Trump’s transition latest updates: Matt Gaetz resigns from Congress after being picked as Attorney General
Donald Trump has picked his controversial MAGA ally to oversee the nation’s Justice Department
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Your support makes all the difference.President-elect Donald Trump has selected former Florida Representative Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general.
Gaetz resigned from his seat in the US House of Representatives in light of the news, Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed on Wednesday. This will effectively end the House Ethics probe into allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use made against him.
Trump has also chosen former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio to join his administration. Gabbard is set to serve as the director of national intelligence while Rubio has been nominated to be secretary of state.
Meanwhile, the Republicans are projected to retain control of the House, completing their trifecta.
Trump met with Joe Biden at the White House on Wednesday to discuss a transition schedule, with their opening sitdown warm and cordial in tone. Their remarks lasted about a minute, with Trump observing “Politics is tough” and adding: “And in many cases, it’s not a nice world. But it’s a nice world today.”
The men subsequently met in private without the press pack present, with Trump apparently getting a laugh by joking about bringing an end to term limits.
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Who is Pete Hegseth? The Fox News anchor turned nominee for Defense secretary
The 47th president of the United States, Donald Trump, has announced his pick for Secretary of Defense: Fox News star Pete Hegseth.
Trump issued a statement on Tuesday to nominate Hegseth for the position in the US Department of Defense. “Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country. Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First,” the president-elect said. “With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice – Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.”
The decision to pick the current Fox contributor was met with a mixture of praise, criticism and confusion due to his lack of national security experience.
Who is Pete Hegseth? The Fox News anchor turned nominee for Defense secretary
The ‘Fox and Friends’ co-host married television producer Jennifer Rauchet in 2019
Republican Representative’s reaction to Gaetz nomination: ‘Are you sh***** me?'
Republican Idaho Rep Mike Simpson had a straightforward reaction when asked about Matt Gaetz’s nomination as attorney general.
“Are you sh***** me?” he asked, according to HuffPost.
Mike Johnson wins Republican nomination to serve as House Speaker
Rep Mike Johnson has won the Republican nomination to return to his role as US House speaker.
He will face a vote of the full House in January.
Elon Musk wants to gut the federal government under Trump. What could that look like?
The wealthiest man on the planet has pumped tens of millions of dollars into Donald Trump’s successful presidential campaign. He owns an influential social media company where he embraces right-wing influencers and conspiracy theories now dominating the platform. He has business interests with China and Russia’s Vladimir Putin’s regime while his companies receive billions of dollars in US government contracts.
Elon Musk wielded enormous, unprecedented influence in the 2024 presidential election. He has a powerful megaphone to his 203 million followers on X, earns priceless media coverage and backed a Republican nominee who delivered on his promise to put him in charge of gutting federal agencies and cutting trillions of dollars from the federal budget.
On November 12, Trump nominated the Tesla CEO and X owner to steer how the American government spends its money through a newly created Department of Government Efficiency.
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Trump nominates MAGA congressman Matt Gaetz as surprise attorney general pick
Donald Trump has nominated Republican congressman Matt Gaetz to serve as US attorney general, the nation’s top law enforcement officer, overseeing an agency that could be used to target the president-elect’s rivals while he faces several criminal investigations of his own.
The 42-year-old GOP lawmaker from Florida “has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice,” Trump said in a statement on Wednesday.
“It will be an honor to serve as President Trump’s Attorney General!” Gaetz wrote on X.
Trump nominates MAGA congressman Matt Gaetz as surprise attorney general pick
Trump picks the Florida congressman to lead the Department of Justice
‘The absurdity is the point’: NYT columnist says cabinet picks are ‘loyalty tests'
New York Times columnist Ezra Klein noted on X after Matt Gaetz was picked to be attorney general that “Demanding Senate Republicans back Gaetz as attorney general and Hegseth as Defense Secretary is the 2024 version of forcing Sean Spicer to say it was the largest inauguration crowd ever.”
“These aren’t just appointments. They’re loyalty tests. The absurdity is the point,” he added. “It also reflects a difference between Trump in 2020 and Trump in 2024: In 2020, Trump didn’t have the pull with Senate Republicans ... to impose this kind of loyalty test. He didn’t even have it with many of his own appointees. Now, well, we’ll see.”
Republican senator says Gaetz has ‘his work cut out for him’ to become attorney general
John Bolton sums up Trump’s ideal cabinet picks in one damning word
Donald Trump’s former National Security Advisor gave a damning assessment of picks for the president-elect’s new cabinet, summing them up in one word.
John Bolton said that rather than having “loyalty” from those selected to serve in his new administration, Trump would prefer “fealty,” referring to a swearing of unwavering allegiance to a feudal lord or leader.
The president-elect has already demonstrated his willingness to appoint his cheerleaders to top positions, including Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who were recently named as the joint heads of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Other eye-brow-raising picks include Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defense secretary.
John Bolton sums up Trump’s ideal cabinet picks in one damning word
Trump’s former National Security Advisor said that rather than having ‘loyalty’ from those selected to serve in his new administration, the President-elect would prefer ‘fealty’
Trump will nominate ex-Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence
President-elect Donald Trump will nominate a former Democratic congresswoman who has promoted conspiracy theories about US involvement in Ukraine to be the next head of the US intelligence community.
In a statement, Trump announced that he is tapping former Hawaii representative Tulsi Gabbard to be his Director of National Intelligence, a position from which Gabbard will be in charge of an office that was created in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks and tasked with leading and synthesizing intelligence collected from around the world.
The president-elect said Gabbard, who holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Army National Guard, “has fought for our Country and the Freedoms of all Americans” for “over two decades.”
Trump will nominate ex-Democrat Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence
Former Hawaii congresswoman has falsely claimed that the US has funded ‘biolabs’ in Ukraine
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