Good morning and welcome back! Have you ever wanted to sip a burned $7 latte in full view of the world's most oppressive totalitarian regime? First, get a hobby or something. Second, it's your lucky day. Starbucks is now open on top of a South Korean observation tower at the border with North Korea.

If a mid Nic Cage imitation is more your speed, some Rich Guy™ hid five treasure chests around the U.S. worth more than $2 million total. The maps can be found, of course, in a book he wrote… which you have to buy. Maybe this is just a business?

TRANSITION

📒 Trump’s admin fill-out continues

Trump’s hiring spree is back in action now that Thanksgiving is in the rearview mirror. He’s quickly running out of high-level positions to fill, though, so we’ll refocus in the coming days on the transition process, what’s left of the electoral process, and what to expect come January.

Kash Patel will serve as director of the FBI. This first one’s spicy because, well, the FBI already has a director. His name is Chris Wray. He was nominated by then-President Trump in 2017. Most high-level federal officials cycle in and out with presidents by party, but FBI directors serve 10-year terms and Wray’s got three years left on the clock. A president can still fire the FBI director, however, and Trump plans to do just that when he takes office in January.

• Patel is a former federal prosecutor who served in various defense-related roles during the OG Trump years.

• He’s a trusted ally of Trump who has vowed to refocus the FBI on fighting crime rather than gathering intelligence. He believes the bureau wrongly targeted Trump during his last stint in the White House.

Jamieson Greer will serve as U.S. trade representative (USTR) — a Cabinet-level slot that leads the Office of the Trade Representative. Though it’s part of the White House rather than a bigger department, this is a key post. Renegotiating trade deals and implementing taxes on trade (tariffs) is a big part of Trump’s plan. Think of the USTR as the president’s trade ambassador.

• Greer is an international trade attorney. From 2017 to 2020, he was chief of staff to Trump’s OG trade rep.

Chad Chronister will serve as administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Part of the Department of Justice, the DEA is the top dawg in the fight against drug trafficking.

• Chronister is the elected sheriff of Hillsborough County, FL, which is the core of the Tampa Bay area.

• Our man Chad here is a career cop who married wayyy up — his wife's family owns the San Francisco 49ers.

John Phelan, a business friend of Trump’s, will serve as secretary of the Navy. He’ll be the civilian CEO of the Department of the Navy, which actually consists of two military branches — the Navy and the Marine Corps. Phelan’s boss will be the secretary of Defense.

Charles Kushner will serve as the U.S. ambassador to France. Most ambassadors are career diplomats but those in fancy, safe countries are often the president’s donors and political allies. Kushner happens to be the father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Ivanka (he’s Jared’s dad).

• As with many ambassadorial posts, this one comes with an insane house. Kushner’s new digs will be the 60,000-square-foot Hôtel de Pontalba (here’s a virtual tour of the joint).

Massad Boulos will serve as Trump’s advisor on “Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.” He’s a wealthy Lebanon-born attorney and businessman who just so happens to be the father-in-law of Trump’s other daughter, Tiffany.

Keith Kellogg is a retired three-star Army general who will serve as Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. This is a shiny new job tasked with helping resolve that war. A special envoy is an ambassador focused on a specific issue rather than a specific country.

Dr. Kevin Hassett will serve as director of the National Economic Council (NEC). He’ll coordinate economic policy across relevant agencies — there are a lot — and serve as Trump’s chief economic side piece.

• Hassett was also an economic advisor to Trump last time around, though in a different area.

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya will serve as director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Part of the soon-to-be RFK, Jr.-led Department of Health and Human Services, the NIH is the government’s main health research arm. It’s the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research.

• Bhattacharya is a professor at Stanford who is well-known for his opposition to Covid lockdowns.

Vince Haley was a White House aide last go-round. This time, he’ll serve as director of the Domestic Policy Council. Haley will lead the team that coordinates the president’s non-economic domestic policy.

GOVERNMENT

⚖️ Hunter Biden got a "Get Out of Jail Free" card last night. Despite election season promises to the contrary, President Dad stepped in last night and pardoned his son. Biden the Younger was facing prison time for felony gun and tax convictions. In a statement, Biden the Elder said "raw politics" had led to "a miscarriage of justice." He issued a sweeping pardon for those crimes and any other "offenses against the United States" his son may have committed since 2014. The pardon cannot be revoked by the incoming Trump administration, so things are finally looking up for Hunter.

📦️ President-elect Donald Trump smoothed things over with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trump last week promised to hit both neighbors with 25% tariffs until the flow of illegal immigration and illegal drugs stops. Trudeau flew to Mar-a-Lago on Friday for a “very productive” dinner meeting and promised a “visible and muscular” border response. Sheinbaum initially hit back at Trump, blaming Mexico’s violence problems on American guns. The two later spoke and agreed that “migrant caravans” through Mexico would no longer reach the U.S. border — though they disagreed on why.

💊 It’s Ozempic’s world. We’re just living in it. Millions of Medicare and Medicaid enrollees could soon get Ozempic face gain access to expensive anti-obesity drugs under a new Biden administration proposal. Medicare isn’t legally allowed to cover weight-loss drugs. But the feds think they can get around that by classifying the meds instead as treatments for chronic obesity as a disease.

POLITICS

🗳️ Voters want to carve up Illinois

RIP Illinois. That’s the dream for two competing state secession groups who want to carve a new state from the existing Land of Lincoln. New Illinois and the Illinois Separation both want as many counties outside of Chicago’s Cook County to secede from Illinois to form a new state.

While the state is heavily Democratic overall, most of that margin comes from Chicago. Outside the city, Illinois leans Republican. And those voters don’t feel their voices are being heard. Seven counties last month voted to consider leaving the state, bringing the total up to 33 counties representing ~6% of the state’s population (about 800,000 people).

• A similar movement in Oregon wants half the state to join neighboring Idaho.

This is a weird but totally legal process (see: Virginia, West). You just need permission from the state legislature and the U.S. Congress. Should be a breeze.

Bomb threats targeted several of Trump’s Cabinet picks and Democratic members of Congress last week. No devices were found and no one was injured. President Biden said his team is working with the FBI to get to the bottom of this. U.S. Capitol Police are responsible for protecting members of Congress, but, aside from a few key leadership posts, members don’t receive full-time security.

Kamala Harris is working on what to do next (after dropping that weird video). Options include a 2028 presidential run and even a 2026 run for governor of California. Meanwhile, other Democrats are gearing up for another fight: the right to lead the Democratic Party for the next two years as Democratic National Committee chair.

TRIVIA

Paris’s famed Notre Dame cathedral is set to reopen next Sunday, December 8, after a devastating 2019 fire. The $740 million rehab, which used many OG medieval construction techniques, is a showcase of French craftsmanship and the 141-foot interior limestone walls are cleaner than they've been in centuries. Quasimodo would be so proud. What does the church’s official name, Notre-Dame de Paris, mean in English?

WORLD

🌍️ Israel lands a truce in Lebanon

While we were stuffing ourselves with stuffing and learning new, stupid slang from children, the rest of the world was popping off. Apparently, wars don’t take breaks. Or do they?

A truce between Israel and Hezbollah — a terror group based in Israel’s northern neighbor, Lebanon — is hanging on. Both sides have accused the other of breaking the truce since it took effect last Wednesday. Should the agreement hold, Hezbollah fighters will retreat 25 miles into Lebanon from the Israeli border while Israeli troops will leave Lebanese territory. Lebanon’s official military will then take the place of Hezbollah fighters near the border. Ideally, this prevents Hezbollah from rebuilding in the area.

Meanwhile, Syria — just northeast of Israel and Lebanon — is experiencing whatever the opposite of a truce is. Syrian opposition fighters launched a surprise offensive that broke the long stalemate in the country’s 13-year civil war. They now control Aleppo, the country’s second-largest city. Russia, which backs Syria’s authoritarian President Bashar al-Assad, launched airstrikes on Sunday as the rebels advanced.

Who are the good guys here? At least six groups control various lil chunks of Syria. Two are allied with the U.S. But the Syrian government and the rebels on the move right now? Well, they’re pretty much both baddies.

• About 900 U.S. troops are stationed in northeast Syria far from the fighting. They’ve been there since 2014 to guard against activity by Islamic State (aka ISIS) terrorists.

Elsewhere… Joe Rogan turned down an offer to host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

BRIEFS

● If you thought abortion was a hot topic… the United Kingdom is on its way toward legalizing assisted suicide. The House of Commons voted to move forward with a legalization bill last week, though final passage is still months away.

● Tech activists are ticked after Australia banned children under the age of 16 from social media. Testing of various enforcement methods will kick off in January before the full ban takes effect later next year.

● China launched its Long March 12 rocket on Saturday from the country’s first commercial spaceport. Competing with the U.S. and SpaceX is a key goal for China’s government as the rush to Mars kicks into high gear.

● The BRICS economic alliance, led by Russia, China, and India, has tossed around the idea of creating its own currency to rival the U.S. dollar. President-elect Donald Trump is threatening 100% tariffs on all nine members should they go through with the plan.

● Protestors are clashing with police in the Republic of Georgia (between Turkey and Russia) after the government bailed on joining the European Union. The ruling pro-Russian party won controversial elections in October that opponents say were rigged.

QUOTE

ANSWER

The restored cathedral’s French name, Notre-Dame de Paris, translates to “Our Lady of Paris” and refers to Mary, the mother of Jesus. From the moment construction began in 1163 until the French Revolution in 1801, the building was the property of the Catholic Church. It has since been owned by the French government with an agreement for exclusive use by the Catholic Church in perpetuity.