Argentina’s Milei is a VIP at Mar-a-Lago
“Self-described anarcho-capitalist President Javier Milei of Argentina became the first foreign leader to visit President-elect Donald Trump since he won a second term, arriving in Florida Thursday to attend a gala dinner at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, where Milei was a VIP speaker,” CNBC reports.
He called Trump’s Nov. 5 victory, “The greatest political comeback in all of history, defying the political establishment even at the risk of his own life.”
Rahm Emanuel Mulls Bid to Lead DNC
“Rahm Emanuel is considering a run for chairman of the Democratic National Committee,” Axios reports.
“Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor and current ambassador to Japan, would be vying to take over a party that’s in disarray after an election in which Republicans won control of the White House, the Senate and the House.”
Trump’s Team Skips FBI Background Checks
“President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is bypassing traditional FBI background checks for at least some of his Cabinet picks while using private companies to conduct vetting of potential candidates for administration jobs,“ CNN reports.
“Trump and his allies believe the FBI system is slow and plagued with issues that could stymie the president-elect’s plan to quickly begin the work of implementing his agenda.”
“Critics say the intrusive background checks sometimes turn up embarrassing information used to inflict political damage.”
Elon Musk Met With Iran’s U.N. Ambassador
“Elon Musk, a close adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, met with Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations on Monday in New York in a session that two Iranian officials described as a discussion of how to defuse tensions between Iran and the United States,” the New York Times reports.
“The Iranians said the meeting between Mr. Musk and Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani lasted more than an hour and was held at a secret location. The Iranians, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss policy publicly, described the meeting as ‘positive’ and ‘good news.’”
Wall Street Journal: Iran told U.S. it wasn’t trying to kill Trump.
Trump Takes On the Pillars of the ‘Deep State’
“President-elect Donald Trump is wasting little time in taking on the three governmental institutions that most frustrated his political ambitions during his first term and making clear he will not brook resistance in his second,” the New York Times reports.
“With his selections of lieutenants to lead the Justice Department, Pentagon and intelligence agencies, Mr. Trump passed over the sorts of establishment figures he installed in those posts eight years ago in favor of firebrand allies with unconventional résumés whose most important qualification may be loyalty to him.”
Washington Post: Trump praises Cabinet-in-waiting as it stirs controversy in Washington.
Trump Taps Doug Collins for Veterans Affairs
“President-elect Donald Trump has nominated one of his previous attorneys and former GOP House member Doug Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs,” Politico reports.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports Collins had been expected to run for Senate in 2026.
Trump Inherits the Biden Economy
“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris could not sell voters on the strength of the economy. Now, Donald Trump is poised to enter the White House with booming markets and solid growth. Expect him to reap the political rewards,” Politico reports.
“The long-term consequences of the highest inflation in four decades are still dragging down consumer sentiment, and Trump fueled that pessimism on the campaign trail by relentlessly arguing that the economy was in a freefall. With the election over, he’s likely to have a much easier job convincing Americans that times are actually pretty good.”
Wall Street Journal: Boston Fed president says December rate cut isn’t a “done deal.”
Tim Scott’s New Hire Is Already Ruffling Feathers
“Sen. Tim Scott’s tenure as chairman of the Senate GOP’s campaign arm is starting with a controversial hire,” NOTUS reports.
“Stephen DeMaura — the former campaign manager for Mike Pence’s most recent presidential campaign — is expected to be the new executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.”
“But the hire has already ruffled the feathers of many Republicans on Capitol Hill, with some GOP aides telling NOTUS they see it as a ‘strange’ and ‘weird’ decision given Donald Trump’s return to the White House.”
Trump Looks to Bypass Senate for Polarizing Picks
“As Donald Trump moves to fill his administration with polarizing figures like former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz and onetime presidential rival Robert F. Kennedy Jr., he may need Congress to heed his demand to allow him to bypass the traditional confirmation process and appoint his picks without Senate approval,” the Washington Post reports.
“The president-elect has insisted that rather than put his nominees through an extended public vetting process, the GOP-led Senate should take extended breaks that would allow him to make recess appointments.”
“Experts in American democracy say Trump’s call is the first major post-election test for Republicans in Congress of whether they will stand up for traditional checks and balances or bend to Trump’s desire not to have his choices questioned.”
For members: How Trump Could Get Matt Gaetz Through
Doug Burgum Picked to Lead Interior Department
“President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate Doug Burgum, a one-time rival for the Republican presidential nomination, to run the Interior Department,” Politico reports.
Pete Hegseth Faces Previous Sexual Misconduct Allegation
“Donald Trump’s transition team scrambled Thursday after Trump’s incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles was presented with an allegation that former Fox & Friends co-host Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee to be Defense Secretary, had engaged in sexual misconduct,” Vanity Fair reports.
“According to two sources, Wiles was briefed Wednesday night about an allegation that Hegseth had acted inappropriately with a woman. One of the sources said the alleged incident took place in Monterey, California in 2017.”
Senate Democrats Caught Flat-Footed by Anti-Trans Ads
“Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer heard a consistent, urgent alarm this week from Democrats who felt ambushed by GOP attacks on transgender people participating in women’s sports,” Axios reports.
“In two private postmortem meetings attended by Schumer, Democrats said the party was caught flat-footed by the attacks, even as many campaigns aired ads pushing back.”
“The GOP spent over $77 million on ads about transgender issues in U.S. Senate races in 10 states dating back to July.”
Trump Tests Deference of GOP Senators
“President-elect Donald Trump’s bid to stock his cabinet with combative loyalists is creating the first major test for the new Senate Republican majority, whose leaders must now decide how far they are willing to go to challenge nominees some of them regard as egregiously unfit,” the New York Times reports.
Wall Street Journal: Gaetz nomination seen as doomed by some Senate Republicans.
How Trump Picked Matt Gaetz
“President-elect Donald Trump still hadn’t settled on his pick for attorney general when he boarded his plane in Washington on Wednesday afternoon, bound for West Palm Beach, after spending a triumphal day in the capital meeting with President Biden at the White House and with Republicans on Capitol Hill,” the New York Times reports.
“By the time he landed in Florida two hours later, he had made an abrupt choice that stunned Washington: Representative Matt Gaetz, the firebrand congressman whose loyalty has never been in question.”
Trump Nominates Manhattan’s Top Federal Prosecutor
“President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday said he would pick Jay Clayton, who was the top Wall Street enforcer in the first Trump administration, as the head federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, a critical post for an incoming president who has vowed revenge on those who pursued him in the courts,” the New York Times reports.
Politico: “Clayton served as the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term but has no experience as a criminal prosecutor…”
“During his first term, Trump attempted to install Clayton as the U.S. attorney for SDNY in an effort to oust Geoffrey Berman, who held the post from 2018 to 2020. But Trump’s effort was met with fierce resistance in the office, including by Berman himself, who refused to leave until he was allowed to hand the reins to his deputy.”
Trump Nixes Jamie Dimon for Cabinet
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon won’t join President-elect Trump’s administration, The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “I respect Jamie Dimon, of JPMorgan Chase, greatly, but he will not be invited to be a part of the Trump Administration. I thank Jamie for his outstanding service to our Country!”
Woman Testified Gaetz Had Sex with Her at Age 17
“The woman who was at the center of a yearslong Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations surrounding Rep. Matt Gaetz testified to the House Ethics Committee that the now-former Florida congressman had sex with her when she was 17 years old,” ABC News reports.
“Over the summer, the House Ethics Committee subpoenaed the woman at the center of the probe — who is now in her 20s — and she sat for multiple days of testimony where she testified to the committee that Gaetz had sex with her when she was a minor in high school.”
