“President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary pick, Pete Hegseth, paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault in a settlement agreement that included a confidentiality clause,“ CNN reports.
Trump Is Determined to See Matt Gaetz Confirmed
“President-elect Donald Trump is pressing forward with his decision to put forward former Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general, despite widespread unease on Capitol Hill about entrusting the Justice Department to a figure with limited legal experience who has recently faced investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct,” CNN reports.
“Trump’s insistence on the controversial pick has drawn warnings from allies and lawmakers, who caution that Gaetz faces an uphill climb to secure the 51 votes needed for Senate confirmation. There is growing concern, too, that the spectacle of a Gaetz confirmation hearing might overshadow the priorities on which Trump has spent the last two years campaigning and for which he received a mandate to push through with his victory this month.”
Musk Appears to Pressure Trump on Cabinet and Tariffs
“Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX billionaire who has become President-elect Donald Trump’s ‘first buddy,’ appeared to publicly pressure Trump on economic policy and a key Cabinet appointment Saturday,” the Washington Post reports.
“In a Saturday morning post on X, the social network he owns and runs, Musk praised a foreign leader’s decision to cut tariffs — the same import taxes that Trump wants to raise to the highest level in a century.”
“Several hours later, Musk posted that Howard Lutnick, Trump’s co-transition chair, would be a better choice than hedge fund executive Scott Bessent for treasury secretary.”
Wall Street Journal: Messy fight for Trump’s Treasury chief spills into public.
Trump’s Moves Suggest Disruption and Retribution
Dan Balz: “The opening phase of President-elect Donald Trump’s second trip to the White House has been nothing like the first. What this portends for the coming four years is exactly what Trump pledged in the campaign: disruption and retribution.”
Peter Baker: “Somehow disruption doesn’t begin to cover it. Upheaval might be closer. Revolution maybe. In less than two weeks since being elected again, Donald Trump has embarked on a new campaign to shatter the institutions of Washington as no incoming president has in his lifetime.”
Trump’s Cabinet Picks Thrill Many of His Voters
New York Times: “Democrats, and even some Republicans, worry that these nominees for top positions in government are inexperienced, conflicted and potentially reckless. But in interviews with almost two dozen Trump voters around the country, his supporters were more likely to describe them as mavericks and reformers recruited to deliver on Mr. Trump’s promise to shake up Washington.”
How Kamala Harris Burned Through $1.5 Billion in 15 Weeks
“Vice President Kamala Harris spent a remarkable $1.5 billion in her hyper-compressed 15-week presidential campaign. But in the days since losing to President-elect Donald Trump, her operation has faced questions internally and externally over where exactly all that cash went,” the New York Times reports.
“Despite her significant financial advantage, Ms. Harris became the first Democratic presidential candidate to lose the national popular vote in two decades, ceding every battleground state to Mr. Trump.”
“Her cash-rich campaign spared no expense as it hunted for voters — paying for an avalanche of advertising, social-media influencers, a for-hire door-knocking operation, thousands of staff, pricey rallies, a splashy Oprah town hall, celebrity concerts and even drone shows.”
Politico: Kamala Harris raised $1B-plus in defeat. She’s still sending persistent appeals to donors.
Trump Team Compiling List of Officers for Courts-Martial
“The Trump transition team is compiling a list of senior current and former U.S. military officers who were directly involved in the withdrawal from Afghanistan and exploring whether they could be court-martialed for their involvement,“ NBC News reports.
“Officials working on the transition are considering creating a commission to investigate the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, including gathering information about who was directly involved in the decision-making for the military, how it was carried out, and whether the military leaders could be eligible for charges as serious as treason.”
Senate Republicans Don’t Think Gaetz Will Be Confirmed
“More than half of Senate Republicans, including some in senior leadership positions, privately say they don’t see a path for former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to be confirmed as attorney general and would not support him to lead the Department of Justice,” NBC News reports.
“While Gaetz’s ability to be confirmed appears on the rocks among Senate Republicans, President-elect Donald Trump’s team remains confident he will eventually be confirmed, even if it’s after an ugly battle.”
“NBC News spoke to more than 15 additional Republican sources who agreed that there are not enough votes in the Senate to confirm Gaetz, and some estimated that closer to 30 Republicans consider him unqualified.”
Trump Picks Fossil Fuel Executive as Energy Secretary
“President-elect Donald Trump has selected Chris Wright, a campaign donor and fossil fuel executive, to serve as energy secretary in a second Trump administration,” the AP reports.
Xi Says China Is Ready to Work With Trump
“Chinese leader Xi Jinping told President Joe Biden that he’s ready to work with Donald Trump to improve the relationship between the world’s biggest economies,” Bloomberg reports.
“Speaking in their final meeting before Trump takes office, Xi told Biden that the US and China shouldn’t pursue decoupling and instead strive for peaceful existence over the long term.”
Musk Backs Howard Lutnick for Treasury Secretary
Elon Musk is backing Donald Trump’s transition co-chair Howard Lutnick to lead the Treasury Department, touting the billionaire CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald as a potential secretary who “will actually enact change” from the most powerful economic post in Trump’s Cabinet, Politico reports.
Musk labeled another prime contender for the post, hedge fund CEO Scott Bessent, a “business-as-usual choice.”
Some Weekend Thoughts on the Trump Transition
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Quote of the Day
“You don’t root out corruption at the DOJ by picking a corrupt person to lead it. Either the report comes out and is he not going to be the attorney general or the report doesn’t come out and he is not going to be the attorney general.”
— Fox News host Trey Gowdy, talking about Matt Gaetz.
Democrats Look to Revamp 2028 Calendar
“With President Joe Biden soon leaving the White House after having dictated the order of states in 2024, Democratic National Committee members are already readying for a fight to reorder the primary contests in the next presidential election,” NBC News reports.
Trump Allies Fume Over Possible New Senate GOP Hires
“Donald Trump’s team — convinced that the Senate GOP campaign arm and its top allied super PAC are hiring “Never Trumpers” for key roles — is preparing to launch its own super PAC to compete in the next round of Senate races in 2026,“ Politico reports.
“The plan, if carried out, would upend the party’s traditional method of competing in Senate races and could cause major discord among powerful GOP financial players — pitting Trump and his new regime against longtime GOP donors seeking to influence competitive Senate races. The move could disperse money across multiple entities and hinder the Senate Leadership Fund, a group that was created to be a centralized GOP clearinghouse for Senate spending.”
Trump Allies Push Kash Patel for FBI Director
“Donald Trump is weighing a push from right-wing allies to nominate Kash Patel to lead the FBI, one of the clearest indications the president-elect plans to stick by his vow to fire Director Christopher Wray before his 10-year term ends and replace him with a loyalist,” CNN reports.
“Multiple sources familiar with the Trump transition process have expressed deep concerns about the possibility of Patel being named FBI director, where he would be well-positioned to try to investigate Trump’s political enemies, declassify sensitive information and purge career civil servants.”
The ‘Team of Vipers’ Is Back
Politico: “The last time Cliff Sims was this close to presidential power, he coined an indelible phrase for the cut-throat coterie around Donald Trump — it was a ‘Team of Vipers’ as he titled his 2019 tell-all. Now a key member of the Trump transition, Sims is showing that he knows his way around the old snake pit.”
“According to two well-placed Republicans … Sims’ presence came to head this week with Trump — who had only vaguely recognized him in transition meetings and asked for more information on his background. After an aide put a folder of clips about Sims and his book on Trump’s desk, he exploded. … Yet as of Friday, Sims remains on the job — and could be in line for a plum administration post.”
The Trump Lawyer Who Wields Outsize Influence
New York Times: “Mr. Epshteyn, who left his role in the White House communications office in 2017 over what was described as an issue with his security clearance that has since been resolved, had told friends before the special envoy discussion that he intended to stay outside government as a counselor to Mr. Trump. And in Mr. Trump’s world, the lack of an official title has meant little in terms of measuring influence.”
“Although there are those close to Mr. Trump who despise Mr. Epshteyn, there is nobody in the president-elect’s orbit who at this point would doubt the level of his influence. He has quickly become one of the most powerful figures in the early days of the presidential transition, despite having no formal role in it. He has become a significant gatekeeper for Mr. Trump, including shaping some of the information he receives about personnel and cabinet selections.”
