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15 minutes ago

Trump names ‘Hollywood ambassadors’ as Biden expresses concern about state of democracy: Live updates

MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell sat down with Joe Biden for his final interview as president

Oliver O'Connell,Joe Sommerlad
Friday 17 January 2025 07:30 GMT
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President Joe Biden gives his farewell address to the nation

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President Joe Biden expressed concern over the state of American democracy in his final TV interview as commander-in-chief on Thursday night.

Biden kicked off his interview with MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell by revealing he is “concerned about how fragile democracy is.”

“That sounds corny,” Biden said. “But I mean, I really, really am concerned, because you’ve heard me say it 100 times, I really think we’re in an inflection point in history here. Where unrelated to any particular leader. Things are going to change drastically, and it occurs every five or six generations”

Biden also lamented the fact he “spent too much time on the policy, not enough time on the politics.”

“But it just seems, I know it sounds so stupid to say it, almost bad taste,” Biden said.

Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump named actors Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone, and Jon Voight as his “special ambassadors” to Hollywood on Thursday. calling it a “great but very troubled place.”

“They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

15 minutes ago

Was Mike Turner’s removal from the House Intelligence Committee to appease Trump?

House Speaker Mike Johnson removed Ohio Republican Mike Turner as chairman of the powerful House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) on Wednesday in response to a direct request from President-elect Donald Trump, according to a report.

Joe Sommerlad has the story.

Was Mike Turner removed from the House Intelligence Committee to appease Trump?

Speaker Mike Johnson has announced the Ohio Republican will no longer lead powerful investigatory panel, reportedly under pressure from the president-elect

Oliver O'Connell17 January 2025 07:30
1 hour ago

The Trump family reportedly doesn’t like Don Jr’s new girlfriend

The Trump family is reportedly not fond of Donald Trump Jr’s new girlfriend, 38-year-old social media influencer Bettina Anderson.

Seven anonymous friends of the Trump family spoke to Mediaite, saying they were concerned about the relationship between Trump Jr. and Anderson. The two went public at the start of 2025 after Trump Jr. split from Kimberly Guilfoyle.

Gustaf Kilander has the story.

The Trump family reportedly doesn’t like Don Jr’s new girlfriend

‘The idea that he might have the audacity to bring a casual partner on stage at the inauguration has been described as a potential misstep,’ family friend says

Oliver O'Connell17 January 2025 06:30
2 hours ago

Trump plans war on D.C. graffiti in bid to make city more ‘MAGA friendly'

Upon his return to the nation’s capital, Donald Trump met with the Washington, D.C. mayor — and groaned about the city’s graffiti.

The president-elect complained to Mayor Muriel Bowser when they met at Mar-a-Lago last month about the spray-painted walls he saw in a tunnel in D.C. in 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Kelly Rissman has the story.

Trump wants to get rid of graffiti in D.C. as he makes city more ‘MAGA friendly’

The president-elect once referred to the nation’s capital as ‘rat-infested’ and ‘graffiti-infested’

Oliver O'Connell17 January 2025 05:30
3 hours ago

Trump names and shames with White House blacklist for second administration

President-elect Donald Trump has named and shamed 11 people who are on the White House blacklist to serve in his administration.

The list includes some of Trump’s well known “enemies” who served in his first administration and have since spoken out about the dangers of a second Trump term, including John Bolton and Mike Pence.

In the rant, Trump called Nikki Haley a “birdbrain,” Liz Cheney a “psycho,” and accused those on the list of “suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

Rhian Lubin reports.

Trump names 11 people on his White House blacklist for second administration

The list includes some of Trump’s well known ‘enemies’ who served in his first administration

Oliver O'Connell17 January 2025 04:30
4 hours ago

Scowling Trump echoes mugshot in his official portrait

The official portraits of Donald Trump and JD Vance were released — and social media is already teasing the president-elect for using his Georgia mugshot as “inspiration.”

The Trump-Vance transition team released the official portraits Thursday, along with the caption: “And They Go Hard” followed by a flame emoji.

Kelly Rissman reports.

Scowling Trump echoes mugshot in his official portrait

The official portraits were released just days before Trump and Vance are sworn in on January 20

Oliver O'Connell17 January 2025 03:30
4 hours ago

Full story: Biden frets over fraying ‘guardrails,’ sad about failure to sell wins in final TV interview

In his final televised interview before he leaves office and closes the book on more than five decades in American politics, President Joe Biden expressed concern about the state of America’s democracy and lamented his failure to sell his administration’s accomplishments in a way that could have helped him retain enough public approval to have won a second term in the White House.

Read more:

Biden laments failure to sell accomplishments in final TV interview

President said he fears he ‘almost spent too much time on the policy, not enough time on the politics’

Andrew Feinberg17 January 2025 03:20
4 hours ago

President Biden says he did not discuss ceasefire plans with Trump

President Joe Biden told Lawrence O’Donnell he didn’t have discussions with President-elect Donald Trump regarding the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal announced this week.

“You have had the busiest last week as president than any president since Jimmy Carter. Both engaged in the same thing, a hostage release negotiation, which seems to have succeeded,” O’Donnell said. “Did you have any discussions about a ceasefire negotiation with President-elect Trump this week, or last week as the deal was coming to a close?”

“No,” Biden responded.

“Have you discussed it with him at all since the election?” O’Donnell asked.

“No,” Biden said. “Very, very briefly when he came in and I spent two hours with him to try to change the nature of the transfer of power, so it was done peacefully. And I told him what I was doing, what I thought could happen.”

“But what we did, we brought in the people who are going to be his national security people, we brought them in closer to tell them what was happening as we hand this off,” he continued.

Katie Hawkinson17 January 2025 03:12
4 hours ago

Biden laments how he ‘almost spent too much time on policy'

President Joe Biden lamented how he “almost spent too much time on policy” when MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell asked about his decision to keep his name off COVID-19 relief checks, unlike President-elect Donald Trump.

“Ironically, I almost spent too much time on the policy, not enough time on the politics,” Biden said. “Because, I mean, you know, you have some Senators in Congress, Democratic Senators in Congress saying, ‘Well, you know, Joe Biden did this, and this is done by so and so and so and so and this is the new, you know, built by the Democratic Party kind of thing.’ Let people know who was responsible for this happening.”

“But it just seems, I know it sounds so stupid to say it, almost bad taste,” he added.”

Katie Hawkinson17 January 2025 03:10
4 hours ago

President Biden warns about state of American democracy in final interview

President Joe Biden expressed concern about the state of democracy and politics in his final TV interview as commander-in-chief on Thursday night.

“I really am concerned about how fragile democracy is,” Biden told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell.

“That sounds corny,” he continued. “But I mean, I really, really am concerned, because you’ve heard me say it 100 times, I really think we’re in an inflection point in history here. Where unrelated to any particular leader. Things are going to change drastically, and it occurs every five or six generations. And it usually is generated by technology.”

Katie Hawkinson17 January 2025 03:04
4 hours ago

President Joe Biden’s final TV interview moments away

President Joe Biden’s final interview will air on MSNBC in just a few minutes.

Follow along for live updates from The Independent.

Katie Hawkinson17 January 2025 02:56

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