President Donald Trump has dismissed concerns about the U.S. economy, grading its performance as “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus” in a new interview and rubbishing concerns about inflation.
Speaking to Politico, Trump again insisted he had “inherited a total mess” from his predecessor Joe Biden and baulked at the idea that Americans are having to tighten their household budgets going into 2026, telling journalist Dasha Burns: “Don’t be dramatic.”
In the same interview, the president called Europe a collection of “decaying” nations led by “weak” leaders, refused to rule out sending ground troops into Venezuela as part of his war against drug traffickers and urged the Supreme Court’s elderly conservative justices to stay in their posts.
On Monday, Trump said that the decision on whether or not to release footage of the deadly September 2 “double tap” missile strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean rests with his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“Whatever Hegseth wants to do is okay with me,” the president told reporters Monday, angrily backtracking on his own comments last week that “whatever” video the Pentagon possesses “we’d certainly release, no problem,” rebuking another female journalist for challenging him over it.
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Trump latest news: Key Points
- Donald Trump grades economy ‘A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus’ and rubbishes inflation concerns
- President insists he never said he would release double-tap boat strike video
- Trump in testy exchange with reporter over strike footage he promised to release last week
- President offers $12 billion bailout for farmers harmed by his tariff policies
- 'Gang of Eight' to be briefed on long-term national security strategy
Analysis: Could the latest liberal darling cost Democrats their best chance at flipping Texas Senate seat?
13:50 , Joe SommerladJasmine Crockett’s decision to run for the Senate has some sweating in the Lone Star state, but Republicans have just as many problems, Eric Garcia writes.
Could a liberal darling cost Democrats a chance at flipping a Texas Senate seat?
Karoline Leavitt pushes Trump’s inflation narrative on Fox and Friends
13:30 , Joe SommerladThe White House press secretary was on Fox’s breakfast show this morning and attempted to pin inflation, which Trump persists in saying is not an issue, on Joe Biden, tried to rally disaffected Republicans and ducked a question on the release of the boat strike video.
Karoline Leavitt lies with impunity on Fox & Friends: "Don't forget -- a year ago, President Trump inherited the worst inflation crisis in modern American history from the Biden administration." pic.twitter.com/dBUFjhk5eU
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 9, 2025
Leavitt: "As President Trump has been screaming from the rooftops, Republicans need to remain tough and smart, and they need to be more vocal about touting the accomplishments of this administration." pic.twitter.com/i5Ar3oR0fT
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 9, 2025
Leavitt dodges a question about if Trump will release the video of the second strike against a disabled boat that killed two survivors of the first one pic.twitter.com/1kgBWd628r
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 9, 2025
Nancy Mace shreds Mike Johnson: ‘Nancy Pelosi was a more effective House speaker than any Republican this century’
13:10 , Joe SommerladThe South Carolina representative has torn into Speaker Mike Johnson for the way he has run the House of Representatives in a New York Times op-ed, the latest sign of discontent among Republicans on the Hill.
Here’s Eric Garcia on Mace taking a leaf out of Marjorie Taylor Greene’s book.
Nancy Mace shreds Mike Johnson and says ‘Pelosi was a more effective House Speaker’
Right-wing podcaster accuses administration of blowing up boats to distract from Epstein files
12:50 , Joe SommerladTim Dillon slammed the Trump administration for dragging its feet over the release of the Department of Justice’s files on the deceased pedophile, which it has until December 19 to make public following the lightning passage of the Epstein Transparency Act through Congress last month.
Owen Scott has more on the right’s growing impatience.
Tim Dillon says Trump admin is bombing boats to distract from Epstein files
Watch: The View hosts mock Trump over Fifa peace medal
12:30 , Joe SommerladTrump grades economy ‘A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus’ and rubbishes inflation concerns
12:10 , Joe SommerladThe president has dismissed concerns about the U.S. economy, grading its performance as “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus” in a new interview and rubbishing concerns about inflation.
Speaking to Politico, Trump again insisted he had “inherited a total mess” from his predecessor Joe Biden and baulked at the idea that Americans are having to tighten their household budgets going into 2026, telling journalist Dasha Burns: “Don’t be dramatic.”
In the same interview, the president called Europe a collection of “decaying” nations led by “weak” leaders, refused to rule out sending ground troops into Venezuela as part of his war against drug traffickers and urged the Supreme Court’s elderly conservative justices to stay in their posts.
James C Reynolds has more on his unprovoked attack on America’s European leaders.
Trump says European leaders are ‘weak’ in extraordinary attack on US allies
Trump and MAGA foe Jasmine Crockett joins contentious Senate race
11:50 , Joe SommerladThe Texas Democrat announced Monday that she would join the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in the Lone Star State – the same day one of her would-be opponents decided to exit the race.
Collin Allred, Crockett’s colleague in the House, withdrew his bid for the seat early Monday morning, hours after news of Crockett’s plans were made public in local media outlets.
Also running for the position is James Talarico, a Texas state senator.
John Bowden reports.
Virulent Trump and MAGA foe Jasmine Crockett joins contentious Texas Senate race
Watch: Duffy and RFK Jr compete in pull-up contest at bizarre airport press conference
11:30 , Joe SommerladExclusive: Florida man threatened to decapitate ‘subhuman’ Rep. Ilhan Omar and ‘eat’ her kids after Charlie Kirk remark
11:10 , Joe SommerladA 30-year-old Florida man is facing up to a half-decade in federal prison after confessing to posting violent threats on social media that promised to decapitate Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, murder her children, then eat the kids “for protein,” according to plea agreement papers reviewed by The Independent.
Myles M McQuade, a Tampa resident, made the threats on X, the Elon Musk-owned social network formerly known as Twitter, one day after Omar criticized late right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk in an interview with a progressive news outlet.
Her remarks sparked Republican outrage, leading to GOP legislators insisting Omar be stripped of her committee assignments.
Justin Rohrlich has the story.
Fla. man vowed to behead Rep. Ilhan Omar and ‘eat’ her kids after Charlie Kirk remark
Former Trump lawyer Alina Habba ‘resigns’ as acting US attorney for NJ after court kicked her out
10:50 , Joe SommerladThe president’s former personal attorney Alina Habba will “step down” from her role as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey after several judges determined she was unlawfully serving as the state’s top federal prosecutor.
Last week, a federal appeals court panel affirmed a lower-court order and disqualified her from office, ending yet another legal showdown between the Trump administration and federal judiciary.
Habba, who represented Trump during a blockbuster fraud case in New York and against defamation and sexual abuse claims from E Jean Carroll, said in a statement that she will now serve as a “senior advisor” to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
As a result of the appellate court ruling, “and to protect the stability and integrity of the office which I love, I have decided to step down,” she wrote Monday.
“But do not mistake compliance for surrender. This decision will not weaken the Justice Department and it will not weaken me,” she said.
“Make no mistake, you can take the girl out of New Jersey, but you cannot take New Jersey out of the girl.”
Alex Woodward reports.
Alina Habba ‘resigns’ as New Jersey’s top prosecutor after judges gave her the boot
Truth Social: Trump says Supreme Court ruling against his tariffs would be ‘biggest threat in history to US national security’
10:30 , Joe SommerladHere’s the latest from the president on social media, who was up very late overnight to issue these two slightly hysterical proclamations about his tariffs, in which he warns of “dark and sinister forces” thwarting his signature economic policy:
“The biggest threat in history to United States National Security would be a negative decision on Tariffs by the U.S. Supreme Court. We would be financially defenseless. Now Europe is going to Tariffs against China, as they already do against others. We would not be allowed to do what others already do!”
“Because of Tariffs, easily and quickly applied, our National Security has been greatly enhanced, and we have become the financially strongest Country, by far, anywhere in the World. Only dark and sinister forces would want to see that end!!!”
Watch: Farmer says his children want Trump instead of Santa Claus this Christmas
10:15 , Joe SommerladTrump offers $12 billion taxpayer bailout for farmers harmed by his tariff policies
10:00 , Joe SommerladThe president yesterday announced a program that will see the Department of Agriculture dole out as much as $12 billion in taxpayer funds to bail out American farmers who have been hit hard by low crop prices and decreased demand for their products as a result of Trump’s own tariff policies.
The president unveiled the program during a roundtable event at the White House alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
He falsely claimed it would utilize a “small portion of the hundreds of billion dollars” his administration has collected from American importers and consumers through tariffs and called the bailout payments “economic assistance to farmers.”
Andrew Feinberg has more.
Trump offers $12 billion taxpayer bailout for farmers harmed by his tariff policies
'Gang of Eight' to be briefed on long-term national security strategy
09:45 , Joe SommerladThe top lawmakers on Capitol Hill, known as the “Gang of Eight,” will be brief behind closed doors Tuesday, by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who will present their long-term national security strategy for the United States.
The Gang of Eight refers to the House and Senate minority and majority leaders and the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees.
The trio are expected to also be asked about the Donald Trump administration’s strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, particularly the first missile blasts on September 2 in which two survivors were killed in a second missile launch that has been the subject of controversy in recent weeks.
Separately, Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters Monday that he is this week planning to speak this week with Admiral Alvin Holsey, who stepped down as head of U.S Southern Command after less than a year on the job, and is believed to have expressed concern about the strikes to Hegseth before being forced out.
Watch: Trump in testy exchange with reporter over boat strike footage he promised to release last week
09:30 , Joe SommerladDonald Trump insists he never said he would release double-tap boat strike video
09:15 , Joe SommerladThe president has said that the decision on whether or not to release footage of the deadly September 2 “double tap” missile strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean rests with his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“Whatever Hegseth wants to do is okay with me,” the president told reporters Monday, backtracking on his own comments last week that “whatever” video the Pentagon possesses “we’d certainly release, no problem,” which he now denies having said.
When asked to commit to the publication of the video by ABC News’s senior political correspondent Rachel Scott, who simply presented Trump with his own words, the president once again lashed out, calling her “the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place. Let me just tell you: you are an obnoxious – actually a terrible – reporter and it’s always the same thing with you.”
Andrew Feinberg reports.
Trump rips into female reporter as ‘most obnoxious’ in latest attack
Good morning
09:05 , Joe SommerladHello and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of the Donald Trump administration as the president’s top defense officials prepare to brief the top lawmakers on Capitol Hill about their long-term national security plans for the United States.