Today in one sentence: Trump blamed the stabbing deaths of filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife on Reiner’s “massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME; Trump promised to do “big damage” and “very serious retaliation” in Syria after two U.S. Army soldiers and a U.S. civilian interpreter were killed in an ambush; Indiana Republican senators rejected a Trump-backed plan to redraw the state’s congressional map; House Oversight Committee Democrats released the first batch of photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate that include pictures of Trump and other prominent figures; U.S. household electricity bills rose 13% in 2025 after Trump took office; 42% of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance, while 58% disapprove; and 33% of Americans say they expect their personal finances to get worse in 2026, up from 23% who said the same about 2025.

1/ Trump blamed the stabbing deaths of filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife on Reiner’s “massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME […] He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before.” Los Angeles police said Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found stabbed to death in their home and that their 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, has been arrested on suspicion of murder. Officials said there is no indication politics played any role in the killings. Nevertheless, Trump later doubled down, saying “He was a deranged person. I was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all. I thought he was very bad for our country.” Republicans, including Reps. Thomas Massie, Mike Lawler, and Marjorie Taylor Greene all called Trump’s remarks “inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered,” adding that “It’s a horrible tragedy that should engender sympathy and compassion from everyone in our country, period.” (Associated Press / New York Times / Axios / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / NPR / ABC News / NBC News / CNBC / CNN)

2/ Trump promised to do “big damage” and “very serious retaliation” in Syria after two U.S. Army soldiers and a U.S. civilian interpreter were killed in an ambush. “It was ISIS,” Trump said, adding, “there will be a lot of damage done to the people that did it.” U.S. Central Command clarified that the attacker was a “lone ISIS gunman,” who was “engaged and killed.” Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani and Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the “terrorist ambush” by phone and the Syrian government reiterated a commitment to “degrade and destroy” ISIS. Trump, meanwhile, praised Syria’s new government as a partner, saying “The Syrian government fought by our side. The new president fought by our side.” (Bloomberg / Associated Press / The Hill / New York Times / Politico / Reuters)

3/ Indiana Republican senators rejected a Trump-backed plan to redraw the state’s congressional map, with 21 Republicans joining Democrats to block the proposed map that would have likely given the Republicans two additional U.S. House seats ahead of the 2026 midterms. Trump and his allies had spent months pressuring lawmakers through White House meetings, phone calls, and public threats of primary challenges. And ahead of the vote, the White House reportedly warned Indiana that all federal funding could be cut off if the Senate failed to pass the new map. In a now-deleted social media post, Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith wrote that the “Trump admin was VERY clear” about funding consequences. Trump and the White House, however, denied the threat to cut funding and called the allegation false. After the vote failed, Trump said he hoped that Indiana Senate leader Rodric Bray “would lose his next primary race […] I hope he does.” (New York Times / ABC News / Washington Post / Associated Press / CNBC / NPR / NBC News / The Hill / Democracy Docket)

4/ House Oversight Committee Democrats released the first batch of photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate that include pictures of Trump and other prominent figures. Democrats said the committee received more than 95,000 photos from the estate and made 19 images public so far, many previously seen, showing Trump, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Steve Bannon, and others. The photos of Trump show him smiling among groups of women with their faces redacted, standing beside Epstein at a social event, and seated next to a woman on what appears to be a private airplane, with no information provided about when or where the images were taken. Trump downplayed the release, saying, “Everybody knew this man. He was all over Palm Beach. He has photos with everybody. So that’s no big deal. I know nothing about it.” The White House accused Democrats of “cherry-picking photos” to create “a false narrative.” The committee’s top Democrat said the images “raise even more questions” and demanded that the Justice Department release all Epstein files by the Dec. 19 deadline. (Washington Post / Reuters / CNBC / Politico / The Hill / NBC News / Associated Press / CNN)

5/ U.S. household electricity bills rose 13% in 2025 after Trump took office, according to a new report from Climate Power based on Energy Information Administration data. Canceled or delayed energy projects have removed nearly 25,000 megawatts of planned generation – enough to supply more than 13 million homes! – while electricity demand is rising from large data centers used for artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and cryptocurrency mining. “A lot of it is data centers,” the co-director of the Center for Energy Poverty and Climate said, while a University of Texas energy law professor said, “We’re just not able to bring new supply on as quickly as demand is growing, and that’s driving prices up.” The White House, nevertheless, rejected the report, saying Trump is “fixing the energy crisis Joe Biden created,” while arguing that deregulation and fossil fuel production will lower prices. (ABC News / Climate Power)

  • The Trump administration announced a new “U.S. Tech Force” to hire about 1,000 engineers and specialists to work on AI infrastructure and other federal technology projects. The two-year program will place workers under agency leaders while collaborating with firms including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Google Public Sector, Nvidia, OpenAI, Oracle, and Palantir. (CNBC / Axios)

poll/ 42% of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance, while 58% disapprove. Strong approval stands at 21%, down from 26% in April, while 70% of self-identified MAGA Republicans strongly approve of Trump, down eight points since April. Overall, 64% of Americans say the country is on the wrong track, and 35% say their personal finances are worse than a year ago as inflation and the cost of living remain top concerns. (NBC News)

poll/ 33% of Americans say they expect their personal finances to get worse in 2026, up from 23% who said the same about 2025. 46% of Gen Z adults say their finances will be better next year, compared with 40% of millennials, 31% of Gen X, and 25% of baby boomers. Among those who expect their finances to get worse, 78% cited inflation as the main reason. (Axios)

⏭️ Notably Next: The 2026 midterms are in 323 days.

Three years ago today: Day 695: "Clear and convincing."
Four years ago today: Day 330: "This is bullshit."
Eight years ago today: Day 330: Shame.