Leaders at Apec summit in Peru, with Biden intending to urge ‘stability, clarity and predictability’ through transition
Joe Biden will meet with Xi Jinping Saturday afternoon in what is expected to be the last time the two leaders meet before Donald Trump assumes the US presidency in January.
The two leaders are attending the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Peru and are expected to have a meeting on the sidelines of the summit.
Continue reading...Some of his other nominees – Matt Gaetz for AG and Peter Hegseth for defense head – were also condemned
Democratic lawmakers are slamming Donald Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, saying their former House colleague is a vocal supporter of Russia who poses a threat to US national intelligence.
Jason Crow, a House Democrat from Colorado and a member of the House intelligence committee, told NBC News that he has “deep questions about where her loyalties lie”.
Continue reading...Allan Lichtman’s forecast model was meant to be foolproof. He explains to David Smith what was different this time
Surely not even Nostradamus could get it right all of the time.
Allan Lichtman had correctly forecast the result of nine of the past 10 US presidential elections (and even the one he didn’t, in 2000, he insists was stolen from Al Gore). His predictive model of “13 keys” to the White House was emulated around the world and seemed all but indestructible.
Continue reading...Democrats from California to Illinois prepare to ‘Trump-proof’ and ‘fight to death’ against his extreme proposals
After the November elections ushered in a new era of unified Republican governance in Washington, Democratic leaders across the country are once again preparing to lead the resistance to Donald Trump’s second-term agenda.
California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, said he would convene a special legislative session next month to “safeguard California values and fundamental rights”.
Continue reading...Leavitt served as the national press secretary on Trump’s campaign and assistant press secretary during his first administration
Donald Trump named his White House press secretary on Friday, placing Karoline Leavitt, a 27-year-old firebrand from his inner circle, in position to aggressively defend him.
The job of the White House press secretary typically is to help inform the American people about presidential activities without betraying the confidence of the boss.
Continue reading...FBI investigating anti-migrant and anti-gay texts that follow messages sent to Black people after Trump election win
Racist text messages targeting Black people across the US just hours after Donald Trump won a second presidency have now expanded to the Hispanic communities – and homophobic versions have been aimed at LGBTQ+ people, the FBI said on Friday.
Authorities say they are investigating the messages – which now include emails – and that they have not received reports of violent acts stemming from the hateful messages.
Continue reading...Bypassing the standard procedure comes as president-elect’s choices of RFK Jr and Matt Gaetz send shockwaves
Donald Trump’s transition team has bypassed standard background checks by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on some of his controversial cabinet nominees, it has been reported, minimising the chances of them being rejected for Senate confirmation based on any past transgressions or conflicts of interest.
Such background checks – a longstanding tradition for incoming presidential nominations dating back decades to the early cold war – have instead been outsourced to private investigators.
Continue reading...Leavitt was Trump campaign’s national press secretary and assistant press secretary in first administration. This blog is now closed.
Republicans are set to take control of the Senate next year, where one of their first jobs will be to confirm Donald Trump’s nominees for cabinet posts. Should they object to the president-elect’s picks, he has threatened to make use of recess appointments, an archaic tactic that would allow him to circumvent the chamber and its objectors. Here’s more on how that would work, from the Guardian’s Joan E Greve:
Several Republican senators expressed shock on Wednesday when Donald Trump announced he would nominate Matt Gaetz, the hard-right congressman known for instigating fights with members of his own party, as attorney general.
Continue reading...Administration picks Todd Blanche and Emil Bove defended president-elect in New York hush-money case
Donald Trump has tapped three of his personal criminal defense lawyers for top roles at the Department of Justice, underscoring how the president-elect is shaping the nation’s top law enforcement agency to serve his interests.
Trump announced on Thursday he was nominating Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, to be the US deputy attorney general and the principal associate deputy attorney general respectively. Bove will serve as the acting deputy attorney general while Blanche is awaiting confirmation to the second-highest role in the justice department.
Continue reading...Experts concerned over the Fox & Friends host, his Christian nationalist ideology and militant language
Extremism experts are sounding the alarm about Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, whose writings and online presence reveal someone immersed in a culture of rightwing Christianity, political extremism and violent ideation.
The Fox & Friends host, who has served in the US army but has no experience in government, drew shock from Pentagon officials when Trump nominated him. Hegseth’s books on American culture and the military, his commentary on Fox and his frequent posts on social media showcase his far-right ideology. On these platforms, Hegseth telegraphs paranoia and anger toward “leftists”, an ultra-masculine Maga persona and apparent revulsion toward service members who do not fit his vision – including women.
Continue reading...West Side Story actor soon to take on iconic Disney role backs down after re-election response led to backlash
The West Side Story and Snow White actor Rachel Zegler has apologised after criticising Donald Trump and his supporters.
The 23-year-old, currently starring in Broadway’s re-imagined Romeo + Juliet, had posted a lengthy response to the re-election of Trump and the “four years of hatred” he would bring about in America.
Continue reading...World’s richest man solicits applications for ‘tedious work’ in newly formed Department of Government Efficiency
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are asking Americans who are “high-IQ small-government revolutionaries” and willing to work over 80 hours a week to join their new Department of Government Efficiency – at zero pay.
In a new X post on Thursday that doubled as a job announcement and another one of Musk’s trolling attempts, the account for the newly formed Doge wrote: “We don’t need more part-time idea generators. We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.”
Continue reading...Dismay as president-elect picks Matt Gaetz as attorney general and Tulsi Gabbard and Pete Hegseth for key roles
Fears that Donald Trump’s second presidency will be more extreme than his first have intensified amid a flurry of senior nominations that opponents have criticised as going from bad to worse.
Dismay over some of the president-elect’s early picks escalated to outrage after the far-right Florida congressman Matt Gaetz was unveiled as his selection to be attorney general – a position Trump has previously said he views as the most important in his administration.
Continue reading...A scion of Democratic dynasty, RFK Jr is known for embrace of anti-vaccine beliefs and other conspiracy theories
Donald Trump announced on Thursday he will nominate former independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr as the US secretary of health and human services (HHS) in his administration.
Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist, will be a contentious pick to lead the US health department, and the role will need to be confirmed by the Senate.
Continue reading...Massachusetts senator now joins Bernie Sanders in endorsing joint resolution of disapproval against Joe Biden
Elizabeth Warren, a leading progressive voice in the US Senate, has denounced the Biden administration’s failure to punish Israel over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and endorsed a joint resolution of disapproval in Congress.
The amount of aid reaching the territory has dropped to the lowest level in 11 months, official Israeli figures show. The White House last month gave Israel an ultimatum of 30 days to improve conditions or risk losing military support. As the deadline expired on Tuesday, international aid groups said Israel had fallen far short.
But the US state department announced it would not take any punitive action, insisting that Israel was making limited progress and was not blocking aid and therefore not violating US law. Warren condemned the Biden administration’s decision to continue supplying arms to its ally.
Pick needs Senate confirmation and could spark controversy among Trump’s Republican allies, given Kennedy’s anti-vaccine stance and conspiracy theories
An independent central bank is “fundamental” to getting good economic outcomes, a senior Federal Reserve official said on Thursday, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The Fed has a dual mandate from Congress to act independently to tackle both inflation and unemployment – primarily by raising and lowering interest rates. Anything that undermines the Fed’s independence could spook traders in the financial markets, who might come to question if it could effectively tackle inflation over the longer term.
Continue reading...Course set to be taught by controversial British ‘anti-woke’ media commentator Andrew Doyle
New College of Florida reinstated a course on “wokeness” taught by controversial British media personality and culture warrior Andrew Doyle to its catalog, after appearing to remove it from an earlier version, amid an ongoing furore over the university’s transformation into a more conservative institution.
The course was also restored to an internal enrollment system but without Doyle’s name attached, according to students with access to the system. The moves followed criticism of the course online and local media reports on Tuesday night.
Continue reading...In new memoir Citizen, Clinton acknowledges he has not directly apologized to Lewinsky over White House affair
Bill Clinton, the former US president, has written of his “frustration” at being questioned about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky while acknowledging that he has never apologized to her directly.
Clinton became embroiled in one of the biggest political scandals in history when it emerged in 1998 that he had a sexual relationship with the then 22-year-old Lewinsky. The president, who initially lied before apologizing, was impeached by the House of Representatives but acquitted by the Senate.
Continue reading...Far-right Florida congressman to get top justice job; former Democrat Gabbard frequently appeared with Trump on the campaign trail
Mehdi Hasan writes for the Guardian today, asking “Is Donald Trump a foreign policy dove?”
You can read it here …
Everything about men and women serving together makes the situation more complicated, and complication in combat, that means casualties are worse.
Continue reading...Trump has chosen loyalists and hardliners to lead departments that will shape US policy on immigration, defense and more
Donald Trump may have won a second term in the White House just last week, but his recent administration appointments have already heightened fears among some who believe his return to the White House will lead to an extremist agenda.
On immigration, Trump has chosen loyalists and hardliners: Stephen Miller will serve as deputy chief of staff for policy and Department of Homeland Security adviser; Tom Homan as “border czar”, and Kristi Noem, the South Dakota governor, will lead the Department of Homeland Security.
Continue reading...