With 2022 quickly drawing to a close, The National's Washington bureau takes a look back at an unscientific selection of some of the biggest winners and losers from this year's US headlines.
Winner: Ron DeSantis
The man who in 2018 ran a campaign advertisement pledging fealty to Donald Trump as a “pitbull Trump defender” found his own teeth in 2022 and appears well positioned for a presidential run in 2024, as the political star dims for his one-time role model.
Mr DeSantis, 44, won his re-election to the Florida governorship in a landslide, securing 59.4 per cent of the vote compared to 40 per cent for his Democratic challenger.
It was one of the few examples of the much-predicted Republican “red wave” materialising.
The conservative US press soon feted Florida’s leader as the future of the Republican Party, much to the fury of former president Trump.
Loser: Donald Trump
The former president and his hardcore followers were thrust into the spotlight this year as a special House of Representatives committee investigated the January 6, 2021 insurrection.
Calling events of that day a brazen coup attempt, the panel wasted no time in highlighting Mr Trump’s pivotal role in the lead-up to the riots and on the day itself, when he waited hours before telling his rampaging supporters to “Go home, we love you.”
The panel has recommended four criminal charges against Mr Trump and other investigators have opened several cases that could derail his hopes to become the Republican nominee for president in 2024.
Surprise winner: Joe Biden
To steal a phrase from Mr Trump, President Joe Biden was a “winner” in 2022. The Democratic leader turned 80, becoming the first octogenarian to sit behind the Resolute desk in the Oval Office.
Despite battling low approval ratings all year, he pushed through much of his legislative agenda including the Inflation Reduction Act that aims to tackle climate change and reduce the country’s deficit.
On top of that, his Democratic colleagues performed surprisingly well in November’s midterm elections.
The Democrats gained a seat in the Senate and only narrowly lost control of Congress, meaning the President will have a better chance to continue carrying out his agenda in the last two years of his term than many expected.
Courtroom loser: Amber Heard
Aquaman actress Amber Heard’s court battle with former husband Johnny Depp captivated millions around the world, but the trial left him feeling vindicated.
The six-week trial showed two celebrities at their worst, but it was Depp who emerged the victor.
A Virginia jury ordered Heard to pay him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages — the punitive amount was knocked down to $350,000 — after a defamation case the Pirates of the Caribbean star brought against her.
Supporters saw her defeat as a setback for the #MeToo movement. Heard settled with Depp this week.
Depp v Heard, closing arguments - in pictures
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The fate of actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard is now in the hands of jurors. AP -
Heard's lawyer Benjamin Rottenborn told jurors in closing arguments that if they believe Depp abused his ex-wife, physically or mentally, 'Amber wins'. AP -
Depp on a break in between closing arguments. Getty Images / AFP -
Depp breaks during closing arguments in the defamation trial he brought against his ex-wife. Getty Images / AFP -
Depp takes a break with Beechy Colclough. Getty Images / AFP -
Depp waves to screaming fans on a break. Getty Images / AFP -
Throngs of Depp's fans have gathered outside the Fairfax County Courthouse throughout the six-week trial. Getty Images / AFP -
One morning, Depp said that he would make all his fans pancakes for breakfast. Getty Images / AFP -
Heard’s lawyer Benjamin Rottenborn encouraged jurors to read her 'Washington Post' op-ed again. AFP -
Heard speaks with her legal team in the courtroom. AFP -
Depp leaves the courtroom during a break. AFP -
Depp's lawyer Benjamin Chew gives closing arguments. AFP -
Spectators listen to Mr Chew give his closing arguments. EPA -
For six weeks, the gallery has been packed with Depp fans. EPA -
Depp listens as his lawyer gives closing arguments. Reuters -
Depp's lawyer Camille Vasquez gives closing arguments. AFP -
Heard leaves during a break in the trial. AFP -
Heard’s lawyer Elaine Bredehoft speaks during closing arguments. AFP -
Heard speaks with her legal team. AFP -
Depp smirked and raised his eyebrows through much of the closing arguments. Reuters
Loser: Kanye West
Has any celebrity's star diminished this year quite like that of Kanye West, now known as Ye?
The US rapper finalised his separation from Kim Kardashian after the reality-TV star filed for divorce last year, claiming irreconcilable differences.
Ye’s downward spiral lasted for much of the past six months as he made anti-Semitic remarks on social media and elsewhere, resulting in him losing his social media accounts and coveted business partnerships.
Such is the antipathy towards Ye that even his appearance with Mr Trump (along with a Holocaust denier) at Mar-A-Lago resulted in Republicans calling on the former president to denounce the meeting.
Multibillion-dollar loser: Elon Musk
Where once the Tesla co-founder could do no wrong in the eyes of investors, the opposite seemed to be true in 2022.
At the start of the year, Tesla stock was at $400. Less than 12 months later, that value has plummeted about 65 per cent to $137 and there is no end in sight for the sell-off.
The reason in one word? Twitter.
At $44 billion, Mr Musk paid far more for the social media company than analysts said it was worth. He tried to renege on the deal but paid up as the matter was being litigated.
Ever since, he has tweeted insights into his combative management style and whimsical decision making, and pushed right-wing political views that alienated the liberal customers whose former loyalty saw him rise to become the world’s richest man, a crown he no longer holds.
Elon Musk over the years - in pictures
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Jared Kushner and Elon Musk watch the Fifa World Cup final match between Argentina and France. Getty Images -
Mr Musk attends model and businesswoman Heidi Klum's 2022 Halloween party at Moxy Lower East Side, in New York City Getty -
Mr Musk on stage next to Optimus the humanoid robot in Palo Alto, California, in September 2022 AFP -
Mr Musk speaks at the Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing 'Cyber Rodeo' grand opening party, in Austin, Texas, in 2022 AFP -
Mr Musk shakes hands with Brazil's then president Jair Bolsonaro, at the event Conecta Amazonia in Porto Feliz, Sao Paulo state, in 2022 AFP -
Mr Musk and his mother, Maye Musk, arrive for the 2022 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, in 2022 AFP -
Mr Musk attends the start of the production at Tesla's Gigafactory in Gruenheide, in 2022 AFP -
Mikey Day as a lawyer, Cecily Strong as a judge, and host Mr Musk as Wario during the 'Wario' sketch on NBC's 'Saturday Night Live', in 2021 Getty -
Mr Musk and son X Æ A-12 onstage at 'Time' Person of the Year in New York, in 2021 AFP -
Mr Musk dancing onstage during a delivery event for Tesla's China-made Model 3 cars in Shanghai, in 2021 Reuters -
Mr Musk with Armin Laschet, at the time CDU party federal chairman and prime minister of Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia, at the Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide, in 2021 Getty -
Mr Musk at the construction site of the Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide, near Berlin, Germany, in 2020 EPA -
Mr Musk leaves a New York court in 2019, after a hearing in a lawsuit brought against him by the US Securities and Exchange Commission Getty -
A prototype of SpaceX's Starship spacecraft in Boca Chica, Texas, in 2019 Reuters -
Mr Musk and then partner Grimes at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, in 2018 AFP -
From left, Mr Musk, Corning chief executive Wendell Weeks, then US president Donald Trump and Johnson & Johnson chief executive Alex Gorsky at the White House, in 2017 AFP -
Mr Musk presents his plan to colonise Mars at the International Astronautics Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2016 EPA -
Mr Musk with then Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe after a test drive of the Tesla Model S P85D in Palo Alto, California, in 2015 Reuters -
Mr Musk with then wife Talulah Riley at the 2011 British Academy Film Awards in London Getty -
Mr Musk after Tesla's initial public offering at the Nasdaq market in New York, in 2010 Reuters -
Then US president Barack Obama with Mr Musk on a tour of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 2010 Reuters -
Mr Musk in the Tesla Roadster electric car at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, in 2009 Reuters -
Mr Musk with music producer Quincy Jones at the Tesla Roadster launch party in 2008 AFP -
Mr Musk answers questions about the new Tesla Model S all-electric car, at its unveiling in Hawthorne, California, in 2009 AFP -
Elon Musk in Los Angeles in 2008. Getty -
Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk in 2004 Getty
Loser: Cryptocurrency
With glitzy advertisements dancing across hundreds of millions of screens around the US during Super Bowl LVI in February, the cryptocurrency craze appeared unstoppable.
Instead, Bitcoin is set to close the year with its value down 64 per cent after peaking at $64,000 in 2021. Ethereum experienced a similar tumble at more than 68 per cent of value lost.
Perhaps nothing signifies cryptocurrency's turbulent year like the arrest of Sam Bankman-Fried and collapse of FTX, a crypto company he founded.
And now US politicians have cryptocurrency in their sights. After Mr Bankman-Fried’s arrest, some Congress members are calling for digital currencies to be supervised.
Cryptocurrencies - in pictures
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The crypto market, which includes currencies such as Bitcoin, pictured, has lost $2 trillion of its value in six months. Unsplash -
The price of Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency by market size, has fallen by 70 per cent this year. Investors and analysts are watching to see if it will dip below $1,000. Unsplash -
Dogecoin, supported by Elon Musk, is about 90 per cent down from May last year, yet it is outperforming Bitcoin and Ethereum in the current crash. Unsplash -
The government of El Salvador has invested $105 million in Bitcoin. President Nayib Bukele's embrace of the cryptocurrency as legal tender is being questioned as the market crashes. Getty -
Changpeng Zhao, founder of crypto exchange giant Binance, has compared the current market turmoil to the dotcom bubble of the early 2000s. Still, the company is aggressively pursuing licensing in international jurisdictions and introducing new products. Getty -
Tether is the biggest issuer of stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency pegged to a traditionally stable asset like the US dollar. Most stablecoins are meant to maintain a constant price of $1 and are backed by real reserve funds, making it easy to convert crypto investments into cash. But Tether's financial statements show that may not be true, leaving the issuer and its investors vulnerable. Unsplash -
The recent crypto crash can in part be attributed to the collapse of TerraUSD, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar through algorithms and linked to a "sister" cryptocurrency named Luna. When the price of Luna plummeted, TerraUSD also fell, creating a “death spiral” to practically zero for both coins. Unsplash -
On June 12 crypto lender Celsius Network said it had paused customer withdrawals, saying it needed “to stabilise liquidity and operations”. Investors are still waiting, with no signs that the current meltdown will let up. Getty
Winner for now: US democracy
At critical midterm elections in November, Republicans narrowly took back control of the House, but the party underperformed on expectations of a “red wave.”
Along the campaign trail, Mr Trump and other Republicans pushed baseless 2020 election fraud conspiracies and supported election-denying candidates, leading to a perception that anti-democracy attitudes were a strong force in the Republican Party.
But voters largely rejected Trump-affiliated candidates.
“Threats to democracy also operate outside of the electoral system or election cycle,” Amanda Klasing, director of the US democracy initiative for Human Rights Watch, told The National.
"But a big takeaway from the midterms is that, despite unprecedented threats against election workers in the past two years, elections were administered freely and fairly, and the election results widely accepted."
Loser: Women’s rights
The conservative-majority Supreme Court in June overturned the federal right to an abortion, ending a half-century of legal protection for the procedure.
This turned abortion protection over to the US states. Some had “trigger-laws” in place that almost immediately banned all abortion access.
Almost half of the states are likely to enact new laws as restrictive as possible or seek to enforce current, unconstitutional laws prohibiting abortion.
“We are seeing states divide into abortion deserts, where it is illegal to access care, and abortion havens, where care continues to be available,” said the US-based Centre for Reproductive Rights, which tracks reproductive health access across the US and abroad.
Millions of women no longer have the right to an abortion, mainly in the country’s southern and mid-western regions, and are forced to travel for legal care.
But there were some state-level moves to protect access to abortion.
In August, Kansas voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have said there was no right to the procedure.
Winner: Ketanji Brown Jackson
American history was made this year when Ketanji Brown Jackson took her place as the first black woman to sit on the US Supreme Court.
Ms Jackson, 52, was nominated by Mr Biden in February and subsequently confirmed by the Senate. Her confirmation fulfilled a campaign promise made by Mr Biden to appoint a black woman to the nation's top court.
