Hi all, it’s Tuesday, December 30.
2025 is almost over.
Last night, my brothers and I recorded our final episode of the year of the MeidasTouch Podcast featuring all three of us. You can watch it ad-free right here on Substack or listen for free anywhere you find podcasts, like Apple Podcasts and Spotify. While you’re there, consider leaving a 5-star review if you can. It really helps the show!
Now, to today’s updates.
Trump has not posted on social media in days. When he last did, it was to claim that Democrats want to replace Americans with “uneducated Mexicans who are easier to enslave.” That remains the most recent public social media message from the president of the United States. After that, silence from his account.
Trump spent yesterday publicly amplifying Kremlin talking points, falsely alleging that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attempted an attack on Vladimir Putin’s residence. There was zero evidence to back up those claims at the time, and today, French intelligence is speaking out and confirming that Putin’s claims were a total fabrication. That didn’t stop Trump from trying to use these lies to further attack Ukraine.
Meanwhile, National security advisers from the Coalition of the Willing countries, led by the U.K. and France, have agreed to meet in Ukraine on January 3. That meeting will be followed by an additional meeting among state leaders, which is currently planned for Janaury 6 in France. As you look at the current geopolitical landscape, you see a United States that is more and more isolated, often appearing more as a vassal state to Putin’s Russia, as the rest of the free world unites to defend liberal democracy.
The contrast in public opinion could not be clearer. Zelenskyy holds a positive net approval rating in the United States. Trump’s approval is deeply underwater and falling. Vladimir Putin sits at historic lows with American voters, yet the overlap between Putin’s sympathizers and Trump’s base remains obvious. And the consequences of that connection are showing up in global instability, domestic fraud, and open authoritarianism.
At home, Trump’s allies have adopted the same grift-first approach that defines his political career. Mike Johnson is now running email “surveys” that promise no fundraising, then immediately demand donations once clicked. Yesterday, we highlighted an email Trump sent to supporters telling them that if they don’t donate to him within the next hour, Democrats will steal their “tariff rebate checks” and give them to “illegals,” that the country is “boiling over,” and that only an immediate cash transfer to him can stop total disaster. Fraud has become the operating principle of this administration and its enablers.
Abroad, the cost is even higher. Trump likes to pose as a peacemaker while the world burns around him. Another major conflict is now escalating between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two countries with which Trump maintains personal business relationships. A Saudi-led coalition recently carried out a targeted strike at Yemen’s Mukalla port, alleging that UAE-backed vessels were delivering weapons to southern separatists. Yemen denies the claim. The UAE denies the allegation. What is undeniable is that this marks one of the most serious escalations between two Gulf monarchies that once presented a united front.
This is what happens when the United States abdicates moral leadership and replaces it with transactional corruption. There is no clarity about where America stands anymore, beyond the question of who is willing to flatter or bribe the president. The postwar global order that kept rival powers in check has been hollowed out, and the dominoes are falling.
Back home, Trump is facing a different kind of humiliation. Artists are continuing to cancel performances at the Kennedy Center after Trump unlawfully defaced it by renaming it the “Trump Kennedy Center.” The latest cancellations include New Year’s Eve performances by a veteran jazz ensemble and upcoming appearances by a New York dance company. The financial losses for these artists are real and painful, but their statements are clear. Jazz, they reminded the public, was born from struggle and from an insistence on freedom of expression.
Trump’s handpicked overseer of the center, Ric Grenell, responded with social media tantrums, accusing performers of being “far left political activists.” The reality is simpler. Artists do not want to legitimize a crime scene. They do not want their names attached to an unlawful act of vandalism.
Meanwhile, Trump’s propaganda machine is in overdrive, trying to explain away the pain Americans are feeling. Right-wing outlets trot out Republican officials who promise vague future relief while blaming everyone else for the damage. When pressed on the economy, they admit they cannot say when people will feel improvement. When asked about expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, they claim plans exist without offering a single concrete detail.
The truth is that Trump inherited an economy that economists described as the envy of the world. He promised lower prices and instant fixes. Instead, Americans are paying more, losing health care protections, and being told to wait patiently while the administration dismantles what worked.
The distractions are intentional. Republicans increasingly point fingers at immigrants and marginalized communities to deflect from their own record. Claims that Somali immigrants are uniquely responsible for fraud collapse under even minimal scrutiny. Trump has pardoned or commuted sentences for criminals responsible for more than a billion dollars in fraud. His allies have personally profited from massive Medicare scams.
Perhaps most alarming is what continues to emerge about Russian influence. A disgraced right-wing media figure previously expelled for running an illegal Russian propaganda operation was quietly allowed back into the United States with help from Trump administration officials. All of this occurred amid Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdowns on everyone else. The message could not be clearer.
In other news, we are now learning that the CIA reportedly conducted a drone strike on a Venezuelan port facility last week, as the Trump regime escalates its attempts at regime change in the country. According to reports, the dock was empty when the strike took place, and nobody was killed. This marks the first reported attack on land in Venezuela. You’d think this would be getting a whole lot more attention.
Meanwhile, the first physical evidence from the various boat strikes has washed ashore and been reviewed by The New York Times. There was no trace of cocaine or fentanyl, as the Trump administration claimed. Just burned packets with traces of marijuana. Once again, the regime’s propaganda narratives do not align with reality.
At home, caseload backlogs at the Social Security Administration have swelled to over 6 million, and applicants now face major obstacles in obtaining basic information since the Trump administration took over in January. DOGE’s cuts to the agency have made it less efficient and left it in turmoil, struggling to provide even basic services, according to staffers and internal documents.
MS NOW is now reporting that border czar Tom Homan did not receive a normal background check while his bribery probe was ongoing. Justice officials say he never would have been able to obtain a security clearance due to the evidence gathered in the investigation.
And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is once again stirring talk of bombing Iran, warning that Iran will soon be capable of targeting U.S. cities with nuclear weapons, a story we’ve been told countless times over the past few decades. But I thought Trump completely obliterated Iran’s nuclear program? Hmm…
Watch my full report of the day’s news above and be sure to check back on the MeidasTouch YouTube channel and podcast feed for even more updates throughout the day.
