A breathless President Donald Trump gave a primetime address to the nation last night, looking to press the reset button on his handling of the top issue for American voters: the economy.
Poll after poll has shown Mr Trump's approval ratings slumping, particularly when it comes to the state of the economy. He was elected on a promise of cutting prices, boosting employment and tackling inflation. Eleven months on, the average American is not feeling any better off than they were last year. While some things are getting cheaper, like petrol, unemployment is rising, inflation is the same as it was in January and the overall cost of living continues to soar.
During an 18-minute address from the White House, Mr Trump sought to assure Americans that the country's new Golden Age is right around the corner. But for some reason, perhaps he was under time constraints imposed by TV networks, Mr Trump lurched through his teleprompted remarks while yelling all of his talking points.
At times he sounded unhinged or as though he were having a full-blown panic attack, a good metaphor for how Republicans view his performance on the economy ahead of next year's midterm elections.
"We're the hottest country anywhere in the world, and that's said by every single leader that I've spoken to over the last five months," Mr Trump said in his address, during which he repeatedly blamed his predecessor, Joe Biden, for every problem on his plate.
The hyped-up salesman/Biden blame-game shtick is wearing thin. Americans want results and recent wins by Democrats in local and state elections show how quickly people have soured on Mr Trump's handling of the economy. According to a new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll, he only has a 36 per cent approval rating on the issue.
One thing Mr Trump did not do last night was declare war on Venezuela, something that could come any day now. He did say that Venezuela (although it is not an island) is "completely surrounded by the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America" and that the US was blockading all the country's oil tankers. It seems to be only a matter of time before the US is conducting some sort of military action against Caracas.
We certainly are in for another momentous year in 2026. I wish you a very happy festive season. The newsletter will be taking a break next week - see you in the new year!
Eye on the White House
US stance on Venezuela carries haunting echoes of Iraq war
George W Bush, Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld in 2003, months after launching the Iraq war. Reuters
Mr Trump on Monday issued an executive order declaring the drug fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction. He has also accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of narco-terrorism and involvement in trafficking drugs towards the US.
More than two decades earlier, President George W Bush announced the US invasion of Iraq aimed at toppling the regime of Saddam Hussein. In a televised address in March 2003, Mr Bush said that the “people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder”.
There are startling parallels between the rhetoric of the Bush administration in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq and the recent language from the Trump administration towards Venezuela.
BBC billions Mr Trump sued the UK-based BBC on Monday for alleged defamation over edited clips of a speech that made it appear as if he directed supporters to storm the US Capitol, opening an international front in his fight against media coverage he deems untrue or unfair. He is seeking up to $10 billion - an unthinkable sum for a broadcaster whose entire annual budget is about £6 billion.
Hollywood horror It didn't take long for Mr Trump to make the deaths of film director Rob Reiner and his wife all about him. Instead of sharing a simple note of condolence, Mr Trump posted a message on Truth Social on Monday in which he (or an account-handling minion) suggested Reiner had been killed because he didn't like the President.
Bongino going FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said yesterday that he will resign from the bureau next month, ending a brief and tumultuous tenure in which he clashed with the Justice Department over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and was forced to reconcile the realities of his law enforcement job with provocative claims he made in his prior role as a popular podcast host. The Epstein files, incidentally, are due to be released tomorrow.
Spotlight Delusion, paranoia, spiralling: The dangers of outsourcing your life to chatbots
AI users are reporting spirals into paranoia, delusion and psychosis after extended conversations with chatbots
The night Adam Thomas locked his keys inside his van, the desert air in Oregon’s Christmas Valley had already begun to grow cold.
He ended up sleeping on a stranger’s futon, an improvised bed set up by a flea market in a town so small it had just a handful of buildings.
It was there, trying to keep warm inside a sleeping bag he had found and staring at the stars, that Mr Thomas realised something had gone profoundly wrong.
For months, he had been following what he believed was an “internal compass”, a sensation in his body that he saw as guidance. This feeling was reinforced by an artificial intelligence chatbot he had been confiding in daily.
But the force that he believed was pulling him “on a path to something” now looked more like a warning sign.
What Disney and OpenAI's Sora deal means for Mickey Mouse and other characters
OpenAI's Sora 2, which received criticism amid allegations of copyright infringement, has reached a deal with Disney. Getty Images via AFP
OpenAI's controversial video-generation tool Sora has one less thing to worry about, thanks in part to an agreement reached with Disney.
According to the entertainment and theme park giant, users of OpenAI's Sora will soon be able to create videos featuring various Disney characters and other intellectual property.
Although details are sparse, users of Sora are expected to be able to create the content beginning in early 2026, according to Disney.
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Term life insurance: this is the cheapest and most-popular form of life cover. You pay a regular monthly premium for a pre-agreed period, typically anything between five and 25 years, or possibly longer. If you die within that time, the policy will pay a cash lump sum, which is typically tax-free even outside the UAE. If you die after the policy ends, you do not get anything in return. There is no cash-in value at any time. Once you stop paying premiums, cover stops.
Whole-of-life insurance: as its name suggests, this type of life cover is designed to run for the rest of your life. You pay regular monthly premiums and in return, get a guaranteed cash lump sum whenever you die. As a result, premiums are typically much higher than one term life insurance, although they do not usually increase with age. In some cases, you have to keep up premiums for as long as you live, although there may be a cut-off period, say, at age 80 but it can go as high as 95. There are penalties if you don’t last the course and you may get a lot less than you paid in.
Critical illness cover: this pays a cash lump sum if you suffer from a serious illness such as cancer, heart disease or stroke. Some policies cover as many as 50 different illnesses, although cancer triggers by far the most claims. The payout is designed to cover major financial responsibilities such as a mortgage or children’s education fees if you fall ill and are unable to work. It is cost effective to combine it with life insurance, with the policy paying out once if you either die or suffer a serious illness.
Income protection: this pays a replacement income if you fall ill and are unable to continue working. On the best policies, this will continue either until you recover, or reach retirement age. Unlike critical illness cover, policies will typically pay out for stress and musculoskeletal problems such as back trouble.
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
