Trump delivers first rally-style speech since election win as he threatens to retake Panama Canal: Live

The Biden administration is using its waning days in office to make a final mark ahead of the incoming Trump White House.

It announced Friday it would forgive another $4.28 billion in student debt for 54,900 borrowers who pursued careers in public service, bringing Biden’s total to some $180 billion of forgiveness overall, the largest sum of debt forgiveness from any president in U.S. history.

At the same time, the administration said it would scrap further forgiveness proposals from the U.S. Department of Education, noting “uncertainty around the implementation” given Trump’s impending inauguration.

“The Department at this time intends to commit its limited operational resources to helping at-risk borrowers return to repayment successfully,” Education Secretary Migual Cardona wrote in official notices.

Josh Marcus has the full story.

Lara Trump dropped out of the running for the Senate on Saturday evening, teasing a “big announcement” to come in January.

Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law was floated as a possible replacement for Marco Rubio, the president-elect’s choice for secretary of state.

Two weeks ago Trump announced she was also stepping down from her role as co-chair of the Republican National Committee.

Rhian Lubin has the full story.

Donald Trump will impose “surgical” tariffs when he enters office, his former director of communications has warned, as concern grows over an imminent trade war with the United States.

Anthony Scaramucci said Trump will impose the levies in a targeted way on any “industries that we need to protect”.

The former adviser’s intervention comes just days after Sir Keir Starmer hit out at the “dangers” of tariffs, putting the prime minister on a collision course with the incoming US president.

Read the full story.

Donald Trump said a “commonsense revolution” is coming soon to America.

“Woke has to stop. It’s destroying our country. Woke is bulls***,” Trump said, citing the renaming of ships and military bases that were named after Confederate figures. “We will get critical race theory and transgender insanity out of our schools,” he said.

In his second term, Trump promised taxes will be slashed, wages will be increased, violent crime will end and America’s “once-great cities” will be rebuilt.

“We are finally going to build up our country, defend our land and protect our citizens,” the president-elect promised.

“Together we will fight, fight, fight, and together we will win, win, win!” Trump said at the conclusion of his speech.

Before walking off the stage, he did his signature “Trump dance” as the Village People’s “YMCA” played.

“With the stroke of my pen, on day one I will stop the transgender lunacy,” Donald Trump told the Phoenix crowd.

He said he plans to stop “gender mutilation,” keep transgender Americans out of the military and “keep men out of women’s sports,” he said.

The former chairman of the Republican Party turned the tables on Donald Trump’s long-running criticism of Joe Biden and suggested it’s now the president-elect who may be “too old” to hold his own — especially against his new “best buddy” Elon Musk.

Michael Steele hit out amid lawmakers’ harsh rebukes of Trump after the tech billionaire appeared to play a major role earlier this week via X to kill the first bipartisan stopgap government funding deal floated by Republican House speaker Mike Johnson.

Trump issued a statement agreeing with his billionaire backer only after Musk launched the initial attacks, leading some to mock Trump as Musk’s obsequious vice president.

Read the full story.

Donald Trump also once again threatened to reclaim the Panama Canal.

“We’re being ripped off at the Panama Canal like we’re being ripped off everywhere else,” he said.

The canal would help with “rapid deployment” of the Navy, he said, adding that the fees being charged by Panama are “ridiculous, highly unfair.”

He repeated the same claim that he wrote in a Truth Social post on Saturday: former President Jimmy Carter “foolishly gave it away for one dollar.”

Read more about Trump’s threats to retake the Panama Canal here:

“The golden age of America is upon us!” Trump declared.

He praised the post-election stock market, “small business optimism,” and a surge in bitcoin.

Trump also said he informed Mexico and Canada that they have to “stop pouring illegal drugs and aliens into our country,” he said. The president-elect has threatened to impose hefty tariffs on the neighboring countries if they don’t stop the flow of drugs and migrants into the U.S.

Trump then said the European Union has “treated us very badly,” saying they don’t take our agricultural products or cars but “we take ours.”

We’re not going to let the E.U. turn the U.S. into a “dumping ground,” the president-elect continued.

Earlier this week, threatened to levy tariffs against the E.U. in a Truth Social post: “I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large scale purchase of our oil and gas. Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way.”