Peter Hamby: “The first big showdown for Democrats will likely take place in the Senate, where a battery of Trump’s controversial cabinet nominees are set to face confirmation hearings. A new poll from Echelon Insights, in partnership with Puck, suggests that Democrats have an opportunity to drive a wedge between the American public and Trump on the subject of his more outré picks: Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense, Kash Patel for FBI director, Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of health and human services.”

“While a slim majority of likely voters in the poll (52 percent) approved of Trump’s transition so far, their views shifted when asked questions about his nominees, their experience, their views, and the role of the Senate in approving those nominations. Americans overall defend the Senate’s right to confirm or reject presidential nominees, even if it conflicts with a president’s wishes.”

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) is a top contender to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Donald Trump’s administration, CNN reports.

However, Moskowitz told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that he’s staying in Congress.

Matt Levine: “Musk is extremely rich, he’s litigious and willing to fight even without great legal arguments, he’s popular online and has a large army of fans who get mad at his critics, and he is essential to various essential companies. You can’t seriously expect all of the laws to apply to him…”

“Musk has helped get Donald Trump elected president, and Trump is not particularly big on insisting that his supporters follow the law in every detail. In a month, if any federal regulators or law enforcement officers object to anything that Musk does, can Musk just… fire them?”

Jonathan Last: “I’m not sure we have analogues for this. Normally when people flout the law they take pains to make it appear as though they’re not. They cover up their misdeeds or at least stay quiet.”

“Elon Musk’s approach is to brag about how he is an Übermensch to whom normal laws do not apply. So far this has worked out for him.”

A new Monmouth poll finds 53% of Americans are optimistic about a second Donald Trump term, with his fellow Republicans even more likely now to feel very optimistic than they were after his 2016 victory.

Said pollster Patrick Murray: “Republicans are even more enthusiastic about a second Trump term than they were the first time around. They are particularly looking forward to him following through on the plans he promised.”

CNN: “Even if a lawsuit is tossed by a judge or a media outlet ultimately prevails, the punishment is in the process. Lawsuits can drag on for months or years and can cost companies millions in legal fees.” 

“We want retribution and we’re going to get retribution.”

— Steve Bannon, speaking to the New York Young Republican Club.

Tara Palmeri: “With five weeks until his return to the White House, Donald Trump is already delivering on his promise to wage legal vendettas against political enemies and journalists, alike. On Monday night, less than 48 hours after securing a $15 million settlement from ABC News, Trump filed a lawsuit in Iowa District Court accusing the venerated pollster Ann Selzer and her polling company—as well as The Des Moines Register and its parent company, Gannett—of ‘brazen election interference’ and consumer fraud over her November 2 poll showing Kamala Harris winning by three points in Iowa.”

“Whether that polling error constitutes an ‘election-interfering fiction,’ as the suit alleges, is now the question before a Polk County court. Iowa is notably in the minority of states that lacks an anti-SLAPP law, a protection that gives judges the ability to swiftly toss out frivolous attacks on free speech. But it’s still a long putt: Trump’s newest courthouse adventure leans on an extremely aggressive reading of a statute in Iowa’s consumer fraud law intended to prevent businesses from making misrepresentations to deceive purchasers.”

Said Trump: “We have to straighten out our press. Our press is very corrupt, almost as corrupt as our elections.”

“President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, justified the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack and spread baseless conspiracy theories claiming the initial break-in was a false flag operation carried out by leftist groups disguised as Trump supporters,” CNN reports.

“In comments made immediately after the riot and in the days and weeks leading up to it, Hegseth also amplified false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, a narrative that fueled the violence at the Capitol that day.”

President-elect Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos on Tuesday at Mar-a-Lago, CNN reports.

Dan Pfeiffer: Why America’s CEOs are cozying up to Trump.

“Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) wrote a letter to President-elect Donald Trump on Monday to request clear and transparent conflict-of-interest rules that would bind Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, during his role as a top Trump adviser,” the Washington Post reports.

“Donald Trump is undergoing quite the fêting ahead of his second term — and it’s a whole lot cozier than his descent into Washington eight years ago,” the Washington Post reports.

“Tech titans are pouring millions of dollars into his inauguration and parading through West Palm Beach for meetings with the president-elect. Foreign leaders are seeking to curry his favor through phone calls and photo-ops. Liberal newscasters are rushing to Mar-a-Lago to mend fences with the man who painted them as ‘enemies of the people.’ Time Magazine just named him ‘Person of the Year’ — and dozens of business executives came out to watch him ring the New York Stock Exchange bell to celebrate.”

“Meanwhile, Trump just hit his highest net favorability rating since April 2017 in a new Morning Consult survey.”

New York Times: “He has enjoyed a steady stream of vanquished opponents and critics and business leaders who once spurned him arriving to pay respects, seek jobs or simply watch him press ‘play’ on the iPad that he uses to control the music from the patio during the dinner hours.”

“At least in part, that’s because Mr. Trump has bent the Republican Party to his will. And he has payback on his mind, a fact he made plain on Monday.”

“If you ask many a Wall Street investor, tax cuts are poised for extension, deregulation is all but guaranteed, immigration reform for high-skill workers has real potential and President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency might just cut the deficit,” the New York Times reports.

“Tariffs, by contrast, are a mere bargaining chip. Immigrant expulsions will probably be limited, and there is no way on earth that the incoming White House would meddle with the independent Federal Reserve.”

“Hope has been riding high in financial markets and corporate boardrooms in the month-and-change since the presidential election. But it is often predicated on a bet: Many of the optimists are choosing to believe that the Trump promises they want to see fulfilled are going to become reality, while dismissing those they think would be bad for the economy as mere posturing.”

President-elect Donald Trump said “everybody wants to be my friend” as he prepares to return to the White House, a notable shift from his first term where “everybody was fighting me,” Axios reports.

Said Trump: “I don’t know, my personality changed or something.”

“President-elect Donald Trump has told close aides he is no longer considering Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s daughter-in-law to serve as deputy director at the CIA, after a campaign by Republican lawmakers who feared she would seek to impose major changes at America’s top spy agency,” the Washington Post reports.

“Donald Trump’s allies have become increasingly emboldened to float their most audacious ideas as Trump prepares to return to office, suggesting he run for an unconstitutional third term in 2028 and accusing the news media of having engaged in a criminal conspiracy with prosecutors against him,” The Guardian reports.