The Daily Briefing highlights the news of the day and research that reveals the spirit of the day.
The Daily Briefing is a newsletter sent straight to your inbox every morning that provides biblical insight on today's news.
Top News
6. Trump rails against Somali migrants: ‘I don’t want them in our country’ (WaPo)
“President Donald Trump ended a Cabinet meeting Tuesday with a rant against Somali migrants, accusing them of having “ripped off” Minnesota and using dehumanizing language to attack a group he has increasingly targeted in recent weeks. Calling Somali immigrants “garbage,” Pres. Trump said that they did not belong in the United States.
“Somalians ripped off that state for billions of dollars, billions every year, billions of dollars. And they contribute nothing. The welfare is like 88 percent. They contribute nothing. I don’t want them in our country. I’ll be honest with you, okay?” Trump said. “Somebody said, ‘Oh, that’s not politically correct.’ I don’t care. I don’t want them in our country. Their country’s no good for a reason. Their country stinks, and we don’t want them in our country.”
“The president’s comments came amid reports that his administration is ramping up immigration enforcement efforts targeting undocumented Somali immigrants in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Trump recently threatened to end temporary protected status for Somali immigrants in Minnesota and, without evidence, accused “Somali gangs” of terrorizing people there.”
Here Comes Santa Claus… but what about Somali migrants? Pres. Trump’s response is largely animated by the recent reports of fraud in Minnesota and Gov. Tim Walz’s oversight as perpetrators allegedly defrauded the state government of $1 billion in funds, with some possibly diverted to the terrorist organization Al-Shabaab. The fraud largely revolved around dozens of people in the Somali diaspora. Staffers say they alerted their governor of the fraud “early on” and hoped he would step in to stop it. Walz, however, “systematically retaliated against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats, repression, and did his best to discredit fraud reports.”
Somalia is classified as a ‘least developed country‘, according to the UN. It has low GDP growth, with its main sources of income being agriculture (livestock, crops, and fisheries) and foreign aid/remittances. It is considered to be one of the world’s most corrupt countries and continues to struggle with a high poverty rate and food insecurity.
There is wisdom in being selective about who is allowed into the US, but there is something divine about how God uses immigrants throughout the biblical narrative to accomplish his purposes. Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, Abram left Ur, Moses fled to Midian, Daniel rose to the challenge in Babylon, Naomi and Elimelech ended up in Moab, and the list could go on and on. While some Somali migrants have done reprehensible things, every migrant, and American for that matter, has the opportunity to do remarkable things – regardless of what country they reside in. (Pro. 18, 20, Gen. 12, Ex. 2, Dan. 1, Ruth 1)
5. Ex-Honduras president, convicted of drug trafficking, freed on Trump pardon (WaPo)
“While President Donald Trump defends the US military’s killing of noncombatants in the Caribbean as part of a fight against drug couriers, today he pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was convicted and sentenced to 45 years in prison for a sprawling drug trafficking scheme that funneled 400 tons of cocaine on to American streets.
“Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, convicted by a U.S. court last year on charges that he ran the Central American nation as a “narco-state” that helped send South American cocaine to the United States, has been released from federal prison after receiving a “full and unconditional” pardon from President Donald Trump.”
Like playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving, presidential pardons have long been a source of controversy. Pres. Washington granted amnesty to those who participated in the Whiskey Rebellion, Honest Abe (and Pres. Johnson) did the same with Confederate soldiers who fought in the Civil War, Pres. Ford pardoned Pres. Nixon, and Pres. Carter granted amnesty to Vietnam-era draft evaders.
Cesare Beccaria, in his work On Crimes and Punishments, argued: “Let the laws… be inexorable, and inexorable their executors in particular cases. As punishments become more mild, clemency and pardon becomes less necessary. Happy the nation in which they might some day be considered pernicious.”
Fast forward to Alexander Hamilton, who argued that the use of pardons was a critical component of reconciliation: "In seasons of insurrection or rebellion, there are often critical moments, when a well timed offer of pardon to the insurgents or rebels may restore the tranquility of the commonwealth."
Instead of restoring tranquility, this pardon has, yet again, stirred more controversy… as pardons are apt to do. A pardon is costly, either erasing a debt from the past or paying a price for a move in the future. Both parties have misused the pardon, with each side providing another precedent for further abuse. Eventually, one side is going to have to heed the old Puritan axiom: "You've chosen to be the last one to do the right; I've a mind to be the first and set the rest an example." (Eph. 2:8-9, Titus 3:5)
4. Michael and Susan Dell pledge $6.25 billion for kids' savings in 'Trump Accounts' (ABC News)
“In a major philanthropic move, billionaires Michael and Susan Dell are donating $6.25 billion to deposit $250 into savings accounts for up to 25 million American children. The announcement from the Dells, which was confirmed by a White House official, gives the funds to Invest America, which sets up a tax-advantaged investment account for American children starting at birth.
“The so-called Trump Accounts are a key piece of President Donald Trump's signature tax and spending legislation, which passed earlier this year. Under that law, the Treasury Department will give $1,000 to the accounts for children born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028. Those accounts become the property of a child’s guardian and "will track a stock index and allow for additional private contributions of up to $5,000 per year," according to the White House.”
Their gift is remarkable, but will it be effective? Recently, Baby’s First Years released results from a study that was the largest of its kind, comparing unconditional cash transfers of $333 to low-income mothers beginning shortly after their child’s birth to the children of mothers who received only $20 a month. The study found “no statistically significant impacts of the cash transfers on four preregistered primary outcomes (language, executive function, social-emotional problems, and high-frequency brain activity) nor on three secondary outcomes (visual processing/spatial perception, pre-literacy, maternal reports of developmental diagnoses).”
Things money can’t buy… Naomi Schaefer Riley, writing on the study in The Boston Globe, asserted: “The things that kids need most are not things money can buy. It may appear that what low-income children like the ones in the Baby’s First Years study need is more income. But after the basic needs like food and shelter are covered, what they need is what all kids need—love and attentiveness. They need the security of adults who are consistent in their parenting, rewarding good behavior and sanctioning bad. They need parents who will encourage them to work hard in school and who will protect them from the depredations of other adults.”
Parenting is a process more than an event, according to Paul David Tripp. Citing Jesus’ words in Jn. 16, Tripp highlights how even the Son of God had a process mentality when it came to spiritually raising his kids, knowing that more would have to be done after he left. I think the Dell family gift is remarkable, but as Tripp put it well: “The goal of parenting is to work ourselves out of a job. The goal of parenting is to raise children who were once totally dependent on us to be independent, mature people who, with reliance on God and proper connectedness to the Christian community, are able to stand on their own two feet.”
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Cultural News
3. Oxford’s Word of the Year 2025 is utterly infuriating (NY Times)
“Oxford University Press has chosen “rage bait” — defined as “online content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative or offensive” — as its 2025 Word of the Year.
“Rage bait,” which triumphed over the more upbeat “biohack” and “aura farming,” goes back at least to 2002, when it appeared in a post on a Usenet discussion group to describe a particular kind of driver reaction to being flashed by another driver seeking to pass. Since then, it has become an increasingly common slang term for an attention-seeking form of online behavior.
“Over the past year, according to Oxford’s data, frequency of use spiked by a factor of three. “Even if people have never heard it before, they instantly know what it means,” Casper Grathwohl, the president of Oxford Languages, said in an interview. “And they want to talk about it.”
Do you know a conflict entrepreneur? In her book High Conflict, Amanda Ripley writes that conflict entrepreneurs exploit disagreements for their own ends, often causing individuals to oversimplify or categorize each other while also engendering disrespect among the "other" group. However, not all conflict is bad. Ripley highlights how healthy conflict creates curiosity, whereas high conflict has nowhere else to go. The point, according to Ripley, is simply anger.
“Emotions are more contagious than any virus. You can catch them through stories, without any human contact. And of all the emotions people experience in conflict, hatred is one of the hardest to work with. If humiliation is the nuclear bomb of emotions, hatred is the radioactive fallout. That’s because hatred assumes the enemy is immutable.”
As Christians, we want to be Apollos, not Zedekiah. Like Apollos, we want to speak the truth with fervor and grace, yet remain teachable and humble. But we don’t want to be like Zedekiah, who was a rabble-rouser who peddled falsehoods out of fear of disapproval. We follow the Truth, speak the truth, and don’t forsake it to make a larger point. Essentially, we don’t exploit conflict; we settle it. (Acts 18, 1 Kings 22)
News You Can Use
2. POV your dad is the flight attendant
Watch it here. “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Eph. 6:4)
1. 3-legged cat goes viral with faucet play
Watch it here. "The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.” (Pro. 12:10)
