50501 FRIDAY BRIEFING | DECEMBER 19, 2025
Fentanyl rebranded as “WMD,” a purge-by-paperwork tactic, Venezuela escalation, and a primetime spectacle that helped bury a cruel TRICARE change.
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TL;DR
Fentanyl was officially designated a “weapon of mass destruction.” That label unlocks a national-security tactic and expands the administration’s legal and political rationale for militarized escalation.
Federal agencies were told to clamp down on top performance ratings regardless of performance.
$1,776 “Warrior Dividend” checks were announced in primetime while TRICARE finalized a 2026 policy excluding hormone therapy for gender dysphoria in minors (with Sen. Tammy Baldwin estimating 6,000–7,000 military kids impacted).
A federal judge cited a striking litigation record “350 of 362” cases against the administration’s detention posture in related proceedings.
Two Brown University students were killed in a classroom shooting; a detained “person of interest” was later released as the probe shifted.
After Rob Reiner and his wife were murdered, Trump posted a political attack about it drawing rare bipartisan condemnation.
By The Numbers
~1.45 million service members the administration says are included.
6,000–7,000 estimated number of military kids affected by the TRICARE change.
350 of 362 cases cited in a court order as reaching the same conclusion on the underlying issue.
$50,000 FBI reward offered during the Brown University manhunt phase.
Tuesday:
Fentanyl Became “WMD”
Trump signed an executive order designating illicit fentanyl as a “weapon of mass destruction”, a classification Americans usually associate with chemical and biological threats, not narcotics.
“WMD” is a switch that turns on an entire national-security toolkit, and it reframes drug enforcement as wartime escalation.
For the administration’s own framing (and directives agencies were told to carry out), see the White House fact sheet.
Wednesday:
Two Escalations in One Day
The Federal Employee Purge Gets Systematic
The administration instructed managers across Commerce, Justice, Energy, Interior, GSA, and SBA to restrict top performance ratings regardless of actual job performance.
Managers told that 80% of staff should receive 3 out of 5, while only 1-5% get top marks. These ratings determine bonuses, promotions, and internal job mobility.
Professor Donald Moynihan: “Low ratings could provide justification for additional layoffs.”
In February, OPM ordered agencies to submit lists of “underperformers” with names, titles, and duty stations. The administration has already seen 317,000 federal workers leave this year.
The Venezuela “Blockade”
While that story quietly unfolded, Trump announced a “total and complete blockade” of Venezuelan oil tankers and designated their government a “foreign terrorist organization” a legally murky move since FTO frameworks apply to organizations, not sovereign states.
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles told Vanity Fair: Trump “wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle.”
When you start calling governments “terrorists,” you’re widening the permission structure for war.
Thursday:
Spectacle Hiding Cruelty
Trump used a primetime address to announce $1,776 “Warrior Dividend” checks for roughly 1.45 million service members.
At nearly the same time, a policy change with consequences for military families stayed far quieter: TRICARE’s CY 2026 rule excludes hormone therapy for treatment of gender dysphoria in minors.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin put the impact at 6,000–7,000 military kids.
When families can’t safely speak up (because careers and housing and safety are on the line), a movement has to.
A WEEK OF GRIEF USED AS AMMUNITION
A classroom shooting at Brown University killed two students and wounded others. Investigators detained and then released a person of interest as the case shifted.
And after Rob Reiner and his wife were murdered, Trump posted a political attack implying the tragedy was connected to Reiner’s opposition prompting rare bipartisan backlash.
What does it do to a country when mourning becomes a campaign prop?
One word in the comments: how does this week feel?
✅ More Ways To Help
This weekend:
Read and Download Know Your Rights: ACLU Know Your Rights
Find trusted rapid-response resources: CLINIC
This week:
Call Congress: (202) 224-3121
Script: “Calling about the fentanyl ‘WMD’ order, performance ratings manipulation, and TRICARE’s 2026 exclusions. Demand transparency and protection for civil servants and military families.”
Before 2026:
Identify one local race and adopt it (track candidates, show up, bring 2 friends).
Find your 50501 group: fiftyfifty.one
💙 THANK YOU FOR READING!
Blue | The 50501 Movement | 80,000+ Subscribers | fiftyfifty.one
If only we had:
1) An empowered Congress
2) An empowered Supreme Court
3) Common sense
4) Common decency
5) Balls
…we could really turn things around.
The crazy man in the White House is only concerned about making more money for himself and his friends. He is hell bent on starting a war with Venezuela.