Trump says he wants to rename Gulf of Mexico and retake Panama Canal during press conference: Live
President-elect held baffling — at times 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 attacked President Joe Biden over the transition process and refused to rule out using military or economic coercion to take control of the Panama Canal and Greenland.
Trump further railed against windmills, electric heaters, water pressure and soap, Canada, dishwashers, and the legal cases against him. At one moment he said he wanted to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and then claimed Hezbollah might have been at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Meanwhile, his 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. Aileen Cannon, the judge in the former case, has temporarily blocked the release of that final report.
Further, Judge Juan Merchan refused Trump’s latest attempt to delay the sentencing over his hush money conviction — still scheduled for Friday.
This all came just a day after Congress formally recognized the president-elect’s 2024 election win over Kamala Harris.
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Ontario premier counters Trump’s Canada fantasy by offering to buy Alaska
Ontario Premier Doug Ford responded to Donald Trump’s repeated fantasy about incorporating Canada into the U.S. as a 51st state.
“I’ll make him a counteroffer. How about if we buy Alaska? We’ll throw in Minnesota, and Minneapolis at the same time…”
Hegseth’s Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing set for Jan. 14
The Senate Armed Services Committee has officially announced its confirmation hearing for President-elect Donald Trump's defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth for Tuesday, January 14 at 9:30am.
Missouri Republican Senator Roger Wicker will chair the hearing.
As Trump prepares to take office, US dockworkers threaten to strike over automation, threatening economy
Vowing to stop machines from taking their jobs, 45,000 U.S. longshoremen are threatening to go on a strike that would shut down ports on the East and Gulf coasts and could damage the American economy just as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.
If the standoff sounds familiar, it’s because the same dockworkers — members of the International Longshoremen’s Association — staged a three-day walkout last fall.
Continue reading...
US dockworkers threaten to strike against automation, creating economic uncertainty
Vowing to stop machines from taking their jobs, 45,000 U.S. longshoremen are threatening to go on a strike that would shut ports on the East and Gulf coasts and could damage the American economy just as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House
Trump says Greenland deal ‘must happen'
As his son, Don Jr, Charlie Kirk, and other “reps” arrive in Greenland, Donald Trump says of his wish to buy the Danish territory: “They, and the Free World, need safety, security, strength, and PEACE! This is a deal that must happen.”
James Blair, political director of the Trump 2024 Campaign and Republican National Committee, posted a picture of the smiling group in Nuuk.
Voices: ‘The last time I came to the Capitol I was tear-gassed. This was worse’
Four years after reporting from the attack on the US Capitol, Richard Hall returned to watch Trump’s election being certified by Congress and didn’t enjoy himself much more this time.
The last time I came to the Capitol I was tear-gassed. This time was even worse
Four years after reporting from the attack on the US Capitol, Richard Hall returns to watch Donald Trump’s election certified.
Liz Cheney weighs in on Jack Smith report
Former Republican Rep Liz Cheney, one of Donald Trump’s biggest foes for her work on the January 6 committee, has weighed in on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s final report into the president-elect’s role in the Capitol riot and the case that was brought against him.
Cheney implores Attorney General Merrick Garland to release the Justice Department’s report to prevent the destruction of evidence, emphasizing the danger Trump poses in suppressing the truth, and its implications for democratic principles going forward.
Here’s what she posted in full on X this morning:
While Donald Trump and Barry Loudermilk continue to spread malicious lies about the 1/6 Select Committee, Trump is trying yet again to hide evidence and suppress the truth. The Justice Department has obtained testimony and evidence from dozens of Trump’s former advisors and Vice President Pence showing the danger Trump poses. Now Trump is already doing what despots do— he is trying to conceal the truth and threatening to jail those who investigated him. The congressional report yesterday destroying Loudermilk’s fraudulent allegations shows the despicable malice behind Trump’s efforts. AG Garland now has a duty to release the Justice Department Report and prevent its evidence from being destroyed. The truth must prevail. The framers of our Constitution knew the lessons of history — that people led by men without character can quickly lose their freedom.
Susie Wiles expects no ‘drama’ in the West Wing as chief of staff
Donald Trump’s incoming White House chief of staff plans to take a no-nonsense unified approach to running the West Wing to prevent the mistakes of her boss’s first administration from plaguing his second.
Wiles, 67, is sometimes referred to as the “ice maiden” – a nickname Trump bestowed upon her due to her cool composition and ability to wrangle Trumpworld into an organized fashion.
She exercised that attitude in an exclusive interview with Axios about her plans for the White House.
“I don’t welcome people who want to work solo or be a star,” Wiles said via email.
“My team and I will not tolerate backbiting, second-guessing inappropriately, or drama. These are counterproductive to the mission.”
Wiles’s philosophy seems to take lessons learned from Trump’s first administration which saw unprecedented turnover and a culture of leaks.
Here’s more from Ariana Baio.
Susie Wiles expects no ‘drama’ in the West Wing when she takes over as chief of staff
Wiles, 67, has reportedly received the nickname ‘ice maiden’ from Donald Trump and served as his campaign co-chair in 2024
Don Jr arrives in Greenland as Trump dreams of buying Arctic territory
The president-elect’s son has reportedly landed in Nuuk this morning, according to Danish media, but can the Trumps seriously expect to buy the place?
It’s highly unlikely they can succeed and you may recall the former president’s attempts to buy the Arctic territory during his last term, which ended with a flat “no” that caused him to insult Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who remains in power in Copenhagen and will not have changed her mind in the interim.
However, as Steve Forbes points out this morning, the last time the US did acquire an overseas territory was the Virgin Islands in 1917 and the seller was… Denmark.
Forbes adds that paying cash for other countries is distinctly out of style a century later and suggests it would cost “tens of billions, if not hundreds of billions, of dollars”.
Trump could pardon nearly 1,600 January 6 rioters. Will he do it?
Donald Trump has said pardoning his supporters who took part in the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol four years ago will be one of the top priorities once he starts his new administration.
But how quickly will the pardons begin – and how far will Trump go?
Josh Marcus takes a closer look.
Trump could pardon nearly 1,600 January 6 rioters. Will he really do it?
Trump has suggested he might even pardon those who attacked police officers
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