President Trump Declares Day of Mourning for President George H.W. Bush

“President Trump declared Wednesday a national day of mourning for former President George Herbert Walker Bush, who died Friday at the age of 94,” Courtney McBride and Michael Wright report for The Wall Street Journal. “President Trump said Mr. Bush inspired generations of Americans to public service,” they add. “Along with his full life of service to country, we will remember President Bush for his devotion to family—especially the love of his life, Barbara,” the President said in a statement with First Lady Melania Trump. Click here to read more.

“President Trump honored the victims of the October shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue as he marked the start of Hanukkah and denounced the hatred that Jews still face,” Melissa Quinn reports in the Washington Examiner. “As one nation, we pledge our continued love and support for the victims, their families, and the community, and we pray that the victims’ families find some measure of peace and comfort during this holiday season,” the President said in his Hanukkah message to Americans.

“U.S. President Donald Trump was able to extract a number of concessions from Chinese President Xi Jinping in exchange for not imposing any new tariffs on Chinese goods,” Jason Hopkins writes in The Daily Caller. “Xi agreed to immediately begin buying more agricultural products from American farmers, along with a pledge to purchase more industrial and energy products.”

“Palestinians deserve more from their leadership than political statements and bargaining positions,” U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt writes in The National. “Over the past 22 months, we have focused on a comprehensive peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We are hopeful that Israel and the Palestinians will engage with the Trump Administration’s plan.”

In MarketWatch, University of Maryland economist Peter Morici writes that through President Trump’s tax cuts and deregulation, American wages are getting a boost. “After a decade of frustration, workers’ pay appears to be rising faster than inflation. Private-sector wages were up 3.1% in the third quarter from a year earlier, well ahead of consumer price inflation.”