Same headline. Seven years apart. 🤡 @politico.com www.politico.com/news/2025/12...

"Here we go again. Something terrible happened in America, and now agitators on both ends of our political spectrum are oh so eager to blame the other side," writes columnist @bychrisbrennan.bsky.social. bit.ly/48mpX6p

Here we go again. Something terrible happened, and, agitators on both ends of our political spectrum are oh so eager to blame the other side. Team Trump got that blame-game churning in the J6 pipe bomb case long before taking office. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

Has anyone in American politics needed to flee Washington, D.C. for Christmas break more than Speaker Mike Johnson? His fatuous fealty to Donald Trump isn't preventing his own Republican caucus from turning on him. My USA Today newsletter explores: www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...

The social media algorithm today decided to flood my feed with an ad for a “magic” elixir in a little plastic bottle that is said to be: 1) The best cure for every possible thing! 2) in limited supply, so hurry! 3) now discounted in price by 50%! Who falls for that nonsense?

Spot-on: “At one point contracted to write a book together, Nuzzi and Lizza seem conjoined in rivalry for custody of their story. And we’re trapped in a digital-age Dickensian serial.” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/b...

"Trump doesn't care about the law. He just needs make-believe villains to yell about in his narrowly drawn me-versus-them worldview. But he picks targets who are willing to fight back," writes columnist @bychrisbrennan.bsky.social. bit.ly/3M0z2co

“Retribution” traces its origins in the English language back to words in Old French and Latin that described “repayment.” No wonder Trump is so astonishingly inept at retribution, given his long history of not his repaying debts. My USA Today newsletter: www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...

Trump’s cultish cabinet is so ham-fisted at retaliation, which proves they’d never refuse an illegal order from him. That’s the point US Sen. Mark Kelly and other Democrats were making in the video that has Trump crying for executions. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

Standing advice for foreign leaders: Remember to tell him he’s a good boy, the bestest president, and a genius at taking an adversary’s wishlist and making it his very own.

"Just in time for the holidays, Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate appear itchy for a big family fight," writes columnist @bychrisbrennan.bsky.social. bit.ly/48tMz4M

This is incoherent blather

"Donald Trump and his second term as president have been sinking for months into treacherous political quicksand known as the 'Epstein files,'" writes columnist @bychrisbrennan.bsky.social. bit.ly/4ptD5wk

Just in time for the holidays, Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate appear itchy for a big family fight about a sneaky legislative move to allow eight GOP senators to stuff their pockets with $500,000 or more of your tax dollars. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

If you are angry that politicians told members of the military that they should not follow unlawful orders, then you support unlawful orders. It's weird how these pro-crime people keep outing themselves as pro-crime people but then act surprised to learn they're pro-crime people.

Pam Bondi refused to say yesterday if the investigation she launched last week, at Donald Trump's demand, will stall release of the Epstein files. That's the whole point of her new investigation, to protect Trump from those files. My USA Today newsletter explains: www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...

"Republicans in Congress want to put Smith under a microscope, in private. But Smith is maneuvering to corner them in their own game, very much in public," writes columnist @bychrisbrennan.bsky.social. bit.ly/4p5uRKq

People who complain about journalists who don’t bark back at Donald Trump when he calls them disrespectful names and harangues them for their reliable reporting JUST DON’T GET that what they call for is EXACTLY what Trump wants. He needs to drag us all down to his childish level.

Just imagine the humiliation for Donald Trump, who worked so desperately for months to prevent the release of the Epstein files — but now has to openly support releasing the files — all in a failed bid to make a loss look like a win. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

Trump now calls for House Republicans to vote to release the Epstein files, after raging for weeks about that looming outcome. He could, of course, just order the DOJ to release the files, as the legislation calls for. But that would be the honest move here. Instead, we get this.

I've got some bad news for you today that will probably be as unsurprising as it is disappointing: Your “dividend” check from Donald Trump is not in the mail. Trump’s chatbot confirmed for me that he often touts checks you can’t cash. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

Trump tried to kill the House discharge petition. Failed. Trump warned House Republicans they’d be “stupid” to vote to release the Epstein files. Failed. Trump is desperate to change the subject… while also openly mulling a get-out-of-jail-free card for a sex offender. Failed.

Donald Trump is picking sides, telling supporters feeling the pinch in an economy he hasn't fixed that they’re not really feeling that, while also explaining that they lack talent for jobs held by foreign workers with H1-B visas. My USA Today newsletter: www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...

There it is — the 218th signature on the House discharge petition to force a vote on whether the Department of Justice should have to release the Epstein files. clerk.house.gov/DischargePet...

Speaker Mike Johnson today loses his power to help Donald Trump dodge the Epstein files, as Ghislaine Maxwell appears ready to seek commutation of her prison sentence for aiding in Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse of teenage girls. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

Donald Trump, after watching his Republican Party take a thorough thrashing on Election Day, briefly appeared to be on the edge of learning a lesson about affordability. Then his narcissism kicked in. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

President Donald Trump's allies in Congress, eager to help him rewrite the history of criminal investigations into his conduct, might have inadvertently offered us all a path to transparency about some of his alleged lawlessness. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

Donald Trump’s attacks on the rights of Americans to cast ballots in support of politicians not named Trump will inevitably escalate. His motivation is as clear as it is predictable: He is terrified of the 2026 midterms. My USA Today newsletter explains: www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...

Hunker down in a storm, Isle of Skye-style.

NEW: Paul Newby, a born-again Christian, has turned his perch atop North Carolina’s Supreme Court into an instrument of political power. Over two decades, he’s driven changes that have reverberated well beyond the borders of his state. By @dougbockclark.bsky.social

Journalism tip: If someone says drop the story, that’s a sign to keep reporting. Back reporters who won’t flinch. Support our independent journalism ➜ propub.li/43MugoG

A bartender on my first trip to Scotland 25 years ago recommended #Talisker. It’s been my go-to since then. And today, on my second trip to Scotland, I got to see where it is made by the sea here on the Isle of Skye.

If someone asks if you want to slurp oysters in a shed on a windswept mountain in the Scottish Highlands you say yes.

Happened again today in Scotland. Hiking up to The Old Man of Storr on the Isle of Skye. Guy on his way back down sees my hat and yells, “Go Birds!” I greet him with “Go Birds!” Hike continues. Also, the Scots say “youse” a lot. I feel at home. #FlyEaglesFly

Walking out of the Eilean Donan Castle near Dornie in Scotland today and a guy walking in looks at my hat and says “Go birds.” I reply, “Go Birds.” Tourists around us from different countries pause to wonder what they just heard.

This is Coire Gabhail (or Lost Valley) in the Scottish Highlands. There are 3 stages to a mountain hike: 1. You read about it on the internet and think, this seems cool. 2. You do it and question your sanity on the way up and then back down. 3. You sit in the pub and laugh about how stupid you are.

I guess they're learning about personal liberties and free markets

Uhhhhh…

"American farmers need a president who cares as much about their livelihood right now as he does about the fortunes of a political ally in a far-away country," writes columnist @bychrisbrennan.bsky.social. bit.ly/3JhZmxu

The numbers I am seeing, and the breadth of people and places with basically no arrests and so forth, seem to me an unqualified political loss for them. It is a show of strength rather than the fight itself, but you can’t downplay it.

"The central messaging for Donald Trump's second term as president is propelled by an inversion of reality," writes columnist @bychrisbrennan.bsky.social. bit.ly/4o7T1nm

No terrorists No hate for America No violence #NoKings

"Ask yourself why Trump and his Republican allies in Congress are so desperate to recast his critics marching in our streets as rampaging criminals bent on destroying America," writes columnist @bychrisbrennan.bsky.social. bit.ly/4qlYM2G

Show up to a 'No Kings' protest Saturday, no matter how you feel about Donald Trump. Take a good look for yourself at the people he and his ridiculous allies try to cast as terrorists who hate America. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

House Speaker Mike Johnson will probably be sued by Arizona's AG for failing to swear in a new representative (as a way of stalling the inevitable vote on releasing the Epstein files.) Boy, does he have it coming. My USA Today newsletter explains: www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...

Trump to Argentinians yesterday while bailing out their economy (and their president) with $20 billion: "We love them. We'll be there for them.” Trump to American soybean farmers yesterday as Argentina grabs their market in China: (…) My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

"Trump has always valued a slapdash scramble on the fly more than a long-term, cohesive plan," writes columnist @bychrisbrennan.bsky.social. bit.ly/3Ww2F79

The official Trump administration message is that Qatar will have an air force base built in Idaho. Except, not really. And blame for that mix-up goes to the media... for accurately reporting what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

Joe Biden, on Jan. 6, 2021, was a former vice president who defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election but was still two weeks away from being sworn into office. Trump, as outgoing president on Jan. 6, 2021, had control of the FBI. Timelines get hazy as people age,

America is about to spend a weekend watching furious social media posts from a politician who didn't get a peace prize he campaigned for while also trying to use his country's military against his country's citizens because they don't agree with his authoritarian agenda.