IN TRANSITION: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had dinner last night in Florida with Donald Trump to discuss the president-elect’s threat of imposing tariffs on his country’s exports to the US. Trump has threatened Canada, Mexico, and China with steep tariffs if they don’t cut off illegal migration and the flow of drugs.

  After a telephone call Wednesday with the president-elect, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum appeared to contradict Trump’s claim that the two struck a deal to stop migration over the US border.

  Trump posted online: “She has agreed to stop Migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border.”

  Sheinbaum responded quickly that she had reiterated Mexico’s position was not to close borders, but to address migration while respecting human rights.

  Trump continues to make major appointments of people whose primary qualification is loyalty to him rather than knowledge of the job. He appointed Palm Beach  investment manager John Phelan, a major campaign donor, to serve as Secretary of the Navy. Phelan has never served in the military, but Trump said with his usual superlatives, “John will be a tremendous force for our Naval Servicemembers, and a steadfast leader in advancing my America First vision. He will put the business of the US Navy above all else.” 

  Trump’s appointments will be a test of how far he can push and control the Senate in approving his appointments. One of the most questionable is Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host once accused of sexual assault who has been named to be Secretary of Defense. The NY Times revealed that Hegseth’s own mother once sent him a devastating email during his divorce criticizing his abuse of women. “On behalf of all the women (and I know it’s many) you have abused in some way, I say … get some help and take an honest look at yourself,” Penelope Hegseth wrote, saying that she still loved him.

  In a telephone interview with the Times Mrs. Hegseth disavowed the sentiments in that message, saying, “It is not true. It has never been true.”

THE SWAT TEAM: The FBI is investigating incidents of “swatting” against appointees to the Trump administration as well as some Democratic lawmakers. “Swatting” is the act of calling in an emergency at someone’s home getting a police response.

  Trump’s picks for Secretary of Defense, head of the EPA, and ambassador to the UN were all swatted this week. It also happened to Democratic lawmakers from Rhode Island and Connecticut. 

WHITE CHRISTMAS: After a never-ending summer and warm fall, a lake-effect snowstorm off lake Erie buried shoreline communities, parts of Western New York, and Pennsylvania in up to 30 inches of snow. Interstate 90 was closed, stranding motorists between Cleveland and Buffalo.

THE WAR ROOM:  In a surprise offensive, insurgents entered Syria’s largest city of Aleppo yesterday fighting against government forces for the first time since 2016. They appear to have taken control of large parts of the city in a continuing conflict to end the rule of  President Bashar al-Assad.

  Thousands of fighters were reported to have swept through villages and towns in Syria’s northwestern countryside as residents fled. Dozens of fighters from both sides were killed.

GENDERBALL: The Boise State women’s volleyball team withdrew from its Mountain West Conference Championship tournament match against San Jose State University  and forfeited rather than play the team with a transgender member.

  The Boise State Broncos had previously  boycotted their two regular season  matches against the San Jose State Spartans. San Jose collected six forfeit victories throughout the season as other teams refused to play them.

  San Jose is “rumored” to have a transgender player, but it has never been openly said to be the case even though some players and an assistant coach have sued to have a transgender member of the team excluded.

  Without giving the specific reason for their withdrawal, Boise State said in a statement, “Our team overcame forfeitures to earn a spot in the tournament field and fought for the win over Utah State in the first round on Wednesday. They should not have to forgo this opportunity while waiting for a more thoughtful and better system that serves all athletes.”

THE OBIT PAGE: Actor Earl Holliman with a long resume in Westerns and television dramas who played Angie Dickinson’s supervisor in the series “Police Woman” has died at age 96.

   Never the star, the square-jawed Holliman had roles alongside the likes of William Holden, Grace Kelley, Burt Lancaster, and Kirk Douglas. 

  Born in Louisiana, Holliman’s father died before he was born and his mother put him up for adoption because she already had nine children. “I’ve wanted to be an actor since I was 5 or 6,” he told The Los Angeles Times. “I think it was because I wanted to be loved.”

  Holliman’s personal life was a blank page until 2015 when he was outed as gay by the magazine The Advocate. His death was announced by his husband, Craig Curtis

THE SPIN RACK: Following an emotional debate, British lawmakers voted to legalize assisted suicide for people with less than six months to live. The bill still faces another vote. — A woman was arrested in Paris this week after being a stowaway passenger on a Delta jet out of Kennedy Airport in New York. She managed to get through avoiding identity and boarding pass checks. — A Pug named Vito became the first of his breed to win the National Dog Show. One judge said he is “everything a pug should be.”

BELOW THE FOLD: A Chinese-born cryptocurrency entrepreneur who paid $6.2 million for an avant garde artwork that consisted of a banana duct-taped to a wall has eaten the banana. The Manhattan vendor who originally sold the banana was paid 25 cents.

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