You’d think Christmas week people would settle down and not do much, wouldn’t you? But nooooooo. There are new outrages every hour. I can’t write about them all.

For example, if you had “Trump threatens to take back Panama Canal” on your bingo card, you’re ahead of me. Apparently Trump thinks itty bitty Panama is picking on the U.S.

President-elect Donald Trump has demanded Panama reduce fees on the Panama Canal or return it to US control, accusing the central American country of charging “exorbitant prices” to American shipping and naval vessels.

“The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, highly unfair,” he told a crowd of supporters in Arizona on Sunday.

“This complete rip-off of our country will immediately stop,” he said, referring to when he takes office next month. …

… If shipping rates are not lowered, Trump said on Sunday, “we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, quickly and without question”.

As far as I know, Panama isn’t charging U.S. ships any more than it charges other ships. The fees are a form of tariff, I understand. Also Panama needs to restrict traffic sometimes because of water level problems, probably related to climate change. BTW, Newsweek is reporting that the Trump Organization is fighting tax evasion charges in Panama. Gee, do you think there’s a connection?

And then, Trump brought back one of his comedy routines from the first term, in which he offered to buy Greenland from Denmark.

“For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Trump wrote in a statement announcing that he had chosen Ken Howery to serve as ambassador to Denmark.

If he’s concerned about security in the North Atlantic, you would think he would take a greater interest in NATO. And in maintaining good relationships with NATO countries. That would make sense. But it’s also believed there are billions of gallons of oil under all that ice of Greenland, which may be what Trump is really concerned about.

The Matt Gaetz ethics report is now public. Here it is. And I say the Justice Department has some ‘splainin’ to do.

Remember last week, when President Musk tweeted, or x’ed, a bunch of nonsense and blew up the bipartisan agreement to keep the government funded? Robert Kuttner at The American Prospect explains why:

Elon Musk blew up a near-complete bipartisan budget deal with an avalanche of tweets contending that it was too costly, luring Donald Trump into demanding that Republicans kill it. But Musk’s real reason—a story that David Dayen broke in the Prospect—was that the agreement included painstakingly negotiated limits on American tech investment in China. Had that provision passed, it would have been costly to Musk’s extensive Chinese Tesla operations and future AI plans.

Between Tuesday and Thursday, the budget deal collapsed. Trump, following Musk’s lead, threw in a new demand that the deal tackle the debt ceiling, always a politically tricky vote. But neither Democrats nor Republican fiscal hawks would give Trump that.

In the end, legislators of both parties wanted to get home for Christmas, and both houses overwhelmingly passed a simple “continuing resolution” keeping the government funded at roughly present levels through March, plus disaster relief and farm aid. Musk succeeded in stripping out the China provision.

I guess if you’re rich enough to buy a government you are entitled to bespoke legislation.