Trump name added to Kennedy Center building; Trump announces more drug cuts
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Trump told NBC News in a phone interview yesterday that he is leaving the possibility of a war with Venezuela on the table.
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Highlights from Dec. 19, 2025
- EPSTEIN DOCUMENTS: The Justice Department faces a deadline today to release a trove of records in the case of the late convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein under a bill passed by Congress last month.
- VENEZUELA BLOCKADE: President Donald Trump told NBC News in a phone interview yesterday that he is leaving the possibility of a war with Venezuela on the table after he ordered a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers going to and from Venezuela as part of his administration's efforts to halt the alleged flow of illicit drugs from the country.
- JUDGE FOUND GUILTY: A jury found a Wisconsin judge accused of helping a Mexican immigrant dodge federal authorities guilty of obstruction yesterday, marking a victory for Trump as he continues his sweeping immigration crackdown across the country.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis will not seek re-election in 2026
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., announced today that she will not seek re-election to the Senate in 2026.
“Deciding not to run for re-election does represent a change of heart for me, but in the difficult, exhausting session weeks this fall I’ve come to accept that I do not have six more years in me. I am a devout legislator, but I feel like a sprinter in a marathon. The energy required doesn’t match up,” she wrote in a release shared with NBC News.
“I am honored to have earned the support of President Trump and to have the opportunity to work side by side with him to fight for the people of Wyoming. I look forward to continuing this partnership and throwing all my energy into bringing important legislation to his desk in 2026 and into retaining commonsense Republican control of the U.S. Senate,” she continued.
Lummis has been in the Senate since 2021 and has been spearheading the legislative push on cryptocurrency regulation in the Senate.
Trump announces 9 additional pharmaceutical companies have signed onto his reduced drug cost program
Trump announced this afternoon that nine additional pharmaceutical companies have signed onto his reduced drug cost program.
The new companies are: Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Genentech, Gilead, GSK, Merck, Novartis and Sanofi. This is in addition to five companies who have also signed similar deals in recent months, bringing the total to 14.
"This is the biggest thing ever to happen on drug pricing and on health care. This will have a tremendous impact on health care itself," Trump said at the White House, flanked by the pharmaceutical companies' chief executives.
Trump said the companies agreed to offer their drugs to Medicaid and most favored nations pricing. "They're going to pay our country the lowest price paid anywhere in the world, and they will list their most popular drugs on TrumpRX.gov," he said.
Full release of Epstein records could take a ‘couple of weeks,’ deputy AG says
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department would release “several hundred thousand documents” from its Jeffrey Epstein investigative files today — but that there’s still much more to come.
“I expect that we’re going to release several hundred thousand documents today, and those documents will come in all different forms — photographs and other materials associated with all of the investigations into, into Mr. Epstein,” Blanche told Fox News.
“I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks,” he said. “So today, several hundred thousand, and then, over the next couple of weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more.”
Jack Smith says Americans should 'hear the fact' of Trump probes, wants deposition tapes released
Jack Smith wants the American public to “hear the facts” about his two criminal cases against Trump, asking Trump ally Jim Jordan to release video of his eight-hour testimony during a closed-door deposition this week and schedule an open and public hearing, according to a letter obtained by NBC News.
Seeking to head off selective leaks of Smith’s testimony by Trump allies on Capitol Hill, Smith’s attorneys wrote in a letter to Jordan that the prompt public release of the full videotape of Smith’s testimony would “ensure that the American people can hear the facts directly from Mr. Smith, rather than through second-hand accounts.”
While Trump told reporters that he wanted Smith to testify in public, House Republicans have been reluctant to give Smith that public forum. A spokeswoman for Jordan did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But in an interview with Sean Hannity, Jordan did not suggest that he’d generated any gotcha moments in his exchanges with Smith, instead telling Hannity that nothing in Smith’s testimony changed Jordan’s predetermined belief that the Smith cases were political. Jordan has not ruled out a future public hearing, but he hasn’t committed to one either.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., joked to reporters this week that Jordan made an “an excellent decision” in keeping Smith’s testimony secret because Smith’s testimony was “absolutely devastating to the president and all the president’s men involved in the insurrectionary activities of Jan. 6.”
Smith told Congress this week that he and his team gathered “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump engaged in a “criminal scheme” to overturn his 2020 election loss. During his testimony, Smith called Jan. 6 “an attack on the structure of our democracy in which over 100 heroic law enforcement officers were assaulted,” and said Trump and his associates exploited the violence of his supporters when they “tried to call Members of Congress in furtherance of their criminal scheme, urging them to further delay certification of the 2020 election.”
In the new letter, Smith’s attorneys wrote that he welcomed the opportunity to testify about Trump’s “alleged unlawful retention of classified documents, obstruction of justice, and role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election,” and hoped his testimony would “serve to correct the many mischaracterizations about the work of the Special Counsel’s Office.”
Reiterating their request for an additional public hearing, Smith’s attorneys wrote that Smith stood by his decisions and “steadfastly” followed Justice Department policies and the law.
“We look forward to cooperating with you to provide the public with an opportunity to hear directly from Mr. Smith regarding his work,” Smith’s lawyers wrote to Jordan.
Politico first reported on the letter.
Democrats on House Judiciary and Oversight Committees say they are 'examining all legal options' on slow Epstein files release
The top Democrats on the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees said in a joint statement today that they're “examining all legal options” after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said this morning that the Justice Department might not release all of the Epstein material today, the deadline to make the files public under a law Congress passed last month.
"Courts around the country have repeatedly intervened when this Administration has broken the law. We are now examining all legal options in the face of this violation of federal law," said Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia, D-Calif.
"The survivors of this nightmare deserve justice, the co-conspirators must be held accountable, and the American people deserve complete transparency from DOJ,” they wrote.
New Trump-Kennedy Center sign is affixed to building facade despite concerns about legality
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington donned a new name — the Trump-Kennedy Center — on the exterior of the building Friday, just a day after President Donald Trump’s hand-picked board voted to change the arts institution’s name.
The move came despite concerns about the legality of the shift and objections from members of the Kennedy family and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle after the center announced that its board on Thursday voted unanimously to approve the name change.
Democratic and GOP lawmakers slam DOJ's plan not to release all Epstein files today
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., slammed the Department of Justice today over the planned release of some of the Epstein files, but not all of them, in accordance with the law.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Fox News this morning that he expected the department to release several hundred thousand documents today and several hundred thousand additional files in the coming weeks.
“The law Congress passed and President Trump signed was clear as can be — the Trump administration had 30 days to release ALL the Epstein files, not just some," Schumer said in a statement. "Failing to do so is breaking the law. This just shows the Department of Justice, Donald Trump, and Pam Bondi are hellbent on hiding the truth."
Schumer said Senate Democrats are working with the attorneys representing Epstein victims as well as outside legal experts "to assess what documents are being withheld and what is being covered up by Pam Bondi."
Khanna, who helped push the law requiring the release of the files through Congress with Massie, reposted his warning on X that anyone "who tries to conceal or scrub the files will be subject to prosecution under the law."
Massie showed an image of the law in a post on X this morning and highlighted the language that said "all" of the files must be released within 30 days.
Workers install Trump's name on Kennedy Center
Mark Schiefelbein / AP
A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center told NBC News yesterday that the art institution's board voted to rename the facility “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts."
White House trolls with holiday-themed social media posts about immigration enforcement
The Trump administration is ringing in the holiday season by repurposing holiday movies, songs and sayings to promote its platform of mass deportation on social media.
“Tis the Season for mass deportations,” reads a post from the Department of Homeland Security’s X account, which has also added Christmas lights and Santa hats to images of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and promoted their “Worst of the Worst” list as “Santa’s Naughty List.”
The White House TikTok account has posted multiple holiday-themed video compilations of migrant arrests — one set to the song “Jingle Bells”; another to promote “Cuffing Season”; and one that sets video of a deportation flight to sounds from "The Polar Express" movie. The caption reads, “All aboard the Deportation Express! Next stop: Back to where you came from.” And “The Polar Express” is not the only holiday movie the administration has used in these posts.
Recreating a scene from “Home Alone,” they replaced the image of Buzz’s girlfriend with a crying migrant — to which Buzz's younger brother Kevin, played by actor Macaulay Culkin, reacts with a “Woof!” A Department of Homeland Security video used the line “This is my house; I have to defend it” from the movie to apply to the “homeland.”
The newly created TikTok account for the Cabinet has also leaned in — with the third video ever posted by the account being an old-school style TV commercial for Customs and Border Protection's CBP Home app disguised as a holiday deal to “go home for the holidays.”
The posts have received some backlash, including from R&B artist SZA, whose song was used in the “Cuffing Season” video. “White House rage baiting artists for free promo is PEAK DARK ..inhumanity +shock and aw tactics ..Evil n Boring,” she wrote on X.
The trolling tone is not new for the White House’s social media accounts, but it remains notable that they are leaning in around the holiday season.
Trump tells NBC News he’s not ruling out war with Venezuela
Trump said yesterday that he is leaving the possibility of war with Venezuela on the table. “I don’t rule it out, no,” he told NBC News’ Kristen Welker in a phone interview. The president's comments come after he ordered a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers coming and going from Venezuela.
JFK’s family reacts to Trump-Kennedy Center renaming plan
Trump’s hand-picked board at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has voted to rename the iconic institution the Trump-Kennedy Center. The move is raising serious legal questions and intense backlash from members of the Kennedy family. NBC’s Garrett Haake reports for "TODAY."
Putin tells NBC News the ball is in Ukraine and the West’s court to end the war
Russian President Vladimir Putin told NBC News’ Keir Simmons that “the ball is entirely in the court” of Ukraine and the West in peace talks as he praised Trump’s “serious” and “sincere” efforts to end the war.
Simmons asked Putin during a news conference in Moscow today whether, given that Kyiv has agreed to enormous compromises, he would be responsible for the deaths of Russians and Ukrainians next year if there is no deal.
The Russian leader said no. “We do not consider ourselves responsible for the loss of life, because it was not us who started this war,” he said.
“At the meeting with President Trump in Anchorage, we coordinated our positions and almost agreed with President Trump’s proposals,” Putin said, referring to the duo’s summit in Alaska.
“Therefore, to say that we are rejecting anything is absolutely incorrect and has no basis whatsoever. At the preliminary meetings in Moscow, proposals were made to us and we were asked to agree to certain compromises. When I arrived in Anchorage, I said that these would not be easy decisions for us, but that we agree to the compromises being proposed. Therefore, to claim that we are rejecting something is completely incorrect and has no grounds,” Putin said.
He added: “The issue lies entirely on the other side, the ball is entirely in the court of our so-called Western adversaries, first and foremost the leaders of the Kyiv regime and, in this case especially, their European sponsors. We are ready for negotiations and to settle the conflict by peaceful means.”
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche previews Epstein files release
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said this morning that the Justice Department plans to release documents today from the government's files on Epstein, but added they won't all come out at once.
"I expect that we’re going to release several hundred thousand documents today, and those documents will come in all different forms — photographs and other materials associated with all of the investigations into, into Mr. Epstein," he said on Fox News.
Blanche said that the DOJ has been "working tirelessly" since Trump signed the law requiring the release of the files "to make sure that we get every single document that we have within the Department of Justice, review it and get it to the American public."
"I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks," he said. "So today, several hundred thousand, and then, over the next couple of weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more."
Trump suspends green card lottery program that allowed Brown, MIT shooting suspect to enter U.S.
Trump suspended the green card lottery program yesterday that allowed the suspect in the Brown University and MIT shootings to come to the United States.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on the social platform X that, at Trump’s direction, she was ordering the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to pause the program.
“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” she said of the suspect, Portuguese national Claudio Neves Valente.
Neves Valente, 48, is suspected in the shootings at Brown University that killed two students and wounded nine others, and the killing of an MIT professor. He was found dead last evening from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said.
House Democrats release new photos from Epstein estate
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released 68 photos yesterday from the estate, including photos of Epstein with high-profile people. The release and another one last week by Oversight Democrats include dozens of photos of Epstein posing with Trump, his top ally Steve Bannon, former President Bill Clinton, former Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, movie director Woody Allen and others. All have denied any wrongdoing, and none have been charged related to Epstein’s crimes.
U.S. military says 2 strikes on alleged drug boats kill 5 in eastern Pacific
The U.S. military said yesterday that it had conducted two more strikes against boats it said were smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing five people.
U.S. Southern Command posted on social media, “Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” though it did not provide evidence. It posted videos of each boat speeding through water before being struck by an explosion.
The military said three people in one vessel and two in the other were killed.
Jury finds a Wisconsin judge guilty of obstruction for helping an immigrant evade federal agents
A jury found a Wisconsin judge accused of helping a Mexican immigrant dodge federal authorities guilty of obstruction yesterday, marking a victory for Trump as he continues his sweeping immigration crackdown across the country.
Federal prosecutors charged Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan with obstruction, a felony, and concealing an individual to prevent arrest, a misdemeanor, in April. The jury acquitted her on the concealment count, but she still faces up to five years in prison on the obstruction count.
The jury returned the verdicts after deliberating for six hours.
Trump not ruling out war with Venezuela
Trump said yesterday that he is leaving the possibility of a war with Venezuela on the table.
“I don’t rule it out, no,” he told NBC News in a phone interview.
Trump on Tuesday ordered a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers coming and going from Venezuela, increasing pressure on the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro. The U.S. recently seized an oil tanker captured near Venezuela, as well.
The administration’s campaign has already resulted in 28 boat strikes that have killed more than 100 people, including a “double tap” strike facing congressional scrutiny.
In his phone interview, Trump said “I don’t discuss it” when he is asked whether he rules out the possibility that such actions could lead to war.
But when he was pressed, he confirmed it was a possibility and said there will be additional seizures of oil tankers. Asked for a timeline, Trump replied: “It depends. If they’re foolish enough to be sailing along, they’ll be sailing along back into one of our harbors.”
