal, compromised man hellbent on selling out the West. My latest 👇 www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/putin-is-a...

🇨🇦 🇺🇦Canada will provide Ukraine 2.5 billion Canadian dollars - funds intended to unlock financing from the IMF, World Bank, and EBRD to begin the reconstruction process. This was announced by Prime Minister Carney. He also condemned Russia’s overnight attack on Kyiv. Thank you Canada ❤️

Me too. Finns had picnics overlooking the ship and went to wave goodbye when it left… it was live-streamed… Good old times 3 years ago

That’s where the culture wars come in handy. Distract people with fear so that they tolerate the money grab from tax policies that favor the wealthy and deregulation of consumer protections.

So not a meeting. A spectacle.

I think this is called a robbery.

Shattered Trust open.substack.com/pub/steadyst... "It’s true...that Trump has achieved a historic national security turnaround, and oh-so-quickly. The problem...is that the factual record shows that Trump has shattered, not restored, the world’s trust in America’s essential decency."

Seems there is yet another app using the ICEBlock logo and charging people for access. It’s called ICEBlocker and it is not us. DO NOT DOWNLOAD or pay. Best we can tell is it’s Russian. We would never ask for money.

Until Trump began conspiracies about mail voting, Republicans were fully on board with GRACE PERIODS for ballots to arrive as long as postmarked by Election Day. They passed it overwhelmingly in KS, OH, & elsewhere. But now Trump hates it. So 4 red states—KS, OH, ND, UT—all banned it this year.

They’re not sending their best.

I don't think most Americans have any idea how dangerous it is for a president to declare an entire ethnic group to be "garbage." This is how the worst atrocities in human history have begun.

"America is done with Trump but he is not done with us...but because a large pro-democracy coalition mobilized in every state this year, we should see the pro-democracy forces move from defense to offense in 2026." @eisendrath.net with a good look at the horrors of 2025 & what to expect in 2026:

[gift article] @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Inside Groupon’s headquarters on the 25th floor of the Leo Burnett Building in downtown Chicago, the quirky e-commerce startup once dubbed the fastest-growing company ever is quietly executing a turnaround after years of downsizing and red ink.

“Today, Russia showed how it reacts to the peaceful negotiations between Ukraine and the United States regarding ending Russia’s war against Ukraine,” Zelenskyy told reporters on Saturday. via @fabricedeprez.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/a733...

Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal Constitution

Villagers say Jabo, which was one of the cities Trump ordered a strike on in Nigeria, is not known for terrorist activity and that local Christians coexist peacefully with the Muslim majority. www.cnn.com/2025/12/26/a...

It was illegal but DHS rewards illegality

Zelenskyy: “Ukraine has clear “red lines” — these are its territories and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation under any circumstances.” I hope to see these lines not being crossed tomorrow. So does Taiwan, Cyprus, Greenland.. and others.

Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal Constitution

“Political leaders, statesmen, who once served as a firebreak against baser instincts increasingly see an opportunity to look receptive to the base — so they add kindling instead.” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/t...

I hate that we’re having to think in these terms, but the evidence seems to be bearing out that steep fare hikes are less damaging to ridership than service cuts.

It’s a Willie Nelson kinda Saturday, kids. youtu.be/ow-Cx9IX4So?...

Iowa-based journalist Laura Belin compares Bari Weiss' adventures at CBS to Putin's makeover of supposedly independent Russian media, which she covered for RFE-RL twenty years ago. www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/12/25/o...

Engjellushe Morina writes on the EU accession of Albania, Moldova, Montenegro and Ukraine within the next five years. The EU must avoid indefinite gradualism and institutional reform cannot be deferred. Full accession should be the paramount focus. https://bit.ly/4pKSfhf

Zelenskyy shares that the meeting with Trump will not be behind closed doors, but rather public - in front of cameras and media.

From fast‑moving crises to shifting political realities. Revisit ECFR's top three policy alerts that captured 2025’s most urgent developments. Thank you for following our work—see you next year! ✨ Read our yearly review: https://bit.ly/48XCqMS

“In one of the most astonishing political transformations in the history of democracy,” Hitler destroyed “a constitutional republic through constitutional means,” Timothy W. Ryback wrote in January. The year in America shows how the practice of Gleichschaltung still works.

Dave Whamond, Toronto Star

Most realistic tweet

Trump will push crime as an election issue in 2026. Read about what the most recent statistics *actually* show & the gap between reported patterns & perceptions. In a truth-free presidency, knowing the facts matters more than ever. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan... open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

“Donald Trump’s top 25 lies of 2025” by Daniel Dale www.cnn.com/2025/12/27/p...

Kennedy Center threatens musician with lawsuit over Trump name protest

The only way Russia can win in Ukraine is if they destroy the will of the population to live or defend. This is why it deploys millions of bots and thousands of propagandists across every nation and language. They lie to create despair, disillusionment, and turn populations against Ukraine.

"Jabo is not known for terrorist activity and that local Christians coexist peacefully with the Muslim majority" edition.cnn.com/2025/12/26/a...