Burn, baby, burn. Taking a match to efforts to manage climate change, President Trump is gutting federal rules that would have imposed tighter energy efficiency standards on new cars and trucks—instead making gasoline again the fuel of choice.
■ Columnist Mary Geddry describes Trump’s announcement: “A 90-minute monologue about restoring America’s God-given right to burn gasoline like it’s a moral sacrament, all while automakers stood behind him with the pained, frozen smiles of hostages forced to applaud their kidnapper’s karaoke.”
■ Former Environmental Protection Agency workers fired after they signed a letter protesting the politicization of science at the agency are challenging their dismissals.
‘The public deserves to see the full extent of the horror.’ Democracy Forward is suing the Trump administration, demanding release of all video footage of its horrific overnight raid in September on a Chicago apartment complex.
■ Block Club: “The feds used propaganda to frame their ‘war’ on Chicago.”
■ The “Operation Midway Bliss” GoFundMe page is raising cash to buy gifts and groceries for Chicago-area families affected by “Operation Midway Blitz.” (Aptly enough, that’s a Tribune gift link.)
Laughing matter—kind of. Federal charges against a Chicago comedy club manager accused of assaulting a Border Patrol agent last month have been dropped.
■ It’s just the latest such retreat by U.S. prosecutors.
■ Heads Up News columnist Dan Froomkin marvels at New Yorkers who forced ICE to back down—“protesters on offense instead of defense.”
Times vs. Hegseth. The New York Times is going to court, seeking to overturn the Defense Secretary’s rules that have booted most mainstream reporters from the Pentagon.
Chicago’s police problem. An investigation by the Invisible Institute and ProPublica finds cops getting promoted despite significant problems in their records …
■ … notably two of them promoted after investigators had found they’d engaged in sexual misconduct.
Costco vs. Trump. The company’s going to court demanding refunds for the tariffs the president’s imposed on goods from almost every corner of the planet.
■ A Tribune editorial (another gift link) cheers: “When one of the country’s most beloved brands says … trade policy is misguided, it risks shifting the conversation from ideology to everyday life—where Trump’s message is most vulnerable.”
■ Quartz, on Dollar General’s whoppingly big third-quarter haul: “Welcome to America’s dollar store economy.”
■ The Onion: “Study Finds Processed Meats Carcinogenic But They Were On Sale.”
■ Economist Paul Krugman: Kevin Hassett, effectively the Trump administration’s chief economist, “did, in just a few sentences, make it clear that he is absolutely unqualified.”
■ Meanwhile, Popular Information reports, “an obscure drone company that President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., joined as an advisor in November 2024, despite having no notable experience with drones or military contracting,” has landed a $620 million Pentagon loan.
Republicans’ jolt. Politico’s Shia Kapos says this week’s remarkably narrow victory for the Republican in a heavily Republican Tennessee congressional district is sending jitters through Illinois’ Republican Party.
■ Message Box columnist Dan Pfeiffer: That election’s turnout was “shockingly high,” which “makes this result far more instructive than your typical special election.”
‘The first Legos ya kinda wanna step on.’ That’s Stephen Colbert, assessing a Lego-made portrait of Trump amid the White House holiday decorations.
■ Jimmy Kimmel’s executive producer—and wife—Molly McNearney yesterday delivered a rousing call in defense of free speech—“something I thought I’d always have, like my period. Did you guys know that those just stop? Your period stops. And it turns out your freedom in this country can, too.”
■ Kimmel will be honored in March with the President’s Award … from the International Cinematographers Guild.
■ Columnist Robert Hubbell: “We need to talk about Trump’s hate speech.”
‘A local journalism giant.’ Tribune alumnus Eric Zorn honors former Trib editor and publisher Bruce Dold, who died yesterday at 70 after battling esophageal cancer for four years.
■ Bruce was for many years at the Trib a valued colleague of your Chicago Public Square columnist—long before that, a fellow reporter covering Chicago City Hall …
■ … and more recently had been a supporter of this newsletter.
‘A misinformation superspreader.’ NewsGuard finds Google’s new AI image generator “advanced false claims about politicians, public health topics, and top brands 100 percent of the time (30 out of 30) when prompted to do so.”
■ And Square would share some of those images here, but that would be wrong.
Voted yet? The Chicago Reader’s Best of Chicago poll is on, and you can help Square regain its title as Best Newsletter—and maybe snag Best Blog, too?
Thanks. Mike Braden made this edition better.