Trump is getting his annual checkup…six months early. Meanwhile, despite a deal being struck over Gaza, he’s almost certainly not getting the Nobel Prize
No, Donald Trump probably won’t be getting the Nobel Peace Prize tomorrow.
The news of a Gaza peace deal – or at least the beginnings of one – has re-sparked speculation about whether Trump might be in line for one.
It’s exceptionally, vanishingly unlikely for two reasons.
First, like the Oscars, the Nobel Prize has a nomination cutoff – in this case on January 31. So only the first 20 days of Trump’s second term would have been eligible for the prize this year. And he spent most of that time firing people.
The other, pertinent issue is that the Nobel committee don’t like it when people lobby them to get the prize – particularly in public.
The committee won’t want to be seen as caving in to political pressure, said Nina Græger, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo.
Trump’s prospects for the prize this year are “a long shot,” she said. “His rhetoric does not point in a peaceful perspective.”
Meanwhile, in Trump World
- Trump’s hopes of a big announcement on Truth Social scuppered
- Trump gets ‘annual health check’ six months early
- He held a talking shop with all the worst people
- And then he leered at one of them
- ‘Habeas who?’
- It WAS supposed to be a DM
- Speaker Mike Johnson hates Bad Bunny
Here’s everything you need to know, and more…
Gaza
1. Trump’s hope of unveiling the Gaza peace plan scuppered as people spot private note
Hamas and Israrel have agreed to the first phase of the Gaza peace plan.
Hamas will release all 20 living hostages in the coming days in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, while the Israeli military will begin a withdrawal from the majority of Gaza.
Trump wanted to be the first to announce the news (on Truth Social, naturally) – but that was scuppered by a frantic exchange of whispers and notes during a televised event.
The President was attending a roundtable of far-right online personalities to declare protesters who oppose his administration “terrorists” when Secretary of State Marco Rubio hurriedly scratched out a handwritten note on White House notepaper.
The note reads: “VERY CLOSE. We need you to approve a Truth Social post so you can announce deal first.”
The note prompted Trump to proclaim, “We’re very close to a deal in the Middle East.”
Trump’s health
2. Trump gets ‘yearly’ checkup, six months early
Last night the White House announced Donald Trump would be getting his “routine yearly checkup” during a visit to Walter Reed Medical Centre tomorrow morning.
But Trump’s previous annual physical took place in April, about six months ago.
A physician’s note at the time says the president “remains in excellent health.”
On the other hand, concerns have repeatedly been raised about the elderly President’s health since his re-election in January.
He has a pronounced discolouration on his right hand, something he blames on bruising from shaking many hands.
A large smear of white makeup can often be seen on his hand covering up the bruising.
Trump has had several periods in recent months where he is out of the public eye for days at a time.
Others have noted one side of the President’s mouth “drooping”, particularly during lengthy events.
The Invasion
3. Illinois Governor ‘won’t back down’ after Trump jail threat
Yesterday, Trump posted on Truth Social demanding Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker be imprisoned.
Pritzker responded overnight, saying: “I will not back down. Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power.
“What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?”
He went on: “Making people feel they need to carry citizenship papers. Invading our state with military troops. Sending in war helicopters in the middle of the night. Arresting elected officials asking questions.
“We must all stand up and speak out.”
In a further tweet he accused the President of putting on a “show of force so he can militaries our cities because of the 2026 elections”.
4. Trump gathers all the worst people to brand protesters ‘terrorists’
Donald Trump hosted a chilling meeting of far-right influencers to repeatedly declare protesters who oppose his administration “terrorists”.
I’m not going to name the collection of YouTubers, bloggers and assorted right wing provocateurs and grifters he gathered at the White House, because they thrive on publicity and aren’t worth your attention.
In an apparent bid to create further pretext for his planned invasions of states run by Democrats he doesn’t like, the US President made a series of false claims about violent protests in Chicago, Illinois and Portland, Oregon.
He ranted about elections being “rigged” and complained about news organisations who cover him critically as a semi-circle of MAGA-supportive online personalities smiled and praised him.
Claiming there was an “epidemic” of left-wing violence, he suggested, without evidence, that anti-Trump protesters were “paid anarchists.”
“They have been very threatening to people,” Trump said of people protesting against his immigration policies.
“But we’re gonna be threatening to them. Far more threatening to them than they ever were with us, and that includes the people that fund them … we’re gonna be looking for strongly at the people funding these operations.”
5. Trump leered at one of the ‘very attractive’ young influencers
I know I said I wasn’t going to name them, but for this I’m making an exception.
One YouTuber present claimed she had previously suffered from “Trump Derangement Syndrome”, and joked she had become “more attractive” since being cured of the ailment.
In response, Trump grunted “very attractive.”
6. “Suspending who?”
Donald Trump was asked if, as part of his campaign against the “radical left”, he would consider suspending Habeas Corpus.
Trump responded: “Suspending who?”
Dear reader, I wouldn’t necessarily expect you to know what Habeas Corpus means.
Despite your doubtless intelligence and incredible good taste – you are, after all, reading this article – our readership figures suggest your most likely in the UK, and might not be au fait with the US constitution.
But you might expect the President of the United States to understand the fundamental principles of US law, including Habeas Corpus – which allows a person to challenge their unlawful detention by having a court review the legality of their imprisonment and order their release if the detention is not justified.
The reporter repeated: “Habeas Corpus.”
“I don’t know,” Trump huffed. “I’d rather leave that to Kristi. What do you think?”
“Sir, I haven’t been part of any discussions on that,” Noem said.
On Twitter, former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele wryly suggested that this “Habeas Corpus” must have been hanging out with those “two Corinthians”.
Revenge
7. So it WAS supposed to be a DM
The Truth Social post that sparked the prosecution of former FBI director James Comey WAS supposed to be a DM, the Wall Street Journal has established.
In case you missed this sorry saga, on September 20, Trump posted a message addressed to “Pam” [Bondi, the attorney general], which urged her to prosecute Comey and a string of other figures with whom he has vendettas.
“We can’t delay any longer,” he wrote. “It’s killing our reputation and credibility.”
The message was deleted shortly afterward, prompting speculation that Trump may have mistakenly posted a DM on main.
Well, today, the WSJ reports that yes, that is exactly what happened. And nobody realised until Bondi called them.
Of course, this means a number of things, including that appropriate or not, Trump is doing state business on the insecure DM system of his social media platform.
Which kind of puts Hillary Clinton’s private email server into perspective.
It also confirms that Trump is directly, privately (in theory) pressuring the Department of Justice to go after his enemies. And that they are complying.
The Epstein Files
8. House speaker confronted over delay to swearing in casting vote on Epstein Files
Regular readers will be familiar of the sad tale of Adelita Grijalva, the newly-elected Arizona Congresswoman who was about to be sworn in last week when Republican Speaker Mike Johnson unexpectedly shut the House down.
Well, yesterday he was cornered in a Capitol corridor – on camera – by two disgruntled Arizona Senators, Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego who suggested to him that maybe his decision to let her sign on was something to do with her being the casting vote on the Epstein files.
Grijalva has indicated she’d sign the “discharge petition” which would force a vote on whether to release the Epstein files.
The petition needs the signatures of a majority of the House, 218 members. It currently has 217 signatures. Critics accuse Johnson of stalling and trying to pressure Republicans to pull their names from the list before Grijalva can take the oath and sign the paper.
“You just don’t want her to be on the Epstein discharge,” Gallego said, which Johnson insisted was “totally absurd.”
Kelly had previously pointed out that earlier this year a Republican member from Florida had been sworn in while the House was not in normal session. Johnson bizarrely suggested they’d only acquiesced to that unusual situation because the member’s family and friends had all come to town and it would have been rude not to.
“You just keep coming up with excuses,” Gallego said.
Culture wars and other nonsense
9. Mike Johnson vs Bad Bunny
Speaker Mike Johnson was also quizzed yesterday on a rather les significant matter – Bad Bunny being lined up to do the Super Bowl half time show.
Johnson, in full alignment with Donald Trump and Fox News, is not a fan of the Puerto Rican trap superstar.
“I didn’t even know who bad bunny was,” Johnson said, surprising nobody. “It sounds like a terrible decision in my view. It sounds like he’s not someone who appeals to a broader audience, and I think you know there’s so many eyes on the Super Bowl, a lot of young, impressionable children.
“In my view you’d have Lee Greenwood or you know, role models doing that, not somebody like this.”
We’re not sure what he means by “a broader audience”, but Bad Bunny has around 107 billion (with a b) streams on Spotify.
Lee Greenwood has about 96 million (with an m) streams, most of which we reckon are Donald Trump playing “God Bless The USA” at the beginning of his rallies.