Biden extends olive branch to Trump as president-elect returns to White House: Live updates
Donald Trump returns to Washington DC on Wednesday for sitdown 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 has met with Joe Biden at the White House to discuss a transition schedule, with their opening sitdown warm and cordial in tone.
On a busy day in Washington DC, Republican senators also elected a new majority leader in place of Mitch McConnell, with South Dakota’s John Thune coming out on top.
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 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.
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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