Trump has ‘great meeting’ with DC mayor ahead of inauguration and suggests Canada could become 51st state: Live
Incoming president planning swearing-in ceremony for January 20 and continuing to float idea of merging North American neighbor into United States
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has met with Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to plan for his inauguration on January 20.
Mayor Bowser wrote on X that she had a “great meeting” with the president-elect and hoped they would find “common ground” after clashing in the past over the policing of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in D.C. in response to the killing of George Floyd in summer 2020 and then the Capitol riot six months later.
Trump is meanwhile continuing to circulate articles from right-wing media on his Truth Social feed hinting at the prospect of the United States entering merger talks with Canada about it becoming America’s 51st state, capitalizing on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s rocky end to the year.
The idea was also entertained on Fox News on Monday when Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary expressed his enthusiasm for the idea in conversation with Trump’s former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.
The president-elect has also sought to revive talk about his acquiring Greenland from Denmark in recent days.
Congress will reconvene on Friday after the New Year’s celebrations, when House Speaker Mike Johnson is up for re-election — and appears to be short of support.
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What are H-1B visas and what has Trump said about them in the past?
As Trump returns to the White House, and Putin’s forces advance – what next for Ukraine in 2025?
Full story: Elon Musk changed his X handle to Kekius Maximus. What does it mean?
Right-wing billionaire Elon Musk has changed his name to “Kekius Maximus” on X, the social media platform he owns, signaling support for a type of cryptocurrency.
The world’s richest man also updated his profile photo to an edited picture of “Pepe the Frog,” a meme that has been co-opted by hate groups.
Katie Hawkinson has more:
Musk changes X handle to Kekius Maximus. What does it mean?
The world’s richest man’s new handle and avatar appear to refer to a cryptocurrency – but they both include references previously co-opted by the far right
ICYMI: Trump hires ‘garbage truck’ campaign staffer reportedly involved in Arlington National Cemetery event
Justin Caporale — one of the Trump campaign staffers who reportedly verbally abused staff at Arlington National Cemetery this summer — has been hired by the president-elect for his “external operation” as “Executive Producer for Major Events and Public Appearances.”
Caporale “has been with me right from the beginning of a very incredible journey, helping to produce our Historic Rallies and Events, including the Republican National Convention, Madison Square Garden, McDonalds commercial, and even my seriously viral ‘Garbage Truck ride,’” Trump announced Tuesday.
“Once he finishes what will be our magnificent Inauguration presentation, Justin will continue to serve my external operation as Executive Producer for Major Events and Public Appearances,” Trump added. “Congratulations Justin. Keep up the GREAT work!”
A bromance for the ages: The timeline of Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s tumultuous relationship
With rumors swirling of a potential end to the honeymoon period between Trump and Musk — sources report that Trump is already becoming “annoyed” with his wealthy friend — Mike Bedigan takes a look back at their often tumultuous relationship:
A timeline of Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s tumultuous relationship
Though the tech billionaire has quickly risen to the (self-titled) position of ‘first buddy,’ the relationship between two of the world’s most powerful men has not always been roses writes Mike Bedigan
Donald Jr isn’t excited about New Year’s Eve at Mar-a-Lago
Happy birthday Donald Trump Jr? The president-elect’s oldest son said ringing in the New Year at his father’s Mar-a-Lago compound will be “a little rough.”
“My birthday is New Year’s Eve,” he said on his Triggered podcast this week. “I get older ... I was a kid, New Year’s Eve was a lot better because it was like, there’s always something to do. There’s always a party.”
Now, he says, “it’s sort of like amateur night.”
“I get to be around a thousand drunk people giving me their political opinions that I don’t necessarily want to hear,” he said. “While I love Mar-a-Lago, it’s sort of like, you know, the, you know, by about midnight when everyone’s like, you know, 12 beers deep or whatever it is they’re drinking, you know, the close talking opinions.”
Is the honeymoon over? Trump is reportedly growing annoying with his ‘first buddy’ Elon Musk
Trump is allegedly “100 percent” annoyed with Elon Musk and the ubiquity and media attention that follows the world’s wealthiest man.
“There’s a Chinese saying,” one person close to the president’s campaign said, “‘two tigers cannot live on one mountaintop.’”
Honeymoon over? Trump is reportedly ‘annoyed’ by best buddy Elon Musk’s antics
Trump’s alleged frustration with the world’s richest person arrives as Musk publicly feuds with MAGA allies over H1B visas
Chief Justice John Roberts condemns political violence and threats to defy court rulings in year-end report
In his annual year-end report, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts condemned the “illegitimate activity” aimed at undermining the independence of the judiciary.
The court — which has faced an avalanche of criticism for rulings that threaten federal agencies, upended reproductive healthcare access and got Trump off the hook for criminal charges — is under intense scrutiny as Trump enters office with a 6-3 conservative majority on the bench.
Roberts says the number of violent threats facing the judiciary has more than tripled over the last decade.
“These tragic events highlight the vulnerability of judges who sign their names to the decisions they render each day and return home each night to communities, where they remain involved as neighbors, volunteers, and concerned citizens,” Roberts said.
He said violence, intimidation, disinformation and threats to defy court judgments “undermine our Republic, and are wholly unacceptable.”
ICYMI: Trump loses appeal of E Jean Carroll verdict finding him liable for sexual abuse and defamation
A federal appeals court upheld a ruling against Donald Trump after he challenged a jury’s verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming a former magazine writer.
What you need to know about E. Jean Carroll’s case against the former president, and what’s next:
Appeals court upholds Trump verdict for sexual abuse and defamation
A jury awarded the former Elle columnist $5m in her first defamation trial against the former president
Flashback: Trump’s Medicare pick Dr. Oz once said uninsured have no ‘right to health’
TV doctor Mehmet Oz, Trump’s nominee to lead the agencies overseeing federal healthcare programs, once said uninsured Americans have “no right to health,” in 10-year-old remarks that have resurfaced since his nomination to the incoming administration.
During a 2013 address to the National Governor’s Association, Oz told attendees that uninsured people should be given “a way of crawling back out of the abyss of darkness, of fear, over not having the health they need” in a “festival-like setting” with physicians.
“Because they don’t have the right to health, but they have the right to access a chance to get that health,” he added.
Trump’s Medicare pick Dr. Oz once said uninsured have no ‘right to health’
The TV personality has repeatedly peddled dubious medical claims
Kremlin supporters tout Trump takeover threats as aiding Putin’s expansionist goals
Trump’s expansionist rhetoric has worried allies but elated enemies, with Russians viewing the president-elect’s recent statements as evidence that Trump isn’t opposed to foreign wars of conquest, as is the Kremlin, despite what he has otherwise stated.
Gustaf Kilander reports from Washington, D.C.:
Kremlin supporters tout Trump takeover threats as aiding Putin’s expansionist goals
By talking of making Canada the 51st state, “Trump is basically saying, ‘Russians, you can take the Baltics,’” said TV host
GOP congressman who won’t vote for Johnson: House Speaker ‘will lose us the majority in 2026’ if he stays on
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie is so far the only GOP representative who is vocally not supporting Mike Johnson as House Speaker for another term.
With the GOP’s extremely slim majority in the House, Johnson can only afford to peel off one vote from his own caucus to survive.
After House Speaker Newt Gingrich asked why Republican lawmakers are willing to fight it out rather than coalesce around Trump’s pick, Massie wrote a lengthy post in response: “Challenge accepted.”
Massie argues Johnson can’t inspire the public or make the GOP’s case to the press, will cost the party the majority in midterm elections in 2026, only won the title by “being the least objectionable candidate” at the time, and “routinely” passes legislation with Democratic support.
“In closing, the emperor has no clothes and the entire conference knows it but few will say it. The general public knows it too. Please don’t shoot the messengers,” Massie wrote.
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