White House Dossier's

Netanyahu makes it clear: Hamas must be destroyed . . . Israeli shellfire slammed into central Gaza on Tuesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged no respite in attacks on Hamas, as residents of the coastal enclave mourned more dead in a war that has cost more than 20,000 Palestinian lives. Israel is determined to pursue its goal of destroying Hamas despite global calls for a ceasefire in the 11-week-old war, amid concerns the conflict could spread with U.S. and Iran-aligned forces attacking each other elsewhere in the region. Reuters

This is a war. During a war, horrifying things happen to civilians. It is too bad that Hamas started a war. Now Israel must finish it, even if Kamala Harris disagrees.

Trump vows to replace Obamacare . . . Former President Trump vowed Monday to replace the Affordable Care Act with his own “much better” alternative program, reviving his push to slash the now-popular health care option used by millions of Americans. “Obamacare is too expensive, and otherwise, not good healthcare,” Trump, the front-runner for next year’s GOP presidential nomination, wrote in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. “I will come up with a much better, and less expensive, alternative! People will be happy, not sad!” The Hill

He's not taking as much political risk as people think. Obamacare is viewed unfavorably by 40% of the population, according to a KFF tracking poll, and 73% of Republicans. Standing against socialized medicine is good for Trump in the primaries and for getting out the base in the general election. 

Trump uses Christmas spirit to bash enemies over the head . . . Trump wrote in a series of all-caps posts on his Truth Social platform that he was the victim of “election interference,” accusing President Joe Biden and special counsel Jack Smith of “coming after him.” “IT’S CALLED ELECTION INTERFERENCE,” he said. “MERRY CHRISTMAS!” In another post, Trump wished “all” a Merry Christmas, “including Crooked Joe Biden’s ONLY HOPE, Deranged Jack Smith, the out of control Lunatic who just hired outside attorneys, fresh from the SWAMP (unprecedented!), to help him with his poorly executed WITCH HUNT against ‘TRUMP’ and ‘MAGA.’” Washington Examiner

MSNBC gets bananas with Trump-Hitler comparisons  . . . In a recent clip from “Chris Jansing Reports” on MSNBC, the host and guests ramp up their comparison of Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler, even doing a ridiculous side-by-side comparison between Trump’s words and the text of "Mein Kampf." In what appears to be a Truth Social post, Trump writes: “Illegal immigration is poisoning the blood of our nation." MSNBC compared it to this passage from "Mein Kampf": “The poison which has invaded the national body … especially the strong influx of foreign blood.” One guest, historian Douglas Brinkley, tells the MSNBC host that Trump has “been dabbling in Adolf Hitler his whole life” and “keeps Hitler speeches at a bedside.” The Blaze

Biden order retaliatory strike after drone injures US troops . . . President Joe Biden ordered the U.S. military to carry out retaliatory airstrikes against Iranian-backed militia groups after three U.S. servicemembers were injured in a drone attack in northern Iraq. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said one of the U.S. troops suffered critical injuries in the attack that occurred earlier Monday. The Iranian-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups, under an umbrella of Iranian-backed militants, claimed credit for the attack that utilized a one-way attack drone. Associated Press

Caravan leader says 15,000 headed toward the border . . . The radical activist leading the latest massive migrant caravan from Mexico to the US was once sentenced to 40 years in prison and has already led tens of thousands of asylum-seekers to the border. Luis Garcia Villagran, a self-proclaimed Evangelical Christian who hails from Mexico, was at the forefront of a mass migration once again this week, bringing an estimated 8,000 migrants on a Christmas Eve march through Mexico to a US border already in crisis — and predicting the number of asylum-seekers could easily nearly double to 15,000 along the way. New York Times

International

Iran issues ominous threat to Israel after commander killed . . . Iran has warned Israel that it will "pay the price" after allegedly killing a top Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) adviser in Syria.

Iranian state media reported that IRGC adviser Sayyed Razi Mousavi was killed in an airstrike near the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday. The death of Mousavi, who was reportedly the chief coordinator of the Iran-Syria military alliance, was confirmed to Reuters by three security sources. Newsweek

Russia confirms damage to warship . . . Russia has confirmed one of its warships has been damaged in a Ukrainian attack on a Black Sea port. The airstrike took place at Feodosiya in Russian-occupied Crimea early on Tuesday morning. Russia's Ministry of Defence said the large landing ship Novocherkassk was struck by Ukrainian aircraft carrying guided missiles. BBC

Navalny sent to Arctic prison . . . Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has confirmed his arrival at an Arctic prison and said he is in good spirits.

His team had had no contact with him since 6 December, after he was moved from another jail to the east of Moscow. But on 25 December Navalny's spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh said that he had been found. BBC

Money

Holiday spending increased, defying fears of a decline . . . Despite lingering inflation, Americans increased their spending this holiday season, early data shows. That comes as a big relief for retailers that had spent much of the year fearing the economy would soon weaken and consumer spending would fall. Retail sales increased 3.1 percent from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to data from Mastercard SpendingPulse, which measures in-store and online retail sales across all forms of payment. The numbers, released Tuesday, are not adjusted for inflation. New York Times

Culture

Naval Academy teaching identity politics . . .  The English major course includes studies for future U.S. Navy officers on LGBTQ studies, race, class and concepts informed by Critical Race Theory, which defines people groups in terms of oppressor and oppressed, the syllabus shows. “Most of the faculty, students, and topics of study in early Women’s Studies programs were limited by being White, middleclass, women,” the female instructor, whose name is redacted but who appears to have served as Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Daily Caller 

Rampant stealing plagues retailers in Democrat-run cities . . . Major metropolises like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Portland and Washington, D.C., were plagued by retail thieves ransacking malls and department stores, with many of the instances caught on video that were posted on social media. The National Retail Federation announced in September that shoplifting accounted for $112.1 billion in losses in 2022, up from $93.9 billion in 2021. Fox Business

Constitutional carry instituted in majority of states in 2023 . . . This was a momentous year for permitless carry gun laws, with the U.S. officially becoming a constitutional carry-majority nation this spring. " In 2021, there were 16 states with NRA Constitutional Carry. Just three years later, there are 27 states," NRA executive vice president and CEO Wayne LaPierre exclusively told Fox News Digital. Constitutional carry laws allow legal residents to carry a concealed firearm without a permit, effectively eliminating the need for qualifying residents to ask the government for permission to carry. Fox News

Pro-Palestine protestors spur Christmas mayhem . . . Footage from the streets of Manhattan showed furious protestors facing off with a large police presence, with the crowds heard earlier in the day chanting, 'Long live the intifada.' Demonstrators also descended on the homes of Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan as they marked the holiday season with their families inside. 

In one clip shared to social media, protestors filled the opulent Washington neighborhood of the Defense Secretary as they sang: 'Austin, Austin, rise and shine, no sleep during genocide.'  Daily Mail

New York Times under fire for publishing Hamas op-ed . . . he New York Times is facing backlash after publishing an op-ed written by the Hamas-backed mayor of Gaza City describing the state of the Gaza Strip amid the war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group that broke out in early October. The news outlet published the op-ed on Sunday, written by Yahya Sarraj, mayor of Gaza, of which Hamas has been the de facto governing body for more than a decade. The essay laments the actions of the Israeli military, particularly after its invasion of the Gaza Strip on Oct. 27 in retaliation to the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7. Washington Examiner

Priest tells CNN Xmas is about a "Palestinian Jew" . . . “What I’m so struck by is that the story of Christmas is about a Palestinian Jew. How often do you find those words put together?” said Fr. Edward Beck. “A Palestinian Jew born into a time when his country was occupied, right? They can’t find a place for her to even give birth, his mother. They’re homeless. They eventually have to flee as refugees into Egypt, no less. I mean, you can’t make up the parallels to our current world situation right now.” Daily Caller