Happy Tuesday Everyone! Today’s newsletter: 1,144 words…4.3 mins
🗞 Today’s Edition: Trump Pardons Gobble & Waddle, Starmer Does The 6-7 Dance, Ethiopia's Volcano Awakens After 10,000 years, Trump Designates The Muslim Brotherhood As Terrorists, FBI Circles The "Seditious Six", AI’s Manhattan Project… & much more!
📜THE HIGHLIGHT
One killer insight to stash in your back pocket
Top: Gobble with the President and First Lady at the Rose Garden; Bottom-left: Gobble and Waddle in their hotel room; Middle: On their luxury bed; Right: Waddle in Press Briefing Room with Karoline Leavitt’s son, Niko
🦃 Trump Pardons Gobble & Waddle
President Trump kept a White House classic alive — the 78th National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation — pardoning two North Carolina–raised birds, Gobble and Waddle, in a Rose Garden ceremony filled with humor, family energy, and holiday warmth.
With First Lady Melania beside him, the President welcomed the birds, noted their names, and reacted to Gobble’s well-timed gobbles — drawing easy laughter from guests.
🪶 The birds:
Hatched July 2025
Gobble: 52 lbs | Waddle: 50 lbs
VIP arrival in D.C. on Nov. 24
Overnight stay at the Willard InterContinental (yes, with acclimation training for crowds + cameras)
🚨Headline Moment: The President joked that he almost named the turkeys Chuck and Nancy. X ate it up!
The turkeys being pardoned today go by the names of Gobble and Waddle.
When I first saw their pictures... I was going to call them Chuck and Nancy.
But then I realized I would be pardoning them. And I would never pardon those two people.
📱 Fun twist: The First Lady’s office let the public vote by text on which turkey would take the “ceremonial spotlight.” (Both receive full pardons, of course.)
Gobble edged out Waddle by about 52% to 48%.
As the winner, Gobble took center stage during President Trump's remarks in the Rose Garden.
Waddle stole some of the spotlight too, with his pre-ceremony press time in the briefing room with baby Niko - Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s adorable baby boy.
🛩 Afterward:
President Trump departed for his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for the holidays.
Gobble and Waddle retired to NC State University’s Prestage Department of Poultry Science, joining a long line of pampered, pardoned predecessors.
💡 Why it matters: It’s one of the few Presidential traditions that stays delightfully the same across administrations — part history lesson, part lighthearted pause before Thanksgiving.
♟️THE CHESSBOARD
Geopolitics Decoded In 3 Moves
PM Starmer’s adorable 6-7 moment with the students (full video linked in the story)
🌋 Ethiopia’s Surprise Volcano Awakening
A long-dormant volcano in Ethiopia’s Afar region — Hayli Gubbi — erupted for the first time in 10,000–12,000 years, sending ash 14 km into the atmosphere.
The Nov. 23 eruption sits along the geologically active Afar Rift, near the Eritrea border.
The ash plume drifted over the Red Sea, reaching Yemen, Oman, and even South Asia, prompting aviation advisories.
So far: no major flight disruptions and no reported casualties.
💡Bottom line: Scientists are now racing to study the eruption — a rare window into the East African Rift’s deep magma systems.
✍ Trump Moves to Label Muslim Brotherhood Branches as Terror Groups
President Trump signed an Executive Order directing U.S. agencies to begin evaluating Muslim Brotherhood chapters in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and beyond for possible FTO and SDGT designations.
The move mirrors actions already taken by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
If implemented, the designations would tighten financial restrictions, block U.S. entry for members, and make material support illegal.
💡Why it matters: The White House says the Brotherhood operates as a transnational network that threatens U.S. interests and regional stability. The step revives efforts from Trump’s earlier term and aligns with similar moves at the state level, including Texas’s recent declaration targeting affiliated groups.
🕺💃 UK’s PM Starmer Gets Detention for TikTok Dance
British PM Keir Starmer visited a primary school to promote free meals—and accidentally busted out a banned TikTok dance when the kids hit pages 6-7 in their book. Starmer flashed the viral hand gesture. Class went wild.
The teacher informs him it's forbidden at school.
Starmer apologizes: "I didn't start it, Miss!" (Classic.)
Starmer posted the cute chaos on Instagram
I think I just got myself put in detention...
💡Why it matters: The "6-7" meme—Dictionary.com's 2025 Word of the Year—has gripped classrooms across the world like a Gen Alpha virus. Originated from rapper Skrilla's song, it went mega-viral via "the 6-7 kid" at a basketball game (7.8M YouTube views).
🗽THE EMPIRE FILES
Political Drama From DC To NYC
🕵️♂️ FBI Circles the ‘Seditious Six’
The FBI and DOJ are scheduling interviews with six Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a video telling troops they can refuse “illegal orders.”
President Trump blasted the clip as “seditious behavior.”
The Department of War has opened a misconduct review into Sen. Mark Kelly and may even recall the retired Navy captain for UCMJ action.
As veterans of various sorts, the Seditious Six knew exactly what they were doing — sowing doubt through a politically-motivated influence operation. The @DeptofWar won’t fall for it or stand for it.
⚡Officials say the video’s vague, legal-ish language risks undermining military cohesion.
🧑⚖ Judge Tosses Comey & James Charges (For Now)
A federal judge dismissed criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey and NY AG Letitia James.
Why? Ruled that prosecutor Lindsey Halligan—appointed by President Trump—was unlawfully installed and lacked authority.
The move, dismissed without prejudice, means the cases could return.
⚡AG Pam Bondi blasted the ruling and vowed an appeal, while Comey and James called the indictments politically driven and celebrated the pause in Trump’s legal offensive.
🤖 CODES & POWER
Tech Wars, Crypto Chaos, and AI’s Black Mirror Moments
🤖 Trump Launches "Genesis Mission": Manhattan Project for AI
President Trump just greenlit the Genesis Mission, a Manhattan Project–style push to fuse federal supercomputers, DOE lab data, and cutting-edge AI into a national research engine.
Think foundation models for science—auto-generating hypotheses, running experiments, and supercharging breakthroughs from biotech to nuclear.
DOE will quarterback the effort, with Michael Kratsios coordinating the tech spine.
⚡The goal: Lock in U.S. dominance as AI becomes the new high ground in global power.
🎒 Klaus Schwab Launches AI-Powered Learning Hub
Klaus Schwab, former WEF chairman, unveiled the Schwab Academy, an online platform designed to prep people for the “Intelligent Age” of AI, quantum computing, and emerging tech.
The academy offers lifelong learning and certification programs translating Schwab’s insights into actionable skills, focusing on tech, economy, and social innovation.
⚡Goal: Equip individuals and organizations to harness AI responsibly while navigating ethical and societal challenges in a rapidly changing world.
📺 FUN FACTS & TRIVIA
The History of the Presidential Turkey Pardon! 🦃
The White House's adorable Thanksgiving tradition dates back to 1947 with Harry Truman getting a live bird from the Poultry Board during post-WWII conservation—making today the 78th ceremony!
Legend says Abe Lincoln started informal pardons in 1863 for his son Tad's pet
JFK quipped "Let's keep him alive" in 1963
Reagan joked a pardon amid Iran-Contra in 1987
But George H.W. Bush made it official in 1989 by farm-retiring the turkey—a gobble all presidents since have followed.