Trump planning to fire DoJ lawyers who investigated him, names pick for key post of treasury secretary: Live
President-elect pledges to fire attorneys who worked alongside Special Counsel Jack Smith as he names hedge fund manager Scott Bessent to head treasury
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump is set to fire the attorneys who worked alongside Special Counsel Jack Smith on two federal investigations into the president-elect and use the Department of Justice to probe the 2020 election, according to The Washington Post.
The attorneys who may become caught up in the firings include career professionals who are usually protected from such revenge efforts.
Trump is set to put together teams of investigators to look for evidence that there was fraud in battleground states in the 2020 election, according to The Post. There’s no evidence that fraud affected the outcome of the 2020 election.
Meanwhile, Trump announced that his pick for the job of treasury secretary is hedge fund manager Scott Bessent.
Trump called Bessent “one of the World’s foremost International Investors and Geopolitical and Economic Strategists.”
In a flurry of announcements on Friday night, Trump revealed his picks to lead the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the FDA, the CDC, the Office of the Surgeon General, and the Department of Labor.
Trump’s campaign team celebrated his hush money trial sentencing being indefinitely postponed by Justice Juan Merchan on Friday, calling it “a decisive win” in a “Witch Hunt” case.
Trump nominates ‘NFL veteran’ Scott Turner as HUD secretary
Trump has nominated Scott Turner to serve as his secretary of housing and urban development.
“Scott is an NFL Veteran, who, during my First Term, served as the First Executive Director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council (WHORC), helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities,” Trump said on Friday night. “Those efforts, working together with former HUD Secretary, Ben Carson, were maximized by Scott’s guidance in overseeing 16 Federal Agencies which implemented more than 200 policy actions furthering Economic Development.”
“After graduating from [the] University of Illinois, Scott was drafted by the Washington Redskins, and spent nine years in the NFL before he went on to win a State House Race in Texas, where he was born and raised,” the president-elect added.
Trump nominates Marty Makary as FDA commissioner
Trump has nominated Marty Makary to be the FDA commissioner, saying in a statement on Friday night that the “FDA has lost the trust of Americans, and has lost sight of its primary goal as a regulator.”
“The Agency needs Dr. Marty Makary, a Highly Respected Johns Hopkins Surgical Oncologist and Health Policy Expert, to course-correct and refocus the Agency,” he added. “He will work under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to, among other things, properly evaluate harmful chemicals poisoning our Nation’s food supply and drugs and biologics being given to our Nation’s youth, so that we can finally address the Childhood Chronic Disease Epidemic.”
Trump nominates Dave Weldon as CDC director
Trump announced on Friday night that former Congressman Dr. Dave Weldon has been nominated to serve as his director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“In addition to being a Medical Doctor for 40 years, and an Army Veteran, Dave has been a respected conservative leader on fiscal and social issues, and served on the Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee, working for Accountability on HHS and CDC Policy and Budgeting,” Trump said in a statement. “Dave also served in a leading role in Government Oversight and Reform Committee Hearings, addressing issues within HHS and CDC. Dave has successfully worked with the CDC to enact a ban on patents for human embryos.”
Trump claimed Kim Jong Un missed him. The North Korea leader has a different message
On the campaign trail over the summer, Donald Trump claimed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “misses me,” and that relations between their two countries would improve with a second Trump term.
At a defense expo in Pyongyang this week, the North Korean dictator had a very different message.
“We have already explored every possible avenue in negotiating with the U.S.,” Kim said, according to state media, accusing the U.S. of an “unchanging aggressive and hostile policy” toward the country that’s helped put international affairs into their “most chaotic and violent” state since World War II.
After Trump’s comments about Kim in July, a state news agency said, “No matter what administration takes office in the US, the political climate, which is confused by the infighting of the two parties, does not change and, accordingly, we do not care about this.”
Trump announces White House roles for Alex Wong and Sebastian Gorka
Trump has announced that he will appoint Alex Wong as assistant to the president and principal deputy national security adviser, and Sebastian Gorka as deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism.
“Alex served during my First Term as the Deputy Special Representative for North Korea, and the Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State,” Trump said.
“As Deputy Special Representative for North Korea, he helped negotiate my Summit with North Korean Leader, Kim Jong Un,” he added.
The president-elect said Gorka has been a “tireless advocate for the America First Agenda and the MAGA Movement” since 2015.
In the first Trump Administration, Gorka served as strategist to the president.
Trump noted that Gorka “is a legal immigrant to the United States, with more than 30 years of National Security experience. In 2015, he was one of my Advisors for the GOP Primary Debates on National Security.”
Trump nominates Dr. Janette Nesheiwat to be Surgeon General
Trump has nominated Dr. Janette Nesheiwat to be the next surgeon general.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked on the front lines in New York City treating thousands of Americans and helped patients in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s Historic Operation Warp Speed,” the president-elect said in a statement.
He added: “Dr. Janette provided on-the-ground medical treatment to Americans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the Joplin tornadoes. She is also a member of Samaritan’s Purse Disaster Assistance, Relief Team, and has provided lifesaving care during crises in Morocco, Haiti, and Poland.”
Trump nominates Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to lead Labor Department
Trump has nominated Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to be his next labor secretary.
Here’s the president-elect’s statement in full:
I am proud to hereby nominate Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer, from the Great State of Oregon, as United States Secretary of Labor.
Lori has worked tirelessly with both Business and Labor to build America’s workforce, and support the hardworking men and women of America.
I look forward to working with her to create tremendous opportunity for American Workers, to expand Training and Apprenticeships, to grow wages and improve working conditions, to bring back our Manufacturing jobs.
Together, we will achieve historic cooperation between Business and Labor that will restore the American Dream for Working Families.
Lori’s strong support from both the Business and Labor communities will ensure that the Labor Department can unite Americans of all backgrounds behind our Agenda for unprecedented National Success - Making America Richer, Wealthier, Stronger and more Prosperous than ever before!
Trump nominates Russell Vought to lead Office of Management and Budget
Trump nominated Russell Vought to once again lead the Office of Management and Budget.
Here’s the president-elect’s statement in full:
I am very pleased to nominate Russell Thurlow Vought, from the Great State of Virginia, as the Director of the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
He did an excellent job serving in this role in my First Term - We cut four Regulations for every new Regulation, and it was a Great Success!
Russ graduated with a B.A. from Wheaton College, and received his J.D. from the Washington University School of Law.
Russ has spent many years working in Public Policy in Washington, D.C., and is an aggressive cost cutter and deregulator who will help us implement our America First Agenda across all Agencies.
Russ knows exactly how to dismantle the Deep State and end Weaponized Government, and he will help us return Self Governance to the People.
We will restore fiscal sanity to our Nation, and unleash the American People to new levels of Prosperity and Ingenuity.
I look forward to working with you again, Russ. Congratulations. Together, we will Make America Great Again!
Pete Hegseth’s odds of being confirmed almost halved after Matt Gaetz withdrawal
Pete Hegseth’s odds of being confirmed as secretary of defense almost halved after former attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz stepped down.
Gaetz’s departure after just eight days came amid reports that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl, an allegation he forcefully denies.
Hegseth is facing sexual misconduct allegations of his own, with a woman telling police that he raped her at a California hotel in 2017, an encounter Hegseth has said was consensual.
On the betting site Polymarket, Hegseth’s chances of being confirmed stood at 89 percent when he was announced, but fell as low as 47 percent as of Thursday afternoon. On Friday night, his chances had risen to 56 percent.
Read more:
Pete Hegseth’s odds of being confirmed almost halved after Matt Gaetz withdrawal
Fox News host’s nomination chances took a hit after the release of a 22-page police report detailing sexual assault allegations
Trump announces Scott Bessent as nominee for Treasury secretary
President-elect Donald Trump has announced that hedge fund manager Scott Bessent is his pick to lead the Treasury Department.
Here’s his statement in full:
I am most pleased to nominate Scott Bessent to serve as the 79th Secretary of the Treasury of the United States.
Scott is widely respected as one of the World’s foremost International Investors and Geopolitical and Economic Strategists.
Scott’s story is that of the American Dream. Scott has long been a strong advocate of the America First Agenda.
On the eve of our Great Country’s 250th Anniversary, he will help me usher in a new Golden Age for the United States, as we fortify our position as the World’s leading Economy, Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurialism, Destination for Capital, while always, and without question, maintaining the U.S. Dollar as the Reserve Currency of the World.
Unlike in past Administrations, we will ensure that no Americans will be left behind in the next and Greatest Economic Boom, and Scott will lead that effort for me, and the Great People of the United States of America.
My Administration will restore Freedom, Strength, Resilience, and Efficiency to our Capital Markets. We will reinvigorate the Private Sector, and help curb the unsustainable path of Federal Debt.
As a lifelong Champion of Main Street America and American Industry, Scott will support my Policies that will drive U.S. Competitiveness, and stop unfair Trade imbalances, work to create an Economy that places Growth at the forefront, especially through our coming World Energy Dominance.
Together, we will Make America Rich Again, Prosperous Again, Affordable Again, and, most importantly, Great Again!
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments