The Year in Truth (Social)

Today’s notice: Happy holidays from the newsletter team! We’re taking a few days off after today, but we’ll be back in your inboxes Jan. 5, 2026 — a year sure to be the newsiest since, you know, 2025.

THE LATEST

One way to know the Epstein news cycle is getting real: the sound of administration spin. “To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already,” the DOJ said in a statement yesterday.

This newest release is like pouring gasoline on the conspiracy fire, and the Trump administration seems to know it. NOTUS has all the latest, which is characteristically difficult to parse with the DOJ’s liberal use of redactions.

Of note: The files include two email exchanges from federal officials in 2019 that mention “10 co-conspirators” — who remain unnamed.

Donald Trump is mentioned a lot, including in one jailhouse letter sent by Jeffrey Epstein that the DOJ is now claiming was a fabrication. Again, Trump has never been formally charged with illegal activity surrounding Epstein, and that’s with investigators theoretically having access to all this material.

So: This remains not a legal story, but a political story. One with increasingly clear lines of demarcation. Democrats are the ones connecting dots these days, while Republicans are for the most part urging caution.

But there is some real validation for the people who said there was explosive stuff in these files. And that means the story is only going to grow, not drown in a sea of documents as some predicted after Congress forced the files to be released.

Open tabs: Supreme Court Blocks Trump’s Chicago National Guard Deployment (NOTUS); Former senator Ben Sasse says he has terminal cancer (WaPo); Trump administration moves to end lottery system for H-1B visas (AP); Hageman launches bid for Wyoming Senate seat (Politico)

From the Hill

There will be fresh stories on NOTUS all week, including one from Riley Rogerson on Congress’ freshman class, but in the spirit of 2025 reflection, here’s what the newbies told her they learned this year about life on the Hill.

• Wear comfortable shoes. “A month and a half with cute shoes, and then my knee exploded,” said Rep. Julie Fedorchak, a Republican from North Dakota. “I was worried about not being able to walk at all for a while.’”
  
• Prepare to light money on fire. “I have Instacarted sheets to myself on the way home from a meeting three hours away in District, because I didn’t do laundry and I’m so tired,” said Rep. Emily Randall, a Democrat from Washington state.
  
• Be That Person in airports. “I did bring frozen marinated lamb the other day, and they had to run it twice,” Randall said, referring to the TSA.
  
• Embrace ever-present parental guilt. “My goal is that if I can either put her on the bus before I come to D.C. and/or tuck her into bed and see her for a little bit before she goes to bed, I’m going home,” Rep. Johnny Olszewski, a Democrat from Maryland, said of his 10-year-old daughter and the schedule he has to keep. “If I can’t do either … I’ll get a hotel room or whatever.”
  
• Legalize it? “A member had encouraged me to just take a sleeping pill on the first night in, and I haven’t done that yet, but I do, you know, pop a cannabis gummy before going into the gates of SeaTac sometimes,” Randall said. “I’m from Washington state!”

From the White House

Trump’s personal investments now include at least $22.1 million, and as much as $65.3 million, in corporate and government bonds. The companies include Netflix, Amazon, Oracle and Boeing, among others — all companies his administration’s decisions could affect, NOTUS’ Dave Levinthal reports.

Speaking of finances, “THE TRUMP RULE” is how the president started his third economic-focused Truth Social post yesterday, taking a victory lap after GDP growth walloped expectations, rising at 4.3% in the third quarter.

The surge was fueled in part by increases in consumer spending and exports. The warning signs? Consumer spending was largely driven by wealthy households, and next quarter’s number could take a hit due to the lack of federal spending during the government shutdown, The New York Times reports.

The White House’s preferred narrative: “The doubters, naysayers, panicans, and liberal media have been proven wrong — again,” Karoline Leavitt posted on X. “Trust in Trump.”

From the campaign trail

#Actually, being broke is normal. “This is not unusual,” the executive director of the Delaware Republican Party, Nick Miles, told NOTUS’ Violet Jira after the FEC sent a warning to the party for having a negative cash balance in its bank accounts. “Off-years always require tighter resource management and strategic planning for both parties.”

Miles denied the negative balance, chalking up the figures to a “timing reporting issue” caused by outstanding checks.

Who’s mess this is now: The party has been telling local media in Delaware it expects to get a big check from the RNC soon, after completing a national party-approved 2026 strategic plan. The RNC did not respond to a request for comment from Violet.

THE BIG ONE

The year in Truths: The poster-in-chief is back in the White House, meaning millions of Americans, including the most powerful in Congress and the business community, hang on to Trump’s every digital utterance. What has that meant in 2025?

The numbers: An analysis from NOTUS’ Taylor Giorno found 185 company-specific name-checks in Trump social media posts during his second administration, a number that feels low when one considers how seemingly constant the barrage is.

Trump has also really taken to promoting books on Truth Social, NOTUS’ Emily Kennard reports, and he’s sort of a dream book promoter (in theory). Of the more than 50 posts promoting various books this year, more than half have included an Amazon link.

Getting name-checked by Trump isn’t planned. “Every time he did it, it was a surprise,” political journalist Salena Zito told Emily of the president regularly promoting her books on social media. “And I would call my publisher, and they’d be surprised.” Like other Trump-endorsed authors Emily spoke with, Zito said there was no coordination with or heads up about promo posts from Trump.

When it comes to the books, these posts are maybe more of a prestige thing. Trump 1.0 medical adviser James Jones, whose memoir got the Trump plug, and Rep. Barry Loudermilk told Emily they only saw slight bumps in sales, if any.

But when it comes to businesses, lobbyists’ advice? Avoid the Truths: “Instead of publicly opposing the administration, find constructive ways to engage privately. Above all, discard any negative press releases or statements,” one Republican lobbyist told Taylor.

NEW ON NOTUS

Deadly December for ICE detainees: Seven people died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody this month — four of them within a four-day span — making it the deadliest month for detainees in Trump’s second term, NOTUS’ Jackie Llanos reports.

NOT US

• How Did DOGE Disrupt So Much While Saving So Little? By Emily Badger, David A. Fahrenthold, Alicia Parlapiano and Margot Sanger-Katz for The New York Times
  
• ‘It’s a war’: Inside ICE’s media machine, by Joyce Sohyun Lee and Drew Harwell for The Washington Post
  
• A Forgotten Young Republicans Scandal Shows How Hard It Is for Party Elders to Control Young Troops, by Ian Ward for Politico

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