A breathless President Donald Trump gave a primetime address to the nation last night, looking to press the reset button on his handling of the top issue for American voters: the economy.
Poll after poll has shown Mr Trump's approval ratings slumping, particularly when it comes to the state of the economy. He was elected on a promise of cutting prices, boosting employment and tackling inflation. Eleven months on, the average American is not feeling any better off than they were last year. While some things are getting cheaper, like petrol, unemployment is rising, inflation is the same as it was in January and the overall cost of living continues to soar.
During an 18-minute address from the White House, Mr Trump sought to assure Americans that the country's new Golden Age is right around the corner. But for some reason, perhaps he was under time constraints imposed by TV networks, Mr Trump lurched through his teleprompted remarks while yelling all of his talking points.
At times he sounded unhinged or as though he were having a full-blown panic attack, a good metaphor for how Republicans view his performance on the economy ahead of next year's midterm elections.
"We're the hottest country anywhere in the world, and that's said by every single leader that I've spoken to over the last five months," Mr Trump said in his address, during which he repeatedly blamed his predecessor, Joe Biden, for every problem on his plate.
The hyped-up salesman/Biden blame-game shtick is wearing thin. Americans want results and recent wins by Democrats in local and state elections show how quickly people have soured on Mr Trump's handling of the economy. According to a new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll, he only has a 36 per cent approval rating on the issue.
One thing Mr Trump did not do last night was declare war on Venezuela, something that could come any day now. He did say that Venezuela (although it is not an island) is "completely surrounded by the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America" and that the US was blockading all the country's oil tankers. It seems to be only a matter of time before the US is conducting some sort of military action against Caracas.
We certainly are in for another momentous year in 2026. I wish you a very happy festive season. The newsletter will be taking a break next week - see you in the new year!
Eye on the White House
US stance on Venezuela carries haunting echoes of Iraq war
George W Bush, Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld in 2003, months after launching the Iraq war. Reuters
Mr Trump on Monday issued an executive order declaring the drug fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction. He has also accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of narco-terrorism and involvement in trafficking drugs towards the US.
More than two decades earlier, President George W Bush announced the US invasion of Iraq aimed at toppling the regime of Saddam Hussein. In a televised address in March 2003, Mr Bush said that the “people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder”.
There are startling parallels between the rhetoric of the Bush administration in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq and the recent language from the Trump administration towards Venezuela.
BBC billions Mr Trump sued the UK-based BBC on Monday for alleged defamation over edited clips of a speech that made it appear as if he directed supporters to storm the US Capitol, opening an international front in his fight against media coverage he deems untrue or unfair. He is seeking up to $10 billion - an unthinkable sum for a broadcaster whose entire annual budget is about £6 billion.
Hollywood horror It didn't take long for Mr Trump to make the deaths of film director Rob Reiner and his wife all about him. Instead of sharing a simple note of condolence, Mr Trump posted a message on Truth Social on Monday in which he (or an account-handling minion) suggested Reiner had been killed because he didn't like the President.
Bongino going FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said yesterday that he will resign from the bureau next month, ending a brief and tumultuous tenure in which he clashed with the Justice Department over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and was forced to reconcile the realities of his law enforcement job with provocative claims he made in his prior role as a popular podcast host. The Epstein files, incidentally, are due to be released tomorrow.
Spotlight Delusion, paranoia, spiralling: The dangers of outsourcing your life to chatbots
AI users are reporting spirals into paranoia, delusion and psychosis after extended conversations with chatbots
The night Adam Thomas locked his keys inside his van, the desert air in Oregon’s Christmas Valley had already begun to grow cold.
He ended up sleeping on a stranger’s futon, an improvised bed set up by a flea market in a town so small it had just a handful of buildings.
It was there, trying to keep warm inside a sleeping bag he had found and staring at the stars, that Mr Thomas realised something had gone profoundly wrong.
For months, he had been following what he believed was an “internal compass”, a sensation in his body that he saw as guidance. This feeling was reinforced by an artificial intelligence chatbot he had been confiding in daily.
But the force that he believed was pulling him “on a path to something” now looked more like a warning sign.
What Disney and OpenAI's Sora deal means for Mickey Mouse and other characters
OpenAI's Sora 2, which received criticism amid allegations of copyright infringement, has reached a deal with Disney. Getty Images via AFP
OpenAI's controversial video-generation tool Sora has one less thing to worry about, thanks in part to an agreement reached with Disney.
According to the entertainment and theme park giant, users of OpenAI's Sora will soon be able to create videos featuring various Disney characters and other intellectual property.
Although details are sparse, users of Sora are expected to be able to create the content beginning in early 2026, according to Disney.
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Know your camel milk: Flavour: Similar to goat’s milk, although less pungent. Vaguely sweet with a subtle, salty aftertaste. Texture: Smooth and creamy, with a slightly thinner consistency than cow’s milk. Use it: In your morning coffee, to add flavour to homemade ice cream and milk-heavy desserts, smoothies, spiced camel-milk hot chocolate. Goes well with: chocolate and caramel, saffron, cardamom and cloves. Also works well with honey and dates.
Khalid Essa (Al Ain), Ali Khaseif (Al Jazira), Adel Al Hosani (Sharjah), Mahmoud Khamis (Al Nasr), Yousef Jaber (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai), Khalifa Al Hammadi (Jazira), Salem Rashid (Jazira), Shaheen Abdelrahman (Sharjah), Faris Juma (Al Wahda), Mohammed Shaker (Al Ain), Mohammed Barghash (Wahda), Abdulaziz Haikal (Shabab Al Ahli), Ahmed Barman (Al Ain), Khamis Esmail (Wahda), Khaled Bawazir (Sharjah), Majed Surour (Sharjah), Abdullah Ramadan (Jazira), Mohammed Al Attas (Jazira), Fabio De Lima (Al Wasl), Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Khalfan Mubarak (Jazira), Habib Fardan (Nasr), Khalil Ibrahim (Wahda), Ali Mabkhout (Jazira), Ali Saleh (Wasl), Caio (Al Ain), Sebastian Tagliabue (Nasr).
8 traditional Jamaican dishes to try at Kingston 21
Trench Town Rock: Jamaican-style curry goat served in a pastry basket with a carrot and potato garnish
Rock Steady Jerk Chicken: chicken marinated for 24 hours and slow-cooked on the grill
Mento Oxtail: flavoured oxtail stewed for five hours with herbs
Ackee and salt fish: the national dish of Jamaica makes for a hearty breakfast
Jamaican porridge: another breakfast favourite, can be made with peanut, cornmeal, banana and plantain
Jamaican beef patty: a pastry with ground beef filling
Also on December 7 to 9, the third edition of the Gulf Car Festival (www.gulfcarfestival.com) will take over Dubai Festival City Mall, a new venue for the event. Last year's festival brought together about 900 cars worth more than Dh300 million from across the Emirates and wider Gulf region – and that first figure is set to swell by several hundred this time around, with between 1,000 and 1,200 cars expected. The first day is themed around American muscle; the second centres on supercars, exotics, European cars and classics; and the final day will major in JDM (Japanese domestic market) cars, tuned vehicles and trucks. Individuals and car clubs can register their vehicles, although the festival isn’t all static displays, with stunt drifting, a rev battle, car pulls and a burnout competition.
