Trump confirms plan to use US military for mass deportations with more cabinet picks expected: Live updates

About one in five Americans – and a virtually identical share of Republicans and Democrats – regularly get their news from digital influencers who are more likely to be found on the social media platform X, according to a report released Monday by the Pew Research Center.

The findings, drawn from a survey of more than 10,000 U.S. adults and an analysis of social media posts posted this summer by influencers, provide an indication of how Americans consumed the news during the height of the U.S. presidential campaign that President-elect Donald Trump ultimately won.

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Eric Hovde, the Republican challenger to Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin, has conceded the race in a video message. He says that he won't request a recount as he doesn't want to add to “political strife”

Senator Baldwin's lead is just over 27,000 votes, out of more than 3 million cast.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has released a statement about the upcoming vacancy in the Senate when Florida Senator Marco Rubio departs for his new role as Secretary of State for Donald Trump’s second administration.

It is the role of the governor to appoint an interim senator to serve in the role ahead of a special election likely in the 2026 mid-terms.

DeSantis writes:

Senator Marco Rubio is expected to resign from the Senate to assume duties as Secretary of State when the Trump administration takes power on January 20th, creating a vacancy roughly two months from today.

We have already received strong interest from several possible candidates, and we continue to gather names of additional candidates and conduct preliminary vetting. More extensive vetting and candidate interviews will be conducted over the next few weeks, with a selection likely made by the beginning of January.

Florida deserves a Senator who will help President Trump deliver on his election mandate, be strong on immigration and border security, take on the entrenched bureaucracy and administrative state, reverse the nation’s fiscal decline, be animated by conservative principles, and has a proven record of results.

Yes. That dance.

Donald Trump Jr suggests that his father has “backup plans” if his cabinet picks aren’t confirmed by the Senate.

Matt Gaetz, Pete Hegseth and Robert F Kennedy Jr are receiving the most pushback in President-elect Donald Trump’s list of controversial cabinet picks. But his eldest son told Fox’s Sunday Morning Futures host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday that even if the Senate doesn’t confirm some of his nominees, Trump has a plan B.

Kelly Rissman reports.

In an interview with Fox News Digital this morning, Donald Trump said that it is “vital” to have a “free, fair and open media” and that he feels he has “an obligation” to the American people to work with the press — even those who had treated him “badly beyond comprehension”.

The president-elect also spoke of his meeting with the MSNBC hosts of Morning Joe: “I received a call from Joe Scarborough requesting a meeting for him and Mika [Brzezinski], and I agreed that it would be a good thing if such meeting took place.”

Trump said he met with the two at 8am on Friday morning at Mar-a-Lago and that it was “extremely cordial”.

“Many things were discussed, and I very much appreciated the fact that they wanted to have open communication,” he said. “In many ways, it’s too bad that it wasn’t done long ago.”

The president-elect said they discussed his campaign and his cabinet picks and the meeting ended with an agreement to speak in the future.

He said his obligation is “to be open and available to the press” but added: “If not treated fairly, however, that will end.”

A majority of Americans were surprised by Trump’s win in the presidential election – including 43 percent of Republicans, according to exclusive data.

A poll of 1,941 US adults by Prolific, exclusively for The Independent, found that, following months of predictions on a knife’s edge, Americans on all sides ended up being surprised by the final outcome of the White House race.

Some 54 percent of people were at least quite surprised by the outcome of the election, with 14 percent of those “very surprised.”

A third were not very surprised, and 16 percent not surprised at all.

Here’s more from Alicja Hagopian.

The world’s richest man has appointed himself Donald Trump’s “first buddy” as he plays an influential role shaping the incoming administration, but tension between Trump’s closest allies and Elon Musk is reportedly boiling over.

Musk is clashing with longtime Trump attorney and adviser Boris Epshteyn, including questioning his influence in president-elect’s nominations for his Cabinet and top White House jobs, Axios has reported, citing people familiar with the conversations.

Alex Woodward reports.