Trump transition live updates: President-elect to meet with Biden at White House; Senate to pick new leader
Donald Trump back in Washington DC on Wednesday to sit down with Joe Biden to discuss transition after announcing a series of new cabinet appointments
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump will return to Washington DC on Wednesday to meet with Republicans on Capitol Hill and Joe Biden at the White House to discuss a transition schedule as the Senate elects a new majority leader in place of Mitch McConnell, with Rick Scott, John Cornyn and John Thune in contention.
The president-elect has meanwhile announced that tech billionaire Elon Musk and ex-Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will head a new “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), tasked with cutting the cost of government, stripping away regulations and restructuring federal agencies.
Musk responded to the news by pledging that DOGE “will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in government waste, which is a lot of people”.
The incoming 47th president unveiled a number of other appointments to his new administration on Tuesday, picking John Ratcliffe, his director of national intelligence from 2020 to 2021, to be his next CIA director and Fox News host Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense.
Trump also revealed that Mike Huckabee has been chosen as his new ambassador to Israel, Steven Witkoff will be his special envoy to the Middle East and William Joseph McGinley his White House counsel.
Who is in Trump’s Cabinet so far? From ‘ice maiden’ Susie Wiles to border czar Tom Homan
President-elect Donald Trump is starting to fill key posts in his second administration, putting an emphasis so far on aides and allies who were his strongest backers during the 2024 campaign.
Here’s a look at who he’s selected so far.
Who is in Trump’s Cabinet so far? From ‘ice maiden’ to immigration hardliner
The President-elect has wasted no time in building his top team including Tom Homan and Mike Waltz - with more announcements to come
Kamala Harris was convinced to abandon her progressive ideas. So Democrats didn’t vote for her
Democrats are looking at spending at least the first two years of Donald Trump’s second presidency in the wilderness after losing the Senate. It looks increasingly likely they will fail to retake the House of Representatives, too. Now, many are questioning whether the party is truly going to learn anything of value from the second defeat of the Democratic standard-bearer to Trump and MAGA Republicanism.
Centrist Democrats in particular are taking it from all sides, humiliated with a seven-swing-state sweep after successfully talking Harris into abandoning the progressive-ish agenda she championed in her 2020 bid for the White House. Those centrists spent the past few months stating plainly that she would not be a meaningful departure from the presidency of Joe Biden, with whom Harris could not identify a single issue on which she disagreed.
Harris was convinced not to run a progressive campaign. So Democrats stayed home
Harris sought centrist Republican votes, experts tell John Bowden, at the expense of the Obama coalition. But Republican women didn’t end up turning out for her — and neither did a large part of the Democratic base
WATCH: Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe refuses to apologize for Puerto Rico joke at Trump rally
Full story: Trump names Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to ‘Manhattan Project’ for government cuts
Donald Trump has nominated billionaire Elon Musk and venture capitalist Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a newly created office designed to fire workers and make drastic cuts to government funding.
The men leading the Office of Government Efficiency — or DOGE, named after Musk’s favorite meme — “will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies — Essential to the ‘Save America; Movement,” Trump said in a statement on Tuesday.
“This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!” Musk added.
WATCH: Trump and Alina Habba dance to ‘Trump Won’ song
Republicans push for criminal probe into judge in Trump hush money case – and the judge’s daughter
In the wake of Donald Trump’s sweeping victory, Republicans are turning their attention to those in the judicial system who went up against the president-elect in the courts.
Speaking on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, Florida Representatives Anna Paulina Luna and Cory Mills floated the idea that criminal charges could be brought against Judge Juan Merchan – and his daughter Loren Merchan.
Merchan oversaw Trump’s high-profile hush money case where he was ultimately convicted of 34 felonies in New York earlier this year. His daughter subsequently became the target of attacks by the president-elect due to her Democrat-leaning political activities.
Republicans push for criminal probe into judge in Trump hush money case
Florida Representatives Anna Paulina Luna and Cory Mills floated the idea that criminal charges could be brought against Judge Juan Merchan and his daughter Loren Merchan, as well as Special Counsel Jack Smith
Donald Trump taps Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy to lead new ‘Department of Government Efficiency'
Donald Trump has chosen billionaire Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency.
“Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies - Essential to the ‘Save America’ Movement,” Trump said in a statement on Tuesday night.
Musk added that “this will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people.”
Musk first promoted the idea at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on October 27.
“How much do you think we can rip out of this wasted, $6.5 trillion Harris-Biden budget?” Howard Lutnick, the billionaire chief executive of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, who is advising Trump’s campaign, asked at the event.
“I think we can do at least $2 trillion,” Musk said.
“Your money is being wasted, and the Department of Government Efficiency is going to fix that,” he added. “We’re going to get the government off your back and out of your pocketbook.”
Trump’s November sentencing in hush money case now in jeopardy after judge delays ruling on verdict
The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s historic hush money trial is delaying a ruling on whether to toss out a verdict after the Supreme Court’s landmark “immunity” ruling.
A decision on Tuesday from New York Justice Juan Merchan, a week after Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election, adds yet another delay to proceedings in a case that resulted in his 34-count criminal conviction.
Merchan was scheduled to issue a ruling on Trump’s “immunity” argument on Tuesday.
Instead, he told Trump’s lawyers he will delay a decision until November 19.
Merchan initially moved his decision on the “immunity” question until after Election Day “to avoid any appearance” of political interference.
Trump was scheduled to be sentenced on November 26. That will also be put on hold for now.
Judge delays decision on Trump’s attempt to throw out hush money conviction
A jury unanimously voted to convict the former president on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records
Trump announces Defense Secretary pick
Donald Trump has announced he is nominating Pete Hegseth, a veteran and Fox News host, as his Secretary of Defense.
“Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country,” Trump said in a press release on Tuesday night. “Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First. With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice - Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.”
“Pete is a graduate of Princeton University, and has a Graduate Degree from Harvard University,” Trump added. “He is an Army Combat Veteran who did tours in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, and Afghanistan.”
Inside Kristi Noem’s many controversies - from dog killing to Kim Jong Un ‘meeting’
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump’s reported pick to serve as the next Homeland Security secretary, has had her fair share of controversies, from shooting her dog to a disputed claim regarding a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The Department of Homeland Security oversees the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, making the department one of the most important in Trump’s efforts to deport millions of undocumented immigrants from the US.
Noem was elected governor in 2018 and won re-election in 2022.
Inside Kristi Noem’s many controversies - from dog killing to Kim Jong Un ‘meeting’
Noem was out of the running to become Trump’s running mate after writing about killing her 14-month-old dog Cricket
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