Top StoryPerils abroad, full plate at home, as Trump opens 2nd year

The glamour of his holiday break behind him, President Donald Trump is returning to Washington to face a hefty legislative to-do list, critical midterm elections and perilous threats abroad. Trump is starting his second year in office after a lengthy sojourn at his private Palm Beach club, capped by a New Year's Eve bash.

Trump on NYE: 2018’s ‘going to be something very, very special’

President Donald Trump rang in 2018 with shout-outs to his billionaire friends and a warning to his "enemies" during short remarks just before midnight at his posh South Florida club. It's a yearly tradition at Mar-a-Lago: As the ball gown- and tuxedo-clad crowd waits for the stroke of midnight, the estate's owner mounts the stage to commemorate the passing of the year.

Trump to New Yeara s Eve guests: 2018a s a going to be something very, very speciala

President Donald Trump rang in 2018 with shout-outs to his billionaire friends and a warning to his "enemies" during short remarks just before midnight at his posh South Florida club. It's a yearly tradition at Mar-a-Lago: As the ball gown- and tuxedo-clad crowd waits for the stroke of midnight, the estate's owner mounts the stage to commemorate the passing of the year.

The top 10 undercovered news stories of 2017, from the left and right

There were so many gigantic news events in 2017 that the merely huge, or yooge, got the dog-bites-man treatment. What happened while we were focused on the president's tweets; the attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act; the hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico; the tax bill; and #MeToo? Los Angeles Times Opinion asked two close observers of the media environment, Adam H. Johnson and Sean Davis , to list the top 10 under-covered stories of the year.

Don’t Panic Over North Korea

There's actually very little chance humanity won't make it to this magazine's publication date, but news consumers could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. An October poll found 65 percent of Americans thought President Donald Trump was making the situation between the U.S. and North Korea worse.

Smearing Mueller shows the depths of Republican fear | Editorial

The campaign to discredit Special Counsel Robert Mueller has reached a shrill and desperate phase, as some believe it is more important to protect Donald Trump's interests than to establish how and why an adversarial government influenced a presidential election. The goal is to dismiss any findings damaging to the president as political bias; to invent corruption in the highest echelons of law enforcement, notably in the FBI; and to preempt any discovery of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia with distractions.

Court to hear case of Ohio taking inactive voters off rolls

Joseph Helle was expecting a different sort of reception when he returned home from Army tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and showed up to vote in his small Ohio town near Lake Erie. His name was missing from the voting rolls in 2011, even though Helle had registered to vote before leaving home at 18 and hadn't changed his address during his military service.

.com | Trump looks to US midterm elections in year – end tweets

US President Donald Trump tweeted right to the end of the year on Sunday, boasting of his accomplishments in his turbulent first year in office and throwing down the gauntlet for the US midterm elections. He highlighted his tax cut and a surging stock market in a series of New Year's Eve tweets that seemed to set the table for next year's fight for control of the US Congress.

Lindsey Graham calls for special counsel on the Steele dossier

On the December 29 "Tucker Carlson Show," Brian Kilmeade interviewed Lindsey Graham , who made some interesting statements about the Christopher Steele "dossier:" "every prosecutor has a duty to the court to disclose things that are relevant to the request. So any time a document is used to go to court, for legal reasons, I think the Department of Justice owes it to the court to be up-and-up about exactly what this document is about, who paid for it, who's involved, what their motives might be.

Did the FBI conspire to stop Trump?

The original question the FBI investigation of the Trump campaign was to answer was a simple one: Did he do it? Did Trump, or officials with his knowledge, collude with Vladimir Putin's Russia to hack the emails of John Podesta and the DNC, and leak the contents to damage Hillary Clinton and elect Donald Trump? That, from the outset, Director James Comey and an FBI camarilla were determined to stop Trump and elect Hillary Clinton. Having failed, they conspired to break Trump's presidency, overturn his mandate and bring him down.

Ohio’s move to toss inactive voters from rolls goes to court

Joseph Helle was expecting a different sort of reception when he returned home from Army tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and showed up to vote in his small Ohio town near Lake Erie. His name was missing from the voting rolls in 2011, even though Helle had registered to vote before leaving home at 18 and hadn't changed his address during his military service.

Bernstein: Trump presidency characterized by his lies

"There's no reason to believe almost anything Donald Trump says," Bernstein told CNN's "State of the Union" when asked about the administration's promise not to fire special counsel "Because what we know is that the president of the United States and his presidency is characterized above all else by the lying of the president of the United States." Trump said earlier this month that he is not considering firing Mueller, who is leading the probe into Russia's election meddling and any potential ties between Trump campaign staff members and the Kremlin.

Kelly: Trump doesn’t ask ‘how other presidents did this’

Donald John Trump House Democrat slams Donald Trump Jr. for 'serious case of amnesia' after testimony Skier Lindsey Vonn: I don't want to represent Trump at Olympics Poll: 4 in 10 Republicans think senior Trump advisers had improper dealings with Russia MORE remains "fairly unconventional" after a year in office, noting he rarely asks how other presidents have made decisions in the past. "The norms and conventions are exactly what he ran against and, in his view, are why we're in the fix we're in.

Top 10 best things of

As we approach the end of President Donald Trump's first year in office, the list of extraordinary things he has done -- for both good and ill -- is nothing short of remarkable. Trump inspires such deep emotions in his critics and supporters that many have struggled to objectively assess his presidency.