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Today in Politics, Bulletin 278. 1/2/26 Ron Filipkowski Jan 2 ∙ … WSJ: “Jeffrey Epstein wasn’t just a frequent visitor to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The club was also sending spa employees—usually young women—to Epstein’s nearby mansion for massages, manicures and other spa services, according to former Mar-a-Lago and Epstein employees. The house calls went on for years, even as spa employees warned each other about Epstein, who was known among staff for being sexually suggestive and exposing himself during the appointments.” … “The spa occasionally provided house calls for members. Epstein wasn’t a dues-paying member of the club, but Trump told staff to treat him like one, the employees said. Epstein had an account at the spa where his companion, Ghislaine Maxwell, booked appointments on his behalf.” … Karoline Leavitt was asked for a comment: “It’s shameful the Wall Street Journal is wasting their once great paper writing up fallacies and innuendo in order to smear President Trump and distract from his historic first year back in office.” … AP: “Trump and top Iranian officials exchanged dueling threats as widening economic protests swept across parts of the Islamic Republic, further escalating tensions between the countries after America bombed Iranian nuclear sites in June. Trump warned Iran on Truth Social that if it ‘violently kills peaceful protesters,’ the US ‘will come to their rescue.’ At least 7 people have been killed so far in violence surrounding the demonstrations. ‘We are locked and loaded and ready to go,’ Trump wrote.” … “Shortly after, Ali Larijani, a former parliament speaker who serves as the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, alleged that Israel and the US were stoking the demonstrations. He offered no evidence to support the allegation, which Iranian officials have repeatedly made during years of protests sweeping the country.” Larijani: “Trump should know that intervention by the US in the domestic problem corresponds to chaos in the entire region and the destruction of the US interests. The people of the US should know that Trump began the adventurism. They should take care of their own soldiers.” … “Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who previously was the council’s secretary for years, warned that ‘any interventionist hand that gets too close to the security of Iran will be cut. The people of Iran properly know the experience of ‘being rescued’ by Americans: from Iraq and Afghanistan to Gaza.’” … Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE): “This is when we need a strong Voice of America beaming information into Iran. Some in the Admin underestimate the value that VOA brings, but now it is an important tool for the President and our national security team. Information is an instrument of power.” … Too bad Trump, Musk and director Kari Lake wiped it out. … After posting that we were on the brink of war with Iran, Trump went shopping for marble on his way to golf. CNN’s Samantha Waldenberg: “The president has stopped this morning at Arc Stone and Tile in Lake Worth Beach, FL. I snapped this photo of a truck in the company’s parking lot.” … A WH official issued a statement: “President Trump is purchasing marble and onyx, at his own expense, for the White House Ballroom.” … Not sure I buy the “at his own expense” part. … New CBS News anchor Tony Dokoupil was roasted online after he posted a video declaring their new philosophy under Bari Weiss: “On too many stories, the press has missed the story. Because we’ve taken into account the perspective of advocates and not the average American. Or we put too much weight in the analysis of academics or elites, and not enough on you.” … Katherine Brodsky: “I don’t want the analysis of average Americans on the news. If I want their opinions, I’ll read X. What I want to see from media is better discernment of which experts are actually best suited for the story, not based on PR and connections, but actual topical knowledge.” … Larry Sabato: “Absolutely! You wouldn’t want ‘academics and elites’ who have actually studied a subject to outweigh the off-the-cuff opinions of village idiots. This is how we’re seeing the resurgence of measles, and the widespread belief in almost non-existent vote fraud, among many other great leaps backward in the Trump era. Cronkite would be so very proud of you, CBS News.” … Media critic Stephen Whitty: “The job of a journalist is not to repeat back to me what I see and hear; it’s to report everything in full, and with context. Don’t tell me what I think I already know; increase my knowledge by telling me things I didn’t.” … Neera Tanden: “As the culture moves against MAGA, Bari Weiss has moved towards it. Liberals will abandon CBS and the right will still just watch Fox. She will ensure the Ellison money is set on fire.” … WSJ: “Trump is taking more aspirin than his doctors recommend. He briefly tried wearing compression socks for his swelling ankles, but stopped because he didn’t like them. And he regrets undergoing advanced imaging because it generated scrutiny of his health: ‘In retrospect, it’s too bad I took it because it gave them a little ammunition. I would have been a lot better off if they didn’t, because the fact that I took it said, ‘Oh gee, is something wrong?’ Well, nothing’s wrong.” … “Trump gets little sleep and has recently struggled to keep his eyes open during several televised events in the West Wing. Aides, donors and friends say they often have to speak loudly in meetings with the president because he strains to hear. Aside from golf, Trump doesn’t get regular exercise, and he is known to consume a diet heavy on salty and fatty foods, such as hamburgers and french fries.” … “The large dose of aspirin he chooses to take daily has caused him to bruise easily, he said, and he has been encouraged by his doctors to take a lower dose. ‘They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart. I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense?’” … “The president has sought to conceal ailments that have led to speculation about his health, covering bruising on his hand with makeup. In his first term, he played down the severity of his Covid-19 symptoms and declined to disclose that he got a colonoscopy. His physical signs of aging are becoming more evident to some of his closest advisers. His skin is so delicate that Pam Bondi caused his hand to bleed when she nicked him with her ring while giving him a high-five at the RNC.” … The Hill: Dr. Jonathan Reiner, cardiologist to the late former VP Dick Cheney, dismissed Trump’s aspirin regimen: “It makes no sense. First of all, when we use any kind of anticoagulant, medications to prevent clotting, those don’t thin the blood. It’s not like changing something from gumbo to chicken soup. It doesn’t make it thinner. It makes you less likely to clot.” … Trump posted this today: “The White House Doctors have just reported that I am in “PERFECT HEALTH,” and that I “ACED” (Meaning, was correct on 100% of the questions asked!), for the third straight time, my Cognitive Examination, something which no other President, or previous Vice President, was willing to take. Our great Country cannot be run by “STUPID” or INCOMPETENT PEOPLE!” … It seems a bit unusual for him to be given three cognitive exams in quick succession. They were also dementia tests, not cognitive exams. … Reuters: “Drugmakers plan to raise US prices on at least 350 branded medications, even as the Trump admin pressures them for cuts. The number of price increases for 2026 is up from the same point last year, when drugmakers unveiled plans for raises on more than 250 drugs. The median of this year’s price hikes is around 4% - in line with 2025.” … WaPo: “Trump and WH leaders say that American workers are winning because of his immigration crackdown. But the data doesn’t back that up. Since the summer, Trump officials have been trumpeting the idea that job creation is booming for US-born workers. Trump said so, too, during a prime-time address last month: ‘In the year before my election, all net creation of jobs was going to foreign migrants. Since I took office, 100% of all net job creation has gone to American-born citizens. 100%.’” … “Trump admin officials also said recently that more than 2.5 million US-born workers gained jobs in 2025 as 1 million immigrants left the workforce. But economists on both sides of the political aisle say they have seen no evidence that American-born workers are getting jobs by the millions or moving en masse into positions abandoned by deported immigrants. In fact, data shows that US-born workers are doing moderately worse under Trump than they were under Biden because the labor market has weakened.” … Jed Kolko, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a former Commerce Dept economist: “The unemployment rate has been rising for both native-born and foreign-born adults.” … Trump was TACOing again. WSJ: “The US has stepped back from imposing trade-killing duties on Italian pasta makers, meaning that Italian-made pasta will most likely continue to be available in US stores. Previously, the Commerce Dept said it would slap antidumping duties of 92% on Italy’s main pasta exporters as soon as Jan—a measure that Italian pasta makers said would force them to pull out of the US market. Italy’s govt and the affected companies have been lobbying the Trump admin for weeks to revise the decision.” … But the Commerce Dept just told the companies that it will now dramatically reduce the threatened tariffs. The two biggest pasta exporters to the US, La Molisana and Garofalo, will now face duties of 2.3% and 13.9%, respectively. 11 other Italian pasta makers will face a 9.1% tariff. … CNN: “Trump has delayed new tariff increases on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets, and vanities for a year, pushing their implementation to 2027. Trump signed a proclamation hours before the end of 2025, postponing the tariff hikes on these items, which were originally due to take effect on Thur. In Sept, Trump ordered 25% new tariffs on kitchen cabinets and upholstered furniture. Those took effect in Oct, with rates slated to rise to 50% and 30%, respectively, by 2026.” What a brilliant idea for me to plan two specials to write over the past week - 25 Worst Villains of the Trump Admin, and 500 Worst Things The Trump Admin Did in 2025. 5 million hours of work over the holidays! The truth is that I only planned originally to do Top 10 Villains. Then when I started working on the list it was impossible to get it to 10 because there we so many. As some of you pointed out, there were a few more left off even when I expanded it to 25. Which meant a bit more work than I thought. I knew the 500 Worst Things was going to be a big project, but it was much more work than I expected because I had to go back and read over so much material, then decide how to narrow it down to only 500. I realize it was difficult for some to read, but I really thought it was important to document the entire year because seeing everything in full context like that really brings home the depths of depravity like nothing else. Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Anyway, back to the normal routine with daily Bulletins on M, T, Th, and Fri with the weekend one on Sun and the two podcasts on Wed. We are headed to Boston tomorrow for an overnight museum trip where will be going to a few great ones. It’s 23 degrees here, so museums are a good option. This was my hike in NH on Wed. … AP: “Enhanced tax credits that have helped reduce the cost of health insurance for the vast majority of Affordable Care Act enrollees expired overnight, cementing higher health costs for millions of Americans at the start of the new year. Democrats forced a 43-day govt shutdown over the issue. Moderate Republicans called for a solution to save their 2026 political aspirations. In the end, no one's efforts were enough to save the subsidies before their expiration date.” … “A House vote expected in Jan could offer another chance, but success is far from guaranteed. On average, the more than 20 million subsidized enrollees in the ACA are seeing their premium costs rise by 114% in 2026. Those surging prices come alongside an overall increase in health costs in the US, which are further driving up out-of-pocket costs in many plans. Health analysts have predicted the expiration of the subsidies will drive many of the 24 million ACA enrollees to forgo health insurance coverage altogether.” … Rep. Hakeem Jeffries: “Far-right extremists have recklessly let the Affordable Care Act tax credits expire. House Democrats will advance bipartisan legislation on the floor next week to restore healthcare affordability for millions of everyday Americans. How many House Republicans will join us?” … CNBC: “Chinese auto giant BYD dethroned US rival Tesla as the world’s biggest seller of electric vehicles on a calendar-year basis. The milestone capped an extraordinary rise for BYD, a company Tesla’s Elon Musk once dismissed by laughing at their products during a 2011 Bloomberg interview.” … “BYD said sales of its battery-powered cars rose nearly 28% to 2.26 million units. Tesla compiled an average estimate for 1.6 million vehicle deliveries in 2025, down roughly 8% from 2024, putting the company on track for its second straight annual drop.” … Trump’s expanded travel ban just went into effect. Individuals from 7 countries will now not be able to travel to the US. Trump's travel bans now apply to people from 39 different countries. … Immigration attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick: “A deeply underreported part of Trump’s latest travel ban is that for unexplained reasons he banned all international ADOPTIONS from the 39 countries. Americans are now banned from adopting babies from Nigeria, Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela, or any of the other countries on the list.” … Newsweek: “The National Links Trust, a nonprofit org, has managed East Potomac, Rock Creek Park and Langston golf courses for the past 5 years. The Interior Dept just informed the group that it was unilaterally terminating the 50-year lease agreement granted in 2020. In its letter, the dept accused NLT of failing to make required investments in the properties and of not paying rent—claims the org disputes.” … “Will Smith, a co-founder of the National Links Trust, said the decision came as a shock. He disagrees with the admin’s claims that it failed to meet the lease terms and said that ‘we were sort of blindsided by this.’ In a lengthy statement, the NLT said it was ‘devastated’ by the decision to terminate the lease. The org said that since taking over stewardship of the 3 courses, it has ‘consistently complied with all lease obligations’ and is ‘fundamentally in disagreement with the admin’s characterization of NLT as being in default under the lease.’” … “According to the nonprofit, it has invested more than $8.5 million in capital improvement projects over the past 5 years. Those efforts, it said, helped more than double rounds and revenues while keeping green fees well below the market average for area public courses.” … Kevin Van Valkenburg with Fried Egg Golf: "This hasn't resonated yet outside golf, but what this admin is essentially doing is taking over a national park for invented reasons so that the Trump Org can run it and profit from it. Imagine if Yellowstone suddenly cost $1,000 but mostly served lobbyists." … Axios: “Trump Media shares fell 67% from the day before he took office through the end of 2025. ($TRUMP), the memecoin, had a spectacular run-up right after its Jan. 17 launch, but then fell quickly. It's down 89% since Jan. 19. The retail investing public may not have done well with Trump assets in 2025, but the president and his family, by all accounts, did just fine.” … “Forbes estimates the billionaire president’s net worth has more than doubled, fueled by gains in his various crypto investments. The magazine reports Donald Trump Jr.’s net worth rose sixfold in 2025, based also on crypto gains.” … Kennedy Center director Ric Grenell continues to complain daily about artists refusing to play the venue and people refusing to go there after they put Trump’s name on the building: “Media outlets re-write stories from other media outlets to look like they are covering the news. It’s also how fake news is spread so quickly. It’s unverified gossip that is embraced by News Editors. I see it everyday with the Trump Kennedy Center. Fake news repeated over and over.” … When Trump vetoed a major water project in Lauren Boebert’s district last week, most assumed it was in retaliation for their refusal to commute the sentence of Tina Peters, who tampered with election machines to try to prove Trump won. Boebert suggested it was because she was one of only 4 Republicans who signed the petition to release the Epstein files. But now Trump is preposterously claiming it was a different reason. …. 9News (CO): “Trump now says he nixed a clean drinking water project in CO because of his belief that people are leaving the state ‘in droves,’ which is a highly-questionable claim. Trump exercised his first veto of his second term to block a plan to finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit, a long-stalled project to bring clean water to rural parts of southeastern CO. The bill had passed both the House and Senate unanimously.” … Trump: “They’re wasting a lot of money and people are leaving the state. They’re leaving the state in droves. Bad governor. CA and CO are two of the TOP OUTBOUND STATES IN 2025 (United Van Lines!) - In other words, PEOPLE LEAVING!!!” … “Trump’s claim that Coloradans are leaving the state ‘in droves’ appears to be based on a survey by a single moving company. A survey by United Van Lines reported 661 more outbound moves than inbound moves from a sample size of 6,633 moves involving CO in 2025. 4 other moving companies released similar studies of 2025 trends and none found a significant out-migration from CO. Studies by U-Haul, Atlas Van Lines, North American Moving Services and Allied Van Lines found either a slight in-migration, slight out-migration or roughly even migration trends for CO in 2025.” … WaPo: “The Donroe Doctrine has come into clearer focus. In the Caribbean, the biggest US military deployment in decades casts a shadow across Venezuela and the autocratic regime of Nicolás Maduro. US forces have targeted alleged drug cartels operating in the region amid the growing suspicion among analysts that Trump’s WH is bent on a regime-changing mission.” … “Elsewhere, Trump has exerted an overweening influence, putting his thumb on the scales of domestic politics across Latin America by backing particular candidates in elections from Honduras to Chile, while finding controversial reasons to sanction left-wing govts. He doled out a $20 billion bailout for Argentina that preceded victories in midterm elections for the party and allies of President Javier Milei, a Trump ally. Parallel to the first year of Trump’s second term, a wave of right-wing politicians in Trump’s mold have come to the fore in the region.” … “Christopher Sabatini, a senior fellow for Latin America at Chatham House, a leading British think tank, described the Trump corollary as ‘a baldly partisan effort to remake the region’ in the guise of Trumpism, offering inducements to leaders who are not just ‘sympathetic to the US, but Trump personally. This isn’t about supporting democracy, free markets, or tying together the region in a network of free trade agreements. It’s about ownership - very much similar ways to how Putin views his near abroad.” … Daily Beast: “A Japanese artist has accused DHS of stealing his work to plug its deportation push. ‘The peace of a nation no longer besieged by the third world’. It coupled the message with an image of a classic red car on a beach with palm trees. ‘America after 100 million deportations,’ the text overlay on the image said.” … Hiroshi Nagai, who painted the original picture in 1947. “The image is being used without permission from the US DHS. What should I do about this?” … “It’s not the first time the DHS has been accused of stealing work in a bid to promote its controversial deportations by trying to invoke an image of America gone by. In July, it shared an image of a painting by Morgan Weistling depicting a white frontier family. ‘Remember your Homeland’s Heritage,’ it wrote, getting the painting’s title wrong in the caption. Weistling condemned the use of his work: ‘Attention: The recent DHS post on social media using a painting of mine that I painted a few years ago was used without my permission.’” … “Also in July, the family foundation of artist Thomas Kinkade lamented the agency using the late painter’s work. The organization said the use of ‘Morning Pledge’ in an X post was ‘unauthorized’ and slammed ‘the sentiment expressed in the post and the deplorable actions that DHS continues to carry out.’” … International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry announced that Russia will not be allowed to participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics, even if the war in Ukraine ends before the event begins in February in Italy. Some Russian athletes will be allowed to compete on an individual basis, not under the Russian flag. … Daily Mail: “RFK Jr has reportedly not been invited to the funeral of his cousin Tatiana Schlossberg. Tatiana, who died at the age of 35 on Tues, had referred to Kennedy Jr as the family ‘embarrassment’ in a column just before her death. ‘RFK Jr will not be invited, and the family made that decision intentionally.” … Metro (UK): “Comedian Dom Joly has claimed his US entry application was rejected after he shared a series of negative social media posts about Trump. The Trigger Happy TV star has long criticized the Republican leader, with more comical online posts comparing him to a kebab and editing his face onto one, while others blasted him for ‘being racist and sexually attacking women’. Joly has now shared that his ESTA application – a programme that typically permits British travellers to visit America without obtaining a formal visa – was turned down, catching him off guard.” … “Speaking on Times Radio, he said of the rejection: ‘Because of my social media anti-Trumpisms, I don’t think I’d be allowed in. ‘I think a lot of people I know are a bit nervous about the US at the moment, not nervous safety-wise but just nervous if they will get in.’ He added: ‘I don’t hold back on Trump or his ilk, but it is very odd.’” … Daily Mail: “Mar-a-Lago members are reportedly being warned about a possible ban from Trump‘s club after two models snapped photos of his son Barron. The 19-year-old was pictured at his father’s side during Christmas celebrations at Mar-a-Lago after shying away from the spotlight to work on ‘financial interests.’” … “Models Valeria Sokolova and Abla Sofy both photographed the only son of the president and first lady while Barron was celebrating the holiday season with family. But insiders have since reportedly told gossip columnist Rob Shuter that guests were threatened with having their membership revoked after being caught taking photos of the teenager. … Source: “Melania made it very clear that Barron’s privacy is non-negotiable. Anyone caught filming or taking pictures would face immediate consequences, including potential banning from the club. The message was clear: no cameras, no leaks.” … “Those at the New Year’s Eve celebration have said Barron was following his father closely through the dining room and spoke very little throughout the night. ‘He was quiet, very reserved, wearing his usual blue suit, almost mirroring Donald,’ one insider said.”