POTUS delivers Prime Time address to the nation, touts economic progress; President announces $1,776 ‘Warrior Dividend’ for troops – ‘already in the mail’; Dan Bongino resigns from FBI; Jesse Watters continues to expose Brown University’s handling of school shootings; Bondi hero attacked as ‘traitor’ in Arab world; Vatican features pro-life Nativity scene celebrating babies saved from abortions; Catholics celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Expectation; and more —
Trump tries to turn economy back on Democrats in preview of 2026 campaign
President Donald Trump returned to themes of the 2024 election in his opening argument for next year’s midterm elections in a televised speech at the White House on Wednesday night.
“Good evening, America,” Trump opened. “Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess.”
Trump assailed former President Joe Biden on inflation, crime, and the border while making the case that his administration had taken steps toward fixing, and in some cases completely solved, these problems.
“Under the Biden administration, car prices rose 22% and, in many states, 30% or more. Gasoline rose 30% to 50%. Hotel rates rose 37%. Airfares rose 31%. Now, under our leadership, they are all coming down and coming down fast,” Trump said. “Democrat politicians also sent the cost of groceries soaring, but we are solving that, too. The price of a Thanksgiving turkey was down 33% compared to the Biden [price] last year.”
Read more at the Washington Examiner
Newt Gingrich: ‘A very, very important speech’
Read more @TVNewsNow
Trump announces $1,776 Warrior Dividend for Troops
Watch @nicksortor
Raskin: We Had ‘Envy of the World’ Economy at End of Biden Term, Can’t Build Economy by Throwing Money at People Like Trump’s Doing
On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Source,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) argued that at the end of the Biden presidency, America’s economy was “the envy of the world” and has now been ruined and Trump is attempting “to compensate for the tariffs’ ruinous effects on rural America by throwing money at farmers, and now he’s trying to throw money at soldiers. But that’s not how you build a strong economy.”
Raskin said, “[O]n the substance, it was like opposite day in third grade, it was just the exact inverse of the truth about everything. I was thinking back to October 19, 2024, right before the election, and The Economist magazine had a cover story on the U.S. economy, and it said, ‘The envy of the world.’ And it was talking about how the U.S., which had just surpassed all the other developed countries in every measure, whether it was inflation or unemployment or investment infrastructure, and, indeed, was the envy of the world. And Donald Trump has turned it into ruins.”
Read more at Breitbart
Highlight from speech
Watch @BoLoudon
Another highlight from the speech
Watch @bennyjohnson
Trump’s full address here
Watch full speech @america (19 min.)
FBI’s Bongino Is Resigning
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said on Wednesday he would resign from the agency in January.
“I want to thank President Trump, AG (Pam) Bondi, and Director (Kash) Patel for the opportunity to serve with purpose,” Bongino wrote on the social media platform X as speculation about his future steps swirled throughout the day.
Earlier, President Donald Trump said he thought the FBI deputy director wanted to “go back to his show,” following media reports that the former podcaster was planning to quit his role.
“Dan did a great job. I think he wants to go back to his show,” Trump told reporters.
Read more at NEWSMAX
Jesse Watters: THIS is a complete embarrassment – exposes Brown University’s ill-handling of student shootings
Watch at Fox News
‘Zero evidence’: ICE Director slams Ilhan Omar’s claim ICE pulled over her son
Watch at Newsmax
How DEI Is Destroying the American Family
Discriminatory “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) policies have been enshrined in virtually every major American institution for more than a decade now. While conservatives have made some laudatory progress in turning the cultural tide against DEI, the fallout on the American economy and, even more devastatingly, the American family, is only just beginning.
This week, Compact Magazine published what may be the most important long-form essay of the year. “The Lost Generation,” authored by aspiring screenwriter and odd-jobs aficionado Jacob Savage, describes in specific, heartbreaking detail the economic carnage that DEI has wrought on young men, and young white men in particular.
Savage provides staggering statistics on the race and gender-based overhaul of hiring practices in journalism and academia to highlight how DEI has fundamentally transformed the American workplace:
Read more at Amac
Minneapolis police chief compares detention of criminal illegals to situation of Mary and Joseph
See more @JackPosobiec
Pete Hegseth gets shout out for wanting to make Chaplain Corps great again
Read/watch @KTmBoyle
Christian Woman Charged Again For Silently Praying Outside Of UK Abortion Clinic
The United Kingdom’s thought cops have struck again, charging a Christian woman for silently praying outside abortion clinic.
Charitable volunteer Isabel Vaughn-Spruce has been under investigation since January for the “influence” she supposedly exhibited in her silent vigil for life.
Vaughn-Spruce and the speech police have been down this road twice before, with the 48-year-old Malvern woman ultimately being cleared of charges for the crime of praying in a public space. Vaughn-Spruce won a $17,000 judgment from the West Midlands police department for wrongful arrest.
But the latest charges are being brought under the UK’s new “buffer zones” law that went into effect last year as part of the Public Order Act 2023. The Attorney General Richard Hermer confirmed this week that “The Crown Prosecution Service has issued proceedings under Section 9 of the Public Order Act 2023, in relation to one case, since it was commenced on” Oct. 31, 2024, according to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International.
Read more at The Federalist
Bondi hero attacked as ‘traitor’ in Arab world
See @australian (subscription required for full article)
Reports of a foiled Islamic attack in Australia
See @vicegrad24
Charlotte’s Bishop Martin issues formal ban on altar rails
Read @PerMariam
Ancient Advent Mass gains new interest among younger Catholics
Advent is a season filled with rich Catholic traditions, but a slightly lesser-known one is growing in popularity among younger Catholics.
The ancient liturgy of the Rorate Caeli Advent Mass honors the Blessed Virgin Mary through a Mass celebrated at dawn, in complete darkness, and lit only by candles, which symbolizes Christ, the Light of the World, entering into the world with Mary as the vessel.
Emerging in the Middle Ages, the Rorate Caeli Mass gets its name from the prophecy of Isaiah. Rorate Caeli is Latin for “drop down, ye heavens.” These are the opening words of this liturgy’s Introit, which is used as an opening psalm or entrance antiphon and comes from Isaiah 45:8. …
[Father Tony Stephens, rector at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion in Champion, Wisconsin] highlighted the fact that this ancient Mass is seeing a resurgence in popularity and credited Pope Benedict XVI, in part, for reintroducing Catholics to older, traditional practices and his “desire of the hermeneutic of continuity.” …
“There is a great love, especially amongst young people, for things that are traditional,” he said, adding that the Mass also “appeals to the senses in a way that technology and phones don’t.”
Read more at the Catholic News Agency
Vatican Features Pro-Life Nativity Scene Celebrating Babies Saved from Abortions
See @KristanHawkins; read more at Breitbart
Antiphon for December 18 – O Adonai
Watch @National Shrine
Catholics celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Expectation
Read more @father_rmv
