Donald Trump has offered an insight into his surprise meeting at Mar-a-Lago last week with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, the hosts of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, telling Fox News the sitdown was “extremely cordial” and “ended in a very positive manner… We agreed to speak in the future”.
Scarborough and Brzezinski were highly critical of the Republican during the election campaign and had not met with him in seven years but Trump said he had agreed with them that “it is very important, if not vital, to have a free, fair and open media or press”.
He added: “I am not looking for retribution, grandstanding or to destroy people who treated me very unfairly.”
The president-elect has meanwhile announced that Sean Duffy is his nominee to be America’s next transport secretary, the second Fox alumni to be picked after Pete Hegseth was chosen as defense secretary.
On Tuesday, Judge Juan Merchan will hear from prosecutors on the future of Trump’s New York hush money case after he was convicted on all 34 counts earlier this year.
Judge Merchan is currently scheduled to sentence him next week but that could now change in light of his election win.
Key Points
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Donald Trump spills details about controversial Morning Joe meeting
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Trump nominates Sean Duffy as transport secretary
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Judge Merchan to rule on future of Trump’s hush money case
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President-elect ‘personally calling senators’ to lobby for Matt Gaetz
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Trump Media ‘in talks’ to buy cryptocurrency trading platform Bakkt
Trump’s ‘unprecedented’ mandate is actually much smaller than he claimed
12:00 , Joe Sommerlad
Let’s just sail breezily past the possibility of a double entendre in that headline and review the numbers with CNN’s data bod Harry Enten, after it emerged yesterday that Trump actually picked up less than 50 percent of the popular vote on Election Day.
Here’s more on Trump’s mandate from our own Richard Hall, who has been speaking to presidential historians about its significance.
Despite what he says, Trump actually has a very small mandate
Elon Musk’s bromance with Trump is starting to irritate MAGAworld
11:40 , Joe Sommerlad
He may have reached “uncle status” with Trump’s granddaughter Kai but Musk has already started to fall out with the people surrounding the president-elect.
That hasn’t stopped him continuing to push to influence cabinet picks, John Bowden reports.
Elon Musk’s bromance with Trump is starting to irritate MAGAworld
Who is Sean Duffy?
11:20 , Joe Sommerlad
Here’s Io Dodds with a profile to answer that very question on Trump’s nominee for transport secretary.
Trump names his transportation secretary – a former reality TV star turned Fox host
Trump ‘personally calling senators’ to lobby for Gaetz
11:00 , Joe Sommerlad
So says CNN, which reports that the president-elect has stressed to his Republican allies that he is determined to get Matt Gaetz confirmed as attorney general regardless of the allegations against him (which the former congressman denies) and has been putting in calls to a number of unnamed senators to argue the case directly.
The bipartisan House Ethics Committee is meanwhile due to meet on Wednesday to discuss whether or not to release the report it compiled on Gaetz prior to the curtailment of its investigation in February 2023.
Republicans are “weighing whether to bury” the dossier in order to help Trump get his man, according to CNN.
However, the panel’s chair, Michael Guest, has told Politico that its members all have full access to the report and will not be swayed in their opinion on what to do with it by Trump-affiliated House speaker Mike Johnson.
“We did talk this weekend,” Guest said of Johnson.
“I appreciate Mike reaching out. I don’t see it having an impact on what we as a committee ultimately decide.”
The speaker has meanwhile denied trying to influence the matter either way, commenting: “I’m not telling the Ethics Committee what to do.
“It is not my place to do so. I’ve been very clear. I’m merely responding to the questions that every single media outlet in America is asking me.”
Here’s more from James Liddell on Trump’s pressure campaign.
Trump personally calls senators to pressure them to confirm Gaetz as attorney general
Watch: Jon Stewart argues Morning Joe visit to Trump reveals Democrats have ‘learned nothing’
10:40 , Joe Sommerlad
The Daily Show host observed last night that the Trump GOP has become the party of “loopholes”, which leaves its opposition hopelessly insisting that the “norms” be obeyed.
Or, to put it another way: “Republicans are playing chess and the Democrats are in the nurse’s office because they glued their balls to their thighs.”
Here’s James Liddell with more from Stewart.
Jon Stewart tells Morning Joe’s Mika and Joe why Trump meeting was a bad idea
Trump Media ‘in talks’ to buy cryptocurrency trading platform Bakkt
10:20 , Joe Sommerlad
The president-elect’s Trump Media company is reportedly in “advanced talks” to buy the cryptocurrency trading firm Bakkt according to The Financial Times.
Shares in both companies soared on the news, with the parent company behind Truth Social shooting up by as much as 15 percent in the minutes after the report was published, CNBC reported.
Shares of Bakkt, created by Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, leaped more than 162 percent, triggering repeated trading due to volatility in the price.
The share price of Trump Media has been on a rollercoaster ride since it went public earlier this year in the run-up to the presidential election.
The company has reported a $363m net loss on revenues of just $2.6m so far this year, it boasts a market cap above $7bn.
Donald Trump has changed his tune on cryptocurrency in recent years and even spoke at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, in July (AP)
Two women told House panel Matt Gaetz paid them for sex via Venmo, lawyer alleges
10:00 , Joe Sommerlad
The House Ethics Committee – which investigated Trump’s attorney general pick, the now-former Republican congressman Matt Gaetz – heard from two women who told investigators that Gaetz paid both of them for sex, according to their attorney Joel Leppard.
One of his clients also told the committee that she had witnessed Gaetz having sex with a third woman, who was 17 years old at the time.
“She testified that in July of 2017, at this house party, she was walking out to the pool area, and she looked to her right, and she saw Representative Gaetz having sex with her friend, who was 17,” Leppard told ABC News.
The statements follow Trump’s nomination of Gaetz and the latter’s subsequent resignation from Congress, days before the anticipated release of an ethics committee report into allegations of sexual misconduct.
The claims are coming under closer scrutiny before confirmation hearings in the Senate next year.
Attorney John Clune, who represents the former minor, has demanded that the committee release a report with its findings.
But CNN pundit Chuck Rocha believes there’s no chance Gaetz will ever be approved by the Senate anyway because he is “an a**hole” who is not popular with senators.
Here’s more from Alex Woodward.
Two women told House ethics panel Matt Gaetz paid them for sex, lawyer says
Judge Merchan to rule on future of Trump’s hush money case
09:40 , Joe Sommerlad
In New York City today, Judge Juan Merchan will hear from prosecutors on the future of Trump’s hush money case after he was convicted on all 34 counts earlier this year of paying off Stormy Daniels to the tune of $130,000 to stop her making her allegation about their having a sexual encounter in summer 2006 public and potentially thwarting his 2016 presidential bid into the bargain.
Judge Merchan had been set to offer a ruling a week ago – taking into account the Supreme Court’s subsequent granting of broad presidential immunity – only to delay in order to grant the prosecution and defense more time to submit their latest filings in light of Trump’s election win.
The prosecution will now offer what it considers to be the most “appropriate steps going forward”, which could potentially include further suspending or even scrapping the case in the greater interest of national unity.
At it stands, Merchan is currently scheduled to sentence Trump next Tuesday but that could now all change in light of his election win.
Of the four indictments Trump was hit with in 2023, the Manhattan case was the only one to reach a verdict, with special prosecutor Jack Smith’s two federal cases now being quietly wrapped and another brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Georgia on hold pending appeal.
Here’s Alex Woodward’s most recent reporting on the case.
Judge delays decision on Trump’s attempt to throw out hush money conviction
Trump nominates Sean Duffy as transport secretary
09:20 , Joe Sommerlad
The president-elect has meanwhile announced that Sean Duffy is his nominee to be America’s next transport secretary, the second Fox alumni to be picked after Pete Hegseth was chosen as defense secretary.
Trump said in a Truth Social statement on Monday that the former Wisconsin congressman and fellow reality TV star was a “tremendous and well-liked public servant”, who was “admired across the aisle” for his work with Democrats on expanding US infrastructure.
“He will prioritize Excellence, Competence, Competitiveness, and Beauty when rebuilding America’s highways, tunnels, bridges, and airports,” the Republican wrote.
“He will make our skies safe again by eliminating DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] for pilots and air traffic controllers… and fulfil our Mission of ushering in The Golden Age of Travel.”
Like Trump, Duffy got his start on TV, appearing on MTV’s The Real World and Road Rules series in the late 1990s before winning office as a prosecutor in Ashland County, Wisconsin, in 2002.
You can check out our Trump 2.0 staffing tracker below.
Trump’s Cabinet tracker: Here’s who is among the White House appointments so far
Donald Trump spills details about controversial Morning Joe meeting
09:00 , Joe Sommerlad
Good morning!
Donald Trump has offered an insight into his surprise meeting at Mar-a-Lago last week with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, the hosts of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, telling Fox News the sitdown was “extremely cordial” and “ended in a very positive manner… We agreed to speak in the future”.
Scarborough and Brzezinski were highly critical of the Republican during the election campaign and had not met with him in seven years but Trump said he had agreed with them that “it is very important, if not vital, to have a free, fair and open media or press”.
He added: “I am not looking for retribution, grandstanding or to destroy people who treated me very unfairly.”
The duo, often viciously mocked by Trump in the past, took to the air yesterday morning to explain their decision to “restart communications” with the 47th president but were immediately attacked by other media figures for backing down from their earlier hostility in the wake of his resounding election victory over Kamala Harris.
Conservative pundit Megyn Kelly was particularly vicious in her denunciation of them while Trumpworld pariah Nikki Haley was all cynicism.
Here’s Kevin EG Perry on what The View host Sunny Hostin had to say about it all.
Sunny Hostin accuses Morning Joe hosts of ‘kissing the ring’ after Trump meeting
How the Heritage Foundation is creeping back into Trump’s sphere
08:00 , Oliver O’Connell
After Donald Trump attempted to distance himself from Project 2025 on the campaign trail, the organization behind it “kind of went dark,” an official admitted.
Kamala Harris linked the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 – a radical conservative 900-page blueprint for the second Trump administration, which includes proposals for shutting down the Department of Education and federal limits on abortion – to the Trump campaign.
After Democrats hit Project 2025 hard in campaign ads, the organization faced widespread backlash and had no choice but to quietly back away. Trump’s campaign also publicly shunned the proposals. “We did not anticipate that,” a Heritage official told Politico’s Playbook. “And wish it didn’t happen. But you know, we had to do what we had to do.”
Rhian Lubin has the story.
‘We’re so back’: How the Heritage Foundation is creeping back into Trump’s sphere
Does Trump’s choice of Rubio mean fiercer US-China rivalry?
07:00 , Oliver O’Connell
Donald Trump belittled him as “Little Marco” and “choke artist”, only to nominate him as his US secretary of state. The incoming president even described Marco Rubio as “a strong advocate for our nation, a true friend to our allies and a fearless warrior who will never back down to our adversaries”.
Rubio’s appointment as arguably the most powerful diplomat in the world will likely reshape American foreign policy towards allies and rivals alike—and dealing with China’s continued economic, diplomatic and military rise is set to be one of his top priorities.
Shweta Sharma reports.
Trump’s pick of Marco Rubio ignites fears of tougher US-China rivalry in second term
Right-wing backlash as 60 minutes airs brutal takedown of Trump cabinet picks
06:00 , Oliver O’Connell
CBS’s 60 Minutes has sparked a right-wing backlash over its brutal takedown of Donald Trump’s cabinet picks.
Host Scott Pelley began Sunday’s show with a monologue dissecting Trump’s choices for his future administration, detailing one-by-one how the likes of Pete Hegseth, Matt Gaetz, Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F Kennedy Jr have “no compelling qualifications” and “no government experience” to take up the jobs they’ve been nominated for.
“Some nominees appear to have no compelling qualifications other than loyalty to Trump,” Pelley said.
James Liddell reports.
60 Minutes sparks right-wing backlash over brutal takedown of Trump’s cabinet picks
Even Matt Gaetz’s dad was surprised Trump picked him for attorney general
05:00 , Oliver O’Connell
A number of President-Elect Donald Trump’s nominations to his new cabinet have raised eyebrows among political observers, but none more so than Matt Gaetz, who has been tapped to become America’s next attorney general.
Gaetz, 42, is known as a MAGA firebrand on Capitol Hill who was instrumental in the ousting of previous House speaker Kevin McCarthy.
He is also known for being the subject of a Department of Justice sex trafficking investigation and House Ethics Committee probe. He has never been criminally charged and denies the allegations.
Few, it seems, saw him as a likely head of the DOJ – and, it turns out, that includes Gaetz’s his own father.
Joe Sommerlad has the story.
Even Matt Gaetz’s dad was surprised Trump picked him for attorney general
Why MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ hosts traveled to Florida to meet with Trump
04:00 , Oliver O’Connell
Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski visited Mar-a-Lago to meet President-elect Donald Trump, they revealed.
Scarborough and Brzezinski have been highly critical of Trump leading up to the election, calling him “erratic,” slamming his election fraud efforts and warning of “how dark of a place” the US would be if Trump won. But after airing their concerns with a second Trump presidency, the pair met with Trump Friday for the first time in seven years to “restart communications.”
Kelly Rissman reports.
‘Morning Joe’ hosts traveled to meet with Trump and ‘restart communications’
Ukraine: Marjorie Taylor Greene and Donald Trump Jr accuse Biden of trying to start WWIII
03:00 , Oliver O’Connell
Marjorie Taylor Greene and Donald Trump Jr have accused President Joe Biden of trying to start World War III after he gave Ukraine the green light to use US-supplied long-range supersonic missiles to strike inside Russia for the first time.
The Biden administration’s granting of Kyiv’s request to use the ATACMS missiles outside of its own borders marks a change in stance in the president’s final days in office, before President-elect Donald Trump – who has indicated he will limit US support for Ukraine – returns to the White House in January.
The MAGA representative and Donald Trump’s eldest son lashed out at Biden’s decision in fiery posts on X.
James Liddell reports.
Marjorie Taylor Greene and Donald Trump Jr accuse Biden of trying to start WWIII
Why did Trump pick Fox News host Pete Hegseth for defense?
02:00 , Oliver O’Connell
The second in command to the nation’s military could end up being a Fox News pundit who wants to launch a “frontal assault” against top brass, kick women out of combat, and implement Donald Trump’s sweeping agenda for the world’s third-largest standing fighting force.
The president-elect has nominated Pete Hegseth as his secretary of defense, overseeing a budget of roughly $850 billion and roughly 3 million service members and personnel serving in the nation’s oldest-running agency while the US is embroiled in global conflicts in a period of escalating tensions.
Alex Woodward reports.
Why Trump nominated a ‘wholly unqualified’ Fox News host for defense secretary
Doctors worry about RFK Jr’s anti-Ozempic stance (and many of his other views)
01:30 , Oliver O’Connell
Doctors are warning that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump’s nominee to Health and Human Services Secretary, is talking inaccurately about drugs like Ozempic and other similar medications used for treating obesity and diabetes.
In October, Kennedy appeared on Fox News’s Gutfeld! talk show, where he was asked about a study suggesting Ozempic might show promising addressing conditions including drug abuse, sleep apnea, and cognitive decline.
Josh Marcus reports on what he had to say.
Doctors worry about RFK Jr’s anti-Ozempic stance (and many of his other views)
Furious Kremlin – and Trump allies – attack Biden’s ‘escalation’ of Ukraine war
01:00 , Oliver O’Connell
Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russia with US-made longer-range missiles is an “escalation” of the conflict, Moscow said on Monday as it warned use of the weapons would trigger a “tangible” response.
The Kremlin reacted with fury after the US president eased limits on what targets Kyiv can strike using the American-made Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS.
Alastair Jamieson reports.
Kremlin and Trump allies attack Biden’s ‘escalation’ of Ukraine war
Can Trump bypass FBI background checks and security clearance for his key cabinet picks?
00:30 , Oliver O’Connell
The FBI has vetted cabinet picks since President Dwight D Eisenhower was in the White House.
But if he so chooses, Donald Trump, himself a convicted felon, can bypass background checks for those he has nominated for key roles in his administration.
James Liddell explains how.
How Trump can bypass FBI background checks and security clearance for cabinet picks
Profile: Interior secretary nominee Doug Burgum
00:00 , Oliver O’Connell
President-elect Donald Trump has chosen North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to head the Interior Department.
Trump made the announcement during a speech at a black-tie gala held at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday.
Sam Rkaina reports.
Who is Doug Burgum? Everything to know about Trump’s pick to run Interior Department
ICYMI: Trump feels ‘obligation’ to Americans to work with press, even those who treat him badly
Monday 18 November 2024 23:45 , Oliver O’Connell
In an interview with Fox News Digital this morning, Donald Trump said that it is “vital” to have a “free, fair and open media” and that he feels he has “an obligation” to the American people to work with the press — even those who had treated him “badly beyond comprehension”.
The president-elect also spoke of his meeting with the MSNBC hosts of Morning Joe: “I received a call from Joe Scarborough requesting a meeting for him and Mika [Brzezinski], and I agreed that it would be a good thing if such meeting took place.”
Trump said he met with the two at 8am on Friday morning at Mar-a-Lago and that it was “extremely cordial”.
“Many things were discussed, and I very much appreciated the fact that they wanted to have open communication,” he said. “In many ways, it’s too bad that it wasn’t done long ago.”
The president-elect said they discussed his campaign and his cabinet picks and the meeting ended with an agreement to speak in the future.
He said his obligation is “to be open and available to the press” but added: “If not treated fairly, however, that will end.”
Who’s who in Trump’s prospective administration?
Monday 18 November 2024 23:30 , Oliver O’Connell
President-elect Donald Trump is filling key posts in his second administration, putting an emphasis so far on aides and allies who were his strongest backers during the 2024 campaign.
Here’s a look at who he’s selected so far:
Trump’s Cabinet tracker: Here’s who is among the White House appointments so far
Analysis: Trump warned his second term would mean ‘retribution’. His alarming cabinet picks show he means it
Monday 18 November 2024 23:15 , Oliver O’Connell
Alex Woodward writes:
Trump’s first wave of cabinet nominations and White House appointments, within the week after he won the 2024 presidential election, have stunned members of Congress, veterans and active-duty service members, public health advocates and democratic advocates, who have warned for years that he is building a government of loyalists to fulfill his campaign-trail promises to deliver “retribution” by destroying the “deep state.”
They’re shocking choices, but they shouldn’t be surprising. When Trump formally launched his 2024 campaign from Waco, Texas, he declared himself a “warrior” and the election a “final battle.”
Read on…
Trump promised ‘retribution’ in his second term. His cabinet picks show he means it
What would RFK Jr be in charge of if he joins Trump cabinet?
Monday 18 November 2024 23:00 , Oliver O’Connell
Eric Garcia writes:
When president-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Robert F Kennedy Jr to be his secretary of Health and Human Services, the move shocked many. Kennedy, the son of the late senator from New York and US attorney general, has made a name for himself primarily promoting the bogus link that vaccines cause autism.
It is unclear whether Kennedy could get confirmed, even with a Republican Senate majority. Mike Pence, Trump’s former vice president, made the rare move of denouncing Kennedy as insufficiently opposed to abortion.
Needless to say, almost all, if not all, Democrats will oppose Kennedy’s confirmation. Plenty of Republicans might have some objections as well.
Continue reading…
RFK Jr is Trump’s pick to oversee Health. Here’s all the agencies he could control
Sarah Palin appears miffed at lack of Trump cabinet spot
Monday 18 November 2024 22:45 , Oliver O’Connell
Sarah Palin appears to be miffed that President-elect Donald Trump hasn’t picked her to serve in his cabinet.
As Trump rolls out his cabinet picks, the former vice presidential nominee and governor of Alaska has been busy posting a series of screenshots from her supporters expressing their frustration that she hadn’t been chosen for a cabinet role — perhaps signaling that she shares that frustration.
Kelly Rissman reports.
Sarah Palin’s appears miffed Trump isn’t nominating her for a cabinet spot
Court cancels oral arguments in Trump’s Fani Willis disqualification appeal
Monday 18 November 2024 22:35 , Oliver O’Connell
The Georgia Court of Appeals has canceled the December 5 oral argument it previously scheduled to hear Donald Trump’s appeal seeking to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who charged him in the sprawling 2020 election interference case.
The argument is canceled “until further order of this court”.
The court previously granted a request for the oral argument and as recently as October extended the time allotted to the parties for argument.
It is not clear what led to the hearing’s cancellation. However, as Anna Bower of Lawfare notes, the court is able to issue a ruling on the matter based on the briefs submitted by either side without hearing oral arguments.
Profile: Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth
Monday 18 November 2024 22:30 , Oliver O’Connell
Pete Hegseth has been nominated for Secretary of Defense under President-elect Donald Trump – but who is the relative unknown to the DC sphere?
Amber Raiken reports.
Who is Pete Hegseth? The Fox News anchor turned nominee for Defense secretary
‘The View’ co-host accuses ‘Morning Joe’ of ‘kissing the ring’ after Trump meeting
Monday 18 November 2024 22:15 , Oliver O’Connell
The View co-host Sunny Hostin has criticized MSNBC’s Morning Joe anchors Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski for visiting President-elect Donald Trump, saying: “I don’t think you need to sit down for 90 minutes at Mar-a-Lago and kiss his ring to be able to speak truth.”
Scarborough and Brzezinski had been highly critical of Trump leading up to the election, but the pair recently revealed they met with the president-elect on Friday for the first time in seven years to “restart communications.”
Kevin E G Perry has the story.
Sunny Hostin accuses Morning Joe hosts of ‘kissing the ring’ after Trump meeting
ACLU sues ICE for records on how air operations may expand for Trump’s deportation plans
Monday 18 November 2024 22:09 , Oliver O’Connell
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to obtain records revealing how ICE Air Operations — the network of for-profit, commercial, and privately chartered deportation flights run by ICE — could be expanded to carry out a mass deportation and detention program.
Lawyers for the ACLU said the information is urgent as Donald Trump will take office in just two months and has reiterated his promise to undertake the largest deportation program in US history.
The ACLU says that in 2023 alone, planes chartered by ICE Air Operations deported more than 140,000 people. Flights chartered by ICE are also used to transport people between ICE detention facilities across the country. Immigrants’ rights advocates have continuously raised concerns that ICE’s infrastructure, including its air operations network, could be expanded to assist the Trump administration in its efforts to deport more than 11 million people from the United States.
“For months, the ACLU has been preparing for the possibility of a mass detention and deportation program, and FOIA litigation has been a central part of our roadmap,” said Kyle Virgien, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s National Prison Project. “A second Trump administration underscores the urgency of our litigation.”
The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California.
“Little is known about how President-elect Trump would carry out its mass deportation agenda, but what we do know is that this proposal has already instilled fear among immigrant communities,” said Eva Bitran, director of immigrants’ rights at ACLU SoCal. “The public has a right to know how its taxpayer dollars could be used to fund deportation flights that would tear apart not only families, but also our communities.”
Watch: GOP Rep Don Bacon says Senate should see Gaetz report
Monday 18 November 2024 22:05 , Oliver O’Connell
Giuliani demands court delay so he can attend Trump’s inauguration
Monday 18 November 2024 22:00 , Oliver O’Connell
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is asking the court to delay his trial with the pair of election workers he defamed so he can attend Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Giuliani’s trial is scheduled for January 16, 2025, four days before President-elect Trump’s inauguration. The cash-strapped former mayor has now asked the court to adjourn the trial – which is to enforce the $150 million bankruptcy court judgment against Giuliani – until on or after January 22, so that he can attend the inauguration events.
Kelly Rissman has been following the case.
Giuliani demands court delays his trial so he can attend Trump’s inauguration
Gaetz paid two House ethics committee witnesses for sex, lawyer says
Monday 18 November 2024 21:45 , Oliver O’Connell
Two women who testified to the House Ethics Committee told investigators that now-former Republican congressman Matt Gaetz paid both of them for sex, according to their attorney.
One of his clients also told the committee that she had witnessed Gaetz having sex with a third woman who was 17 years old at the time.
“She testified that in July of 2017, at this house party, she was walking out to the pool area, and she looked to her right, and she saw Representative Gaetz having sex with her friend, who was 17,” attorney Joel Leppard told ABC News.
Alex Woodward has the full story.
Matt Gaetz paid two ethics committee witnesses for sex, lawyer says
Is the shine coming off the Musk-Trump bromance for MAGAworld?
Monday 18 November 2024 21:35 , Oliver O’Connell
John Bowden reports on how as Elon Musk pushes his influence on Trump cabinet picks, he starting to fall out with others surrounding the president-elect.
Elon Musk’s bromance with Trump is starting to irritate MAGAworld
Trump appears to be planning to attend SpaceX ‘Starship’ launch tomorrow
Monday 18 November 2024 21:30 , Oliver O’Connell
President-elect Donald Trump appears to be planning to attend a SpaceX “Starship” rocket launch on Tuesday, in the latest indication of founder Elon Musk ‘s influence in the Republican’s orbit.
The Federal Aviation Administration has issued temporary flight restrictions over Brownsville and Boca Chica, Texas area for a VIP visit that coincides with the SpaceX launch window for a test of its massive Starship rocket from its launch facility on the Gulf of Mexico. The flight restrictions put in place over Trump’s home in Palm Beach, Florida when he is there will be lifted briefly while the Texas security measures are in place.
Read the full article here.
Profile: Attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz
Monday 18 November 2024 21:20 , Josh Marcus
Donald Trump has announced he’s going to nominate former Florida Republican congressman Matt Gaetz to serve as attorney general.
In a statement, the president-elect praised Gaetz, 42, who has frequently defended Trump and criticized the various criminal and congressional probes against the Republican.
“On the House Judiciary Committee, which performs oversight of DOJ, Matt played a key role in defeating the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, and exposing alarming and systemic Government Corruption and Weaponization,” Trump wrote on Wednesday, calling Gaetz a “Champion for the Constitution and the Rule of Law.”
Gaetz has faced multiple allegations of wrongdoing of his own, including a federal sex trafficking probe that ended without charges against him and a House ethics inquiry.
Here’s what you need to know about Gaetz, who was once dubbed the “Trumpiest Congressman” in Washington:
Who is Matt Gaetz? Trump’s attorney general nominee who is no stranger to controversy
Trump Media shares soar as report says company in talks to buy crypto trading platform
Monday 18 November 2024 21:13 , Oliver O’Connell
The Financial Times reports that Trump Media is reportedly in “advanced talks” to buy the cryptocurrency trading firm Bakkt. The outlet cited two people with knowledge of the talks.
Shares in both companies soared on the news with the the parent company of Truth Social shooting up by as much as 15 percent in the minutes after the report was published, CNBC reports.
Shares of Bakkt, created by Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, leaped more than 162 percent triggering repeated trading due to volatility in the price.
The share price of Trump Media has been on a rollercoaster ride since it went public earlier this year in the run-up to the presidential election. The company has reported a $363m net loss on revenues of just $2.6m so far this year, it boasts a market cap above $7bn.
Pennsylvania court rules mail-in ballots without dated signature will not be counted.
Monday 18 November 2024 21:05 , Oliver O’Connell
Mail-in ballots that arrived in time but without a dated signature will bot be counted, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered.
Some county election boards had moved to segregate and count these ballots, citing mixed messages from earlier state court rulings.
The court ruled 4-3 against counting the ballots with two Republican and two Democrat judges forming the majority.
The many controversies of RFK Jr
Monday 18 November 2024 21:00 , Oliver O’Connell
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist and former independent presidential candidate, has been tapped to lead the Department of Health and Human Services under Donald Trump’s government.
Kennedy ran an independent presidential campaign alongside running mate Nicole Shanahan, attempting to rival both Trump and Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. In August, Kennedy suspended his independent campaign for president and backed the now-president-elect.
The 70-year-old has spread misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, admitted to bizarrely dumping a dead bear cub in Central Park and allegedly engaged in an online relationship with a political reporter despite being married, among other incidents.
Now, he’s Trump’s pick to lead the nation in a mission to “make America healthy.”
Eric Garcia and Katie Hawkinson break down Kennedy’s most notable controversies as he gears up to potentially serve in Trump’s cabinet:
RFK Jr’s controversies: From dumping a bear in Central Park to a brain-eating worm
What have Trump’s cabinet nominees said about climate change?
Monday 18 November 2024 20:40 , Julia Musto
As President-elect Donald Trump‘s picks for his upcoming administration continue to roll in, many have a noticeable link – their stance on climate change.
The former president, who has pledged to “drill, baby, drill,” while in office for his second term, has called climate change a “scam.” Many of his nominees share that thinking.
This year was the warmest in Earth’s record, fueled by the fossil fuel industry’s continued production of greenhouse gas emissions that warm the planet’s atmosphere. Without reductions, Earth could pass worrisome tipping points, with consequences for all of its inhabitants.
Here’s where some of Trump’s cabinet picks stand on the issue:
Here are what Trump’s cabinet picks have said about climate change
He’s joke about it, but could Trump run again in 2028?
Monday 18 November 2024 20:20 , Oliver O’Connell
Donald Trump has repeatedly mused about the prospect of serving a constitutionally-barred third term as president, though his Republican colleagues insist he’s just joking.
Josh Marcus and Alex Woodward take a look.
Trump joked about a third term in 2028. So can he run again?
Biden seeks nearly $100bn in emergency disaster aid after Hurricanes Helene and Milton
Monday 18 November 2024 20:10 , AP
President Joe Biden is requesting nearly $100 billion in emergency disaster aid after Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and other natural disasters.
In a letter Monday to House Speaker Mike Johnson, Biden said he has met firsthand with those harmed by the storms and heard what they need from the federal government. “Additional resources are critical to continue to support these communities,” Biden said.
The largest share of the money, about $40 billion, would go to the main disaster relief fund at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. An additional $24 billion would help farmers and $12 billion would go toward community development block grants administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Johnson, R-La., said Congress will evaluate the request and “we’ll make sure we deliver for the hurricane victims and the people that have suffered from that.”
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