Minneapolis police chief criticizes ICE after officer drags woman through street

 https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5655923-minneapolis-police-brian-ohara-ice/?tbref=hp

Minneapolis Police Department Chief Brian O’Hara criticized federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents this week after an attempted arrest on Monday led to a chaotic scene in which an officer dragged a woman through the street as agents fended off protesters.

Video of the incident shows an agent kneeling on a woman’s back as she lies face down in the snow. Onlookers descended on the scene, yelling at ICE agents to release the woman, saying she’s pregnant and couldn’t breathe, according to The Associated Press.

An agent later dragged her by the arm, as she lay on her back, through the street toward a vehicle. Observers continued to yell, and the agent released her, the AP reported.

‘Ridiculous, preposterous’: Mika reacts to WH pushback over stunning Wiles interviews

Five Falsehoods From Trump’s Year-End Address

 https://www.newsweek.com/five-falsehoods-from-trumps-year-end-address-11231600

President Donald Trump opened his national address Wednesday night with a familiar phrase, one he’s used since returning to office nearly a year ago: “I inherited a mess.”

In a speech that moved rapidly from economic claims to immigration, energy, housing, health care and crime, Trump painted a sweeping picture of national revival under his leadership and offered a long list of promises and boasts

Instead of outlining new policy in detail, Trump leaned heavily on declarative claims about prices, border security, the job market and his own election results. He described a country that had been “absolutely dead” before his return, and one that is now, he said, “the hottest anywhere in the world.”

Inflation: Trump Says It’s Over, But Prices Are Still Rising

Gas Prices: No State Has Reached the $1.99 Trump Claimed

Investment: Trump Touts $18 Trillion, but Only $9.6 Trillion Is Logged

Not all of Trump’s claims during his national address were false. Several had a basis in real data, though many were overstated.

Lawrence: ‘Immoral’ is Donald Trump’s brand, and his chief of staff just proved it

‘Every word is on tape’: Vanity Fair reporter says ‘everybody was on board’ for Wiles interviews

New York Stands at a Crossroads: The Fight Over Legalized Killing

 https://vinnews.com/2025/12/15/new-york-stands-at-a-crossroads-the-fight-over-legalized-killing/

The bill is called the “Medical Aid in Dying” act. The name itself is a masterpiece of political dishonesty. “Aid” suggests help. “Dying” suggests something inevitable. But strip away the euphemisms and you find the truth: this is a law that would put poison in the hands of vulnerable people, with almost no way to take it back, and call the killing “medicine.”

Hochul agrees to sign Medical Aid in Dying bill

 https://www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2025/12/hochul-agrees-sign-medical-aid-dying-bill/410219/

After months of negotiations over a controversial measure that would permit doctors to help some terminally ill patients end their lives, sources told City & State that Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to announce a deal to sign it on Wednesday. 

‘Extremely demoralizing’: Republicans respond to the bombastic Wiles interview

 https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/16/why-vanity-fair-aides-and-allies-wonder-what-wiles-west-wing-were-thinking-extremely-demoralizing-republicans-respond-to-the-bombastic-wiles-interview-00693821

White House aides and allies on Tuesday rushed to publicly defend Susie Wiles after a jaw-dropping interview in Vanity Fair had her pointedly criticizing the president and many in the Cabinet.

Susie Wiles, JD Vance, and the “Junkyard Dogs”: The White House Chief of Staff on Trump’s Second Term (Part 1 of 2)

 https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/trump-susie-wiles-interview-exclusive-part-1?srsltid=AfmBOoqsamWkMVL2lyRQ8ePSEEQsEKeju1FYBOE59tkrlSkR4FPKw7Oj

Throughout the first year of Donald Trump’s second administration, Vanity Fair writer Chris Whipple has interviewed Wiles amid each moment of crisis. This insider’s account joins a portfolio of portraits for an unflinching, up-close look at power—and peril.

Sen. Chris Murphy after boat strike briefing: There’s ‘no fentanyl’ and ‘no legal justification’

 https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5651822-trump-administration-strikes-questioned/

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said Tuesday’s classified briefing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirms the Trump administration has no legal or national security justification for the strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. 

A member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Murphy said in a video on the social platform X that the two Cabinet officials admitted to lawmakers that the accused drug-trafficking vessels are believed to be smuggling cocaine, not fentanyl. He also said Rubio and Hegseth said intelligence suggested the boats were going to Europe, not the U.S., contradicting the administration’s public justification for the strikes. 

6 takeaways from Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles’ unvarnished interviews

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/16/politics/takeaways-susie-wiles-interview

The money quote from the interview might be Wiles saying that Trump – a known teetotaler – has an “alcoholic’s personality.”

(Wiles denied those quotes to The New York Times, but the Times says Vanity Fair played its tape of Wiles saying these things.)

Rav Yitzchok Abadi zt”l – A Light That Illuminated Generations

 https://vinnews.com/2025/12/16/rav-yitzchok-abadi-ztl-a-light-that-illuminated-generations/

Rav Yitzchok Abadi zt”l was not simply a rav—he was an embodiment of what Torah greatness looks like when combined with brilliance, courage, humility and unwavering dedication to truth.

MAGA leaders warn Trump the base is checking out. Will he listen?

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/12/15/trump-base-maga-midterm-voters/

Savanah Hernandez, a conservative commentator who serves as a Turning Point USA contributor, described the second Trump term so far as “underwhelming,” while crediting Trump with making positive, lasting changes to the conservative movement.

“All we’ve really seen is punchy tweets, cool video edits, but really no follow-through on any of the promises,” she said of the messaging coming from the White House.

“And if he listened to his base and he was connected to us, even just through social media, you would see that the average person is still struggling to buy groceries, that the housing crisis is still on the mind of everybody, that inflation is still a really big issue, and when Americans see billions of dollars going overseas to any country, it really feels like a betrayal when we’re struggling here at home,” Hernandez said.

Trump says looking into whether Israel violated ceasefire by killing Hamas leader

 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-880379

US President Donald Trump on Monday said his administration was looking into whether Israel violated the Gaza ceasefire by killing a Hamas leader on Saturday.

The White House sent a scolding message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, expressing

Washington’s anger over the assassination of senior Hamas official Sa’ad Ra’ad, which it described as an Israeli violation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, two American sources told Axios.