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Donald Trump isn’t loving the accusations that Elon Musk is the one really running the show in the Republican Party.
New Republic

Donald Trump dismissed the “President Musk” jokes Sunday, and it was less than convincing.

During his address at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona, the president-elect pushed back on claims that Musk planned to supplant him as president.

“No, he’s not gonna be president, that I can tell you,” Trump said. “And I’m safe, you know why? He can’t be, he wasn’t born in this country.”

But Trump carefully elided the actual criticism of Musk’s growing political influence. People aren’t worried that Musk is plotting to steal the presidency—they’re worried he already has.

Last week, Musk issued his own set of marching orders to Congress, ordering Republicans to oppose a massive spending bill to avert a government shutdown, or face being primaried by a Musk-backed candidate. Meanwhile, Trump stayed more or less silent, and Democratic leaders began to criticize the president-elect for allowing Musk to lead his party.
Trump can’t reverse commutations of 37 people but says US will be ‘Nation of Law and Order’ when he is inaugurated
Edward Helmore

Donald Trump has said he will direct the justice department to “vigorously” pursue the death penalty for the perpetrators of violent crimes, one day after Joe Biden commuted the death sentences of most prisoners on the federal government’s death row.

In a post on Truth Social, the president-elect said as soon as he is inaugurated next month, he “will direct the Justice Department to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters”.

“We will be a Nation of Law and Order again!” Trump added.

Trump will not be able to reverse Biden’s recent commutations, which extended to 37 federal death row prisoners but left three capital sentences intact. Those three are for Robert Bowers, convicted for the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue; Dylann Roof, convicted of the shooting at the Mother Emanuel AME church; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted for the Boston Marathon bombing.
By Nate Raymond and Dan Burns

Dec 23 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday vetoed, opens new tab legislation to add 66 new judges to understaffed federal courts nationally, a once widely bipartisan measure that would have been the first major expansion of the federal judiciary since 1990.

The JUDGES Act, initially supported by many members of both parties, would have increased the number of trial court judges in 25 federal district courts in 13 states including California, Florida and Texas, in six waves every two years through 2035.

Hundreds of judges appointed by presidents of both parties took the rare step of publicly advocating for the bill, saying federal caseloads have increased by more than 30% since Congress last passed legislation to comprehensively expand the judiciary.

But the outgoing Democratic president made good on a veto threat issued two days before the bill passed the Republican-led House of Representatives on Dec. 12 on a 236-173 vote.
Story by Will Oremus, Naomi Nix

When veteran newsmen L. Gordon Crovitz and Steven Brill started their news site rating company, they were prepared for the inevitable cries of bias from both sides.

What they didn’t anticipate was that NewsGuard, their company of some 50 employees, would become the target of congressional investigations and accusations from federal regulators that it was at the vanguard of a vast conspiracy to censor conservative views.

Since 2018, NewsGuard has built a business offering advertisers nonpartisan assessments of online publishers — backed by a team of journalists who assess which sites are reputable and which can’t be trusted. It uses a slate of nine standard criteria, such as whether a site corrects errors or discloses its ownership and financing, to produce a zero to 100 percent rating.

Crovitz, a former publisher of the Wall Street Journal and a Republican, and Brill, a left-tending independent who founded Court TV and the American Lawyer magazine, engaged with publishers wanting to understand subpar ratings, sometimes wrangling for hours by phone over the details of a site’s correction policy.

But conservatives now question the company’s premise. Brendan Carr, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Communications Commission, accused the company of facilitating a “censorship cartel,” in a November letter to leading tech platforms. Noting that key legal protections depend on tech executives operating “in good faith,” Carr continued: “It is in this context that I am writing to obtain information about your work with one specific organization — the Orwellian named NewsGuard.”
By WILL WEISSERT and DARLENE SUPERVILLE

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday announced that he is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump, an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office.

The move spares the lives of people convicted in killings, including the slayings of police and military officers, people on federal land and those involved in deadly bank robberies or drug deals, as well as the killings of guards or prisoners in federal facilities.

It means just three federal inmates continue to face execution. They are Dylann Roof, who carried out the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of life Synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S history.

“I’ve dedicated my career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system,” Biden said in a statement. “Today, I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole. These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.”
A 37-page report detailed the findings from a yearslong investigation into allegations that Mr. Gaetz engaged in a range of illegal conduct. He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
By Michael S. Schmidt

After a yearslong investigation, the House Ethics Committee released a 37-page report on Monday into former Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, and allegations that he engaged in an array of illegal and untoward conduct, including having sex with a 17-year-old girl.

Mr. Gaetz, who had been President-elect Donald J. Trump’s first choice to be attorney general before Mr. Gaetz withdrew from consideration, has repeatedly denied he did anything wrong.

Here are takeaways from the report.

The report says the evidence shows Mr. Gaetz engaged in a range of questionable conduct, some of it illegal.

The committee concluded that Mr. Gaetz regularly paid women to have sex with him for money from 2017 to 2020 and had sex with an underage girl in 2017, during his first term in the House, and that the girl was paid.

The report says that Mr. Gaetz used illegal drugs — including cocaine and Ecstasy — on multiple occasions between 2017 and 2019. It also says that he accepted gifts of transportation and lodging, in excess of dollar limits on what members of Congress are allowed to accept, as part of a trip he took to the Bahamas where he had sex with women whom he paid.
Story by Sean O'Driscoll

What's New
President-elect Donald Trump has started a quarrel with Panama over the fees it's charging American ships to use the Panama Canal, while the Trump Organization is fighting a court case over taxes in the central American country.

What to Know
In June 2019, the owners of a Panama City hotel that was managed by Trump's businesses, and carried the Trump brand, accused two companies, Trump Panama Hotel Management LLC and and Trump International Hotels Management LLC, of not paying taxes on their Panamanian earnings.

In a filing to the U.S. district court in New York, private equity manager Orestes Fintiklis and his company, Ithaca Capital Partners, alleged that the Trump businesses failed to pay 12.5% taxes on the millions of dollars they earned from managing the Panama City hotel. They also alleged that the Trump units failed to correctly report the number of people the hotel employed so that he could avoid Panamanian social security payments.

The filing documented how the Panamanian government later conducted a tax audit on the hotel and found major irregularities. Fintiklis and his company were forced to pay the money Trump owed, the court filing alleged.
Opinion by Charlie Dent

Former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz has just received a very unwelcome Christmas present with the release of the House Ethics Committee report.

A few weeks ago, the committee voted not to release the draft report along partisan lines. But the about-face is a welcome decision, highlighting that lawmakers are taking their accountability role seriously. Clearly, at least one Republican member of the evenly divided 10-member House Ethics Committee voted with Democrats to release the report.

As both lawmakers and journalists rush to read and reread the committee’s findings, we can expect more than a little schadenfreude. Gaetz is disliked by politicians on both sides of the aisle, and his many detractors will no doubt place the report at the top of their Christmas reading lists. “'Twas the Night Before Christmas” will have to wait.

The report found that while Gaetz was a member of Congress, he purchased and used illegal drugs and “regularly paid” multiple women for sex. “In 2017,” the committee says, “Representative Gaetz engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl.” The committee concluded that there was “substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, acceptance of impermissible gifts, the provision of special favors and privileges, and obstruction of Congress.”
Tom Boggioni

Early Saturday morning, Senate Democrats released the results of an investigation that alleges that Justice Clarence Thomas once again failed to disclose trips paid for by one of his billionaire benefactors.

According to a report from the Washington Post's Justin Jouvenal, a 20-month investigation conducted by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee turned up previously undisclosed Thomas jet and yacht travel in New York paid for by billionaire Harlan Crow in 2021.

Pointing to evidence that gifts and travel benefits lavished on Thomas came from individuals with business before court, the 93-page report bluntly states, "The number, value, and extravagance of the gifts accepted by Justice Thomas have no comparison in modern American history."
Matt Gaetz is about to be screwed over big-time—and he knows it.
New Republic.com

After CNN reported Wednesday that the House Ethics Committee has secretly voted to release its report on its multiyear investigation into former Representative Matt Gaetz after all, the former Florida representative immediately lost it.

“House Ethics will reportedly post a report online that I have no opportunity to debate or rebut as a former member of the body,” Gaetz fulminated in a lengthy post on X emphasizing that he has not faced criminal charges for his conduct.

“In my single days, I often sent funds to women I dated—even some I never dated but who asked. I dated several of these women for years. I NEVER had sexual contact with someone under 18. Any claim that I have would be destroyed in court—which is why no such claim was ever made in court,” Gaetz wrote. “It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now.”

According to CNN, the Ethics Committee secretly voted earlier this month to release the report after the House’s final votes this year—though “it is unclear if the committee will once again change course now that it has voted.”
Dan Mangan

A Georgia appeals court on Thursday disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from overseeing the criminal election interference prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump and other defendants.

But the Court of Appeals let stand the indictment against the defendants, who are accused of crimes related to their efforts to overturn Trump’s loss in Georgia’s 2020 election to President Joe Biden.

The decision overturns a Fulton County Superior Court judge’s ruling that allowed Willis to remain on the case despite arguments by Trump’s attorneys that she should be disqualified due to the impropriety of her romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the top prosecutor whom she had picked to lead the case.

The Court of Appeals in its decision said that the remedy offered by Judge Scott McAfee — which let Willis remain on the case if Wade withdrew from handling it — was improper.

“After carefully considering the trial court’s findings in its order, we conclude that it erred by failing to disqualify DA Willis and her office,” the appeal court said.
Story by Ginger Gibson

A Georgia appellate court Thursday disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and removed her from prosecuting Donald Trump and co-defendants in a case she brought in relation to the efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The decision is likely to cripple the case and bring a halt to the efforts to try Trump and his allies for their efforts to overturn his loss. Federal prosecutors have already dropped the other criminal case related to the 2020 election in the wake of Trump winning the 2024 election.
Elon Musk joined a wave of right-wing fury against a bill to keep the government open. Now, the president-elect says he wants big changes, too, before this weekend's
By Sahil Kapur, Ryan Nobles, Kyle Stewart, Julie Tsirkin and Ali Vitali

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump excoriated a bipartisan government funding bill Wednesday afternoon, throwing the stopgap measure into chaos just as leaders of both parties were hoping to pass it.

The joint statement by Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance gravely jeopardizes the bill’s prospects in the Republican-controlled House, where Trump wields significant influence.

The bill would have kept the government open until March 14. A shutdown will occur at 12:01 a.m. Saturday without action from Congress. There is currently no fallback plan.

“Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH. If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF,” Trump and Vance said. “It is [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer and [President Joe] Biden who are holding up aid to our farmers and disaster relief.”

In a shocking twist, Trump also demanded that the legislation include a debt ceiling increase, which neither party had even been considering. It’s expected to come up in the middle of next year, and Trump made it clear he wanted it to happen on Biden’s watch.
The speaker is weighing passing a “clean” funding package, leaving other discussions on disaster aid and more for the new year.
By Rachael Bade, Olivia Beavers and Jordain Carney

Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership team is quietly discussing a plan B to fund the government amid conservative opposition and vocal criticism from incoming President Donald Trump’s top ally Elon Musk.

The Louisiana Republican is discussing dropping $100 billion in disaster aid plus other attachments and instead passing a “clean CR” — then dealing with the other issues in the new year, according to two Republicans with knowledge of the conversations. In addition to disaster aid, that would mean dropping $30 billion for farmers, and a one-year extension of the farm bill, among other items, at least for now.
Luigi Mangione faces charges including second-degree murder in the death of the UnitedHealthcare CEO
By Aaron Katersky, Emily Shapiro, and Ariane Nalty, ABC News

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Luigi Mangione will waive extradition and expects to be returned to New York as soon as Thursday, his attorney said Wednesday.

The judge in Pennsylvania must accept the waiver or go forward with a scheduled hearing on Thursday morning immediately following a separate hearing on the local charges Mangione faces.

Assuming the extradition paperwork is in order, the NYPD would transport Mangione from Pennsylvania to New York.

Weather permitting, the NYPD would fly Mangione to New York and deliver him straight to court to be booked and processed. He would then be arraigned as soon as Thursday late afternoon before the judge assigned to his case.
Story by Brad Reed

The bipartisan spending deal reached in the House of Representatives contains some provisions that are certain to raise some eyebrows, reports Punchbowl News' Melanie Zanona.

Specifically, it seems that lawmakers have slipped themselves "a cost-of-living pay raise for first time since 2009" as well as "an opt-out from being required to use Obamacare." The items flew "under the radar," according to Zanona's reporting.

Elaborating more on the provisions at Punchbowl News, Zanona and colleague John Bresnahan write that the cost-of-living pay increase is something that lawmakers have been clamoring for for years, as Congress has been barred from getting such raises since 2009 when America was in the midst of the global financial crisis.

While that pay raise might be justified in the abstract, Zanona and Bresnahan write, it could also look bad politically.

"The optics of Congress, an already unpopular institution, giving itself a pay bump has long been seen as politically toxic," they write. "So expect this to get a lot of attention today, particularly from conservatives already furious over the CR."
By Curt Devine, CNN

CNN — President-elect Donald Trump vowed on the campaign trail to do everything in his power to benefit American workers. “We will build American, buy American and hire American,” he said during a rally in August.

Despite that pledge, Trump’s own businesses sought to hire more foreign guest workers this year than any other year on record, according to a CNN review of government labor data. Companies linked to some of Trump’s top political backers and administration picks also have been given the green light to use guest workers this year.

Trump’s businesses, including the Mar-a-Lago Club, some of his golf courses and a Virginia winery, have collectively increased their reliance on temporary foreign laborers over the years.

Just this year, Trump’s businesses received approval from the US government to hire 209 foreign workers, nearly double the number of such laborers his companies received permission to hire about a decade ago.

The workers include cooks, housekeepers, servers and desk clerks.

Trump has said the seasonal nature of some of his clubs necessitates some temporary jobs that Americans looking for full-time work are reluctant to take. Forbes first reported on Friday Trump’s businesses hired more foreign workers than ever in 2024.
By Nina Joudeh

Sources are claiming President-elect, Donald Trump, pooped himself while in France after a video appeared to show people sat around the President-Elect covering their noses and looking confused.

The video posted by the group @Anonymous shows a lone Trump seated in the front row among other patrons and the footage - according to some internet users - captured the visible display of disgust on the attendee's faces. One woman seems to cringe, while others shift in their seat.

There is no evidence to suggest the claims are actually true, but the viral moment harks back to a similar incident in which Joe Biden was accused of pooping himself at a D-Day event . These claims were debunked by a body language expert, but it didn't stop the rumors.
Story by Josh Marcus

New York Governor Kathy Hochul is calling on Washington to do more about the mysterious drones spotted in recent weeks above the Northeast.

The governor said in a statement on Saturday on X that drone activity prompted officials to shut down Stewart Airfield in New Windsor for about an hour last night.

“This has gone too far,” Hochul said in the statement, calling on Congress to pass the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act, a bill that would reform drone policy and hand more authority over to states.

“Until those powers are granted to state and local officials, the Biden Administration must step in by directing additional federal law enforcement to New York and the surrounding region to ensure the safety of our criitcal infrastructure and our people,” Hochul added.
Story by Carl Gibson

New Hampshire Republican Governor Chris Sununu is bullish on a billionaire-led effort to cut social safety nets for working-class Americans — including the political third rail of Social Security.

Semafor reporter David Weigel recently interviewed Sununu, who is retiring after his successor, Republican Governor-elect Kelly Ayotte, assumes office on January 8. The Granite State governor expressed optimism about billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's "Department of Government Efficiency," or "DOGE," (which is not yet an actual federal agency authorized by Congress) which he is co-leading with billionaire pharmaceutical investor Vivek Ramaswamy.

While Musk and Ramaswamy's advisory panel is expected to recommend the elimination of various labor and environmental regulations and the firing of thousands of public sector workers, Sununu is particularly hoping they will pursue cuts to both Medicare and Social Security. Sununu compared Musk and Ramaswamy's efforts to former President George W. Bush's failed proposal to privatize Social Security in 2005.
Story by Zachary Leeman

NewsNation investigative correspondent Rich McHugh admitted in a Friday report he did not “pay much credence” to concerns about drones flying over New Jersey, but after seeing it firsthand he’s thinking a little differently.

“I gotta be honest here. You know when this story first came out a few weeks ago, as a resident of New Jersey, as a journalist, I didn’t pay it much credence,” he reported. “I thought it would turn out to be a bunch of pranksters and this would all be over by now, the experience I had last night, however, changed the way I feel about this story completely.”

McHugh said was he saw was “more sophisticated than I ever imagined.”

Reporting from Red Bank, New Jersey, McHugh showed footage of a large drone with multiple bright lights attached. He said in an hour he witnessed “40-50 drones.” One was still flying behind him during his report. The journalist said the drones were about eight to 10 feet wide and all carried bright lights.

“Definitely not an airplane, but what was it?” he asked.
By Marshall Cohen, CNN

Washington CNN  — Victims of major public corruption cases in Pennsylvania and Illinois are angry that President Joe Biden granted clemency this week to two convicted officials.

The commutations were announced Thursday as part of a historic clemency package for 1,500 convicted criminals who, the White House said, “deserve a second chance.”

The two convicted officials whose cases sparked outrage – a crooked Pennsylvania judge and a notorious Illinois fraudster – both had already been released from prison early and put on house arrest during the Covid-19 pandemic. Biden’s actions now end that punishment.

The president has already faced bipartisan criticism over his highly controversial pardon of his son Hunter Biden, who was convicted earlier this year of 12 tax and gun crimes.

A Biden administration official told CNN the latest commutations were not individual decisions and instead it was a uniform decision granted to people who met certain criteria, like having a track record of good behavior while on house arrest.

‘Got it absolutely wrong’
Former Pennsylvania Judge Michael Conahan was convicted in 2011 in what was infamously called the “kids-for-cash” scandal, where he took kickbacks from for-profit detention centers in exchange for wrongly sending juveniles to their facilities. The case was widely considered to be one of the worst judicial scandals in Pennsylvania history.

Like all of the other nearly 1,500 people who got commutations from Biden this week, Conahan was freed from prison due to Covid. His house arrest was set to end in 2026.
John Domen | jdomen@wtop.com

Reports have been coming in about mysterious aerial activity, usually attributed to drones of some sort, in the New Jersey area. Now it’s also being reported in Maryland, specifically along the Route 50 corridor.

Police in Bowie say they’re receiving calls and trying to investigate whatever it is, but they don’t seem to know any more than anyone else does. And the reports are coming from around the area.

Add former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s name to those asking questions about the odd sight. He posted video on X he says he took around 9:45 p.m. Thursday from his home in Davidsonville.
By Stefan Becket

Washington — Former House Speaker has been hospitalized after sustaining an injury as part of a congressional delegation on a trip to Luxembourg, her office said Friday.

"While traveling with a bipartisan Congressional delegation in Luxembourg to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi sustained an injury during an official engagement and was admitted to the hospital for evaluation," spokesperson Ian Krager said in a statement. "Speaker Emerita Pelosi is currently receiving excellent treatment from doctors and medical professionals."
Story by David Badash

As a candidate, Donald Trump campaigned—and won—this year on the promise he would lower prices for Americans angry after the COVID pandemic’s inflation brought steep price increases, but now he’s backtracking, saying he’s not sure he will actually be able to fulfill those vows. Outrage at Trump, and the people who voted for him based on that pledge, was palpable on Thursday.

As recently as Sunday, MSNBC reports, Trump insisted, “We’re going to bring those prices way down.”

On Monday, Fox News reported: “Pointing to high grocery prices, Trump says, ‘I won an election based on that'”

But in his TIME magazine “Person of the Year” interview, Trump suggested he might not be able to lower prices as he promised to do. Appearing to remove himself from the equation, he declared: “It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard.”

Sam Stein of The Bulwark and MSNBC noted via social media, “’Prices will come down,’ Trump told voters during a speech last week laying out his vision for a return to the White House. ‘You just watch: They’ll come down, and they’ll come down fast, not only with insurance, with everything.'”
Story by Jessica Kwong

President-elect Donald Trump has for the second time joined an exclusive club in the company of global figures and leaders – some controversial.

Time magazine named Trump its 2024 Person of the Year, and he thanked the news outlet and beamed while ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange shortly after on Thursday morning.

Trump said: ‘Time Magazine, getting this honor for the second time – I think I like it better this time, actually.

‘It is an honor. And this is a double, because usually they don’t coordinate the man of the year – or the Person of the Year – with the ringing of the bell.

‘And brilliantly, you’ve picked them both at the same time.’

Trump was last named Time’s Person of the Year in 2016, when he won his first US election. Every American president since Franklin D Roosevelt, except for one, has received Time’s prestigious title at least once.

The incoming president is a two-time winner of the title like former Soviet Union Prime Minister Joseph Stalin, still considered among the most brutal authoritarian leaders in modern history. Notorious leaders who won the recognition once include former Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, former Soviet Union Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev and former Supreme Leader of Iran Ruhollah Khomeini.

Time picks its Person of the Year based on ‘the greatest impact on the news, for good or ill’.
Dan Mangan

An agitated Luigi Mangione yelled at reporters outside a Pennsylvania courthouse before a hearing on his possible extradition to New York to face a murder charge in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

“It’s completely out of touch and is an insult to the intelligence of the American people and their lived experience!” Mangione shouted as he was led in shackles from a police car into the Blair County Court in Hollidaysburg.

The 26-year-old was forced into the building by two officers as he struggled against their hold on him while yelling at television cameras. Before he was hustled inside, his chest bounced off the wall of the building.
Greg Iacurci

A Labor Department rule that shields retirement savers from getting harmful investment advice is at risk of being overturned during President-elect Donald Trump’s second term — an outcome that would have an element of déjà vu, said legal experts.

The Biden-era regulation, issued in April, aims to rein in conflicts of interest that may taint investment recommendations from unscrupulous advisors, brokers or insurance agents.

Officials worry such conflicts might lead an agent to profit at the consumer’s expense, such as when investors are advised to roll money from workplace retirement plans like a 401(k) to an individual retirement account.

The most immediate threat to President Joe Biden’s Retirement Security Rule is that the Trump administration declines to keep defending it in court, attorneys said.

The rule faces an uphill legal battle. Two Texas federal courts have already stalled its implementation and seem very likely to kill it, legal experts said.
Story by Peter Aitken

President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday addressed the conditions he would need to remain in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as the military bloc takes on renewed importance in a post-Biden political era.

Trump has been deeply critical of NATO for years, with The New York Times reporting in early 2019 that he had privately said "several times" the previous year that he wanted to pull the United States out of the alliance.

Although not expected to do so once he steps back into the Oval Office in January, officials in Europe are bracing for firm demands on how much of their gross domestic product (GDP) is funneled into NATO.

The U.S., with its extensive military and nuclear weapons stockpiles, has traditionally shouldered much of the burden for providing some of Europe's capabilities, including space-based intelligence and logistics.

Trump addressed NATO with Kristen Welker, host of NBC News' Meet the Press, during his first post-election network interview, which aired Sunday morning.
Story by Martha McHardy

President-elect Donald Trump has announced a sweeping plan to change the way U.S. elections are carried out.

"We need to get things straightened out in this country, including elections," he said, after accepting the "Patriot of the Year" award at a Long Island event organized by Fox Nation on Thursday. Trump, 78, accepted the award, designed to resemble the American flag, after a live performance of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" – the president-elect's go-to entrance song.

"We're gonna do things that have been really needed for a long time," he said. "And we are gonna look at elections. We want to have paper ballots, one day voting, voter ID, and proof of citizenship."

He went on to denounce a recent law passed in California that prohibits local governments from requiring voters to present identification when casting their ballots at the polls. "In California they just passed a law that you're not even allowed to ask a voter for voter ID. Think of that. If you ask a voter for their voter ID, you've committed a crime. We're gonna get the whole country straightened out," he said.
Noor Al-Sibai

Just over a year before United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered this week in Midtown Manhattan, a lawsuit filed against the insurance giant he helmed revealed just how draconian its claims-denying process had become.

Last November, the estates of two former UHC patients filed suit in Minnesota alleging that the insurer used an AI algorithm to deny and override claims to elderly patients that had been approved by their doctors.

The algorithm in question, known as nH Predict, allegedly had a 90 percent error rate — and according to the families of the two deceased men who filed the suit, UHC knew it.
The president-elect’s campaign pledges cover immigration to education to energy.
By Greta Reich, Emmy Martin and Kierra Frazier

If President-elect Donald Trump lives up to his promises, he is going to have a prolific first week in office come January.

Trump has pledged action on dozens of policy fronts on Day One or Week One in the White House as part of an aggressive agenda to reverse immigration flows, juice American energy production, reorient global commerce and purge his political enemies. Some of his promises are improbable — such as ending the war in Ukraine in his first 24 hours — but he can achieve many of his aims through executive actions, which aides are already scrambling to prepare.

POLITICO compiled a list of the biggest promises Trump made on the campaign trail or since winning the election to provide a snapshot of what his first week in office might look like:

Education
Repeatedly: Trump promised to sign a new executive order on Day One that would cut federal funding to any school “pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content onto our children.”
Annika Kim Constantino, Gabrielle Fonrouge

Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group’s insurance unit, was fatally shot outside the Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan on Wednesday morning in what appears to be “a brazen, targeted attack,” the New York Police Department said.

“I want to be clear at this time, every indication is that this was a premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a news conference Wednesday following the shooting.

“This does not appear to be a random act of violence,” she said, adding that the department is carrying out a full investigation.

Thompson, 50, led UnitedHealthcare, the largest private health insurer in the U.S. He was on the way to UnitedHealth Group’s investor day set for Wednesday at 8 a.m. ET at the Hilton, the NYPD said. The company canceled that event after the shooting.

Patrol officers responded to a 911 call at 6:46 a.m. ET about a person shot in front of the Hilton hotel at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said during the news conference. Officers arrived at 6:48 a.m. ET to find Thompson on the sidewalk with gunshot wounds to his back and leg, he added.
Story by Monica Sager

A staff member for Representative Joe Morelle (D-NY) was arrested by the Capitol Police on Monday.

The Capitol Police told Newsweek via email that 38-year-old Michael Hopkins was arrested for "unlawful possession of ammunition, including one charge for possession of a high-capacity magazine." In a statement issued by Jo Stiles, Morelle's chief of staff, the office was informed that a member was arrested by Capitol Police on Monday morning. Morelle's office is "currently gathering more information regarding the circumstances of the arrest," Stiles said.

The Capitol Police told Newsweek Hopkins was arrested at 8:45 a.m. while entering the Cannon House Office Building when he "put his bag through screening."

"USCP officers noticed what appeared to be ammunition on the x-ray screen," the public information office for the Capitol Police told Newsweek. "After a hand search of the bag, officers found four ammunition magazines and eleven rounds of ammunition. The staffer told the officers that he forgot the ammunition was in his bag."
Story by Hailey Gomez

Several conservatives expressed concerns Sunday over President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement of Republican Florida sheriff Chad Chronister to be administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Trump revealed Saturday in a statement that he will nominate Chronister to lead the DEA in his second administration, stating that the Florida sheriff will work with his attorney general pick, Pam Bondi, “to secure the Border, stop the flow of Fentanyl, and other Illegal Drugs, across the Southern Border.” While Chronister received praise from colleagues and others after the initial announcement, some Republicans have begun to fire back due to his actions during the COVID-19 lockdown.

In March 2020, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office released a press statement revealing that they had arrested local Tampa Bay church pastor Dr. Rodney Howard-Browne on two second-degree misdemeanors for unlawful assembly and violation of public health emergency rules. In a post on X from the Libertarian Party of Mississippi, the group called out Chronister’s decision to arrest Howard-Browne, leading Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie to respond as well.

“I’m going to call ‘em like I see ‘em. Trump’s nominee for head of DEA should be disqualified for ordering the arrest a pastor who defied COVID lockdowns,” Massie wrote on X.
By Jack Forrest, CNN

CNN — Kash Patel, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI and an ardent supporter of the president-elect, has vowed to help dismantle the same organization he’s poised to lead.

The former public defender is widely viewed as a controversial figure and one whose value to the president-elect largely derives from their shared disdain for established power in Washington.

Putting him in charge of the FBI would require forcing out current director Christopher Wray, who was appointed by Trump in 2017, before his 10-year term expires in three years — a future move that has already prompted bipartisan criticism.

The FBI director must also be confirmed by the Senate, where members are already bracing for how they’ll navigate a slew of unorthodox Trump selections.

As of late last week, some close to Trump believed it was a “toss-up” between Patel and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey as to whom the president-elect would pick for FBI director, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

But some in Trump’s inner circle were not happy with either option, the source said, adding a third, unknown candidate would likely have emerged in the next week or two if Trump hadn’t made a decision by then.

Patel, in particular, is not viewed as a consensus choice for the job, the source said, noting that it was always going to come down to what Trump wanted and, potentially, the last person he spoke to on a given day.
By Dahlia Lithwick

On Dec. 4, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in what is likely to be the most important trans rights case in history. It will have knock-on effects for civil rights jurisprudence that will affect the freedoms and protections of LGBTQ+ Americans, women, medical providers, and parents’ rights to raise their children without interference from the state. Tennessee’s SB1 bans surgery, puberty blockers, and hormone treatment for the purpose of gender transition for people under 18. On Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick spoke to Chase Strangio, co-director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBTQ and HIV Project, who will argue United States v. Skrmetti. Strangio will be the first openly trans lawyer arguing at the high court. Their conversation has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Dahlia Lithwick: After Dobbs came down, you warned on this podcast about the ways the decision to overturn Roe had just rocket-fueled anti-trans legislation across the country. I would love for you to just remind listeners why Dobbs was never just about abortion and how it connects to the Tennessee ban in Skrmetti.

Chase Strangio: They’re connected for so many reasons—whether you look at the equality thread or the autonomy thread in Dobbs, this is about structural efforts to impede people’s abilities to make decisions for themselves. The way in which Dobbs opened the door in particular for these anti-trans bans is that first they revitalized this case that was not talked about for a long time—although we know Justice Ginsburg hated it—Geduldig v. Aiello. This was the case in which the court said that restrictions on benefits related to pregnancy are not sex discrimination. The court allowed this idea to sit dormant for quite a while, but it was reactivated by Justice Alito in Dobbs. So now, when we are talking about things related to medicine, or health, or areas where we can claim that biological differences between men and women justify some differential treatment, we see the erosion of the protections we have worked so hard to build for sex-based protections under law.
President-elect Donald Trump's communications director responded to Biden's decision without directly naming the president or his son.
By Megan Lebowitz

WASHINGTON — GOP lawmakers began publicly fuming shortly after President Joe Biden announced that he was pardoning his son Hunter Biden.

President-elect Donald Trump's communications director, Steven Cheung, reacted to the announcement without naming the president or his son.

"The failed witch hunts against President Trump have proven that the Democrat-controlled DOJ and other radical prosecutors are guilty of weaponizing the justice system," Cheung said in a statement.

"That system of justice must be fixed and due process must be restored for all Americans, which is exactly what President Trump will do as he returns to the White House with an overwhelming mandate from the American people," he continued.

Shortly after, Trump himself reacted publicly to the news, invoking prosecutions related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!" Trump said on Truth Social.
The president-elect chose Massad Boulos, Tiffany Trump's father-in-law, for a senior role in his administration
Peter Wade

It appears marrying into the Trump family is a good way to get a political appointment. After the president-elect selected Charles Kushner, father of Ivanka Trump’s husband Jared Kushner, as his nominee for ambassador to France, Donald Trump announced he will nominate Massad Boulos as his advisor on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs. Boulos is Tiffany Trump‘s father-in-law.

Trump made the announcement on Truth Social. “I am proud to announce that Massad Boulos will serve as Senior Advisor to the President on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs,” Trump wrote. “Massad is an accomplished lawyer and a highly respected leader in the business world, with extensive experience on the International scene.”

Boulos, a Lebanese American billionaire, played a role in Trump’s campaign as an unofficial representative to Arab American and Muslim American communities, meeting with them in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere to shore up votes for Trump.

“Trump will be a strong president,” Boulos told Saudi broadcaster Al-Arabiya in October, according to The Los Angeles Times. “He’s the only president who can achieve peace [in Lebanon] and a permanent solution to the Palestinian problem.”

Boulos grew up in Lebanon during the country’s civil war but came to the U.S. where he received a degree in international law from the University of Houston. He married a Lebanese entrepreneur’s daughter who got him a position running SCOA Motors in Nigeria, which manufactures and distributes trucks and busses. Boulos launched an unsuccessful run for parliament in Lebanon in 2018. His son, Michael Boulos, married Tiffany Trump in a 2022 ceremony at Mar-a-Lago. Tiffany is currently pregnant with their first child.

According to The Times, many Lebanese believe Boulos can push Trump to end the war between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. Israel launched an offensive on Lebanon and Hezbollah in the fall of this year.

Sources told Reuters that Boulos has been in recent contact with Hezbollah as well as other Lebanese leaders, including the Lebanese Forces Party, a Christian group that opposes Hezbollah.

“Boulos’ Lebanese political past gives no real indication of a geostrategic or even national vision, but it demonstrates ambition and a set of political allies that will stand out in Trump’s circle like a sore thumb,” Century Foundation fellow Aron Lund told Reuters.
Story by Mike Bedigan

Joe Biden has issued a pardon for his son Hunter following his conviction on federal gun charges, despite previously claiming he would not do so.

The president officially announced the decision on Sunday night, saying that his son had been “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted” by the Justice Department. In a lengthy statement, he said he hoped the American people would understand his decision as a father.

The pardon comes less than two weeks ahead of Hunter’s sentencing on December 12 for his conviction on federal gun charges back in June.

He was also set to be sentenced in a separate criminal case on December 16, after pleading guilty in September to federal tax evasion charges.

“Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” Biden said. “From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.

“Without aggravating factors like use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form.

“Those who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but paid them back subsequently with interest and penalties, are typically given non-criminal resolutions. It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.”
By TRÂN NGUYỄN

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers will return to the state Capitol on Monday to begin a special session to protect the state’s progressive policies ahead of another Trump presidency.

The Democratic governor, a fierce critic of President-elect Donald Trump, is positioning California to once again be the center of a resistance effort against the conservative agenda. He is asking his Democratic allies in the Legislature, who hold supermajorities in both chambers, to approve additional funding to the attorney general’s office to prepare for a robust legal fight against anticipated federal challenges.

California sued the first Trump administration more than 120 times to various levels of success.

“We’re not going to be caught flat-footed,” Newsom said at a recent news conference.

Trump often depicts California as representing all he sees wrong in America. Democrats, which hold every statewide office in California and have commanding margins in the Legislature and congressional delegation, outnumber registered Republicans by nearly 2-to-1 statewide.
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