| | | | | President Donald Trump makes a video call from the Oval Office on Christmas to service members with the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard stationed worldwide. Credit: Zach Gibson/Getty Images | | | Settle In, Shutdown: President Trump confirms he's in no hurry to end the shutdown
Foot Doctor Possibly Helped Trump Sidestep War: Bone spur diagnosis could have been a "favor" to Trump's dad -- it's a long story
2020 Announcements, Anyone?: Remember all those potential 2020 candidates who said they would make a decision over the holidays? Well, we're waiting. | | | What the White House is Talking About:
President Trump has nothing on his public schedule today.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
The shutdown guessing game.
Trump saying the country is "a disgrace," and then wishing troops a Merry Christmas ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
Settle In, Shutdown:
There's no sign the President is willing to end the government shutdown any time soon -- in fact, he's likely going to hang on until he gets his billions in wall funding. The Democrats have said that's a non-starter. So, I hope you guys are ready. (Don't forget the kindness and generosity of actual saint José Andrés, who is giving furloughed government workers free lunch at all of his restaurants through the duration. And tomorrow, Z Burger's Tenleytown location will do the same with burgers from 11am-7pm.)
"I can't tell you when the government is going to be open. I can tell you it's not going to be open until we have a wall, a fence, whatever they would like to call it," Trump said in the Oval Office after a Christmas Day call with US troops. If you blocked out the news to focus on the holidays and not politics (bravo!), here's a handy explainer on the shutdown to play catch-up.
Settle In, Bad Economy:
A merry Christmas was not in the cards for Wall Street. Stocks are again facing uncertainty because of all sorts of stuff happening in Washington and globally. But today could be a shade brighter -- stocks jumped almost 500 points this morning. Still, December was the worst month for the US economy since the Great Depression. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's weird attempt to calm markets by announcing the nation's banks have enough money if everything goes in the crapper didn't help much -- and it apparently infuriated Trump, who is now not so happy with Mnuchin.
Don't Worry, Guys. He Didn't Ruin Christmas:
Maybe I have a different take on things, but I sometimes love this presidency for the sheer entertainment value of Trump's verbal slip-ups. Take Christmas Eve, for example, when during random calls to children waiting on Santa, the President questioned TO A CHILD whether Santa exists. "Are you still a believer in Santa? Because at 7, it's marginal, right?" asked Trump of 7-year-old Collman Lloyd. Chef's kiss on that, am I right? My favorite part is actually the latter, "Because at 7, it's marginal, right?" I mean. Luckily, the comment seemed to go over little Collman's head -- here's video of her end of the call.
Melania Trump is apparently a huge fan of making the calls to the kids -- she says it's "becoming" one of her "favorite traditions." | | Credit: @FLOTUS/Twitter
Foot Doctor Maybe Helped Trump Sidestep Vietnam:
The New York Times this morning has a really interesting piece about whether a foot-doctor friend of Donald Trump's father, Fred Trump, helped get Trump out of serving in the Vietnam War by diagnosing him with bone spurs. The doctor's office was in a building owned by the senior Mr. Trump, and the daughters of the doctor, who is now deceased, recall the story of the "favor" their dad did for their landlord. In 1968, after receiving four deferments due to education, Trump was diagnosed with bone spurs in his heels at the age of 22, seven years before the Vietnam War ended. In a 2016 interview with The Times, Trump claimed that a doctor "gave me a letter -- a very strong letter -- on the heels" to provide to draft officials.
2020 Announcements, Anyone?:
Now that the holidays are over, we're anticipating announcements from several "on the fence" (but not really) potential presidential 2020 candidates like Senators Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar and Kamala Harris, plus former VP Joe Biden and businessman Michael Bloomberg. Who wants to go first? Here's the full roundup of names for your scorecard needs.
Our Daily Melania:
I wrote a thing about Melania and the year she has had. I think it's interesting that she started off 2018 with a lot of personal troubles but high poll numbers and more public sympathy. Now she's ending the year with a better personal situation, but low poll numbers and a public who sees her more aligned than ever with her husband.
Dress Like the First Lady:
A gentle reminder that I'll be the random first lady clothing savant so you don't have to. Melania Trump on Christmas Eve was wearing the same Ralph Lauren Collection button-neck dress she wore to the October announcement about opioid crisis funding. It's here, on sale for $1,194. She is also wearing the red patent leather "So Kate" pumps from Christian Louboutin, which are sold out.
Here she is making the NORAD tracking calls to kids, and here she is at the opioid event. Same, right? | | Credit: Oliver Contreras/Washington Post/Getty Images, John Botsford/Getty Images, ralphlauren.com
Winnie Got a New Bed!:
Santa was good to Winnie this year -- she got lots of stuff, but her favorite was this new bed. I hope you were nice and not naughty this Christmas and had a chance to spend quality time with family and friends. | | | | | | |
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