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Trump’s Patriot Games spark Hunger Games comparisons
00:42 • Source: CNN
Trump’s Patriot Games spark Hunger Games comparisons
00:42
• Epstein files: The Justice Department has released records from the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. Follow live updates here.
• Trump speech: President Donald Trump gave a meandering speech in North Carolina, touching on the economy but frequently going off on tangents. Earlier Friday at the White House, he announced deals with nine pharmaceutical companies and said he’ll soon meet with insurers to push for lower prices.
• Syria strikes: The US struck multiple targets in Syria on Friday that the US military tied to ISIS as retaliation for the recent attack that killed two American service members there.
• Foreign affairs: Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner held meetings in Miami with foreign officials to discuss both the next phase of the Gaza peace plan and efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
President Donald Trump says he may elect to award himself a massive sum in connection with complaints he filed about past Justice Department investigations into him.
“I brought a lawsuit and I’m winning the lawsuit. There’s only one problem. I’m the one that has to settle it,” he told his crowd in North Carolina on Friday. “In other words, I am suing and I’m the one that’s supposed to settle. So maybe I’ll give myself $1 billion and give it all to charity.”
Trump submitted the complaints in 2023 and 2024, before he was reelected. They seek damages for alleged rights violations derived from the investigation into Russian election interference in the 2016 campaign and his classified documents case — including accusing the FBI of violating his privacy when it searched his Florida estate in 2022.
Trump decried the Mar-a-Lago search in his Friday speech, saying his wife in particular felt violated by agents rummaging through her lingerie drawer.
“Her undergarments, sometimes referred to as panties, are folded perfect, wrapped. They’re like, so perfect. I said, that’s beautiful,” he said, adding: “I think she steams them.”
“She opened the drawers, and it was not that way. They were a mess. It was all over the place,” he went on.
President Donald Trump aimed to give a lift to candidates in North Carolina ahead of the midterms during his remarks Friday evening in the state.
Trump criticized Democratic Rep. Don Davis, who won reelection for North Carolina’s first congressional district in 2024, besting the Republican candidate retired army colonel Laurie Buckhout. Buckhout, who most recently served in the Pentagon as Assistant Secretary of War for Cyber Policy, announced she is running for the seat again.
“Don Davis voted against no tax on overtime. He voted against no tax on tips, and he voted for the largest tax increase in American history,” Trump said. “Don Davis betrayed North Carolina.”
The president invited former RNC chair Michael Whatley, who is running for Senate in North Carolina, on stage, crediting his help for victories in the state for three consecutive presidential elections.
And Trump briefly mentioned North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, noting the two had fought together for federal recognition of the Lumbee Tribe in the southeastern area of the state. Tillis sometimes found himself at odds with Trump and is not running for re-election.
President Donald Trump made brief mention of US strikes in Syria launched Friday as retaliation for the recent attack that killed American service members.
“We hit the ISIS thugs in Syria who were trying to regroup after their decimation by the Trump administration,” he said.
The president said he’d ordered a “massive strike” on the terror group, calling it “very successful.”
“It was precision. We hit every site flawlessly, and we are restoring peace through strength,” he said.
President Donald Trump spent several minutes discussing his physical health amid questions about his stamina.
He pointed to the string of cognitive tests he claims to have aced. And he pledged to alert the country should he find himself in decline.
“When that time comes, I will let you know about it. In fact, you’ll probably find out about it just by watching,” he said. “But that time is not now, because I feel the same that I felt for 50 years.”
Trump, who has appeared to doze off during multiple on-camera events over the last several weeks, said cognitive tests should be mandatory for sitting presidents.
“I think it’s very important,” he said.
President Donald Trump is about 40 minutes into a meandering speech in North Carolina, periodically touting his economic record between tangents on various other matters.
He recounted an announcement he made earlier in the day intended to lower drug prices, at one point assuming a French accent to impersonate President Emmanuel Macron’s response to his pharmaceutical negotiations.
The audience listened politely, if quietly. They grew far more animated when he veered into more familiar broadsides against migrants, his predecessor Joe Biden and his opponent of nearly a decade ago, Hillary Clinton (“I was going to use a B word,” he said. “My wife would not be happy”).
His grievance list grew as he went along, encompassing the news media and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the onetime loyalist who has dramatically broken with him and whom Trump now calls “Marjorie Traitor Brown.”
He’s found distractions in the crowd, including the group of women from the western part of the state who volunteer at his events.
When he saw a hat he liked, he explained how he could gauge its value.
“I want gold thread, not mustard color. You know?” he said. “When you have a mustard-colored thread, don’t accept it.”
Recalling the times he came to purchase furniture in North Carolina as a hotelier, he explained the exacting nature of the task.
“The arm of a chair was very important to me. I said, ‘I like that chair, but this arm has to be a different shape,’” he said.
He kept going: “I’m a very aesthetic person, believe me, except with women, I don’t care what a woman looks like. I used to say beautiful. Now I don’t care.”
President Donald Trump on Friday tried to take credit for cooling inflation last month — despite economists cautioning that the Consumer Price Index slowing to 2.7% from 3% in September was likely the result of shutdown-related distortions of economic data.
“The biggest news of all is yesterday, it was announced that inflation is far lower than anybody expected,” Trump said in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. “I told you.”
“We know have the lowest core inflation since March of 2021, and we’re just getting started,” Trump claimed. “Remember they said the tariffs will cause inflation? We’ve just come out with best inflation report we’ve had in years and lots of cash too.”
However, November’s 2.7% inflation rate was only the lowest since July — after rising as high as 3% in September.
Every economist CNN spoke to said the November inflation data was effectively meaningless, because the Bureau of Labor Statistics had insufficient survey data to make conclusions. They expect the December report to show a sharp rebound.
Trump on Friday continued to blame the Biden administration for high prices.
“They’re the ones that cause they caused the highest inflation in the history of our country, which led to the highest prices in the history of our country. I inherited the mess. I got the prices down, and they’re going down,” Trump said.
CNN has reported, however, that wage gain is barely keeping pace with inflation, which contributes to the affordability crisis in America.
CNN’s Alicia Wallace and Dave Goldman contributed to this post.
As President Donald Trump departs Washington for the holidays, he is joined by a number of top officials, including his chief of staff Susie Wiles.
Initially, the White House said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was traveling with the president, though Blanche wasn’t seen boarding along with other aides, and the White House later clarified he was not on the plane.
Wiles said in an interview with Vanity Fair released this week that Attorney General Pam Bondi had “whiffed” the initial handling of the Epstein matter.
After speaking at his rally in North Carolina, Trump is due in Palm Beach, Florida, for the holidays.
This Live Story post and headline have been updated after The White House corrected the list of people traveling with the president.
The stage is set for President Donald Trump’s speech here in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, set to take place at 9 p.m. ET, with a banner behind the podium that reads “LOWER PRICES BIGGER PAYCHECKS.”
North Carolina Senate candidate Michael Whatley said his state is the “ideal place” for Trump to give these remarks.
“The president absolutely wanted to get to North Carolina, and he absolutely wants to talk about the economy,” Whatley, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee told CNN, when asked how the event came about.
“This is an ideal place for him to come and have the conversation. He loves North Carolina. He carried North Carolina three different times,” Whatley added.
This event comes as affordability remains a top issue for voters and many have expressed frustration with the cost of living.
The US struck multiple targets in Syria on Friday that the US military tied to ISIS as retaliation for a recent attack that killed two American service members, according to two US officials.
President Donald Trump later announced the strikes on Truth Social.
“I am hereby announcing that the United States is inflicting very serious retaliation, just as I promised, on the murderous terrorists responsible,” he wrote, going on to praise the country’s leader for “working very hard to bring Greatness back to Syria.”
Dubbed “Operation Hawkeye,” a reference to the fact that the two US soldiers killed were from the “Hawkeye State” of Iowa, the strikes hit dozens of targets the military connected to ISIS — including infrastructure and weapons storage sites across Syria, one of the officials said.
After the attack on December 13 that killed the two soldiers and a civilian interpreter, US and partner forces conducted 10 operations resulting in the death or detention of around 23 people, that official added. Those operations also yielded intelligence from electronics gathered during the operations that provided information contributing to targeting for the strikes, according to the same US official.
Hundreds of American troops continue to be deployed to Syria as part of the US’ longstanding mission to combat ISIS.
While the Trump administration vowed retaliation against ISIS, CNN has reported that Syria’s Ministry of Interior Affairs said the attacker had been a part of Syria’s Internal Security service. US and Syrian officials acknowledged to CNN that the gunman’s ties to ISIS are not entirely clear-cut; ISIS has not claimed responsibility for the attack.
President Donald Trump praised New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, who announced Friday that she is dropping her bid for governor and is not seeking reelection to the US.
“Elise is a tremendous talent, regardless of what she does. She will have GREAT success, and I am with her all the way!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also gave kudos to her former boss, whom she worked for as communications director in the House.
“Elise Stefanik has been an incredible advocate for the people of her district in Upstate New York, and she will always be a true friend to President Trump,” she posted on X. “On a personal note, Elise is my former boss. She is a great leader, and an even better person.”
Trump nominated Stefanik for US ambassador to the United Nations, but her nomination was later pulled as the GOP navigated a narrow majority with Trump saying at the time it was “essential that we maintain EVERY Republican seat in Congress.”
The White House is framing the Justice Department’s release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein as evidence of the administration’s transparency, while criticizing Democrats.
“The Trump Administration is the most transparent in history. By releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, and President Trump recently calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, the Trump Administration has done more for the victims than Democrats ever have,” spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement.
“And while President Trump is delivering on his promises, Democrats like Hakeem Jeffries and Stacey Plaskett have yet to explain why they were soliciting money and meetings from Epstein after he was a convicted sex offender. The American people deserve answers,” Jackson added.
Plaskett exchanged texts with Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing. A Democratic consulting group asked Epstein if he wanted to participate in a fundraising dinner with Jeffries in March 2013; Jeffries has said he has no recollection of the message.
Trump, who’s been dogged by his administration’s handling of the files, ultimately backed the release of the files last month after members of his own party helped force a vote in the House to compel their release.
White House officials are bracing for the release of hundreds of thousands of documents related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein today, as they continue to be unable to rid themselves of the story that has plagued the administration for months.
What these officials are telling CNN: Trump administration officials said they were convinced that there wouldn’t be anything in the files that showed President Donald Trump did anything illegal. Though they conceded they had not reviewed the files themselves, they insisted that anything of that nature would have come out long ago, particularly in a Democratic administration. However, officials are aware that any new information that reinforces Trump’s relationship with Epstein is bound to drive media coverage and potentially eclipse anything else the president is doing.
As information has trickled out in recent months, the White House and Trump have reacted by saying that none of the disclosures reveal new information — and focused on the fact that it is already known that Trump and Epstein socialized before having a falling out years ago.
Officials expect to rely on that narrative again, but noted that strategy can change, depending what is in the documents. That seemed to be on display at the White House this afternoon when Trump, who almost always opens the floor to questions from reporters, decided he would not take questions following his announcement on drug-pricing deals.
President Donald Trump said Friday that he plans to call a meeting with health insurance companies to pressure them to voluntarily lower their prices.
“I’ll bet you, if I called a meeting of the insurance companies, the companies that are involved with health care costs, I would be willing to bet, I think that they would reduce their prices,” he said during a drug pricing event at the White House. “I’m going to see if they get their price down.”
Trump said he wants to hold the discussions within the next two weeks, speculating that he could strike a deal with insurers in the same way that his administration has negotiated agreements with drug companies to lower the cost of certain medicines.
In a statement later Friday, health insurer trade group AHIP indicated its members were open to a meeting.
“Health plans are doing everything in their power to shield Americans from the high and rising costs of medical care, and we welcome any opportunity to discuss common-sense solutions to lower costs for everyone,” AHIP CEO Mike Tuffin said.
The announcement comes as the White House and congressional Republicans have struggled to coalesce behind a plan for averting a looming spike in Affordable Care Act premiums spurred by the expiration of key enhanced subsidies at the end of the month.
Congress adjourned for the year earlier this week without reaching a health care agreement. Trump, meanwhile, has pushed for directing more federal aid to individual patients, but has yet to offer any specific plan for accomplishing that.
The coming premium hikes have worried some Trump advisers and Republican lawmakers, who are fearful of the political fallout of rising health care prices at a time when voters are already focused on cost-of-living concerns.
This post has been updated with additional details.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department has not received any orders to redact President Donald Trump’s name from the Jeffrey Epstein files it is reviewing.
Blanche said he knows this because he would have been the person to give the order to redact Trump’s name.
“I would give the order. President Trump has certainly said from the beginning that he expects all files that can be released to be released, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Blanche said.
Blanche’s interview with ABC this afternoon comes as the Justice Department is set to release hundreds of files related to the Epstein investigation today.
Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing in the Epstein case, and he has denied involvement.
In his latest effort to lower drug costs, President Donald Trump unveiled Friday “Most Favored Nation” pricing deals with nine more pharmaceutical companies.
The voluntary agreements follow those made with five drugmakers – including the two manufacturers of blockbuster weight loss drugs – as the White House races to expand an initiative that has become a centerpiece of the Trump administration’s health care agenda. The “Most Favored Nation” program calls for drugmakers to price medications sold in the US at the lowest cost available in peer countries.
While Trump and administration officials repeatedly tout that the president’s actions will lead to steep drops in drug prices, many experts are skeptical about how much Americans will benefit.
The drugmakers involved in Friday’s White House event include: Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Genentech, Gilead, GSK, Merck, Novartis and Sanofi. Their medications are taken by hundreds of millions of Americans to treat cancer, diabetes and autoimmune, dermatologic, neurologic, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, a senior administration official told reporters Friday.
President Donald Trump flashed the new “Trump Gold Card” for cameras on Friday, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick saying the US has taken in more than $1 billion “in a matter of a couple of days” through the new immigration pathway.
Turning to health care CEOs standing behind him, Trump said they would appreciate the “gold card” visa, which allows foreigners to pay $1 million to expedite their visa application, or have companies pay $2 million to sponsor a foreign worker they want to bring into the US.
“The companies are able to buy the card and use it for people coming to our country so they can stay in our country instead of being immediately shipped out after graduating,” Trump said from the podium inside the Roosevelt Room.
The card appears larger than a credit card and bears Trump’s face, a bald eagle and the Statue of Liberty.
Trump said the money from the cards will go toward paying down the national debt.
“That goes all toward reducing debt, goes into the Treasury of the United States,” Trump said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio today said Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s regime is “intolerable” as the US continues to apply pressure on the country.
Recently, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles suggested in an interview that the administration’s real goal with the strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean is to oust Maduro. When asked about it, Rubio responded, “You can interpret it any way you want.”
Rubio said the Maduro regime cooperates with terrorist organizations, and partners and participates “in activities that threaten the national interest of the United States.”
“So yes, our goal is to change that dynamic, and that’s why the president is doing what he’s doing,” he added.
Some background: The secretary’s comments come as the Trump administration is weighing carrying out land strikes on Venezuela. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers coming to and leaving from Venezuela, applying new economic pressure. In the meantime, the US has continued to strike alleged drug boats in the Caribbean in what it claims is an effort to crack down on illegal flows of drugs from the country.
Rubio also defended the boat strikes by reiterating the administration’s position that it did not need congressional approval for the attacks.
When asked if he believes land strikes in Venezuela would require congressional approval, Rubio said that at this point, “nothing’s happened that requires us to notify Congress or get congressional approval or cross the threshold into war.”
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is joining special envoy Steve Witkoff today for Ukraine and Gaza peace talks in Miami, a White House official told CNN.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters today that there is a possibility he might participate in the talks between US and Ukrainian officials. “I may be there tomorrow for a portion of it,” Rubio said in an end-of-year press briefing at the Department of State.
Witkoff and Kushner are first meeting with Ukrainian and European national security advisers. “Special Envoy Witkoff and Mr. Jared Kushner are meeting with Secretary (Rustem) Umerov, as well as National Security Advisors from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, this morning,” the official said.
“They will meet with officials from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey this afternoon,” the official added.
CNN previously reported that Witkoff is expected to meet with top officials from Qatar, Egypt and Turkey to discuss the next phase of the peace plan for Gaza. The meeting is aimed at addressing the obstacles to reaching the second phase of the ceasefire agreement.
CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed to this post.
President Donald Trump on Friday tried to defend the unemployment rate, pointing to his reductions to the federal workforce.
“The only reason our Unemployment ticked up to 4.5% is because we are reducing the Government Workforce by numbers that have never been seen before. 100% OF OUR NEW JOBS ARE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR!,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Unemployment actually rose to a four-year high of 4.6% in November, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics released earlier this week.
Private-sector businesses have indeed driven job growth this year while public sector employment has declined – entirely because of steep federal workforce cuts by the Trump administration. From January through November, the US economy added 499,000 jobs: The private sector added 687,000 jobs and the government (federal, state and local) shed 188,000 jobs.
However, the pace of job growth has fallen off: The year-to-date employment gains – overall and private-sector – are the weakest since 2020 and, before that, the Great Recession.
Trump went on to misleadingly claim he could “reduce Unemployment to 2% overnight by just hiring people into the Federal Government, even though those Jobs are not necessary.”
His message echoed White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett’s defense of the president’s rosy economic outlook in his primetime speech earlier this week.
“And so, if you adjust the unemployment rate for the fact that there’s been a large loss for government workers, for federal government workers, then you get numbers that are consistent with what the president said,” he told CNN’s Alayna Treene on Thursday.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer released a statement slamming the Department of Justice after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department will release some of the Jeffrey Epstein files at a later date, despite today’s deadline.
Blanche said in an interview on Fox this morning that “several hundred thousand” documents from the Epstein case files in their possession will be released today, with more to come in the weeks ahead.
President Donald Trump signed into law legislation passed by Congress in November that mandates the release of all non-exempt information from the files by December 19. Read the law here.
“Senate Democrats are working closely with attorneys for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and with outside legal experts to assess what documents are being withheld and what is being covered up by Pam Bondi. We will not stop until the whole truth comes out,” he continued.
In the House: Meanwhile, the top Democrats on the House Judiciary and Oversight committees, Reps. Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia, said they are looking at “all legal options” if the DOJ does not release all of the Epstein files in its possession today.
This post has been updated with comment from Reps. Raskin and Garcia.
CNN’s Annie Grayer contributed reporting.
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