5 Polls That Spell Trouble for Donald Trump and the Republicans

 https://www.newsweek.com/5-polls-trouble-donald-trump-republicans-11131436

A string of new polls paints a challenging picture for President Donald Trump and the GOP: His approval rating has plunged to a second-term low, cracks are widening in his MAGA coalition, Hispanic support is eroding, Democrats are competitive in deep-red districts, and national polling averages show Trump underwater across every major survey.

These polls paint a portrait of declining approval, rising disunity among Republican voters, and significant inroads for Democrats—even in historically conservative districts. The unfolding trends could reshape congressional control and influence the GOP’s prospects in 2028 and beyond.

Shorter Days, Signs of Fatigue: Trump Faces Realities of Aging in Office

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/us/politics/trump-age-health.html 

Mr. Trump has prompted additional questions about his health by sharing news about medical procedures he has had, but not details about them. While in Asia, Mr. Trump revealed that he had undergone magnetic resonance imaging at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in early October.

“I gave you the full results,” Mr. Trump told reporters, mischaracterizing the summary that was released by his physician, which did not say that Mr. Trump had an M.R.I. scan and contained few other details.

“There will be a day when I run low on Energy, it happens to everyone,” Mr. Trump wrote, “but with a PERFECT PHYSICAL EXAM AND A COMPREHENSIVE COGNITIVE TEST (“That was aced”) JUST RECENTLY TAKEN, it certainly is not now!”

Trump says he’ll release MRI results; he doesn’t know what part of his body was scanned

 https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-mri-physical-white-house-0c66f2f9fca865d842ee94329a210a42

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he would release the results of his MRI test that he received in October

Trump added Sunday that he has “no idea” on what part of his body he got the MRI.

“It was just an MRI,” he said. “What part of the body? It wasn’t the brain because I took a cognitive test and I aced it.”

Noem confirms she approved deportation flights despite court order

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5627038-noem-confirms-el-salvador-deportation-flights-order/

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday confirmed that she instructed the federal government to carry out the deportation and transferring of Venezuelan detainees to El Salvador despite a court order halting the flights.

The administration has argued it was not obligated to follow the March directive from District Judge James Boasberg.

The latest DOJ filing states that Noem “directed that the AEA detainees who had been removed from the United States before the Court’s order could be transferred to the custody of El Salvador,” adding that the “decision was lawful and was consistent with a reasonable interpretation of the Court’s order.”

Damning report labels FBI ‘rudderless ship’ under Kash Patel — with he and Dan Bongino more concerned with building ‘personal résumés’

 https://nypost.com/2025/11/30/opinion/damning-report-labels-fbi-rudderless-ship-under-kash-patel-with-he-and-dan-bongino-more-concerned-with-building-personal-resumes/

FBI Director Kash Patel is facing withering criticism from an alliance of active-duty and retired agents and analysts, days after the White House denied media reports that the president is about to fire him.

A troubling new report card on the first six months of Patel’s leadership concludes he is “in over his head” and his deputy, Dan Bongino, is “something of a clown,” according to the alliance, which in two previous reports warned about crippling DEI and politicization of the FBI during the Biden administration.

Patel is described by multiple internal sources as inexperienced, with one source saying he “has neither the breadth of experience nor the bearing an FBI director needs to be successful.”

Another source, a self-professed Trump supporter, said Patel is “not very good,” “may be insecure,” and “lacks the requisite experience” or the “measured self-confidence” to be FBI director.

Doubts Raised Over Mark Kelly’s Illegal Orders Punishment

 https://www.newsweek.com/doubts-mark-kelly-illegal-orders-punishment-pentagon-11130982

According to reporting by The Associated Press, Colby Vokey, a civilian military attorney, said: “Let’s say you have a 100-year-old World War II veteran who is retired with pay and he steals a candy bar. Hegseth could bring him back and court-martial him. And that, in effect, is what is happening with Kelly.”

Patrick McLain, a retired Marine Corps judge, said: “I’ve not seen anything like the kind of wackadoodle thing they’re trying to do to Senator Kelly for essentially exercising his First Amendment right to free speech, which they don’t like.”

Pete Hegseth lashes out at 'kill them all' report on boat strikes

 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/11/29/pete-hegseth-kill-them-all-caribbean-boat-strikes/87524160007

Since September, the Trump administration has attacked at least 21 boats traversing international waters, killing 83 people. Trump and other officials defend the boat strikes as an attempt to crackdown on illegal narcotics flooding into the U.S., but lawmakers from both parties have criticized the administration for providing no intelligence briefings or other evidence about what the vessels are carrying.

"At this point, I would call them extrajudicial killings," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said during an Oct. 26 appearance on Fox News Sunday. "This is akin to what China does, what Iran does with drug dealers − they summarily execute people without presenting evidence to the public. So it's wrong."

The commander overseeing the operation from Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Adm. Frank M. “Mitch” Bradley, told people on the secure conference call that the survivors were still legitimate targets because they could theoretically call other traffickers to retrieve them and their cargo, according to two people. He ordered the second strike to fulfill Hegseth’s directive that everyone must be killed.

Late Friday, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island), respectively the chairman and senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a statement about the “recent news reports — and the Department of Defense’s initial response — regarding alleged follow-on strikes on suspected narcotics vessels,” saying that they intend to conduct “vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.”

Under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which are at the center of humanitarian rules and international standards, any wounded or sick combatants are to be retrieved and receive care by either side in a conflict.

But in his Nov. 28 post slamming the report, Hegseth argued that each "trafficker we kill is affiliated" with a terrorist group and the current U.S. operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both U.S. and international law.

Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/11/28/hegseth-kill-them-all-survivors-boat-strike

A missile screamed off the Trinidad coast, striking the vessel and igniting a blaze from bow to stern. For minutes, commanders watched the boat burning on a live drone feed. As the smoke cleared, they got a jolt: Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a spoken directive, according to two people with direct knowledge of the operation. “The order was to kill everybody,” one of them said.

The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack — the opening salvo in the Trump administration’s war on suspected drug traffickers in the Western Hemisphere — ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, two people familiar with the matter said. The two men were blown apart in the water.

Hegseth’s order, which has not been previously reported, adds another dimension to the campaign against suspected drug traffickers. Some current and former U.S. officials and law-of-war experts have said that the Pentagon’s lethal campaign — which has killed more than 80 people to date — is unlawful and may expose those most directly involved to future prosecution.

Pete Hegseth's "Kill Them All" Order Constitutes a War Crime!

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What is an autopen and why can’t Trump stop talking about it?

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/29/what-is-an-autopen-and-why-cant-trump-stop-talking-about-it

On Friday, Donald Trump claimed that he will reverse everything that Joe Biden has signed with an autopen.

It remains unclear how Trump plans to undo the majority of Biden’s decisions, although presidents are legally allowed to reverse executive orders signed by their predecessors. However, the president does not have authority to overturn his predecessor’s pardons, according to legal scholars who point to the constitution.

Make Money Not War: Trump’s Real Plan for Peace in Ukraine

 https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/russia-u-s-peace-business-ties-4db9b290

The Kremlin pitched the White House on peace through business. To Europe’s dismay, the president and his envoy are on board.

Counterterrorism officials vetted Guard shooting suspect before he entered U.S.

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/11/28/dc-shooting-afghan-resettlement-immigration

The Afghan national accused of shooting two National Guard members near the White House this week underwent thorough vetting by counterterrorism authorities before entering the United States, according to people with direct knowledge of the case.

A key question from critics has been whether any evacuees managed to enter the U.S. without proper vetting. Lakanwal, however, would not have been among them, according to the individuals, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation. One of the individuals said Lakanwal was vetted years ago, before working with the CIA in Afghanistan, and then again before he arrived in the U.S. in 2021. Those examinations involved both the National Counterterrorism Center as well as the CIA, the person said.

Trump rages about New York Times story on age: ‘PERFECT PHYSICAL EXAM AND A COMPREHENSIVE COGNITIVE TEST’

 https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/26/donald-trump-nyt-age-health-00669553

President Donald Trump lashed out at The New York Times for a story this week that pointed to his advanced age and a diminished White House schedule, extolling what he sees as his administration’s wins and accusing the publication of unfair coverage.

“There will be a day when I run low on Energy, it happens to everyone, but with a PERFECT PHYSICAL EXAM AND A COMPREHENSIVE COGNITIVE TEST (‘That was aced’) JUST RECENTLY TAKEN, it certainly is not now!” the president boasted on social media.

Hegseth defends strikes after WaPo ‘kill everybody’ story: ‘Fake news’

 https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5626054-defense-secretary-defends-drug-strikes

The Post cited sources who said Hegseth had ordered “to kill everybody” on an alleged drug boat in an early September attack, which reportedly required two strikes after an initial one failed to kill all on board.

The U.S. military has carried out over 20 strikes targeting alleged drug-smuggling boats, killing more than 80 people that the administration has said were “narco-terrorists.”

The strikes have resulted in backlash from both sides of the aisle, with some raising questions about the legal grounding of the attacks. 

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said in a Friday post on X sharing the Post’s report that “if you want to know why Hegseth is panicking about reminders that there is accountably for giving or carrying out illegal orders, it’s likely because he knows he has given illegal orders to murder people.”