Since his earliest appearances in Giant Days, Dean has lived under the shadow of legal action. So I like to think that as long as he’s been in Sheffield, he’s had a lawyer he calls on. Ideally, one very near to the university, for convenience back in the day. So I put Mr Khan’s office right over Scott’s Pantry, where I used to get my sandwiches back in 1995. It’s still there. The sandwiches, however… long digested.
In brief: In this afternoon’s post we discuss what we think will happen in Houston and surrounding counties with the forthcoming winter weather, and when it will happen. We also have some advice for people making closure decisions, and an opportunity for you to ask questions later today.
Ask me anything today
We’ve gotten a ton of questions, as you might imagine, about impacts from the freeze, and what it means for getting around Houston and traveling beyond the city this weekend. I’m going to set aside some time, beginning at 4 pm CT today, to answer your questions on Facebook. I’ll create a post and take your questions there. If you don’t use Facebook, don’t worry. We’ll collect some of the best and most-asked questions and repost them here on Space City Weather.
Wait to make closure decisions, if you can
We’ve also heard from business and other entities making decisions about closing on Monday. I fully recognize that everyone has their own timeline, and prefers to give people as much time to make accommodations. All I would really like to say here is that if you can wait to make a decision, it is probably in your best interest to do so. There are scenarios in which the “winter storm” this weekend has relatively modest impacts on the region and our roads. There are also scenarios in which the ice accumulation is enough to shut things down on Sunday and Monday morning. What we’re struggling with as meteorologists is just how crippling the impacts will be. Right now Matt and I are leaning slightly toward “modest” rather than “crippling” impacts, but it us just too early to say for sure. Anyway, if you need to make a decision today, you should err on the side of caution. If you can wait another day or two, you may benefit from better weather information.
Winter storm forecast
The forecast, as we’ve outlined for the last 24 hours, remains more or less on track. So for this afternoon’s post I thought I would do a post about what to expect, and when.
As of 6pm CT Saturday we expect temperatures to still be well above freezing in the Houston metro areas. But just you wait! (Weather Bell)
Friday, Friday night, and Saturday
This period should be moderately warm, with increasing rain chances on Friday evening and for much of Saturday. Although the cold front will arrive on Friday, it is going to take a secondary push before the Arctic air really pushes in. So on Friday we can generally expect temperatures in the 60s, with overnight lows in the 50s, and then temperatures in the 50s (perhaps 60s closer to the coast) on Saturday. This means that, when the majority of precipitation falls on Saturday, it’s going to just fall harmlessly as rain. That’s great.
Saturday night and Sunday
That secondary push of colder air will arrive sometime on Saturday night. We think it will arrive late enough such that getting around Harris County should pose no problems through at least 9 pm CT on Saturday. (This deadline may come a little earlier in Montgomery County, where temperatures will be quicker to reach freezing level). After this point we’re not quite sure how cold it will get, and how quickly. Let’s quickly go over two scenarios:
Slower Freeze: There is a world in which air temperatures on Sunday remain in the 33 to 40 degree range in Harris County and other parts of suburban Houston (outside of Montgomery County). At the same time we would see the end of showers on Sunday, and some sunshine during the afternoon to help dry out roads. In this scenario mobility issues on Sunday and Monday morning are mostly ok, although we would definitely have some concerns about bridges and overpasses.
Faster Freeze: In this scenario daytime temperatures drop to freezing during the daytime Sunday in Houston and surrounding areas, and we continue to see precipitation that falls as freezing rain. This accumulates on Sunday afternoon and there is no time for it to melt or evaporate before a hard freeze Sunday night. In this case driving around Houston on Sunday, Sunday night, and Monday is rather hazardous.
So which will happen? We just cannot predict with any confidence right now. Sorry. The European model and some of our emerging high-resolution guidance support the “slower freeze” scenario, but there is plenty of data to support a “faster freeze” scenario as well. Hopefully things will clarify in the next day or so, but no promises there.
Minimum temperature forecast for Monday morning. (Weather Bell)
Sunday night into Monday
It’s gonna get really cold on Sunday night, with temperatures likely falling to the 20 to 24 degree range in urban Houston, with colder conditions for outlying areas. This meets the criteria for a hard freeze, so all steps should be taken to protect pipes, plants, and pets. We continue to be hopeful that Monday will be sunny and see temperatures in the upper 30s to 40 degrees, which should solve ice issues on roads in Houston. What I’m not sure about is how far north these “above-freezing” temperatures will extend. For example, will ice melt from roads in Conroe or Huntsville on Monday afternoon? I’m not sure.
What about another ‘winter storm’ next week?
Yes, there is some possibility of another Arctic outbreak during the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday period of next week. Everything from snow on down is on the table. At this point it doesn’t look like absolute air temperatures will get as cold as this weekend, but we’ll just have to wait and see. One disaster at a time, y’all!
We’ll have an update this evening with the best questions and answers from our “Ask me Anything” this afternoon.
On Thursday afternoon, Eric spent about an hour answering questions regarding the upcoming freezing weather event on the SCW Facebook page. There were more than 550 comments left, and Eric was able to get to a little more than 40 . You can read the best and most useful below. We’ll plan another one of these before the freeze hits, so stay tuned!
Texas Department of Transportation crews prepare to hit Houston-area streets with anti-freezing materials. (Courtesy TxDoT).
Q. I’m an essential worker in the med center, the hospital told us so far they don’t intend to call in the ride out team to where we have to stay at the hospital saturday-monday but that it could change. do you expect the conditions to get worse in the medical center area of houston or to stay the same?
A. I think that’s a prudent decision by the hospital. At this point I would lump the Medical Center in with “urban Houston,” and whether we see icy roads will depend on air temperatures on Sunday in the city. I wrote about this in our Thursday afternoon update, with the “Slower freeze” and “Faster freeze” scenarios.
Q. What impact will the ice further north of Houston have on statewide power grid? I read your post about centerpoint expecting to have sufficient power, but wasn’t sure if the broad band of icy weather could reduce the available power source again or if we are safe as long as we don’t have ice taking down local lines.
A. We are really beyond my area of expertise here. ERCOT is projecting a power surplus through the event, but certainly there could be issues with icy roads (i.e. getting workers and delivery trucks to these plants). But my sense is that generation will be up to the task with this cold weather. I hope those are not famous last words.
Q. How does the forecast compare to what we expected and what happened during [the 2021 freeze event]?
A. That lasted longer (about four days of very cold air) and its coldest temperatures were 5 to 10 degrees below what we are likely to experience this weekend. In terms of magnitude of cold, it was a more significant event.
Q. Is this weather system expected to be severe and disruptive enough to force Houston Medical Center hospitals to reduce operations? (For those of us with scheduled procedures on Monday.) Thank you!
A. It’s a good question. I cannot see hospitals closing, but out of caution they may cancel non-emergency procedures. It will depend on the likelihood of icy roads (impacting the ability of employees and patients to get to the hospital). We should know in another day or so whether that’s likely to occur in Houston.
Q. My niece is getting off her cruise ship on Saturday around 8:00 am and needs to drive home to Mineral Wells near Fort Worth. Is this a good idea?
A. I don’t think so. I think she’d be fine until she gets about half way to Dallas-Fort Worth from Houston, maybe even a little further. But after that point the risk of freezing rain is going to start going up. And being stuck in that is a potential nightmare.
Q. I need to fly to Hartford, CT or Albany (I have a choice) on Sunday leaving at 2 pm. Would leaving out of Hobby be a better choice than IAH? What are the chances the flights can go from Houston Sunday at 2 p.m.?
A. Hobby is a better choice. As for flights from Hobby it will depend on air temperatures, but I think there is probably a better than 50:50 chance that the airport is operational on Sunday afternoon.
Q. Can you pull the curtain back and tell us what your process is for monitoring these storms, when they seem to change over time? Are you constantly checking or every 2-4 hours for one model, 6-8 for another, etc?
A. There are about a dozen models I’m checking. Some update every hour, others every 6 hours, and a handful every 12 hours. So they’re all over the map. I wake up around 5:00 am and spend a long time preparing for the morning forecast. Then, for sanity’s sake, I’ll take a break for a few hours before looking at all the data coming out by or before noon.
Q. Do you hang your toilet paper roll over or under? Just kidding, maybe. All jokes aside, do you recommend dripping faucets overnights or periodically throughout the day/evening?
A. Over, of course! The notion of dripping faucets is a little bit controversial. We weighed in here, about a year ago.
Q. Are we getting really hard freeze events more frequently? I feel like it’s an annual thing now whereas until 5 years ago I felt like it was every 5 years or so we would see temps as low as upper teens.
A. This is something I want Matt to dig into when we come up for air. In the last five years we have gotten four pretty stout hard freezes and that does not feel normal for Houston, at least over the nearly 30 years I have lived here.
Q. I run a flag football little league with a few hundred kids age 6-14 involved. I am cancelling the games we had scheduled Sunday, but we had many scheduled Saturday until about 3:30 pm. Do you think there’s any way we can play in the weather Saturday, for example, could it be in the high 50s?
A. Sounds like this is an awesome initiative. I think temperatures will be fine on Saturday before 3:30 pm, but it is likely going to be raining, and at this point I believe there is also a chance of thunderstorms. So this probably is not the best environment to have children outside.
Q. What is causing the confusion amongst forecasters? Within my viewing area, many of the news meteorologists are forecasting slightly different outcomes.
A. It’s largely because it is not clear what temperatures will be in Houston on Sunday from about 10 am to 6 pm. This is the period when we could really see ice form on roads, or not. And, at present, the range of temperatures for this time period is roughly 30 to 40 degrees, depending on your choice of model or ensemble. This is why you’ve seen me constantly saying, “We’re not sure yet!”
Q. At the coldest, what do you estimate the low temperature spread will be for Houston proper (N, S, E, W) vs. Katy, The Woodlands, Kingwood, and Galveston? (The “outlying areas” are usually different from town.)
A. For The Woodlands and Katy I would put lows between 18-22 degrees on Monday morning; 19-24 in Houston, and 22-30 right along the coast.
Q. Best timing for covering outdoor plants? Saturday afternoon/evening so they get some rain or better to go ahead and cover them on Friday?
A. I’d think whenever you can get to it. Most plants got a lot of beneficial rain on Wednesday.
Q. What is MSN smoking?
A. I don’t know. It’s difficult for me to see snow falling much south of Dallas and Fort Worth, and certainly not in Houston. There are a lot of great weather apps out there, but at the end of the day it helps to have a human in the loop to ground truth all this data.
Q. Should Katy evacuate??? IYKYK
A. Check the Settings, then the Notifications item in our app to get a definitive answer to this!
Rob Ford was the infamous crack-smoking mayor of Toronto, but he was always crazy, so how did he get elected in the first place? Bobby Broccoli is current working on a 4-part video series on Rob Ford, and he shares what he learned through his research.
Meet Mayor Ford: https://nebula.tv/videos/bobbybroccoli-meet-mayor-ford
WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. President Donald Trump disinvited Prime Minister Mark Carney from his newly-established “Board of Peace”, comprised of Trump, various war criminals, authoritarian strongmen, and arch supervillains. Days after inviting Carney to join the Board, for a low buy-in of $1 billion, Trump addressed the PM in a post on his Truth Social […]
WASHINGTON—In a statement calling for more guardrails around ongoing immigration operations, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives publicly condemned Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thursday for routinely employing fatal use of force without obtaining the proper warrants. “For weeks, Democrats have pushed to require ICE agents to obtain the necessary judicial warrants ahead of any murders they plan to commit,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said in a joint statement on the current Homeland Security funding bill, which would allocate $500 million to developing “common sense” accountability measures for any extrajudicial killings carried out at the behest of the federal government. “It is vital that the Department of Homeland Security uphold the rule of law when indiscriminately gunning down innocent civilians in the street; otherwise, the whole system could fall apart. Rather than doing things by the book, these officers are out there slaughtering everyday Americans without first filing the proper paperwork with the appropriate agencies. Our framework is designed to ensure that ICE conducts itself like every other law enforcement agency in the nation, enacting violence upon our populace with impunity and without consequence.” Jeffries added that he empathized with immigrant communities who live in fear knowing that at any moment they could be killed without administrative due diligence.
WASHINGTON—Warning that any attempt to spend time inside a personal residence constituted hostile interference with federal operations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials announced Thursday that being in the privacy of one’s own home would now be deemed an obstruction of justice. “When an individual enters their residence, conceals themselves behind a closed door, and attempts to go about their everyday life, they are willfully impeding the important work of law enforcement officers and engaging in domestic terrorism,” said Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, adding that the agency had updated internal guidelines to classify such aggressive forms of noncompliance as standing around in one’s kitchen, asking why agents are there, or harboring loved ones around a dinner table as Class D felonies. “We will not tolerate any walls, floors, or ceilings that keep public servants from performing their official duties. Moving forward, anyone who commits acts of domestic seclusion will be regarded as a criminal and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” McLaughlin went on to encourage families to gather in their driveways for easier arresting and processing.
Second Lady Usha Vance announced she and Vice President JD Vance are expecting their fourth child amid public speculation about the health of their relationship. What do you think?
“Show me a rocky relationship a new baby hasn’t saved.”
Abe Ellis, Garnish Applicator
“Have they found out its religion yet?”
Matt LaRoche, Unemployed
“He’ll need to turn over any children fathered in office to the national archives.”
WASHINGTON D.C. – Following a whirlwind week at Davos, and despite backtracking on threats to annex Greenland, US President Donald Trump is still threatening to tariff Champagne to keep people from partying when he dies. “I think about Heaven, about how proud God will be when I go to heaven,” he told a Davos crowd […]
Early in President Trump’s first term, McSweeney’s editors began to catalog the head-spinning number of misdeeds coming from his administration. We called this list a collection of Trump’s cruelties, collusions, corruptions, and crimes, and it felt urgent to track them, to ensure these horrors—happening almost daily—would not be forgotten. Now that Trump has returned to office, amid civil rights, humanitarian, economic, and constitutional crises, we felt it critical to make an inventory of this new round of horrors. This list will be updated monthly between now and the end of Donald Trump’s second term.
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These lists, along with everything McSweeney’s publishes on this site, are offered ad-free and at no charge to our readers. If you are moved to make a donation in any amount or subscribe to our website’s Patreon, please do. This will help support this project and our other work.
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ATROCITY KEY
– Constitutional Illegalities, Collusion, and/or Obstruction of Justice – Environment – Harassment, Bullying, Retribution, and/or Sexual Misconduct – Lies and Misinformation – Musk Madness – Policy – Public Statements and Social Media Posts – Trump Family Business Dealings – Trump Staff and Administration – White Supremacy, Racism, Misogyny, Homophobia, Transphobia, and/or Xenophobia
– December 1, 2025 – Trump confirmed a phone call with Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and delivered an ultimatum for him to relinquish power. The call was thought to have happened on November 21. Trump told reporters, “I wouldn’t say it went well or badly, it was a phone call.” Sources told The Miami Herald the US president had sent a “blunt message” to the authoritarian leader and reportedly said, “You can save yourself and those closest to you, but you must leave the country now.” Maduro declined and said during a Caracas rally, “We want peace, but peace with sovereignty, equality, freedom! We do not want a slave’s peace, nor the peace of colonies!” Maduro had been the focus of a four-month pressure campaign in which Trump ordered a massive naval deployment off Venezuela’s northern coast and declared the country’s airspace “closed in its entirety.”
– December 2, 2025 – Trump unleashed a xenophobic tirade against Somali immigrants during a cabinet meeting, calling them “garbage” that he didn’t want in the United States. Even for Trump, the outburst was shocking in its bigotry. “These are people who do nothing but complain,” he said. “When they come from hell and complain and do nothing but bitch, we don’t want them in our country.” Vice President JD Vance banged the table in apparent agreement. Trump’s statements came as his administration started ICE operations targeting Somalis in the Minneapolis–St. Paul region. Trump also renewed his attacks on Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat who emigrated from Somalia in 1995 as a child. He stated, “Ilhan Omar is garbage. She’s garbage. Her friends are garbage.” Omar pushed back at Trump on social media, writing, “His obsession with me is creepy. I hope he gets the help he desperately needs.”
Trump Says He Doesn’t Want Somali Migrants in the US, Calls People “Garbage” (PBS)
– December 3, 2025 – During a White House event flanked by auto executives, Trump announced a proposal to weaken vehicle mileage rules for the auto industry, loosening regulatory pressure on automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and trucks. The move is the latest by the Trump administration to reverse Biden-era policies that encouraged cleaner-running cars and trucks, including electric vehicles. Trump said the policies “forced automakers to build cars using expensive technologies that drove up costs, drove up prices, and made the car much worse.” Auto executives applauded the announcement. Ford CEO Jim Farley said the planned rollback was “a win for customers and common sense.” Environmentalists denounced the move. Dan Becker of the Safe Climate Transport Campaign for the Center for Biological Diversity responded, “In one stroke, Trump is worsening three of our nation’s most vexing problems: the thirst for oil, high gas pump costs, and global warming.”
– December 3, 2025 – The DHS confirmed the beginning of a sweeping immigration crackdown in New Orleans. DHS officials also said that Border Patrol, not ICE, would be running the New Orleans operation, which has been dubbed “Catahoula Crunch.” Senior Border Patrol Agent Greg Bovino was spotted in a Home Depot parking lot in a suburb of the city. According to DHS officials, the operation would focus on “criminal illegal aliens that have been released from jail.” New Orleans resident Rocío Tirado told NBC News that she was delivering groceries and paychecks to families who were too scared to leave their homes. “They’re afraid because everybody’s hiding,” she said. “Some of these people have a work authorization, and they have Social Security.”
– December 4, 2025 – Navy Admiral Frank M. Bradley told lawmakers that there was no “kill them all” order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth regarding the attack that killed two survivors on an alleged drug boat in international waters near Venezuela. The video that lawmakers viewed showed two shirtless survivors, clinging to the hull. Bradley, commander of the operation, gave an order for a follow-up strike. During the briefings, military officials stated the survivors could be communicating, but the video did not show any radios or satellite phones. Amid preparations for the briefing, multiple US officials told The New York Times that they had been told that one of the survivors had radioed for help, but the people said remarks from Admiral Bradley about communications were purely speculative.
– December 4, 2025 – The Supreme Court ruled that Texas could use a redrawn congressional map that adds as many as five Republican-friendly congressional districts. The order handed Trump a major win in his push to boost Republican seats ahead of the midterms. The 6–3 conservative majority blocked a lower court decision that found the new boundaries were likely unconstitutional because they were drawn based on race. In its order, the Supreme Court said that a lower court that ruled against the map failed to honor “the presumption of legislative good faith by construing ambiguous direct and circumstantial evidence against the legislature.” In her dissent, Justice Elena Kagan objected to the decision, arguing, “We are a higher court than the district court, but we are not a better one when it comes to making such a fact-based decision.”
– December 5, 2025 – Trump was awarded the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize, which was announced during a World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. “This is your prize—this is your peace prize!” FIFA president Gianni Infantino gushed after Trump took the stage. The trophy was a golden globe resting on five golden hands with “Donald J. Trump” emblazoned in capital gold letters. Infantino added, “There is also a beautiful medal for you that you can wear everywhere you want to go.” Trump snatched the medal and hung it around his neck without Infantino doing the honors. The move drew comparisons to how Benito Mussolini used the 1934 World Cup in Italy to promote a resurgent Roman empire.
FIFA Gives Its New Peace Prize to Trump: “World Is a Safer Place Now” (AP)
– December 5, 2025 – The Trump administration released the thirty-three-page Trump National Security Strategy. The strategy painted long-standing European allies as “weak” and said they risked the “prospect of civilizational erasure” due to their migration and free speech policies. The strategy starkly reinforced Trump’s “America First” philosophy, which questions decades of strategic relationships and prioritizes US interests. The document also described the “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine, which was set forth by President James Monroe in 1823. Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, who sits on House committees overseeing intelligence and the armed forces, called the strategy “catastrophic.” He added, “The world will be a more dangerous place and Americans will be less safe if this plan moves forward.”
– December 6, 2025 – The Trump administration added Trump’s birthday and removed Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth from next year’s calendar of entrance fee–free days for national parks. The calendar also removed National Public Lands Day and the first Sunday of National Wildlife Refuge Week. Additionally, under the new “America-first pricing” policy, non-US residents will be required to pay entrance fees on national park entrance fee–free days. International visitors will be charged an extra $100 on top of the standard entrance fee. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in a statement: “These policies ensure that US taxpayers, who already support the National Park System, continue to enjoy affordable access, while international visitors contribute their fair share to maintaining and improving our parks for future generations.”
– December 7, 2025 – After disbanding the Kennedy Center board earlier in the year and installing himself as chairman, Trump became the first president to host the Kennedy Center Honors. In his address, he insulted a portion of the audience, calling them “miserable, horrible people.” In addition to skipping the event every year during his first term, Trump had also never attended a show at the Kennedy Center, which he criticized as “woke,” before becoming chairman. When he and Melania attended Les Misérables in August, they were booed. Around the same time, Trump also said he was “about 98 percent involved” in selecting this year’s honorees, who included Sylvester Stallone, George Strait, KISS, Gloria Gaynor, and Michael Crawford.
Moments from the Kennedy Center Honors Hosted by Trump (AP)
– December 8, 2025 – Twelve former FBI agents sued the Bureau after they were fired earlier this year for kneeling during racial justice protests. The Washington, DC, protests took place in the summer of 2020 following the death of George Floyd. A crowd of protestors had backed the agents against the wall of the National Archives building, and the agents claim they kneeled to de-escalate the situation. No misconduct was found when the Justice Department reviewed the incident in 2024. However, new FBI Director Kash Patel began targeting the agents earlier this year and fired them in September, arguing that they had “demonstrated unprofessional conduct and a lack of impartiality in carrying out duties, leading to the political weaponization of the government.” The lawsuit alleged that the agents’ First and Fifth Amendment rights were violated.
– December 8, 2025 – Trump pledged $12 billion to bail out struggling farmers hurt by the trade war he initiated and falsely claimed that the relief package was only possible because of his tariffs. Earlier this year, China, the largest buyer of American crops, retaliated against Trump’s tariffs by cutting off purchases. In addition, the farmers were further negatively impacted by the Trump administration’s immigration restrictions and high tariffs on foreign goods that they need to run their businesses. “While we need to help farmers who have been hurt by the president’s across-the-board tariffs, ultimately farmers want trade—not aid. The easiest way to give our farmers more certainty would be for the president to end his tariff taxes,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar. According to estimates, the bailout will only cover a third of the farmers’ losses—at best.
– December 8, 2025 – Despite the president’s promises to end America’s drug crisis and his threats against Venezuela, a Washington Postanalysis found that Trump had granted clemency to around one hundred people accused of drug-related crimes, including Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, gang leader Larry Hoover, drug kingpin Garnett Gilbert Smith, and former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández. “There’s no consistency,” said Jeffrey Singer, a drug policy expert at the Cato Institute. “He pardons a drug trafficker but orders the shooting on-site of drug traffickers who are not in this country.” Added Senator Thom Tillis, “It’s confusing to say, on the one hand, we should potentially even consider invading Venezuela for a drug trafficker, and on the other hand let somebody go.”
– December 8, 2025 – Breaking precedent, Trump said he would “be involved” in the competing Netflix and Paramount bids to buy Warner Brothers Discovery. Although presidents are not supposed to interfere with regulators reviewing major corporate deals, Trump had made numerous public comments about Netflix and Paramount, who had each sought favor with the Trump administration, and is entangled with their leaderships. In November, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos visited the White House. A private equity firm founded by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is an investor in the Paramount deal, and Paramount’s chairman David Ellison is the son of Trump friend Larry Ellison.
– December 8, 2025 – Less than two months after Trump claimed that he helped end a border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, Thailand launched airstrikes on its neighbor. Both countries argued they were acting in self-defense and accused the other of instigating the attack and violating the terms of the peace deal. On the same day, the Democratic Republic of Congo also accused Rwanda of violating a US-brokered peace agreement negotiated in June and signed less than a week ago at the newly renamed Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. Since taking office, Trump has cast himself as a great peacemaker, openly campaigning for the Nobel Peace Prize and misleadingly claiming to have “solved” eight conflicts. “Trump seems to think he can swoop in and resolve a deep, long-running conflict with a couple of phone calls or a minerals deal,” said Daniel B. Shapiro, a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council. “But conflict-resolving diplomacy usually involves much more sustained engagement.”
– December 8, 2025 – Dr. Mehmet Oz, former TV personality and current Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services chief, lectured federal workers about their eating habits. “You don’t have to try every cookie,” Oz wrote, cautioning his employees to “practice portion control,” “be mindful,” and “don’t double fist.” The recommendations were not the first time Oz has offered unsolicited dietary advice. Earlier this year, he told Medicaid recipients to stop eating cake and complained about snacks in the Fox News green room. Throughout his career, Oz has promoted bogus weight-loss tips and supplements.
– December 9, 2025 – Government filings showed that Stephen Miller sold shares worth $50,000 to $100,000 in the mining company MP Materials one month after the announcement of a lucrative deal between the company and the Trump administration. The company’s stock price rose from $30.03 per share on July 9, the day before the deal was announced, to $76.58 per share on August 14, the day Miller sold his shares, eventually peaking at $99 per share on October 14. Ethics experts questioned the timing of the sale and said that Miller, who had known since November 2024 that he would be working in the White House, should have divested from potential conflicts of interest much sooner. “It shouldn’t have taken that long,” said Hui Chen, who has served as a government ethics advisor and corporate compliance officer.
– December 9, 2025 – At a rally-style speech in Pennsylvania, Trump railed against immigrants, mocked affordability, lied about the economy, and attacked the Fed. The speech also included racist and false statements about Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a Somalian-born Muslim. “Ilhan Omar, whatever the hell her name is. With her little turban. I love her. She comes in, does nothing but bitch. She’s always complaining,” said Trump. “We ought to get her the hell out! She married her brother… Therefore, she’s here illegally!” Trump also referenced “remigration,” a euphemistic term for deporting immigrants used by European white nationalists, and confirmed a previously denied story that he had called Haiti and African nations “shithole countries.” Calling affordability a “hoax,” Trump said, “You know, you can give up certain products. You can give up pencils. That’s under the China policy. You know, every child can get thirty-seven pencils. They only need one or two, you know. They don’t need that many.”
– December 10, 2025 – A Belarusian woman extradited to the US to face smuggling, fraud, and money-laundering charges was subsequently detained for being in the country illegally. Federal prosecutors had spent over a year on the extradition of Yana Leonova, who may now be deported before her trial. US Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui described the situation as “Kafkaesque.” “Indeed, it is both preposterous and offensive for the government to bring someone into the United States against their will and then turn around and seek ICE detention because that person is here ‘illegally.’ The government needs to decide what its priorities are: ginning up deportation stats or prosecuting alleged criminals.”
– December 10, 2025 – As part of an escalating campaign to weaken Nicolás Maduro, the US government seized a Venezuelan oil tanker. When questioned by reporters, Trump said the US would keep the oil, though it was not clear whether this was legal, and declined to say who owned the tanker. “Other things are happening,” he added. Officials have not said what will happen to the ship. Venezuela called the seizure “barefaced robbery and an act of international piracy.” Although the Trump administration has claimed its campaign against Maduro is aimed at preventing cartels from sending drugs to the US, many current and former Washington officials believed the administration’s true intent was regime change, which Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top aides had been pushing for months.
– December 10, 2025 – Applications opened for the Trump administration’s expedited “gold card” visas, which require a $15,000 processing fee and cost $1 million to purchase upon approval, and expedited “corporate gold card” visas, which allow businesses to sponsor employees by paying the same $15,000 processing fee and $2 million per each approved employee. Alongside the applications, the Trump administration also previewed a $5 million “platinum card,” which will allow foreign nationals to live in the US for up to 270 days per year without paying taxes on income earned abroad. The visas have been heavily criticized for offering the wealthy an expedited process even as the administration has cracked down on immigration, carrying out mass deportations and pausing immigration applications from asylum seekers and individuals from mostly African and Middle Eastern countries, subject to the president’s travel ban.
– December 11, 2025 – The State Department ordered its employees to switch from the more accessible Calibri font to the more formal and traditional Times New Roman. “Typography shapes how official documents are perceived in terms of cohesion, professionalism and formality,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “Although switching from Calibri was not among the department’s most illegal, immoral, radical or wasteful instances of DEI, it was nonetheless cosmetic. Switching to Calibri...
Cleaning up oilfield pollution in arid West Texas is costly and complicated. The bankruptcy process allows companies to move on while the public pays the price.
"If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Democrat or Republican," Smith said.
Brandon Zech and Jessica Fuentes discuss their most anticipated Texas exhibitions opening in the spring season, including solo shows by Mary Ellen Carroll at the Contemporary Art Museum Houston and Rashid Johnson at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and a group show of digital art at the Blanton Art Museum in Austin.
Mary Ellen Carroll, “No. 9 (My Death is Pending…Because.) Night of Destruction with Fireworks Demolition Derby” (production still), 2017. Photo: Michele Asselin
“Mary Ellen Carroll: How To Talk Dirty and Influence People is the first exhibition to survey the work of acclaimed multidisciplinary artist Mary Ellen Carroll. The exhibition focuses on a selection of key projects spanning more than four decades, several of which remain ongoing and include new works realized in collaboration with CAMH. The exhibition charts the import and impact of Carroll’s engagement with questions of agency and identity, as well as the artist’s exploration of some of the most urgent issues of our time, including environmental sustainability, social justice, immigration, and urban legislation.
Carroll’s approach to art-making is collaborative and research-based, often involving years of planning, coordination, and community engagement. As the exhibition title’s allusion to famed comedian and rabble-rouser Lenny Bruce suggests, Carroll is equally a trickster, scamp, and intermediary, applying a wryly humorous (though no less critical) approach to addressing society’s most pressing issues.”
“The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth presents Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers, the artist’s largest exhibition to date and his first major museum survey in more than a decade. Johnson, one of the most acclaimed artists of his generation, is known for his diverse practice, which spans painting, sculpture, film, and installation — all of which are included in this exhibition.
For nearly three decades, Rashid Johnson has cultivated a multidisciplinary approach to artmaking while drawing upon art history, philosophy, literature, and music as conceptual frameworks. Over this time, Johnson has developed a distinct visual language that engages with central themes and questions that reflect on his story and contemporary life in general, such as race, masculinity, empathy for others, self-care, family, sobriety, and his own, and each of our inner emotional lives. The exhibition’s title, A Poem for Deep Thinkers, takes its name from a poem by Amiri Baraka, an American poet, writer, teacher, and political activist whose work is a frequent source of inspiration for Johnson. Tracing Johnson’s trajectory from his early experiments in photography and video to his recent materially complex paintings and assemblages, this presentation brings together nearly 90 works spanning pivotal phases of the artist’s career.”
“In Run the Code, contemporary artists harness algorithms and generative AI models to create powerful, thought-provoking works that explore nature, art history, internet culture, and human behavior. Showcasing highlights from the Thoma Foundation’s Digital and Media Art Collection, this immersive exhibition transforms digital information into sensory works of art. Included are some of the most important digital and generative artists working today: Refik Anadol, Daniel Canogar, Jenny Holzer, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, teamLab, Siebren Versteeg, Leo Villareal, and Marina Zurkow, among others.
Some create interactive systems that respond to your movement, touch, or presence — inviting you to become part of the artwork. Others design custom software that generates ever-evolving images right before your eyes. Digital landscapes reflect on our relationship with the natural world, while other works remix historical paintings and cultural archives through machine processes. Together, these artworks demonstrate that algorithms can be more than technical tools — they can also serve as a creative medium.”
“The Nasher Sculpture Center announces Rauschenberg Sculpture, a presentation of highlights from the 3D practice of Robert Rauschenberg — an artist whose experimental and innovative approach to art making has affected virtually every aspect of contemporary art. The exhibition, organized by Senior Curator Dr. Catherine Craft, is being held during the celebration of the centennial of his birth.
Rauschenberg Sculpture will highlight numerous themes the artist pursued across a wide range of materials throughout his career, including his use of found materials, his interest in the relation between art and science, the multivalent role of movement and performance in relation to his work, and references to other cultures and artistic traditions, past and present. Central to Rauschenberg’s sculpture was his use of discarded objects, from scrap metal and tires to rags and cardboard boxes, accompanied by his insistence that such items were as legitimate as any traditional artistic material.”
Norwood Viviano, “Recasting Houston,” 2019, kiln-cast glass, 14 x 14 x 13 inches. Photo by Tim Thayer/RM Hensleigh
Clutch City Craft Houston Center for Contemporary Craft February 28 – August 08, 2026
From the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft:
“Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) is pleased to present Clutch City Craft, a major group exhibition examining the craft traditions and material cultures that have shaped Houston into one of the nation’s most formidable centers of making. Spanning both the front and main galleries at HCCC, the show will feature a wide spectrum of making practices, from the artists behind century-old mosaic street signs to cowboy boot makers and fiber artists who design space suits and preserve the woven interiors of NASA mission control.
HCCC Curator and Exhibition Director Sarah Darro notes, ‘Drawing its title from the city’s emblematic nickname — earned during the Houston Rockets’ back-to-back NBA championship wins in 1994 and 1995 — this exhibition uses Clutch City as both a cultural ethos and curatorial framework to examine how skilled craftsmanship underpins Houston’s industrial, social, and aesthetic identities.’”
In brief: In today’s post we discuss the likelihood of Saturday being fine to get out and about in Houston, and whether that is likely to change on Sunday. We also have some thoughts for people driving north on I-45 and west on I-10 this weekend.
Big picture on the winter storm
Not much has changed overnight with the forecast for this weekend. A strong Arctic front will arrive in the region on Friday or Friday night, but it still appears that coldest air behind this front will only gradually spill into the Houston region. Therefore, if you’re planning to remain in the Houston metro area (i.e. from The Woodlands to Galveston, and Katy to Baytown) you should be able to go about your activities as normal throughout the daytime Saturday. I think roadway conditions will also be fine on Saturday evening, prior to 9 pm at least, but we’ll have to see.
This is the forecast for various types of precipitation this weekend across Texas: Rain, freezing rain, snow, and sleet (ice pellets). Please note this is for illustration purposes only, it is not yet a high confidence forecast. (Weather Bell)
Sunday is now the greater concern as this is when the colder air will arrive in Houston. The question, as we’ve been talking about for a few days now, is the timing of the colder air’s arrival and the end of widespread, light showers. I think there’s a decent chance that showers and freezing temperatures overlap on Sunday morning, in which case roads become icy and dangerous to drive on. Whether this occurs on bridges and overpasses only, or a majority of roads remains to be seen. But you should be prepared for disruptions, especially along and north of Interstate 10.
Our coldest temperatures will descend into the region on Sunday night into Monday morning, when there will be a hard freeze across the region. Whether roads remain icy during this period will depend on the amount of precipitation, afternoon temperatures on Sunday, sunshine later on Sunday, and a host of other factors I just cannot predict. But there is the distinct possibility of ice on roads through Monday morning. We’ll see.
What if I need to drive north on I-45?
There must be a lot of cheer competitions in the Dallas area this weekend because I have received an extraordinary number of questions about participants. I wish you all well, if the competitions proceed. My sense is that travel north all the way to Dallas should be fine on Friday and Friday afternoon. At some point on Friday night, maybe sunset, maybe 9 pm, maybe midnight, rain will start to transition to sleet or freezing rain in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. After that temperatures will remain below freezing through at least Monday morning, and perhaps all the way to Tuesday. Roads in the region up there will likely range from hazardous to borderline impassable for the weekend.
Yeah, things are going to be a mess in Dallas this weekend. (National Weather Service)
What if I need to drive west on I-10?
You have a little more time if you’re headed west. Driving along I-10 should be fine on Saturday, and likely into Saturday evening. But again, at some point Saturday evening or Saturday night there will likely be a transition to freezing rain that will last into Sunday morning. I would imagine that driving back from Austin or San Antonio will be fine on Monday afternoon.
What if I live north of Houston, in the Piney Woods or College Station?
For locations on the northern fringes of the Houston metro area, basically along and north of Highway 105, you can expect freezing temperatures to remain in place from Saturday afternoon through at least Monday, and possibly into Tuesday morning. This means any freezing rain or ice that accumulates on Saturday and Sunday will likely remain in place for awhile. I expect travel around these areas to be very difficult starting on Saturday and you should prepare to hunker down for a couple of days.
Thursday
It won’t feel like winter today. Thanks in part to warm, humid air and yesterday’s rains we are seeing fairly widespread fog this morning. After this clears we will see partly sunny skies this afternoon, and a warm day with temperatures in the lower 70s. Winds will be light, generally from the east. There is a very slight chance of showers near the coast. Lows tonight will only drop to about 60 degrees. It’s a good day for winter storm preparations.
Friday
This will be another fairly warm and humid day, to start. Expect highs to reach the upper 60s. We may see some very light showers during the daytime, ahead of the front, which should arrive on Friday afternoon or evening. As noted above the initial push of cooler and drier air into Houston will not be the main event. Lows on Friday night will likely drop into the upper 40s or lower 50s, with additional light showers.
Saturday
This will be a rainy and cold day. Expect widespread showers. Overall, I expect most areas to pick up about one inch of rain, give or take. The majority of this will fall as cold rain in Houston, rather than freezing precipitation. Highs on Saturday will likely top out in the 50s before a surge of colder air arrives later on Saturday and into Saturday night. We continue to think it should be OK to move around the Houston area on Saturday, with temperatures remaining above freezing. That could begin to change Saturday night, but perhaps not until after midnight for most locations.
Low temperature forecast for Monday morning. (Weather Bell)
Sunday and Monday
This will be the coldest period. I don’t feel particularly comfortable predicting highs on Sunday because they will be influenced by a number of factors, including clearing skies on Sunday afternoon, the influence of ice on the ground north of the Houston metro area (northerly winds chilled by this ice are not well modeled), and other factors. Generally, I think there is a decent chance that Houston’s highs reach above freezing for a couple of hours on Sunday, and if this happens in conjunction with clearing skies we could see most roads dry out. That’s the glass half full scenario. It is also possible that light rains linger into Sunday afternoon, temperatures remain at about the freezing level, and ice persists on roads through Monday morning. It’s going to be a close call in Houston. Anyway, we are highly confident in a cold night on Sunday into Monday (see image above), with lows in the hard freeze range necessitating the protection of pipes, plants, and pets. Temperatures on Monday should push at least into the upper 30s, and in conjunction with clearing skies this should end the threat of ice on roads. Lows on Monday night will be very cold again, although perhaps a couple of degrees warmer than Sunday night.
Next week
We should get into the 50s or perhaps lower 60s for a few days next week, but there is the potential for another front by Friday or so that could return freeze chances into Houston. We’ll see.
Our next update will be posted by around 3 pm CT today.
President Trump announced Wednesday that a framework for a future Greenland deal had been reached. The Onion assesses the veracity of Trump’s statements regarding Greenland.
Claim: Greenland needs protection from Russia and China.
Partially true: Greenland needs protection from Russia, China, and the United States.
Claim: America will use military force to acquire Greenland if necessary.
False: Military force will be used even if it’s unnecessary.
Claim: Buying Greenland would benefit national and global security.
False: Sometimes it’s fun to just buy stuff.
Claim: The fearsome, 400-foot ice kaiju that protects Greenland from invaders can easily be felled with conventional weaponry.
False: Sure, if you completely forget about its ability to rapidly regenerate damaged cells.
Claim: Greenland contains large swaths of unspoiled resources.
Partially true: Not for long!
Claim: Greenlanders would welcome American influence.
False: Though they probably wouldn’t say no to a Cheesecake Factory.
DAVOS, SWITZERLAND – Following his poorly-received and rambling address at the World Economic Forum, U.S. President Donald Trump angrily demanded that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney personally give him the standing ovation he earned for his speech yesterday. “That foreign lady gave me her Nobel Prize last week, which means I won a Nobel Peace […]
The Social Security Administration made two Hatch Act violation referrals last month after a Department of Government Efficiency employee signed an agreement to share SSA data with a political advocacy group, according to a new court filing.
That advocacy organization isn’t named in the document, but its “stated aim was to find evidence of voter fraud and to overturn election results in certain States.”
Last March, the advocacy group contacted two DOGE associates at SSA “with a request to analyze state voter rolls that the advocacy group had acquired,” the court filing says.
One of the DOGE employees — neither of whom are identified in the court filing, which is dated Jan. 16 — signed a “voter data agreement” with the group on March 24, 2025, potentially to use SSA data to match against voter rolls.
It’s not clear if that advocacy group ever got the data, the court papers note, saying “SSA has not yet seen evidence that SSA data were shared with the advocacy group.”
The DOGE employee-signed agreement wasn’t approved through the agency’s typical data exchange procedures. SSA only learned about it during an unrelated review last fall. It made two referrals to the Office of Special Counsel in December for potential violations of the Hatch Act, which limits certain political activities of federal employees.
The revelation is tucked within a Justice Department “correction” to testimony from SSA officials during ongoing legal battles over DOGE access to SSA data. The court filing is signed by longtime DOJ employee Elizabeth Shapiro, deputy director in the agency’s Civil Division.
The White House and SSA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. An OSC spokesperson said that they could “neither confirm nor deny” the complaint and directed Nextgov/FCW to SSA.
The Trump administration is already ramping up the use of SSA data to comb through voter rolls using a searchable, national citizenship database as it pushes states to share their voter rolls with the Justice Department. That’s caused alarm among experts, who say that the effort could lead to eligible voters being disenfranchised.
True the Vote, which has repeatedly made false claims about voter fraud in elections, publicly asked DOGE to audit voter rolls last March, as Democracy Docket has reported.
Shapiro also wrote that the former operational head of DOGE — Elon Musk associate Steve Davis — was emailed an encrypted, password-protected file of SSA data in early March of last year.
The SSA DOGE team copied Davis on an email to the Department of Homeland Security with this file — the contents of which SSA still doesn’t exactly understand, since it hasn’t been able to access it. A Labor Department DOGE associate was also copied on the email.
SSA doesn’t know if Davis or the Labor employee had the file’s password or accessed the file, which SSA believes contains personal information on 1,000 people, including their names and addresses.
The agency still maintains that DOGE didn’t have access to SSA systems of record, but Shapiro wrote that SSA believes the encrypted attachment was “derived from SSA systems of record.”
Two DOGE associates were also granted access to sensitive data after a court issued a temporary restraining order last March blocking DOGE’s access to SSA data, according to the new court document, although Shapiro writes that “it is unknown at this time whether any [personally identifiable information] was accessed.”
The Supreme Court overruled the block on DOGE access to data in June, although the case is ongoing back down in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The new court papers also list additional databases that SSA DOGE employees had access to last spring, including a system containing SSA employee records, and say that DOGE employees were using links to share data through third-party server Cloudflare.
The agency hadn’t approved Cloudflare for data storage, and “when used in this manner is outside SSA’s security protocols.” As with other revelations in the court document, SSA didn’t know about this until more recent reviews.
SSA also doesn’t know what data was shared to the third-party server or if it's still there.
That is one of the most concerning parts of the court documents, Kathleen Romig, director of social security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told Nextgov/FCW.
“Nearly a year after DOGE staff shared sensitive data with a group hoping to overturn election results, SSA acknowledges that they still don’t know what data they shared or whether it is still on an insecure server,” she said.
The revelations follow other allegations about data sharing from SSA’s former chief data officer Chuck Borges, who resigned after filing a whistleblower complaint last summer alleging that DOGE employees created a live copy of sensitive SSA data on a vulnerable cloud server.
That cloud environment lacked security controls like independent tracking of who has access to the data, which included personal information for each person issued a Social Security number, like names, birthdays and more. Its creation “potentially violated multiple federal statutes,” Borges alleged.
“The federal government has conceded that many of Mr. Borges’ allegations are accurate," Debra Katz, one of Borges' attorneys, said in a statement.
SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano has since toldconcerned lawmakers that SSA hasn’t shared or leaked any of its Numident database, its master record of all assigned Social Security numbers, in any unauthorized fashion.
That may be true, but the latest court documents show that SSA doesn’t know exactly what data has and hasn’t shared, said Romig.
Borges also alleged in his whistleblower complaint that DOGE associates “circumvented” court orders prohibiting them from accessing SSA data last spring.
While that temporary restraining order was still in effect, one SSA executive, Greg Pearre, refused to give DOGE access to an SSA database that they wanted to share with the DHS, Borges wrote in a complaint filed against SSA with the Office of Special Counsel in November, alleging that he was retaliated against for his whistleblowing.
“A DOGE affiliate responded by having Mr. Pearre physically removed from the SSA’s premises,” that complaint reads.
Government Executive reporter Sean Newhouse contributed to this story.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to include a comment from one of Chuck Borges' attorneys.
– December 1, 2025 – Trump confirmed a phone call with Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and delivered an ultimatum for him to relinquish power. The call was thought to have happened on November 21. Trump told reporters, “I wouldn’t say it went well or badly, it was a phone call.” Sources told The Miami Herald the US president had sent a “blunt message” to the authoritarian leader and reportedly said, “You can save yourself and those closest to you, but you must leave the country now.” Maduro declined and said during a Caracas rally, “We want peace, but peace with sovereignty, equality, freedom! We do not want a slave’s peace, nor the peace of colonies!” Maduro had been the focus of a four-month pressure campaign in which Trump ordered a massive naval deployment off Venezuela’s northern coast and declared the country’s airspace “closed in its entirety.”
– December 2, 2025 – Trump unleashed a xenophobic tirade against Somali immigrants during a cabinet meeting, calling them “garbage” that he didn’t want in the United States. Even for Trump, the outburst was shocking in its bigotry. “These are people who do nothing but complain,” he said. “When they come from hell and complain and do nothing but bitch, we don’t want them in our country.” Vice President JD Vance banged the table in apparent agreement. Trump’s statements came as his administration started ICE operations targeting Somalis in the Minneapolis–St. Paul region. Trump also renewed his attacks on Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat who emigrated from Somalia in 1995 as a child. He stated, “Ilhan Omar is garbage. She’s garbage. Her friends are garbage.” Omar pushed back at Trump on social media, writing, “His obsession with me is creepy. I hope he gets the help he desperately needs.”
– December 3, 2025 – During a White House event flanked by auto executives, Trump announced a proposal to weaken vehicle mileage rules for the auto industry, loosening regulatory pressure on automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and trucks. The move is the latest by the Trump administration to reverse Biden-era policies that encouraged cleaner-running cars and trucks, including electric vehicles. Trump said the policies “forced automakers to build cars using expensive technologies that drove up costs, drove up prices, and made the car much worse.” Auto executives applauded the announcement. Ford CEO Jim Farley said the planned rollback was “a win for customers and common sense.” Environmentalists denounced the move. Dan Becker of the Safe Climate Transport Campaign for the Center for Biological Diversity responded, “In one stroke, Trump is worsening three of our nation’s most vexing problems: the thirst for oil, high gas pump costs, and global warming.”
– December 5, 2025 – Trump was awarded the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize, which was announced during a World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. “This is your prize—this is your peace prize!” FIFA president Gianni Infantino gushed after Trump took the stage. The trophy was a golden globe resting on five golden hands with “Donald J. Trump” emblazoned in capital gold letters. Infantino added, “There is also a beautiful medal for you that you can wear everywhere you want to go.” Trump snatched the medal and hung it around his neck without Infantino doing the honors. The move drew comparisons to how Benito Mussolini used the 1934 World Cup in Italy to promote a resurgent Roman empire.
– December 5, 2025 – The Trump administration released the thirty-three-page Trump National Security Strategy. The strategy painted long-standing European allies as “weak” and said they risked the “prospect of civilizational erasure” due to their migration and free speech policies. The strategy starkly reinforced Trump’s “America First” philosophy, which questions decades of strategic relationships and prioritizes US interests. The document also described the “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine, which was set forth by President James Monroe in 1823. Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, who sits on House committees overseeing intelligence and the armed forces, called the strategy “catastrophic.” He added, “The world will be a more dangerous place and Americans will be less safe if this plan moves forward.”
– December 6, 2025 – The Trump administration added Trump’s birthday and removed Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth from next year’s calendar of entrance fee–free days for national parks. The calendar also removed National Public Lands Day and the first Sunday of National Wildlife Refuge Week. Additionally, under the new “America-first pricing” policy, non-US residents will be required to pay entrance fees on national park entrance fee–free days. International visitors will be charged an extra $100 on top of the standard entrance fee. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in a statement: “These policies ensure that US taxpayers, who already support the National Park System, continue to enjoy affordable access, while international visitors contribute their fair share to maintaining and improving our parks for future generations.”
– December 8, 2025 – Breaking precedent, Trump said he would “be involved” in the competing Netflix and Paramount bids to buy Warner Brothers Discovery. Although presidents are not supposed to interfere with regulators reviewing major corporate deals, Trump had made numerous public comments about Netflix and Paramount, who had each sought favor with the Trump administration, and is entangled with their leaderships. In November, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos visited the White House. A private equity firm founded by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is an investor in the Paramount deal, and Paramount’s chairman David Ellison is the son of Trump friend Larry Ellison.
– December 10, 2025 – Applications opened for the Trump administration’s expedited “gold card” visas, which require a $15,000 processing fee and cost $1 million to purchase upon approval, and expedited “corporate gold card” visas, which allow businesses to sponsor employees by paying the same $15,000 processing fee and $2 million per each approved employee. Alongside the applications, the Trump administration also previewed a $5 million “platinum card,” which will allow foreign nationals to live in the US for up to 270 days per year without paying taxes on income earned abroad. The visas have been heavily criticized for offering the wealthy an expedited process even as the administration has cracked down on immigration, carrying out mass deportations and pausing immigration applications from asylum seekers and individuals from mostly African and Middle Eastern countries, subject to the president’s travel ban.
– December 11, 2025 – The State Department ordered its employees to switch from the more accessible Calibri font to the more formal and traditional Times New Roman. “Typography shapes how official documents are perceived in terms of cohesion, professionalism and formality,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “Although switching from Calibri was not among the department’s most illegal, immoral, radical or wasteful instances of DEI, it was nonetheless cosmetic. Switching to Calibri...
