December 19, 2025 • 12 mins
John Decker breaks down the latest developments shaping Washington and the global stage. President Trump moves to reclassify marijuana, sparking debate over federal drug policy, while controversy erupts over the renaming of the Kennedy Center. Decker also examines growing anticipation surrounding the potential release of the Epstein files, fresh EU commitments to support Ukraine, and new approval ratings for President Trump as the year comes to a close.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the White House Briefing Room for Friday, December nineteenth.
I'm John Decker. President Trump opens the door for expanded
medical uses of marijuana.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
We have people begging for me to do this.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
The Kennedy Center has a new name, the Trump Kennedy Center.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
This is brought up by one of the very distinguished
board members, and they voted on it, and there's a
lot of board members and they voted unanimously. So I
was very honored.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
But I think the Epstein files set to be released
by the end of the day. Friday, the European Union
agrees to provide a massive interest free loan to Ukraine,
and a new poll shows President Trump's approval rating continues
to slide. But we begin this Friday with the President's
decision to reclassify cannabis as a less dangerous drug. For
(00:58):
the past five decades, marijuana has been deemed a Schedule
one drug. But on Thursday, in the Oval Office, the President,
with the stroke of a pen, lowered the drug classification
for marijuana decades.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
This action has been requested by American patients suffering from
extreme pain, incurable diseases, aggressive cancer, seizure disorders, neurological problems,
and more, including numerous veterans with service related injuries and
older Americans who live with chronic medical problems and severely
degrade their quality of life.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Since nineteen seventy, marijuana has been classified as a Schedule
one drug, the most stringent classification because of what the
DEA determined is its high potential for abuse. But an
executive order signed by President Trump on Thursday lowers marijuana
to a Schedule three drug. That's a category for substances
(01:57):
with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Marijuana can be legitimate in terms of medical applications when
carefully administered. In some cases, this may include the use
as a substitute for addictive and potentially lethal opioid painkillers
and they cause tremendous problems. This can do it in
a much lesser way can make people feel much better
(02:26):
that are living through tremendous pain and problem.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Despite the executive order, marijuaa remains illegal for recreational use
at the federal level, but the executive order signed by
the President will allow for more research into marijuana and
expanded medical uses. That's something that has been advocated by
the Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Junior.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
This reclassification order will make it far easier to conduct
marijuana related medical research, allowing us to study benefits, potential dangers,
and future treatments. It's going to have a tremendously positive impact.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
I believe twenty four states and the District of Columbia
have already legalized marijuana for both recreational and medical use.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
I promise to be the President of common sense, and
that is exactly what we're doing. This is really something
having to do with common sense, and it's something having
to do with the fact that so many people that
I respect ask me to people that are having problems,
big problems. They are having big problems with illness, with
cancer and particular.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
While members of both parties have backed looser federal marijuana regulations,
twenty two Republican senators this week sent a letter to
President Trump urging him to leave marijuana in the Schedule
one category. They say marijuana still has the potential for
abuse and has no scientifically proven medical value. Also on
(04:00):
furs Day, some news regarding a name change at another
federal building, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing
Arts will be renamed to include President Trump. The Kennedy
Center Board, which has many members appointed by President Trump,
voted to rename the venue the Trump Kennedy Center. In
(04:21):
the Oval Office on Thursday, the President was asked by
reporters about this new name change.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Well, I was honored by it, as the board is
a very distinguished board, must distinguished people in the country,
and I was surprised by it. I was honored by it.
You know, we've we're saving the building.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
We saved the building.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Our building was in such bad shape, both physically, financially
and every other way. And now it's very solid, very
strong now.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Congress passed legislation in nineteen sixty four naming the facility
the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as
a memorial to the late president. Now, despite doubts about
whether the board has any legal authority to change the
venue's name, the new moniker could appear on the building
(05:08):
as early as this week. According to White House Press
Secretary Caroline Levitt, the vote for the name change was unanimous,
but others disputed that. In fact, Representative Joyce Bettie, she's
a congresswoman from Ohio, says that she was muted on
the call and not allowed to speak or voice her
(05:31):
opposition to the move. Democrats sharply criticize the name change.
They say it would require an Act of Congress. Senate
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that President Trump was focusing
on pet projects rather than high prices and affordability. The
name change comes as President Trump's allies in Congress pushed
(05:54):
to enshrine his legacy on other buildings. Earlier this month,
the State Department renamed the US Institute of Peace the
Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, and there's a behind
the scenes push to put President Trump's name on the
plan new stadium for the Washington Commander's football team. Congressional
(06:16):
Republicans have also introduced legislation to rename Washington Dulles International
Airport for Donald J. Trump. On Friday, all eyes will
be on the Department of Justice. The deadline is Friday
for the release of its files that it has on
sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The reason for the release of
(06:39):
those files. Lawmakers in Congress overwhelmingly back the Epstein Files
Transparency Act just last month, and when President Trump signed
that act into law on November the nineteenth, the clock
began ticking on the thirty day deadline for the Justice
Department to release most of its files related to investigations
(07:03):
of Jeffrey Epstein. That thirty day deadline is Friday, December nineteenth,
and while it's unclear exactly how or when those files
will be released, an exception in the law makes it
so that the Justice Department can opt to withhold some documents.
For instance, the law makes it an exception for any
(07:26):
documents that would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution,
noting that the withholding of those documents would only be temporary.
Officials can also retain records that would violate victim's privacy
or contain sensitive material on child sexual abuse. It's because
(07:48):
of that provision in the law about federal prosecution that
President Trump and Attorney General Pambondi could cite an investigation
that they launched in November as a reason not to
release some documents. Some news Friday that could impact the
war in Ukraine. European Union leaders on Friday agreed to
(08:12):
provide a massive interest free loan to Ukraine to meet
its military and economic needs for the next two years.
Now after almost four years of war. The International Monetary
Fund estimates that Ukraine will actually need one hundred thirty
seven billion euros or one hundred sixty one billion dollars
(08:35):
for both twenty twenty six and twenty twenty seven. The
government of Ukraine is on the verge of bankruptcy and
this interest free loan was desperately needed now. The plan
had been to use some of the two hundred and
forty six billion dollars worth of frozen Russian assets in Europe,
(08:55):
mostly in Belgium, as collateral for this loan, but Belgium
scuttled that plan. They worried that a successful legal challenge
to the reparations loan could leave the country in a
financial crisis. As a result, the money will now have
to be borrowed in the capital markets, and not all
(09:17):
countries agreed to the loan package. Hungary, Slovakia and the
Czech Republic refused to support Ukraine and opposed it, but
a deal ultimately was reached in which they agreed not
to block the package and they were promised protection from
any financial fallout. The loan comes at a very important
(09:38):
time for Ukraine and President Zelenski. The loan will give
President Zelensky more leverage in his negotiations with the US,
which will continue this coming weekend. European officials had said
that without this interest free loan. Without this funding, President
Zelenski might have had little choice but to accept the
(10:01):
demands being made by the Trump administration. Finally, some news
on the President's approval rating as we wind down twenty
twenty five. The President's approval rating has dropped eight points
since he started his second presidential term back in January.
That's according to a new term from Emerson College polling.
(10:24):
Forty one percent of voters say that they approve of
the job the president is doing, down from forty nine
percent who said the same thing in January, and fifty
percent of voters disapprove of the president's job handling, and
that marks a flip in his numbers since the start
of his second term. The poll shows that President Trump
(10:47):
performed best on the issue of immigration, with thirty seven
percent of voters giving him top marks, but a plurality
of voters in this Emerson College poll gave President Trump
a failing grade on the economy of affordability and healthcare.
This is the latest poll that shows some lukewarm numbers
(11:10):
for the President as he closes out the first year
of his second term. This is my final podcast for
twenty twenty five. I've enjoyed every day telling you the
latest from the White House in a non biased way,
and I look forward to doing more of that every
day in twenty twenty six. As for the President's schedule
(11:33):
for Friday, the President at one o'clock in the Roosevelt
Room will make an announcement. The White House Press Pool
will be on hand for that. The President will participate
at five forty five pm in a Christmas reception in
the Grand Foyer in the White House, and then the
President hits the road. At nine pm, the President will
(11:54):
deliver remarks on the economy in Rocky Mount, North Carolina,
and following that event, the President will travel down to
his home at mar A Lago in Palm Beach, Florida,
where he will spend both Christmas and New Years. That's
the White House Briefing Room for Friday, December nineteenth. I'm
(12:15):
John Decker. Have a very merry Christmas, a happy and
healthy New Year, and I'll see you in twenty twenty six.
Welcome to the White House Briefing Room for Friday, December nineteenth.
I'm John Decker. President Trump opens the door for expanded
medical uses of marijuana.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
We have people begging for me to do this.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
The Kennedy Center has a new name, the Trump Kennedy Center.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
This is brought up by one of the very distinguished
board members, and they voted on it, and there's a
lot of board members and they voted unanimously. So I
was very honored.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
But I think the Epstein files set to be released
by the end of the day. Friday, the European Union
agrees to provide a massive interest free loan to Ukraine,
and a new poll shows President Trump's approval rating continues
to slide. But we begin this Friday with the President's
decision to reclassify cannabis as a less dangerous drug. For
(00:58):
the past five decades, marijuana has been deemed a Schedule
one drug. But on Thursday, in the Oval Office, the President,
with the stroke of a pen, lowered the drug classification
for marijuana decades.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
This action has been requested by American patients suffering from
extreme pain, incurable diseases, aggressive cancer, seizure disorders, neurological problems,
and more, including numerous veterans with service related injuries and
older Americans who live with chronic medical problems and severely
degrade their quality of life.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Since nineteen seventy, marijuana has been classified as a Schedule
one drug, the most stringent classification because of what the
DEA determined is its high potential for abuse. But an
executive order signed by President Trump on Thursday lowers marijuana
to a Schedule three drug. That's a category for substances
(01:57):
with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Marijuana can be legitimate in terms of medical applications when
carefully administered. In some cases, this may include the use
as a substitute for addictive and potentially lethal opioid painkillers
and they cause tremendous problems. This can do it in
a much lesser way can make people feel much better
(02:26):
that are living through tremendous pain and problem.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Despite the executive order, marijuaa remains illegal for recreational use
at the federal level, but the executive order signed by
the President will allow for more research into marijuana and
expanded medical uses. That's something that has been advocated by
the Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Junior.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
This reclassification order will make it far easier to conduct
marijuana related medical research, allowing us to study benefits, potential dangers,
and future treatments. It's going to have a tremendously positive impact.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
I believe twenty four states and the District of Columbia
have already legalized marijuana for both recreational and medical use.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
I promise to be the President of common sense, and
that is exactly what we're doing. This is really something
having to do with common sense, and it's something having
to do with the fact that so many people that
I respect ask me to people that are having problems,
big problems. They are having big problems with illness, with
cancer and particular.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
While members of both parties have backed looser federal marijuana regulations,
twenty two Republican senators this week sent a letter to
President Trump urging him to leave marijuana in the Schedule
one category. They say marijuana still has the potential for
abuse and has no scientifically proven medical value. Also on
(04:00):
furs Day, some news regarding a name change at another
federal building, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing
Arts will be renamed to include President Trump. The Kennedy
Center Board, which has many members appointed by President Trump,
voted to rename the venue the Trump Kennedy Center. In
(04:21):
the Oval Office on Thursday, the President was asked by
reporters about this new name change.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Well, I was honored by it, as the board is
a very distinguished board, must distinguished people in the country,
and I was surprised by it. I was honored by it.
You know, we've we're saving the building.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
We saved the building.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Our building was in such bad shape, both physically, financially
and every other way. And now it's very solid, very
strong now.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Congress passed legislation in nineteen sixty four naming the facility
the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as
a memorial to the late president. Now, despite doubts about
whether the board has any legal authority to change the
venue's name, the new moniker could appear on the building
(05:08):
as early as this week. According to White House Press
Secretary Caroline Levitt, the vote for the name change was unanimous,
but others disputed that. In fact, Representative Joyce Bettie, she's
a congresswoman from Ohio, says that she was muted on
the call and not allowed to speak or voice her
(05:31):
opposition to the move. Democrats sharply criticize the name change.
They say it would require an Act of Congress. Senate
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that President Trump was focusing
on pet projects rather than high prices and affordability. The
name change comes as President Trump's allies in Congress pushed
(05:54):
to enshrine his legacy on other buildings. Earlier this month,
the State Department renamed the US Institute of Peace the
Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, and there's a behind
the scenes push to put President Trump's name on the
plan new stadium for the Washington Commander's football team. Congressional
(06:16):
Republicans have also introduced legislation to rename Washington Dulles International
Airport for Donald J. Trump. On Friday, all eyes will
be on the Department of Justice. The deadline is Friday
for the release of its files that it has on
sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The reason for the release of
(06:39):
those files. Lawmakers in Congress overwhelmingly back the Epstein Files
Transparency Act just last month, and when President Trump signed
that act into law on November the nineteenth, the clock
began ticking on the thirty day deadline for the Justice
Department to release most of its files related to investigations
(07:03):
of Jeffrey Epstein. That thirty day deadline is Friday, December nineteenth,
and while it's unclear exactly how or when those files
will be released, an exception in the law makes it
so that the Justice Department can opt to withhold some documents.
For instance, the law makes it an exception for any
(07:26):
documents that would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution,
noting that the withholding of those documents would only be temporary.
Officials can also retain records that would violate victim's privacy
or contain sensitive material on child sexual abuse. It's because
(07:48):
of that provision in the law about federal prosecution that
President Trump and Attorney General Pambondi could cite an investigation
that they launched in November as a reason not to
release some documents. Some news Friday that could impact the
war in Ukraine. European Union leaders on Friday agreed to
(08:12):
provide a massive interest free loan to Ukraine to meet
its military and economic needs for the next two years.
Now after almost four years of war. The International Monetary
Fund estimates that Ukraine will actually need one hundred thirty
seven billion euros or one hundred sixty one billion dollars
(08:35):
for both twenty twenty six and twenty twenty seven. The
government of Ukraine is on the verge of bankruptcy and
this interest free loan was desperately needed now. The plan
had been to use some of the two hundred and
forty six billion dollars worth of frozen Russian assets in Europe,
(08:55):
mostly in Belgium, as collateral for this loan, but Belgium
scuttled that plan. They worried that a successful legal challenge
to the reparations loan could leave the country in a
financial crisis. As a result, the money will now have
to be borrowed in the capital markets, and not all
(09:17):
countries agreed to the loan package. Hungary, Slovakia and the
Czech Republic refused to support Ukraine and opposed it, but
a deal ultimately was reached in which they agreed not
to block the package and they were promised protection from
any financial fallout. The loan comes at a very important
(09:38):
time for Ukraine and President Zelenski. The loan will give
President Zelensky more leverage in his negotiations with the US,
which will continue this coming weekend. European officials had said
that without this interest free loan. Without this funding, President
Zelenski might have had little choice but to accept the
(10:01):
demands being made by the Trump administration. Finally, some news
on the President's approval rating as we wind down twenty
twenty five. The President's approval rating has dropped eight points
since he started his second presidential term back in January.
That's according to a new term from Emerson College polling.
(10:24):
Forty one percent of voters say that they approve of
the job the president is doing, down from forty nine
percent who said the same thing in January, and fifty
percent of voters disapprove of the president's job handling, and
that marks a flip in his numbers since the start
of his second term. The poll shows that President Trump
(10:47):
performed best on the issue of immigration, with thirty seven
percent of voters giving him top marks, but a plurality
of voters in this Emerson College poll gave President Trump
a failing grade on the economy of affordability and healthcare.
This is the latest poll that shows some lukewarm numbers
(11:10):
for the President as he closes out the first year
of his second term. This is my final podcast for
twenty twenty five. I've enjoyed every day telling you the
latest from the White House in a non biased way,
and I look forward to doing more of that every
day in twenty twenty six. As for the President's schedule
(11:33):
for Friday, the President at one o'clock in the Roosevelt
Room will make an announcement. The White House Press Pool
will be on hand for that. The President will participate
at five forty five pm in a Christmas reception in
the Grand Foyer in the White House, and then the
President hits the road. At nine pm, the President will
(11:54):
deliver remarks on the economy in Rocky Mount, North Carolina,
and following that event, the President will travel down to
his home at mar A Lago in Palm Beach, Florida,
where he will spend both Christmas and New Years. That's
the White House Briefing Room for Friday, December nineteenth. I'm
(12:15):
John Decker. Have a very merry Christmas, a happy and
healthy New Year, and I'll see you in twenty twenty six.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.