Politico Nightly Newsletter

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill on June 26, 2007. | Dennis Cook/AP THE FIGHTER — For the past year, Democrats — out of power and largely leaderless — have strategized how to best fight back against Donald Trump. In search of their own bare-knuckled fighter, it’s become increasingly clear they have no Harry Reid.

This aerial view shows a container ship moving towards its berth at the container terminal of the port in Qingdao, in China's eastern Shandong province, on Sept. 24, 2025. | AFP via Getty Images COSTLY VICTORY — Beijing announced today a record surge in exports in 2025 that China’s deputy Customs chief Wang Jun hailed as a “remarkable and hard won” victory, per state news agency Xinhua.

President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in the Rose Garden of the White House on Nov. 2, 2017. | AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais STANDING FIRM — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Donald Trump’s long-running punching bag, is fighting back. First, Powell — who studiously avoided engaging with Trump in the past — issued unusually pointed criticism of the president, who has made a habit of attacking him since his first term in the White House.

Rob Bresnahan speaks at a campaign rally for President Donald Trump, Aug.

President Donald Trump meets with oil and gas executives in the East Room of the White House on Jan. 4, 2026. | Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA REPORTERS ROUNDTABLE — The U.S. attack on Venezuela was a shocking moment that reminded the world of a key fact about Trump 2.0: The administration’s foreign policy bears little resemblance to that of President Donald Trump’s first term. This time around, it is more aggressive, more unpredictable and more willing to accept the risk of domestic and global backlash.

Text from the ChatGPT page of the OpenAI website. | Richard Drew/AP GOING PUBLIC — Artificial intelligence giant Anthropic signed a term sheet Wednesday to raise $10 billion at a $350 billion valuation. You don’t need to know much about equity investment to recognize that’s dramatic growth for a company that less than two years ago was valued at $18 billion.

President Donald Trump speaks to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington.

The Polymarket website hosts trading on whether Houthi militias would strike Israeli territory. Prediction platforms pitch themselves as tools for insight, but eye-catching bets on real-world events are raising questions about access, integrity and regulation. | Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images WANNA BET? — On Saturday, as American forces were arresting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a daring military action, a bettor on the prediction market known as Polymarket was getting rich.

Deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro joins a rally in Caracas, Venezuela on Dec. 10, 2025. | Cristian Hernandez/AP GOOD COP, BAD COP — President Donald Trump ran in 2024 on an “America First” platform that promised to steer clear of foreign military engagements and shun costly regime change wars.

Leonardo DiCaprio poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film "One Battle After Another" on Sept. 16, 2025, in London. | Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP NIGHTLY FLIX — In just the last month alone, the movie business itself has had more than its share of political maneuvering. With Warner Brothers up for sale, the most storied library and studio in all of Hollywood could soon change hands. But that has proven to be incredibly complicated.