Trump says he wants to rename Gulf of Mexico and retake Panama Canal during press conference: Live
President-elect held baffling and alarming press event at Mar-a-Lago, wandering from topic to topic and threatening allied nations
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump gave a bizarre, rambling press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, bafflingly leaping from one topic to another.
Ostensibly arranged to announce new foreign investment in the US, the president-elect also refused to rule out using military or economic coercion to take control of the Panama Canal or Greenland; railed against windmills, electric heaters, Canada, dishwashers, and the legal cases against him; and said he would rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
Meanwhile, Trump’s lawyers are attempting to block the “imminent” release of a final report by Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith covering his classified documents and election interference cases against the president-elect.
Aileen Cannon, the judge in his classified documents case has temporarily blocked the release of the final report in that case.
Earlier, Trump pounced on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announcing his resignation to post on the same platform: “Many people in Canada LOVE being the 51st State... Together, what a great Nation it would be!!!”
That came after Congress formally recognized his November election win over Kamala Harris and Judge Juan Merchan refused Trump’s latest attempt to delay the sentencing over his hush money conviction, currently scheduled for Friday.
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ANALYSIS: Trump has a narrow window to advance his aggressive agenda — here’s who he’ll need on side
John Bowden writes:
We’re less than two weeks out from the initial sprint of the second Trump administration — and the incoming president is now seeking to push aside one of his biggest hurdles.
In the clearest sign yet that Donald Trump is serious about pursuing an aggressive legislative agenda in his first year in office, he is taking an active role in managing the future of the House Republican Conference. Where once he was at arm’s length of Republican congressional leadership, Trump has leaned into his role as leader of the GOP and now casts a long shadow over the House and Senate Republican conferences.
Read on...
Trump tries to wrangle right-wing hardliners to advance his aggressive agenda
Analysis: Trump is angling to dismantle the hurdles that sapped his first-term momentum by calling all corners of the GOP to him
Why does Trump want to buy Greenland?
President-elect Donald Trump has argued that the U.S. should buy Greenland since his first term in the White House.
The island, with 56,000 inhabitants, is an autonomous territory of Denmark, and both the Danish government and local authorities have repeatedly said that the island is not for sale.
But that hasn’t deterred the president-elect, as Gustaf Kilander reports.
Why does Donald Trump want to buy Greenland?
‘We are not for sale and will never be for sale,’ Greenland prime minister says
Kinzinger knocks ‘weak scared boy' Trump for only threatening US friends
Top Oversight Democrat says ‘public’s right to know is paramount’ regarding Trump classified documents report
Rep. Gerry Connolly, ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, issued the following statement after a judge temporarily blocked the release of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on President-elect Donald Trump’s mishandling of classified documents:
“By blocking the release of the Special Counsel’s report on Trump’s mishandling of classified documents to the American public erodes the integrity of our justice system and unduly shields President-elect Trump from accountability.
“House Republicans complain about a so-called ‘two-tier system of justice,’ but it is not lost upon anyone that the Department of Justice released in full—for all to see—Special Counsel Hur’s report on the classified documents recovered from President Biden. In stark contrast to President-elect Trump, President Biden cooperated completely and unhesitatingly with DOJ. DOJ must release its report on Trump’s mishandling of classified documents by January 20 so that the American people can understand the full extent of the President-elect’s unlawful possession of hundreds of the government’s most sensitive documents. The public’s right to know is paramount.”
Full story: Trump kicks off rambling press conference by airing grievances — then starts threatening U.S. allies
With less than two weeks until he’s once again ensconced in the Oval Office, Donald Trump opened his first press conference of 2025 in his usual style — with a laundry list of grievances against his political nemesis Joe Biden.
The former president turned president-elect had ostensibly called a small group of reporters from a hand-picked selection of news outlets to his Mar-a-Lago residence to announce a new $20 billion investment in American data centers by an Emirati billionaire, Hussain Sajwani.
But then, before the assembled press, any sense of focus or discipline went out the window as Trump rambled and weaved his way through topic after topic.
Andrew Feinberg reports on what was said.\
Trump kicks off 2025 with attacks on Biden — then threatens U.S. allies
Trump suggests he could use force — economic or military — to turn American allies into vassal states
Trump’s transition team wanted to bring on 2,000 staff. They’re falling short...
President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is falling short of its goal to have 2,000 political appointees on board by Inauguration Day, a new report reveals.
Trump’s team sent out several employment offers to political appointees on Monday in an effort to meet the goal — but they’re still falling short, CBS News reports, citing two sources familiar with the situation.
Katie Hawkinson reports.
Trump’s transition team wanted to bring on 2,000 staff. They’re falling short
Trump will take office in less than two weeks, but his team is still well short of its target of appointing 2,000 new staff
Full story: Trump loses last-ditch attempt to stop hush money sentencing
An appeals court judge has rejected Donald Trump’s last-ditch attempt to stop this week’s sentencing hearing in his hush money trial.
The president-elect has desperately fought to return to the White House with a clear record. But after his latest courtroom failures to overturn his conviction and sentence, Trump is set to enter office as the first criminally convicted president in U.S. history.
Moments after a brief hearing with Trump’s attorneys and Manhattan prosecutors on Tuesday, a New York state appellate court judge issued a one-page denial of the president-elect’s latest attempt to avoid his imminent court date.
Alex Woodward reports from New York.
Trump loses last-ditch attempt to stop hush money sentencing
New York appeals court rejects president-elect’s latest move to halt his imminent sentencing date
Harris will travel to Asia, Mideast and Europe during her final week in office
Vice President Kamala Harris plans to close out her term with an around-the-world trip making stops in Singapore, Bahrain and Germany, her office said.
The trip, which is scheduled to last from Jan. 13 to Jan. 17, will be a final opportunity for Harris to address U.S. foreign policy challenges before Donald Trump takes office. Second gentleman Doug Emhoff is expected to join the vice president.
Although she has not disclosed her next steps after losing the presidential election, the expansive travel suggests that Harris might want to continue playing a role on the global stage. There’s also speculation that Harris could run for governor of her home state of California.
Dean Lieberman, Harris’ deputy national security adviser, said in a written statement that “the vice president felt it important to spend some of her final days in office thanking and engaging directly with U.S. servicemembers deployed overseas, which as she has said, has been one of her greatest privileges as vice president.”
There are U.S. troops based at all three of Harris’ stops.
Read on for more details...
Harris will travel to Asia, Mideast and Europe during her final week in office
Vice President Kamala Harris plans to close out her term with an around-the-world trip
Watch: Trump wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico
Donald Trump says he will rename ‘Gulf of Mexico’ to ‘Gulf of America’
President-elect, Donald Trump claimed he plans to change the name of the 'Gulf of Mexico' to 'Gulf of America'. During an odd press conference on Tuesday, January 7th, 2024, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm beach, Trump said this, along with many other off-base comments. The newly elected United States President backed up his idea by stating "we do most of the work there" and claiming the Gulf is "ours". Other notable comments from Trump include calling The Panama Canal a "disgrace" and attacking Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for announcing his resignation.
What you need to know as Biden admin moves to scrub medical debt from credit reports
Unpaid medical bills will no longer appear on credit reports, where they can block people from mortgages, car loans or small business loans, according to a final rule announced Tuesday by the Biden administration.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CSPB) rule will remove $49 billion in medical debt from the credit reports of more than 15 million Americans, according to the bureau, which means lenders will no longer be able to take that into consideration when deciding to issue a loan.
Andrew Georgeson reports.
Biden admin moves to scrub medical debt from credit reports. What you need to know
Unpaid medical bills will no longer appear on credit reports, where they can block people from mortgages, car loans or small business loans
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