Trump transition live: Pete Hegseth says no alcohol if confirmed after meeting with Republican lawmakers
President-elect’s pick for defense secretary dogged by allegations of sexual assault, drunkenness, Islamophobia and mismanagement of a non-profit, as Ron DeSantis floated as possible alternative
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, former Fox News weekend anchor Pete Hegseth, continues to be dogged by allegations about his past, potentially making his confirmation less likely. On Wednesday his candidacy faced an “absolutely critical day.”
Hegseth took questions from the House Republican Study Committee, met with senators, and promised incoming Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker that if confirmed he wouldn’t drink.
His mother Penelope appeared on his former network earlier to defend him, having previously criticized her son’s behavior towards women in a letter.
The Trump transition team is reportedly considering alternatives to lead the Pentagon — reportedly including Senator Joni Ernst, and surprisingly, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Meanwhile, Trump’s pick to serve as administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Sheriff Chad Chronister withdrew from consideration, although Trump has since said he pulled the nomination over comments he made to pastors.
In another flurry of appointments, the president-elect asked his former trade adviser Peter Navarro to return in a similar role for his new administration. Trump also picked a NASA administrator, a secretary of the army, and a chair of the SEC.
Trump’s conquest: President-elect posts bizarre AI pic of himself with Canadian flag (on a Swiss mountain)
Trump’s DEA nominee backs out after Covid and immigration criticisms
Judge weighs whether to order Fani Willis to comply with lawmakers' subpoenas over Trump case
Nato chief warns Trump not to push Ukraine deal that would see Putin ‘high-fiving’ Iran
Ernst says she and Hegseth had ‘frank and thorough’ conversation
Senator Joni Ernst, whose name has come up as a possible replacement as nominee for secretary of defense, says she and Pete Hegseth had a “frank and thorough conversation.”
Not the most enthusiastic message of support he’s received today.
YOLO era Biden? What else might the president push through before he cedes power to Trump?
Andrew Feinberg writes:
With Congress set to spend its remaining time this year pushing through judicial nominees and a few must-pass pieces of legislation, Biden has no more political capital to spend and little more than his pen and phone to get anything done before he closes the book on a full half-century in public life.
Yet at the same time, he might still have levers he can pull to make some things happen before he leaves the Oval Office for the last time.
Some things Biden can do himself while he still has the powers of the presidency.
Continue reading...
After pardoning Hunter, what else might Biden push through before he leaves?
Is the president in his YOLO era? Andrew Feinberg explains what the president can and can’t do in his lame duck period — and what’s most likely
Hegseth no longer going to Mar-a-Lago tomorrow
Pete Hegseth has told Farnoush Amiri of the Associated Press that he is not going to Mar-a-Lago tomorrow and that no meetings have been canceled, only rescheduled, contrary to earlier reporting.
Full story: Trump demands Georgia courts toss out Fani Willis’s criminal case against him
Georgia courts should dismiss a sprawling criminal case against Donald Trump for his attempts to reverse his election loss in the state in 2020 because his incoming presidency grants him “complete” immunity from any criminal proceedings, the president-elect has argued.
In a filing on Wednesday, the former president called on a Georgia appeals court to dismiss the case against him for his efforts to overturn election results in the state he lost in 2020, arguing that the state no long has jurisdiction over him.
“A sitting president is completely immune from indictment or any criminal process, state or federal,” according to attorney Steven Sadow.
Alex Woodward has been closely following the case for The Independent from the beginning and filed this report.
Trump demands Georgia courts toss out Fani Willis’s criminal case against him
Trump’s attorneys argue he will be ‘completely immune’ from ‘any’ criminal proceedings when he is president
Kash Patel targeted in Iranian cyberattack amid controversial FBI pick by Trump
Donald Trump’s controversial FBI director pick Kash Patel has been targeted in an Iranian cyberattack, according to reports.
Patel, a Trump loyalist who served on the National Security Council and as chief of staff to former Defense Secretary Chris Miller during his first term, was tapped on Saturday to lead the FBI.
On Tuesday, Semafor journalist Shelby Talcott first reported that Patel’s communications had been breached in what marks the latest in a series of alleged attacks from hackers emanating from Iran. Two sources later confirmed the attack to CBS News.
James Liddell has more details.
Trump’s controversial FBI pick Kash Patel targeted in Iranian cyberattack
It marks the latest in a string of cyberattacks allegedly targeting those in Trump’s inner circle
DNC slams Trump’s Navarro appointment over his ‘reckless and expensive agenda’
Democratic National Committee Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement following Donald Trump’s announcement that he has asked Peter Navarro to join his administration as a trade adviser.
Peter Navarro literally wrote the Project 2025 chapter on Donald Trump’s dangerous and costly plans to skyrocket prices with new national taxes that would devastate working families. Now, Trump is rewarding another Project 2025 author with a spot in his administration to help him enact his reckless and expensive agenda that would give away billions to the ultra-wealthy while jacking up costs for the rest of us.
Alex Woodward has been cataloguing which of the Project 2025 authors are set to join the new Trump administration despite the president-elect’s prior claims to have “no idea” what the manifesto is.
Trump’s cabinet is filling up with Project 2025 authors
Trump said he didn’t know who’s behind the blueprint for his return. He just hired the authors for key roles
Trump v DeSantis: A timeline
Donald Trump is reportedly considering replacing his current nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, with Ron DeSantis – marking the latest extraordinary twist in the rocky relationship between the president-elect and the Florida governor.
Hegseth, a former Fox News weekend anchor, has been hit by a damaging series of allegations about his past since being tapped for the role in November 2023, from a sexual assault allegation to alcoholism to Islamophobic slurs and the mismanagement of a military veterans’ organisation. Hegseth has denied the allegations.
But with Republican senators expressing disquiet about his candidacy and Hegseth’s mother putting in an appearance on Fox and Friends in a last-ditch bid to clear his name, Trump is said to be looking elsewhere to none other than his ally turned sworn rival turned ally again.
Trump and DeSantis were close allies during the Republican’s first term in the White House. Trump campaigned for DeSantis’s ascent to the governor’s mansion in 2018 and later took credit for his victory, only to then take against him once his star rose during the Covid-19 pandemic and he became a conservative favorite for challenging lockdown restrictions.
That tension erupted into open hostility and bitter taunts in 2024 when DeSantis ran against Trump for the GOP presidential nomination, only to crash out early in the primaries after failing to connect with voters.
Here is a timeline of their on-again-off-again relationship:
A timeline of Donald Trump’s rivalry with Ron DeSantis
President-elect and Florida Governor have gone from allies to enemies and back again in recent years
Hegseth says he wouldn’t drink if confirmed as defense secretary
During meetings on Capitol Hill today, Pete Hegseth promised incoming Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker that he wouldn’t drink if confirmed as Donald Trump’s secretary of Defense.
“I think that’s probably a good idea,” Wicker told reporters.
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