Tucker Carlson inflames a raging battle for MAGA’s future

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/12/20/tucker-carlson-maga-trump-fuentes-antisemitism/

Tucker Carlson had some concerns. So he called President Donald Trump.

The right-wing podcaster and provocateur wanted to understand why the U.S. was attacking alleged drug smuggling boats off the coast of Venezuela and he warned against pursuing regime change there — a prospect that has alarmed the more isolationist “America First” Republicans in Trump’s movement.

The conversations last weekend, which Carlson recalled in an interview, show how the Fox News castoff is at the center of some of the most heated disputes in MAGA — over foreign policy, antisemitism and conspiracy theories, among other topics heightening tensions in the movement. As the right wrestles with what it should stand for and against in the coming years, Carlson is a divisive and influential figure with an audience — on social media, among MAGA commentators and inside the White House.

Turning Point Embraces MAGA Debate on Night Two of AmericaFest

 https://www.newsweek.com/turning-point-embraces-maga-debate-on-night-two-of-americafest-11247849

In contrast, Bannon—a critic of the H1-B visa program—utilized his speech to embrace the “America First” platform, denouncing “Israel First” conservatives like Jewish commentator Ben Shapiro, whom he labeled a “cancer.” Bannon followed these statements in saying conservatives must continue winning because “We have to Christianize this country.”

As Bannon focused on Israel and America First—indirectly defending Carlson who’s taken flak for conducting an interview with far-right Holocaust skeptic Nick Fuentes—Ramaswamy denounced Fuentes by name. He centered his speech on combating what he described as the “online right” who push the idea of “Heritage Americans,” those who can trace their lineage to Colonial America, as being the “true Americans.”

Some may see this debate as evidence of the MAGA coalition ripping itself apart, and that could be the case. However, it could also be true that conservatives have found an effective forum to litigate their internal issues that could lessen the amount of time spent on such discussions as the calendar nears 2028. Either way, Turning Point appears to be positioning itself as the premier forum for discussion in the Republican Party, and that’s a win for Erika Kirk.

Trump says Venezuela stole U.S. oil, land and assets. Here’s the history.

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/12/20/venezuela-oil-nationalization-expropriation/

President Donald Trump said this week that the expropriation of American oil company assets justified a “total and complete blockade” of oil tankers arriving and leaving Venezuela in defiance of U.S. sanctions. The blockade will remain, he wrote on Truth Social, until the South American nation returns “to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”

“They’re not going to do that again,” Trump told reporters. “We had a lot of oil there. As you know they threw our companies out, and we want it back.”

But U.S. companies never owned oil or land in Venezuela, home to the world’s largest proven reserves of crude, and officials didn’t kick them out of the country.

“Trump’s claim that Venezuela has stolen oil and land from the U.S. is baseless,” said Francisco Rodríguez, a Venezuelan economist at the University of Denver.

16 Epstein files, including photo of Trump, disappear from DOJ website: Report

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5658618-doj-redactions-epstein-files/

At least 16 files on the Justice Department’s (DOJ) webpage containing files on Jeffrey Epstein, including a photo featuring two pictures of President Trump, were found to have disappeared from the department’s website as of Saturday, The Associated Press reported.

One photo of the desk included two pictures inside an open drawer that featured Trump. The first printed picture shows Trump surrounded by a group of women in bathing suits. The second partially covered photo shows Trump with first lady Melania Trump, Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell in 2000.

“This photo, file 468, from the Epstein files that includes Donald Trump has apparently now been removed from the DOJ release,” Democrats on the House Oversight Committee stated in a post on the social platform X. “[Attorney General Pam Bondi] is this true? What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”

DOJ’s Epstein disclosure draws fire for website glitches, missing documents, redactions

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dojs-epstein-disclosure-draws-fire-website-glitches-missing-documents-redactions

The Department of Justice's efforts to release all of its files related to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking cases by the legal deadline fell short of expectations on Friday, resulting in complaints ranging from technological glitches to excessive redactions and missing documents.

The most common criticism, however, focused on what critics described as an incomplete release and extensive redactions. The DOJ has said it was required to redact information that could identify victims or minors.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., highlighted the statutory language of the Epstein Files Transparency Act on X.

"Unfortunately, today’s document release by @AGPamBondi and @DAGToddBlanche grossly fails to comply with both the spirit and the letter of the law that @realDonaldTrump signed just 30 days ago," Massie wrote.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a co-sponsor of the legislation, said he and Massie were "exploring all options," including potential contempt proceedings or other actions against DOJ officials.

"It is an incomplete release with too many redactions," Khanna said.

‘Nuclear option’: Holder floats impeachment over DOJ Epstein files release

DOJ risks criminal prosecution for defying Epstein documents release law: Weissmann

'Release all the files': DOJ withheld more Epstein files than law requires

Israeli Gefen Bitton in critical condition after confronting Bondi Beach terrorist

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-gefen-bitton-in-critical-condition-after-confronting-bondi-beach-terrorist/

Thirty-year-old Israeli Gefen Bitton has been identified as one of the victims of the Bondi Beach terror attack. Bitton was shot three times and is fighting for his life after he rushed to confront one of the shooters in the antisemitic Hanukkah attack.

Bitton, an Israeli national who, according to Australian media, has worked in Australia for the past three years as a garage door technician, appears in dramatic footage from Sunday’s attack alongside Ahmed Al Ahmed, who wrestled a weapon from one of the two gunmen and aimed it back at the attacker, Sajid Akram.

MAGA civil war over Israel erupts into the open at Turning Point USA conference

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/maga-civil-war-over-israel-erupts-into-the-open-at-turning-point-usa-conference/

Shapiro attacks conservative leaders for not calling out conspiracy theorists; Bannon: Shapiro a ‘cancer’ who wants US to put Israel’s interests first; Kelly: Rift revolves around Israel

5 initial takeaways from DOJ’s release of Epstein documents

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5657940-epstein-justice-department-document-dump/

While Trump may have appeared sparingly in the Epstein documents, Clinton showed up in several photographs made public on Friday.

A spokesperson for Clinton said in response that the former president was among those who “knew nothing and cut Epstein off before his crimes came to light.”

“The White House hasn’t been hiding these files for months only to dump them late on a Friday to protect Bill Clinton. This is about shielding themselves from what comes next, or from what they’ll try and hide forever,” Clinton spokesperson Angel Ureña said in a statement. “So they can release as many grainy 20-plus-year-old photos as they want, but this isn’t about Bill Clinton. Never has, never will be.”

While Friday’s release featured thousands upon thousands of documents, it was not the entirety of the DOJ’s materials pertaining to Epstein. 

That prompted criticism from Democrats in particular who argued the administration was not in compliance with the law.

'Vulgar, repulsive': Trump receives backlash for mocking Biden, Obama in new White House plaques

Trump’s NIGHTMARE: 47 braces for Epstein evidence after NYT report on Epstein-Trump relationship

‘Don’s best friend’: How Epstein and Trump bonded over the pursuit of women

 https://www.deccanherald.com/world/dons-best-friend-how-epstein-and-trump-bonded-over-the-pursuit-of-women-3835940

To shed light on their friendship, the Times interviewed more than 30 former Epstein employees, victims of his abuse and others who crossed paths with the two men over the years. The Times also obtained new documents that illuminate their relationship and scoured court documents and other public records.