means

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he will meet Denmark next week as Donald Trump again raises the prospect of gaining control of Greenland. When pressed on NATO concerns, Rubio said the president can use force, but diplomacy is preferred.

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state Democratic leaders accused President Trump of unleashing a political vendetta after he announced plans to freeze roughly $10 billion in federal funding for child care and social services programs in California and four other Democrat-controlled states.

Trump justified the action in comments posted on his social media platform Truth Social, where he accused Newsom of widespread fraud. The governor’s office dismissed the accusation as “deranged.”

Trump’s announcement came amid a broader administration push to target Democratic-led states over alleged fraud in taxpayer-funded programs, following sweeping prosecutions in Minnesota. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed the planned funding freeze, which was first reported by The New York Post.

California officials said they have received no formal notice and argued the president is using unsubstantiated claims to justify a move that could jeopardize child care and social services for low-income families.

How we got here

Trump posted on his social media site Truth Social on Tuesday that under Newsom, California is “more corrupt than Minnesota, if that’s possible???” In the post, Trump used a derogatory nickname for Newsom that has become popular with the governor’s critics, referring to him as “Newscum.”

“The Fraud Investigation of California has begun,” Trump wrote.

The president also retweeted a story by the New York Post that said his Department of Health and Human Services will freeze taxpayer funding from the Child Care Development Fund, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which is known as CalWORKS in California, and the Social Services Block Grant program. HHS said that the impacted states are California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York.

“For too long, Democrat-led states and Governors have been complicit in allowing massive amounts of fraud to occur under their watch,” said Andrew Nixon, a HHS spokesperson. “Under the Trump Administration, we are ensuring that federal taxpayer dollars are being used for legitimate purposes. We will ensure these states are following the law and protecting hard-earned taxpayer money.”

HHS announced last month that all 50 states will have to provide additional levels of verification and administrative data before they receive more funding from the Child Care and Development Fund following a series of fraud schemes at Minnesota day care centers run by Somali residents.

“The Trump Administration is using the moral guise of eliminating ‘fraud and abuse’ to undermine essential programs and punish families and children who depend on these services to survive, many of whom have no other options if this funding disappears,” Kristin McGuire, president of Young Invincibles, a young-adult nonprofit economic advocacy group, said in a statement. “This is yet another ideologically motivated attack on states that treats millions of families as pawns in a political game.”

California pushes back

Newsom’s office brushed off Trump’s post about fraud allegations, calling the president “a deranged, habitual liar whose relationship with reality ended years ago.” Newsom himself said he welcomes federal fraud investigations in the state, adding in an interview on MS NOW that aired Monday night: “Bring it on … if he has some unique insight and information, I look forward to partnering with him. I can’t stand fraud.”

However, Newsom said cutting off funding hurts hard-working families who rely on the assistance.

“You want to support families? You believe in families? Then you believe in supporting child care and child care workers in the workforce,” Newsom told MS NOW.

California has not been notified of any changes to federal child care or social services funding. H.D. Palmer, a spokesperson for the Department of Finance, said the only indication from Washington that California’s childcare funding could be in jeopardy was the vague 5 a.m. post Tuesday by the president on Truth Social.

“The president tosses these social media missives in the same way Mardi Gras revelers throw beads on Bourbon Street — with zero regard for accuracy or precision,” Palmer said.

In the current state budget, Palmer said California’s childcare spending is $7.3 billion, of which $2.2 billion is federal dollars. Newsom is set to unveil his budget proposal Friday for the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1, which will mark the governor’s final spending plan before he terms out. Newsom has acknowledged that he is considering a 2028 bid for president, but has repeatedly brushed aside reporters’ questions about it, saying his focus remains on governing California.

Palmer said while details about the potential threat to federal childcare dollars remain unclear, what is known is that federal dollars are not like “a spigot that will be turned off by the end of the week.”

“There is no immediate cutoff that will happen,” Palmer said.

Since Trump took office, California has filed dozens of legal actions to block the president’s policy changes and funding cuts, and the state has prevailed in many of them.

What happened in Minnesota

Federal prosecutors say Minnesota has been hit by some of the largest fraud schemes involving state-run, federally funded programs in the country. Federal prosecutors estimate that as much as half of roughly $18 billion paid to 14 Minnesota programs since 2018 may be fraudulent, with providers accused of billing for services never delivered and diverting money for personal use.

The scale of the fraud has drawn national attention and fueled the Trump administration’s decision to freeze child care funds while demanding additional safeguards prior to doling out money, moves that critics say risk harming families who rely on the programs. Gov. Tim Walz has ordered a third-party audit and appointed a director of program integrity. Amid the fallout, Walz announced he will not seek a third term.

Outrage over the fraud reached a fever pitch in the White House after a video posted online by an influencer purported to expose extensive fraud at Somali-run child care centers in Minnesota. On Monday, that influencer, Nick Shirley, posted on the social media site X, “I ENDED TIM WALZ,” a claim that prompted calls from conservative activists to shift scrutiny to Newsom and California next.

Right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson posted on X that his team will be traveling to California next week to show “how criminal California fraud is robbing our nation blind.”

California officials have acknowledged fraud failures in the past, most notably at the Employment Development Department during the COVID-19 pandemic, when weakened safeguards led to billions of dollars in unemployment payments later deemed potentially fraudulent.

An independent state audit released last month found administrative vulnerabilities in some of California’s social services programs but stopped short of alleging widespread fraud or corruption. The California State Auditor added the Department of Social Services to its high-risk list because of persistent errors in calculating CalFresh benefits, which provides food assistance to those in need — a measure of payment accuracy rather than criminal activity — warning that federal law changes could eventually force the state to absorb billions of dollars in additional costs if those errors are not reduced.

What’s at stake in California

The Trump administration’s plans to freeze federal child care, welfare and social services funding would impact $7.3 billion in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funding, $2.4 billion for child care subsidies and more than $800 million for social services programs in the five states.

The move was quickly criticized as politically motivated because the targeted states were all Democrat-led.

“Trump is now illegally freezing childcare and other funding for working families, but only in blue states,” state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) said in a statement. “He says it’s because of ‘fraud,’ but it has nothing to do with fraud and everything to do with politics. Florida had the largest Medicaid fraud in U.S. history yet isn’t on this list.”

Added California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas: “It is unconscionable for Trump and Republicans to rip away billions of dollars that support child care and families in need, and this has nothing to do with fraud. California taxpayers pay for these programs — period — and Trump has no right to steal from our hard-working residents. We will continue to fight back.”

Times staff writer Daniel Miller contributed to this report.

Lauren Burnison’s life has changed significantly since she quit drinking in 2016. Now the Perthshire, Scotland mum runs alcohol-free travel company We Love Lucid

While many of us will be feeling the excesses of Christmas and New Year’s, fewer will have taken things as far as Lauren Burnison did back when she was drinking.

After growing up in Belfast in the grips of the Troubles, where a “blanket of fear” hung over everything, Lauren “bounded headlong into a void of self-loathing and addiction”. She left home and moved to Edinburgh and Buenos Aires during her years of “chaos”.

On New Year’s Eve 2002, things came to a heady, violent peak when her “testosterone-fuelled gang of twenty-something-year-old” pals clashed with some strangers on a booze-fueled bender on the streets of Argentina.

Today, things could not be more different for Lauren.

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Having long left Argentina behind, the 41-year-old quit alcohol in 2016 and embarked on an epic world trip. “I’d done a lot of travelling in the past, but this time it was different. This time, I was seeing life through the clear lens of lucidity,” she explained.

“Towards the end of my trip, I stumbled across a quaint little Andalusian town called Ronda, in southern Spain. It was there that I was inspired to create alcohol-free travel experiences.”

Over the past decade, Lauren has been channelling this newfound lust for life into We Love Lucid – a company that organises teetotal group trips, which claims to be the UK’s first alcohol-free travel company.

“Our trips are geared towards sober solo travellers who are looking for a new challenge and who want to connect with others like them. The focus is on connection and creating new and unforgettable experiences that don’t revolve around booze,” she explains.

Going booze-free has also changed Lauren’s family holidays.

“I recently embarked on a two-month road trip in Spain and Portugal with my four-year-old daughter. My motivation for the trip was partly to escape the dark Scottish winter, but it’s also an opportunity to expand our horizons and do something that challenges us,” the Perthshire woman explained.

“What I’m enjoying most about the trip is spending the majority of our time outdoors. It’s a brilliant tonic for mental health, and something I want to do more of when we get back to the UK. We prepare our meals outside and we eat outside under the stars. My daughter spends her days playing with other children and animals while I get on with the basic chores of cooking and washing, along with writing and making driftwood art. Sometimes, we head out to explore the local surroundings. Last week we visited the remains of an ancient Roman city in Extremadura, Spain. It was fascinating!

“The best days are the ones we haven’t planned, like an impromptu trip to the beach. We’re especially looking forward to the Big Wave surfing competition in Nazaré, where surfers tackle waves up to 100ft high.”

Had the single mum still been drinking, such a trip would “be almost impossible”, in part due to the hangovers, Lauren says. Not drinking has also freed up cash to spend exploring the world.

“There’s so much to do. We meet a lot of different people on the trip, and many ask why I don’t drink, so the topic comes up quite a lot. In fact, it has led to some interesting conversations and friendships. This year, I will celebrate ten years of sobriety, which is hard to believe sometimes. My sobriety is my biggest priority in life. Without it I wouldn’t be doing any of this.”

While plans for the coming year aren’t yet finalised, 2026 promises to be a big one for We Love Lucid. They will likely include a group climb up Mount Toubkal in Morocco, and a women’s-only journey along the Portuguese section of the Camino de Santiago, to raise funds for the She Recovers Foundation.

You can follow Lauren’s travels on her Substack and find out more about We Love Lucid on her website.

Fried chicken and a $45 bottle of sparkling wine?

What were you doing on New Year’s Eve?

I’m Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times, host of The Envelope newsletter and the guy wondering how many New Year’s resolutions you’ve broken so far this year.

Let’s take a look back — and a look forward — because that’s what we’re contractually obligated to do this time of year.

Three films I’m looking forward to in 2026

Every year, some editor at The Times buzzes my inbox with a request to gather my hopes and dreams into a purely speculative list of movies I’m looking forward to seeing in the coming 12 months. That email serves as a marker that the Earth has orbited the sun once again and it’s time to buy a new planner — because I’ll be damned if I’m going to let Google Calendar know what I’m doing 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

I was asked to contribute two movies to the list last year, and I chose “One Battle After Another” and “Materialists.” So … one masterpiece that should go on to win the Oscar for best picture and the movie that seems to be the most hated film of 2025. Seriously, people will approach me at parties and say, unprompted, “You know what movie I despised? ‘Materialists.’” And then, after unloading on how much they loathed the characters in Celine Song’s romantic drama, they’ll shift gears and go on a diatribe about late-stage capitalism.

(My New Year’s resolution: find better parties.)

You could say, then, that I got one right and one wrong, though I was partly looking forward to “Materialists” because Song had regaled me with tales of her Manhattan matchmaking days over a couple glasses of wine one night and I wanted to see how she’d weave these stories into a movie. And it turned out that was the best part of the film. So there. No more emails about “Materialists,” please.

At least Song’s film saw the light of day. Looking back on our 2025 list, there are still movies that haven’t made it to theaters. The “Untitled Trey Parker/Matt Stone Film,” once scheduled for July 4, now has a title, “Whitney Springs,” but no new release date. Neither does Terrence Malick’s biblical drama, “The Way of the Wind,” which Malick has reportedly been editing for a good six years now. That movie didn’t make our 2026 list, but, fingers crossed, it might resurface sometime in the next decade when we throw together another of these.

So what movies am I looking forward to seeing when it stops raining (talk about biblical drama) and we start turning the calendar’s pages? I raised my hand for three, and I’m confident this trio will satisfy, mostly because of their directors’ track record. To see everyone else’s picks — including a few I would have chosen myself — read the full list here.

“Disclosure Day”: I liked it better when this was simply known as “Untitled Steven Spielberg UFO movie.” What more do you need to know beyond that description and a prime summer release date? That’s enough to sell a few hundred million dollars in tickets and make me giddy with anticipation. We don’t know much at the moment, other than that Spielberg is working again with “Jurassic Park” and “War of the Worlds” screenwriter David Koepp. There’s an eye-catching billboard with an image that looks alien and kind of birdlike … unless you study it while standing on your head and then it looks … human? Who knows? ALL WILL BE DISCLOSED, the tagline promises, hence the title. So we’ll just have to wait. But from all appearances, we’re not in “E.T.” territory with this one.

“The Adventures of Cliff Booth”: Do we need a stand-alone Cliff Booth movie? Quentin Tarantino thinks so, though not enough to direct the sequel he wrote to his hit 2019 film “Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood.” That’s OK, as Brad Pitt, who won an Oscar for playing Booth, the ass-kicking stuntman, enlisted David Fincher to sub in. It’ll be their fourth collaboration, following “Se7en,” “Fight Club” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” a track record that offers some optimism that a film elevating Booth from Rick Dalton’s loyal sidekick to a leading character is an idea worth pursuing. (Leonardo DiCaprio apparently turned down an offer to reprise Dalton in a cameo.) If nothing else, the movie’s 1977 setting, eight years after the events in “Once Upon a Time,” will give us the chance to revel in another glorious L.A. time capsule.

“Werwulf”: Robert Eggers calls his upcoming medieval werewolf movie the “darkest thing I have ever written, by far.” Let that sink in for a moment. Eggers’ filmography includes the suffocating madness found in “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse” and the chilling terror of a malevolent, shape-shifting, lustful vampire in “Nosferatu.” These are not light movies. So what are we in store for here? Apparently a member of Eggers’ sound team said he needed a hug after reading the “Werwulf” script. I couldn’t verify this, but I want this to be true. There will be blood — and fog. One other thing we know is the setting, 13th century England, which means that the film’s dialogue will be in Middle English. How fareth thoue with that? I’m sure the cast, which includes Eggers regulars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe and Ralph Ineson, had fun, verraily.

There you have it: Spielberg, Fincher, Eggers. A sci-fi thriller, a sequel I still can’t believe exists and a monster movie. All three of these might miss the mark. And, honestly, any list missing the guaranteed pleasures of “Practical Magic 2” is immediately suspect.

But that’s the folly of blindly looking ahead. You never know.

Happy New Year! And, as always, thanks for reading.

THE list of living names in Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire has shrunk to a jaw-dropping three.

Three decades after the tongue-twister song topped charts around the world, most of its human landmarks are gone. 

Out of the 59 people name-checked in the 1989 mega-hit, only Bob Dylan, rock n roll singer Chubby Checker, and “subway vigilante” Bernie Goetz are still alive. 

The grim-but-fascinating fact has been doing the rounds on social media after Bardot’s death was announced on Sunday.

One shocked fan admitted: “This is how I find out Chubby Checker is still alive.” 

Another said: “The kind of useless trivia I’ll be physically incapable of not repeating at the next dinner party.”

SCREEN GODDESS

How Brigitte Bardot became face of swinging 60s & sparked sexual revolution

DARK TIMES

Billy Joel reveals he attempted suicide twice after affair with bandmate’s wife

Billy’s catchy banger is a whirlwind history lesson.

It rattles through headlines and pop culture moments in strict chronological order starting the year Billy Joel was born in 1949, and racing toward the late 1980s.

One of the song’s most packed lines – “Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev” – covers 1956, the year iconic French actress Brigitte Bardot shot to global fame in And God Created Woman. 

It also nods to the Hungarian Revolution in Budapest, the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama, and Nikita Khrushchev’s rise to power in the Soviet Union after Stalin’s death. 

Music also runs through the song like a second timeline.

Chart topper Billy, now age 79, kicks things off with Cry singer Johnnie Ray in 1949, one of the first modern pop stars signed to a major label. 

He quickly follows with Bill Haley & His Comets, whose Rock Around the Clock sent rock ’n’ roll into overdrive. 

Elvis Presley turns up in 1955, Buddy Holly marks 1959 and the tragedy of the Day the Music Died, Chubby Checker dances into 1960.

Bob Dylan appears in 1961 as pop music takes a sharp turn toward protest and social change.

By the time Joel hits the mid-to-late 1960s, it’s Beatlemania and Woodstock.

Bernie Goetz gets a mention after he became a household name in 1984 for shooting four black men on a train in New York after they allegedly demanded money.

One of the men was left brain damaged and paraplegic, and the shooting became a symbol of deep racial divide in the city.

Goetz handed himself in to police nine days later and was dubbed the “subway vigilante” by local media.