Music: Thandi Ntuli — ‘Umthandazo’
Republican leaders are more afraid of Trump than ever
Jonathan Chait writes: If you had predicted before the election that Donald Trump’s second administration would seek to hand some of the most sensitive and powerful roles in government to a Fox News personality (Pete Hegseth, nominated for defense secretary), a recurring Fox News guest who is also featured frequently on Russian state-controlled media (Tulsi Gabbard, nominated for director of national intelligence), and the target of an ongoing House Ethics Committee sexual-misconduct investigation (Matt Gaetz, nominated for attorney general), you…
Trump: ‘Gaetz is a tough son of a bitch. He’s my son of a bitch’
Marc A. Caputo reports: While Trump served as president, [former Rep. Matt] Gaetz acted as his unofficial eyes and ears in Congress. During this campaign, he helped him prepare for his debates. Gaetz is close to Trump campaign manager and incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. Previously, the two worked closely together and helped rescue Ron DeSantis’s floundering 2018 gubernatorial campaign. Gaetz is also a frequent presence at Mar-a-Lago events, where he met his wife, Ginger Luckey, the…
‘Tulsi’s single governing principle seems to be expedience’
NBC News reports: President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, former Democratic lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard, has been accused of amplifying Russian propaganda and would come to the job having never worked in the intelligence world or served on a congressional intelligence committee. Gabbard, who served in the Hawaii Army National Guard and was deployed to Iraq with a medical unit, has long criticized U.S. foreign policy as imperial and heavy-handed. She also has sharply criticized Trump in the…
Trump picks RFK Jr. to oversee the Department of Health and Human Services
NPR reports: President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a former independent presidential candidate who has a history of spreading conspiracy theories, including about vaccines — to oversee the Department of Health and Human Services. “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 a statement on Truth Social. “The Safety and Health of…
Jack Smith plans to step down as special counsel before Trump takes office
The New York Times reports: As he prepares for his last act as special counsel, Mr. Smith’s ultimate audience will not be a jury, but the public. Department regulations call for him to file a report summarizing his investigation and decisions — a document that may stand as the final accounting from a prosecutor who filed extensive charges against a former president but never got his cases to trial. It is not clear how quickly he can finish this work,…
Blow to auto industry: Trump’s transition team aims to kill Biden EV tax credit
Reuters reports: President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is planning to kill the $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric-vehicle purchases as part of broader tax-reform legislation, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Ending the tax credit could have grave implications for an already stalling U.S. EV transition. And yet representatives of Tesla – by far the nation’s largest EV seller – have told a Trump-transition committee they support ending the subsidy, said the two sources, who spoke…
The cosmos teems with complex organic molecules
Elise Cutts writes: Ten years ago, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta probe pulled up alongside a dusty, icy lump the size of a mountain. The probe would follow its quarry, a comet called 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, for two years as onboard instruments caught and analyzed the dust and gas streaming away from the comet. Scientists sought hints about how our solar system came to be — and about the origin of one class of molecules in particular. Organic molecules — compounds containing…
Music: Herbie Tsoaeli — ‘Umntu’
Elect a clown, expect a circus: Hegseth, Gaetz, and Gabbard
Marc Fisher writes: The gasp you may have heard on Tuesday evening was the collective sound of America’s generals and admirals reaching for supplemental oxygen, as they discovered that Donald Trump, the President-elect, had chosen Pete Hegseth as the country’s next Secretary of Defense. Hegseth served in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Army National Guard and was the executive director of Vets for Freedom, a conservative advocacy group, but he has not held a senior military role or managed a…
Musk and Trump: ‘great friends and brilliant leaders working together to Make America Great Again’
The New York Times reports: In nearly every meeting that President-elect Donald J. Trump holds at Mar-a-Lago, alongside him is someone who has been elected to nothing, nominated to nothing and, only a few months ago, had no meaningful relationship with him. Elon Musk. The world’s richest person has ascended to a position of extraordinary, unofficial influence in Mr. Trump’s transition process, playing a role that makes him indisputably America’s most powerful private citizen. He has sat in on nearly…
Putin aide issues warning about Trump’s new ‘obligations.’ Russian media welcomes return of Melania
The New Republic reports: Donald Trump may have secured a second term in the White House, but his Russia problems are far from over—at least according to suspiciously phrased comments by some of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies. Speaking with Russian state media on Monday, Russian presidential aide Nikolay Patrushev noted that while the U.S. election may be over, Trump is still beholden to “certain forces.” “To achieve success in the election, Donald Trump relied on certain forces…
U.S. to keep sending arms to Israel despite dire conditions in Gaza
The New York Times reports: The State Department said on Tuesday that it did not plan to decrease weapons aid to Israel, as a 30-day deadline set by the Biden administration passed without the country substantially improving the humanitarian situation in war-devastated Gaza. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III had warned in a letter dated Oct. 13 that the United States would reassess its military aid to Israel if it failed to increase…
In an anti-system election, Democrats represented the system
Steve Rose writes: [Gabriel] Gatehouse suggests two factors why Trump won. The first and most obvious, speaking to the Cuban Americans in Little Havana [in Miami], was the cost of living. “A lot of them told me, ‘My grocery bills have gone up exponentially.’ It’s not clear to me what policies Donald Trump offers that will solve that, but it’s quite clear that this is a problem the Democrats haven’t adequately addressed.” For the other reason, he points to…
Some Arizona Latinos find new home within Republican Party
President-elect Donald J. Trump won Arizona, flipping the swing state back to red. Younger Latino voters, like José Castro, a former Bernie Sanders supporter, were among those who shifted to the right, turning to older Republicans like Gerry Navarro who were ready and willing to welcome him into the party.
The WIRED guide to protecting yourself from government surveillance
Wired reports: President-elect Donald Trump has promised to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. He’s vowed to jail his political foes and journalists. A Republican-controlled government could further restrict abortion and transgender rights. Influential conservatives have called for a crackdown on left-leaning activist groups, a replay of Trump’s hardline attitude against protesters in his first administration. To carry out all of those spoken and unspoken threats, the incoming Trump administration and Republicans in Congress will tap into—and may very well expand—the…