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TrumpWatch
U.S.: House GOP leaders are working toward a backup plan after an initial bipartisan deal to avoid a partial government shutdown on Friday was killed by an avalanche of conservative opposition.. — 18 December 2024 (LINK)
Trump names ambassadors for Japan, Dominican Republic, Austria, Luxembourg and Uruguay. — 17 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 28 media reports (LINK)
Trump not eligible for immunity in New York Stormy Daniels hush money case, judge rules. — 16 December 2024 (LINK)
Trump nominates conservative culture warrior, a Sikh woman lawyer, to lead DOJ's civil rights division. — 14 December 2024 (LINK)
George Stephanopoulos and ABC apologize to Trump, are forced to pay $15 million to Donald Trump's presidential library to settle defamation lawsuit: Stephanopoulos repeatedly claimed that a jury had found Trump guilty of r*ping E. Jean Carroll. — 14 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 379 media reports (LINK)
Amazon is the latest Big Tech company after Zuckerberg's Meta to donate $1mn to Trump inauguration fund. — 13 December 2024 (LINK)
Trump nominates Florida attorney Dan Newlin as ambassador to Colombia. — 12 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 13 media reports (LINK)
— Newlin donated more than $1.2 million to political action committees that supported Trump's candidacy for president
Time undercuts Trump interview with 2,300-word fact check: The magazine took aim at its honoree's statements about immigration, vaccines, and gender transition. — 12 December 2024 (LINK)
Trump invites China's Xi Jinping to attend Presidential Inauguration in an unprecedented move. — 12 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 131 media reports (LINK)
Trump-Backed World Liberty Financial (WLFI) bags $10m in Ethereum. — 12 December 2024 (LINK)
— Launched in September as a hard fork of the popular decentralized finance protocol Aave, World Liberty Financial is being promoted as a money market that will allow users to borrow, lend, and earn interest on cryptocurrencies.
Trump taps Tom Barrack, a longtime ally who faced legal scrutiny (acquitted) for his work on behalf of the United Arab Emirates, as Ambassador to Turkey. — 10 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: media reports (LINK)
— An Arabic speaker born to Lebanese parents, Barrack built relationships with Saudi government officials and businesses in the 1970s. He also helped open diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Haiti, and has ties to other Gulf monarchies. Barrack was also a friend of disgraced investor and sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump calls for 'immediate ceasefire' in Ukraine after meeting Zelenskyy in Paris, claiming Kyiv "would like to make a deal" to end the more than 1,000-day war. — 8 December 2024 (LINK)
— In a separate social media update Sunday, Zelenskyy asserted that Kyiv has so far lost 43,000 soldiers since Moscow's all-out invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, while a further 370,000 have been wounded.
Trump again says he won't seek to remove Fed chairman Powell — first time since election. — 8 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 69 media reports (LINK)
— In July, Trump indicated he would not fire Powell if elected and advisors confirmed Powell would likely complete his term. Previously, Trump criticized Powell in March 2020, stating he had the 'right to remove as chairman' due to perceived poor decisions.
Elon Musk spent $250 million electing Trump, including financing 'RBG PAC', new filings show: biggest political donor. — 7 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 190 media reports (LINK)
Trump says he picks 'hawkish on China' former Senator David Perdue to be ambassador in Peking. — 6 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 58 media reports (LINK)
'Trump's gonna pardon me anyways,' January 6 rioter scoffs as he's led from court to prison. — 6 December 2024 (LINK)
Trump appoints former PayPal chief operating officer David Sacks as 'Czar' of AI and crypto policy. — 5 December 2024 (LINK)
"Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump's pick to serve as director of national intelligence, regularly consumed and shared Russian propaganda, even after being advised that RT wasn't a credible source." — 5 December 2024 (LINK)
Trump nominates Paul Atkins as pro-crypto SEC chief. — 4 December 2024 (LINK)
Trump offers Pentagon job to billionaire whose firm trained Khashoggi's killers. — 4 December 2024 (LINK)
←"Peter Navarro is a crank and a sycophant. He should not have power over U.S. trade policy — or anything."← — 4 December 2024 (LINK)
Trump reacts to Biden pardoning son Hunter by raising Jan. 6 rioters' cases. — 2 December 2024 (LINK)
Zelensky wants to 'work directly' with Trump on ending Ukraine's war with Russia. — 30 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 42 media reports (LINK)
Trump selects Jared Kushner's father, Charles Kushner, for ambassador to France. — 30 November 2024 (LINK)
Al Jazeera: the goods set to get pricier in the U.S. under Trump's tariff plans: vehicles, fruit and vegetables, meat, alcohol, crude oil, electronics. — 29 November 2024 (LINK)
Trump won the popular vote, contrary to claims online. Social media users are confusing the popular vote with a majority of votes. The unofficial results show Trump received slightly less than a majority, but more votes than any candidate. — 26 November 2024 (LINK)
Trump has lost his popular-vote majority: Though it looked like he was over 50 percent on Election Night, the steady drip of late ballots has eroded his percentage to (currently) 49.87 percent, with further slippage very likely before all the votes are in. — 27 November 2024 (LINK)
Trump says he had a 'very productive conversation' with Mexico's president. — 27 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 262 media reports (LINK)
— Trump claimed Sheinbaum agreed to halt migration through Mexico to the U.S., stating, "effective immediately". Sheinbaum called the discussion "excellent" and emphasized that "neither threats nor tariffs" would resolve these problems.
New Republic: Mexican President's harsh takedown of trump exposes an ugly MAGA scam: — (LINK)
— Mexico is already acting extensively to thwart migrants who travel through that country—originating south of Mexico —so they don't reach Southern border.
Trump taps art collector with no experience to lead US Navy: John Phelan is a GOP megadonor who will prioritize the "America First vision," Trump said. — 27 November 2024 (LINK)
Heather Cox Richardson: Trump's war on drugs — 26 November 2024 (LINK)
— Trump announced on his social media site that he intends to impose a 25% tariff on all products coming into the U.S. from Mexico and Canada "until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!".
— In a separate post, he held China to account for fentanyl and said he would impose a 10% tariff on all Chinese products on top of the tariffs already levied on those goods.
— In fact, since 2023 there has been a drop of 14.5% in deaths from drug overdose, the first such decrease since the epidemic began, and border patrol apprehensions of people crossing the southern border illegally have fallen to the lowest number since August 2020, in the midst of the pandemic. In any case, a study by the libertarian Cato Institute shows that from 2019 to 2024, more than 80% of the people caught with fentanyl at ports of entry — where the vast majority of fentanyl is seized — were U.S. citizens.
Trump planning to lift LNG pause, increase oil drilling during 1st days in office: Reuters. — 25 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 36 media reports (LINK)
Trump's nominee to lead anti-terrorism is chief whackadoo 'Doctor' Sebastian Gorka. — 25 November 2024 (LINK)
Which Trump Cabinet picks have Project 2025 ties? — 25 November 2024 (LINK)
!Robert Reich: special counsel Jack Smith just made a hell of a mistake: he enabled Trump to avoid all accountability! — 25 November 2024 (LINK)
Robert Reich: The one big constraint on Trump: On 22 November, Trump picked Scott Bessent to serve as treasury secretary: he's a billionaire hedge fund manager, founder of the investment firm Key Square Capital Management, and a protege of the MAGA arch-villain George Soros (he's also gay, which the MAGA base may not like, either). — 25 November 2024 (LINK)
— Trump doesn't want to do anything that will cause bond traders to raise long-term interest rates out of fear of future inflation, and he wants stock traders to be so optimistic about corporate profits they raise share prices. So he has appointed a treasury secretary who will reassure the bond and stock markets. Bessent has described Trump's plan for blanket tariffs as a "maximalist" negotiating strategy — suggesting Trump's whole tariff proposal is a strategic bluff.
Trump hush money sentencing delayed indefinitely. — 23 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 388 media reports (LINK)
Trump names experienced doctors to head CDC, FDA and for Surgeon General but declares: "Americans have lost trust in the CDC and in our Federal Health Authorities, who have engaged in censorship, data manipulation, and misinformation." — 23 November 2024 (LINK)
Trump names Fox News contributor Nesheiwat As Surgeon General. — 23 November 2024 (LINK: limited)
— "Dr. Nesheiwat is a fierce advocate and strong communicator for preventive medicine and public health," Trump said in a statement. "She is committed to ensuring that Americans have access to affordable, quality healthcare, and believes in empowering individuals to take charge of their health to live longer, healthier lives."
Mehmet Oz's controversial health claims, from the HCG diet to green coffee extract: Donald Trump's pick to head Medicare is now more known for dubious promotion of supplements and hormones unsupported by scientific evidence. — 22 November 2024 (LINK)
House passes bill 'giving Donald Trump unlimited authority' to target political enemies. — 21 November 2024 (LINK)
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi are leaving the U.S. for U.K. following Trump's win. — 21 November 2024 (LINK)
Donald Trump has nominated a Christian nationalist with ties to Project 2025 to lead the Office of Management and Budget. — 20 November 2024 (LINK)
Trump nominates Dr. Oz to run medicare. — 19 November 2024 (LINK)
Trump picks Linda McMahon, former wrestling executive, to head Department of Education. — 19 November 2024 (LINK)
Trump vows to use US military for mass deportations. — 18 November 2024 (LINK)
Heather Cox Richardson: As final vote tallies are coming in, it turns out that Trump did not win 50% of the vote, and CNN statistician Harry Enten notes that his margin comes in at 44th out of the 51 elections that have been held since 1824. He also had very short coattails — four Democrats won in states Trump carried — and the Republicans have the smallest House majority since there have been 50 states, despite the help their numbers have had from the extreme gerrymandering in states like North Carolina. — 18 November 2024 (LINK)
The size of Donald Trump's 2024 election victory, explained in 5 charts. — 24 November 2024 (LINK)
Fast Company: "Trump's pick for energy secretary loves fracking so much, he drank its liquid." — 18 November 2024 (LINK)
— In 2019, he drank fracking fluid on camera to demonstrate its safety. Also called frac fluid, that liquid is the mixture of water and chemicals pumped below the earth's surface in order to crack the rocks and unlock natural gas and crude oil. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), however, has said that the chemicals used in fracking formulas are considered hazardous to human health. The process of fracking also contaminates groundwater and pollutes the air, causing health hazards.
What is impoundment? How Trump thinks he can control spending without Congress. — 18 November 2024 (LINK)
— If "recess appointments" are the unlikely and unprecedented way Trump wants to work around the Senate to get his most controversial nominees in charge of Cabinet agencies, "impoundment" is the unlikely way he envisions shrinking the federal government with or without congressional approval. Trump took the time to record a video about impoundment during the Republican primary season, and he promised seizing control over spending from Congress would be a top priority if he was elected. Impoundment occurs when Congress appropriates money that the president then declines to spend. Richard Nixon abused the privilege, according to Congress at the time.
Trump taps Brendan Carr, an Elon Musk-backed critic of big tech, for chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. — 18 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 166 media reports (LINK)
Trump picks oil industry CEO and climate change sceptic Chris Wright as Energy Secretary. — 17 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 373 media reports (LINK)
"A cruise company is offering a 4-year journey to escape Donald Trump's presidency": Although the trip doesn't explicitly say that their exclusive offer is directly a result of the aftermath of the election, the getaway is for the duration of a full presidential term. — 17 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news:80 media reports (LINK)
AP: U.S. House elections produced a stalemate: the chamber's exact partisan divide is still to be determined as votes are tallied in a handful of states. Can Republicans figure out how to work with a thin majority? — 16 November 2024 (LINK)
— Republicans and Democrats have each flipped seven seats, while just eight incumbents nationwide have lost their races. "Democrats will actually have increased the number of seats in the new Congress." Trump is on track to win the popular vote for the first time. House Republicans held onto the majority largely thanks to two seats the party flipped in Pennsylvania, as well as three more that were redistricted by the GOP-controlled North Carolina General Assembly to favor their party.
— Democrats did best in New York, where they flipped three seats. They also picked up two redistricted seats, in Louisiana and Alabama, that were ordered by courts to ensure fair representation for Black voters. FairVote estimates that 85% of House seats are now safe for one party — the highest percentage it has tracked in two decades.
Two Trump cabinet choices in jeopardy over sexual misconduct allegations: Pete Hegseth as defence secretary and Matt Gaetz as attorney general. — 15 November 2024 (LINK)
Heather Cox Richardson: Biden's "largest investment in our nation's infrastructure in a generation". — 15 November 2024 (LINK)
— In the past three years, the Biden administration launched more than 66,000 projects across the country, repairing 196,000 miles of roads and 11,400 bridges, as well as replacing 367,000 lead pipes and modernizing ports and airports. Today the administration announced an additional $1.5 billion in funding for railroads along the Northeast Corridor, which carries five times more passengers a day than all the flights between Washington, D.C., and New York City.
— In his first term, Trump had promised a bill to address the country's long-neglected infrastructure, but his inability to get that done made "infrastructure week" a joke. Biden got a major bill passed, but while the administration nicknamed the law the "Big Deal," Biden got very little credit for it politically. Republicans who had voted against the measure took credit for the projects it funded, and voters seemed not to factor in the jobs and improvements it brought when they went to the polls last week.
Trump promise to repeal Biden climate policies could cost US billions, report finds. — 14 November 2024 (LINK)
— It threatens to push $80bn of investment to other countries and cost the US up to $50bn in lost exports, the analysis found, surrendering ground to China and other emerging powers in the race to build electric cars, batteries, solar and wind energy for the world.
The House now belongs to the GOP. Here's what party leaders say they'll do first. — 14 November 2024 (LINK)
Trump to nominate his criminal defense lawyer for deputy attorney general. — 14 November 2024 (LINK)
Vaccine maker stocks fall as Trump chooses RFK Jr. to lead HHS — (LINK)
US debt 'set to explode' under Trump — top bankers at the Institute of International Finance (IIF): "The incoming president's plan to slash taxes without equal cuts to spending would push US national debt up from around 100pc of GDP today to more than 135pc in a decade's time." — 13 November 2024 (LINK)
Bank of America stock is on fire post Trump win. — 13 November 2024 (LINK)
X lost record number of users after U.S. election day. — 13 November 2024 (LINK)
Trump's defence choice of Fox News host Pete Hegseth stuns the Pentagon and raises questions about his experience. — 13 November 2024 (LINK)
Trump's new EPA pick wants to make the U.S. the AI 'capital of the world'. — 12 November 2024 (LINK)
Judge defers Trump immunity decision in Stormy Daniels hush money case until 19 November. — 12 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 265 media reports (LINK)
Russia denies Trump call with Putin urging restraint in Ukraine. — 11 November 2024 (LINK)
— The call, which was first reported by the Washington Post on 10 November, is said to have happened on Thursday.
Trump announces Tom Homan as incoming border czar: Homan touts hard-line immigration views and has previously vowed to "run the biggest deportation force this country has ever seen.". — 10 November 2024 (LINK)
Justice Department brings criminal charges in Iranian murder-for-hire plan targeting Donald Trump. — 8 November 2024 (LINK)
Special counsel Jack Smith tells court he is assessing future of Trump criminal case. — 8 November 2024 (LINK)
Heather Cox Richardson: Trump's policy implications: gaming consoles +40%, switching production from China to Asia and Latin America, undocumented relatives in danger of deportation, tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. — 8 November 2024 (LINK)
Trump names Susie Wiles as first female White House chief of staff in history: longtime GOP operative going back to working as former President Reagan's campaign scheduler for his 1980 presidential bid. — 7 November 2024 (LINK)
Climate tech stock market shares tumble after Trump's win. — 7 November 2024 (LINK)
Private prison stocks soar after Trump win on deportation plans. — 6 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 12 media reports (LINK)
Trump gave his first new Presidential speech, bringing new ATH in Bitcoin! He did not mention Bitcoin, price dropped!: Trump appeared before voters in West Palm Beach and declared victory.. — 6 November 2024 (LINK)
Trump Media reports $19 mln loss in third quarter on TV streaming costs. — 5 November 2024 (LINK)
What Trump has said he would do on Day 1 back in the White House: Trump's campaign pledges have included mass deportations. — 3 November 2024 (LINK)
Trump before the 2024 election
