Iraq Visit
- Donald and Melania Trump see US troops in Iraq in Christmas trip (BBC)
- Trump And First Lady Make Secret Trip To Iraq To Visit U.S. Troops by Tamara Keith (NPR)
- Trump makes first trip to Iraq as president by Rebecca Morin (Politico)
- Trump defends Syria pull-out during surprise visit to Iraq (Al Jazeera)
- Trump Brags To Troops About A Fictional Giant Pay Raise He Got Them by Dave Jamieson (Huffington Post)
- Trump Visits Iraq, His First Trip To A Combat Zone In His Life by S.V. Date (Huffington Post)
- Twitter Users Suspect Trump Didn’t Visit Iraq Troops Out Of Generosity Of His Heart by David Moye (Huffington Post)
- Iraqi leaders denounce Trump visit to US troops (Al Jazeera)
- The President Is Visiting Troops in Iraq. To What End? by Krishnadev Calamur (The Atlantic)
Government Shutdown
- Shutdown Continues As President And Democrats Remain At Odds Over Funding For Wall by Scott Neuman (NPR)
- After Christmas, The Government Shutdown Is Just Getting Started by Nomaan Merchant (Huffington Post)
- Partial Government Shutdown to Gain Impact After Christmas Holiday by Darlene Superville (TIME)
- Workers Describe How They’re Trying to Survive the Trump Shutdown by Nathalie Baptiste (Mother Jones)
- The Government Shutdown Seems to Be Getting Only Worse by Aaron Mak (Slate)
- Government shutdown takes heavy toll on federal food stamps office by E.A. Crunden (ThinkProgress)
- These Service Members Will Work Without Paychecks During The Government Shutdown by Dave Jamieson (Huffington Post)
- #Shutdownstories: federal employees reveal impact of government closure by Khushbu Shah (The Guardian)
- Trump signals no end to shutdown: ‘You have to have a wall’ by Darlene Supervise and Juliet Linderman (The Guardian)
- Shutdown to cut office overseeing federal food stamps by 95% by Nadia Kounang (CNN)
- Analysis: 3 ways a U.S. government shutdown affects the rest of the world by Adam Taylor (Washington Post)
- Here’s What Americans Make Of The Partial Government Shutdown by Ariel Ewards-Levy (Huffington Post)
Border / Immigration
- Border officials make policy changes after 8-year-old migrant died in custody by Sarah Harvard (Independent)
- ICE left hundreds of migrants in downtown El Paso on Christmas without warning by E.A. Crunden (ThinkProgress)
- Border agency investigating conditions in Mexican migrant facilities in wake of boy’s death by Ian Kullgren, David Beavers (Politico)
- All Migrant Children in U.S. Custody Will Have Medical Checks After a Second Child Died by Nomaan Merchant (TIME)
- Another dead child: Trump’s hostility to immigrants has become lethal by Amanda Marcotte (Salon)
- ‘The House Will Hold Hearing’ on Deaths of Migrant Children, According to Congressman by James Kosur (Hill Reporter)
- Nielsen deploys Coast Guard medics to border, Hoyer vows probe of child deaths by Maria Sacchetti (Washington Post)
- Border Patrol denies responsibility for death of migrant child in its custody by Joshua Eaton (ThinkProgress)
Draft-Dodging
- Podiatrist’s Daughters Say He Diagnosed Trump’s Bone Spurs as Favor to Fred Trump by Daniel Politi (Slate)
- Daughters of NY podiatrist allege he helped Trump avoid Vietnam War: New York Times by Avery Anapol (The Hill)
- Even Donald Trump’s Draft-Dodging May Have Required His Father to Pull Strings by Erika Harwood (Vanity Fair)
- Analysis: The two favors that may have helped Trump avoid fighting in the Vietnam War by Philip Bump (Washington Post)
Other News
- Trump sets new Christmas record: First president not to visit troops since 2002 by Matthew Rozsa (Salon)
- Trump lawyers, citing shutdown, ask court for delay in emoluments case by Josh Gerstein (Politico)
- ‘You Hold the Line.’ James Mattis Sends Last Christmas Message to U.S. Troops by Suyin Haynes (TIME)
Analysis
- The Path to the Presidency Could Be Harder for White Democrats in 2020 by Jamelle Bouie (Slate)
- Yes, Ben Carson Is Still in Trump’s Cabinet. And Congressional Probes Could Be Coming His Way. by Nathalie Baptiste (Mother Jones)
- In A White House With Unprecedented Turnover, Survivors Have ‘Endurance’ by Tamara Keith (NPR)