It's been over ten years since Donald Trump came down that escalator and said the thing that we're not supposed to say – that illegal immigration is not an act of love, except in the most appalling figurative sense, that too many illegal aliens are criminals in other ways beyond just being illegal aliens, and that they should all go home – yet, apparently, the smart people have failed to pay any attention to him since. Again and again, he does things and triumphs, leaving them baffled. They really don't understand Donald Trump, not in the least. It's remarkable. This guy is entirely transparent. He does the same thing again and again and again. Yet, when he does the same thing again and again and again, the smart set – which includes Democrats, regime media folks (to the extent that is different), and even some alleged conservatives – is stunned, staggered, and baffled and draws all the wrong conclusions. Which is fine with me. I like it when my opponents get my side wrong.

Addressing a meeting of McDonald's restaurant owners, President Donald Trump distorted his predecessor's record on employment, falsely claiming that government jobs were increasing while "real jobs" were declining. The number of private-sector jobs increased every year under former President Joe Biden's term and was up about 12% by the time he left office. At the McDonald's Impact Summit on Nov. 17 in Washington, D.C., Trump told the franchise owners and operators, "Government jobs were going up, real jobs were going down. … You are so damn lucky that I won that election." The president also claimed later, "In nine months, we've lifted over 600,000 Americans off of food stamp[s], and that's a record." Enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps, declined more than that in the final months of Biden's presidency.

Republicans are struggling to find a winning message on housing costs — an issue that's top of mind for Americans — heading into a midterm election season that both parties expect to be decided by affordability concerns. After Democrats dominated the 2025 off-year election cycle with campaigns centered on the cost of living, GOP operatives are scrambling to focus their midterm strategies on voters' wallets. Some Republicans expect housing will be a key issue in 2026. A recent POLITICO poll found homebuying and rental costs were among the top affordability concerns for U.S. adults overall — especially among young and Hispanic adults, whose unexpected shift toward President Donald Trump last year helped Republicans return to power.

President Trump urged the Supreme Court on Monday to decide a "time-sensitive" case that could blow a big hole in his trade agenda, saying tariff payments are poised to "skyrocket" and he doesn't want to see his plans ruined. Mr. Trump, writing on Truth Social, said tariffs are reaping billions of dollars, but the full effect hasn't been seen yet, because companies front-loaded inventory to avoid paying the levies in the near term. "That heavy inventory purchase is now, however, wearing thin, and soon Tariffs will be paid on everything they apply to, without avoidance, and the amounts payable to the USA will SKYROCKET, over and above the already historic levels of dollars received," Mr. Trump wrote. "These payments will be RECORD SETTING, and put our Nation on a new and unprecedented course."

Fifty of the 315 children kidnapped by gunmen from a Catholic school in Nigeria's Niger State on Friday have escaped. The Christian Association of Nigeria says they have been reunited with their families. A major military-led search and rescue operation is under way for the remaining 265 children and 12 teachers who were taken with them. Authorities in several Nigerian states ordered schools to shut following the mass abduction in Niger and another smaller hostage-taking in Kebbi state on Monday when 25 pupils were kidnapped from a boarding school.

It's been nearly four months since Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, and President Trump made a handshake deal to resolve trade tensions between their economies. But details of the trade pact have proven contentious — and they will be up for debate again this week, when American trade officials visit their counterparts in Brussels. Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, met Maros Sefcovic, the European Union's trade commissioner, on Sunday. Both Mr. Greer and Howard Lutnick, the American Commerce secretary, will attend a meeting of trade ministers in Brussels on Monday.

Below is the text of a European counter-proposal to the United States' draft 28-point Ukraine peace plan, seen by Reuters on Sunday. The counter-proposal, drafted by Europe's E3 powers of Britain, France and Germany, takes the U.S. plan as its basis but then goes through it point by point with suggested changes and deletions.