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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Laura Loomer pushes Meta to put her on advisory board
Trump ally Laura Loomer suggested Meta should put her on its advisory board hours after the social media giant’s CEO announced it was scrapping fact-checkers.
Meta plans to ditch its fact-checkers and start using Community Notes, similar to X’s system, Mark Zuckerberg announced in a video Tuesday morning, citing the recent election, “politically biased” fact-checkers,” and “too much censorship” on social platforms.
Hours later, Loomer, a notorious far-right conspiracy theorist and vocal supporter of Trump, said she wants to be added to the tech company’s advisory board.
Kelly Rissman reports.
Laura Loomer pushes Meta to put her on board to prove it’s ‘serious’ about censorship
Hours earlier, Meta announced that it plans to ditch fact-checkers as part of an effort toward ‘restoring freedom of expression’ on Facebook and Instagram
Watch: Trump ducks question on pardoning Jan 6 rioters who attacked police
Shark Tank star says he wants to buy TikTok
Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary said he wants to buy TikTok but he needs President-elect Donald Trump’s help to pull off the deal.
O’Leary, dubbed the reality TV show’s “Mr Wonderful,” said he has joined with the People’s Bid for TikTok project’s Frank McCourt in the potential multi-billion dollar deal as the Chinese company behind the app awaits its fate in the U.S. later this month. The People’s Bid for TikTok is a group looking to purchase the popular platform and save it from a ban.
Rhian Lubin has the details.
Shark Tank star says he wants to buy TikTok - but needs Trump’s help
Kevin O’Leary said he has joined with the People’s Bid for TikTok, a group looking to buy the platform, in the potential multi-billion dollar deal
Watch: Trump says people don’t know if Denmark has any legal right to Greenland
New Melania documentary directed by disgraced Brett Ratner costing Amazon $40m
Amazon is paying a whopping $40 million to license an upcoming documentary about Melania Trump, directed by Brett Ratner, to stream on Prime Video in addition to a several-episode follow-up docuseries, according to a report.
On Sunday, Amazon confirmed the “behind the scenes” film on the incoming First Lady had started filming in December and is expected to be released in theaters and on Prime Video later this year.
Ratner, a director who retreated from Hollywood in 2018 amid the #MeToo movement after several women accused him of sexual misconduct, is directing the film. Melania is set to serve as an executive producer.
Ariana Baio has the details.
Amazon is paying $40 million to license Melania Trump film directed by Brett Ratner
Documentary will offer a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the incoming First Lady’s life
Marjorie Taylor Greene publishes ‘Gulf of America’ bill
Here it is...
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
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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.”
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