WASHINGTON, D.C. – As President-elect Trump gets ready to return to the White House, a leading Democratic pollster and strategist highlights that her party needs a new game plan to confront the former and soon-to-be future president.

‘The 2025 playbook cannot be the 2017 playbook,’ Molly Murphy, a top pollster on Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, emphasized as she gave a presentation at the first meeting of the Democratic National Committee’s executive committee since last month’s election.

Trump’s convincing win over Harris — he captured the popular vote and swept all seven key battleground states — as well as the GOP flipping the Senate and holding on to their fragile majority in the House, has Democrats searching for answers as they now try to emerge from the political wilderness.

Murphy, pointing to post-election polls, said most Americans give the president-elect a thumbs up on how he’s handling his transition, and that Trump will return to the White House next month more popular compared to eight years ago, when he first won the presidency. 

And she noted that voters ‘give him a pass on the outrageous’ comments he continuously makes because they approve of his handling of the economy. 

Murphy, in her comments Friday as DNC leaders huddled at a hotel near the U.S. Capitol, said the Democrats’ mission going forward is to change that perception.

‘We want to focus on this term … and tell the story about how this term is worse and things are not going to be good for the American people,’ Murphy said.

The Democrats’ message should be ‘Donald Trump does not care about you. He is going to screw you,’ Murphy argued. ‘As a north star, I think we need to stay focused on … the economy and costs.’

‘A lot of people are expecting the price of milk to go back where it was,’ Murphy noted. 

She said Democrats need to borrow a page from the GOP’s 2024 campaign playbook: ‘We can do what they did to us … even if the economy is stronger, costs are still going to be too high for people.’

And she added that Democrats need to spotlight what she called unpopular parts of the Trump agenda, including ‘tax breaks for the wealthy’ and ‘letting corporations drive up prices and making you pay for it.’ 

And she said the party needs to frame Trump’s proposed tariffs on key American trading partners ‘a sales tax on the American people that will drive up prices,’ which was a line that Harris used on the campaign trail.

Murphy also spotlighted that Trump and Republicans made gains with key parts of the Democratic Party’s base – younger voters, Latinos, and Black voters because of the economy, but also because of the Democrats’ ‘wonky’ messaging.

‘A lot of times we’re talking about polices,’ Murphy said, while Republicans have ‘culture conversations that create a connection between the party and the people that go beyond polices.’

Murphy argued that ‘these culture conversations that conservatives have been able to have in an organic way have been able to draw a connection that we know is not supported by policy … and we know that we have a lot of shared values with these working Americans and we need to find ways to have more authentic connection points there.’

DNC chair Jaime Harrison complimented Murphy’s presentation. 

But, Harrison, who is not running for a second four-year term steering the national party committee, pointed to the next White House race and offered that the party should also target Vice President-elect Sen. JD Vance.

‘I think it will be a big error on our part if we focus all of our attention on Donald Trump and not JD Vance, particularly as we start to look at the 2028 race,’ Harrison highlighted.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell gave a stern warning to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after a report highlighted how one of Kennedy’s associates had sought to rescind approval for a polio vaccine.

McConnell, a polio survivor, said in a statement that ‘efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed – they’re dangerous.’ 

‘Anyone seeking the Senate’s consent to serve in the incoming Administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts,’ he added, without naming Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic who is President-elect Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. 

McConnell’s statement follows a New York Times report on Friday that highlighted how Kennedy’s personal attorney, Aaron Siri, had represented clients in cases that sought to rescind approval for a version of the polio vaccine and others. 

‘Like millions of families before them, my parents knew the pain and fear of watching their child struggle with the life-altering diagnosis of polio. From the age of two, normal life without paralysis was only possible for me because of the miraculous combination of modern medicine and a mother’s love. But for millions who came after me, the real miracle was the saving power of the polio vaccine,’ McConnell said.

‘For decades, I have been proud to work with devoted advocates – from Rotary International to the Gates Foundation – and use my platform in public life to champion the pursuit of cures for further generations. I have never flinched from confronting specious disinformation that threatens the advance of lifesaving medical progress, and I will not today. 

The GOP leader was joined by his Democratic counterpart, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who demanded that RFK Jr. make his position on the polio vaccine clear.

‘This would undoubtedly make America sick again,’ Schumer said, sharing the Times report on X. ‘It’s outrageous and dangerous for people in the Trump Transition to try and get rid of the polio vaccine that has virtually eradicated polio in America and saved millions of lives. RFK Jr. must state his position on this.’ 

Reached for comment, a Trump transition team spokesperson said, ‘Mr. Kennedy believes the Polio Vaccine should be available to the public and thoroughly and properly studied.’ 

President-elect Trump nominated a few more candidates Saturday to serve in various positions during his second term.

Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes was picked as the chairperson of Trump’s Intelligence Advisory Board (IAB). IBM executive Troy Edgar was tapped as deputy secretary of Homeland Security. And Bill White was chosen as the ambassador to Belgium.

Nunes, if confirmed, will lead the IAB, which advises the president on the legality of foreign intelligence activities.

‘While continuing his leadership of Trump Media & Technology Group, Devin will draw on his experience as former Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and his key role in exposing the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, to provide me with independent assessments of the effectiveness and propriety of the U.S. Intelligence Community’s activities,’ Trump said in the announcement.

Trump also named Edgar as his pick for deputy secretary of Homeland Security. 

‘Troy served for me previously as the Chief Financial Officer and Associate Deputy Under Secretary of Management for Homeland Security, where he did an outstanding job managing their $90 Billion Dollar budget, resourcing critical immigration policy, and funding Wall construction,’ Trump said.

‘Troy is currently an executive at IBM. He holds an M.B.A. and B.S. of Business Administration from the University of Southern California,’ Trump said. ‘He was previously the Mayor of Los Alamitos, California, where he helped me lead the City and County revolt against Sanctuary Cities in 2018.’

If the two are confirmed, Edgar will serve alongside South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who was tapped as Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Secretary.

Also on Saturday afternoon, Trump announced that businessperson and major political donor White would serve as the U.S. ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium.

White is the founder and CEO of Constellations Group, a Manhattan-based consulting firm, and previously served as president of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York.

‘Bill is a highly respected businessman, philanthropist, author, and advocate for our Nation’s Military, Veterans, and First Responders. He is the CEO of Constellations Group, and former President of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum,’ Trump said. 

‘Bill has worked tirelessly to support Great American Patriots who have given everything for our Country by raising over $1.5 Billion Dollars for our fallen heroes, catastrophically wounded, and severely burned Service Members. He is a twice recipient of the Meritorious Public Service Award for extraordinary service from the U.S. Coast Guard, and for outstanding support from the U.S. Navy.’

White was a major Trump donor and surrogate for his 2024 campaign, though the millionaire investor backed former President Obama and Hillary Clinton in past races.

The picks are the latest in a long string of nominations the president-elect hopes the Senate will approve.

President-elect Trump on Saturday seized on the mysterious drone controversy in New Jersey to mock one-time ally turned nemesis Chris Christie. 

The president-elect, who will take office in just over a month, shared an AI-generated meme of the former New Jersey governor eating McDonald’s with more McDonald’s meals being delivered by drones, mocking his weight on Truth Social and X. 

Christie endorsed Trump in 2016 but was later axed as the head of his transition team. 

Last year, Christie had a short-lived presidential campaign for the 2024 election during which he called Trump a ‘coward’ and a ‘puppet of Putin,’ but he dropped out in January.

‘I want to promise you this, I’m going to make sure that in no way do I enable Donald Trump to ever be president of the United States again. And that’s more important than my own personal ambition,’ he said when he dropped out. 

Christie’s weight has been a frequent target for Trump since their falling-out. Last year, Trump jokingly told a supporter to not call the former governor a ‘fat pig.’ 

Since mid-November, New Jersey residents have been baffled by unexplained sightings of what appear to be drones. 

The sightings have also been reported in other areas of the country, including military installations, prompting lawmakers to demand answers. 

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and law enforcement have said the drones don’t appear to be a threat to public safety. 

On Friday, Trump called for the drones to be shot down if there’s no reasonable explanation for them. 

‘Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country. Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge,’ he wrote on Truth Social. ‘I don’t think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!’

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

President-elect Trump took China by surprise when he invited President Xi Jinping to his upcoming inauguration, a friendly gesture ahead of a widely expected trade war. 

The move left everyone wondering what Trump was up to — a Chinese head of state has not attended a U.S. inauguration in all of history. 

Xi is not expected to accept the invitation, sources told CBS News. 

‘We have a good relationship with China. I have a good relationship,’ Trump told CNBC on Friday. ‘We’ve been talking and discussing with President Xi some things.’

But the invitation comes as the U.S. intelligence community disclosed a massive hack of eight U.S. telecom companies, finding that Chinese hackers had accessed the data of millions of Americans, including Vice President-elect JD Vance.

The hack, nicknamed Salt Typhoon and one of the most far-reaching in history, affected mostly people in the Washington, D.C., area, and was targeted at government-linked people. Information about their phone calls and texts was intercepted. 

Meanwhile, a Chinese national was arrested on suspicion of flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force base in Northern California, the Department of Justice said Wednesday. 

‘Many people were disappointed by this invitation,’ said China expert Gordon Chang.

‘A man who is responsible for spreading COVID beyond China borders, for being behind the fentanyl program, which kills 70,000 Americans a year, that was not a good look for the United States,’ he went on. ‘And it betrayed weakness.’

‘The Chinese president looks at that and believes that Trump is not serious,’ said Chang. 

‘Xi Jinping has made it clear that the United States is China’s enemy. He’s done that in many ways. And for an American president to show friendship is not a gesture in Xi’s mind, it’s a display of weakness, and Chinese leaders always take advantage of weakness.’ 

It’s not clear if the invitation means that Trump is looking to take a more diplomatic approach to the relationship with China after a campaign marked by threats of hiking tariffs. 

Trump has floated the idea of a 60% across-the-board levy on all goods imported from China, which would cover some $400 billion worth of products. 

Free trade supporters have worried this would break a top campaign promise for Trump: to rein in and prevent the record inflation figures seen under the Biden administration.

And the threat of a trade war comes as military tensions rise in the Indo-Pacific. China has been putting on displays of force in the waters off the shores of U.S. allies like the Philippines and Japan, and increasingly threatening Taiwan, an island democracy it views as its rightful territory. 

Defense experts have begun to muse whether the U.S. could find itself at war with China.

Lyle Goldstein, Director of Asia Engagement at Defense Priorities think tank, welcomed the news of the invitation, reading it as a sign of being willing to engage.

‘Nothing like that has happened under the Biden administration,’ he said. ‘Trump is a dealmaker, and I think China is eager to make deals.

‘The Biden approach was very ideological, you know, the world is black and white.’ 

‘If we go into a new Cold War, the results, I think, will be devastating for both the United States and China,’ Goldstein added. ‘I think there is some understanding in the Trump team that the stakes are enormous here.’

China, meanwhile, is considering devaluing its currency further in anticipation of Trump’s tariffs, according to a Reuters report. 

‘People have got to realize that trading with China generally is a good thing. But yeah, we have to. There are some key readjustments that need to take place,’ said Goldstein.

‘I would like to see that take place from readjusting China’s currency.’

Rep. Carlos Gimenez, a member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), said China is the ‘greatest threat’ to the United States and that President-elect Donald Trump will bring ‘peace through strength, not peace through appeasement.’ 

Gimenez, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital the CCP is the ‘adversary we have to watch, both militarily and economically.’ 

‘China is making great strides around the world,’ Gimenez said, pointing to its capacity in production, specifically with defense materials and weapons. ‘It surpasses that of the United States’ and we have seen that we are lacking.’ 

Gimenez said the Russian-Ukraine war has ‘demonstrated to us that our defense capacity has been degraded over the decades.’

‘It shows we could run out of munitions fairly quickly if we had a prolonged fight with China,’ he said, warning that China also ‘has the ability to produce many more ships than we do.’ 

Gimenez said the U.S. is ‘trying to do catch-up.’ 

‘We have to update how we do things at the Pentagon, we have to be more nimble, we have to get the private sector involved, and we have to eliminate bureaucracy that has hampered our ability to protect ourselves,’ he said. 

But as for the approach to the China threat, Gimenez blasted the Biden administration, specifically President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

‘I think China, with Biden and Blinken, thought they could do just about anything they wanted or thought they could fool them,’ he said. ‘The Biden administration was always exhibiting weakness and trying to appease our enemies, whereas Trump knows exactly who our friends are, who our enemies are and is going to put the security of America first.’

Gimenez added, ‘He understands that the security of America lies in peace through strength, not peace through appeasement.’

As for confronting the threat in the coming months, Gimenez pointed to the importance of the U.S. being energy independent.

Gimenez said he wants to ‘make America the energy spigot of the world, where the world goes to get energy is America.’ 

‘It would help our financial situation, our balance sheet, and give us the ability to help our friends and weaken our enemies,’ he said.

‘We could use our energy dominance as an economic weapon against our enemies, helping our friends and hurting our enemies,’ he continued. ‘We can substitute Iranian and Venezuelan oil with American oil, Russian oil with American oil, and then starve those countries which are allied with China of their greatest source of revenue and then impede their ability to help China.’

‘If China finds itself isolated in the world, I think that’s the best way we can contain this threat,’ he said. ‘But we have to project strength and the willingness to confront aggression by the CCP.’

As for the House Select Committee on the CCP, he said they have ‘much more work to do.’ 

‘The China threat is increasing,’ he said, noting that the committee is bipartisan in its nature and that members on both sides of the aisle have ‘bought into that China is the threat and that China will be the threat.’

‘It’s not climate change, it’s China,’ he said. ‘And we have to confront that threat or live in a world that is dominated by the Chinese Communist Party.’

‘And Trump is going to project strength and back those words with action.’

President-elect Trump named a couple of key first-term allies to roles in his second administration, including Richard Grenell.

Grenell was the incoming president’s pick as presidential envoy for special missions, a post that will likely drive the administration’s policies in some of the most contentious regions of the world. 

‘Ric will work in some of the hottest spots around the World, including Venezuela and North Korea,’ Trump said in the announcement Saturday evening.

Grenell was Trump’s intelligence chief during the president’s first administration.

‘In my First Term, Ric was the United States Ambassador to Germany, Acting Director of National Intelligence, and Presidential Envoy for Kosovo-Serbia Negotiations,’ Trump said. ‘Previously, he spent eight years inside the United Nations Security Council, working with North Korea, and developments in numerous other Countries.’

Trump also announced Edward Sharp Walsh as his pick to serve as U.S. ambassador to Ireland.

‘Edward is the President of the Walsh Company, a very successful nationwide construction and real estate firm. He is a great philanthropist in his local community, and previously served as the Chairman of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority Board,’ Trump announced.

The picks are the latest in a string of nominations the president-elect hopes the Senate will approve.