Washington, DC

1. Witkoff to Moscow
2. Pressure on Venezuela
3. Dems’ security push
4. Congress’ AI fight
5. Trump’s sinking polls
6. SCOTUS hears piracy case

Washington View: For sale: A bridge to Moscow

Trump holds bill signing … EU defense ministers huddle … Trump-backed Asfura pulls ahead in Honduras elections

Witkoff prepares to meet Putin in Russia

President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff is preparing to travel to Russia for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the Trump administration pushes an end to Moscow’s war in Ukraine. The Ukrainian side — minus former lead negotiator Andrii Yermak — held talks with Witkoff and other US officials in Miami on Sunday, which were described as productive but as falling short of a breakthrough. “There’s more work to be done,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said following the meeting. “This is delicate. It’s complicated.” Witkoff and Jared Kushner plan to present an altered peace proposal to Putin tomorrow, per Axios, though two issues — potential territorial concessions and security guarantees — remain unresolved. Witkoff’s critics are watching the trip closely after the initial peace proposal drew scrutiny for being too generous to Russia. “It really was a surrender document,” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said on ABC.

Trump dials up pressure on Venezuela

Trump may soon take new steps in Venezuela: He spent the holiday weekend ratcheting up pressure on its government, warning that the airspace above and near the country should be considered “closed in its entirety.” The warning follows months of US military buildup in the region, and comes several days after the president and Rubio held a phone call with Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. During that phone call, Trump issued something of an ultimatum to Maduro, per The Wall Street Journal: Leave power or risk US force. As Trump ramps up the pressure, Congress is ramping up bipartisan scrutiny of the administration’s decisions in the region following a Washington Post report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered all survivors killed during one of the strikes on suspected drug boats. The report, which Hegseth and Trump denied, triggered allegations of war crimes.

— Shelby Talcott

Democrats push for armed security

As members of Congress grapple with growing personal threats, top Democrats in the House are lobbying Republicans to let each lawmaker’s office employ an armed staff member to accompany them in their districts, as well as a law enforcement coordinator, Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller reports. Rep. Joe Morelle of New York, the top Democrat on the committee in charge of member security, told Semafor that he and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have discussed pushing top GOP lawmakers for the additional hiring capacity. Their push comes as lawmakers are allotted $20,000 a month to spend on personal security starting today. “We’re certainly in a better place,” Morelle said in an interview, but he added “we’re going to continue to press the case.” It’s unclear whether they will succeed, despite the shooting of two West Virginia National Guard members in downtown Washington last week.

Fight over AI rules heats up in Congress

Washington will focus intensely this month on the Senate’s vote to extend expiring enhanced health insurance tax credits, but don’t lose sight of the must-pass defense policy bill. That’s where the White House and its allies are pushing language to block states from establishing their own artificial intelligence regulations — a fight that played out over the Thanksgiving recess, according to a person familiar with the matter. House GOP leaders want to add the AI moratorium to the National Defense Authorization Act at Trump’s request, but some Republicans don’t like it and most Democrats oppose it, too. Congressional leaders won’t let the AI battle sink the defense bill, so if it is tossed, Trump may take executive action to restrict states from developing their own AI framework. Another fight to watch: the White House’s push to put counter-drone authority in the defense measure.

— Burgess Everett

Trump loses ground with Republicans

Independents’ approval of Trump has fallen to a new nadir as he grapples with negative headlines about the US economy and health care costs. A new Gallup survey found that Trump’s job approval rating dropped to a second-term low of 36% in November — not far from his lowest-ever rating of 34%, in the wake of Jan. 6. The share of Republicans who approve of Trump declined by seven points to 84% last month, while the percentage of approving independents sank eight points to 25%. Trump is particularly weak among Republicans on his handling of Russia’s war in Ukraine (67%) and health care policy (69%), as his White House anguishes over how to handle expiring enhanced Obamacare subsidies. In fact, there’s new evidence of his coalition fracturing over the economy and health care.

Justices hear $1B music piracy case

A major copyright case hits the Supreme Court today as the justices hear arguments over a billion-dollar music privacy judgment. At issue is whether internet service providers can be held accountable for users engaging in copyright infringement (in this case, by illegally copying and sharing music). Cox Communications appealed to the Supreme Court after a jury ordered the company to pay $1 billion in damages to Sony, which had sued Cox for not cutting off service for repeat piracy offenders. The case kicks off a busy month for the justices, who are expected to rule sooner or later on the legality of Trump’s sweeping tariff regime. Meanwhile, Texas politicians are holding their breath for a ruling on the state’s new congressional map.

Does anyone remember the Trump Moscow Tower? The glass obelisk would have been the tallest building in Europe, had Trump’s aides managed to get the deal done in the campaign summer of 2016. As a sweetener, the Trump Organization discussed gifting Putin a $60 million penthouse.

The deal provided a non-conspiratorial explanation for then-candidate Trump’s friendly attitude toward the Russian leader — but by the time Jason Leopold and Anthony Cormier broke the story for BuzzFeed News in 2018, nobody wanted a new theory about Trump.

The building never went up. War and politics get in the way of real estate projects. But I’ve always thought of the episode as a reminder of both the allure and futility of big Russian deals for Trump and many other Americans.

In Washington, economic power no longer follows party lines. The old frameworks — left vs. right, House vs. Senate, Republican vs. Democrat — no longer fully explain how economic power moves in the Capitol. Today’s influence moves through a wide network, from traditional power brokers to ideological outliers, dealmakers, and policy entrepreneurs. Join us Dec. 10 for exclusive one-on-one conversations with leaders including Sen. Josh Hawley (R–Mo.) and Sen. Mark Warner (D–Va.), as we map the people moving capital, shaping policy, and redrawing the blueprint of economic power.

Dec. 10 | Washington, DC | Request Invitation

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: After Hill Republicans pushed back on President Trump’s reported plan to extend Obamacare tax credits for two years, it is now highly unlikely the White House will support any extension of the subsidies, administration sources said.

Playbook: Republicans are going all-out on the last day of campaigning before a special election in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, with Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson set to hold a tele-rally this evening to boost Matt Van Epps’ chances.

Axios: Microsoft founder Bill Gates said he would support the use of artificial cooling, a form of geoengineering, to reduce global temperatures should the planet reach what’s known as a climate tipping point.

WaPo: Washington is set to see a surge of military personnel and law enforcement following the shooting of two National Guard officers last week, with local DC police set to pair with troops for patrols.

White House

• President Trump pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández, a former president of Honduras who had been convicted in a drug trafficking case, as well as David Gentile, a private equity executive sentenced to seven years in prison for fraud.
• Trump said he would release his recent MRI and did not know what part of his body doctors scanned.

Congress

• Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, became the latest House member to announce his plans to retire.
• Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., married his partner, Alexis Lewis.
• Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., predicted the Senate will vote on Affordable Care Act subsidy extensions before the end of the year.
• Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said he will refile a war powers resolution r