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Poll: Trump's Approval Rating Drops to 36% in New Second-Term Low (Gallup)
President Donald Trump’s job approval rating has fallen five percentage points to 36%, the lowest of his second term, while disapproval has risen to 60%.
Both Republicans’ and independents’ ratings
of Trump have worsened significantly since last month. Republicans’ approval has fallen seven points to 84%, while independents’ has slipped eight points to 25%. Republicans’ rating is the lowest of Trump’s second term, while independents’ is the worst in either term. Meanwhile, Democrats’ rating of the president remains mired in the low single digits (3%).
Republicans offer a more positive rating of the Republican-led Congress than Democrats do, but the party gap is much narrower than it was earlier this year, as Republicans’ approval has sunk to 23% from 54% in September, before the government shutdown began. Meanwhile, 15% of independents and 4% of Democrats approve of the way Congress is handling its job.
Today
in Tennessee: TN Voters Cast Ballots for House Special Election, Reflecting Midterm Sentiment (New York Times)
Republicans appear rattled by today's election for what would normally be a safe conservative seat in Tennessee’s Seventh Congressional District. It is the final special election of 2025 and, as House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters, “we think what will happen here will be a bellwether for the midterms next year.”
Conservative Matt Van Epps,
endorsed by Trump, is running against State Representative Aftyn Behn, a Nashville Democrat who has energized many in her party despite a political record perceived by some as too liberal for Tennessee.
A survey last week showed Van Epps beating Behn by only two percentage points, an uncomfortable margin in a district carefully drawn to favor a Republican candidate.
Ukraine Latest: US Envoy Heads to Russia for Talks as Putin Says Key Ukraine City Fell (Bloomberg)
US envoy Steve Witkoff is traveling to Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin, who claimed a key Ukrainian city had fallen to Russia on the eve of talks about a potential peace plan to end his war.
Putin said Russian troops had taken the city of Pokrovsk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region in a video announcement posted late Monday by the Kremlin, an advance that would be Russia’s most significant on the battlefield in nearly two years. Ukraine’s Military Staff spokesman Bohdan Senyk denied its forces had lost the city in a message early this morning.
EU Warning: Top Diplomat Cautions Against Forcing Kyiv Into Unequal Talks That Risk Rewarding Moscow (Bloomberg)
Partnership Secured: Canada Reaches Deal to Join EU’s Flagship Defense Program (Bloomberg)
Defense Crunch: Europe Launches Military Spending Spree Amid Russian Aggression and American Unreliability (The Economist)
Today in France: French Premier’s Budget Push Faces Key Stretch Ahead of Vote (Bloomberg)
France’s National Assembly is starting
a second reading of the 2026 social security budget bill today in a crucial test of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s plan to shepherd contested financial legislation through a divided parliament.
Crypto Crash: $1 Billion in Leveraged Positions Liquidated Amid Prolonged Selloff (Bloomberg)
Nearly $1 billion of leveraged crypto positions were liquidated during another sharp drop in prices on Monday that brought fresh momentum to a wide-ranging selloff that has carried into a third month.
The crypto market is on shaky ground
after a weeks-long selloff that began when some $19 billion in levered bets were wiped out in early October as President Donald Trump whipsawed markets with threats of higher tariffs, data compiled by tracker Coinglass shows.
Asia Flood Crisis: Climate-Driven Floods Leave Massive Death Toll and Widespread Displacement Across the Region (Associated Press)
Over 800 people remained missing Monday
after devastating floods
killed over 1,000 people last week in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
The flooding and landslides killed at least 604 people in Indonesia, 366 in Sri Lanka and 176 in Thailand, while flooding displaced 290,700 people in North Sumatra, West Sumatra and Aceh provinces, the National Disaster Management Agency said.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto pledged to rebuild infrastructure while visiting affected areas. “We need to confront climate change effectively,” Prabowo told reporters. “Local governments must take a significant role in safeguarding the environment and preparing for the extreme weather conditions that will arise from future climate change.”
Storm Relief: Jamaica Gets $6.7 Billion in Funding to Rebuild After Hurricane (Bloomberg)
Presidential Deadlock: Hondurans Face Weeks of Uncertainty as Election Ends in Tie (Bloomberg)
White House Confirms: US Military Ordered Second Strike on Suspected Caribbean Drug-Trafficking Vessel (Bloomberg)
The White House confirmed the US military ordered a second strike against a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the Caribbean Sea in September, but insisted it was a lawful use of force.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that the order for a second strike came from US Navy Admiral Frank Bradley and not Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Travel Alert: US Flyers Without REAL ID Will Be Able to Pay $45 to Bypass Rule (Bloomberg)
US flyers arriving at the airport without a REAL ID will be offered the option to pay $45 for an alternative process to prove their identities, TSA officials said Monday.
The new method, called Confirm ID, will start in February, and the results will be valid for 10 days, a window meant to cover most round-trip itineraries.
Arriving in Minutes: Amazon Offers Test of ‘Ultrafast’ Delivery in Two US Cities (Bloomberg)
Amazon Inc. plans to offer deliveries of hundreds of household items, including some fresh groceries and over-the-counter medicines, within 30 minutes in a test program beginning in Philadelphia and its home city of Seattle.
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Media
Deal: Netflix Offers Mostly Cash for Warner Bros. in New Bidding Round (Bloomberg)
Warner Bros was fielding a second round of bids on Monday, including a mostly cash offer from Netflix, in an auction that could wrap up in the coming days or weeks, according to people familiar with the discussions. The bid comes as bankers for Paramount Skydance, Comcast and Netflix worked over the long Thanksgiving weekend on improved offers for all or part of Warner Bros.
Dictionary News: Oxford University Press Names "Rage Bait" as Word of the Year 2025 (Axios)
Betting Big: New York City Greenlights Three Mega-Casinos in Historic Expansion (Bloomberg)
New York Mets owner Steve Cohen won approval to operate a casino next to Citi Field in Queens, one of three projects the state Gaming Commission tapped for gambling licenses in New York City.
Cohen, the hedge fund mogul who submitted an $8 billion casino proposal with partner Hard Rock International, was picked alongside Genting Group’s Resorts World and Bally’s Corp. Genting proposes to expand a casino next to the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens, while Bally’s plans to operate a gaming facility at the site of a Bronx golf course previously developed by President Trump.
The project, slated to be completed in 2030, is expected to create 17,000 construction jobs and 6,000 permanent jobs. By its third year in operation, the complex is expected to make $3.9 billion in revenue, generating more than $850 million in taxes.
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