Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado expressed optimism in Washington, D.C., on Friday following her meetings with President Donald Trump and lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week.
“We are definitely now into the first steps of a true transition to democracy that will have not only immense impact in the lives of Venezuelans,” she said at a press conference at The Heritage Foundation. Machado said she was “impressed” by how much the president knew about the situation in Venezuela, saying the president “understands the moment” and the “implication for the whole hemisphere.”
“It took a lot of courage to do what he did,” she said regarding the Jan. 3 military operation that resulted in the capture and arrest of dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Machado, who won the coveted Nobel Peace Prize in 2025, gifted Trump her Nobel medal as the two discussed the next steps for the South American nation.
Shortly after Maduro was brought to the U.S. to face federal narcoterrorism charges, Trump said that Machado did not have the “respect” of the country to be its leader. Prior to Maduro&#8217;s arrest, <a href="https://x.com/cameron_arcand/status/2007660393787715848?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a> asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the relationship between the U.S. and Machado, with Rubio noting that it had been a while since he and the opposition leader had spoken, saying she &#8220;was in hiding.&#8221;
Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, is now the acting president of the country, albeit with staunch oversight from the United States.
After their Thursday meeting, Trump posted to Truth Social that “It was [his] Great Honor to meet María Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today. She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much. María presented [him] with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you María!”
However, when asked about the leftist acting president, Machado said, “This has nothing to do with tension or decision between Delcy Rodriguez or myself &#8230; This is about the cartel and justice. This is about a criminal regime, and the mandate of the Venezuelan people.”
Trump has adopted more of a conciliatory tone toward Rodriguez, saying that they spoke earlier this week and that “she’s a terrific person,” according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/14/trump-delcy-rodriguez-venezuela-00730397" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Politico</a>.
“This morning I had a very good call with the Interim President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez. We are making tremendous progress, as we help Venezuela stabilize and recover,” the president said in a Wednesday post to Truth Social. “Many topics were discussed, including Oil, Minerals, Trade and, of course, National Security. This partnership between the United States of America and Venezuela will be a spectacular one FOR ALL. Venezuela will soon be great and prosperous again, perhaps more so than ever before!”
Although it’s still very early in the process of navigating Venezuela&#8217;s future, Machado explained that she thinks that the “regime is forced to dismantle themselves” and that there are major steps needed to truly become a democratic nation once again, including the closure of “torture centers,” the liberation of political prisoners, and “guarantees for journalists to speak out.”
“There is a criminal structure of terror … not only of the civilian population but also in the military,” she said. When it comes to having fair elections in Venezuela, she stressed that it’s important for Venezuelans still in the country and around the globe to believe democracy is on the horizon, and she believes people will be willing to return to the country if that is the case.
Maduro remained in power following the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election, with international concerns that it was not conducted fairly. Maduro was up against Edmundo Gonzalez, a political ally of Machado.
In the press conference Friday, she stressed the importance of voting rights for Venezuelans. When it comes to her own political ambitions, she told &#8220;<a href="https://x.com/foxandfriends/status/2012180372755268040?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox &amp; Friends</a>&#8221; in an interview that aired Friday morning that she is confident she will lead the South American nation one day.
&#8220;I believe I will be elected, when the right time comes, as president of Venezuela,&#8221; she told the outlet.

TOPSHOT-NORWAY-VENEZUELA-NOBEL-PEACE-PRIZE

Venezuelan Opposition Leader Says Next Steps Have To Address ‘The Cartel And Justice’

foreign affairs

maria corina machado

Nicolas Maduro

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Europe’s weakness is no longer just Europe’s problem; it is the West’s crisis. For decades, the continent has drifted into complacency, retreating from free markets, hollowing out its militaries, and outsourcing its security to Washington. What began as integration hardened into dependency. The result is a Europe that is economically stagnant, strategically vulnerable, and increasingly unsure of its own identity.
President Trump’s recently released National Security Strategy and the National Defense Authorization Act are the first major American documents in a generation that speak to Europe not as a ward, but as an adult. They state, in effect, that the West cannot survive if its largest democratic bloc insists on remaining structurally weak. America will not abandon Europe, but it will no longer indulge Europe’s illusions. The ball is now in Europe’s court.
Trump’s statecraft is often misdescribed as improvisation. In reality, a Trump Doctrine of strategic sovereignty has emerged. Its core is simple: no nation is entitled to protection from the United States unless it actively contributes to collective security; coalitions are built on shared interests and values, not on inertia; and the West is worth preserving. Once the United States and Europe shared these beliefs, and their alliance was strong on this basis.
This abandons the fantasy of a self-enforcing “rules-based order.” Russia’s attack on Georgia or Ukraine, and other similar powers’ attacks on other weaker countries, have repeatedly shown that there is no universally accepted rules-based order. The simple, stubborn fact is that order is made and maintained by sovereign states that possess power, will, and clarity of purpose. Trump’s approach replaces the old habit of open-ended guarantees with a “balance of sovereigns”: the United States will remain the preeminent Western power, but its allies must become genuine pillars, not permanent dependents, to keep the balance of power in the West and keep at bay geopolitical adversaries that understand solely strength.
Trump has already done more to weaken the Russia-China-Iran-North Korea axis than his predecessor. Trump’s pressure on Moscow has been more consequential than Joe Biden’s. By pushing NATO allies to raise defense spending, by imposing secondary measures that hit Russian oil revenues, and by brokering peace in the Caucasus, Trump has constrained Russia’s maneuvering space.
Iran, once emboldened by Western appeasement, is now reeling. Israeli and American strikes have gutted its nuclear and military infrastructure. Combined with the Abraham Accords and the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement, the Middle East has been reshaped in ways that keep Russia out and leave Tehran increasingly isolated. Iran’s proxies are weakened, its economy strangled, and its strategic depth reduced.
The updated Monroe Doctrine has likewise kept China out of the Western Hemisphere. Beijing’s attempts to buy strategic assets and political influence in Latin America have been blocked or rolled back, while Venezuela’s dictator is now under arrest, with his regime destabilized. Trump’s declarations about the Panama Canal and Greenland should be seen as part of this larger doctrine.
Taken together, these moves have fractured the “unholy alliance” of America’s adversaries. Europe should take note: Trump has shown that strength and clarity can weaken adversaries far more effectively than platitudes and half-measures. The United States is doing its part to reshape the global balance. The question is whether Europe will do its part to reshape itself.
Security begins with production. Europe’s retreat from free-market dynamism has hollowed out its competitiveness. While Trump has pursued reindustrialization, deregulation, near-shoring, and energy abundance in the United States, Europe has doubled down on regulatory maximalism and green utopianism — policies that have driven factories, capital, and talent elsewhere.
A continent that once powered the Industrial Revolution now tries to regulate its way into relevance. High taxes, rigid labor markets, and hostility to conventional and nuclear energy have produced dependence on Russian gas, Chinese supply chains, and American defense spending. There is no single European entity in the top 10 biggest companies, startups, or AI firms, because the European instinct has become “regulate before even creating”. 
Real recovery will not come from new Brussels programs, but from unleashing the energy and initiative of millions of individuals and families who are now trapped under layers of taxation, bureaucracy, and paternalism. Europe does not lack talent; it lacks permission to use it.
Trump’s doctrine treats Europe’s stagnation not as an internal matter, but as a strategic liability. Economic weakness means underfunded militaries, brittle societies, and a politics increasingly tempted by accommodation with authoritarian suppliers of energy and credit. A Europe that cannot sustain industry will not sustain deterrence.
If Europe wants to be something other than a museum of past greatness, it must rediscover growth: lower and simpler taxes, domestic energy, and a serious commitment to frontier technologies. Otherwise, the center of gravity of the democratic world will keep shifting from the Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific, not by American design but by European default.
Trump’s strategy does something European elites have avoided for years: it links power to identity. It speaks of restoring the West’s “civilizational self-confidence” and calls on the nations of the free world to defend their histories, cultures, and borders.
This is not nostalgia. It is strategic clarity. A society that doubts its right to exist cannot project power. A civilization that treats its past as a moral burden will not endure the costs of defense, child-rearing, or long-term investment.
For too long, influential European institutions have treated national identity as suspect, the family as optional, borders as administrative details, and free speech as a negotiable privilege. The result is fragmentation: uncontrolled migration, parallel societies, and cultural self-censorship. In such a context, phrases like “strategic autonomy” are empty. Autonomy presupposes cohesion. 
Trump’s message is that the West is not an NGO; it is a civilization. The President does not seek American domination of Europe. He seeks equilibrium. America First does not mean America Alone; it means an America strong enough to lead, partnered with European allies strong enough to matter. For Europe, that means three things: (a) Rearmament as an act of self-respect, not of deference to Washington. A Europe that cannot field serious forces from the Baltic to the Mediterranean is not “pacifist”; it is strategically unserious. (b) Reindustrialization and energy realism. A continent that shuts down reliable power without viable alternatives, and that drives industry offshore, will find its foreign policy constrained by whoever keeps its lights on. (c) Civilizational recovery. Europe must stop apologizing for its existence. Its nations, cultures and Judeo-Christian roots are not obstacles to the future; they are the only basis on which a free future can be built.
Trump has laid out a doctrine that treats Europe not as a client but as a potential equal. The question is whether Europe will seize this moment or shrink from it.  The United States has made its choice: strength, sovereignty, and renewed Western leadership. If Europe fails to rise, the West will fall, not because America abandoned it, but because Europe abandoned itself.
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<div class="p-rich_text_section">Nikola Kedhi is the Executive Director of the Albanian Conservative Institute and a contributor to various media such as the Daily Wire, Fox News, Newsweek, the Daily Signal, Newsmax, and others. Kedhi is also a co-author of the Constitution of Conservative Values, the official Doctrine of the Democratic Party of Albania. He can be reached on Twitter: @nikedhi95 and on his Substack.</div>
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The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

European Leaders Join Ukrainian President Zelensky For White House Meeting With Trump

President Trump Is Right, The West Cannot Survive On European Weakness

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Donald Trump

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Europe

European Union

Foreign Policy

Iran

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President Trump

Russia

WASHINGTON — Days after President Donald Trump warned that he was open to another military operation in Colombia, President Gustavo Petro was ringing the White House with explanations and promises of a visit to Washington, D.C.
Petro&#8217;s call followed Saturday&#8217;s unprecedented midnight raid in Venezuela, wherein the United States captured Venezuela&#8217;s President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and brought them back to New York to face American justice.
The next day, aboard Air Force One, President Trump told reporters of Colombia: &#8220;Colombia is very sick too, run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States.&#8221;
&#8220;He&#8217;s not going to be doing it very long, let me tell you,&#8221; the president predicted, and asked if the United States would conduct an operation against Colombia, he responded: &#8220;It sounds good to me!&#8221;
Petro initially released a statement on the raid in Venezuela on Sunday slamming Trump for his criticisms and arguing that his name &#8220;does not appear in the judicial files on drug trafficking over 50 years, neither from before nor from the present.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1024811" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/after-threats-from-trump-colombian-president-rings-the-white-house/colombia-venezuela-us-conflict-crisis" rel="attachment wp-att-1024811"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1024811" class="wp-image-1024811 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2254524553-865x576.jpg" alt="" width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2254524553-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2254524553-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2254524553-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2254524553.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" /></a>Colombia&#8217;s President Gustavo Petro sings the national anthem during the March for Sovereignty and Democracy against US President Donald Trump&#8217;s threats to Petro at Bolivar Square in Bogota on January 7, 2026. (Photo by Luis ACOSTA / AFP via Getty Images)</div>
But on Wednesday evening, Trump posted on Truth Social and shared that he had received a call from Petro.
&#8220;It was a Great Honor to speak with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who called to explain the situation of drugs and other disagreements that we have had,&#8221; the president shared.
&#8220;I appreciated his call and tone,&#8221; Trump continued, &#8220;and look forward to meeting him in the near future. Arrangements are being made between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Foreign Minister of Colombia. The meeting will take place in the White House in Washington, D.C.&#8221;
During Wednesday&#8217;s White House press briefing, The Daily Wire asked White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt about the president&#8217;s threats to Colombia, and whether Petro should expect a visit from Delta Force.
&#8220;That would be a very unwise question for me to answer,&#8221; Leavitt responded.

President Trump, With Secretaries Of Navy And War, Makes An Announcement From His Mar-a-Lago Resort In Florida

After Threats From Trump, Colombian President Rings The White House

Colombia

South America

Former Republican George Conway is entering New York’s crowded Democratic primary for its Twelfth Congressional District to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler.
Conway is the ex-husband of Kellyanne Conway, former Senior Counselor to President Donald Trump, but George is a vocal critic of the president. The couple got divorced in early 2023.
“We have a demented, criminal president running the country like a mob operation—government by the boss, for the boss,” he posted to X alongside a campaign video featuring footage from Jan. 6, as it’s been five years since the Capitol riot. “We need Democratic fighters who will defend the rule of law and deliver government by the people. Join us.”
The attorney joins a boisterous field, which includes former President John F. Kennedy’s grandson Jack Schlossberg, Parkland activist Cameron Kasky and Assemblyman Alex Bores. The seat is solidly Democratic, but the district’s Manhattan location paired with Nadler’s retirement has given the race a degree of national attention.
Conway was part of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, but supported its closure amid allegations of sexual harassment of minors against co-founder John Weaver, the <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/02/16/george-conway-calls-for-lincoln-project-to-be-shut-down/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Post</a> reported in 2021.
&nbsp;
“An investigation is necessary. But it has to be thorough, and not a whitewash. And—THE LYING HAS TO STOP. It&#8217;s clear now that, as early last *MARCH*, the people who were in operational control of the Lincoln Project…. were told of Weaver&#8217;s predations,” Conway posted to Twitter in 2021. “Enough is enough. LP needs to waive the NDAs and come clean.”
He left the group in 2020, saying at the time that he needed to focus on his family, but adding he would continue to “passionately” support the group.
<a href="https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/george-conway-donald-trump-house-campaign-democrat-b2894973.html#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Independent</a> reported that Conway now rents an apartment in the Chelsea neighborhood, and he did not mince words in an interview with the British publication.
“Everything is at stake — democracy is at stake, the rule of law is at stake, constitutional government is at stake. And it&#8217;s no longer good enough for me to sit and lob things in from the spectator seats,” Conway told the outlet.
He previously worked in the city, but recently lived in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, according to the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2026-01-06/george-conway-persistent-trump-critic-is-running-for-congress-in-new-york" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Los Angeles Times</a>.
In October, a photo of George Conway wearing an “I am Antifa” T-shirt at a “No Kings” rally went viral after social media influencer Benny Johnson posted it, to which the now-Democrat replied, “I love how these people think this is some kind of gotcha. Thanks for posting, Benny!!”
Some conservative commentators pointed out that the race could become a race to the bottom for criticism of the Trump administration.
“Ah, the ‘I am Antifa’ shirt suddenly makes a lot more sense if he has to get out of a Democratic primary. This is going to be the most online primary of all time. Cameron Kasky and Jack Schlossberg also running. ‘I hate Trump more!’ ‘No, I do!’ ‘No, me!’” political columnist Karol Markowicz posted to X.
“When ‘Orange Man Bad’ becomes your entire personality,” political consultant Chapin D. Fay posted.
The primary is scheduled for June.

President Trump And Melania Trump Host White House Easter Egg Roll

Vocal Trump Opponent George Conway Joins Packed New York Congressional Race

Congress

Elections

George Conway

Kellyanne Conway

New York

Politics

President Donald Trump said on Friday that White House doctors gave him a &#8220;perfect&#8221; bill of health, adding that he &#8220;ACED&#8221; another cognitive exam as questions again swirl about the president&#8217;s health following a new Wall Street Journal report.
Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115825378093317232">wrote</a> in a post on Truth Social that White House doctors &#8220;just reported that I am in &#8216;PERFECT HEALTH,&#8217; and that I &#8216;ACED&#8217; (Meaning, was correct on 100% of the questions asked!), for the third straight time, my Cognitive Examination, something which no other President, or previous Vice President, was willing to take.&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s statement came one day after the Wall Street Journal published an <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/as-signs-of-aging-emerge-trump-responds-with-defiance-769c5dcd?mod=hp_lead_pos1">interview</a> in which the president discussed his health as he approaches 80. In the interview with the Journal, Trump admitted to taking more aspirin than his doctors recommend, which he said led to bruising visible in photographs showing his hand.
<div id="attachment_1022375" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1022375" class="wp-image-1022375 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2231378151-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2231378151-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2231378151-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2231378151-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2231378151.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />President Donald Trump during a meeting with Lee Jae Myung, South Korea&#8217;s president, not pictured, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, August 25, 2025. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images</div>
“They’d rather have me take the smaller one,” Trump said of his aspirin dosage. “I take the larger one, but I’ve done it for years, and what it does do is it causes bruising.”
Trump told the Journal that he continues to take the larger dose of aspirin because he&#8217;s been doing it for 25 years, adding, &#8220;I&#8217;m a little superstitious.&#8221;
“They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,” Trump said. “I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense?”
The Journal reported that Trump&#8217;s hands have bled easily on multiple occasions, including at the 2024 Republican National Convention, when now-Attorney General Pam Bondi caused Trump&#8217;s hand to bleed when her ring nicked him during a high-five. White House aides told the Journal that Trump&#8217;s hands have been cut other times as well.
To conceal the cuts and the bruising, Trump said, “I have makeup that’s, you know, easy to put on, takes about 10 seconds.”
Trump&#8217;s doctor, Sean Barbabella, revealed in July that the president also has chronic venous insufficiency, a &#8220;benign, common condition&#8221; for people over 70, that causes swelling in his legs. Trump said that since July, the swelling has improved as he has walks around more often instead of remaining at his desk.
Trump acknowledged for weeks that he underwent an MRI scan at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in October, but when asked about the scan by the Journal, Trump corrected his previous statements, saying, “It wasn’t an MRI. It was less than that. It was a scan.” Barbabella told the Journal that Trump had a CT scan to check for any cardiovascular issues, and the scan came back showing no problems.
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Trump also faced criticism after he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_odLnavZCs">appeared</a> to fall asleep during a Cabinet meeting last month. The president denied dozing off during meetings or events at the White House, saying, “I&#8217;ll just close [my eyes]. It’s very relaxing to me.”
&#8220;Sometimes they’ll take a picture of me blinking, blinking, and they’ll catch me with the blink,&#8221; he added.
Trump has discussed his unusual sleep schedule in the past, saying he gets between four and five hours each night. The president often texts, posts on Truth Social, or calls his aides and advisers in the early hours of the morning.
“I’ve never been a big sleeper,” Trump told the Journal.
Despite little sleep and nearing 80, Trump kept a jam-packed schedule throughout the first year of his second term. The president admitted that he doesn’t exercise much because he finds it &#8220;boring&#8221; and attributed his good health to his &#8220;very good genetics.&#8221;
Trump said on Friday, &#8220;I strongly believe that anyone running for President, or Vice President, should be mandatorily forced to take a strong, meaningful, and proven Cognitive Examination. Our great Country cannot be run by &#8216;STUPID&#8217; or INCOMPETENT PEOPLE!&#8221;

Trump Says He ‘ACED’ Another Cognitive Test After More Questions Swirl About His Health

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Wall Street Journal

Editor’s note: This week, we’re reprinting some of our best stories from the past year. This piece, originally published in March, discusses President Trump&#8217;s unique and captivating communication style.
WASHINGTON—Donald Trump doesn’t deliver a conventional speech, and he’s explained why.
&#8220;If you just read a teleprompter, nobody’s going to be very excited,” Trump explained to Joe Rogan. “You’ve got to weave it out, otherwise, it’s no good.”
The “weave,” as Trump calls it, is the president’s way of jumping from topic to topic in what may seem to the uninitiated as rambling. In reality, Trump says, it’s all artfully strung together to capture the audience and comes together at the end in a strong statement. And on a night like tonight, when Trump is expected to touch on topics ranging from negotiating peace between Russia and Ukraine to his stand against transgenderism, it’s a valuable talent to have. 
Whether it’s the weave or his other unconventional tactics, there’s no doubt that Trump’s rhetorical style is unlike anything we’ve seen in the White House in decades. According to Matthew Continetti, Trump is the “most effective presidential communicator” that most Americans have ever seen. 
&#8220;I think in many Americans&#8217; lifetimes, he&#8217;s the most effective presidential communicator,” said Continetti, author of The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism and director of Domestic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. “When he&#8217;s in these big moments, he always delivers a very commanding performance.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_886991" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-886991" class="size-large wp-image-886991" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-1204082840-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-1204082840-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-1204082840-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-1204082840-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-1204082840-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-1204082840-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-1204082840-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-1204082840-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)</div>
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told The Daily Wire that Trump views his big speeches as a sort of focus group, listening carefully to see how his audiences respond to messaging, constantly improving and testing out his ideas and language.
“People consistently forget he spent 13 years doing commercial television on The Apprentice,” Gingrich said. “He knows a great deal about how to communicate. Probably as much as any president in American history. And he understands that whatever he thinks, he has to say it in a way that you can hear it and you can understand it, or it doesn&#8217;t work.&#8221;
“If he wants to educate you,” Gingrich added, “he&#8217;s got to keep you entertained.”
Daily Wire host Michael Knowles, however, says it’s more than just entertainment — he says Trump is a serious orator.
“President Trump commands the English language more effectively than any politician in my lifetime,” Knowles said. “In speeches and insults alike, Trump consistently employs poetic diction — to borrow a phrase from Barfield — and the lessons taught by Orwell in ‘Politics and the English Language.’ Trump’s opponents mock his word choice, but Trump’s sturdy, Saxon rhetoric reveals he really does know &#8216;the best words.&#8217;”
Trump will have to draw on all those rhetorical gifts Tuesday, as he delivers what is essentially the first State of the Union address of his second term. Trump<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/must-see-tv-heres-what-to-expect-from-president-trumps-joint-address-to-congress"> will begin</a> by outlining what his administration has accomplished thus far, the White House said Monday, before outlining his plans to fix the economy, end the illegal immigration crisis, and resolve global conflicts.
As with an official State of the Union, Trump will be speaking directly to lawmakers, Supreme Court justices, and other luminaries. But he’ll also be addressing the millions of Americans who view the speech.
The latter audience is who matters most to Trump, according to former White House speechwriter Mary Kate Cary.
“We&#8217;ve seen presidents do this before, where the reaction in the room isn&#8217;t that great, but outside the room, whether it&#8217;s the press corps or social media, is far bigger and far more reactive to what he&#8217;s saying,” said Cary, who worked for President George H.W. Bush. “Depending on what the topic is tonight. It could be to his advantage in a lot of ways to figure out how to play one audience differently than the other audience.” 
Gingrich had a similar take, noting that the president has a &#8220;very deep feel for the audience.” He also predicted that if Democrats attempt to disrupt the speech — as they have done in years past, and are <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/03/04/trump-congress-address-democrats-disrupt-plan">reportedly</a> planning to do again — Trump will likely already have things to say and ways to &#8220;dominate the scene.”
“If you&#8217;re the president, you have huge advantages in a setting like that,&#8221; Gingrich said.
What kind of speech Trump gives Tuesday may come largely down to whether or not he sticks to the script. As Cary noted, Trump’s speechwriters “have a very different job than typical presidential speechwriters because he&#8217;s not a career politician, and yet he is very good at keeping his finger on the pulse of what&#8217;s going on in America.”
To Cary, Trump’s “off-the-cuff” rallies are even more effective than his formal speeches. She pointed to some high-profile Trump moments from the election cycle as examples of how impactful the president’s actions are, even when he’s not delivering remarks: Trump shaking his fist after an assassination attempt and urging the crowd to “fight, fight, fight,” or the memorable garbage truck appearance in the neon vest.
“Those were not highly-wordsmithed, oratorical moments,” she noted.
Continetti suggests that Trump&#8217;s speechwriters have adjusted to the president&#8217;s speaking habits over the past decade, giving him more room to weave when he pleases. But Trump largely stuck to the script in February 2020, when he delivered the State of the Union address of his first term. He mostly highlighted his administration&#8217;s accomplishments and stressed the extraordinary opportunity to be found in the United States.
&#8220;America is the place where anything can happen,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;America is the place where anyone can rise. And here, on this land, on this soil, on this continent, the most incredible dreams come true.” 
But though he was scripted, Trump still managed to stir the crowd, particularly in an emotional and memorable moment when he honored Rush Limbaugh, who died a year later, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“This nation is our canvas, and this country is our masterpiece,” Trump said. “We look at tomorrow and see unlimited frontiers just waiting to be explored. Our brightest discoveries are not yet known.  Our most thrilling stories are not yet told. Our grandest journeys are not yet made.  The American Age, the American Epic, the American adventure has only just begun.&#8221;
“It would be difficult for Trump to improve upon” that address, said Mollie Hemingway, editor-in-chief of The Federalist. Hemingway pointed to that address as evidence that Trump  “has always been understood better by average Americans than Washington elites.” That’s why, Hemingway noted, &#8220;Pelosi tore up that speech and Democrats seethed in response to it.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_886989" style="width: 809px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-886989" class="size-large wp-image-886989" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-1198673622-799x576.jpg" alt="" width="799" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-1198673622-799x576.jpg 799w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-1198673622-300x216.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-1198673622-768x554.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-1198673622-1536x1108.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-1198673622-2048x1477.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px" />(Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts echoed Hemingway’s point, telling The Daily Wire that “the elites fixate on President Trump’s rhetoric because they’re terrified of his results.”
“He’s delivering,” Roberts said, “securing the border, crushing wokeness, and putting America First.”
“Trump’s rhetoric resonates with everyday Americans because he’s fighting for their interests.”
It may not resonate with some members of his immediate audience. Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/03/04/trump-congress-address-democrats-disrupt-plan">reports</a> that Democrats may walk out if Trump defends children against transgender procedures or other hot button topics. Some members may even bring noise makers and empty egg cartons as props. 
“It’ll be interesting to see how Trump reacts to that,” Cary said, recalling how Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) stood up at the last State of the Union and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/laken-riley-biden-speech-immigration-d756dbe1c499c6fd0fc53be04290b371">called upon</a> former President Joe Biden to say the name of Laken Riley, a young woman murdered by an illegal immigrant.
Biden did “say her name,” though he mispronounced it, drawing even more fiery criticism.
Gingrich said that a potential Trump response to Democrat disturbance depends on “whether they’re just totally obnoxious or not.” 
“Reagan was very good at this. There are ways you can turn and you can pose questions to them,” he said. “If [Trump] wants to, he can do that, and again, he has the advantage…I think the burden is on Speaker Johnson to just remove them from the room.”
Though Continetti suspects Trump will stick to his script tonight, he also notes that the president’s not scheduled to depart the Capitol until around 11:30 p.m., two and a half hours after his speech is expected to begin.
“That&#8217;s plenty of time for a weave-like speech,&#8221; he said.

Best Of 2025: Art Of The Weave: Why Trump Is The ‘Most Effective Presidential Communicator’ In A Generation

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that she is expecting a baby girl in May, calling the news “the greatest Christmas gift we could ever ask for.”
“My husband and I are thrilled to grow our family and can’t wait to watch our son become a big brother. My heart is overflowing with gratitude to God for the blessing of motherhood, which I truly believe is the closest thing to heaven on earth.”
Leavitt thanked both the president and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles for creating a pro-family work environment. “I am also extremely grateful to President Trump and our Chief of Staff Susie Wiles for their support, and for fostering a pro-family environment in the White House.”
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Leavitt has previously praised the White House&#8217;s &#8220;family-friendly environment&#8221; during an interview with The Daily Wire, saying it&#8217;s &#8220;a testament to the president and the chief of staff as well.&#8221;
Other working mothers have also commented on the Trump administration&#8217;s support.
“They are so incredibly understanding about mothers’ schedules, making it home on time for family time,” Joanna Wischer, deputy director of the Made in America office in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and mother to a one-year-old, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/on-being-a-mom-at-the-white-house">told</a> The Daily Wire. “The culture of the Trump administration is to make it so that we get as much done as possible in a reasonable timeframe and then be able to balance life with being able to see our kids, spend time with the family.”
Leavitt has also stressed that her family support system helps her while she serves as a mother and press secretary.
“I’m very blessed with a great support system,” Leavitt told The Daily Wire. “A wonderful husband who is an amazing father to our son, great parents who come to D.C. often to help when we need it. And my faith really keeps me grounded in giving me the strength to do both jobs, very important jobs, at the same time.”
A senior White House official <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/karoline-leavitt-expecting-baby-girl-may-2026-says-motherhood-closest-thing-heaven-earth">reported</a> that Leavitt will continue to serve as President Trump’s press secretary — a role she previously served on the campaign trail while pregnant with her firstborn.
Four days after delivering her son, Leavitt was back to doing media hits. The press secretary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/on-being-a-mom-at-the-white-house">told</a> The Daily Wire that her original plan when her son was born was to take some time off, as Wiles advised. However, witnessing the shocking assassination attempt on President Trump while holding her newborn son, Leavitt told her husband that it was time to go &#8220;back to work.&#8221;
“I felt compelled to be present in this historic moment. The president literally put his life on the line to win this election. The least I could do is get back to work quickly,” Leavitt stated.
Many conservative influencers have rushed to congratulate Leavitt. &#8220;Going to tell my kids you are Super Woman. Congratulations!&#8221; said Savannah Antao.
Popular X account MAGA Voice <a href="https://x.com/MAGAVoice/status/2004634523355807908">stated</a>, &#8220;Breaking Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt just announced she is Pregnant. Congratulations. MAGA is growing.&#8221;
Leavitt is the first pregnant White House press secretary in U.S. history.

Karoline Leavitt

Karoline Leavitt Announces ‘Greatest Christmas Gift’ — Her Baby Girl

Motherhood

The White House believes Americans will soon start seeing President Trump’s economic policies pad their wallets thanks to the tax cuts passed in the Big Beautiful Bill.
The rules changed mid-year when Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill was signed, making many of its tax cuts retroactive to January 1 &#8212; but because the IRS did not update payroll forms or withholding tables during 2025, employers kept taking out taxes based on the old rules. When Americans file their 2025 taxes next year, the government will make calculations using the new rules, meaning many people will receive larger refund checks than usual. 
“We didn’t pass the Big Beautiful Bill until the middle of the summer, so a lot of the tax changes which affected last year were not in any tax forms filled out in the beginning of the year,” <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6386652620112">said</a> White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett.
Those delayed changes, the White House argues, will result in what it calls the “largest tax refunds in American history,” which officials say will help improve affordability for Americans.
&#8220;I think we&#8217;re going to see $100 billion to $200 billion of refunds, which could be between $1,000 and $2,000 per household,&#8221; stated Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Financial analysts have also weighed in on the expected impact. JPMorgan <a href="https://am.jpmorgan.com/us/en/asset-management/adv/insights/market-insights/market-updates/notes-on-the-week-ahead/the-investment-implications-of-the-refund-surge/">expects</a> over 100 million Americans will receive a tax refund with an average amount of $3,743.
Several specific provisions of the Big Beautiful Bill will contribute to these record refunds. The bill increased the standard deduction by $750 for single filers and by $1,500 for joint filers, allowing people to subtract a large amount from their income before taxes are calculated. The bill also temporarily increases the State and Local Taxes deduction cap from $10,000 to $40,000. While these adjustments affect all taxpayers, workers who receive tips or overtime pay are expected to see even greater relief. Tip earners can deduct up to $25,000 in tip income, while workers who earn overtime can deduct up to $12,500.
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Other key provisions of the Big Beautiful Bill further expand financial relief. The legislation increased the child tax credit for tens of millions of families, made the paid leave tax credit permanent, raised the death tax exemption, shielded family farms from excessive taxation, and enhanced 529 savings accounts. Trump also helped the country’s youngest Americans by creating Trump Accounts, which are investment accounts for kids where earnings grow tax-free. As it does with children, the bill also helps seniors, who will receive an additional $6,000 standard deduction bonus if over 65 years old.
President Trump said under these cuts, “many families will be saving between $11,000 and $20,000 a year.”
The White House estimates the tax refunds will lead to a strong 2026.
&#8220;They&#8217;ll get a real increase in their wages. So I think 2026 can be a very good year,&#8221; Bessent <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/bessent-expects-taxpayers-see-very-large-tax-refunds-early-next-year">said</a>.
JPMorgan says that the tax refunds could even translate into a strong 2025 Holiday season as well.
&#8220;Moreover, it could even reach back to impact the holiday season this year. If consumers are confident that they will be getting bigger refund checks early in the new year, they may be willing to rack up more credit card debt in December, providing further near-term support to the economy.&#8221;

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

White House Says 2026 Will Bring The Largest Tax Refunds In History

2026 Midterms

Economy

Taxes

Trump Administration

President Donald Trump declares a blockade on Venezuelan oil tankers, then addresses the nation in a rare primetime Oval Office speech, and Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest Conference kicks off under a new kind of spotlight.
It’s Thursday, December 18, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251218-member-exclusive">video version can be seen on The Daily Wire</a>:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trumps-venezuelan-oil-blockade-amfest-kicks-off-12-18-25/id1576594336?i=1000741813790" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Begins ‘Blockade’ Of Venezuela</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1016735" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Oil-Tanker-Blockade-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Oil-Tanker-Blockade-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Oil-Tanker-Blockade-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Oil-Tanker-Blockade-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Oil-Tanker-Blockade-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Oil-Tanker-Blockade.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
President Trump has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-orders-complete-blockade-of-sanctioned-oil-tankers-moving-in-and-out-of-venezuela">announced</a> a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers coming in and out of Venezuela. It comes as the United States escalates a pressure campaign against the Maduro regime. The president is now putting pressure on the state-run oil industry of Venezuela and declared that Maduro’s government is a foreign terrorist organization. Trump warned that this “will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before.” The U.S. Navy in the region is expected to receive orders in the coming days to escalate operations. The president said the blockade of Venezuela will continue until Maduro returns “all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Addresses The Nation</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1016733" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Trump-Touts-Wins-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Trump-Touts-Wins-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Trump-Touts-Wins-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Trump-Touts-Wins-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Trump-Touts-Wins-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Trump-Touts-Wins.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
President Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/live-updates-president-trump-addresses-nation-from-white-house">gave</a> a much-anticipated address to the nation late Wednesday night. The address was short on new announcements and read more like an attempt to set the tone for the midterms as the end of the year approaches. The most notable portion of the night came when the president announced the “Warrior Dividend,” a $1,776 payout for American service members, and said it would be paid to more than 1.4 million people before Christmas. This comes weeks after the possibility of a dividend payout to Americans from tariffs was floated, but this is the first time an element of that policy has materialized. The president also primarily focused his remarks on the economy, including the concept of affordability. Affordability has become a key topic and nearly a buzzword touted by Democrats and slammed as hypocritical by Republicans, including the president, in recent months as Biden-era inflation has cooled.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">AmFest Kicks Off</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1016737" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/AmFest-Carries-On-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/AmFest-Carries-On-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/AmFest-Carries-On-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/AmFest-Carries-On-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/AmFest-Carries-On-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/AmFest-Carries-On.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
TurningPoint USA’s annual AmericaFest conference <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daily-wire-to-stream-tpusas-america-fest">kicks</a> off Thursday, marking the first major TurningPoint event since the assassination of its founder, Charlie Kirk. Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, and members of the TurningPoint team have made it clear that they want Kirk’s mission to advance conservatism and his legacy to continue. Leaders have described this year’s AmFest as a “powerful celebration of faith, freedom, and the legacy of … Charlie Kirk.” Erika, who’s stepped in as TurningPoint’s CEO, is expected to speak, as are prominent conservatives including Vice President JD Vance, Megyn Kelly, Tucker Carlson, and The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, and Michael Knowles. TurningPoint leadership seems to be stressing unity and free speech, despite the background noise over the past few months.

MRN_251218_V1

Morning Brief: Venezuelan Oil Blockade, Trump’s Address To America, & TPUSA’s AmFest Kicks Off

Morning Brief: Venezuela Blockade, Trump’s White House Address, & AmFest Kicks Off

AMFEST

Morning Wire

Turning Point USA

Venezuela

The White House unveiled new plaques beneath the portraits of American presidents on its Presidential Walk of Fame on Wednesday, with some of the plaques including President Donald Trump&#8217;s jabs at former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
The Presidential Walk of Fame, which is located along the outside wall of West Wing, includes biographies for every U.S. president. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump, &#8220;as a student of history,&#8221; wrote some of the descriptions himself, which is evident, as much of the sentence structure and grammar is reflective of the president&#8217;s unique style usually seen in his social media posts.
Instead of a photo of Biden for the former president&#8217;s portrait, the White House displays an image of an autopen. The text beneath the image reads, &#8220;Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American History. Taking office as a result of the most corrupt Election ever seen in the United States, Biden oversaw a series of unprecedented disasters that brought our Nation to the brink of destruction. His policies caused the highest Inflation ever recorded, leading the U.S. Dollar to lose more than 20% of its value in 4 years. His Green New Scam surrendered American Energy Dominance and, by abolishing the Southern Border, Biden let 21 million people from all over the World pour into the United States, including from prisons, jails, mental institutions, and insane asylums. His Afghanistan Disaster was among the most humiliating events in American History, and resulted in the murder of 13 brave American Servicemembers, with many others gravely wounded. Seeing Biden’s devastating weakness, Russia invaded Ukraine, and Hamas terrorists launched the heinous October 7th attack on Israel.&#8221;
“Nicknamed both ‘Sleepy’ and ‘Crooked,’ Joe Biden was dominated by his Radical Left handlers,&#8221; the biography continues. &#8220;They and their allies in the Fake News Media attempted to cover up his severe mental decline, and his unprecedented use of the Autopen. Following his humiliating debate loss to President Trump in the big June 2024 debate, he was forced to withdraw from his campaign for re-election in disgrace. Biden weaponized Law Enforcement against his political opponent, while also prosecuting many other innocent people. He left office issuing blanket pardons to Radical Democrat criminals and thugs, as well as members of the Biden Crime Family — But despite it all, President Trump would get Re-Elected in a Landslide, and SAVE AMERICA!”
The plaques for President Obama refer to him as &#8220;one of the most divisive political figures in American history&#8221; and blast his handling of foreign policy and Obamacare.
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Obama&#8217;s plaques reads, “Barack Hussein Obama was the first Black President, a community organizer, one term Senator from Illinois, and one of the most divisive political figures in American History. As President, he passed the highly ineffective ‘Unaffordable’ Care Act, resulting in his party losing control of both Houses of Congress, and the Election of the largest House Republican majority since 1946. He presided over a stagnant Economy, approved the terrible Iran Nuclear Deal, and signed the one-sided Paris Climate Accords, both of which were later terminated by President Donald J. Trump.”
“Under Obama, the ISIS Caliphate spread across the Middle East, Libya collapsed into chaos, and Russia invaded and took Crimea, in Ukraine. He crippled small businesses with crushing regulation and environmental red tape, devastated American coal miners, and weaponized the IRS and Federal bureaucracies against his political opponents. Obama also spied on the 2016 Presidential Campaign of Donald J. Trump and presided over the creation of the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, the worst political scandal in American History. His handpicked successor, Hillary Rodham Clinton, would then lose the Presidency to Donald J. Trump.”
Trump&#8217;s plaque for President George W. Bush was far more friendly, but it still took a shot at Bush over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
&#8220;The son of former President George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush was the Governor of Texas when he won the hotly contested 2000 Election for President. His Administration was largely defined by the events of September 11, 2001 — The destruction of the World Trade Center, after which he led the war on terror. President Bush created the Department of Homeland Security, but started wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which should not have happened. He also enacted Tax Cuts, expanded Medicare, signed the No Child Left Behind education bill, and launched the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Shortly before the end of his Administration, a Global Financial Crisis and major Recession took place.”
For President Bill Clinton, Trump&#8217;s plaque highlights the economic boom in the 1990s, but it also mentions the &#8220;scandals that plagued his presidency.&#8221; The end of Clinton&#8217;s biography states, &#8220;In 2016, President Clinton’s wife, Hillary Clinton, lost the Presidency to President Donald J. Trump!&#8221;
President Ronald Reagan&#8217;s plaque reads, &#8220;Ronald Reagan won the Cold War, and transformed American politics and the Conservative Movement. Before entering the White House, Reagan was a Hollywood actor, President of the Screen Actors Guild, Governor of California and, for decades, a leading voice in American Conservatism. As President, he enacted Tax Cuts, presided over a thriving Economy, and rebuilt the American Military. He survived being shot by an assassin, and confronted the Soviet Union with striking moral clarity, labeling it an &#8216;evil empire,&#8217; and putting unprecedented pressure on the Communist menace. Known as &#8216;The Great Communicator,&#8217; he was re-elected in a landslide in 1984, and left office with high approval, having restored National Confidence, Spirit, and Will. He was a fan of President Donald J. Trump long before President Trump’s Historic run for the White House. Likewise, President Trump was a fan of his!&#8221;
Of course, the most admiring biography was for Trump, with the president&#8217;s plaques reading, &#8220;On January 20, 2025, Donald J. Trump became the first President in 132 years to be sworn into office for a second non-consecutive term, following his Historic Victory in an Electoral College landslide, 312 to 226. Overcoming unprecedented Weaponization of Law Enforcement against him, as well as two assassination attempts, he won all battleground States by millions of votes, was the first Republican in decades to win the Popular Vote, BIG, and won 86% of Counties in America, 2,700 to 525. All 50 States shifted toward the Republican Party for the first time ever. At his Inauguration, President Trump announced the beginning of the &#8216;Golden Age of America,&#8217; and he delivered, ending eight wars in his first eight months, securing the Border, deporting gang members and migrant criminals, making our Cities safe, helping our Farmers, defeating Inflation, reducing Energy costs, and drawing Trillions of Dollars of new Investment, a RECORD, into the United States.&#8221;
&#8220;President Trump signed the Largest Tax Cuts in American History, the Largest Spending Cuts in American History, and implemented the Largest Ever Regulation Cuts,&#8221; a second plaque adds. &#8220;He obliterated Iran&#8217;s nuclear enrichment capacity with Operation Midnight Hammer, convinced NATO Countries to agree to increase contributions from 2% to 5% of GDP, reformed the Global Trading System, and made America Rich with Historic Tariffs, removed Critical Race Theory and transgender insanity from public schools, and banned men from women&#8217;s sports. He began the construction of the Golden Dome missile defense shield, renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, and has built, right here at the White House, the magnificent Trump Presidential Ballroom after a 225 year wait—but THE BEST IS YET TO COME!&#8221;

Trump Adds Descriptions For Every President On Presidential Walk Of Fame. You Need To Read Them.

Barack Obama

Bill Clinton

Joe Biden

Ronald Reagan

President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he will address the nation from the White House at 9:00 p.m. ET Wednesday.
The address will focus on highlighting some of the Trump administration&#8217;s biggest accomplishments in 2025, while also &#8220;teasing some policy that will be coming in the new year,&#8221; according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. The president is closing in on the end of the first year of his second term, which has been marked by an aggressive agenda on immigration and foreign policy and unprecedented actions on trade.
&#8220;My Fellow Americans: I will be giving an ADDRESS TO THE NATION tomorrow night, LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, at 9 P.M. EST. I look forward to &#8216;seeing&#8217; you then. It has been a great year for our Country, and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115730644486071082">wrote</a>.
Leavitt <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/live-blog/trump-congress-hegseth-rubio-venezuela-jobs-health-bill-live-updates-rcna249037/rcrd94626?canonicalCard=true">added</a>, &#8220;The best is truly yet to come, as he often says, and so he’ll be addressing the country about all of his historic accomplishments over the past year and maybe teasing some policy that will be coming in the new year, as well as we head into this Christmas season,&#8221; Leavitt said.
The White House has aggressively touted Trump&#8217;s economic policies in recent weeks as Democrats latch onto economic issues to energize their base and reach disaffected voters ahead of the vital 2026 midterm elections. Last week, Trump traveled to Pennsylvania for his first stop on a speaking tour to address the economy.
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During the event in Pennsylvania, Trump ripped Democrats for pushing the &#8220;affordability crisis&#8221; narrative, which he has called a &#8220;hoax.&#8221;
“They say, ‘Affordability,’ and everyone says, ‘Oh, that must mean Trump has high prices.’ No, our prices are coming down tremendously,” Trump said last Tuesday. “They have a new word. They always have a hoax. The new word is ‘affordability,’ so they look at the camera and they say this election is all about affordability.”
The economy will likely remain a major topic for the administration in the months to come as Trump awaits a major ruling from the Supreme Court that will decide whether he has the authority to impose hefty tariffs on countries around the world.
Trump&#8217;s first year back in office has also been defined by his attempt to crack down on crime in U.S. cities and his deportation operation. The address comes as the administration faces multiple issues on the foreign policy front, including the ongoing peace negotiations with Russia and Ukraine and the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean as Trump pressures Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Trump&#8217;s remarks on Wednesday night will be his first address to the nation from the White House since September, when he addressed the nation following the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. Trump released a taped address from his Mar-a-Lago estate on November 26 after two National Guard troops were shot in Washington, D.C.

Trump To Address The Nation Wednesday Night, Tease Policies Coming In 2026

WASHINGTON—White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles issued a scathing statement Tuesday in response to a forthcoming Vanity Fair profile of President Donald Trump&#8217;s cabinet, a story replete with unflatteringly close-up photos of top Trump officials and surprisingly candid statements from Wiles herself.
&#8220;The article published early this morning is a disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history,&#8221; Wiles wrote Tuesday in response to an excerpt of the piece published in the New York Times. &#8220;Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story.&#8221;
&#8220;I assume, after reading it, that this was done to paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the President and our team,&#8221; Wiles added. &#8220;The truth is the Trump White House has already accomplished more in eleven months than any other President has accomplished in eight years and that is due to the unmatched leadership and vision of President Trump, for whom I have been honored to work for the better part of a decade. None of this will stop our relentless pursuit of Making America Great Again!&#8221;
Vanity Fair&#8217;s story is written by Chris Whipple, who claims to have interviewed Wiles &#8220;amid each moment of crisis&#8221; throughout Trump&#8217;s second administration. The publication describes the story as &#8220;an unflinching, up-close look at power — and peril.&#8221; Of all the insights that Whipple gained from his interviews with Wiles, the Vanity Fair writer focuses on the most sensational pieces of their conversations.
<blockquote>&#8220;Trump, she told me, &#8216;has an alcoholic’s personality.&#8217; Vance’s conversion from Never Trumper to MAGA acolyte, she said, has been &#8216;sort of political.&#8217; The vice president, she added, has been &#8216;a conspiracy theorist for a decade.&#8217; Russell Vought, architect of the notorious Project 2025 and head of the Office of Management and Budget, is &#8216;a right-wing absolute zealot.&#8217; When I asked her what she thought of Musk reposting a tweet about public sector workers killing millions under Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, she replied: &#8216;I think that’s when he’s microdosing.&#8217; (She says she doesn&#8217;t have first-hand knowledge.)&#8221;</blockquote>
Whipple later elaborates that Wiles is comparing Trump&#8217;s aggression and strong personality to that of an alcoholic whose personality is &#8220;exaggerated when they drink,&#8221; explaining that Trump, who is sober, &#8220;operates [with] a view that there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing.”
<div id="attachment_1015597" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/susie-wiles-slams-vanity-fair-over-disingenuously-framed-hit-piece/president-trump-meets-with-visiting-israeli-pm-netanyahu-at-the-white-house-16" rel="attachment wp-att-1015597"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1015597" class="wp-image-1015597 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2197662238-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2197662238-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2197662238-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2197662238-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2197662238.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>(Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)</div>
The piece includes a number of other candid comments from Wiles that are making headlines.
“There is no client list, and it sure as hell wasn’t on her desk,&#8221; Wiles is quoted saying of Pam Bondi&#8217;s handling of the Epstein files, and regarding Ghislaine Maxwell&#8217;s transfer to a minimum-security prison: “The president was ticked. The president was mighty unhappy. I don’t know why they moved her. Neither does the president.”
She also reportedly said of the president&#8217;s attitude towards Venezuela: “He wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle. And people way smarter than me on that say that he will.” Vanity Fair suggests that the quote indicates that the Trump administration is lying about their reasoning for blowing up the narco-terrorist boats, as Whipple writes: &#8220;Wiles’s statement appears to contradict the administration’s official stance that blowing up boats is about drug interdiction, not regime change.&#8221;
On Elon Musk&#8217;s dismantling of USAID, Wiles reportedly told Whipple: &#8220;No rational person could think the USAID process was a good one. Nobody.&#8221; And as for Musk himself, Whipple writes that when he asked Wiles about one of Musk&#8217;s more controversial social media posts, she responded: “I think that’s when he’s microdosing,&#8221; allegedly saying “he’s an avowed ketamine” user.
When the New York Times asked her about this statement, she reportedly responded: “That’s ridiculous. I wouldn’t have said it and I wouldn’t know.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was quick to defend her colleague on Tuesday, tweeting in support of Wiles and the work she has done.
&#8220;Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has helped President Trump achieve the most successful first 11 months in office of any President in American history,&#8221; Leavitt wrote. &#8220;President Trump has no greater or more loyal advisor than Susie. The entire Administration is grateful for her steady leadership and united fully behind her.&#8221;
Her show of support was echoed by other current and former Trump administration officials, including Harrison Fields, who formerly served as a White House spokesman.
&#8220;I have worked under three chiefs across two Trump administrations, and without a doubt, Susie Wiles has led the most effective, efficient, and unified White House and administration — second to none,&#8221; he said in an &#8220;X&#8221; post. &#8220;Her service to the President is selfless, and her mandate to serve is rooted in allegiance to God, the President, and the millions of Americans who elected him. Any attempt to selectively or maliciously attack her leadership is shameful and entirely without merit.&#8221;
Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, whom Wiles mentioned in her interviews as &#8220;a right-wing absolute zealot,&#8221; similarly praised Wiles, saying that she is an &#8220;exceptional chief of staff.&#8221;
&#8220;I have had the privilege of working in President Trump&#8217;s White House for every single minute of his two terms,&#8221; he said in a Tuesday morning post. &#8220;Let me be very clear: It has never worked this well or been more oriented towards accomplishing what he wants to accomplish. In my portfolio, she is always an ally in helping me deliver for the president. And this hit piece will not slow us down.&#8221;

President Trump Meets With Visiting Argentine President Milei At The White House

Susie Wiles Unloads On Trump Team, White House On Defense

Susie Wiles

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