• Americans are spending money: Economic news in Donald Trump’s administration has been better than under Joe Biden’s, but it’s not yet the explosive growth many have been hoping for. It’s probably too soon to say “the economy is booming,” but consumer confidence seems high. Retail sales were up 0.6% in November, higher than expected, and holiday sales were up over 1.9% in specialty shops. Another highly positive sign is the economy’s 5.3% annual growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2025. Still, inflation for the past year was down significantly from the Biden era but still hurting Americans’ spending power. 2025 showed signs of an improving economy, and this year began with evidence of consumer confidence and expectations of larger tax refunds in the upcoming season. 2026 may be the year when Americans can finally say, “The economy is booming.”

• House passes spending and foreign aid bills: Omnibus congressional spending bills with price tags in the trillions have unfortunately become normalized in recent years. That’s why the House of Representatives’ vote on Wednesday to pass two spending bills totaling only $77 billion deserves some kudos. In a 341-79 vote, lawmakers passed two spending bills for fiscal year 2026 for foreign aid and financial services agencies. “When done the right way, funding the government is not a single vote,” said Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole. One bill funds the State Department and foreign aid programs to the tune of $50 billion, while the other funds the Treasury Department and some agencies for $27 billion. With this vote, the House has passed eight of 12 annual spending bills that Congress gave itself until January 30 to pass. The Senate is working more slowly but remains on track for the deadline.

• Greenland meeting ends with no deal: A contingent of Danish officials and members of the Trump administration, led by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, met at the White House on Wednesday to discuss President Trump’s desire for the U.S. to acquire Greenland. Following the meeting, a Danish official observed a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland, which is currently a semi-autonomous Danish territory. Trump responded to the lack of agreement, stating, “We need Greenland for national security. We’ll see how it all works out. I think something will work out.” Both Danish and Greenlandic officials have expressed resistance to Trump’s aims, with Denmark, a NATO member, planning to increase its military presence around the territory. The two sides have agreed to create a “high-level working group” to continue discussing the issue.

• Moratorium on sanctuary city/state funding: “Starting February 1, we’re not making any payments to sanctuary cities or states,” said President Trump to the Detroit Economic Club, “because they do everything possible to protect criminals.” Trump’s announcement comes as a massive fraud scheme in Minnesota is still being uncovered and taxpayers are being ripped off. Blue cities and states will face immediate budget issues if Trump is successful, but this action will certainly face roadblocks from the Left. A Biden-appointed judge just blocked the administration temporarily from stopping subsidies to Minnesota programs involved in fraud. Still, Trump is right — radical action is needed to impose law and order on lawless sanctuary jurisdictions.

• Trump meets Machado, Vance tanks War Powers assault: Nobel Peace Prize recipient María Corina Machado will meet with President Trump at the White House today. Machado has led the opposition to Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, only to have the Maduro regime reject election results and retain power. Now, following the U.S. operation to capture, arrest, and remove Maduro from power, Machado is making the case that she should become Venezuela’s new leader. Trump has thus far worked with Maduro’s vice president and current leader, Delcy Rodriguez. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, JD Vance cast the tiebreaking Senate vote against a resolution that sought to limit Trump’s war powers regarding Venezuela. Two of the five Republican senators — Josh Hawley and Todd Young — who had sided with Democrats and initially voted to advance the resolution flipped and voted against it, resulting in a 50-50 tie.

• Visa processing suspended for 75 countries: The State Department announced that it will implement a temporary pause on immigrant visa processing from 75 countries, including Somalia, Russia, Afghanistan, Iran, Nigeria, and Yemen. The visa pause is set to begin on January 21. No end date has been established, as the State Department will be engaged in reevaluating and reassessing its visa processing. State Department spokesman Tommy Piggott explained, “The State Department will use its long-standing authority to deem ineligible potential immigrants who would become a public charge on the United States and exploit the generosity of the American people.” The massive welfare fraud scandal in Minnesota, which has primarily been promulgated by Somali immigrants, appears to be a major factor driving this decision.

• ICE agent’s wounds: Though the propaganda media would have you believe that the ICE agent who was forced to shoot Renee Good wasn’t even hurt, let alone hit by her car, agent Jonathan Ross did suffer injuries. The veteran ICE agent was able to walk away, but he was hospitalized due to internal bleeding in his torso as a result of the incident. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters, “He went to the hospital, a doctor did treat him, he has been released, but he’s gonna spend some time with his family.” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey had mocked and lied about the agent’s condition: “The ICE agent walked away with a hip injury that he might as well have gotten from closing a refrigerator door with his hips.” The “refrigerator door” in question weighed 4,000 pounds and was accelerating, ramming into the agent’s body.

• HHS sends money back to PP: The Trump administration has quietly restored government funding to Planned Parenthood, despite the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that cut funding to the nation’s leading abortion provider. The news obviously angered pro-life conservatives, but there is more to the story. The ACLU recently dropped a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services, which it had raised over the agency’s withholding of over $65 million in Title X grants to abortion clinics. The issue is that HHS began withholding funding to PP before the law was changed. According to CatholicVote’s Tom McClusky, HHS was “virtually certain to lose the lawsuit, forcing them to repay the full amount plus interest and cover attorneys’ fees.” A former HHS official observed, “HHS was caught in a tough spot because the judge was almost certainly going to rule against them.”

• Men don’t get pregnant: Congress called witnesses to a hearing on the use of chemical abortion drugs yesterday. One of those witnesses, Dr. Nisha Verma, was called by Democrats as an expert witness. Conservatives used their time to ask Dr. Verma a simple question: “Can men get pregnant?” After Sen. Josh Hawley gave her five chances to answer, the best Nisha could come up with was, “I think yes-no questions like this are a political tool.” Well, she’s right — they have become political tools, but only because leftists have bafflingly decided that the question about men and pregnancy is too difficult for them to answer. Any honest person, even without the aid of a biology degree or a doctorate in medicine, can answer that question: No, men cannot get pregnant. Apparently, a Democrat qualification to be an expert witness is to throw common sense out the window.

Headlines

• Kristi Noem faces impeachment effort in House (Fox News)

• Who’s funding the aggressive anti-ICE tactics? (Daily Signal)

• Undercover video prompts suspension of Secret Service agent (NewsNation)

• FBI wrongly questioned agents’ support for Trump, religious beliefs, COVID vaccine status (Washington Times)

• Humor: Five-year-old brought in to explain difference between boys and girls to Supreme Court (Babylon Bee)

The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.