{"id":8387,"date":"2025-12-17T00:15:26","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T00:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/12\/17\/live-updates-trump-administration-news-on-health-care-boat-strikes-and-epstein-files-cnn-politics-cnn\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T00:15:26","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T00:15:26","slug":"live-updates-trump-administration-news-on-health-care-boat-strikes-and-epstein-files-cnn-politics-cnn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/12\/17\/live-updates-trump-administration-news-on-health-care-boat-strikes-and-epstein-files-cnn-politics-cnn\/","title":{"rendered":"Live updates: Trump administration news on health care, boat strikes and Epstein files | CNN Politics – CNN"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Live Updates<\/p>\n

Trump administration news: Lawmakers briefed on boat strikes as health care battle continues on Capitol Hill <\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
According to the US Southern Command, the US military launched three more strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Pacific Ocean as part of the Trump administration\u2019s campaign aimed at curtailing narcotics trafficking to the US.<\/p>\n

” data-duration=”00:37″ data-source-html=” \u2022 Source: CNN<\/a> <\/span>” data-fave-thumbnails=”{“big”: { “uri”: “https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/thumbnail-us-strikes-pacific-ocean-1.jpg?c=16×9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill” }, “small”: { “uri”: “https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/thumbnail-us-strikes-pacific-ocean-1.jpg?c=16×9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill” } }” data-vr-video=”false” data-show-html=”” data-byline-html=”<\/p>\n

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Updated 5:16 PM EST, Tue December 16, 2025 <\/div>\n

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According to the US Southern Command, the US military launched three more strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Pacific Ocean as part of the Trump administration\u2019s campaign aimed at curtailing narcotics trafficking to the US.<\/p>\n

” data-check-event-based-preview data-network-id data-publish-date=”2025-12-16T14:01:10.463Z” data-video-section=”world” data-canonical-url=”https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/12\/16\/world\/video\/us-boat-strikes-alleged-drug-trafficking-pacific-ocean-trump-hegseth-ldn-digvid” data-branding-key data-video-slug=”us-boat-strikes-alleged-drug-trafficking-pacific-ocean-trump-hegseth-ldn-digvid” data-first-publish-slug=”us-boat-strikes-alleged-drug-trafficking-pacific-ocean-trump-hegseth-ldn-digvid” data-video-tags> \"thumbnail<\/picture> <\/div>\n

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US conducts three more strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats <\/p>\n

00:37 <\/span> \u2022 Source: CNN<\/a> <\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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US conducts three more strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

00:37 <\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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\u2022 Controversial boat strikes: <\/strong>Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon will not release<\/a> to the public the full video of the US military\u2019s double-tap strike<\/a> on an alleged drug boat. Senate Democrats left a classified briefing with Hegseth frustrated that they were not shown<\/a> unedited footage of the operation, as some in the GOP<\/a> also called for the video\u2019s release. <\/p>\n

\u2022 Health care subsidies: <\/strong>Speaker Mike Johnson said the House will not take a standalone vote<\/a> this week on GOP centrists\u2019 push to extend and reform <\/a>the Covid-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at year\u2019s end. <\/p>\n

\u2022 Candid interviews: <\/strong>Trump <\/a>and administration officials are defending<\/a> White House chief of staff Susie Wiles after Vanity Fair published stories in which she gave unflattering assessments<\/a> of the president and some Cabinet members. <\/p>\n

\u2022 Economy speech:<\/strong> In remarks in Pennsylvania, Vice President JD Vance urged patience on the economy<\/a> and defended the country\u2019s jobs growth despite the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report<\/a> showing troubling signs. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"Sen.<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Sen. Mark Kelly said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth continued his criticism of the six Democratic lawmakers who made a video encouraging service members to refuse illegal orders unprompted during the Senate briefing on the boat strikes. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe actually brought it up in the in the brief, oddly, which I thought was, you know, just some reiterating his talking points on this. When I was specifically asking him questions about strikes, again shows that this is very performative for him, even in front of a group of senators,\u201d Kelly said after the briefing Tuesday. <\/p>\n

Kelly said he eventually responded to Hegseth and pointed out he shared the same view on refusing illegal orders in 2016, \u201cVery eloquently, I said, like the way he expressed himself in 2016 about this, you know, same issue and I said, by the way, you were specifically speaking about this president.\u201d <\/p>\n

Kelly said \u201che didn\u2019t really say anything\u201d in response and was trying to avoid answering specific questions on the strikes. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think Pete Hegseth is a guy goes to work every day to try to figure out, how does he please the president. That\u2019s a recipe for some major problems,\u201d Kelly added. <\/p>\n

Kelly called the threats of an investigation into him over the video \u201ca bunch of bullsh*t.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just about sending a message to retired service members, active-duty service members, government employees: \u2018do not speak out against this president, or there will be consequences.\u2019 So, it\u2019s a lot bigger than, you know, just dealing with me. <\/p>\n

Kelly said he has received no notification from DOD about an investigation. <\/p>\n

Kelly also said he believed the video of the strikes should be released to the entire Senate. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Trump administration today expanded its list of countries with full or partial travel restrictions to 39, increasing from the previous list of 19 countries, according to a new White House proclamation<\/a>. <\/p>\n

CNN previously reported<\/a> Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recommended the Trump administration expand the list to between 30 to 32 countries. <\/p>\n

Nationals of countries on the list face restrictions on travel to the United States. The White House said the listed countries demonstrate \u201csevere deficiencies in screening, vetting, and information-sharing.\u201d <\/p>\n

The proclamation also applies travel limitations on individuals holding Palestinian-Authority-issued travel documents. The proclamation lifts a ban on nonimmigrant visas for citizens of Turkmenistan, \u201cwhile still maintaining suspended entry for Turkmen nationals.\u201d <\/p>\n

Some context:<\/strong> The official expansion comes as President Donald Trump has ramped up his immigration crackdown citing the shooting in Washington, DC<\/a>, that killed one National Guard member and critically wounded another. <\/p>\n

The shooting suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal<\/a>, is an Afghan national who previously worked with the US in Afghanistan, resettling in Washington state under the Biden administration and then being granted asylum under the Trump administration. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"House<\/picture> <\/div>\n

House centrists directly confronted Speaker Mike Johnson during a closed-door meeting Tuesday on the fate of expiring Obamacare subsidies, with several GOP lawmakers raising their voices to vent their frustrations at the speaker, according to multiple attendees. <\/p>\n

Several of these House centrists \u2014 including Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mike Lawler of New York \u2014 used the meeting to make a last-ditch push for a floor vote on extending and reforming the Covid-era Obamacare tax credits that will expire December 31. <\/p>\n

One member, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, described the meeting as \u201ctense.\u201d At multiple points during the meeting, the discussion was so heated that parts of it could be heard by reporters outside the room. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s the frustration from members who feel that we have a good compromise solution here to address a real problem. And that leadership is shutting it down,\u201d Malliotakis said. <\/p>\n

Rep. Kevin Kiley of California added: \u201cWe want to see a vote, and not just a show vote but a vote that actually has an opportunity to become law. And you know, that was conveyed very clearly at this meeting, at other meetings, for weeks now.\u201d <\/p>\n

Several of those GOP centrists, including Malliotakis and Kiley, left the meeting with the impression that a deal was still possible. Centrists were quietly assembling a new amendment to present at the House Rules Committee in the coming hours that Johnson seemed to support in the meeting, those members said. <\/p>\n

But the precise details of the latest proposal aren\u2019t clear (even to members who attended the meeting). And it\u2019s not clear if Johnson would be able to convince his Rules Committee to agree to tee up the amendment \u2014 when it is actually drafted \u2014 for floor action later this week. <\/p>\n

But at least one GOP hardliner on that Rules panel sounded skeptical of the still-emerging proposal. <\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t read it yet, so how the hell do I know?\u201d Rep. Chip Roy said when asked if he could support the centrists\u2019 amendment. \u201cWe had a discussion as a group last week. Those things sort of hit a wall. Now they\u2019re throwing some kind of Hail Mary at it, we\u2019ll see.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"Senate<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer would not say how Senate Democrats will handle the looming government funding deadline next month, emphasizing that it will be too late to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies after they expire at the end of this year. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe bottom line is very simple, and that is that the way to solve this problem, because the toothpaste is already out of the tube, is get it done by January 1. The Republicans, if they care so much and feel the heat, they should make sure we get\u2026that they pass our bill,\u201d he told CNN when asked if he would vote to shut the government down on January 30 if the ACA credits are not extended. <\/p>\n

Pressed again on whether Senate Democrats would make health care demands in exchange for their votes to keep the government open, as they did this fall, Schumer responded, \u201cyou can\u2019t do it after January 1,\u201d referring to the expiration of subsidies that will lead to skyrocketing health insurance premium costs for millions of Americans next year. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s expired already. It\u2019s not the same as it was before. Once it expires, the toothpaste is out of the tube,\u201d he explained. <\/p>\n

Schumer cast doubt on the potential success of ongoing bipartisan efforts to reach a health care compromise, including a two-year extension of subsidies with some reforms, but made clear even if a deal materializes, passing it after the credits expire is too late. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Republicans want to do something, they ought to pass something, our extension, by January 1,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"White<\/picture> <\/div>\n

President Donald Trump defended his chief of staff Susie Wiles after Vanity Fair published her candid and at times unflattering assessments of the president and some of his closest allies, telling the New York Post<\/a> she \u201chas done a fantastic job.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI think from what I hear, the facts were wrong, and it was a very misguided interviewer, purposely misguided,\u201d Trump told the Post. \u201cIf anybody knows the interviewer, and if they know Vanity Fair, Vanity Fair is a totally \u2014 it\u2019s lost its way. It\u2019s also lost its readers, as you know. No, she\u2019s fantastic.\u201d <\/p>\n

In the articles published Tuesday, Wiles told Vanity Fair the president \u201chas an alcoholic\u2019s personality,\u201d despite being known as a teetotaler. <\/p>\n

But in his interview with the New York Post, Trump seemed to brush those comments aside. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo, she meant that I\u2019m \u2014 you see, I don\u2019t drink alcohol. So everybody knows that \u2014 but I\u2019ve often said that if I did, I\u2019d have a very good chance of being an alcoholic. I have said that many times about myself, I do. It\u2019s a very possessive personality,\u201d Trump said, according the Post. <\/p>\n

Trump also told the outlet he hadn\u2019t read the full Vanity Fair piece. <\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters at the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed Vanity Fair for what she called \u201cdisingenuous reporting\u201d and claimed the piece took Wiles\u2019 \u201cwords wildly out of context.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThe most egregious part of this article was the bias of omission that was clearly present,\u201d Leavitt said. <\/p>\n

CNN\u2019s Kit Maher contributed to this post. <\/em> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"New<\/picture> <\/div>\n

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles\u2019 comments that the prosecution of Trump political opponent Letitia James might be considered retribution is an \u201castonishing admission,\u201d James\u2019 attorney Abbe Lowell said today. <\/p>\n

Mortgage fraud charges against James, the New York attorney general, alleged she made a few thousand dollars a year by representing a rental property as a second home in Norfolk, Virginia. James has argued she was wrongfully prosecuted because of President Donald Trump\u2019s political animus, including defeating Trump in a major civil fraud lawsuit over the Trump Organization\u2019s business practices. <\/p>\n

When asked by Vanity Fair about the James mortgage fraud case, Wiles said \u201cwell, that might be the retribution one.\u201d But Wiles also said she didn\u2019t believe Trump was \u201con a retribution tour.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cA governing principle for him is, \u2018I don\u2019t want what happened to me to happen to somebody else.\u2019 And so people that have done bad things need to get out of the government. In some cases, it may look like retribution. And there may be an element of that from time to time. Who would blame him? Not me.\u201d <\/p>\n

The charges against James were dismissed shortly before Thanksgiving because the court gutted the authority of the prosecutor behind the case, Trump-appointee Lindsey Halligan. Since then, the Justice Department has tried and failed twice to re-indict James. She was never convicted and faces no charges at this time. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe White House Chief of Staff admitting that President Trump turned the Justice Department into his weapon for political retribution against Attorney General Letitia James only confirms that this has been an improper vindictive prosecution,\u201d Lowell said in a statement Tuesday. \u201cWhen they admit it\u2019s not justice they\u2019re after but pure revenge, believe them.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"Dentists<\/picture> <\/div>\n

House Republicans\u2019 health care bill would lower the deficit by $35.6 billion over the next decade, but it would increase the number of uninsured Americans by 100,000, on average, per year, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate released Tuesday. <\/p>\n

The measure, which is expected to be voted on in the coming days, would also lower the gross premium for the benchmark Affordable Care Act plan by 11%, on average, through 2035. <\/p>\n

The House bill would allow small businesses and the self-employed to band together across industries to buy coverage through association health plans in an effort to lower premiums. It would require pharmacy benefit managers, which act as middlemen between drugmakers and insurers or employers, to provide employers with more information on drug prices and rebates. And it would once again provide federal funding for the cost-sharing subsidies that lower-income Obamacare enrollees receive to reduce their deductibles and out-of-pocket costs for care. <\/p>\n

However, it would not extend the ACA\u2019s enhanced premium subsidies, which are set to lapse at year\u2019s end, or funnel more federal funds into health savings accounts, which some Senate Republicans are pushing. <\/p>\n

The most consequential measure would be funding the cost-sharing subsidies, which would lower gross premiums for silver-level plans and reduce the federal government\u2019s spending on Obamacare\u2019s standard premium assistance, which is tied to the cost of those policies. The CBO projects enrollment would drop because the premium subsidies would cover a smaller share of consumers\u2019 monthly costs for non-silver ACA plans, raising their premium payments. (Obamacare policies range from bronze to platinum.) <\/p>\n

The association health plan provision would draw an additional 700,000 people into such policies, though only about 200,000 of them are currently uninsured, the CBO estimates. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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President Donald Trump will travel to Delaware on Wednesday to attend the dignified transfer of remains for two US servicemen killed in Syria over the weekend. <\/p>\n

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president would meet with families and receive the remains at Dover Air Force Base. <\/p>\n

The two US Army soldiers killed in Syria <\/strong><\/a>on Saturday were Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, Iowa, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, Iowa, according to the Army. They were both members of the Iowa National Guard. <\/p>\n

Trump has vowed to retaliate, declaring \u201cthere will be a lot of damage done to the people that did it\u201d in front of a crowd at a White House Christmas reception Sunday. <\/p>\n

Wednesday will mark the first time in his second term Trump attends a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base, the primary entry point for remains of fallen US troops. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, pressed for Congress to rein in President Donald Trump\u2019s war powers as the administration defends US strikes on alleged drug boats. <\/p>\n

Meeks noted his resolution requiring congressional authorization of strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific is likely to come to the floor for a vote this week, and that he also has a separate war powers resolution related to military action in Venezuela, warning of Trump, \u201cThat\u2019s what he wants to do.\u201d <\/p>\n

The congressman referenced a comment from White House chief of staff Susie Wiles\u2019s published in Vanity Fair that Trump will \u201ckeep on blowing boats up\u201d until Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro \u201ccries uncle.\u201d <\/p>\n

Meeks called the day\u2019s briefing from the defense secretary and secretary of state an \u201cexercise in futility,\u201d and said he had hoped there would be a \u201cserious discussion\u201d about Congress\u2019 role. <\/p>\n

He also expressed frustration, as the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, that he has not yet seen the full video of the September 2 strikes. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"President<\/picture> <\/div>\n

President Donald Trump announced that he will deliver a live address from the White House on Wednesday night. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy 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 \u2018seeing\u2019 you then. It has been a great year for our Country, and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!\u201d Trump posted on Truth Social<\/a>. <\/p>\n

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News later Tuesday the president will be addressing \u201cthe historic accomplishments that he has garnered for our country over the past year.\u201d <\/p>\n

Leavitt also said Trump may tease some policy actions coming in the new year. <\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump will be talking about what\u2019s to come. The best is truly yet to come, as he often says,\u201d Leavitt said. <\/p>\n

CNN has reached out to the White House for more information. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"Attorney<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Attorney General Pam Bondi defended her \u201cdear friend,\u201d White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, on Tuesday after Wiles told Vanity Fair<\/a> that Bondi \u201cwhiffed\u201d the handling of the release of the Epstein files. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy dear friend @SusieWiles fights every day to advance President Trump\u2019s agenda \u2013 and she does so with grace, loyalty, and historic effectiveness,\u201d Bondi posted on X<\/a> hours after the two-part article had published. <\/p>\n

\u201cAny attempt to undermine and downplay President Trump\u2019s monumental achievements will fail,\u201d Bondi continued, adding, \u201cWe are family. We are united.\u201d <\/p>\n

Other Cabinet officials have echoed Bondi\u2019s comments<\/a>, offering high praise for Wiles, though none have disputed Wiles\u2019 comments critical of the presidents\u2019 key allies. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"Rep.<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez<\/strong> called the House\u2019s closed meeting with top Trump administration officials on Tuesday \u201cone of the least professional classified briefings I have ever sat in on with the least amount of legal and intelligence justification for what is happening.\u201d <\/p>\n

She told CNN that Republican lawmakers, who hold majorities in both chambers, should vote to authorize strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean if they think they are legal. But she said, \u201cthere was not a single piece of intelligence that was shared in this briefing that or legal opinion that provided justification for what they are doing.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ocasio-Cortez said the briefing was \u201cvague\u201d and \u201copinion driven\u201d and shot down the administration\u2019s reasoning for not showing videos of the strikes to all lawmakers out of classification concerns, saying \u201cSecretary Hegseth has a responsibility to demonstrate how what the conduct he engaged in is not a crime.\u201d <\/p>\n

Pressed by Raju on if she believes Hegseth has committed a war crime in the follow up strikes on an alleged drug boat, Ocasio-Cortez responded, \u201cI believe so, and I believe that what he has engaged in, I mean be – , I think beyond a war crime, I think this is just a crime,\u201d accusing the administration of \u201cconvoluted legal justification\u201d rather that seeking congressional authorization for the strikes. <\/p>\n

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi <\/strong>told CNN that the administration \u201cneed to have a real briefing, something that really gives us the substance of what the intelligence was to justify this.\u201d <\/p>\n

She said she wants to see more evidence before she weighs in on whether the strikes were a war crime, adding \u201cthe Constitution is clear in terms of coming to Congress, and we want more briefing on this. It was really, I thought, a disappointing, disappointing presentation.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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KEY FINDING<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"Sen.<\/picture> <\/div>\n

We are hearing from Republican and Democratic senators on Capitol Hill as they depart a classified briefing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on US strikes on alleged boat strikes. <\/p>\n

Republican Sen. Rand Paul<\/strong>, who has been sharply critical of the strikes, said the Trump officials did not provide evidence that there were weapons in the boats. <\/p>\n

GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin<\/strong> defended the administration\u2019s decision not to share the strike video with all senators, explaining that some senators on committees of jurisdiction have the appropriate clearance to view the classified material. <\/p>\n

Pressed by CNN on why senators who have the right to vote to authorize war and on other key military policy areas shouldn\u2019t be able to view the video, Mullin said that there are members that are \u201cgoing to leak classified information, and there\u2019s got to be certain ones that you hold accountable.\u201d <\/p>\n

He also claimed the decision not to share the video more widely has \u201cnothing to do with over classifying it\u201d to prevent the public from viewing what happened on September 2. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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KEY FINDING<\/span><\/p>\n

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Republican Sen. Rand Paul told reporters Tuesday he has not seen evidence that people on the alleged drug trafficking boats struck by the Trump administration were armed. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe administration has justified their attacks on these boats, and so far, no one\u2019s presented any evidence that any of these people are armed. I\u2019ve heard nothing to contradict that,\u201d he said after the classified briefing. <\/p>\n

GOP Sen. Eric Schmitt said he was satisfied with the briefing, repeating his belief that the administration was justified in its actions and calling Democratic criticism \u201cdisingenuous.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI thought they were very clear in articulating not only the position and the goal of taking out the narcoterrorists, which are 100% legally justified, but then also the decision tree, how they go about making the decision. And answered a lot of questions. So I thought it was a very good briefing,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

GOP Sen. Jon Husted said he believes the administration\u2019s strategy is \u201cwell thought out, well executed and legal.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe got a broader briefing on the scope of all that\u2019s happened. It was a classified briefing, so I can\u2019t share those things, but I\u2019m confident, as I said, that this is well thought out, well executed and illegal, and that the administration is doing things consistent with how previous operations have occurred in this in our armed forces over the last 25 years.\u201d <\/p>\n

After initially expressing openness to releasing the double-tap strike to the public, Husted said he is satisfied with the Pentagon\u2019s decision not to make it public. <\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to see it,\u201d Husted said of the double-tap strike. \u201cI\u2019m not going to quarrel with them over it. If they feel that there are sound reasons they don\u2019t want to do it, I will accept it because we received a briefing on the facts, and those facts were satisfactory.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"Vice<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday acknowledged that he \u201csometimes\u201d is a conspiracy theorist, following interviews that White House chief of staff Susie Wiles gave to Vanity Fair<\/a> in which she described him as someone who has \u201cbeen a conspiracy theorist for a decade.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cBut,\u201d he added while responding to a reporter\u2019s question during an event in Pennsylvania, \u201cI only believe in the conspiracy theories that are true.\u201d <\/p>\n

CNN has reported<\/a> that the interviews, in which the typically press-shy Wiles delivered candid assessments about Trump\u2019s tenure, has sent White House officials reeling. Trump administration officials have rushed to defend<\/a> Wiles after the publication of the interviews, which included unflattering assessments of several key Cabinet members. <\/p>\n

Wiles said her comments were taken out of context in a \u201chit piece\u201d but did not deny making them. <\/p>\n

During Vance\u2019s remarks, the vice president referred to anti-masking positions and his belief that former President Joe Biden\u2019s condition was covered up by the media and government as theories he believed were true. <\/p>\n

He added: \u201cAnd I believed in the conspiracy theory that Joe Biden was trying to throw his political opponents in jail, rather than win an argument against his political opponents.\u201d (Trump\u2019s Justice Department has pursued criminal cases against several of his own political opponents during his second term, something Wiles acknowledged in the interviews.) <\/p>\n

Vance said he appreciated that Wiles is the same person in Trump\u2019s presence as she is when the president isn\u2019t around. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the last thing I\u2019ll say is: If any of us have learned a lesson from that Vanity Fair article, I hope that the lesson is we should be giving fewer interviews to mainstream media outlets.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"House<\/picture> <\/div>\n

House Speaker Mike Johnson defended the Trump administration\u2019s legal rationale behind controversial follow up strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean that have garnered bipartisan scrutiny and demands for transparency. <\/p>\n

Johnson said President Donald Trump has \u201cauthority, as commander in chief and as the chief executive to conduct foreign relations\u201d and has determined that the US is in a \u201cnon-international armed conflict\u201d with designated terrorist organizations trafficking illegal drugs that threaten the country. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make this point very clear. Over the last four years alone, America has lost more lives to drug overdoses and other drug related deaths than we did to the enemy actions in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq combined,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

While many lawmakers clamor to view video of the September 2 strikes, Johnson argued the Trump administration has been \u201cmuch more forthcoming with the legal rationale behind these strikes than prior administrations,\u201d adding that the video will be shared with all members of the House Armed Services Committee this week. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is exquisite intelligence that supports these actions. It is certainly appropriate, it\u2019s necessary to protect the United States and our interests. That\u2019s what was presented today. Different members have different questions, I hope, and assume that all those are being answered,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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KEY FINDING<\/span><\/p>\n

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Senate Democrats left a briefing with top Trump administration officials on Tuesday frustrated that they were not shown the unedited video of controversial follow up strikes on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis briefing left me with more questions than answers, both as to the rationale for non-disclosure and as to the operation itself,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said after leaving the briefing that he had demanded Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth allow all senators to view the strike video in a classified setting, but the Pentagon chief refused. <\/p>\n

Sen. Mark Warner<\/strong>, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the administration plans to let all lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee view the video, but, \u201cthink they\u2019re trying to run out the clock in terms of holding off giving it to the rest of the senators so that the Senate doesn\u2019t see it before we break for the holidays.\u201d <\/p>\n

Warner also called it \u201cdisturbing\u201d that he got no answers after requesting to view the execution order of the follow up strikes on September 2 and other documentation. <\/p>\n

Sen. Adam Schiff <\/strong>told reporters he plans ask the Senate to unanimously agree to releasing the video to all of Congress and to the American public. <\/p>\n

Sen. Elizabeth Warren<\/strong> scoffed at the briefers\u2019 explanation for why they didn\u2019t show the unedited video to all senators in a classified setting, telling CNN that \u201cthere was no explanation that made any sense.\u201d The Massachusetts Democrat added that the administration was unable to show there were weapons on any of the alleged drug trafficking boats. <\/p>\n

Sen. Chris Murphy<\/strong> told reporters that the briefing felt rushed. \u201cThey\u2019re checking a box, but they clearly wanted to get out of there before they had to answer any actual, difficult questions.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"Vice<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday promoted what he described as strong job and wage growth under the Trump administration while speaking in Pennsylvania, even as new federal data pointed to signs of weakness<\/a> in the labor market. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got real money, real jobs and real opportunity,\u201d Vance said at the event. \u201cWhat that means for the state of Pennsylvania is that in just the last 11 months, we\u2019re creating 60,000 good-paying jobs for Pennsylvania families,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

Vance also pointed to some figures as evidence of momentum. \u201c61,000 jobs added in the month of November, and that\u2019s not all,\u201d he said. \u201cWe saw private-sector wage growth grow at a rate of 4.2%. You know what that means? That means we\u2019re seeing the fastest private-sector wage growth that we have seen in this country in many, many years,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

The vice president\u2019s remarks came the same day<\/a> the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that unemployment rose to a four-year high of 4.6% in November, while the economy added 64,000 jobs. <\/p>\n

The November gains, which exceeded expectations, followed a revised loss of 105,000 jobs in October, according to a jobs report that economists have described as one of the most atypical in recent history. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Americans\u2019 average hourly earnings grew at an annual rate of 3.5% in November, whereas inflation grew at a 3% rate in September. The wedge between the two has significantly narrowed as inflation has been reaccelerating and the labor market has tightened. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Trump administration officials rushed to defend White House chief of staff Susie Wiles on Tuesday after Vanity Fair published stories<\/a> featuring months of remarkably candid interviews in which she gave unflattering assessments of several key members of the president\u2019s Cabinet. <\/p>\n

Wiles herself said the stories left out significant context, calling Vanity Fair\u2019s work \u201ca disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history.\u201d <\/p>\n

Office of Management and Budget chief Russ Vought \u2014 who, according to Vanity Fair, Wiles called \u201ca right-wing absolute zealot\u201d \u2014 wrote on X that Wiles was \u201can exceptional chief of staff<\/a>.\u201d He added, \u201cIn my portfolio, she is always an ally in helping me deliver for the president. And this hit piece will not slow us down.\u201d <\/p>\n

FBI Director Kash Patel also leapt to Wiles\u2019 defense Tuesday<\/a>, writing, \u201cFake news comes after you when you\u2019re effective \u2026 and there\u2019s nobody in @realDonaldTrump\u2019s team more effective than @SusieWiles.\u201d In the interview, Wiles noted that Patel had long called for the government to release files from the Jeffrey Epstein case, adding, \u201cAnd he\u2019s been saying that with a view of what he thought was in these files that turns out not to be right.\u201d <\/p>\n

Even the president\u2019s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., waded into the fray<\/a>, calling Wiles \u201cby far the most effective and trustworthy Chief of Staff that my father has ever had.\u201d <\/p>\n

Other Cabinet Secretaries, including Education Secretary Linda McMahon<\/a>, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner<\/a>, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins<\/a>, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy<\/a>, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright<\/a>, all defended Wiles. <\/p>\n

But no one disputed Wiles\u2019 comments disparaging, among others, Vice President JD Vance, Vought or Attorney General Pam Bondi, who the chief of staff told Vanity Fair \u201cwhiffed\u201d the initial release of the Epstein files. <\/p>\n

Bondi had yet to respond publicly to Wiles\u2019 comments by noon Tuesday. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"Vice<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Vice President JD Vance sought to reassure Americans concerned about the rising cost of living, urging patience as the Trump administration works to address affordability. <\/p>\n

Asked during an event in Pennsylvania whether affordability concerns could hurt the administration, Vance argued that voters will ultimately respond to what he described as progress on energy costs and wages. <\/p>\n

The vice president expressed confidence that Americans understand progress takes time. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe got to keep on working, on bringing good jobs and money back in the United States of America, and that \u2026 already has paid major dividends for the American people. It\u2019s going to pay a lot more in the year to come,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Vance acknowledged the strain high prices have placed on households in states like Pennsylvania. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe know exactly the consequences that it\u2019s caused for so many of our great families all across Pennsylvania, and I promise you, there is no person more impatient to solve the affordability crisis than Donald J. Trump, the president of the United States,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Some context: <\/strong>Vance\u2019s remarks in Pennsylvania<\/a> marked the Trump administration\u2019s latest attempt to address the affordability concerns<\/a> dragging down the president\u2019s standing. <\/p>\n

Trump advisers workshopping the administration\u2019s affordability rhetoric have emphasized the need to call for patience and instill hope that the economic tide will soon turn, rather than dismissing or downplaying Americans\u2019 struggles. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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