Trump Watch, 12/16/25
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“The Moral Injury in the Caribbean Killings.” (12/16/25)
Author: Thomas L. Knapp
Frivolous litigation duel: Chinese regime countersues Missouri regime for $51 billion, apologies
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said Tuesday that China is now suing Missouri, in China, in the wake of the $24 billion American court judgment the state has obtained against China in connection with the pandemic. … In April, a federal judge in Cape Girardeau ordered the Chinese government to pay the money to Missouri after finding it hoarded personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. … Hanaway, in her news release Tuesday, said the new Chinese suit is demanding that the defendants in Missouri issue public apologies in the New York Times and other American media and internet platforms and in Chinese media and internet platforms. Hanaway also said the suit demands compensation equivalent to $50.5 billion plus legal fees and the right to claim further compensation.” (12/16/25)
The Palmer Raids: A Precedent for Today’s Immigration Policy Abuses?
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“The tactics that ICE and CBP are using seem far more appropriate for a police state than a democratic republic. As with so many other recent highlighted civil liberties abuses, though, the problem did not begin when Donald Trump became president. Instead, previous administrations set a number of troubling precedents. Unsavory practices to enforce U.S. immigration laws, including holding detainees without due process for extended periods in overcrowded conditions, certainly are nothing new. Even accosting suspects at their place of employment or on the streets is not unprecedented. One historical episode that bears an especially troubling similarity to the current conduct of ICE and CBP was the so-called Palmer Raids during Woodrow Wilson’s administration.” (12/16/25)
Ukraine: Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Running on Single Power Line, Russian Regime Says
Source: US News & World Report
“The Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine is currently receiving electricity through only one of two external power lines, its Russian management said on Tuesday. The other line was disconnected due to military activity, the management said, adding that radiation levels remain normal. Repair work will begin as soon as possible. The nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, has been under Russian control since March 2022, when Russian forces overran much of southeastern Ukraine. It is not currently producing electricity but relies on external power to keep the nuclear material cool and avoid a meltdown. Each side has regularly accused the other of shelling the facility.” (12/16/25)
The Loaded Language of Protectionism
Source: The Daily Economy
by Donald J Boudreaux
“Language matters. Words have not only technical meanings; they also summon particular attitudes and impressions. And sometimes these attitudes and impressions differ significantly from the words’ technical meanings. In no domain of economic policy is the confusion created by the divergence of words’ technical meanings from the attitudes and impressions conveyed by those words greater than in the domain of trade policy.” (12/16/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-loaded-language-of-protectionism/
Hegseth: Video evidence of US regime murders is “top secret”
Source: The Hill
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that the Pentagon will not release the full, unedited video of the U.S. military’s September strike on an alleged drug boat, which [murdered] 11 ‘narco-terrorists,’ including two survivors in a follow-up strike. ‘In keeping with long-standing Department of War [sic] policy … Department of Defense policy, of course, we’re not going to release a top secret full unedited video of that to the general public,’ Hegseth told reporters after briefing senators on the U.S. military’s ongoing, lethal strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.” (12/16/25)
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5651243-hegseth-pentagon-boat-strike-video/
How schools still abuse “institutional neutrality” to silence speech
Source: Expression
by Ross Marchand
“Defending the rights of students and faculty to speak freely has been part and parcel of FIRE’s mission for 26 years. We’ve seen universities try all sorts of ways to restrict expression, from free speech zones and excessive security fees to extensive pre-approval requirements for events. But one technique is particularly disturbing — using ostensibly pro-free speech policies to chill student and faculty expression. As my colleague Graham Piro recently wrote, colleges and universities regularly claim to embrace ‘institutional neutrality’ — an institution’s commitment to refrain from speaking out on the issues of the day — only to silence speech in the principle’s name. Under a genuine policy of institutional neutrality, students and faculty are empowered to debate such issues, without feeling as if the school administration has declared the matter settled.” (12/16/25)
https://expression.fire.org/p/how-schools-still-abuse-institutional
US FDIC proposes first stablecoin rule
Source: CoinDesk
“The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has rolled out the first official rule proposal stemming from the new law governing stablecoin issuers, with its board voting Tuesday to open a 60-day public comment period on its system for handling applications from its regulated banks looking to issue stablecoins from subsidiaries. The agency — led by Acting Chairman Travis Hill, who is also President Donald Trump’s nominee for the permanent seat — will gather comments and review them before it can release a final rule. The Tuesday proposal, approved by all three members of the shorthanded board, would establish the procedures for accepting applications, reviewing them under a 120-day approval window and offering an appeal process for those rejected.” (12/16/25)
Our Parties Have Trapped Us
Source: Persuasion
by Danielle Allen
“Every two years, Americans spend an average of $15 billion on campaign advertising trying to fend off the wolves attacking them. But we just end up changing which wolves are briefly ascendant. Maybe we could fend off those wolves once and for all—if we could just get our foot out of that dang trap. But what’s the trap? The trap is an electoral system that has been captured by party processes gone wrong. We’ve had decades of changes — some of them well-intentioned, some about accruing power — to how our political parties operate. They have left us in a place where most members of Congress are elected by only 5 to 8 percent of the electorate in their districts. … Every year, our two parties get better at claiming ever more power for a continuously shrinking membership base.” (12/16/25)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/our-parties-have-trapped-us
Democrats and Republicans lost the plot. Young voters know it.
Source: USA Today
by Sara Pequeño
“If a new poll is any indication, both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party should be worried about the youth vote in the 2026 midterm elections. According to polling from the University of Chicago, about 60% of Gen Z and millennial voters are dissatisfied with both political parties. This includes 25% of Republican voters ages 18-42 who have an unfavorable view of the GOP, as well as 36% of Democrats in that age range who have an unfavorable view of their party. None of this is really surprising, given that polling across age ranges has shown that voters are unhappy with both political parties. What might surprise party leaders, however, are the specific issues that Generation Z and millennials are worried about.” (12/16/25)