Washington, DC

1. Second term déjà vu
2. Trump’s prime-time address
3. Venezuela tensions rise
4. Kushner abandons Paramount
5. GOP split over permitting
6. Senators to grill Carr

PDB: Trump expands travel ban

House takes health care vote … Ex-special counsel Jack Smith appears for House deposition … Bondi Beach suspect charged with terrorism and murder

Winter of discontent for Trump and GOP

A feeling of déjà vu has settled over Washington these days, as President Donald Trump’s second term starts to feel a lot like his first, Semafor’s Burgess Everett, Eleanor Mueller and Shelby Talcott report. From Trump’s post attacking Rob Reiner to a remarkably candid interview with his chief of staff to the impending sense of midterm doom among Republicans, there’s a growing sense of chaos in Trump’s Washington. There’s certainly time for the president and his party to get things on track, but Republicans want Trump to help them make some decisions about the rest of the agenda and more tightly coordinate with the congressional GOP. If Republicans “can play as a team, and if administration officials can be smart about their actions, this is going to turn out just fine,” said Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla. “Neither of those two things are certain.”

Trump to address nation tonight

Trump is set to address the nation live tonight from the White House, as his administration grapples with the dour mood among voters over the economy. The president plans to tout his accomplishments from the past year, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, and will likely preview plans for the next three. It’s the latest effort by Trump and his team to flip the switch amid growing concerns about affordability. On Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance got into the mix, acknowledging the pain Americans are feeling while blaming the prior administration and asking for patience. Despite Vance’s more measured message, he largely echoed Trump when asked about the assessment of the economy, giving it an “A+++.” But unemployment rose to a four-year high last month, new data showed Tuesday, a sign of weakness in the economy.

— Shelby Talcott

Admin shields strike video from Congress

Lawmakers are still hungry for more from the Trump administration on Venezuela following a classified session with top national security leaders on Tuesday. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to show the full video of the double-tap Caribbean boat strike to all senators, a call that vexed lawmakers in both parties. “The president says different things at different times and contradicts himself. That’s why we need full transparency,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who called the strikes lawful, urged the administration to “release it,” per The Wall Street Journal. Administration officials plan to show the video to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees today. Meanwhile, Trump announced a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers entering and exiting Venezuela, further escalating tensions with Caracas.

— Morgan Chalfant and Burgess Everett

Trump distances himself from Ellisons

Trump and his family are distancing themselves from Paramount’s hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery — a rebuke to owner David Ellison’s attempt to leverage relationships with the White House to close the $108 billion takeover effort, Semafor’s Rohan Goswami reports. Trump on Tuesday afternoon said he had been “treated [...] far worse” by the Ellison-owned CBS since the family closed on a deal for CBS parent Paramount. And Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners said it was backing out of the Paramount-led bidding consortium, which also includes three Gulf sovereign wealth funds and Apollo. “With ​two ​strong competitors ​vying to secure ​the future ​of this ​unique American ​asset, ​Affinity ​has ​decided no longer to pursue ​the opportunity,” a spokesperson for the firm said. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery plans to soon tell shareholders to reject Paramount’s offer, which could lead Paramount to raise its bid.

Energy permitting splits Republicans

US lawmakers’ latest attempt at fixing the country’s dysfunctional energy permitting bureaucracy is inching forward this week, but disputes over the bill’s limits on executive power could dim its prospects, Semafor’s Tim McDonnell writes. The SPEED Act, sponsored by Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., and other Republicans, attempts to speed up the federal environmental impact review process by imposing limits on when such reviews are required and how they can be challenged. But to win Democratic support, the bill limits federal agencies’ power to revoke already-issued permits, which some Trump allies worry could impede his campaign against offshore wind farms. On Monday, the House Rules Committee said the full chamber can vote on amendments to curtail those limits on executive power, but it’s not clear the bill can survive without them — and if it does, it will face tougher scrutiny in the Senate.

Carr faces contentious congressional hearing

Democrats on the Senate Commerce Committee are preparing for a contentious congressional hearing on Wednesday with Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr. In his first year as FCC commissioner, Carr has become one of the most visible chairmen in decades, pressuring broadcast networks over news coverage and threatening to pull station licenses. Democratic senators are expected to confront Carr during Wednesday’s hearing about his threats to pull licenses of stations that broadcast late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel, as well as some of his ongoing probes into broadcast news networks and oversight of the acquisition of Paramount by Skydance earlier this year. He’s likely to also face pressure from the committee’s chairman, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, over the Kimmel flap (Cruz had called Carr’s comments pressuring ABC and Disney “dangerous as hell”).

— Max Tani

Blindspot: Sunscreen and ballroom

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin revealed he had skin cancer removed from his face and implored people to wear sunscreen.

What the Right isn’t reading: The Justice Department argued that halting construction of Trump’s ballroom would imperil national security, writing in a filing that a pause would “hamper the Secret Service’s ability to meet its statutory obligations and protective mission.”

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., and the state’s Democratic Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger had a tense exchange Tuesday over Virginia Democrats’ mid-decade redistricting plans.

Playbook: “Why Vanity Fair?” one White House official mused about controversial interviews given to the magazine by President Trump’s chief of staff. “They’ve never been remotely good to us.”

WaPo: Trump’s lack of endorsement for Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., in her run for New York governor highlights how the loyalty the president demands from supporters is “almost always one-way.”

Axios: Investors and executives remain bullish on the US economy, with two new surveys putting their confidence at four-year highs.

White House

• President Trump — and several of his aides and allies — defended White House chief of staff Susie Wiles after she came under scrutiny for remarks made in interviews with Vanity Fair. — NY Post
• Trump expanded his travel ban to further restrict migration from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria, and to restrict people traveling with Palestinian Authority-issued documents.

Congress

• Ahead of its deposition with former special counsel Jack Smith, the House Judiciary Committee expanded its probe of the Trump prosecutions by asking for interviews with Smith’s deputies. — CNN

Outside the Beltway

• Investigators released a new video of a person they believe may be linked to the deadly Brown University shooting.

Inside the Beltway

• President Trump is set to interview Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller for the Fed chair role today. — WSJ

Business

• Citadel’s Ken Griffin said the Trump administration needs to “create distance between the White House and the Fed.”

Economy

• US crude oil prices fell to the lowest level since early 2021 on expectations of a surplus and optimism around Ukraine peace talks.
• A majority of US adults say they plan to spend less on gifts this holiday season compared to last year, according to an NBC News poll.

Courts