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President Donald Trump faced blunt criticism from an unlikely venue on Friday as a Fox News panelist warned that his political influence is rapidly deteriorating with key voting blocs – and may be beyond repair before the midterms.

The bleak analysis for the president came as Fox News contributor Leslie Marshall pushed back forcefully during a segment on the network’s “The Five,” saying she rejected the framing of the MAGA leader offered by other panelists.

Outrage rippled through conservative social media circles Friday after New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced he would appoint Lillian Bonsignore as the next FDNY commissioner, a historic selection that will take effect when he assumes office on Jan. 1.

Mamdani praised Bonsignore while announcing the appointment earlier this week, saying he was proud the 31-year veteran of the FDNY, who served as chief of EMS operations during the Covid-19 pandemic, will make history “as the first openly gay person to head up the department,” and only the second woman to lead it.

President Donald Trump on Friday said he believes there's a genuine opportunity to broker a peace deal this weekend between Russia and Ukraine, claiming both sides now want to negotiate, even as he acknowledged the persistent obstacle of competing interests.

"Well, I think we have a good shot at it," Trump told the New York Post on Friday afternoon, ahead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's scheduled visit to Mar-a-Lago on Sunday.

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan donned a hijab while touring the Somali community in her state to express solidarity — and it triggered a meltdown among far-right activists, Newsweek reported on Friday.

Flanagan is one of the main Democratic candidates for Minnesota's open Senate seat, the other being Rep. Angie Craig.

A CNN panel on Friday argued that President Donald Trump’s repeated references to Jeffrey Epstein over the Christmas holiday have spiraled into an obsession that is now hurting him with his own political base.

Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said during an appearance on CNN’s “The Arena” that Trump helped create a "culture of conspiracy" that is now consuming the MAGA leader.

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones insisted that he was now personally advising the White House and Vice President JD Vance.

During a Friday broadcast, fringe conservative insider Patrick Byrne told Jones that a "fog has lifted" for President Donald Trump about the alleged rigging of the 2020 presidential election.

Utah voters are coming forward to allege that Republican operatives are lying to trick people into signing a petition to put repeal of the state's anti-gerrymandering law on the ballot, reported The Salt Lake Tribune on Friday.

It's the latest saga in a years-long war the Utah GOP has fought over Proposition 4, which was passed by voters in 2018. Proposition 4, also known as the Better Boundaries Initiative, was used earlier this year to strike down the legislature's congressional map that denied Democrats a seat by carving up Salt Lake County into several pieces.

A staffing crisis looms for nursing homes as the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration eliminates work authorization for immigrant employees who care for vulnerable seniors.

At a Miami facility, more than a third of one facility's workforce — mostly immigrants from Haiti — have already lost their jobs, Notus reported Friday.

President Donald Trump's legal war on a Salvadoran immigrant was dealt a bitter blow on Friday, as a federal judge in Tennessee canceled the current date for his trial on human smuggling charges — and will instead hold a hearing on the legality of the prosecution.

The order, by U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, was first reported by NBC Washington's Paul Wagner. It comes after Kilmar Abrego Garcia's legal team presented evidence that he was being targeted for selective and vindictive prosecution.

Part-time beauty salon owner and second generation Iranian immigrant Mora Namdar was sworn in Thursday as the Trump administration’s new assistant secretary for the Bureau of Consular Affairs, a role that may see her terminate visas for migrants who have been critical of Israel, based on her past testimony before a Senate committee.

Namdar served in the Trump administration from May 19 through Dec. 1 leading foreign policy in the Middle East and North Africa at the State Department prior to her being elevated to the Bureau of Consular Affairs, a role that will now see her help oversee immigrant visas and U.S. passports.

Israeli combat veteran Benjamin Anthony noted that several former Fox News hosts and other MAGA influencers have become defenders of white supremacists like Nick Fuentes.

During a Friday interview on Newsmax, host John Huddy pointed out that anti-Semitic rhetoric was common at the recent Turning Point USA AmFest event.

The White House's redistricting strategy to secure Republican House control has backfired dramatically in California, leaving state conservatives despairing over the outcome.

According to the New York Times, rural districts in Northern California face the prospect of losing all Republican House representation following the 2026 midterm elections. This outcome stems from California Governor Gavin Newsom's championing of Proposition 50, a retaliatory measure responding to the Trump administration-backed redistricting efforts in Texas.

Times reporter Kellen Browning documented the sentiment among farmers in California's 1st Congressional District, represented by Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R). Voters "had just approved an aggressive gerrymander designed to turn five Republican seats Democratic."

Gene Lifur, 52, a resident of Orland, expressed resignation about the political shift: "There was definitely a feeling of throwing up your hands. You're going to lose a lot of the interest for voting in the North State."

LaMalfa, himself a farmer, expressed fury over the redistricting outcome and its implications for his constituents. "Their voice is being silenced on how they feel about the issues here, because Newsom and the three-to-one ratio of Democrats wanted to see if they could steal five seats. I'm furious because I've had my people kidnapped from me."

Democrats argue that Republicans bear responsibility for California's redistricting outcome. Governor Newsom stated he pursued Democratic-drawn maps only after Trump urged Texas to eliminate Democratic-held seats through partisan gerrymandering. Similar redistricting efforts have followed in other states.

Two significant legal setbacks for Donald Trump's administration are likely to have substantial implications as the president enters 2026.

According to former White House correspondent Brian Karem, the Trump administration's winning streak with the conservative Supreme Court ended abruptly when the court blocked the president's attempt to deploy the National Guard to cities on a whim and as a show of force. A separate defeat came when a federal court rejected administration efforts to revoke security clearances from Trump critics.

In a post-Christmas Salon column, Karem identified these "two things that could make a big difference in 2026."

The Supreme Court's ruling represented a rare rebuke of the administration. Trump had argued in an October appeal that violence directed at Department of Homeland Security agents conducting immigration enforcement operations in Chicago justified deploying the National Guard.

"The conservative Supreme Court didn’t buy it," he wrote.

According to the decision, "At this preliminary stage, the Government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois." The court noted there was no legal basis for overriding the Posse Comitatus Act, which severely restricts the use of U.S. military forces within the United States.

In a related development, U.S. District Judge Amir H. Ali ruled against the Trump administration on December 23, issuing a preliminary injunction preventing the president from denying security clearance to attorney Mark Zaid, a Freedom of Information Act and national security specialist.

The Zaid case carries particular significance, as he has spent three decades defending whistleblowers from both Democratic and Republican administrations. While Judge Ali granted the government until January 13 to file an appeal—which Trump is expected to pursue—Karem noted the decision offers hope that judicial oversight remains intact. "Congress has surrendered its power, but the judiciary has not," he wrote.