Trump confirms plan to use US military for mass deportations with more cabinet picks expected: Live updates
President-elect responded to Truth Social post about reports military assets would be deployed under national emergency to carry out deportations, writing ‘TRUE!!!’
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has confirmed he is prepared to declare a national emergency and use military assets to carry out his mass deportation campaign pledge.
Responding to a Truth Social post from Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch regarding reports that were the case, the president-elect wrote: “TRUE!!!”
As he continues to build his administration, Trump announced he is nominating Brendan Carr to be chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the body charged with regulating the US media.
Currently a commissioner with the FCC, Carr contributed to the controversial Project 2025 manifesto. He is described by the president-elect as “a warrior for Free Speech... [who] has fought against the regulatory Lawfare that has stifled Americans’ Freedoms, and held back our Economy.
Trump has yet to announce his choice for treasury secretary but two new candidates will reportedly be interviewed at Mar-a-Lago today: former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh and Wall Street billionaire Marc Rowan.
Howard Lutnick, co-chair of Trump’s transition team, and Key Square Capital Management founder Scott Bessant were favorites for the role but there appears to have been second thoughts.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has approved the use of American-made long-range missiles by Ukraine in its war against Russia, inspiring a conservative outcry.
The Trump dance takes the NFL by storm
Marjorie Taylor Greene and Donald Trump Jr accuse Biden of trying to start WWIII with Ukraine missiles move
Even Matt Gaetz’s dad was surprised Trump picked him for attorney general
Over half of voters were surprised by Trump’s win — including Republicans, new poll reveals
Over half of voters were surprised by Trump’s win – including Republicans, new poll reveals
A majority of Americans were surprised by Trump’s win in the presidential election – including 43 percent of Republicans, according to exclusive data.
A poll of 1,941 US adults by Prolific, exclusively for The Independent, found that, following months of predictions on a knife’s edge, Americans on all sides ended up being surprised by the final outcome of the White House race.
Some 54 percent of people were at least quite surprised by the outcome of the election, with 14 percent of those “very surprised.”
A third were not very surprised, and 16 percent not surprised at all.
Here’s more from Alicja Hagopian.
Over half of voters were surprised by Trump’s win — including Republicans
Exclusive: 43 percent of Republicans were surprised by the election result – while most Americans think their neighbor voted for Trump
Musk is fighting with top Trump adviser on cabinet picks
The world’s richest man has appointed himself Donald Trump’s “first buddy” as he plays an influential role shaping the incoming administration, but tension between Trump’s closest allies and Elon Musk is reportedly boiling over.
Musk is clashing with longtime Trump attorney and adviser Boris Epshteyn, including questioning his influence in president-elect’s nominations for his Cabinet and top White House jobs, Axios has reported, citing people familiar with the conversations.
Alex Woodward reports.
Musk is fighting with top Trump adviser on cabinet picks
Tensions are reportedly boiling over as the billionaire clashes over White House roles
Trump’s pick of Marco Rubio as secretary of state ignites fears of fiercer US-China rivalry
The president-elect once belittled him as “Little Marco” and a “choke artist”, only to then nominate him as his US secretary of state and describe him as “a strong advocate for our nation, a true friend to our allies and a fearless warrior who will never back down to our adversaries”.
The Florida Senator’s appointment as arguably the most powerful diplomat in the world will likely reshape American foreign policy towards allies and rivals alike – and dealing with China’s continued economic, diplomatic and military rise is set to be one of his top priorities.
That Trump moved swiftly to staff his foreign policy and national security team with China hawks is an indication that relations between the two superpowers will deteriorate further, writes Shweta Sharma.
Trump’s pick of Marco Rubio ignites fears of tougher US-China rivalry in second term
Florida senator, who sees China as America’s No 1 enemy, will be a major headache for Beijing but will also present it an opportunity, Shweta Sharma reports
House Ethics Committee to meet Wednesday about Gaetz report
The House Ethics Committee will meet on Wednesday to discuss its long-awaited report on former congressman Matt Gaetz, CNN reports.
A planned meeting was postponed last week following news of Gaetz’s sudden resignation after his nomination to the post of Attorney General by President-elect Donald Trump.
Even Matt Gaetz’s dad was surprised Trump picked him for attorney general
A number of the president-elect’s nominations to his new cabinet have raised eyebrows among political observers, but none more so than Matt Gaetz, who has been tapped to become America’s next attorney general.
Gaetz, 42, is known as a MAGA firebrand on Capitol Hill who was instrumental in the ousting of previous House speaker Kevin McCarthy.
He is also known for being the subject of a Department of Justice (DOJ) sex trafficking investigation and House Ethics Committee probe.
He has never been criminally charged and denies the allegations.
Few, it seems, saw him as a likely head of the DOJ – and, it turns out, that includes Gaetz’s his own father.
Even Matt Gaetz’s dad was surprised Trump picked him for attorney general
When asked if he thinks his son will get approval from the Senate, Don Gaetz said that ‘confirmation is always a dice roll’
MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ hosts traveled to Florida to meet with Trump
Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski visited Mar-a-Lago to meet President-elect Donald Trump, they revealed.
Scarborough and Brzezinski have been highly critical of Trump leading up to the election, calling him “erratic,” slamming his election fraud efforts and warning of “how dark of a place” the US would be if Trump won. But after airing their concerns with a second Trump presidency, the pair met with Trump Friday for the first time in seven years to “restart communications.”
Kelly Rissman has the story.
‘Morning Joe’ hosts traveled to meet with Trump and ‘restart communications’
Despite the co-hosts’ many disagreements with Trump, they agreed to ‘restart communications’ with the president-elect
The Trump dance takes the NFL by storm
LA Raiders tight end Brock Bowers, Detroit Lions defenders Malcolm Rodriguez and Za’Darius Smith and Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley were all doing the president-elect’s signature move at the weekend.
It’s even reached League One in England, thanks to Barnsley FC.
Here’s more.
CBS’s 60 Minutes sparks right-wing backlash over brutal takedown of Trump’s cabinet picks
Host Scott Pelley began Sunday’s show with a monologue dissecting Donald Trump’s choices for his future administration, detailing one-by-one how the likes of Pete Hegseth, Matt Gaetz, Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F Kennedy Jr have “no compelling qualifications” and “no government experience” to take up the jobs they’ve been nominated for.
Trump’s incoming White House Communications Director Steven Cheung took to X shortly after to claim that Pelley’s segment was riddled with “disgusting bias” and was soon joined in his outrage by Elon Musk, Charlie Kirk and many other members of the MAGA-verse.
Here’s more from James Liddell.
60 Minutes sparks right-wing backlash over brutal takedown of Trump’s cabinet picks
Elon Musk took a swipe at CBS correspondent Scott Pelley for his ‘trash propaganda piece’
RFK Jr dines on McDonald’s with Trump as ex-health sec warns role is ‘life or death’
The president-elect’s choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was pictured looking slightly awkward in the company of Don Jr, Elon Musk and Mike Johnson over the weekend as the group posed with boxes of McDonald’s junk food aboard the Republican’s private plane.
That “Make America Healthy Again” agenda already appears to be in jeopardy.
Meanwhile, this is what one of RFK Jr’s predecessors in that office, Kathleen Sebelius, had to tell MSNBC anchor Jonathan Capehart about the seriousness of the role the notorious vaccine sceptic has been nominated to:
“I think that we’re talking about magnitudes of danger beyond erroneously making legal decisions. This is life or death. The HHS affects people from birth to their grave and is intimately connected with every state in the country. So this could be very dangerous. I think it’s totally disqualifying for anyone who seeks to lead the major health agency in this country and one of the leaders in the world to just unequivocally say there is no safe and effective vaccine.
“That in and of itself, from the bully pulpit of HHS, could end up killing people, could end up harming children. My grandson is too young to get a lot of vaccinations yet, and having him exposed to unvaccinated people with polio and measles is a terrifying thought. Having eradicated those diseases as a major health initiative, Jonathan, I think this is absolutely terrifying and people should understand how serious it is.”
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