Morning all. Got a few things for you today:
First up is a recording of a conversation I had with Dem strategist Mike Nellis yesterday. Video and transcript are above. We got to dive into all the big topics of the moment - my optimism about 2026, Trump’s unprecedented corruption, the Bari Weiss fiasco, the need for the DNC to release its look back at the 2024 election, and more. Get to it when you can…….
The Washington Post’s lead story this morning is a wild one:
Here’s an excerpt (gift link):
Three days after releasing a large tranche of Jeffrey Epstein documents that contained few mentions of President Donald Trump, the Justice Department on Monday disclosed thousands more files that included wide-ranging references to the president.
The documents show that a subpoena was sent to Mar-a-Lago in 2021 for records that pertained to the government’s case against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s accomplice in sex trafficking. They include notes from an assistant U.S. attorney in New York about the number of times Trump flew on Epstein’s plane, including one flight that included just Trump, Epstein and a 20-year-old woman, according to the notes.
The newly released documents also include several tips that were collected by the FBI about Trump’s involvement with Epstein and parties at their properties in the early 2000s. The documents do not show whether any follow-up investigations took place or whether any of the tips were corroborated.
The documents were available for several hours Monday afternoon and evening on the Justice Department website but appear to have been taken down around 8 p.m. The Washington Post downloaded the full set of files while they were accessible.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to questions about why the documents had been posted and then apparently removed. The White House also did not respond to requests for comment about the newly released documents.
This is the second time in two days DOJ has taken down files after they’ve been released. Of the items released yesterday two are getting a lot of attention today:
First, this extraordinary letter (only sharing the top, click on the link for more):
Second, look at extraordinary new info - Trump was a regular guest on the Lolita Express:
Whatever the BS spin to come from the White House today this horrific scandal has taken a dark turn for Trump in the last 12 hours.
As for the other botched cover up here’s a link to the bootlegged 60 Minutes CECOT segment via our friend Allison Gill at Mueller, She Wrote. Let’s watch together and discuss in the coming days…….
His madness worsening, yesterday Trump announced a whole new class of Navy ships called “Trump Class.” A friend speculated last night that Trump’s new rash of naming everything in DC after himself is a sign that he knows his days as President are numbered due to his declining health and perhaps the Epstein scandal. Whatever the reason THIS SHIT IS NOT OKAY, and makes us look weak and unhinged to our adversaries and the rest of the world.
The Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Page - yes that page - came out hard yesterday against Trump’s renaming of the Kennedy Center, and comes very close to openly mocking his vainglorious spreading of “Trump” across the Capital (sorry, paywall):
Under 20 U.S.C. § 76i(a), Congress in 1964 established the Kennedy Center as “a building to be designated as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.” The title of the building isn’t a casual naming of the kind that happens when philanthropists donate to a museum and are honored with a wing named after them. The name is enshrined in statute as a memorial to the assassinated President.
The Kennedy Center’s board of trustees was also created by statute, in 20 U.S.C. § 76 (j), which enumerates the responsibility of the officers, including to present music, opera, drama and dance, to contribute to performing arts education and to provide “facilities for other civic activities.” The board is also tasked with ensuring the facility received “necessary maintenance” and had “safe and convenient access” for pedestrians.
Notably absent from this list is the power to rename the Kennedy Center or augment the name by adding Mr. Trump alongside. Further memorials are explicitly banned by the statute, which instructs the board to “assure that after December 2, 1983, no additional memorials or plaques in the nature of memorials shall be designated or installed in the public areas of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.”
Mr. Trump appointed the current board members earlier this year, including Second Lady Usha Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino. The Board elected Mr. Trump chairman. The President had referred to the center offhand as the “Trump Kennedy Center,” but after the name change he said he was “surprised” and “honored by it.” We’re willing to bet he had at least an inkling this could happen.
The Parisian based Le Monde’s English language edition has this article about Trump’s renewed batshit crazy call for the US to seize Greenland from Denmark and Europe (as he is calling for the US to seize Venezuela’s oil):
The timing could hardly be a coincidence. Exactly one year earlier, on December 22, 2024, Donald Trump – elected president of the United States but not yet inaugurated – posted a message on his Truth Social platform that deeply unsettled Denmark. Announcing the appointment of Ken Howery, the PayPal co-founder and former diplomat in Stockholm, as the new head of the US embassy in Copenhagen, Trump wrote: “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”
Since then, the US president has repeatedly reaffirmed his desire to take over the autonomous Danish territory of 56,000 people, not ruling out the use of force. Supported by their European allies, the governments in Nuuk and Copenhagen raised their voices, demanding “respect” from a country they have considered their “closest ally.” Evidently, this had little effect.
On Monday, December 22, exactly one year after Trump’s first message, Danes and Greenlanders woke up to find that the US president, just hours earlier, had appointed a “United States special envoy to Greenland.” Even more concerning: On X, the new appointee, Jeff Landry, governor of Louisiana, explained that he would take on the new role – a “volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the US.”
This latest provocation from Washington has sparked outrage across the Scandinavian kingdom. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen quickly responded in a letter to the White House. They addressed the US: “National borders and the sovereignty of states are rooted in international law. They are fundamental principles. You cannot annex other countries. Not even with an argument about international security.”
A little earlier, Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen (center right) wrote from the Faroe Islands, where he had just arrived to spend the Christmas holidays, condemning the Louisiana governor’s remarks as “completely unacceptable.” He also announced that he had summoned the US ambassador to Copenhagen, for at least the fourth time that year.
On Truth Social, Trump remained vague about his intentions, writing, “Jeff understands how essential Greenland is to our National Security, and will strongly advance our Country’s Interests for the Safety, Security and Survival of our Allies, and indeed, the World.”
While there was no explicit mention of seizing the autonomous territory, the very appointment of a US special envoy was problematic for Danish authorities, according to Rasmussen, who pointed out that the US already has an ambassador to Denmark.
All of this crazy has effected Trump’s standing in the world and here at home. Politico is running a new article this morning, Poll: Major allies see US as unreliable and destabilizing:
Unreliable. Creating more problems than solving them. A negative force on the world stage. This is how large shares of America’s closest allies view the U.S., according to new polling, as President Donald Trump pursues a sweeping foreign policy overhaul.
Pluralities in Germany and France — and a majority of Canadians — say the U.S. is a negative force globally, according to new international POLITICO-Public First polling. Views are more mixed in the United Kingdom, but more than a third of respondents there share that dim assessment.
It then shares this ugly chart:
Over the past weeks here in the US Trump had seen a 2-5 point rise from his November lows in some reliable polls. But I am now wondering whether the Epstein scandal, his disturbing speech to the nation last week, and all this other recent ugliness has started to drag him back down again. We got these two polls yesterday each with interviews from last week (Trump job approval) that are among the worst he’s seen this year:
36%-59% (-23) Gallup
35%-62% (-27) ARG
The just released Economist/YouGov weekly track found Trump dropping 6 points from last week - a huge drop - from 42%-54% (-12) to 39%-57% (-18).
This morning’s Civiqs daily track, which does not often see sharp movements, found Trump dropping 2 points and also coming in at 39%-57% (-18). Like the new Econ/YouGov data this is the worst showing for Trump in this poll this year.
Taken together the last few days of polling for Trump have been arguably his worst set of polls this year. Movement against him, new lows, closing 2025 ugly the orange guy is!
Note this remarkable nugget from the new Economist/YouGov weekly track - approval of renaming the Kennedy center clocks in 18%-66% disapprove. It may be the single most unpopular thing he did this year.
Of course what Trump world is seeing in their own sunshine and rainbows data world is this data, data prominently promoted by the White House yesterday (LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
To be clear this new Insider Advantage poll is running 25 points - 25 points!!!!! - above the current FiftyPlusOne polling average which has Trump 40%-56% (-16).
Trump is ending the year ugly, really ugly, and it’s why we have to keep working hard everyone……
Yesterday we hit our 2025 goal for the Audacious Expansion Fund - amazing work everyone! Can we now hit it for our Winning The House campaign? We have $6,000 to raise before December 31st……
Winning The Midterms - Support Our 2026 Candidates
Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $60k raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my conversation with Gov. Cooper
Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $105k raised, $250,000 goal, - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff
Hopium Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $44,000 raised, $50,000 goal - Donate to all four endorsed House challengers with one click | Learn More | Enjoy our new conversations with Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Mayor Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), and Janelle Stelson (PA-10)
Expanding The Senate and Electoral College Maps, Winning In Red States and Red Places (2026-2032)
Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $254,000 raised, $250,000 goal - Join our new campaign to expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas | Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $10,000 to each of our five state parties and to all of you - we have hit our audacious 2025 goal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In three new essays (here, here, here) I talk about how one of the ways we win the 2026 midterms is by providing early support to our candidates and parties to allow them to staff up, be loud, define the terms of the debate now, before the inevitable onslaught on AI slop, Russian disinfo, and Trumpian lies funded through bribes and corruption wash across the land. The midterms could be won or lost in these next few months - not in the fall of 2026 - and we need be fighting now with everything we got.
Winning The Big Arguments With Trump, Defend Our Democracy - We have two recommended actions today:
1 - Call Your Senators and Member Of The House And Demand They Act Upon Our Five-Part Agenda - We need to be loud people, very, very loud and make the case for our now five part agenda:
Stand with Ukraine and our European allies, and far more forcefully challenge Trump’s traitorous efforts to sell out the US and the West to Russia; demand Congress rebuke/issue a no confidence vote on his current efforts to force Ukraine to surrender
Congress must stand forcefully for rule of law in the Caribbean and the Pacific - these illegal strikes must end; no war can be waged without Congressional approval; there must accountability for those who have broken the law
Roll back Trump’s terrible, illegal tariffs that are re-igniting inflation, driving up prices, shifting the tax burden from the wealthy to working people, hurting small businesses and farmers, reviving tyrannical “taxation without representation,” and alienating governments and people throughout the world
Defend our democracy, rule of law, and our liberties by blocking the expansion of ICE; restoring due process for immigrants across the country; vigorously defending the 1st Amendment; warring against his outrageous targeting of his domestic political opponents; ending the use of the military on our streets and the unlawful occupation of our cities; stopping the unprecedented corruption; and by forcing the Administration to finally comply with Congress, end the rancid cover up, and release all of the Epstein files
Fight Trump’s war on science, higher education and our public health; reverse - not delay - the cuts to the ACA and Medicaid; support and co-sponsor Rep. Haley Stevens’ effort to Impeach and remove Robert Kennedy
2 - Celebrate America, Our Constitution, Our 250th Birthday By Bringing Our Resolutions Project To Your Community - Next year, on July 4th, America celebrates it’s 250th birthday. We need to make this holiday, a celebration of our Declaration Of Independence from a mad king, our day, and not allow it to become his.
One way we can do this is by bringing our Resolutions Project to your community or state. Imagine if by July 4th of next year a large number of towns, counties and states had passed formal resolutions, in the spirit of our Declaration of Independence, defending our Constitution and condemning the “injuries,” “abuses,” and “usurpations” of our mad king. For as our Founders wrote in the Declaration:
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
So far Hopium members have introduced or passed resolutions in 85 communities in 23 states. In the coming days we will be convening to discuss how to bring this campaign to more places and start planning to Own The Fourth next year.
Finally, please self-report your activities to our daily paid subscriber chat. These reports help inspire all of us to do more and fight harder!
And remember - Hopium is hope with a plan. Here we don’t hope tomorrow will be better than yesterday. We do the work to make it so - Simon
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