Plus: Nick Reiner To Face Murder Charges For Killing His Parents

Good evening,

Americans are listening to Christmas music earlier than ever, and they’re listening to more of it, according to streaming data. 🎄🎵

On December 1st of this year, there were 30 holiday songs in the top 50 on Spotify’s U.S. charts — up from 14 out of 50 in 2019. As of today, December 16th, the top songs in the U.S. are “Rocking Around The Christmas Tree,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” and “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”
It’s not just the classics ❄️ — Mariah Carey and Bing Crosby are annual hits, but people are also interested in contemporary sounds. Christmas covers by Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber are in the top 50 this year. The a capella group Pentatonix, known for their renditions of Christmas classics, kicked off their annual tour before Thanksgiving.
Why all the early cheer? 🥳 — Music analysts say it may be tied to stress — when life feels uncertain, people tend to gravitate toward familiar, comforting sounds. We saw a similar spike in Christmas music streaming during the pandemic in 2020.

All we want for Christmas… is a quiet news day!

Mo News Team

Love Mo News? Support our news coverage. Join Premium.

🚨 ONE IMPORTANT THING

‘An Alcoholic’s Personality’: Trump Chief’s Unfiltered Takes On President, Policies

President Trump’s Chief of Staff Susie Wiles spoke extensively — across 11 interviews from Jan. 11 to Nov. 5 — with author and reporter Chris Whipple, offering rare insight into internal debates and her reservations about several Trump policies.

Whipple wrote a two-part story about Wiles for Vanity Fair. In it, Wiles, the first woman to hold the post, described Trump as having “an alcoholic’s personality,” said Vice President JD Vance’s shift from Never Trumper to MAGA was “sort of political” and called him “a conspiracy theorist.” She also confirmed Elon Musk was a “avowed ketamine [user].”

Wiles took to social media to call the story a “disingenuously framed hit piece,” defending the president and his team. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who was also featured in the story, called it “another example of disingenuous reporting” and shows “the bias of omission.”

But, Trump told the New York Post Tuesday that he has no issue with Wiles’ remarks, including her description that he has an “alcoholic’s personality.” He claimed the piece had facts wrong, but that his chief of staff is “fantastic.”

INSIDE THE ARTICLE
Wiles did not dispute the article’s facts, but said key context and positive comments about the administration were omitted.

On Trump: Wiles said she is “bit of an expert in big personalities” because alcoholics’ “personalities are exaggerated when they drink” and her father was one. She told Whipple that Trump has “an alcoholic’s personality” and that he “operates [with] a view that there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing.”
- Trump responded Tuesday, saying, “I don’t drink alcohol. So everybody knows that — but I’ve often said that if I did, I’d have a very good chance of being an alcoholic,” adding he has an addictive and possessive personality.
Retribution tour: Asked whether Trump’s presidency had become a “retribution tour,” Wiles said they had an agreement that score-settling would end within the first 90 days. After that deadline had passed in August she told Whipple: “I don’t think he’s on a retribution tour.”
- “A governing principle for him is, ‘I don’t want what happened to me to happen to somebody else.’ And so people that have done bad things need to get out of the government. In some cases, it may look like retribution. And there may be an element of that from time to time. Who would blame him? Not me,” Wiles said.
Epstein: Wiles said she reviewed what she called “the Epstein file,” acknowledged Trump was on Epstein’s plane log, but said he was “not in the file doing anything awful.” She also said Trump was wrong to claim former President Bill Clinton visited Epstein’s island dozens of times, saying there is “no evidence” of that.
- Wiles said Attorney General Pam Bondi “whiffed” on understanding how much President Trump’s base of supporters cared about the release of the files. She criticized Bondi for handing out binders to conservative influencers in February that only contained previously reported information, adding, “First she gave them binders full of nothingness. And then she said that the witness list, or the client list, was on her desk. There is no client list, and it sure as hell wasn’t on her desk.” Wiles was referencing a Fox News appearance by Bondi.
Venezuela strikes: She said Trump’s strategy was to keep “blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle,” a remark that appeared to contradict the administration’s stated position that the strikes were about drug interdiction, not regime change.
Rubio, Vance: Trump has floated a Vance–Rubio ticket for 2028 as the heirs to the Trump MAGA movement. Both men were once critical of Trump but are now in his cabinet. Wiles noted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s shift was ideological and principled, while Vice President J.D. Vance’s were political and tied to his 2022 Senate run.

Wiles said Trump was clear-eyed about his goals after four years out of office, allowing her to pick her battles, though she says they have difficult conversations every day.

“I’m not an enabler. I’m also not a bitch,” Wiles said. “I try to be thoughtful about what I even engage in. I guess time will tell whether I’ve been effective.”

WE COULD’VE WARNED YOU
Chris Whipple, who wrote the Vanity Fair piece, told Mo News back in April that Wiles was warned not to talk to him by Trump’s former Chief Reince Priebus at a dinner before the inauguration — advice she clearly ignored.

Whipple has written some of the most well-known profiles of presidential chiefs of staff. He notes that “The average tenure for a modern White House chief of staff is a year and a half… Wiles may yet eclipse Trump’s so-far longest-lasting chief, John Kelly, at 17 months.”
- He reported that she originally planned to serve just six months but has not found the job overwhelming: “You go to bed at night, you say your prayers, and you get up and do it again,” Wiles said.

Asking about the 68-year-old’s health, along with the 79-year-old president, Wiles said her’s is “good” and Trump’s is “great. “My kids are grown. I’m divorced. This is what I do if I stay four years,” she added.

🎧 Listen to our full interview with Chris Whipple on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tired Of Data Brokers Snooping Around With Your Information? 🧐

Get your personal information off the internet with Incogni. 🛜

It’s shocking how much of your personal information can be found from a simple Google search of your name or address. That’s because data brokers collect and sell your personal info — like name, address, and income — without your consent. But Incogni is here to put an end to that!

Incogni hunts down 🔎 these unethical sites and gets your info removed.
Best of all, you can cancel any time — with a 30-day money-back guarantee. 😁

You can get 60% off an annual plan by going to incogni.com/MONEWS or using the code MONEWS at checkout.

🚨 ONE THING WE’RE FOLLOWING

Nick Reiner To Be Charged With Murder Of His Mom and Dad

Nick Reiner, the 32-year-old son of actor-director Rob Reiner and producer-photographer Michele Singer Reiner, will be charged Tuesday with the Sunday murder of his parents.

Reiner will face at least two counts of first-degree murder, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said Tuesday.

Reiner’s attorney said he was not medically cleared Tuesday to be transported to the courthouse from the jail, where he is currently being held without bail, and that it is “day to day” on when he will appear in court but hopes it will happen Wednesday.

LEADUP TO THE ATTACK
Reiner, who was living on and off at his parents home, reportedly made guests uncomfortable at a holiday party hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien just hours before his parents were killed. It was his sister who found their parents’ bodies Sunday.

According to people familiar with the event, Nick was disruptive and had an argument with his father.

Reiner has been in and out of addiction treatment since age 15. At the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, reporter Steven Zeitchik had dinner with Rob, Michele, and Nick about the movie “Being Charlie” – a semi-autobiographical look at addiction that Rob and Nick worked on together.

At that point, Nick, then age 22, had been to rehab 18 times and the parents said he was then sober– but Zeitchik writes that the dynamic “didn’t feel fine” nor “resolved.” Weeks later, Nick admitted on a podcast that he still drank and smoked weed, but stopped meth and heroin.
- “It felt like the festival had arrived and a lot of what hadn’t been resolved had been hurriedly shoved in the closet,” Zeitchik wrote.

PLANS WITH THE OBAMAS
Former First Lady Michelle Obama and her husband, former President Barack Obama, had plans to visit Rob and Michele at their Los Angeles home on the day they were murdered, she shared on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ on Monday.

Obama told Kimmel that her family and the Reiners were close friends for many years and called the couple “some of the most decent, courageous people you ever want to know.”
- She also added that the Reiners were “not crazed or deranged” — a reference to President Trump’s Truth Social post, in which he effectively blamed Rob’s liberal activism and politics for his death.
  - Some conservative voices like Megyn Kelly and Republican lawmakers spoke out against Trump’s comments too.

The Reiners were longtime Democratic activists and fundraisers. Rob Reiner campaigned for causes like same-sex marriage and children’s rights in his home state of California. Michele worked as a children’s advocate and helped produce an ad in support of Obama’s 2012 re-election.

⏳ THE SPEED READ

🚨NATION

Trump sues the BBC for billions for defamation over editing of January 6 speech (CNN)
U.S. hits 3 more alleged drug boats in Pacific, killing 8, military says (CBS)
MIT professor killed in shooting at his Brookline home (NBC)
White River breach forces evacuations, Flash Flood Warning in Pacific (KOMO)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

Driver who hit Liverpool parade said to have had history of explosive violence (GUARDIAN)
Rebels say they will withdraw from key DR Congo city at US request (BBC)
Australian police say Bondi Beach mass shooting was inspired by Islamic State group (AP)
Zelensky says “very workable” peace plan to end Ukraine war could be presented to Russia within days (CBS)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

Jobless rate rises, adding to Trump’s economic messaging woes (POLITICO)
Europe poised to water down landmark 2035 ban on new diesel and gasoline cars (CNBC)
Ford cuts electric F-150 Lightning production, takes $19.5B charge in strategic shift (FOX)
Retailers didn’t pull ByHeart baby formula fast enough after botulism recall, FDA says (NPR)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Fans celebrate Jane Austen’s 250th birthday in Britain and beyond (AP)
Lizzo celebrates as fat-shaming claims dismissed (BBC)
Joe Ely, singer-songwriter whose legacy touched rock and punk, dies at 78 (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER)
Brown, USC cancel men’s basketball game in wake of deadly shooting (ESPN)

ICYMI FROM THE 📲

In case you missed it… Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika Kirk said that she had a productive meeting with podcast host Candace Owens Monday night. Owens echoed the message.

Owens, one of the most prominent voices in right-wing media, recently shared unfounded conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk’s murder, including suggestions that it was an inside job and orchestrated by the Israeli military and by French troops.