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Trump to deliver first rally-style speech since election win as he threatens to retake Panama Canal: Live

The president-elect will address a Phoenix crowd on Sunday

Rhian Lubin,Mike Bedigan,Kelly Rissman
Sunday 22 December 2024 16:34 GMT
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Congress Narrowly Averts Government Shutdown — And Rejects Trump’s Debt Ceiling Commands

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Donald Trump is set to give his first “first rally-style speech” since his election victory in Phoenix on Sunday.

Before the president-elect takes the stage, a group of other prominent Republicans will speak, including actor Rob Schneider, embattled former Congressman Matt Gaetz and Senator Ted Cruz.

The event — AmericaFest 2024 — comes one day after Trump threatened to retake the Panama Canal in a lengthy post on Truth Social on Saturday night.

Trump accused Panama of charging American vessels “exorbitant prices” to use the vital waterway that acts as a shortcut linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

“The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the U.S.,” Trump vented.

“If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” he stridently added, referring to a 1977 treaty.

Earlier his daughter-in-law Lara Trump announced she was no longer running for the Senate.

“After an incredible amount of thought, contemplation, and encouragement from so many, I have decided to remove my name from consideration for the United States Senate,” she said.

Trump moves his entire $4 billion stake in Truth Social into his trust ahead of White House move

Donald Trump has transferred all 114.75 million of his shares in the parent company that runs his Truth Social platform into a revocable trust before he returns to the White House.

His shares in Trump Media & Technology Group are currently worth roughly $4 billion, representing the lion’s share of his roughly $6 billion net worth. He is the group’s largest shareholder.

Filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show the president-elect transferring the stake into the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust earlier this week. His oldest son Donald Trump Jr is the sole trustee, and has sole voting and investment power over securities held by the trust, according to filings.

Read more:

Trump moves his entire $4 billion stake in Truth Social into his trust

The incoming president moved shares that make up the lion’s share of his net worth

Alex Woodward21 December 2024 01:00

WATCH: Senate confirms record 235th Biden admin judge

The Senate just voted to confirm the Biden administration’s 235th federal Article III judge, one more judicial nomination than the previous Trump administration was able to get through.

Josh Marcus21 December 2024 00:32

Hakeem Jeffries celebrates defeat of ‘billionaire boys club’ spending proposals

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries celebrated the lower chamber’s passage on Friday of a spending bill to avert a government shutdown, just a crucial midnight deadline.

Jeffries said the package, which passed the House without any Democratic opposition, helped ensure the “future of working class Americans” and pointed to provisions like $100 billion in disaster assistance.

The leader also said the bill, which will keep the government funded through mid-March, was a rebuke to the “billionaire boys club” of Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who pushed to scuttle a bipartisan spending plan earlier in the week, and considered a plan that would suspend the debt ceiling to further enable the Trump administration’s plans.

Get all the details on the House version of the spending plan.

House narrowly averts government shutdown — and rejects Trump’s debt ceiling commands

House lawmakers overwhelmingly approve a third attempt at a short-term funding bill to keep the government running before Christmas

Josh Marcus21 December 2024 00:22

Watch: GOP Representative Malliotakis voices her frustration with Speaker Johnson

GOP Representative Malliotakis voices her frustration with Speaker Johnson
Gustaf Kilander21 December 2024 00:15

Trump’s Congress chaos is a reminder we should brace for ‘unknown unknowns’

With a month to go before he officially becomes the 47th president of the United States, Donald J Trump is already causing mayhem. His rejection of a bipartisan budget deal in Congress has threatened a federal shutdown and triggered huge anxiety for employees and those dependent on public services just before Christmas.

It’s not the first such game of fiscal “chicken” indulged in by America’s politicians – but it serves as a pointed reminder, were it needed, of what may be expected in the coming four years or so.

Read more:

Trump’s Congress chaos is a reminder we should brace for ‘unknown unknowns’

Editorial: After US lawmakers struggled to prevent a government shutdown – prompted by the president-elect’s budget intervention that even divided his own party – the pandemonium has been a salient reminder about what is surely in store for his second term

Editorial20 December 2024 23:50

Vote passes 366 - 34

House members voted 366-34, with one member voting present.

Those 34 votes were all Republicans.

A bill to fund the government through mid-March marked a third attempt within two days to avert a shutdown, after Donald Trump and Elon Musk commanded Congress to ditch the original bipartisan framework and left congressional Democrats and even some Republicans exhausted with the growing political influence of the world’s wealthiest person.

The funding battle glimpsed how Democrats are approaching the incoming Trump-Musk administration and how they will navigate Trump’s agenda with an extremely slim Republican majority.

Full story here:

House narrowly averts government shutdown — and rejects Trump’s debt ceiling commands

House lawmakers overwhelmingly approve a third attempt at a short-term funding bill to keep the government running before Christmas

Alex Woodward, Eric Garcia20 December 2024 23:18

Latest package resembles bipartisan plan that failed earlier in the week

The latest package resembled a bipartisan plan that was abandoned earlier this week after an online fusillade from Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk, who said it contained too many unrelated provisions.

That bill would have kept the government agencies operating at current levels, provided an additional $100 billion in disaster aid for storm-hit states and another $10 billion for farmers. It also would extend farm and food aid programs due to expire at the end of the year.

Trump demanded a rewrite to also lift the nation’s debt ceiling, but that was resoundingly rejected by the House - including 38 Republicans - on Thursday.

Trump and Musk killed the first bipartisan bill that was put forward
Trump and Musk killed the first bipartisan bill that was put forward (2024 Getty Images)

Rhian Lubin20 December 2024 23:15

BREAKING: House passes government funding bill hours before shutdown deadline

Just in: The House has just approved the three-month government funding bill, sending to Senate with just hours left before shutdown deadline.

Rhian Lubin20 December 2024 23:04

Elon Musk praises Speaker Mike Johnson after torpedoing first bill

Elon Musk has praised Speaker Mike Johnson tonight after the tech billionaire torpedoed Johnson’s first bipartisan deal.

“The Speaker did a good job here, given the circumstances,” Musk posted on X.

“It went from a bill that weighed pounds to a bill that weighed ounces. Ball should now be in the Dem court.”

Rhian Lubin20 December 2024 22:52

Voting underway

Voting is underway on the short-term agreement to avert a government shutdown.

The bill is 188 pages long, down from the 1,500-plus pages of the first bipartisan spending bill that failed earlier this week.

Democratic leadership isn’t whipping votes to support the latest bill.

It needs a two-thirds majority to pass.

Alex Woodward, Rhian Lubin20 December 2024 22:41

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