“There doesn’t seem to be any strategic rationale for the decision. And if there’s no strategic rationale for the decision then you have to ask, why was the decision made? People around the world are asking this and some of our friends and our allies in the Middle East are asking, did Erdogan blackmail the president? Was there a payoff …

Reuters reports: U.S. President Donald Trump’s Treasury secretary called top U.S. bankers on Sunday amid an ongoing rout on Wall Street and made plans to convene a group of officials known as the “Plunge Protection Team.” U.S. stocks have fallen sharply in recent weeks on concerns over slowing economic growth, with the S&P 500 index .SPX on pace for its …

Politico reports: Chief Justice John Roberts has stepped into a grand jury subpoena dispute that appears to involve special counsel Robert Mueller and an unknown company owned by a foreign country. Roberts issued an order late Sunday temporarily staying a contempt citation against the firm, as well as an escalating financial penalty a judge imposed for failing to comply with …

The Associated Press reports: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is up and working as she recuperates from cancer surgery. A spokeswoman for the court, Kathy Arberg, also says that Ginsburg remained in New York at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on Sunday. No information has been released on when Ginsburg might return home. The court next meets on Jan. …

Newsweek reports: President Trump said late Sunday that he has experienced “presidential harassment” since the start of his presidency. Trump has previously blamed “presidential harassment” for drops in the stock market and has used the term to describe special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election interference. Earlier this month, Trump claimed in another tweet that his approval rating would …

NPR reports: Last week, Canada repealed a number of so-called “zombie laws” that remained on the books after they were found to be unconstitutional, redundant, or just, well … too old and weird. One law that was scrubbed was Section 365 of the Canadian Criminal Code – that’s the law that made it illegal to practice fake witchcraft. Despite the …

Time Magazine reports: Outgoing Sen. Bob Corker criticized Donald Trump on Twitter Sunday after the President lashed out at the Tennessee Republican. In a series of tweets, Trump claimed that Corker abandoned a plan to run for a third Senate term because the President would not endorse him. The President then falsely stated that the senator was responsible for the …

Reuters reports: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed on Sunday to coordinate to prevent an authority vacuum from developing as the United States withdraws from Syria, the Turkish presidency said. In a phone call between the two leaders, Erdogan also expressed satisfaction with steps taken by Washington regarding combating terrorism in Syria and said Turkey was …

The Hill reports: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, says Democrats will subpoena special counsel Robert Mueller’s report if President Trump tries to invoke executive privilege to keep it secret. “I’m prepared to make sure we do everything possible so that the public has the advantage of as much of the information as it …

The New York Times reports: President Trump, angry over days of news coverage characterizing the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis as a rebuke of the president, has told administration officials that he is considering removing Mr. Mattis from his job by Jan. 1, two months before he had planned to depart. The president, a notoriously mercurial leader, has been …

The CBC reports: The Royal Canadian Mint is releasing a new $1 coin design next year, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada. Same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults was decriminalized in 1969, two years after then-justice minister Pierre Trudeau introduced amendments to the Criminal Code, famously declaring “there’s no place for the state in the …

CNN reports: An unnamed, foreign government-owned company in a mystery court case is asking the Supreme Court to pause a grand jury subpoena it received related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. The Supreme Court appeal comes after a federal appeals court ruling that ordered the company to comply with the subpoena, which required it to turn over “information” about …

From movie reviewer Steve Hayes: Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen have a musical filled day singing and dancing to the tunes of the legendary Irving Berlin in Michael Curtiz’s WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954). Along for the festivities are Oscar winner Dean Jagger and the irascible and hysterical Mary Wickes. It’s a Technicolor, musical extravaganza that will have …

ABC News reports: The president’s incoming chief of staff said Sunday that any money for the border wall would have to come from the Treasury Department, saying “the Department of Homeland Security can’t actually spend money from Mexico.” “Technically, you and I both know that it cannot work exactly like that,” Mick Mulvaney told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump claimed Saturday he gave outgoing Defense Secretary James Mattis “a second chance” after the retired Marine general was ousted from military leadership under the Obama administration. Former President Barack Obama fired Mattis as head of U.S. Central Command in 2013 in large part because of Mattis’ increasingly hawkish posture toward Iran. Mattis resigned from the …

Billboard Magazine reports: Earlier this week it was confirmed that Travis Scott will be performing with Maroon 5 during the Super Bowl halftime show in February, and on Friday, Rev. Al Sharpton expressed his disappointment with the rapper for accepting the gig. A number of artists –including JAY-Z, Rihanna and Cardi B– have turned down the halftime show (which will …

The Hill reports: The partial shutdown will drag into next week after the Senate adjourned on Saturday without taking action to end the funding lapse and reopen the federal government. The chamber will next meet for a pro forma session on Monday morning, then will reconvene after Christmas on Thursday, Dec. 27, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced. The …

Mediaite reports: President Donald Trump tweeted this morning to decry “mostly FAKE” news about the shutdown and his decision to withdraw from Syria. He also defended his Syria decision, though he said this time that ISIS is “largely defeated.” Trump’s tweets were posted around the time news broke that the top U.S. envoy to the global coalition fighting ISIS submitted …

NBC News reports: Brett McGurk, the special envoy for the global coalition to defeat Islamic State, submitted his resignation on Friday, effective Dec. 31, a U.S.State Department official said on Saturday. A person familiar with the matter said McGurk has quit because he objected to President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out U.S. troops from Syria, a decision followed by …

The New York Post reports: Parkland shooting survivor and anti-gun activist David Hogg is heading to Harvard. The graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — where 17 students were shot and killed in February — took to Twitter to share the news of his acceptance. “Thank you all for the well wishes, I’ll be attending Harvard in the fall …