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Trump to attend Army-Navy game with key allies and cabinet picks as he vows to scrap daylight savings: Live

Donald Trump and JD Vance to watch 125th Army-Navy college football game with reported guests Pete Hegseth, Ron DeSantis, and Daniel Penny in Maryland at 3 p.m. Eastern time

Joe Sommerlad,Ariana Baio,Gustaf Kilander
Saturday 14 December 2024 17:26 GMT
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Donald Trump makes joke about ‘taking on’ the media while accepting Time Magazine Award

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US President-elect Donald Trump will attend the Army-Navy football game today alongside a collection of allies, cabinet picks, and controversial figures.

JD Vance, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, Elon Musk, Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, and Daniel Penny will reportedly join Trump.

Penny was recently acquitted of a homicide charge over a 2023 incident in which he put a homeless man who was yelling at passengers into a chokehold for nearly six minutes, killing him. Penny has become a cause célèbre on the right since.

Penny is not the only controversial guest. Hegseth has faced accusations of rape and alcohol abuse, which he denies.

The 3 p.m. ET matchup at Northwest Field in Landover, Maryland, is the 125th iteration of the famous college football rivalry between the military service academies.

Meanwhile, Trump has vowed to scrap Daylight Saving Time (DST) and is reportedly considering scrapping a car crash reporting requirement that Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk strongly opposes.

And officials across the East Coast are expressing frustration over continued mysterious drone spottings in the airspace above New Jersey.

Americans don’t have high confidence in Trump’s cabinet choices or managing government spending, new poll finds

More than half of Americans are not confident in Trump’s abilities to appoint well-qualified people to his cabinet or manage government spending effectively, despite recently electing him to lead the United States, according to a new poll.

Just 44 percent of US adults reported feeling “very” or even “moderately” confident that Trump will appoint well-qualified individuals for cabinet or high-level government positions.

The new results from the Associated Press and NORC arrive as the president-elect has selected a group of controversial individuals to serve in his cabinet and other high-level positions including former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, ex-congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and erstwhile presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr, among others.

Those three nominations are particularly expected to face an uphill battle during Senate confirmations.

And the American electorate aren’t fans either.

Hegseth, Gabbard and Kennedy all face low approval ratings from those surveyed.

Ariana Baio has more on the survey’s findings.

Americans don’t have high confidence in Trump’s cabinet choices new poll finds

Just 3 in 10 Americans feel confident Trump will appoint qualified people to his cabinet, effectively manage a government budget and successfully oversee military endeavors

Joe Sommerlad13 December 2024 16:30

Trump border czar threatens to jail Chicago mayor

What a charming Christmas setting for this brutal threat against an elected official.

Joe Sommerlad13 December 2024 16:15

Democrats warn Trump dragging America back to the bad old days

Hillary Clinton says the president-elect’s interest in abolishing financial regulators will bring back bank runs of the sort seen in Frank Capra’s film It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) while Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren says RFK Jr’s confirmation as health secretary would mean saying “hello to polio”.

Trump himself is certainly nostalgic for an older America, relishing comparisons between himself and Al Capone and threatening a new Wall Street Crash whenever things aren’t going his way.

Maybe we’ll at least get a Charleston revival out of all of this.

Joe Sommerlad13 December 2024 15:55

JD Vance taking Daniel Penny to Army-Navy game tomorrow

The Vice President-elect will be accompanied by the Marine Corps veteran acquitted earlier this week over the chokehold death of homeless man Jordan Neely on the New York City subway in May 2023.

Penny’s case became something of a conservative cause celebre last year and his invitation to join Trump and Vance in their suite for the traditonal college football encounter in Maryland might well be interpreted as a provocation by liberals.

Joe Sommerlad13 December 2024 15:35

Xi Jinping reportedly snubs Trump’s inauguration invite

China’s president has snubbed the president-elect’s invitate to his inauguration, according to reports.

Xi was invited to Trump’s second inauguration on January 20 but sources confirmed the leader would not be attending, CNN reports.

The offer was an unorthodox move from Trump, who said he had been “thinking about inviting certain people to the inauguration” during his appearance at the New York Stock Exchange yesterday.

“And some people said, ‘Wow, that’s a little risky, isn’t it?’” the Republican said.

“And I said, ‘Maybe it is. We’ll see. We’ll see what happens.’ But we like to take little chances.”

Here’s more from Rhian Lubin.

Joe Sommerlad13 December 2024 15:15

Matt Gaetz may take second job after failed AG bid

Having dropped out of the running for attorney general and taken a job with the right-wing cable channel One America News, the controverisal Republican has reportedly been talking with John Morgan, the founder of law firm Morgan & Morgan about a potential second new job.

"Matt has some big ideas that he believes he could work in collaboration with our firm," Morgan told The Daily Business Review on Thursday.

He added that Gaetz’s connections in Washington could be helpful for cases involving the “insurance industry, pharmaceutical companies and the processed food and sugar crowd”.

Ariana Baio has the details.

Matt Gaetz reportedly may take on a second job after failed AG bid

Gaetz is already slated to host his own primetime show on the conservative One America News Network

Joe Sommerlad13 December 2024 14:55

Analysis: Washington begins to make way for Trumpworld

If Joe Biden is going to do anything to define the last weeks of his presidency and to cement his overall legacy, it will now have to take place through Executive Branch action as the capital locks into preparing the ground for his successor, writes John Bowden.

Washington has begun to make way for Trumpworld

If Biden is going to do anything to define the last weeks of his presidency, and to cement his overall legacy, it will now have to be through Executive Branch action, writes John Bowden

Joe Sommerlad13 December 2024 14:35

Jack Schlossberg accuses cousin, RFK Jr, of being a ‘Russian spy’

The grandson of John F Kennedy has claimed his cousin, Robert F Kennedy Jr, who recently became intertwined with Trump, is a “Russian spy”.

Schlossberg, a 31-year-old Democrat, has for months mocked Kennedy, a 70-year-old Democrat-turned-independent, for his political involvement with Trump and insinuated he has ties to Moscow.

But on Wednesday, Schlossberg claimed Kennedy is “so obviously a Russian spy” in response to an Axios article that alleged Kennedy wants his daughter-in-law to be part of the CIA to uncover the truth behind JFK’s assassination.

“You all think I’m joking,” Schlossberg wrote in his post before adding four “ha”s.

Here’s more from Ariana Baio.

JFK’s grandson Jack Schlossberg accuses cousin, RFK Jr, of being a ‘Russian spy’

Schlossberg, the grandson of former president John F. Kennedy, insinuated his cousin had ties to Moscow in social media posts

Joe Sommerlad13 December 2024 14:15

Who is Don Jr’s rumored new girlfriend Bettina Anderson?

Donald Trump Jr, the eldest son of the president-elect, has been spotted holding hands with Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson, though he has not publicly called off his engagement to former political commentator and future US ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle.

Trump Jr, 46, attended Anderson’s 38th birthday party in Palm Beach, Florida, earlier this week and photos published by The Daily Mail captured them in an unguarded moment.

Here’s Ariana Baio with everything we know about Anderson amid the rumors.

Who is Don Jr’s rumored new girlfriend Bettina Anderson?

Eldest Trump son was photographed holding hands with Anderson recently

Joe Sommerlad13 December 2024 13:55

Trump discusses Melania’s plans for his next term

While she appeared with her husband as he rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, the former first lady was notably absent from the campaign trail this year, so much so that at one point missing persons posters and banners asking “Where’s Melania?” cropped up.

Her absence has sparked speculation over whether she wants to return to the White House this time around.

The president-elect addressed that question on Thursday.

Kelly Rissman has this on what he had to say.

Trump provides update on Melania’s plans during his next term in Time interview

Last month insiders said that it was unlikely the former first lady would return to the White House for Trump’s second term

Joe Sommerlad13 December 2024 13:35

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