MOTHER JONES DAILY: Two Countries. Two Tragedies. One Huge Difference., Trump seizes on Brown, MIT shooting to suspend more legal immigration, Trump just announced his own Hunger Games, Monster of 2025: Endless subscriptions, Hero of 2025: The many afterlives of “Diet Pepsi”, The horns and whistles work 19DEZ25

 

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December 19, 2025 Today, large letters spelling out Donald J. Trump were added to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Members of the Kennedy family have condemned the move. Legal experts question if it's even allowed. Despite Trump claiming on Thursday that he was “surprised” and “honored” that his handpicked board voted to include his name on the arts institution—now the Trump-Kennedy Center—it took less than 24 hours after the board’s meeting in Palm Beach for workers to show up at the building for the job. Trump’s name—and face—seems to be affixed to more and more things by the day.  The Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. Trump Accounts. Trump National Park Pass. Trump banners. The Trump Gold Card for immigration. TrumpRx ("Coming Soon").  And Trump Mount Rushmore! Wait, that one hasn’t happened. (Yet?) So, we wanted to ask you: Where do you think Trump’s name should go next? Let us know. Perhaps “The Donald J. Trump Four Seasons Total Landscaping” could work. Maybe a “Trump Penny.” Or “The National President Donald J. Trump Center for Atmospheric Research.” The latter might be hard because his administration just moved to dismantle that key climate research center. In other reporting from Mother Jones today, protesters are continuing to effectively challenge ICE, blowing whistles and honking at them; Trump is seizing on the Brown and MIT shootings to suspend more legal immigration; and, in the wake of the Bondi Beach shooting, “Australia is uniting in a way that seems impossible in Donald Trump’s post-truth America.” A quick note before I go on: The in-depth journalism we do here only happens with support from you. We’re working toward a crucial year-end goal, and for just a few more hours, we have a matching gift that will effectively double your donation. The match ends at midnight. Will you help us get there? Thank you in advance for your new Trump naming possibilities! And thank you for supporting our work. —Katie Herchenroeder

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Two Countries. Two Tragedies. One Huge Difference. In the wake of the Bondi massacre, Australia is uniting in a way that seems impossible in Donald Trump’s post-truth America. BY JAMES WEST

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Trump seizes on Brown, MIT shooting to suspend more legal immigration BY KATIE HERCHENROEDER Trump just announced his own Hunger Games BY ARIANNA COGHILL Monster of 2025: Endless subscriptions BY ABBY VESOULIS Hero of 2025: The many afterlives of “Diet Pepsi” BY CHEYENNE MCNEILL

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The horns and whistles work What it’s like to watch community activists stand up to a Border Patrol raid. BY AMANDA MOORE

MOTHER JONES MEMBERSHIP UPDATE FINAL HOURS: LAST CHANCE TO 2X YOUR IMPACT! Trump and his allies are ramping up efforts to silence the press through lawsuits, intimidation, and political pressure. While major outlets cave, Mother Jones refuses to back down.   When MoJo reporter Dan Friedman contacted the Pentagon for comment on a story about a top aide to Pete Hegseth, far-right influencer Jack Posobiec threatened to write a scurrilous story about him. But we wouldn’t be silenced. We published the investigation and reported the threats. No billionaire owner told us to play it safe. No corporate sponsor made us think twice.   That independence exists because readers like you have our back. This is your last chance: our dollar-for-dollar match ends tonight at midnight. Every donation doubles before the deadline. Please don’t miss this chance. Donate Now

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MOTHER JONES DAILY: Indiana Republicans Just Defied Trump’s Pressure Campaign to Rig Their Congressional Maps, Senate Republicans blocked yet another chance to save Obamacare subsidies, Trump is “basically shutting down the legal immigration system”, The man who broke offshore wind, ICE tackled a US citizen in the snow. He says he was targeted for being Somali., This young soccer squad has never faced a rival like Donald Trump 12DEZ25

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December 12, 2025 Al Letson here, host of Reveal and More To The Story. I grew up in the South, surrounded by public buildings and statues named after Confederate soldiers. But in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in 2020, when people began calling for some of those statues to be removed, I realized the pendulum might be swinging in a direction I could recognize. My guest this week is Erin Thompson. She is a professor of art crime (the only one in America, it turns out) who wrote Smashing Statues: The Rise and Fall of America’s Public Monuments. Erin explains that throughout history, people have built idols for those in power, only to tear them down when the political climate changed or public opinion shifted. (In fact, in Roman times, people would just chisel a face off a statue and reuse it!) It helped me realize that what had happened in places like Richmond, Virginia, where protesters painted statues and demanded their removal, has occurred repeatedly throughout history. I also got a chance to talk with Erin about President Donald Trump’s aesthetic choices and how, to him, gold—so much gold—represents power and wealth. Erin looks back at similarly extravagant behavior in history, including when French kings built the sprawling, ornate Palace of Versailles. Hundreds of years later, have we learned any lessons from the doomed French royalty? I hope you’ll tune in to this week’s More To The Story to find out. —Al Letson

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Indiana Republicans Just Defied Trump’s Pressure Campaign to Rig Their Congressional Maps A 9–0 GOP gerrymander goes down in flames. BY ARI BERMAN

SPONSORED POST Patagonia's Playbook for Environmental Activism The brand's first impact report details how business can support activists. THIS CONTENT WAS PAID FOR AND SPONSORED BY PATAGONIA.

Senate Republicans blocked yet another chance to save Obamacare subsidies BY JULIA MÉTRAUX Trump is “basically shutting down the legal immigration system” BY ISABELA DIAS The man who broke offshore wind BY CLARE FIESELER ICE tackled a US citizen in the snow. He says he was targeted for being Somali. BY KATIE HERCHENROEDER

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This young soccer squad has never faced a rival like Donald Trump Winning is substantially more challenging with ICE running interference. BY SAMANTHA MICHAELS

MOTHER JONES MEMBERSHIP UPDATE THIS NEWSLETTER’S FREE, BUT THE JOURNALISM COSTS A LOT Hard-hitting investigative reporting is expensive. That’s why corporate news sources are slashing it from their budgets. But Mother Jones is a nonprofit. We dig, because it’s our mission—and because readers step up to help pay the bills.   We have until December 31 to raise the last $400,000 we need to keep our nonprofit newsroom running at full strength into 2026. We’re off to a good start, but to make our goal we need contributions from newsletter readers like you. Every gift matters. Will you help us close the gap? Donate Now

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Donate Subscribe Were you forwarded this email? Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today. www.MotherJones.com PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755