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Incoming president planning swearing-in ceremony for January 20 and continuing to float idea of merging North American neighbor into United States
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Donald Trump has met with Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to plan for his inauguration on January 20.
Mayor Bowser wrote on X that she had a “great meeting” with the president-elect and hoped they would find “common ground” after clashing in the past over the policing of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in D.C. in response to the killing of George Floyd in summer 2020 and then the Capitol riot six months later.
Trump is meanwhile continuing to circulate articles from right-wing media on his Truth Social feed hinting at the prospect of the United States entering merger talks with Canada about it becoming America’s 51st state, capitalizing on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s rocky end to the year.
The idea was also entertained on Fox News on Monday when Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary expressed his enthusiasm for the idea in conversation with Trump’s former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.
The president-elect has also sought to revive talk about his acquiring Greenland from Denmark in recent days.
Congress will reconvene on Friday after the New Year’s celebrations, when House Speaker Mike Johnson is up for re-election — and appears to be short of support.
Elon Musk has adopted a Pepe the Frog meme for his X profile picture with a new user name that references the neo-Nazi “kek” subculture that was birthed from the extremely online far-right depths of 4chan.
Musk — the 53-year-old world’s wealthiest person and father of 12 — changed his name to “Kekius Maximus” and changed his photo to an illustration of Pepe dressed as a Roman legionnaire playing a video game. Musk is working with Trump’s incoming administration to recommend drastic cuts in federal spending.
Comic artist Matt Furie’s Pepe creation was co-opted as a far-right hate symbol, and he has since tried to swat down its usage and even tried killing off the character. The image has persisted in memes and as a prominent figure among the so-called Groyper movement of young Christian white nationalists.
Musk has come under fire for endorsing Germany’s ultra-right Alternative for Germany, which has flirted with neo-Nazi and white supremacist rhetoric.
Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman said he expects Trump to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two of the nation’s biggest government-owned mortgage lenders.
Rhian Lubin has more:
The Trump-supporting financier said he believes the president-elect will remove lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from conservatorship
Donald Trump has been summoned to appear in a discovery hearing for a long-running lawsuit from members of Congress, Capitol police and the NAACP over his role in the January 6 attack.
The president-elect has been scheduled to appear virtually for a hearing on January 6, four years to the day he failed to stop a mob from storming the halls of Congress, fueled by his lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.
The lawsuit (Lee v Trump) and a similar civil case (Smith v Trump) accuse Trump and his co-defendants of violating the Ku Klux Klan Act, which intended to combat political violence and intimidation.
In Lee v Trump, the president-elect along with Rudy Giuliani, the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and others “conspired to incite an assembled crowd to march upon and enter the Capitol of the United States for the common purpose of disrupting, by the use of force, intimidation and threat, the approval by Congress of the count of votes cast by members of the Electoral College.”
And “in doing so, the Defendants each intended to prevent, and ultimately delayed, members of Congress from discharging their duty commanded by the United States Constitution” to approve the results of the election, the lawsuit argues.
The judge presiding over the lawsuit also set a schedule to hear how his “immunity” defense comes into play, with deadlines that extend into the first few months of his second presidency.
Trump’s “immunity” motion is due January 24, plaintiffs’ opposition is due February 28, and Trump’s reply is due April 4.
Bide staffers are reporting a “depressing” mood around the White House in the final weeks of the president’s term as he tries to rescue his legacy.
The Independent’s Katie Hawkinson in Washington, D.C. has more:
‘He really thought he was going to win,’ a Democratic donor and friend to the outgoing president said
New Hampshire Representative Annie Kuster has told The Boston Globe that she hopes some of her colleagues will be inspired to leave Congress when their time is up, adding that she wishes President Joe Biden had stepped aside to make way for the much younger Kamala Harris much earlier than he did.
Gustaf Kilander has more.
‘I think there are colleagues — some of whom are still very successful and very productive — but others who just stay forever,’ noted New Hampshire Representative Annie Kuster
Ivanka Trump and Matt Gaetz are among the Trump World favorites bidding goodbye to 2024 on social media.
But for tireless anti-Biden grandstander James Comer, New Year’s Eve is just another day at the office…
Donald Trump bleeding on stage, Joe Biden dropping out of the race and MAGA moving back into DC were just some of the top political moments that 2024 had to offer.
But those were hardly the only ones.
Lil Jon bringing the Democrats to their feet in Chicago, politicians showing up on Saturday Night Live and talking trash (both literally and metaphorically) filled the headlines.
Here’s Ariana Baio with a look back at the top political moments of the last year and some of the memorable scenes you may have forgotten.
One presidential election, two assassination attempts and hundreds of rallies filled the 2024 political headlines. But it didnt’ stop there
As the nation gears up for a second Donald Trump presidency, the battle for 2028 has already begun.
The president-elect, who has jested numerous times about serving a third term, will not be on the ballot in 2028.
“I suspect I won’t be running again, unless you do something,” Trump reportedly told his GOP House colleagues as they met ahead of congressional leadership elections shortly after his election win.
“Unless you say, ‘He’s so good, we have to just figure it out.’”
Unfortunately for Trump, it’s a highly unlikely scenario, and so Republicans and Democrats are already looking to their next candidates – and the competition is wide open.
Here’s Rhian Lubin with a look at some of the top contenders for the 2028 presidency.
The president-elect, who has jested numerous times about serving a third term, will not be on the ballot in 2028
Trump will not like this at all, having already been annoyed by the Texans’ objections during the congressional spending bill scrap before Christmas.
Johnson’s candidacy will be voted upon on Friday and he can only afford one GOP rebellion, given his party’s narrow majority of 219 to 215.
But, as it stands, Thomas Massie has already indicated that he is a “no” while Andy Harris, Victoria Spartz, Andy Biggs and Tim Burchett have all said they are currently undecided.
Here’s a ticking off for Roy and his ilk from another ex-speaker, Newt Gingrich.
The president’s suggestion that Trump could learn “decency” from Carter led to outrage and a meltdown on Fox News’s Outnumbered on Monday.
“It’s a shame and it’s embarrassing for Joe Biden,” contributor Tammy Bruce said during the segment.
“Joe Biden will be known for just being a failed president and an indecent man,” the networks political analyst Lisa Boothe added.
“I think he’s just going to continue to go out looking like a bitter old man,” Dr Nicole Saphier chimed in.
Ariana Baio has more on their outrage.
‘Outnumbered’ co-hosts spent nearly seven minutes criticizing Biden for suggesting Trump is indecent
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