Trump bucked tradition with partisan end-of-year address

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump broke with past presidents with Wednesday night’s end-of-year address to the nation in which he raised his voice repeatedly and cast wide blame for a stubborn economy that has frustrated many Americans.

Former officials and analysts called the speech an unprecedented attempt to upend the State of the Union tradition.

Trump spoke directly to the American people and pleaded for patience, arguing the economy would improve in the new year as his policies fully kick in.

According to Trump, the state of the union this holiday season is: Stay tuned. But multiple polls suggest voters are tiring of his message.

—CQ-Roll Call

US admits fault in deadly plane crash that killed 67 above DC

Calling the event a “wholly avoidable tragedy,” the U.S. government on Wednesday admitted liability in the fiery crash over the Potomac River that occurred early this year when a plane from Wichita, Kansas, to the nation’s capital collided with an Army helicopter.

The admission came in a document filed Wednesday in federal court in a lawsuit brought by the widow of one of the victims. The government’s admissions were included in its responses to the allegations raised in the lawsuit.

“The United States admits that it owed a duty of care to Plaintiffs, which it breached, thereby proximately causing the tragic accident on January 29, 2025 … ” the Justice Department wrote in what was called a “general admission of liability.”

The admission means that the plaintiff is legally eligible to recover monetary damages, the government said.

—The Kansas City Star

Report calls for acknowledging Maryland’s lynching history — and offering up to $100,000 to victims’ descendants

BALTIMORE — A final report produced by a commission established to investigate the history of lynchings in Maryland urges the state and several local jurisdictions to acknowledge their parts in the acts of racial terror committed during the 19th and 20th centuries — and calls for payments of up to $100,000 for every descendant of a known lynching victim, among dozens of other recommendations.

The Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission, established by the House of Delegates in 2019, has spent six years working to “investigate, document, and reckon with the history of racial terror lynching” that resulted in the murders of at least 38 Black men in the state.

“This work represents an opportunity to investigate and address 38 open murder cases — crimes against humanity for which no one was ever held accountable,” said David O. Fakunle, chair of the commission.

“There is no statute of limitations on murder, and the systems that enabled racial terror lynching did not disappear in 1933.” That was the year of the last known lynching in the state, that of an African American laborer named George Armwood, by a white mob in Princess Anne.

—The Baltimore Sun

Ukraine security plan offers robust protections, officials say

The U.S. and Ukraine’s European allies have put together a plan of security guarantees containing detailed, robust and serious measures to ensure that any peace deal with Russia holds, according to officials familiar with the proposals.

An 800,000-strong Ukrainian army would provide the first line of postwar deterrence, with weapons and other support programs continuing from allies to ensure it’s suitably equipped and trained.

The U.S. would provide intelligence and monitoring to track any attempts to breach the peace agreement along contact lines and borders, including through potential Russian false-flag operations.

Troops from a coalition of European nations would be stationed away from the front lines to bolster confidence, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. A group of European leaders said in a statement after talks this week that a multinational force could operate inside Ukraine as part of security measures.

—Bloomberg News