U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a “staunch” Trump ally, late Friday afternoon suspended her campaign for governor after failing to secure President Donald Trump’s endorsement. The New York Republican also announced she will not seek re-election to Congress.

“I did not come to this decision lightly for our family,” Stefanik said in her statement, while insisting that she would have “overwhelmingly won this primary.” Instead, she decided that “it is not an effective use of our time or your generous resources to spend the first half of next year in an unnecessary and protracted Republican primary, especially in a challenging state like New York.”

Earlier this year, Congresswoman Stefanik saw her nomination to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations withdrawn. She also battled with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, at times very publicly.

“At war with Johnson and double-burned by Trump, what’s the incentive to finish her term?” asked New York Times congressional correspondent Annie Karni.

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“WOW,” exclaimed Inside Elections’ Jacob Rubashkin, “a roller coaster of a few years for Stefanik, who seemed on a rocket ship to GOP leadership, then to a UN ambassadorship, then to the gubernatorial nomination, and now with none and headed for the exits.”

Cook Political Report’s Matthew Klein noted that “Stefanik’s path was borderline nonexistent. She was simply way too conservative and Trump-aligned to win in New York state.”

“Quite the rise and fall story,” observed former anchor turned podcaster Chuck Todd. “Sliding doors alternative histories galore with her career.”

“She went from moderate to full MAGA for nothing,” noted HuffPost’s Jennifer Bendery.

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President Donald Trump on Thursday said he did not know the Kennedy Center was going to vote to add his name to the iconic memorial to the late president, just one day before the building’s lettering was changed. On Friday, Trump similarly said he was unaware of how a federal prescription drug program, TrumpRX, came to be named.

The Associated Press reported on Thursday that “Trump, a Republican who’s chairman of the board, said at the White House that he was ‘surprised’ and ‘honored’ by the vote” to rename the Kennedy Center.

The TrumpRX website says it is an “official website of the United States government” that “connects patients directly with the best prices, increasing transparency and cutting out costly third-party markups.” It also says it will launch in January.

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On Friday, in a White House event announcing lower drug prices, the president also appeared surprised at how TrumpRX got its name.

“I didn’t name it that — somebody named it that,” the president told reporters.

“And I guess they assumed that — did you name it, Oz?” Trump asked, referring to Mehmet Oz, his Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“Bobby name it?” the president continued, asking about his Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“We all named it together” a voice off-screen replied.

“OK, well,” Trump said, “I’m honored to have the name.”

“And so far that that’s turned out ’cause the numbers are so incredible,” he said of the yet-to-be-live program. “It’s an honor.”

Trump: They will list their most popular drugs on TrumpRx. I didn’t name it that. Did you name it, Oz? Bobby name it?

Oz: We all did it together.

Trump: I’m honored to have the name pic.twitter.com/m0qHaouwXO

— Acyn (@Acyn) December 19, 2025

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Responding to news that unemployment jumped to a four-year high of 4.6%, President Donald Trump lashed out at the “fake news” media and claimed he could slash that number by more than half, to 2%.

In a Truth Social post, the president claimed that the “only” reason unemployment “ticked up” is because “we are reducing the Government Workforce by numbers that have never been seen before.”

He also mischaracterized the unemployment rate as 4.5%, not 4.6%, the official and widely-reported number.

Trump then explained how he could reduce the unemployment rate.

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“I could reduce Unemployment to 2% overnight by just hiring people into the Federal Government, even though those Jobs are not necessary,” he wrote.

Trump’s remarks align with comments made one day earlier by Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, as CNN’s Alayna Treene noted.

When asked why the president had claimed that unemployment is down during his Wednesday primetime address, Hassett appeared to suggest that federal government jobs should not be part of the calculation.

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“If you look at the numbers, then there’s really one big factor that explains the difference, and that is that because of tightening government spending,” Hassett told Treene. “We’ve reduced federal employment by 250,000 workers.”

“And so if you adjust the unemployment rate for the fact that there’s been a large loss for government workers, for federal government workers, then you get numbers that are consistent with what the president’s saying.”

Trump finished his post by writing, “I wish the Fake News would report the 4.5% correctly. What I am doing is the only way to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

I pressed National Economic Director Kevin Hassett this morning on why the president chose to exaggerate some of the economic stats he cited in his address last night — specifically the idea that unemployment is down (it’s up, from 4% when he entered office to most recently 4.6%) pic.twitter.com/4WXli1jhRf

— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) December 18, 2025

READ MORE: ‘Downright Weird’: Kennedys Blast New Trump-Kennedy Center Name

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