Posted by Matt Kiser

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2025/12/10/day-1786/

Today in one sentence: During Trump’s first stop on his “affordability” tour in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, he claimed he’s "crushing it" on inflation and delivering “lower prices” and “bigger paychecks”; U.S. farmers say Trump’s new $12 billion aid package falls short of their projected $35 billion to $44 billion in losses on major crops; the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to a range of 3.5 to 3.75%, the third reduction this year; the House passed a $900 billion defense bill that eliminates Pentagon diversity, equity and inclusion offices, cuts $1.6 billion in climate programs, and writes several of Trump’s executive orders into law; the U.S. seized a sanctioned oil tanker loaded with Venezuelan crude off the country’s coast; a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to end its deployment of California National Guard troops in Los Angeles; the Department of Homeland Security will buy six Boeing 737 jets to build its own deportation fleet for ICE for roughly $140 million; the Trump administration plans to require tourists from 42 countries to disclose five years of social media history before entering the U.S.; a third federal judge ordered the release of grand jury transcripts and other investigative records from Jeffrey Epstein’s 2019 federal sex trafficking case; Democrats won Miami’s mayoral runoff and flipped a Republican-held Georgia state House seat; and nearly half of Americans said they struggle to afford groceries, utilities, health care, housing, and transportation, and half said they find it difficult to pay for food.

1/ During Trump’s first stop on his “affordability” tour in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, he claimed he’s “crushing it” on inflation and delivering “lower prices” and “bigger paychecks.” Throughout the 90-minute, rally-style event, Trump blamed Democrats for “the high prices,” mocked “affordability” as a new political word, and claimed his tariffs prove “America is winning again,” and that “Pennsylvania is prospering again.” Government figures, however, show inflation running around 3% a year, similar to the end of the Biden administration and above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, while grocery and rent costs are up roughly 30% over the last five years. Nevertheless, Trump pointed to the strong stock market and new factory investments as evidence of his success, even though manufacturing has lost about 30,000 jobs since February and economists have warned that his tariffs could weaken business investment and long-term growth. (New York Times / NPR / Washington Post / NBC News / CBS News)

• U.S. farmers say Trump’s new $12 billion aid package falls short of their projected $35 billion to $44 billion in losses on major crops, calling it “a lifeline, not a long-term solution” and “a Band-Aid on an open wound.” (Reuters / The Hill)

2/ The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to a range of 3.5 to 3.75%, the third reduction this year. The Fed signaled that it may pause further cuts as officials split over how to handle inflation and a weakening job market. New projections showed most policymakers expect only one cut in 2026 and raised their forecast for economic growth even though they still see inflation staying above the Fed’s 2% target for several years. Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed is “well positioned to wait to see how the economy evolves,” framing the move as protection against labor market risks, while Trump dismissed the decision as a “rather small” cut that “could have been doubled.” (Politico / Wall Street Journal / CNBC / Bloomberg / ABC News / Axios / Associated Press / Washington Post / New York Times)

3/ The House passed a $900 billion defense bill that eliminates Pentagon diversity, equity and inclusion offices, cuts $1.6 billion in climate programs, and writes several of Trump’s executive orders into law. The bill gives troops a 3.8% pay raise, withholds 25% of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget until lawmakers receive unedited videos and command orders for lethal boat strikes near Latin America, and requires the Pentagon to keep at least 76,000 troops in Europe and 28,500 in South Korea, and authorizes $400 million a year in security aid for Ukraine for two years. (New York Times / Associated Press / Politico)

4/ The U.S. seized a sanctioned oil tanker loaded with Venezuelan crude off the country’s coast, which Trump called the “largest one ever seized” even as basic facts about the operation remain unclear. Attorney General Pam Bondi identified the vessel as the Skipper and said Coast Guard, FBI, and Homeland Security teams fast-roped from helicopters to execute a sealed seizure warrant for a ship she linked to “sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran” that supports foreign terrorist organizations. Officials, however, didn’t explain whether the U.S. is claiming the ship, the oil, or both, and have released no public evidence beyond Bondi’s statement and short video clips of the boarding. Venezuela’s government, meanwhile, called the move “barefaced robbery and an act of international piracy,” while U.S. officials described it as part of a broader effort to cut off Nicolás Maduro’s oil revenue after more than 20 deadly strikes on alleged drug boats that legal experts say may violate international law. (NBC News / New York Times / Reuters / The Guardian / Axios / Associated Press / Bloomberg / CNBC / Wall Street Journal / Politico)

5/ A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to end its deployment of California National Guard troops in Los Angeles and return control of the soldiers to Gov. Gavin Newsom. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said Trump went too far by keeping about 100 Guard members in the city months after the protests that first prompted the call-up, warning that the administration was asking for a “blank check” to use state troops as a national police force. The order is on hold until Monday to give the administration time to appeal. The White House, meanwhile, insists that Trump used his “lawful authority.” (CalMatters / NPR / New York Times / CNN / Bloomberg / Reuters / NBC News / Wall Street Journal)

6/ The Department of Homeland Security will buy six Boeing 737 jets to build its own deportation fleet for ICE for roughly $140 million. DHS claimed the move will save $279 million “by allowing ICE to operate more effectively, including by using more efficient flight patterns” and will help Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem get “criminal illegal aliens OUT of our country.” ICE Air Operations currently uses a mix of chartered and commercial planes and, since Trump took office, has run more than 1,700 deportation flights to 77 countries and over 6,300 domestic flights to transfer detainees between U.S. jails as it works toward a goal of 1 million removals. (CNBC / Washington Post / Bloomberg)

• Trump’s English-language mandate has taken about 9,500 commercial truck drivers off U.S. roads since June, even as the industry faces a driver shortage. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy claimed it’s a safety measure so operators can read signs and talk with officers and vowing to keep “dangerous, unqualified truck drivers off the road.” (Axios / Bloomberg)

7/ The Trump administration plans to require tourists from 42 countries to disclose five years of social media history before entering the U.S. as part of the ESTA pre-travel screening system. Under the plan, applicants would also have to submit past email addresses and phone numbers, detailed information about immediate family members, selfies and other biometrics. Customs and Border Protection said the changes are meant to enforce a Trump executive order to block foreigners who may pose security risks. Immigration lawyers and digital rights advocates, however, warned the plan may chill speech and travel, while groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation argued that mandatory social media surveillance invades privacy without clear evidence it improves security. (CNBC / Wall Street Journal / NBC News / Washington Post / Associated Press / New York Times)

8/ A third federal judge ordered the release of grand jury transcripts and other investigative records from Jeffrey Epstein’s 2019 federal sex trafficking case, expanding the cache of files the Justice Department must make public under a new law. The ruling follows similar orders from the judges overseeing Ghislaine Maxwell’s case and an earlier Epstein investigation, clearing the way for hundreds of thousands of pages of records to be disclosed. All three judges relied on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed by Congress last month and signed by Trump, which requires the Justice Department to release nearly all unclassified Epstein- and Maxwell-related investigative materials by Dec. 19 and says records can’t be withheld for reasons like “embarrassment” or “political sensitivity.” The judges also ordered the government to redact victims’ names and sensitive information. (Associated Press / Politico / NBC News / CNN / New York Times / Bloomberg / Washington Post)

9/ Democrats won Miami’s mayoral runoff and flipped a Republican-held Georgia state House seat. In Miami, Eileen Higgins defeated Trump-backed Emilio González, becoming the city’s first woman mayor and first Democratic mayor in nearly 30 years. In Georgia, Democrat Eric Gisler claimed a narrow lead of about 200 votes over Republican Mack Guest in the Athens-area 121st District. Democrats have flipped 25 Republican-held legislative seats out of the 118 decided in 2025, meaning they captured 21% of the Republican seats on the ballot. Democrats have gained ground in Virginia, New Jersey, Iowa, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, while Republicans have failed to flip any seats. (Miami Herald / Associated Press / Politico / CNN / NBC News / Associated Press / NBC News / New York Times / Down Ballot / Bolts)

poll/ Nearly half of Americans said they struggle to afford groceries, utilities, health care, housing, and transportation, and half said they find it difficult to pay for food. 55% blamed the Trump administration for high grocery prices. (Politico)

⏭️ Notably Next: The 2026 midterms are in 328 days.

🙄 Dept. of These Are Not Serious People.

1. CMS administrator Mehmet Oz has been using his weekly agency-wide emails to tell more than 6,000 federal employees how many holiday cookies to eat, urging them to “set your intentions” and avoid “double fisting” snacks. The agency defended the tips as helpful guidance even as Oz’s history of promoting unproven health claims, including his praise of green coffee extract as a “magic” weight-loss cure and his incorrect statements about hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as Covid treatments. (Wired)

2. Trump admitted that he questioned why the U.S. would admit people from “shithole countries” like Haiti, El Salvador, and several African countries in 2018, contradicting years of denials. Trump then recounted the Oval Office meeting, saying “Why is it we only take people from shithole countries, right? Why can’t we have some people from Norway, Sweden […] But we always take people from Somalia. Places that are a disaster, right? Filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime.” (Washington Post)

3. The Trump administration threatened new sanctions on the International Criminal Court unless it changes its governing rules to block any future prosecution of Trump or his senior officials. The warning follows U.S. pressure to stop probes of Israeli leaders and to formally end an investigation of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. (Reuters)

4. The head of the FAA hasn’t divested his stock in the airline he ran before joining the Trump administration. Bryan Bedford holds between $6 million and $30 million in Republic Airways Holdings Inc. stock. (New York Times / Bloomberg)

5. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered all U.S. diplomats to use Times New Roman 14-point font for official documents in order “to restore decorum and professionalism.” Rubio called the use of Calibri, a modern sans-serif font, a “wasteful DEIA program” that “degraded” State Department correspondence. Some studies, however, suggest that sans-serif fonts like Calibri are easier to read and improve accessibility for those with certain visual disabilities. (Reuters / NBC News / New York Times)

6. Trump finally won his peace prize, receiving the inaugural “FIFA Peace Prize” that the soccer federation created after he was passed over for the Nobel Peace Prize. The organization offered no explanation for how the new award’s winner was chosen. (USA Today / Associated Press / The Guardian)

• Today last year: Day 1421: "For the health of our Republic."
• Four years ago today: Day 325: "No basis."
• Five years ago today: Day 1421: "Nonsense detrimental to our democracy."
• Six years ago today: Day 1055: We must act.
• Seven years ago today: Day 690: "I have nothing to do with Russia."

Support today’s essential newsletter and resist the daily shock and awe: Become a member

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https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2025/12/10/day-1786/

Posted by Matt Kiser

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2025/12/09/day-1785/

Today in one sentence: Trump called Europe "weak" and “decaying,” warning that some countries may no longer be “viable”; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ruled out ceding any territory to Russia, rejecting a core part of Trump’s peace plan; Trump reversed his public pledge to release the full video of the Sept. 2 U.S. strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, instead saying “whatever Pete Hegseth wants to do is OK with me"; a federal judge granted the Justice Department permission to release grand jury transcripts and investigative records from the sex trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell; a federal judge rejected Trump’s effort to block permits and leases for new wind energy projects on federal lands and waters; Trump authorized Nvidia to sell its H200 artificial intelligence chips to China in return for 25% of the revenue; the Trump administration agreed to a proposed settlement with seven Republican-led states that would shut down the SAVE student loan repayment plan; and Texas announced a partnership with Turning Point USA to establish “Club America” chapters in every high school in the state and warned schools not to block the clubs.

1/ Trump called Europe “weak” and “decaying,” warning that some countries may no longer be “viable” while praising authoritarian leaders like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In an interview with Politico, Trump argued that immigration and political correctness, not Russia, are Europe’s real threat, bragged that “NATO calls me ‘Daddy’,” questioned further NATO expansion, and said Ukraine is losing the war and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy must “start accepting things.” At the same time, Trump gave his economic performance an “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus” grade, made support for immediate interest rate cuts a litmus test for his next Federal Reserve chair, floated more targeted tariff carveouts while promising higher duties elsewhere, and refused to say whether he will back extending expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies that would prevent premium hikes. Democrats, meanwhile, accused Trump of “dishonor[ing] the decades-long bipartisan commitment” to NATO and Ukraine and of misunderstanding that “Putin is driving this war.” (Politico / The Guardian / New York Times / Axios)

2/ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ruled out ceding any territory to Russia, rejecting a core part of Trump’s peace plan. Zelensky said Ukraine has “no right to give anything away, under Ukrainian law, our constitution and international law,” and added that there is “no moral right either,” even as Trump insists Ukraine is “losing” and should “play ball” because Russia has the “upper hand.” Ukrainian and European officials have treated the plan as favoring Russia, and have pushed to strip out what Zelensky called “explicitly anti-Ukrainian provisions.” Zelensky is now working with European leaders, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, on a counter-proposal that centers on firm security guarantees and rejects locking in territorial concessions to Russia. (Associated Press / CBS News / The Guardian / Politico / Washington Post / Axios / Wall Street Journal)

3/ Trump reversed his public pledge to release the full video of the Sept. 2 U.S. strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, instead saying “whatever Pete Hegseth wants to do is OK with me.” Trump also denied that he ever promised to make the footage available, despite saying on Dec. 3, 2025, “I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have, we’d certainly release, no problem.” Following months of limited disclosure about at least 22 boat strikes that have killed around 87 people, Congress is using its must-pass defense bill to force the Pentagon to give the armed services committees the execute orders and unedited videos. The bill would also freeze 25% of Hegseth’s travel budget until it does so. (Wall Street Journal / New York Times / ABC News / Politico / Washington Post / New York Times / ABC News / CBS News / NBC News / Associated Press)

4/ A federal judge granted the Justice Department permission to release grand jury transcripts and investigative records from the sex trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell. Judge Paul Engelmayer said the new Epstein Files Transparency Act requires the department to disclose Epstein and Maxwell records by Dec. 19. He modified an earlier protective order so that “voluminous discovery” such as search materials, financial records, and victim interviews can be made public with redactions. He ordered Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to “personally certify” that all released material has been “rigorously reviewed” to ensure it doesn’t identify victims. (NBC News / New York Times / Washington Post / Bloomberg / CBS News / CNN / Associated Press / Politico / CNBC / Axios)

5/ A federal judge rejected Trump’s effort to block permits and leases for new wind energy projects on federal lands and waters, vacating what she described as the administration’s blanket “wind order.” Judge Patti Saris ruled that Trump’s Jan. 20 directive, and the follow-on actions by federal agencies, were “arbitrary and capricious” and “contrary to law” because officials provided no reasoned explanations beyond carrying out the president’s instructions, which she said violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The decision came in a case led by New York and joined by 16 other Democrat-led states, Washington, D.C., and outside groups, which argued that Trump’s ban threatened investments, grid reliability, and state climate goals. (New York Times / Axios / Associated Press / CNBC / The Hill)

6/ Trump authorized Nvidia to sell its H200 artificial intelligence chips to China in return for 25% of the revenue, in a deal that Trump said will also apply to AMD and Intel. The policy allows only Commerce Department–vetted commercial buyers to receive the H200 while Nvidia’s more powerful Blackwell and upcoming Rubin chips remain blocked. The Institute for Progress estimates the H200 is almost six times as powerful as the H20 model that China was previously allowed to buy, and researchers at Georgetown University say its performance is nearly 10 times the old export limit on chips for China. Greg Allen of the Wadhwani Center told the Senate that access to advanced chips is “almost certainly the largest single advantage” the U.S. has over China, warning that easing controls on H200s could weaken that edge as Chinese firms race to build large AI data centers. Democrats and national security experts, meanwhile, argued that the move risks strengthening China’s AI and military capabilities, noting that analysts at the Center for a New American Security estimate Chinese chips currently provide at most about 2% of the computing power of foreign rivals and saying the shift could be a “colossal economic and national security failure” if it helps Beijing close the gap in high-end computing. (Semafor / The Guardian / Wall Street Journal / New York Times / CNBC / Axios / Politico / Bloomberg)

7/ The Trump administration agreed to a proposed settlement with seven Republican-led states that would shut down the SAVE student loan repayment plan and require roughly 7 million borrowers to move into other, generally more expensive options if a federal court in Missouri approves the deal. The Education Department said it will stop all new SAVE enrollments, deny pending applications, and transition current participants into other repayment plans under the agreement. Undersecretary of Education Nicholas Kent claimed the move ends a “deceptive scheme,” while borrower advocates warned that it would “strip borrowers of the most affordable repayment plan.” The settlement also requires the department to give the Missouri attorney general at least 30 days’ notice before canceling more than $10 billion in federal student loans, a condition that will last for the next decade. (Washington Post / CNBC)

8/ Texas announced a partnership with Turning Point USA to establish “Club America” chapters in every high school in the state and warned schools not to block the clubs. Gov. Greg Abbott said he expects “meaningful disciplinary action” against “any stoppage of TPUSA in the great state of Texas” and told supporters that “any school that stands in the way of a Club America program in their school should be reported immediately to the Texas Education Agency.” Civil rights groups, student and parent organizers, and some educators have criticized Turning Point for what they describe as racist, homophobic, and sexist rhetoric, and have questioned whether state-backed promotion of the organization in public schools is constitutional given that Texas has banned LGBTQ+ student clubs and opened investigations into teachers over comments about founder Charlie Kirk’s killing. State leaders say more than 500 Texas high schools already host Club America chapters, and the group is pushing for 20,000 high school chapters nationwide. (Texas Tribune / The Guardian / The Hill)

⏭️ Notably Next: The 2026 midterms are in 329 days.

• Today last year: Day 1420: "Can’t guarantee anything."
• Five years ago today: Day 1420: "That might not go over well."
• Six years ago today: Day 1054: Justified.

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