December 8, 2024 - Presidential transition news

Our live coverage of the Trump administration’s transition has ended for the day. Follow the latest updates or read through the posts below.

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary, arrives to meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on December 5.

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has five meetings with GOP senators on Monday, including a follow-up with Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, according to a Trump transition source.

He is expected to have 20 or more meetings this week, the source said.

In addition to Ernst, Hegseth is set to meet with Sens. Roger Marshall of Kansas, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah. The latter three senators serve on the Judiciary Committee.

Some context: Hegseth, who faces a tough confirmation process amid a series of allegations related to his workplace behavior and treatment of women, spent last week at the Capitol trying to shore up support from key senators.

Ernst was one of several Republicans who declined to endorse Hegseth last week, instead calling for further vetting. Ernst is a veteran who’s taken on sexual assault in the military, and her vote could be among the most critical to his chances. The Iowa Republican said Saturday that she is looking forward to meeting with Hegseth again and stressed that he will face “a very thorough vetting.”

President-elect Donald Trump announced his selections for a trio of top State Department positions on Sunday, including his choice to be the second-highest ranking official to work alongside Sen. Marco Rubio, his pick for secretary of state.

Trump announced that Christopher Landau, former US ambassador to Mexico during the first Trump administration, for deputy secretary of state. He also chose Michael Needham, who previously served as Rubio’s chief of staff in the Senate, as counselor to the State Department, and tapped former National Security Council staffer Michael Anton as director of policy planning at the State Department.

In each of the social media posts announcing his picks, Trump made clear his selections were designed to assist Rubio in carrying out Trump’s vision of an “America First” foreign policy.

During an interview with NBC that aired Sunday, Trump hinted at early actions he might take to implement that vision, suggesting he could reduce aid to Ukraine and pull the US out of NATO if fellow allies don’t increase contributions to the organization.

Attorney Alina Habba attends a press conference held by Donald Trump in New York on September 6.

President-elect Donald Trump announced Sunday that Alina Habba, his attorney who represented him in multiple legal cases during his presidential campaign, will serve as a top adviser in his incoming administration.

Trump said in a social media post that Habba will serve as counselor to the president, a role that Kellyanne Conway served during Trump’s first administration. Trump cited Habba’s work as his personal attorney as part of the reason for bringing her into his administration.

Habba represented Trump in the multiple investigations he faced while he campaigned this year, both in the courtroom and in TV interviews conveying his arguments to the public.

Former Rep. Liz Cheney, who co-chaired the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack, released a statement Sunday slamming President-elect Donald Trump’s comments that members of the committee should go to jail.

“Donald Trump’s suggestion that members of Congress who later investigated his illegal and unconstitutional actions should be jailed is a continuation of his assault on the rule of law and the foundations of our republic,” Cheney said in the statement.

Cheney continued: “There is no conceivably appropriate factual or constitutional basis for what Donald Trump is suggesting … any lawyer who attempts to pursue that course would quickly find themselves engaged in sanctionable conduct.”

The Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause protects lawmakers from certain law enforcement actions targeting their legislative duties.

Trump, in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said, “Cheney was behind it. So is Bennie Thompson and everybody on that committee. … For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail.”

Cheney also called for the public release of special counsel Jack Smith’s final report into his Trump investigations, along with grand jury testimony from former Vice President Mike Pence and former staffers.

“What the public now deserves to see is the evidence and grand jury material assembled by Special Counsel Smith, including the grand jury testimony of Vice President Pence and members of Donald Trump’s former White House and campaign staff,” Cheney said.

CNN previously reported that Smith plans to release a final report as required by law, according to a source familiar with the matter.

President-elect Donald Trump attends a meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, on November 13.

President-elect Donald Trump repeated numerous false claims during an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” — including his old lie that the US is the world’s only country with birthright citizenship.

Trump reiterated his intention to try to end birthright citizenship, in which, under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, someone born in the US is granted automatic citizenship even if their parents are not citizens. And he asserted, “We’re the only country that has it.”

This is not true; CNN and various other outlets previously debunked the claim when Trump made it during his presidential campaign in 2015 and during his first presidency in 2018. About three dozen countries provide automatic citizenship to people born on their soil, including US neighbors Canada and Mexico and the majority of South American countries.

Crime: Trump falsely claimed, “Crime is at an all-time high.” That is nowhere close to true. Both violent crime and property crime rates have plummeted in the US since the early 1990s and are far below all-time highs. FBI data shows that crime declined again in 2023.

Trump’s tariffs: Trump falsely claimed of the tariffs he imposed during his first presidency: “They cost Americans nothing.” Study after study, including one from the federal government’s bipartisan US International Trade Commission, found that Americans bore almost the entire cost of Trump’s tariffs on Chinese products. The tariffs are paid by US importers, not foreign exporters as Trump regularly claims, and it’s easy to find specific examples of companies that passed along the cost of the tariffs to US consumers.

Trump and inflation: Trump falsely claimed that, during his presidency, “We had no inflation.” In fact, cumulative inflation during Trump’s presidency was about 8%.

Read more fact checks from Trump’s interview here.

Stephen Miller speaks during a campaign rally in Reno, Nevada, on October 11.

President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming White House deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser Stephen Miller reiterated Trump’s pledge to begin mass deportations of undocumented immigrants on Day 1 of his presidency.

“The president is going to get his agenda enacted through Congress, and it will be historic,” Miller told Fox News on Sunday.

Incoming Senate Republican leader John Thune has already begun outlining a legislative package that centers on border security, as well as energy and defense issues.

“This is something that Republicans have been talking about for decades, but with Donald Trump this is something that’s going to happen,” Miller said. “It’ll be the most important and significant … policy achievement in half a century.”

Amid concerns that this deportation effort might delay a tax reform package, Miller said the plan is to “move immediately” to this issue after dealing with border security.

Former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who served on the House Select Committee on January 6, said he is “not worried” about President-elect Donald Trump’s recent comments that members of the committee should be sent to jail for their investigation into the 2021 Capitol insurrection.

“The executive branch can’t go after the legislative branch because we embarrassed him,” Kinzinger told CNN’s Manu Raju Sunday morning on “Inside Politics.” “That’s not a sin, that’s not against the law.”

Kinzinger noted that the majority of people who testified before the committee were members of the president-elect’s own party, saying Trump is upset because he was embarrassed.

“He’s not going to come after us, and I’m not worried about it at all, in the least,” Kinzinger said.

Migrants pass through razor wire after crossing the Rio Grande into El Paso, Texas, on February 1.

President-elect Donald Trump, in an interview that aired on Sunday, said families that have mixed immigration status may be deported under his administration.

Asked by NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press” whether he would deport families with mixed immigration statuses — such as when a child is born in the US to parents who are in the country illegally — Trump said, “I don’t want to be breaking up families, so the only way you don’t break up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them all back.”

The comments align with those of his pick for “border czar,” former acting ICE Director Tom Homan, who told “60 Minutes” in an interview that “families could be deported together” when asked about Trump’s pledge to carry about mass deportations immediately upon entering office. He also argued that that effort would be targeted, though exact plans for how it would be carried out — and how much it would cost — remain to be seen.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends a campaign rally for Donald Trump in Glendale, Arizona, on August 23.

President-elect Donald Trump says he is open to allowing his pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who has promoted false claims about vaccination — to look into eliminating childhood vaccines.

Asked by NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press” whether he wants to see childhood vaccines eliminated, Trump said, “If they’re dangerous for the children,” going on to suggest that vaccines cause autism, a claim that has been repeatedly disproved.

Trump, asked again if he is open to Kennedy looking into getting rid of childhood vaccines, said, “I’m open to anything. I think somebody has to find out.”

Kennedy is an environmental lawyer turned medical science and vaccine skeptic. He has promoted false claims about vaccination for years and founded the nonprofit Children’s Health Defense, which promotes anti-vaccine material.

As recently as last summer, Kennedy claimed in interviews that thimerosal, a preservative in some vaccines, was linked to brain damage and autism in children. The CDC notes that studies have not found any evidence of harm caused by the low doses of thimerosal in vaccines.

Trump looked to tone down some of the worries around Kennedy’s selection, saying, “He’s not going to upset any system.”

Rep. Debbie Dingell speaks to reporters in Washington, DC, on June 11.

Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell said Sunday that she “respectfully disagree(s)” with President-elect Donald Trump’s statement that all members of the House Select Committee on the January 6 attack should go to jail.

“I obviously think that oversight and investigations is one of the most important functions of the United States Congress, a system of checks and balances,” the Michigan congresswoman told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”

Dingell said that the committee members she’s spoken with are not interested in securing a blanket pardon from President Joe Biden, saying doing so “implies that what they did was wrong.”

“What they were doing was their job,” Dingell said.

The question of whether a pardon for the members is needed comes after the president’s controversial pardon of his son Hunter Biden, which has drawn criticism from legislators on both sides of the aisle.

While Dingell said she was “surprised” by Biden’s decision to pardon his son, she emphasized the need for the president to consider other pardon requests for private individuals, saying, “We cannot just pardon people who have access to privilege — we need to be looking at this in a far broader way.”

During an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday, Trump said “everyone on that committee, for what they did, they should go to jail,” referring to the January 6 committee.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Dick Durbin appeared hesitant about possible preemptive pardons but did not criticize President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter.

“When we talk about a preemptive pardon, where does it start and where does it stop?” the Illinois Democrat told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” Sunday.

Rep. Adam Schiff, who will be sworn into the Senate this week, has been among the possible names discussed for a preemptive pardon before Biden leaves office. Schiff, who was the lead impeachment manager in Trump’s first impeachment trial, told NPR recently that he did not think preemptive pardons were necessary.

Durbin said he stands by Schiff in believing that a preemptive pardon is unnecessary for the senator-elect.

The Biden pardon discussion has been reignited by the president’s decision last week to grant a broad pardon to his son Hunter Biden. The pardon ignited some discussion within the Democratic Party, with multiple members of Congress calling out the president for reversing his promise to not pardon his son and what it could mean for the perceived integrity of the Department of Justice.

Durbin avoided criticizing the president’s decision, instead talking about Biden’s connection to his family.

“It’s a labor of love, as far as I’m concerned, from a loving father,” Durbin said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York on September 27.

President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview airing Sunday that Ukraine should “possibly, probably” expect less aid in its fight against Russia once he begins his second term.

Asked by NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press” whether Ukraine should expect less aid from the US when he is again president, Trump said, “Possibly, probably. Sure.”

Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance have cast doubts on the level of the US’ continued commitment to Kyiv as the war drags on more than two and a half years after Russian forces invaded.

Trump said he is actively trying to negotiate the end of the war before he takes office but would not say whether he has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin since winning the election.

“I don’t want to say that. I don’t want to say anything about that because I don’t want to do anything that could impede the negotiation,” he said.

Trump also would not commit to the US remaining in NATO, saying, “They have to pay their bills.”

“If they pay their bills, absolutely,” he continued, adding that “NATO’s taken advantage of us.”

Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin defended President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, despite her history of defending the recently fallen Assad regime.

“Well, a lot of things have taken place since 2017. Her position, obviously because of the actions of Assad and what has happened in Syria has changed. Keep in mind that when she went over there, she was still — now, she wasn’t over there in uniform — but she was a captain in the National Guard,” he said to CNN’s Jake Tapper on State of the Union.

Gabbard, who has faced criticism for both her pro-Russia and her pro-Assad rhetoric, said as recently as 2019 that she did not regret her trip to Syria to meet with former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

In 2017, Gabbard said she was “skeptical” the Assad regime had used chemical weapons against Syrians despite Trump, who was president at the time, saying there could be “no dispute” the regime did so.

But Mullin said Gabbard is “100 percent qualified.”

“She has clearances. She’s able to do her job, and I think she’s 100 percent qualified to be the next director of national intelligence … she is perfect for the position,” he said.

President-elect Donald Trump in an interview that aired on Sunday stood by his promise to end birthright citizenship as a part of his sweeping immigration plan.

Asked by NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press” whether it is still his plan to end birthright citizenship, Trump responded, “yeah, absolutely.”

The 14th Amendment clearly states that American citizenship is a birthright for all people who are born on American soil. Asked how he would get around the Constitution and 150 years of American law, Trump said, “We’re going to have to get a change. We may have to go to the people, but we have to end it.”

He said he would end birthright citizenship “if we can” through executive action.

Trump repeatedly said he would look into the idea during his first term. At the time, the ability of the president to end birthright citizenship was extensively challenged by a range of lawmakers and legal scholars — including one of Trump’s own judicial nominees.

President-elect Donald Trump said members of the January 6 committee that investigated the Capitol insurrection should “go to jail.”

“(Committee Vice Chair then-Rep. Liz) Cheney was behind it and so was (Committee Chair Rep. Bennie Thompson), and so was everyone on that committee. For what they did, they should go to jail,” Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.”

Asked whether he will direct his attorney general or FBI director to go after the committee members, Trump said, “No, not at all. I think that they’ll have to look at that.”

CNN has reported that senior Biden White House aides, administration officials and prominent defense attorneys in Washington, DC, are discussing potential preemptive pardons or legal aid for people who might be targeted for prosecution by Trump after he retakes power.

Trump, who has previously said he would appoint a special counsel to prosecute President Joe Biden, was asked by Welker whether he still plans to go after his former political rival.

“No, I’m not doing that,” Trump responded. “Unless I find something that I think is reasonable. But that’s not going to be my decision; that is going to be Pam Bondi’s decision, and to a different extent, Kash Patel,” referring to his picks for attorney general and FBI director, respectively.

President-elect Donald Trump is pictured in Brownsville, Texas, on November 19.

President-elect Donald Trump in an interview airing Sunday said he would work with Democrats on a plan to “do something about” undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US as children.

Asked by NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press” whether so-called Dreamers have to be worried about being deported in Trump’s second administration, the president-elect said: “The Dreamers are going to come later, and we have to do something about Dreamers.”

Asked to clarify, Trump said, “I will work with the Democrats on a plan, and if we can come up with a plan, but the Democrats have made it very very difficult to do anything. Republicans are very open to the Dreamers,” adding that Dreamers “in many cases they become successful, they have great jobs.”

Welker asked if Trump wants Dreamers to be able to stay, to which Trump replied, “I do.”

Some context: Early discussions among Trump’s team have focused on removing undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes, CNN reported last month. A key issue under consideration is how, when and if to deport immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, commonly known as Dreamers.

Targeting Dreamers would be a departure from the historically bipartisan support they’ve enjoyed. Some are temporarily protected by the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that allows recipients to live and work in the US.

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman has some advice for the rest of his party: Don’t “freak out” every time President-elect Trump causes controversy.

“If you really, really want to freak out, that’s your prerogative. … For me, personally, I’m going to be picking my battles,” Fetterman told CNN’s Manu Raju on Thursday.

“Sometimes we want to push back against core values or other things, but if everything’s a freak-out, then people can just tune you out,” he continued.

The Pennsylvania Democrat also said that he is holding back on taking positions on Trump’s picks for top roles, at least until Senate Republicans unite around backing them.

“I don’t have a concern on any of them, certainly not until the Republicans get all the votes lined up. We all know that, that until they have at least 50 votes, you know they’re not going to bring them to the floor.”

He continued, “There’s plenty of other people that want to just, you know, clutch the pearls on other things, but that’s the rules. Like, you win, you get to pick your nominees.”

Asked why he believes Trump was able to perform well in Pennsylvania this cycle, Fetterman cited Trump’s “very special connection” with voters there, noting the assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“They literally tried to kill this man, and he responded, and he yelled, ‘Fight, fight, fight.’ And that created … a lot of momentum.”

A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen on a building in Damascus, Syria, on December 7.

US President-elect Donald Trump took to social media early Sunday morning to weigh in on the collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.

The president-elect then highlighted the number of soldiers killed on both sides in Russia’s war on Ukraine and called for an end to the fighting.

“There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin,” he wrote without specifying which conflict he was referring to.

A distracted Moscow: Russia has been waging war in Ukraine for over two years, leaving it with less military might to cover Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in Syria.

For Russia, Syria’s fall means losing its closest Middle Eastern ally and undermining its ability to project power while it fights its war in Ukraine.

Elon Musk listens as President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with House Republicans in Washington, DC, on November 13.

Elon Musk has long been known for his competitive spirit — and for his list of rivals.

He challenged Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg to a cage fight. He called Amazon and Blue Origin boss Jeff Bezos a “copycat.” And just recently, he sued OpenAI’s Sam Altman.

Until now, these were business and personal rivalries between some of the richest and most successful people in the world. But with Musk’s new influence in the incoming Trump administration and position as “first buddy,” some fear he could use the power of the government to benefit his own companies and harm his rivals. That could come in the form of starting or dropping government investigations, creating or weakening regulations, and awarding government contracts to the benefit of Musk’s companies.

Representatives for Musk did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment.

Read more about how Musk could wield his new influence