Trump delivers Mar-a-Lago speech with Elon Musk and new HHS RFK Jr in attendance: Live updates
Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. were in attendance for Donald Trump’s first public speech since winning the White House
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Your support makes all the difference.President-elect Donald Trump spoke publicly for the first time since winning the White House at the America First Policy Institute gala at Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida on Thursday night.
Those in attendance included billionaire Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who were recently named co-chairs of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency. While speaking, Trump announced that North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum will be his nominee to lead the Department of the Interior.
Matt Gaetz, Trump’s pick for attorney general, was also in attendance. Gaetz resigned from his seat representing Florida in the House in light of the news on Wednesday. This will effectively end the House Ethics probe into allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use made against him.
“I don’t think it’s a serious nomination for the attorney general,” Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said.
Members of both parties have called for the House Ethics report to be released.
Trump also nominated former independent presidential candidate and anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F Kennedy Jr to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,” Trump said in statement.
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Has Elon Musk outstayed his welcome at Mar-a-Lago?
Melania Trump is enjoying Elon Musk’s sudden constant presence around Mar-a-Lago, despite her husband Donald Trump teasing that the billionaire has overstayed his welcome, according to a source.
The president-elect and the tech billionaire have become somewhat inseparable since Trump was re-elected to the White House last week, with Musk now a fixture at his Palm Beach residence.
While some Trumpworld insiders are said to be rattled by this sudden closeness, a source told Page Six that the incoming first lady is a big fan of Trump’s self-styled “First Buddy” and likes him being around.
It comes as Trump reportedly said: “Elon won’t go home. I can’t get rid of him – at least until I don’t like him.”
James Liddell has more.
Melania Trump’s thoughts on ‘First Buddy’ Elon Musk revealed
President-elect joked on Wednesday that ‘Elon won’t go home’ and that he ‘can’t get rid of him’
Alina Habba pours cold water on Trump press secretary rumors
Alina Habba, a lawyer who represented Donald Trump in a series of high-profile cases, has confirmed she will not be his White House Press Secretary despite reports she was the possible front-runner.
Panic at the DOJ
Panic had already set in at the Department of Justice prior to Matt Gaetz’s nomination to head up the agency.
Lawyers are considering fleeing the agency before Trump loyalists take over and execute his vision, according to reports.
Now the panic has gone into overdrive.
“This is completely wild. It’s so out of bounds, it’s just shocking,” one DOJ lawyer told Politico. “He’s there for one purpose: to enact retribution. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have a grand vision about the future of the department. I can’t imagine how this isn’t going to scare people even more.”
Donald Trump’s scorn for the DOJ has only grown over the last four years as he became the subject of two criminal prosecutions, and he has previously talked of transforming the agency.
“Everyone I’ve talked to, mostly lawyers, are losing their minds,” one DOJ attorney previously said.
Harris campaign aide reveals real reason why she didn’t appear on Joe Rogan podcast
One of Kamala Harris’s campaign aides has shed light on the real reason why the vice president didn’t end up appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast.
Harris’s team was in talks for her to appear on the most popular podcast in America, but the sitdown ultimately failed to materialize.
Rogan has since claimed that a series of demands from the campaign was the reason why it didn’t go ahead.
Read the full story here.
Harris aide reveals real reason Joe Rogan podcast interview never materialized
Jennifer Palmieri is one of the first of Harris’s campaign staff to share details about the decision
Explainer: Will Matt Gaetz pass the Senate nomination process – or does he not need to?
Donald Trump’s nomination of Matt Gaetz for attorney general has stunned many in the Republican party.
If Trump gets his way, the former Florida representative will become the top law enforcement officer in the United States – a position that the president-elect could utilize to seek revenge on his opponents and enemies.
Even though Republicans have clinched a majority in the Senate, given the strong reaction to Gaetz’s potential appointment, it is not guaranteed he will be confirmed as attorney general.
There are two possible options for what could happen next...
Read on.
Will Matt Gaetz pass the Senate nomination process – or does he not need to?
Matt Gaetz’s nomination as Trump’s attorney general is not guaranteed
WATCH: Donald Trump’s four-word boast to House Republicans
Donald Trump issued a four-word boast to House Republicans in his first visit to Washington since his election victory.
He was introduced as the come-back King by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson on Wednesday, November 13 after meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House earlier in the day.
Jesse Watters brags about Trump administration connections
Fox News host Jesse Watters appeared to say the quiet part out loud as he admitted that he will be asking the Trump administration for “special favors.”
On Jesse Watters Primetime on Wednesday night, the conservative media pundit and staunch Donald Trump supporter celebrated the president-elect’s latest picks for jobs in his second term, including the controversial choices of Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Matt Gaetz for attorney general.
Watters boasted of his ties to some of those headed for the most powerful jobs in government, with his former Fox News colleague Pete Hegseth tapped to become Trump’s future defense secretary.
James Liddell reports.
Fox News’s Jesse Watters says the quiet part out loud about Trump’s administration
Jesse Watters Primetime host boasted of his ties to some of those headed for the most powerful jobs in government
More Republican reaction to Matt Gaetz AG nomination
A number of Republicans have spoken of their shock at Trump’s nomination of Matt Gaetz for AG.
Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said she doesn’t think Gaetz is “a serious nomination for the attorney general,” while Senator Susan Collins of Maine told reporters she was “shocked” by the choice.
Ohio Representative Max Miller went as far as to say that Gaetz “has a zero percent shot of getting through the Senate,” Politico reports.
Another Republican representative told the outlet that the choice is “an obvious throwaway nomination that has no chance in the Senate.”
And North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis said Gaetz has “probably got some work cut out for him.”
ICYMI: Rudy Giuliani’s lawyers abruptly quit defamation case
Meanwhile, things aren’t looking so good for Trump’s former attorney Rudy Giuliani, whose lawyers have abruptly quit representing him in his defamation case.
They have withdrawn after attorneys for the women Giuliani defamed accused the disgraced former New York City mayor of hiding property he has been ordered to turn over.
Giuliani’s lead counsel Kenneth Caruso and attorney David Labkowski filed a motion in federal court in New York on Wednesday citing several reasons for their withdrawal, pointing to a “fundamental disagreement” with Donald Trump’s former attorney.
Alex Woodward has the story.
Rudy Giuliani’s lawyers abruptly quit defamation case
Lawyers for Trump’s former attorney want to quit after a court hearing on his failure to surrender property
Congresswoman and former CIA case officer slams Tulsi Gabbard intelligence nomination
Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger of Virginia has weighed in on Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination as Trump’s director of national intelligence.
The Democrat said she is “deeply concerned” about what the appointment means for national security.
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