“A full year after making a public pledge to do so, President Trump has disclosed a list of donors who helped pay for his transition to power,” the New York Times reports.
“The list of 46 individuals, released by the transition team, includes billionaires like Jeff Yass and Paul Singer as well as several supporters who went on to be appointees in the current administration.”
“To sabotage a fellow Cabinet secretary, Howard Lutnick dug up a decade-old comment critical of Donald Trump made by Sean Duffy to sink his chances of being named secretary of transportation, according to a new book about the 2024 election,” ABC News reports.
“The attempt ultimately failed, but the incident was one of many instances of sabotage and infighting between potential Cabinet officials that came to define Trump’s presidential transition…”
“The book details the frenzied process when billionaires, politicians and television stars flocked to Trump’s Florida club and residence, Mar-a-Lago, to rub shoulders with future leaders of government and increase their chances of being tapped by Trump.”
“President Trump raised $239 million for his inauguration festivities in January, a norm-shattering amount fueled by corporate America’s desire to curry favor with a famously transactional president,” the New York Times reports.
“After six weeks in office, President Trump has not disclosed the names of the donors who paid for his transition planning, despite a public pledge to do so,” the New York Times reports.
“It’s a true story, true story. On Inauguration Day, at noon under our Constitutional system the President ceased to be the President. So Joe Biden was no longer the President at noon on inauguration day. We were running a little bit behind on the schedule and J.D. Vance did not take his oath of office, he was about 37 seconds late. So I just want ya’ll to know, for that brief moment in time, I was the acting President of the United States.”
— Speaker Mike Johnson, speaking to KEEL.
“First came the pharmaceutical executives,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Then the insurance companies and the hospital leaders. During two months that shattered records for presidential transitions, healthcare executives wrote among the largest checks, paying millions of dollars to attend at least six different dinners with now-President Trump before he took office…”
“Altogether, Trump has told associates he raised about $500 million. Much of it came from the healthcare industry, which is potentially facing sharp changes under Trump’s new health secretary. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has criticized the use of vaccines, described federal health agencies as beholden to the interests of drugmakers and suggested banning television drug ads.”
Semafor: “Trump’s rapid-fire approach is quickly becoming the defining feature of his second term in office, as he targets everything from Greenland to paper straws. Many allies say it’s an intentional strategy designed to overwhelm Democrats and the media with so much activity that they can’t keep up.”
Said one Trump aide: “It’s blitzing as much as we can until everyone is just tired. What people don’t realize is all of this has been planned during transition.”
“Dubbed by former Trump adviser Steve Bannon as a ‘flood the zone’ strategy, the effects are disorienting and debilitating for many in Washington — especially Congress. Democrats are in a reactive posture toward Trump as he once again dictates the news cycle, and their resistance to Trump is hardening by the day.”
Mark Leibovich: “Yes, Trump definitely does seem kind of busy.”
“President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee received millions of dollars in donations from firms in the cryptocurrency industry that’s already seeing special attention from his administration,” Bloomberg reports.
“Coinbase Inc., Crypto.com, Galaxy Digital, Paradigm Operations and Payward Inc., better known as Kraken, each gave $1 million. Robinhood Markets, Inc., which offers a trading platform for digital currencies, contributed $2 million.
“Pete isn’t 100% dead. But he might be 90% dead.”
— Vice President J.D. Vance, quoted by Axios, writing off Pete Hegseth’s nomination to be Defense Secretary in early December.
“President Donald Trump is acting on his campaign promises at the fastest clip in modern memory — sending almost hourly shockwaves through the government, the legal system, the science community and around the world,” CNN reports.
“Trump’s three-day sprint through his to-do list contrasts sharply with the disarray and empty fights that marred the start of his underperforming first term.”
“In his zeal to make good on his pledges, Trump is delivering gift after gift to his most loyal supporters, making progress toward conservative goals developed, in some cases, over many years, in an extraordinary display of populist, nationalist, right-wing ideology.”
The Hill: Trump 2.0 comes into focus.
“Ramaswamy lasted minus one day, OK? He got blown out on Jan. 19, so he’s not even—you can’t even measure him by Scaramuccis, which are 11-day time units.”
— Anthony Scaramucci, on the Power Play podcast.
The Daily Beast reports a translator working for a German television channel appeared to get frustrated during Donald Trump’s speech at the Capitol yesterday and asked his producer while the mic was still hot: “How long do you want to stay on this shit?”
William Kristol: “Shortly after noon yesterday, Donald Trump took the oath of office. He swore that he would “faithfully execute the office of president of the United States” and would, to the best of his ability, ‘preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.'”
“He spent the rest of the day violating that oath.”
“The blizzard of executive orders and pronouncements that Trump issued yesterday featured—almost boasted of—his disdain for legality and contempt for constitutionality. One might say that Trump’s embrace of illegality and unconstitutionality was a feature, not a bug, of Day One of his presidency. From abrogating the law governing TikTok to trying to end birthright citizenship—not to mention a host of other actions, especially but not only concerning immigration—Trump made clear that a lawless presidency is at the core of his vision for his second term.”
“Neo-Nazis are celebrating Elon Musk making two Nazi-like salutes during a speech to tens of thousands of President Donald Trump supporters on Monday,” Wired reports.
“President Donald Trump did not place his hand on the Bible as he took the oath of office during his inauguration on Monday,” ABC News reports.
“First lady Melania Trump stood next to the president holding two Bibles, but the 47th president of the United States didn’t place his hand on either as he raised his right hand to take the presidential oath, which Chief Justice John Roberts issued.”
Retired Gen. Mark Milley’s official portrait — which was hung in the Pentagon just 10 days ago — was removed soon after President Donald Trump was sworn into office, CNN reports.
“Former White House strategist Steve Bannon was noticeably absent from the inauguration’s presidential fanfare on Monday amid his ongoing feud with Elon Musk,” the Daily Beast reports.
“Bannon’s normally active social media accounts were also radio silent on President Donald Trump’s big day, adding to the rumors of a growing civil war between MAGA’s old guard, led by Bannon, and its new billionaire leaders led by Musk.”
“President Donald Trump is planning to pardon people convicted of nonviolent offenses related to the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack and to commute the sentences of others convicted of more serious offenses,” CNN reports.
“The Justice Department also is expected to move in court to dismiss cases that have not yet gone to trial, according to a Trump transition official.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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