The Daily Wrap Up

16 Dec, 2025

[ Transcript edited for clarity and flow | Watch on Youtube HERE ]

Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio conducted a confidential briefing for members of Congress today. The subject was the September 2nd strike on a boat in the Caribbean. The boat, which was suspected of smuggling drugs, was struck once. Then, when it became clear the two people had survived the initial blast, the boat was struck a second time. Even though the two survivors were clinging to the wreckage of the boat and had absolutely no way of posing a danger to anybody. There has been rare bipartisan pressure to release the video of the second strike. This would clear up whether the Trump regime knowingly fired on defenseless targets, which constitutes a war crime. After speaking to lawmakers, Hegseth addressed reporters, and here’s how he responded to their most pressing question:

Hegseth: In keeping with longstanding Department of War policy, Department of Defense policy. Of course, we’re not going to release a top secret full unedited video of that to the general public. Appropriate committees will see it, but not the general public.

Why not? We need to see the documentary evidence because their version of events doesn’t add up. Additionally, CNN reports that legislators from both parties were unsatisfied with the briefing as they weren’t shown the full video and received unsatisfying legal and strategic explanations for the strikes.

The entire operation is suspect and potentially a war crime, not just one strike. The people on these boats are suspected of being narco-terrorists and drug traffickers. They have been denied their due process They were simply murdered.

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In other news, vile Mike Johnson, our House Speaker refuses to have a vote to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies. He is far too busy avoiding reporters who want to know what the holier-than-thou Mike Johnson has to say about Donald’s comments regarding Rob Reiner over the last couple of days. He claims to know nothing, as usual. So, millions of people who rely on these subsidies that expire this month might be faced with sky-rocketing premiums.

As NBC News reports, GOP leaders failed to reach a deal with centrist Republicans. New York Republican Mike Lawler had harsh words for his colleagues following the decision because he knows that his seat is one of those swing seats that is very much up for grabs. He told NBC:

Lawler: I am pissed for the American people. This is absolute bullshit, and it’s absurd. Everybody has a responsibility to serve their district, to serve their constituents.

Three-quarters of people on Obamacare are in states Donald Trump won. At today’s press conference, Mike Johnson had this to say.

Mike Johnson: The healthcare bill on the floor tomorrow is right on time. There’s always a good time to reduce premiums for healthcare. And remember, the Republican Party, since the Unaffordable Care Act became law 15 years ago, we have been working steadily producing ideas, trying to address this. We tried to repeal and replace it. As you all know, in our ultimately failed attempt back in the first Trump administration at the end of 2017, the famous John McCain thumbs down tanked the effort. And since then, the roots of Obamacare, the Unaffordable Care Act, have gotten so deep in the system that it’s no longer possible to just pull it out at the root and chop it off and start over. It’s, it’s too deeply ingrained. And so now we have to take it step by step to reduce and repair, reduce cost, and repair the system. And that’s the ideas we have.

I think it’s worth pointing out that all of this could have been avoided if eight Democrats hadn’t voted with the Republicans to reopen the government without getting a deal that would have extended the Affordable Care Act subsidies. Now, millions of Americans’ healthcare expenses will rise exponentially, and people might lose their health insurance entirely. Well done.

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A couple of weeks ago, Donald was asked in an interview what grade he would give the economy, and not surprisingly he gave himself an “A-plus plus plus plus.” The New York Times reports that the government finally released new jobs data today. These data show that in November, the country’s unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, which is its highest level in four years. Remember, four years ago the economy was recovering from the COVID-19 catastrophic pandemic that Donald maliciously mishandled.

The jobless rate has climbed from 4.4%, and data show that pay increases are now at their lowest point since 2021. This downturn comes just ahead of the holiday season and before new tariffs are set to take effect. According to The Times, those tariffs are largely responsible for the current situation, noting that manufacturing lost 5,000 jobs in November—the seventh consecutive month of declines for the industry. Despite claims by Trump and his administration that their trade policies would revitalize American manufacturing, the sector hasn’t shown any signs of improvement. The truth is, the kind of manufacturing that dominated in the 1940s through the 1970s isn’t returning to the U.S., and that’s not what we should be aiming for. Instead, efforts over the past several decades should have focused on equipping people for careers in other areas, since domestic manufacturing is simply too costly and doesn’t make economic sense anymore.

Nevertheless, Trump continues to push these policies, particularly his tariffs, which not only raise costs for everyone but are also putting farmers out of business. As a result, American taxpayers are left footing the bill to rescue those affected. Furthermore, the Trump administration postponed the release of the jobs report, supposedly due to the government shutdown, but there are suspicions that the delay was intended to conceal negative results. The latest report also contains revised data, painting an even bleaker picture than previously reported.

During late summer and fall, 33,000 jobs were eliminated, along with an additional 26,000 jobs lost according to the August report. If you recall, during President Biden’s administration, the jobs reports would be released showing numbers that were solid but not extraordinary—typically in the range of 150,000 to 200,000 new jobs. However, after a few months, those figures would often be adjusted significantly higher. Despite this, Biden didn’t receive much recognition for the true scope of job creation, as the initial numbers always receive the most attention. Now, the current job market is worse than initially reported, but most people aren’t aware of this fact. At a recent event, JD Vance simply repeated Donald Trump’s misleading claims about the economy.

Reporter: President Trump last week gave his economy a grade of A-plus plus plus plus. What grade would you give the economy today?

JD Vance: A plus, plus plus? Look here. Here’s the simple fact of the matter. Again, you have to understand all of this stuff in context. You have to ask yourself, what has the Trump economy been able to build over the past 10 or 11 months given what we inherited from the Biden administration? Ladies and gentlemen, we had the worst inflation crisis in 50 years in the United States of America under Joe Biden. (…As the Crowd cheers USA USA USA).

Was the audience paid? Their strident cries of USA as our reputation, economy and world crumbles just seem a bit much, don’t you think?

Watch on Youtube HERE