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As US President-elect Donald Trump continues to make heads turn with nominations for key roles in his incoming administration, Russians are trying to understand the appointments and what impacts they might have for Moscow.

Russian state TV has spent the last few days using their slickly produced talk shows to tell the Russian people what they should make of the incoming administration – in particular what it might mean for Russians and the war in Ukraine.

Evgeny Popov, a well-known face on Russian state TV and Duma representative used his show, co-hosted with his wife, to tear into Mike Waltz, Donald Trump’s pick for his national security adviser.

Waltz has previously expressed reservations about continued congressional support for Ukraine, and is a proponent of a peace plan for Ukraine – but has not ruled out applying pressure on Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin to force him to the table. Waltz also described Russia as “a gas station with nukes” in an interview with NPR on November 4.

Popov was quick to point out the potential threat to Moscow, “(Waltz) at the Republican convention proposed deploying more American drones in the Black Sea and bragged about how Trump threatened to bomb, as he put it, ‘Putin’s Kremlin.’ That is what’s called the Russophobic Dream Team or the American dream team.”

But across the studio floor, Olga Skabeeva, Popov’s wife, was a little more welcoming of the pick of former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence. Gabbard had been “clear on the reason for Russia’s special operation in Ukraine,” Skabeeva said, praising Gabbard’s criticism of US support for Kyiv.

Elena, who was walking with her daughter, said of Musk: “Everything he’s done is very interesting, and the fact that he has such ideas is also, in principle, good for development in general.”

The tech tycoon’s status as a super-rich maverick who purchased X, formerly Twitter, and who wants to put civilians into space, means he’s more familiar to Russians than nominees for other prominent posts.

Asked about how they viewed the incoming administration and future relations between old adversaries, people were a little more divided.

Vladimir Kostyukevich, however, said that Trump makes a good impression as a politician, citing his age and apparent energy – a barb perhaps at outgoing President Joe Biden.

Elena said, “I don’t know how Donald Trump can resolve this. But I would really like this to be resolved as soon as possible and resolved in the most peaceful way possible, through negotiations, and not through the actions that are happening now.”

Tatiyana meanwhile hoped for peace and spoke warmly of Ukraine, a reminder of the bonds that tie the two nations together.

“It’s a good question. Ukraine is our brotherly nation. It has always been so. And despite the fact that relations are so complicated now, we still love Ukraine as before, they are our brothers, our relatives,” she said.

And Kostyukevich hoped for even more. “I don’t know if Trump will stick to his line. But I hope, that there will be a good agreement between Russia and Ukraine. And in general, to stop all this madness that’s happening in the world, well, in Israel, Palestine and Ukraine-Russia,” he said.

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President-elect Trump selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 

‘I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,’ Trump said in his announcement Thursday. 

‘The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country. Mr. Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!’ Trump added.

The announcement comes just over a week after Trump won back the presidency.

Kennedy thanked Trump on X shortly after, vowing to ‘Make America Healthy Again’ and ‘end to the chronic disease epidemic.’

‘Together we will clean up corruption, stop the revolving door between industry and government, and return our health agencies to their rich tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science. I will provide Americans with transparency and access to all the data so they can make informed choices for themselves and their families,’ he wrote. 

RFK Jr. joined the 2024 campaign cycle as a candidate for the Oval Office. Kennedy, who is the son of former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, dropped out of the presidential election in August after initially running as a Democrat, before he switched to an independent run. 

He endorsed Trump shortly after suspending his campaign, hitting the campaign trail for the Trump-Vance ticket while touting his plans to ‘Make America Healthy Again’ under a potential Trump presidency. 

He also spoke during Trump’s historic Madison Square Garden rally last month, where he unleashed on the current state of the Democratic Party. 

‘The Democratic Party is the party of war. It’s the party of the CIA. You had Kamala Harris giving a speech at the Democratic convention that was written by neocons. It was belligerent, pugnacious. It talked about domination of the world by the United States through our weapons of war. It’s the party today that wants to divide Americans. It’s a party that is dismantling women’s sports by letting men play women’s sports,’ he said. 

‘It’s the party of Wall Street. It’s the party of Bill Gates, who just gave $50 million to Harris. It’s the party, and the Harris campaign is very proud that it received the endorsement of 50 former CIA agents and officers and of John Bolton and of Dick Cheney.’ 

Kennedy was asked about his potential role in the next White House and whether he would begin ‘clearing out the top level federal service workers that are currently at the FDA and the CDC.’

He continued, ‘In some categories, their entire departments, like the nutrition department in the FDA, they have to go. They’re not doing their job. They’re not protecting our kids. Why do we have Froot Loops in this country that have 18 or 19 ingredients, and you go to Canada, and it’s got two or three?’ 

This isn’t the first time Kennedy was considered for a Cabinet position for a presidential administration. Back in 2008, then-President-elect Barack Obama reportedly strongly considered naming Kennedy to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Politico reported at the time.  

Transition team spokesperson Karoline Leavitt joined Fox News earlier Thursday, where she noted more Cabinet picks would likely be announced later that afternoon, and also noted that Kennedy is a ‘once in a generation thought leader’ who would likely be offered a position in the administration. 

‘Certainly President Trump wants to find a place for RFK JR. He has made that very clear throughout the campaign. RFK JR. is a once in a generation thought leader. He’s an independent mind, a critical thinker. We definitely need more of that in Washington, D.C. As for his specific position, I’ll let President Trump announce that. But RFK Jr will focus in the Trump administration on making America healthy again. That’s another promise that President Trump made on the campaign trail and with an appointment of RFK JR. to whatever position President Trump decides. That promise will be delivered upon,’ Leavitt said. 

Earlier this week, Kennedy called on ordinary Americans to make suggestions about what policies and people should be put in place under Trump’s second administration, with Kennedy allies launching a website called ‘Policies for the People’ to facilitate the suggestions from voters. 

The website says that the suggestions will help fill the over 4,000 appointments across the entire executive branch.

‘President Trump has asked Bobby [Kennedy] to help ‘drain the swamp’ by giving him an influential leadership role on his transition team,’ a post on the website says. ‘But Bobby cannot do this alone, so he is now turning to the wisdom and expertise of his supporters – and the larger community.’

The website is similar to what tech billionaire Elon Musk has said about ‘maximum transparency’ related to his upcoming role co-leading the Department of Government Efficiency. Known as ‘DOGE,’ the task force will ‘dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies,’ Trump said earlier this week. 

‘All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency. Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know! We will also have a leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars. This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining,’ Musk posted to X of how DOGE will operate. 

Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph and Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.

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President-elect Trump announced Thursday that he is nominating Jay Clayton to serve as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

‘I am pleased to announce that Jay Clayton, of New York, the Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission during my first term, where he did an incredible job, is hereby nominated to be the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York,’ Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. ‘Jay is a highly respected business leader, counsel, and public servant.

‘Jay is going to be a strong Fighter for the Truth as we, Make America Great Again,’ the president-elect added.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. 

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A woman reportedly told the House Ethics Committee that she had sexual relations with Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., when she was 17 years old.

ABC News reported on Thursday that the woman testified to the committee in its investigation into Gaetz, which has now ceased after House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced that Gaetz resigned from Congress on Wednesday.

Gaetz told Fox News Digital in response to the new report, ‘These allegations are invented and would constitute false testimony to Congress. This false smear following a three-year criminal investigation should be viewed with great skepticism.’

The resignation announcement came hours after President-elect Donald Trump tapped Gaetz to be his attorney general.

The chief counsel for the House Ethics Committee declined to comment when asked by Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital also reached out to Gaetz’s congressional office for comment.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) had previously spoken to the woman, now in her twenties, according to ABC, as part of its years-long investigation into Gaetz related to accusations of sex trafficking and obstruction of justice.

The DOJ ultimately did not press charges, and Gaetz has consistently denied all wrongdoing.

The woman was subpoenaed by the House Ethics Committee over the summer, the report said.

The panel was expected to meet soon and potentially release a report on its investigation into Gaetz, but now that he resigned, the committee has lost jurisdiction over the matter.

The report could still be released, though it would break committee precedent.

But it could come out if Gaetz goes through the Senate confirmation process to lead the department that once investigated him.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, suggested he’d want to see the report.

‘I think there should not be any limitation on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation, including, whatever the House ethics committee has generated,’ he told reporters.

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President-elect Trump announced Dean John Sauer as his pick for U.S. solicitor general.

‘John is a deeply accomplished, masterful appellate attorney, who clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia in the United States Supreme Court, served as Solicitor General of Missouri for six years, and has extensive experience practicing before the U.S. Supreme Court and other Appellate Courts,’ Trump said in the announcement on Tuesday evening.

Sauer served as solicitor general of Missouri from 2017 to 2023, and represented Trump in his successful appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in Trump v. United States.

‘Most recently, John was the lead counsel representing me in the Supreme Court in Trump v. United States, winning a Historic Victory on Presidential Immunity, which was key to defeating the unconstitutional campaign of Lawfare against me and the entire MAGA Movement,’ Trump said.

Sauer was a Rhodes Scholar and graduated from Duke University, Oxford University and is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School.

‘John will be a great Champion for us as we Make America Great Again!’ Trump said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Senate Democrats are rushing to confirm as many of President Biden’s judicial picks as possible ahead of a Trump presidency, according to reports. Several of the nominees have previously come under fire by Republicans.

Democrats so far have confirmed 215 of Biden’s judicial picks, and the Senate most recently confirmed Jonathan E. Hawley as a U.S. District Judge for the Central District of Illinois Wednesday. 

He was confirmed in a 50-46 vote. 

However, Biden’s confirmation numbers continue to trail President-elect Trump’s 234 confirmations during his first term, including three to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have been vocal in recent days about prioritizing judicial confirmations during the lame-duck session, tweeting Wednesday, ‘We’re going to confirm every possible federal judge in the lame-duck session.’

Along with Hawley’s confirmation this week, the Senate also confirmed April M. Perry to be a U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, while Democrats also moved Embry Kidd’s nomination process forward to serve as a circuit court judge for the 11th Circuit. 

Several of Biden’s nominees, however, have come under Republican fire during hearings. 

Kidd, a district judge in the Middle District of Florida, made headlines this summer after he failed to disclose on his questionnaire at least two child sex-related cases he ruled on and later had his rulings reversed, according to a report by the Washington Examiner.

Anthony J. Brindisi, a former Democratic representative who serves on the New York State Court of Claims in Utica, New York, and was tapped by Biden in July, was the target of various lines of questioning in which he attempted to frame himself as a jurist versus a politician. 

‘On the bench, are you a politician or a judge?’ Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn asked him during the hearing. 

‘I’m a judge, senator,’ Brindisi responded. 

Despite Democrats’ efforts to kick judicial confirmations into high gear, Senate Democrats have expressed concern over Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin’s ability to block Trump’s judicial agenda once he takes over the Oval Office in January, according to a recent report by Axios. 

The report said multiple Democrats cited Durbin’s age as a major factor. Durbin is 79 years old. 

‘Sen. Durbin has successfully led the Judiciary Committee for the past four years as chair — leading to 215, and counting, lifetime judges confirmed during the Biden administration,’ Durbin’s office told Fox News Digital in a statement. ‘And as a senior Democratic member of the committee during the first Trump administration, Sen. Durbin served as a crucial voice pushing back against the unqualified Trump judicial nominees. Simply put, he’s been an outstanding chair and stands ready to continue to lead his colleagues as ranking member in the 119th Congress.’

Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., who will be the new Republican Senate leader after he won in a secret ballot Wednesday, will serve a crucial role in advancing Trump’s judicial agenda in the Senate. Thune wrote in an op-ed earlier this week that Senate Republicans will work with the president-elect to confirm his nominees and pass ‘our shared agenda.’ 

‘As Congress returns to Washington, we must prepare the Senate to advance that agenda legislatively and ensure that the president-elect can hit the ground running with his appointees confirmed as soon as possible,’ Thune wrote. 

Trump took to social media Sunday to voice his opinion on the matter, writing, ‘Additionally, no Judges should be approved during this period of time because the Democrats are looking to ram through their Judges as the Republicans fight over Leadership. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. THANK YOU!’

‘In his first term, President Trump appointed constitutionalist judges who interpret the law as written. He will do so again,’ Brian Hughes, Trump-Vance transition spokesperson, told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

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The Biden administration is facing backlash after it was revealed on social media that a top official would be participating in a two-day forum hosted by a group with deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns will be a keynote speaker at the 5th US-China Hong Kong Forum starting Friday, which is being hosted by the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), according to the group’s website.

Burns’ decision to speak there has sparked criticism from China experts, including one expert who told Fox News Digital that Burns is ‘legitimizing Beijing’s malign influence.’

‘Both Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping have called the united front a ‘magic weapon.’ It’s highly deceptive because it allows the Chinese Communist Party to advance its interests in America with American voices,’ said Michael Sobolik, author of ‘Countering China’s Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance.’

‘If you want to understand Beijing’s long game, look no further. They cultivate relationships with strategically placed Americans to parrot CCP propaganda under the guise of free speech,’ Sobolik, a Senior Fellow in Indo-Pacific Studies at the American Foreign Policy Council, added. 

‘By attending this conference, Amb. Burns is legitimizing Beijing’s malign influence. He should be calling it out and blunting it.’

‘Especially bad decision on the eve of the Hong Kong 47 pro democracy activists scheduled for sentencing,’ U.S. Director of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Jonathan Stivers posted on X. ‘State Dept. should be sanctioning HK officials not joining their conference.’

Fox News Digital has previously reported on CUSEF’s ties to the CCP and its president, James Chau, who ‘joined CUSEF in 2018’ and was ‘working with its founder The Hon. Tung Chee-hwa’ before he became the group’s president in 2023, according to his CUSEF bio.

Fox News Digital has extensively reported on Tung Chee-hwa, who served as a vice chair of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a key part of the CCP’s united front system, which operates to advance the CCP’s interests at home and abroad.

One report details how Julia Wilson, a Black public relations consultant, was paid over $1 million by Chee-hwa’s CUSEF to help the Chinese government learn about Black Americans and gain influence with historically black colleges and universities and Black leaders. 

‘In 2009, the former chief executive of Hong Kong [Tung Chee-hwa] visited me in my office with his staff from the China-United States Exchange Foundation, and they wanted to know how we got a Black president,’ Wilson, whose office is across the street from the White House, told college students during a 2017 presentation. ‘They were saying, ‘We don’t know anything about Black people. So can you write us a white paper and share it with us? How did Black people get enough power to vote a Black man into office?’ So they really needed an overview of our history. Who are we? Who are African Americans?’

CUSEF’s most recent annual report, which was published in July, reveals how the ‘independent, non-profit and non-governmental foundation’ is heavily influenced by the CCP, ranging from advisers and partners to donors. 

One of the top partners of CUSEF is the People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, which was previously labeled as a ‘Beijing-based organization tasked with co-opting subnational governments’ and seeking to ‘directly and malignly influence state and local leaders to promote the PRC’s global agenda,’ according to a 2022 report from the Biden administration’s Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

Another partner on CUSEF’s annual report is the China Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an instrumental part of the CCP’s apparatus that regularly coordinates with top CCP branches and leaders, according to its website. Other partners include top Chinese and American universities like Princeton, Georgetown, Harvard and Columbia. Sidwell Friends School, the elite private school where former President Obama’s daughters and President Biden’s grandchildren attended, was also on the list.

In addition to Burns, several other former U.S. officials are scheduled to participate in the forum, including former President Obama’s ambassador to China, Max Baucus, and Rick Waters, who served as the top China policy official in Biden’s State Department.

Baucus, a longtime friend and former Senate colleague of Biden, has extensive ties to China through his institute, which Fox News Digital previously reported was funded by a Chinese company whose founder has deep ties to the CCP and was recognized as the party’s ‘National Outstanding Communist Party Member’ in 2021. His institute’s China study-abroad program is also almost fully funded by CUSEF, according to its website.

Baucus also met with Hunter Biden, who boasted that he had a ‘very good relationship’ with Baucus, and his Chinese business associates on multiple occasions, according to emails previously reported by Fox News Digital.  

Several of CUSEF’s donors, who include Chinese billionaires, also have CCP ties. Wang Jianlin, the billionaire chair of the Wanda Group, is a CCP member and served in the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. He is also a longtime member of the CPPCC. Bernard Chan, another donor listed in CUSEF’s annual report, appears to be the same Bernard Chan who served as the Hong Kong Deputy to the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China, the highest organ of state power in the CCP, for 15 years.

Multiple members of CUSEF’s governing board also have CCP ties, including Peter Woo, who is currently a member of the Standing Committee of the 11th CPPCC. Liu Changle, the founder of the Chinese state-owned Phoenix Satellite Television, also has several CCP ties, according to CUSEF’s website.

The White House, State Department and CUSEF did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

Fox News’ Jessica Chasmar contributed reporting.

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As he aims to turn the nation’s capital upside down, President-elect Trump is turning to allies and supporters of his MAGA movement and America First agenda as he quickly moves to assemble his second administration.

The former and future president is clearly placing plenty of emphasis on loyalty as he makes increasing provocative picks for top cabinet posts.

And unlike eight years ago, when the first-time politician first took control of the White House, he is not in the market for establishment types or those who served in his first administration, but in his mind, proved disloyal.

Case in point – This week’s announcement from the president-elect that he was nominating as attorney general Rep. Matt Gaetz, the controversial conservative lawmaker from Florida who has been one of Trump’s biggest defenders in Congress as he’s repeatedly claimed the criminal investigations into Trump were ‘witch hunts.’

In making his announcement – which sent shock waves through the nation’s capital – Trump highlighted that ‘Matt played a key role in defeating the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, and exposing alarming and systemic Government Corruption and Weaponization.’

Gaetz, following the nomination, stepped down from Congress, ahead of a potential damaging report by the House Ethics Committee into sexual misconduct allegations that the lawmaker has denied.

On Wednesday afternoon, the president nominated his former rival in the presidential race – turned staunch advocate – Robert Kennedy Jr., as Health and Human Services Secretary.

Kennedy endorsed Trump shortly after suspending his campaign, and has since hit the campaign trail while touting his plans to ‘Make America Healthy Again’ under a potential Trump presidency. 

In making the announcement, Trump said ‘I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,’

Trump turned to another loyalist – former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate turned MAGA rock star who this year became a Republican and a top campaign trail surrogate for the former president – as his pick for Director of National Intelligence.

A day earlier, Trump named combat veteran, Army National Guard officer and Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth, another major supporter, as his choice for Defense Secretary.

In announcing that Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York was his pick to serve as ambassador to the United Nations, Trump noted that ‘Elise is a strong and very smart America First fighter… She was the first Member of Congress to endorse me and has always been a staunch advocate.’

And Trump called former Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York, whom he is aiming to install as Environmental Protection Agency administrator, ‘a true fighter for America First policies.’

He named South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a conservative firebrand and MAGA-world star who has long been a fierce Trump ally and supporter, as his choice for Homeland Security secretary.

Noem will work with Stephen Miller, whom the president-elect has picked as his incoming deputy chief of staff for policy. Miller was the architect of much of the first Trump administration’s hard-line policy on immigration and border security.

She will also collaborate with Thomas Homan, who, as acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director during the first administration, was often the face of Trump’s controversial immigration policies. The president-elect has named Homan as his incoming ‘border czar.’

And Trump named Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as his choice for Secretary of State.

Rubio was a rival to Trump during the combustible 2016 Republican presidential nomination battle, but over the years has become a strong Trump ally in the Senate.

Trump also named Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida as his national security adviser. Waltz, a former Army Green Beret, is a longtime Trump ally.

Dan Eberhart, an oil drilling chief executive officer and a prominent Republican donor and bundler who raised big bucks for Trump’s 2020 and 2024 campaigns, noted that Trump is in a very different situation than he was eight years ago, when he first won the White House.

‘He’s got a stronger mandate because he won the popular vote, and he won all seven swing states,’ Eberhart emphasized. ‘I also think he knows what he wants, and he knows better how to get what he wants out of Washington. He’s going to have a more cohesive, more MAGA team, that’s hopefully able to accomplish more.’

A leading strategist in Trump’s political  orbit, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, told Fox News that ‘one thing that is noticeable this time around is that instead of a team of rivals who are all over the place ideologically, Trump is largely bringing people on who are aligned with his America First agenda.’

Matt Mowers, a veteran Republican consultant and 2020 GOP congressional nominee in New Hampshire who worked on Trump’s 2016-2017 transition and served in the first Trump administration, told Fox News that Trump has ‘decided he needs everyone aligned.’

‘What he’s doing is he’s choosing a lot of people who aren’t just going to undo the Biden polices but really try to take a hammer to the bureaucracy… which is what he calls the ‘deep state,” Mowers added.

Those whom the president-elect feels have not shown their loyalty to him appear to be iced out.

Trump this past weekend announced in a social media post that he would not ask former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley – who served as ambassador to the U.N. in his first administration – and former Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas – who served as CIA director and then Secretary of State in Trump’s first term – to join his incoming cabinet.

Haley ran against Trump in this year’s Republican presidential primaries and ended up as the final challenger to the former president in what turned into a divisive nomination battle.  Haley made clear this week that she wasn’t seeking a job in the second Trump administration.

Pompeo seriously mulled making his own 2024 White House run before ultimately deciding not to launch a campaign. 

Both politicians eventually endorsed Trump this year, following the primary season.

But a source in Trump’s political orbit told Fox News that the president-elect ‘is not looking to give a platform for those with future presidential ambitions other than JD Vance.’

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The president of Argentina is the first foreign leader to meet in person with President-elect Trump since Trump’s win last week.

Javier Milei, known as ‘the Lion,’ has gained notoriety worldwide for his pro-market policies that have slashed Argentine inflation since he took elected office last year.

He attended the America First Policy Institute’s (AFPI) gala Thursday evening at Mar-a-Lago and will stay through the CPAC Investor Summit that ends Saturday.

President-elect Trump and President Milei met earlier Thursday, and the encounter ‘went well,’ according to an anonymous source via The Associated Press.

He posted to social media site X, sharing his plans with President-elect Trump for the week ahead, claiming he will be the only other president in attendance at the summit.

As Milei was ushered out the door to the AFPI gala Thursday, he told the Argentine outlet Clarion, ‘We’re going to plant the ideas of freedom high.’

During his address at the gala, Milei congratulated Trump on his resounding win through an interpreter, saying ‘this has been the greatest political comeback in history, defying the entire political establishment, even at the risk of his own life.’

He also thanked Elon Musk for his role boosting his social media site X for President-elect Trump and communication worldwide.

‘There is a silent or rather silent majority that has begun to make itself heard despite the enemies of freedom clinging to power through propaganda, distortion and censorship,’ said Milei. ‘And this is why I would especially like to thank the great Elon Musk for the wonderful job he has been doing to save humanity in communication around the world.’
 

The Argentine president then claimed that what happened in the U.S. elections last week is similar to his own election last year, with the ‘party of freedom’ taking a victory lap.

Milei is considered to be a Trump-like figure in South America, marketing black hats similar to red MAGA hats for fans labeled ‘las Fuerzas del Cielo’ or ‘the Forces from Heaven.’ He also famously wielded a chainsaw at a political rally, vowing to slash wasteful government spending.

‘I am exhilarated to be able to share with a new United States administration that same love for freedom. And I’m convinced that together we will restore it to the place it deserves,’ Milei said in his remarks.

President-elect Trump took the stage after Milei’s speech, thanking the Argentine president for his congratulations and commending his leadership.

‘And, Javier, I’d like to congratulate you on the job you’ve done for Argentina,’ said Trump. ‘Your speech was beautiful, but the job you’ve done is incredible. Make Argentina great again. You know MAGA. He’s a MAGA person. And you know he’s doing that. He’s actually. He’s actually doing that.

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President-elect Trump teased a ‘big’ announcement Thursday night, sharing that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum will lead the Department of the Interior.

‘He’s going to be announced [Friday]…I look forward to doing the formal announcement, although this is a pretty big announcement right now, actually,’ Trump said during his speech at the Americans For Prosperity Gala at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday. ‘He’s going to head the Department of Interior, and he’s going to be fantastic.’

‘We’re going to reduce regulation waste, fraud and inefficiency,’ Trump said. ‘We’re going to clean out the corrupt, broken and failing bureaucracies. And we’re going to stop child sexual mutilation. We’re going to stop it because it’s time.’

Burgum, a multi-millionaire former software company CEO turned two-term governor, launched a White House bid in June 2023. 

Bergum made energy and natural resources a key part of his campaign for the GOP nomination.

After making the stage at the first two GOP presidential debates, Burgum failed to qualify for the third showdown, in autumn of last year, and he dropped out of the White House race last December. A month later, he appeared in Iowa with Trump and endorsed the former president for the GOP nomination, days ahead of the first-in-the-nation caucuses.

Burgum became a high profile surrogate for the former president, appearing on the campaign trail and in media hits on Trump’s behalf.

He was in consideration as Trump’s running mate this past summer before Sen. JD Vance of Ohio was picked as the Republican Party’s vice presidential nominee.

Burgum, in an interview with ‘Fox and Friends’ last week, said Trump’s election victory was ‘game changing’ and that ‘we’ve got a new sheriff in town.’ 

The governor added that a Trump victory also ‘means that America is going to be dominant in energy.’

‘America is going to be dominant in energy which is key to all the diplomacy we do all over the world,’ he said.

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