ABC slammed for settling Trump ‘rape’ defamation case as Romney admits MAGA has won Republican party: Live
ABC News settles defamation suit ahead of trial as Donald Trump staffs up his incoming administration
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Your support makes all the difference.ABC News on Saturday agreed to a $15 million settlement stemming from Trump’s defamation suit involving a broadcast about E. Jean Carroll, who herself had successfully sued the president-elect for defamatory statements.
According to court documents, anchor George Stephanopoulos and the network were sued after Stephanopoulos wrongly said that the ex-president was found liable for rape at civil trial; he was actually found liable for sexual “abuse” for the incident dating back to 1996.
The decision by the network to reach a settlement with Trump was met with accusations of cowardice online from critics who argued that the company should have fought the lawsuit at trial.
Meanwhile, one of Donald Trump’s last remaining opponents in the GOP seems to have come to terms with the future of the Republican Party as a Trumpified political movement.
“MAGA is the Republican Party and Donald Trump is the Republican Party today,” Mitt Romney says in a new interview.
This weekend the president-elect also named several more picks for his administration on Saturday, including Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes to run an intelligence board, and staunch loyalist foreign policy adviser Richard Grenell as a presidential envoy for special missions.
Trump names Devin Nunes to Intelligence Advisory Board
Donald Trump has named Devin Nunes, CEO of his Truth Social platform, to lead the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, an independent body that advises the executive branch.
In a Truth Social post on Saturday, Trump said Nunes, a former California congressman, “will draw on his experience as former Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and his key role in exposing the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, to provide me with independent assessments of the effectiveness and propriety of the U.S. Intelligence Community’s activities.”
Chicago mayor responds to Trump administration threats of arrest over immigration policies
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson defended his city’s immigration “sanctuary” policies on Saturday and responded to threats from the Trump administration to prosecute him.
“What the Trump administration has called for is for local police departments around the country to behave as ICE agents. In sanctuary cities, that is not permissible,” the mayor told CNN.
The city’s sanctuary policies bar local police from assisting in deportations and don’t ask people their citizenship status when they use city services.
Johnson added that these provisions still allow immigration authorities to go after migrants accused of criminal offenses.
“Once they are arrested and they are in custody, then the law, of course, is fully prepared to prosecute,” he said, adding, “Look, no one is going to harbor or protect criminals, whether you have come here as an immigrant or undocumented or otherwise.”
The comments came after Trump border czar Tom Homan threatened to prosecute Johnson if he gets in the way of the administration’s plans to carry out an unprecedented national deportation operation upon taking office.
“If your Chicago mayor doesn’t want to help, he can step aside,” Homan said this week during an event in Chicago. “But if he impedes us — if he knowingly harbors or conceals an illegal alien — I will prosecute him.”
Trump’s border czar reveals which city is first for mass deportations
Tom Homan told Democratic officials to ‘get the hell out of the way’ of his sweeping anti-immigrant agenda
Trump mocks Chris Christie with bizarre drone-themed post
Donald Trump continued his long-running public animosity towards former New Jersey Governor and Republican presidential rival Chris Christie, posting a mocked up photo on Saturday showing Christie eating McDonalds being delivered by drones.
The crude post appeared to be a reference to the spate of drone sightings above New Jersey in recent weeks.
New York officials outraged over drone sightings call for new powers
New York Governor Kathy Hochul is calling on Washington to do more about the mysterious drones spotted in recent weeks above the Northeast.
The governor said in a statement on Saturday on X that drone activity prompted officials to shut down Stewart Airfield in New Windsor for about an hour last night.
“This has gone too far,” Hochul said in the statement, calling on Congress to pass the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act, a bill that would reform drone policy and hand more authority over to states.
More details in our full story.
New York governor demands action on mystery drones after airfield shut down
White House has said threats from drones are ‘not credible’ and most sightings are likely just regular aircraft
Don Jr. offers ‘endorsement’ to Democrats planning to skip Trump’s inauguration
Donald Trump Jr. doesn’t seem too concerned more than a dozen Democrats are reportedly planning to skip Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration in January.
“Apparently a large group of Democrat legislators plan to boycott my father’s inauguration, which is great as it will make room for a lot more actual patriots to attend,” the president-elect’s son wrote on X on Saturday. “They have my complete and total endorsement to stay at home.”
Nancy Pelosi hospitalized after ‘hard fall'
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has undergone a hip replacement procedure after being hospitalized in Luxembourg on Friday following a fall.
Pelosi, 84, was traveling with the congressional delegation for the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge – the last major German offensive during the Second World War – when she fell.
Her spokesperson, Ian Krager, said in a statement:“Earlier this morning, Speaker Emerita Pelosi underwent a successful hip replacement and is well on the mend.
“Speaker Pelosi is grateful to U.S. military staff at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center at Landstuhl Army Base and medical staff at Hospital Kirchberg in Luxembourg for their excellent care and kindness.
Ariana Baio has the details.
Nancy Pelosi undergoes hip replacement after fall during trip to Europe
Former House speaker was in Luxembourg when she fell
Trump wants to privatize U.S. Postal Service
Donald Trump is seeking to potentially privatize the U.S. Postal Service once he takes office, according to The Washington Post, with the president-elect reportedly dismayed over the carrier’s financial losses.
“The government is slow, slow, slow — decades slow on adopting new ways of doing things, and there’s a lot of [other] carrier services that became legal in the ’70s that are doing things so much better with increased volumes and reduced costs,” said Casey Mulligan, a former top economist in the first Trump administration, told the paper. “We didn’t finish the job in the first term, but we should finish it now.”
During his previous term, the president publicly feuded with the postal carrier over rates and labor questions and repeatedly raised questions over the sanctity of mail-in ballots.
U.S. in contact with Syrian rebels who overthrew Assad
The U.S. has been in direct contact with the Syrian rebel group that overthrew the regime of dictator Bashar Assad, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed on Saturday.
The group, former al-Qaida affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), has been designated a foreign terror group by the U.S. since 2018.
“Yes, we have been in contact with HTS and with other parties,” Blinken said in Jordan on Saturday, adding, “our message to the Syrian people is this: We want them to succeed and we’re prepared to help them do so.”
New York governor hammers Biden on drones: ‘This has gone too far'
New York Governor Kathy Hochul is calling on Washington to do more about the mysterious drones and aircraft spotted in recent weeks above the Northeast.
The governor said in a statement on Saturday on X drone activity prompted officials to shut down Stewart Airfield in New Windsor for about an hour.
“This has gone too far,” Hochul said in the statement, calling on Congress to pass the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act, a bill that would reform drone policy and hand more authority over to states.
“Until those powers are granted to state and local officials, the Biden Administration must step in by directing additional federal law enforcement to New York and the surrounding region to ensure the safety of our criitcal infrastructure and our people,” Hochul added.
Trump immigration plans could cut 3.3m workers from temporary authorization
Employers are worried Donald Trump’s immigration agenda could cut the workforce by millions of people if he follows through on slashing programs offering temporary work approval to immigrants in the country illegally or whose visas have expired.
The programs cover as many as 3.3 million people, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
“Though the numbers are small, these individuals play a key role in the success of a company like ours,” Nate Koetje, chief executive of an electrical contractor based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, told the Wall Street Journal on Saturday.
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