Today is Wednesday, December 17, 2025.
It is the 351st day of the year.
14 days remain.
NOTABLE & NOTEWORTHY: A missing dinosaur statue in Wyoming causes a stir.
ED SHEERAN does karaoke in SHOWBIZ.
NETFLIX brass calms nerves in CASTING CALL.
The Royal Family’s Christmas Brunch! Details in ROYALS.
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TARIFF TALK
The Customs and Border Protection agency reported this week that the United States brought in a record $200 BILLION in 2025.
In each October and November, total tariff collections exceeded $30 BILLION.
The update comes amid multiple lawsuits, some in the Supreme Court, seeking to end the sweeping tariff reform initiative. [via CNBC]
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The government of El Salvador is bringing artificial intelligence to its public school program, in partnership with ELON MUSK’s xAI company.
The initiative seeks to bring individualized, customized tutoring for students in El Salvador’s 5,000 public schools, in a rare, promising application of the blossoming technology. In a statement, xAI says lessons will be adjusted “to each student’s pace, preferences, and mastery level – ensuring every child, from urban centers to rural communities, receives world-class education tailored to their needs.” [via AP]
MEANWHILE: With SPACEX’s share price growing in anticipation of an IPO next year, Elon’s net worth has exploded to $677 BILLION. He’s still the only individual to surpass the $500 BILLION mark.
IN FACT: He’s worth more, on paper, than JEFF BEZOS, MARK ZUCKERBERG, and WARREN BUFFET … combined.
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CIVIL WAR: Political journalist MARK HALPERIN – one of the rare, authentic, straight-shooters in news reporting – says that ELLA COOK was specifically targeted for her political and religious beliefs at Brown University over the weekend.
Cook led the campus College Republicans and was a proud Christian.
Halperin reports that law enforcement shared the intel with Cook’s family, a development that has not yet been publicly confirmed. [via Morning Meeting]
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FORD is abandoning its fully electric F-150 model.
The company is absorbing a $19.5 BILLION writedown on the project connected to research and development costs. Instead, they’ll roll out an extended-range hybrid model.
The company is fully scrapping plans for a next-generation, fully-electric pickup and a slate of electric commercial vans. [via Reuters]
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The proprietors of Sloanes General Store in Wyoming would like their 10-foot, 300-pound green dinosaur statue back, please.
The store displayed the big green statue in a nod to the Sinclair-branded gasoline it sells at its fuel pumps.
The mini monument costs $8,000 – making the theft a felony. And in a twist of the knife, the owners are obligated to display it as part of their license agreement to sell Sinclair gas. One of the owner says, “Every quarter a secret shopper comes in to kind of check on us, and that’s one thing that we get graded on is the condition of the dinosaur.”
If it’s not returned, he says he’ll be on the hook to replace it. The dinosaur statue has been missing since November 10. [via Cowboy State Daily]
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DONALD TRUMP JR is engaged to BETTINA ANDERSON.
He’s 47. She’s 39.
Anderson is well known in Palm Beach elite circles as a model, socialite, and philanthropist.
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2028: In a lengthy Vanity Fair profile on PRESIDENT TRUMP’s inner circle, Secretary of State MARCO RUBIO says the skids are pretty well greased for JD VANCE to secure the Republican nomination. Rubio says, “If JD Vance runs for president, he’s going to be our nominee, and I’ll be one of the first people to support him.
Trump has previously floated the idea of Rubio running as JD’s v.p.
ALSO WORTH NOTING: Chief of Staff SUSIE WILES says Trump absolutely is not going to do anything at all to try to run for a third term – “But he sure is having fun with it,” she smirks, because she knows it is “driving people crazy.”
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📈 The DOW ⬇️ fell 302 points (0.62%) to close at 48,114 on Tuesday. The S&P ⬇️ fell 16 points (0.24%) to close at 6,800 and the NASDAQ ⬆️ gained 54 points (0.23%) to close at 23,111.
🛢 WEST TEXAS INTERMEDIATE closed at $55; BRENT CRUDE at $58.
⛽ The national average price of a GALLON OF GAS was $2.90 on Tuesday.
₿ BITCOIN rebounded slightly on the day, trading around $87.7k.
💰Tonight’s POWERBALL jackpot is $1.25 BILLION or a $572.1 MILLION cash payout.
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Last year, ELLE FANNING gave an interview to Vanity Fair and described her crush on actor JACK BLACK. Fanning called him “sex on legs,” “the perfect man,” and “the hottest man I’ve ever seen in my life.”
In a new TikTok video, Black reacts to Fanning’s fawning with some light-hearted self-deprecation. In the video, Black says Fanning must have the opposite of body dysmorphia. He jokes, “when she looks at me, which objectively is a goblin gremlin … she sees this gorgeous creature apparently.”
He adds, “I appreciate the compliment, but I have to close my eyes, because I can’t quite process what I’m hearing there.”
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SELENA GOMEZ and BENNY BLANCO are decorating to the nines for their first Christmas as a married couple.
Their home decorator showed off the festive decor in an Instagram video. The festive trappings include three elaborate Christmas trees and a sprawling winter village layout, including a replica of the Rosebud Motel from the show “Schitt’s Creek,” along with a mini Dairy Queen, tavern, and skating rink with moving figurines. [via Mindy Weiss]
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SPOTTED: ED SHEERAN at a Karaoke Bar in New York City – singing his own songs!
Sheeran and “Harry Potter” star TOM FELTON (he played Draco Malfoy in the movies) were hanging out at Asia Roma karaoke bar.
In a video shared by the bar, Sheeran tried, unsuccessfully, to get the bartender to join him at the microphone. [via Asia Roma]
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CARA DELEVINGNE can’t seem to sell her Manhattan apartment.
In 2022, she bought the pad for $10.8 MILLION from JIMMY FALLON. She listed it in October for $11 MILLION, but has since cut the price to $9.9 MILLION – meaning she’s willing to sell it at a loss.
If you’re in the market, the space has six bedrooms and five bathrooms on three floors, plus a stone fireplace and a vintage bar. [via DailyMail]
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HELEN MIRREN might be the face of L’Oreal’s Age Perfect hair dye – but by her own admission she keeps products out of her hair.
She says, “It’s not being brave or anything. I just can’t be fussed with it.” She added that she always had blonde hair that would turn almost-white in the sun anyway.
“So I just slowly went whiter and whiter,” she says. [via DailyMail]
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RIHANNA has no plans for a prenup to protect her $1.4 BILLION fortune amid her relationship with ASAP ROCKY.
Insiders say her friends are begging her to put an ironclad legal document in place, but Rihanna doesn’t seem to care. The couple might already be married – though neither have publicly confirmed their status; they also share three children together.
One pal says, “Rocky lives like a king on Rihanna’s dime and she insists that he deserves it.” [via RadarOnline]
SPEAKING OF RELATIONSHIP STATUS: MARTIN SHORT is ready to pop the question to MERYL STREEP, but he’s impatiently waiting for her to finalize her divorce from DON GUMMER.
Friends say Gummer is dragging his feet to finalize the split, which has dragged on for more than two years now. And while Meryl is certainly interested in Marty, her divorce isn’t her top priority, either. [via The Globe]
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Critics of the planned acquisition of WARNER BROS. by NETFLIX say the consolidation will leave even fewer movies in theaters and further stifle creative talent.
Addressing these concerns, Netflix’s leadership issued a memo to staff this week promising there would be no studio closures as a result of the deal and that their goal is “strengthening one of Hollywood’s most iconic studios, supporting jobs, and ensuring a healthy future for film and TV production.” [via TechCrunch]
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JAMES CAMERON has joined the billionaire-director-club.
His first two “Avatar” films earned well north of $2 BILLION each and are the first-and-third-highest-grossing films of all time.
He also directed “Titanic,” the fourth-highest grossing movie ever.
Other billionaire directors include STEVEN SPIELBERG, GEORGE LUCAS, PETER JACKSON, and TYLER PERRY. [via Variety]
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MARIAH CAREY has officially claimed the crown for the longest-running Number 1 hit in Billboard History.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” has now spent 20 cumulative weeks in the top position, a week after tying for first place.
Despite being released in 1994, the song didn’t hit the very top of the Billboard list until 2019, thanks to the prevalence of music streaming and the annual seasonal bump. [via Hollywood Reporter]
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“Wicked” co-stars ARIANA GRANDE and JONATHAN BAILEY are reportedly working on a revival of “Sunday in the Park With George” for London some time in 2027.
While there are plenty of items to be finalized in the coming months, backers and producers are “cautiously optimistic” it will move forward at the iconic Barbican theater 18 months from now, Deadline reports. [via Deadline]
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The inner circle of the Royal Family gathered at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday for the annual Christmas lunch.
PRINCE WILLIAM and PRINCESS KATE drove themselves, with PRINCESS CHARLOTTE in the backseat.
PRINCESSES BEATRICE and EUGENIE also arrived together, though their father, ANDREW MOUNTBATTEN-WINDSOR, obviously did not make a public entrance, if he was there at all. Insiders say KING CHARLES is going out of his way not to punish his nieces for their father’s contemptible behavior. [via Hello!]
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Wright Brothers Day
Pan American Aviation Day
National Maple Syrup Day
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1777 - In the throes of the Revolutionary War, France recognizes the United States as a legitimate country.
Benjamin Franklin successfully lobbied the French throne to accept American sovereignty. The American victory at the battle of Saratoga earlier that year was the biggest help to Franklin’s case. France would not want to back a country in rebellion if they had no chance of winning.
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1903 - Orville Wright pilots the first successful, gasoline-powered, propeller-driven biplane.
The flight lasted a mere 12 seconds, but covered 120 feet.
Three more flights were made that day. Orville and Wilbur alternatively took their turns at the helm. The final flight covered 852 feet in 59 seconds.
In 1909 they sold a model to the US Army’s Signal corps.
Wilbur would die of typhoid in 1912. His brother lived until 1948.
The plane that made the historic first flight is on display in Washington DC at the National Air and Space Museum.
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1990 - In the first free elections ever to be held in Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide becomes the nation’s first elected president.
Aristide was a Catholic Priest, ousting incumbent despot Jean-Claude Dyuvalier.
But within the following year, Aristide was booted from power in a coup, replaced by a three-man junta. Aristide escaped to exile in Africa.
He would return to power in 1994 with the help of the United Nations.
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1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin negotiate the end of the Soviet Union.
Gorbachev was President of the Soviet Union, and Yeltsin of the Russian Federation, technically a subsidiary of the Soviet Empire.
But the announcement was no bombshell. The end of communism across Europe and Asia was a long time coming.
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2011 - The Dear Leader dies, bringing North Koreans to their knees.
King Jong Il reportedly suffered a heart attack while on his train.
Kim took power in 1994, after the death of his father. Under his iron-fisted regime, his people suffered, starved, and were killed for dissent.
According to state-run media, his accomplishments in office include:
-Hitting 11 holes-in-one during a single round of golf.
-Composing operas
-inventing an invisible cell phone
-controlling the weather with his thoughts.
His son Kim Jong Junior succeeded him.
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2017 - “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” rakes in more than $450 million worldwide in its opening weekend.
The film marked the second largest debut weekend domestically with $220 million.
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James, Earl of Wessex - royal - 18
Nat Wolff - actor, “The Fault in Our Stars” - 31
Lil Rel - comedian - 46
Manny Pacquiao - boxer - 47
Katheryn Winnick - actress, “Wu Assassins” - 48
Milla Jovovich - actress, “The Fifth Element” - 50
Duff Goldman - chef - 51
Giovanni Ribisi - actor, “Gone in 60 Seconds” - 51
Sarah Paulson - actress, “All’s Fair” - 51
Claire Forlani - actress, “CSI: New York” - 54
Bill Pullman - actor, “Independence Day” - 72
Eugene Levy - actor, “American Pie” - 79
Ernie Hudson - actor, “Ghostbusters” & “The Crow” - 80
Born On This Date
Pope Francis - 266th Pope - 1936 (d. 2025)
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