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    Trump blindsides Senate Republicans by endorsing rival House budget plan

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    Donald Trump has derailed Senate Republicans’ budget strategy by endorsing a competing House option, leaving GOP leaders scrambling to save their agenda just weeks before a potential government shutdown.The president’s surprise intervention came just hours after Senate Republicans moved to advance their own two-track proposal, as he declared instead that he wants “ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL” through the House’s reconciliation process.“Unlike the Lindsey Graham version of the very important Legislation currently being discussed, the House Resolution implements my FULL America First Agenda,” Trump posted on Truth Social.The announcement forces Senate Republicans to reconsider their carefully planned schedule of votes this week on a slimmer package that was meant to cover defense, border security and energy provisions.While the Senate majority leader, John Thune, admitted being blindsided, he told reporters his side was still full steam ahead on a Thursday vote for its version of a bill.“If the House can produce one big, beautiful bill, we’re prepared to work with them to get that across the finish line,” Thune said. “But we believe that the president also likes optionality.”The House proposal Trump is backing would add $4.5tn to the deficit through tax cuts while demanding enormous cuts to federal benefits programs. Under the plan’s strict rules, Republicans must either slash $2tn from mandatory programs (which could include Medicare, Medicaid and food assistance) or scale back their proposed tax breaks by an equal amount.The timing is already tight, as Congress is barreling down a 14 March deadline to pass the bill that would avoid a shutdown forcing hundreds of thousands of federal employees to go without pay. Although Republicans control both chambers, the majorities are so thin they will need Democratic votes to pass any funding measure.In the Senate, where Republicans hold 53 seats, at least 60 votes are needed to overcome a filibuster. The House speaker, Mike Johnson, working with a slim 218-215 majority, faces similar math problems and internal drama.Johnson immediately claimed victory over Trump’s endorsement of the House plan, saying on X that House Republicans are “working to deliver President Trump’s FULL agenda – not just a small part of it”.But his proposal faces resistance from Republicans worried about proposed entitlement cuts – cuts Trump himself rejected on Tuesday on Fox News, saying: “Medicare, Medicaid – none of that stuff is going to be touched.”“If a bill is put in front of me that guts the benefits my neighbors rely on, I will not vote for it,” the freshman Republican congressman Rob Bresnahan said on X.The White House dispatched the vice-president, JD Vance, to meet Senate Republicans on Wednesday afternoon, attempting to smooth tensions as both chambers grapple with how to advance Trump’s agenda. But it’s clear that some senators will be hard to convince.“I’m not sure [the House budget could] pass the House or that it could pass the Senate,” the Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson told reporters.The House remains in recess until next week, leaving Senate Republicans alone on Capitol Hill to plot their next move. More

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      The courts are a crucial bastion against Trump. What if he ignores their orders?

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      Years before he became the US vice-president and openly advocated defiance of the courts over the Trump administration’s blitz through the federal bureaucracy and constitution, JD Vance revealed his contempt for legal constraints.In 2021, Vance predicted that Donald Trump would again be elected president and advised him to “fire every single midlevel bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state, replace them with our people”.“Then when the courts stop you, stand before the country like Andrew Jackson did and say: ‘The chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it,’” he told the Jack Murphy Live podcast.Whether the seventh American president actually said that remains disputed, but the sentiment is alive and well as the Trump administration defies federal court orders to at least pause its subversion of the constitution and destructive rampage through the federal bureaucracy led by Elon Musk.In the absence of action by Congress to defend its powers, it has been government workers, state attorneys general and unions who have counterattacked, with a flurry of lawsuits – challenging presidential orders to limit the constitutional right of anyone born in the US to be a citizen, a federal funding freeze, and the dismissal of corruption watchdogs, among other measures. Nearly 50 legal challenges have been filed in the last three weeks, an unprecedented pushback in the courts against a new administration.The lawsuits have resulted in a string of court rulings. They have put a hold on some of Trump’s executive orders freezing some spending. They have also restricted Musk, head of the so-called “department of government efficiency”, from sending his staff to rifle through the financial records of federal agencies such as the US Agency for International Development (USAid) and the education department as a means to restrict their work or even close them down.But it quickly became apparent that the administration was defying some of the court orders, while its supporters attacked what they called “rogue judges” for ruling against Trump – and Vance portrayed the courts as just another bureaucratic obstacle to the president implementing the people’s will.That has prompted warnings from legal scholars, including Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California Berkeley law school, of a constitutional crisis in the making.“It’s very frightening to think that they will disobey court orders. If they don’t, it will be a constitutional crisis unlike anything this country has seen, because if the president can violate constitutional laws and disobey court orders then the name for that is a dictatorship,” he said.“This isn’t the realm of normal. What we’ve seen in the first three weeks is unprecedented in American history.”The judge John McConnell has accused the Trump administration of deliberately disobeying an order obliging the government to reinstate billions of dollars in grants. Another judge, Loren AliKhan, accused the administration of defying its legal obligations after she ordered the office for budget and management (OMB) to halt a spending freeze.Vance pushed back against the rulings on X.“If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal,” he wrote.“Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.”Musk called for one of the judges involved to be impeached.Trump won a victory on Thursday when a judge ruled in favour of Musk’s offer to almost all of the 2 million-strong federal workforce of eight months of pay for not working if they resign now. The email’s subject line, “Fork in the Road”, was the same as one he used in a message to employees when he bought Twitter in 2022 and got rid of about 80% of its staff. Shortly after the deadline set by the email for voluntary redundancy, which was accepted by about 65,000 federal workers, unions said involuntary dismissals had begun.Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, praised the rare court victory.“This goes to show that lawfare will not ultimately prevail over the will of 77 million Americans who supported President Trump and his priorities,” she said.But mostly the courts have so far ruled against the Trump administration as it pursues a power grab.The American Bar Association, which represents hundreds of thousands of lawyers in the US, has condemned what it called the Trump administration’s “wide-scale affronts to the rule of law itself”.“We have seen attempts at wholesale dismantling of departments and entities created by Congress without seeking the required congressional approval to change the law,” it said.The ABA also condemned “efforts to dismiss employees with little regard for the law and protections they merit” and social media posts intended “to inflame”.“This is chaotic. It may appeal to a few. But it is wrong. And most Americans recognize it is wrong. It is also contrary to the rule of law,” it said.It’s likely that at least some of the flood of lawsuits will end up before the supreme court. The administration may in fact want to see some cases reach the highest court, which has a solid conservative majority after Trump appointed three of its nine justices during his first term, as it seeks to consolidate even more power in the presidency over issues such as who has final control over spending allocated by Congress.But the process of moving through district and appeals courts before making it to the supreme court is unlikely to be swift, by which time Musk may already have achieved much of what he aims to do in wrecking the work of USAid, the education department and other federal agencies.Then there is the unpredictability of a supreme court that has already overturned precedent in striking down the right to abortion.Chemerinsky believes the Trump administration is all but certain to lose cases on birthright citizenship, the freeze on spending and the dismissals of commissioners that oversee labour rights, consumer protection and equal employment opportunities, because they are in breach of federal law. He said the court was also likely to order the administration to back down from attempts to eliminate individual agencies created by Congress.But what if the administration follows Vance’s call to openly defy the courts? Chemerinsky said that would set up “a constitutional confrontation unlike any we’ve seen”.“The courts have limited ability to enforce their orders. They could hold individuals other than the president in contempt of court. They could figure out who’s responsible for carrying out the court order and hold that person in contempt with fines or jail for civil contempt. But the idea of the courts holding a cabinet secretary, an attorney general, a secretary of defence in contempt is just unheard of in the United States,” he said.“It’s so hard to imagine where we’ll be in four years. When you think about what’s going on in just three weeks, it’s certain Donald Trump is claiming expansive executive power beyond what any president has ever asserted. How much will the courts allow that? There’s no way to know.” More

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      Trump’s eldest son emerges as key voice influencing cabinet picks – report

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      Donald Trump Jr has emerged as the family’s most influential adviser of the moment as his father builds the most controversial cabinet in modern US history, sources close to Donald Trump’s eldest son say.Trump Jr has in some cases promoted inexperienced loyalists over more qualified candidates for top positions in president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration.During Trump’s first administration, as the 45th president, his elder daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, were top level political advisers, while his sons Don Jr and Eric were assigned mainly to run the family business.Ivanka and her husband took a big step back from politics after Trump lost to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election and during Trump’s subsequent descent into a tangle of civil and criminal cases against him, though have been more present since his victory in the election earlier this month.Now sources have told Reuters that Don Jr is currently the leading offspring voice in his father’s ear and the president-elect has become particularly reliant on his son for advice on White House strategy.But at least two of the more controversial choices championed by Don Jr face tough Senate confirmation challenges – vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist Robert F Kennedy Jr, of the chiefly-Democratic Kennedy political dynasty, for health secretary and former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, who faces bipartisan concern over her Russian interests and lack of experience in the intelligence community.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionAppointments planning continued on Sunday, the Washington Post reported, with the likely elevation of Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford-trained physician and economist, as the next director of the National Institutes of Health.Reuters spoke to half a dozen sources, including donors, political allies and friends, who confirmed Don Jr’s influence in pitching names for appointments, including inexperienced loyalists. Don Jr was credited with making JD Vance his father’s vice-presidential pick, helping cabinet contenders sink or rise to the fore and blocking former secretary of state Mike Pompeo from joining the cabinet.“The reality this time is we actually know what we’re doing,” Don Jr told Fox News earlier this month. “And it’s about surrounding my father with people who are both competent and loyal.”Kushner, formerly Trump’s senior adviser who focused on the Middle East, told Reuters that he is briefing real estate investor Steve Witkoff on his new job as special envoy to the region.“I have been working with Witkoff to get him up to speed on Trump’s past efforts,” Kushner said through a spokesperson.One source close to the transition said Trump does not appear to need his family for advice as much as in the past because of aides like Susie Wiles, who helped to run the most disciplined of his election campaigns to date and will be his chief of staff.“Stuff is really buttoned down,” the source said of Trump’s current team. “He may not need the family this time like he used to.” More

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      Trump’s cabinet and White House picks – so far

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      Donald Trump, the former US president set to return to the White House in January for a second term, has begun making selections for his administration, opting for those who have displayed loyalty over those with deep experience.Trump has tasked Howard Lutnick, a longtime friend and pick for commerce secretary, with recruiting officials who will deliver, rather than dilute, his agenda. During his first term, several of Trump’s key appointees tried to convince Trump out of his more extreme plans.Confirmed offer of a roleHoward LutnickRole offered: commerce secretaryRequires Senate confirmation? yesView image in fullscreenTrump nominated Howard Lutnick, co-chair of Trump’s transition team, to be his commerce secretary. Lutnick has uniformly praised the president-elect’s economic policies, including his use of tariffs, and has been praised by Elon Musk as someone who “will actually enact change”.In a statement, Trump said Lutnick would “lead our Tariff and Trade agenda”, and also have “direct responsibility” for the Office of the United States Trade Representative, which negotiates trade deals.Dr Mehmet OzRole offered: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administratorRequires Senate confirmation? noTrump announced that he has tapped Dr Mehmet Oz to serve as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator.“America is facing a healthcare Crisis, and there may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again” Trump said in a statement.Trump added that Oz will work closely with Robert F Kennedy Jr, his pick for secretary of health and human services, to take on the “illness industrial complex, and all the horrible chronic diseases left in its wake”.Chris WrightRole offered: energy secretaryRequires Senate confirmation? yesView image in fullscreenTrump announced Chris Wright, an oil and gas industry executive and a staunch defender of fossil fuel use, to lead the US Department of Energy.Wright, the founder and CEO of an oilfield services firm, has no political experience and is expected to support Trump’s plan to maximize production of oil and gas. Wright has denied the climate emergency, saying: “There is no climate crisis.”The Department of Energy handles US energy diplomacy, administers the Strategic Petroleum Reserve – which Trump has said he wants to replenish – and runs grant and loan programs to advance energy technologies. It also oversees the ageing US nuclear weapons complex, nuclear energy waste disposal and 17 national labs.Doug CollinsRole offered: veterans affairs secretaryRequires Senate confirmation? yesView image in fullscreenTrump named the former Georgia congressman Doug Collins as secretary of veterans affairs. Collins, a lawyer and veteran who served in Iraq, defended Trump in his first impeachment trial.Sean DuffyRole offered: secretary of transportationRequires Senate confirmation? yesView image in fullscreenTrump named Sean Duffy, a former Republican congressman and co-host on Fox Business, to serve as the secretary of transportation.“He will prioritize Excellence, Competence, Competitiveness and Beauty when rebuilding America’s highways, tunnels, bridges and airports,” Trump said in a statement. If confirmed, Duffy would oversee aviation, automotive, rail, transit and other transportation policies at the department with about a $110bn budget.Karoline LeavittRole offered: White House press secretaryRequires Senate confirmation? noView image in fullscreenTrump named Karoline Leavitt, a 27-year-old firebrand from his inner circle, as his White House press secretary. Leavitt, who will be the youngest person ever to hold the position, has been seen as a staunch and camera-ready advocate for Trump.Will ScharfRole offered: White House staff secretaryRequires Senate confirmation? noView image in fullscreenTrump announced that he had picked one of his personal attorneys, Will Scharf, to serve as his White House staff secretary. Scharf is a former federal prosecutor who was a member of Trump’s legal team in his successful attempt to get broad immunity from prosecution from the supreme court.Bill McGinleyRole offered: White House counselRequires Senate confirmation? noView image in fullscreenBill McGinley served as cabinet secretary during Trump’s first term and acted as legal counsel for the Republican National Committee during the election campaign.Sergio GorRole offered: assistant to the president and director of personnelRequires Senate confirmation? noTrump appointed his top ally Sergio Gor as assistant to the president and director of the presidential personnel office. Gor previously led the pro-Trump Super Pac Right for America.Doug BurgumRole offered: interior secretaryRequires Senate confirmation? yesView image in fullscreenTrump has announced Doug Burgum, governor of North Dakota, as his pick for secretary of the interior. “He’s going to head the Department of Interior, and it’s going to be fantastic,” Trump said on 14 November at a gala at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort.In 2023, Burgum ran a short-lived campaign for the Republican nomination for president. He went on to become a highly visible, prolific Trump surrogate and advised Trump on energy policy.Steven CheungRole offered: communications directorRequires Senate confirmation? noView image in fullscreenTrump announced Steven Cheung, the principal spokesperson on his re-election campaign, as his communications director. Cheung was Trump’s primary vessel to mainstream media outlets, frequently defending the president-elect and remaining close to his side at campaign events and rallies.Cheung previously worked in communications for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.Tulsi GabbardRole offered: national intelligence directorRequires Senate confirmation? yesView image in fullscreenTrump announced Tulsi Gabbard as his nominee for director of national intelligence. Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman and Iraq war veteran, ran for president in 2020 and then left the party in 2022. She campaigned for and endorsed Trump in 2024. In a statement announcing her appointment in his administration, Trump praised Gabbard for fighting “for our country and the freedoms of all Americans”.Matt GaetzRole offered: attorney generalRequires Senate confirmation? yesView image in fullscreenTrump nominated Matt Gaetz, a hard-right Republican congressman from Florida, for attorney general.Gaetz, a Trump loyalist, was elected in 2016 to represent a red chunk of the Florida panhandle. Since his arrival in Washington, he’s developed a reputation as a far-right provocateur, courting controversy seemingly as a matter of course. In 2023, he led the charge to oust Kevin McCarthy as the Republican speaker.Pete HegsethRole offered: secretary of defenseRequires Senate confirmation? yesView image in fullscreenDonald Trump said on Tuesday that he is nominating the Fox News host and army veteran Pete Hegseth to be defense secretary. Hegseth is an army national guard officer and former executive director of advocacy groups including Concerned Veterans for America and Vets for Freedom.Tom HomanRole offered: ‘border czar’Requires Senate confirmation? noView image in fullscreenTrump has said Tom Homan will be the “border czar” in his administration, taking charge of the country’s “southern border, the northern border, all maritime, and aviation security”. Homan will be in charge of the promised mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. He served for a year and a half in Trump’s first administration as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).Homan is both a Project 2025 author and Heritage Foundation fellow. At a panel in July, Homan said if Trump were re-elected he would “run the biggest deportation force this country has ever seen”.Mike HuckabeeRole offered: US ambassador to IsraelRequires Senate confirmation? yesView image in fullscreenTrump announced Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, as his ambassador to Israel. A failed Trump challenger who ran against him for the Republican nomination in 2016, Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel.In 2018, he said he dreamed of building a “holiday home” in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.Trump said in a statement on Tuesday that Huckabee “loves Israel, and the people of Israel” and will work to bring peace in the region.Huckabee is the father of Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as press secretary in Trump’s first administration and is the current Arkansas governor.Robert F Kennedy JrRole offered: secretary of health and human servicesRequires Senate confirmation? yesView image in fullscreenTrump has named Robert F Kennedy Jr, the scion of the Democratic Kennedy family and failed independent presidential candidate, his secretary of health and human services. In a statement, Trump said Kennedy would protect Americans from “harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives” that have caused a health crisis.Previously, Trump has said he would let Kennedy “do what he wants” with women’s healthcare and “go wild” on food and medicines.Stephen MillerRole offered: deputy chief of staff for policyRequires Senate confirmation? noView image in fullscreenStephen Miller is an immigration hardliner who served as a senior policy adviser in the early part of Trump’s first term. He was the chief architect of the Muslim travel ban and is the founder of America First Legal, a group described by him as the right’s “long-awaited answer” to the American Civil Liberties Union. It is expected he will take on an expanded role in Trump’s second term and help carry out the former president’s mass deportation plan.Elon Musk and Vivek RamaswamyRoles offered: heads of Department of Government EfficiencyRequires Senate confirmation? noView image in fullscreenDonald Trump continued to fill his administration by naming SpaceX and Tesla CEO Musk and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to head up a new “Department of Government Efficiency”. In a statement, Trump said that these appointments “will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people”.Kristi NoemRole offered: homeland security secretaryRequires Senate confirmation? yesView image in fullscreenTrump has selected South Dakota’s governor, Kristi Noem– a staunch ally who has little experience on the national security stage– to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Noem was once under consideration for Trump’s vice-president, but saw her chances evaporate amid backlash to the revelation in her memoir that she shot to death an “untrainable” dog that she “hated” on her family farm. She is currently serving her second four-year term as governor.In the role, Noem would oversee everything from border protection and immigration to disaster response and the US Secret Service.John Ratcliffe Role offered: CIA directorRequires Senate confirmation? yesView image in fullscreenJohn Ratcliffe is another loyalist chosen for a key administration role. He served as director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term after being confirmed by the Senate on his second try following concerns over his experience. In a statement, Trump praised the former Texas congressman’s role in the Hunter Biden laptop saga.Marco RubioRole offered: secretary of stateRequires Senate confirmation? yesView image in fullscreenTrump named Senator Marco Rubio of Florida as his nominee for secretary of state. If confirmed, he would be the first Latino to serve as America’s top diplomat.In a statement, Trump said Rubio would be “strong Advocate for our Nation” and “fearless Warrior”.Rubio, a failed challenger to Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, was rumored to be one of the leading contenders for Trump’s vice-presidential pick before JD Vance was announced. He also help Trump prepare for his 2020 debate with Joe Biden and has served as an informal foreign policy adviser.Rubio is a top China hawk in the Senate. Most notably, he called on the treasury department in 2019 to launch a national security review of popular Chinese social media app TikTok’s acquisition of Musical.ly. As the top Republican on the Senate intelligence committee, he demanded that the Biden administration block all sales to Huawei earlier this year after the sanctioned Chinese tech company released a new laptop powered by an Intel AI processor chip.Elise StefanikRole offered: UN ambassadorRequires Senate confirmation? yesView image in fullscreenTrump has selected the New York representative Elise Stefanik to be the ambassador to the UN. A Trump loyalist who was floated as possible pick for his vice-president, Stefanik is the highest-ranking woman in the Republican conference in the House of Representatives.Mike WaltzRole offered: national security adviserRequires Senate confirmation? noView image in fullscreenA former US army green beret who now serves as a congressman for Florida, Michael Waltz has solidified his reputation as a leading advocate for a tougher stance on China within the House of Representatives. He played a leading role in sponsoring legislation aimed at reducing the US’s dependence on minerals sourced from China. Waltz is known to have a solid friendship with Trump and has also voiced support for US assistance to Ukraine, while concurrently pushing for greater oversight of American taxpayer funds allocated to support Kyiv’s defense efforts. Trump is reportedly due to choose him for national security adviser.Susie WilesRole offered: chief of staffRequires Senate confirmation? noView image in fullscreenTrump has named Susie Wiles as his White House chief of staff, the first woman to hold the influential role. She was previously the campaign manager for his victorious bid for re-election. Although her political views remain somewhat ambiguous, she is seen as having led a successful and streamlined presidential race. Supporters believe she could introduce a level of organization and discipline that was frequently absent throughout Trump’s first term, marked by a series of changes in the chief of staff role.Steven WitkoffRole offered: Middle East envoyRequires Senate confirmation? noView image in fullscreenSteven Witkoff, a New York City-based real-estate executive and longtime friend of Trump, was chosen to serve as Middle East envoy.In a statement announcing his pick, Trump said Witkoff would be a “voice for peace”. Witkoff has longstanding ties to Trump and the Trump Organization, serving as a major donor and adviser. He testified as an expert witness in the New York attorney general’s case against the Trump family and its namesake business.Lee ZeldinRole offered: Environmental Protection Agency administratorRequires Senate confirmation? yesView image in fullscreenTrump announced that the former New York congressman Lee Zeldin will be selected to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Zeldin told the New York Post that as EPA head, he will work to “restore American energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs” while cutting the “red tape” that is “holding back American workers”. Trump promised to ensure “fair and swift deregulatory decisions” to allow the US to “grow in a healthy and well-structured way”. Staffers at the EPA fear their mandate to fight air pollution and the climate crisis will be undercut by the incoming Republican administration.Expected offer of a roleScott BessentPotential role: unspecifiedView image in fullscreenA key economic adviser to Trump and ally of JD Vance, Scott Bessent, the manager of the Key Square macro hedge fund, is seen as a possible cabinet contender. The Wall Street investor and a prominent Trump fundraiser has praised Trump’s use of tariffs as a negotiating tool.Ben CarsonPotential role: secretary of housing and urban developmentRequires Senate confirmation? yesView image in fullscreenA retired neurosurgeon and former US housing secretary, Ben Carson has pushed for a national abortion ban – a posture at odds with most Americans and even Donald Trump himself. During his 2016 campaign he ran into controversy when he likened abortion to slavery and said he wanted to see the end of Roe v Wade. When the supreme court reversed its decision in the Dobbs case, he called it “a crucial correction”. Carson could be nominated by Trump as housing and urban development secretary.Richard GrenellPotential role: unspecifiedView image in fullscreenRichard Grenell, an ex-Fox News contributor who is among Trump’s closest foreign policy advisers, is probably in the running for top foreign policy and national security posts. A former US ambassador to Germany and vocal backer of Trump’s “America first” credo on the international stage in his first term, he has advocated for setting up an autonomous zone in eastern Ukraine to end the war there, a position Kyiv considers unacceptable.Robert LighthizerPotential role: trade or commerce secretaryRequires Senate confirmation? yesView image in fullscreenRobert Lighthizer was Donald Trump’s most senior trade official. He is a firm believer in tariffs and was one of the leading figures in Trump’s trade war with China. Described by Trump as “the greatest United States trade representative in American history”, Lighthizer is almost certain to be back in the new cabinet. Though Bessent and the billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson probably have a better shot at becoming treasury secretary, Lighthizer has a few outside chances: he might be able to reprise his old role as US trade representative or become the new commerce secretary.Brooke RollinsPotential role: unspecifiedView image in fullscreenA former domestic policy adviser in the White House, Brooke Rollins has a close personal relationship with Trump. Considered by many to be one of Trump’s more moderate advisers, she backed the former president’s first-term criminal justice reforms that lessened prison sentences for some relatively minor offenses.Not selected for Trump administrationTom CottonPotential role: secretary of defenseRequires Senate confirmation? yesView image in fullscreenThe far-right Republican senator from Arkansas emerged as a dark-horse contender to be Trump’s running mate in the final weeks of the vice-presidential selection process. In a notorious 2020 New York Times op-ed headlined “Send in the Troops”, Tom Cotton likened Black Lives Matter protests to a rebellion and urged the government to deploy the US military against demonstrators by invoking the Insurrection Act. He is well-liked among Trump donors and also seen as a contender for secretary of defense.Cotton has said he won’t take a role.Donald Trump JrView image in fullscreenDonald Trump Jr was active behind the scenes of his father’s re-election bid, reportedly advocating for his friend JD Vance as running mate. Trump Jr said he has decided to join a venture capital firm, 1789 Capital, which bills itself as an “anti-ESG” firm.Trump’s eldest son has built a loyal following in the Maga universe via his Triggered podcast and has taken a role, along with his brother Eric Trump, in the transition process to establish a new administration.Includes reporting by Reuters More

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      Trump allies attack Biden for allowing Ukraine to use US missiles inside Russia

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      Allies of the president-elect, Donald Trump, have lashed out angrily at Joe Biden for his decision to permit Ukraine to use long-range US missiles to launch attacks inside Russia for the first time, in what the Kremlin has termed an “escalation” in the war.Key Trump surrogates, including his son Donald Trump Jr, hardline congressional Republicans, and other backers have accused Biden of seeking to spark “world war three” before Trump’s presidential inauguration in January.“The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives,” wrote Donald Trump Jr on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter.Richard Grenell, a former acting director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term, who was seen as a potential candidate for secretary of state, wrote: “No one anticipated that Joe Biden would ESCALATE the war in Ukraine during the transition period. This is as if he is launching a whole new war. Everything has changed now – all previous calculations are null and void.”Other Republicans to sound off included the far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and the Utah senator Mike Lee, who said: “Joe Biden has just set the stage for World War III. Let’s all pray that it doesn’t come to this.”A state department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, defended the decision during a press briefing on Monday, saying: “[The] American people elected Joe Biden to a four-year term, not to a term of three years and 10 months, and we will use every day of our term to pursue the foreign policy interests that we believe are in the interests of the American people.”Discussions had been ongoing for months between the White House, the state department and European allies on whether to allow strikes into Ukraine. Currently, the decision to allow limited strikes using the US-supplied Atacms missiles would permit the Ukrainian army to target Russian military infrastructure in the Kursk region where the US has said that more than 10,000 North Korean troops have joined Russian forces preparing a counter-offensive to force Ukrainian troops out of the region.The decision by the White House will set up a dilemma for the incoming administration on whether to immediately roll back the authorisation after Trump’s inauguration or retain it as a potential bargaining chip in the negotiations the president-elect has said he wants to hold in order to end the fighting.While Trump and his allies have broadly denounced increasing military support and financial aid for the Ukrainian government, analysts said it was unclear whether Trump would move immediately to repeal the decision regarding long-range missiles.“On the first day they could announce, ‘We are suspending this authorization pending a review of Ukraine policy,’” said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a thinktank based in Washington. “But that would engender a lot of criticism and revive all these stories about some deals with Putin.”He said it was not a foregone conclusion that Trump would immediately repeal the decision. “One is just the political cost isn’t worth the gain, but Trump’s also a deal-maker, and that would be to give away something without getting anything for it … to start off with a concession is just bad negotiating tactics.”The White House decision may also prompt European allies with similar restrictions on the use of their long-range missiles in Ukraine to follow suit. The UK is expected to supply Storm Shadow missiles for use by Ukraine on targets inside Russia following the Biden decision with Keir Starmer, the prime minister, saying at the G20 summit that the UK needed to “double down” on its support for Ukraine.Germany has maintained its position not to supply Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles, while the French president, Emmanuel Macron, had already said Paris was open to consider greenlighting the use of its missiles to strike on Russian soil.Theresa Fallon, the director of the Center for Russia Europe Asia Studies in Brussels, said that there were mixed reactions among European military officials, with some worried about the potential for an escalation, while others were “happy … that Ukraine could now use the equipment without one hand tied behind their back any more. But this decision came late, very late, [Ukraine] needs to be able to defend itself, and use this equipment for what it was designed to do. But we should keep in mind it is not going to be a game changer and more equipment is needed.”“I can’t predict what Trump will do,” she said. “But … once these things are in place, there is a momentum to continue to use them. It may be hard to put it back into the box. But on the other hand, if there is not a resupply of missiles then the use of them for targets in Russia will have run its course.” More

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      From Barron to Kai: a who’s who of Trump’s family – and the roles they could play

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      Donald is not the only Trump back in the picture after his election win.On Tuesday night, members of the former and future president’s family posed with him at his Florida estate in celebration of his re-election. “Dad, we are so proud of you,” wrote Tiffany, Trump’s younger daughter, posting the photo on X. It was also shared by his 17-year-old granddaughter, Kai, captioned: “The whole squad.”Notably absent was the former first lady, Melania. However, the happy family shot did include Elon Musk – not a blood relative but surely now loved by the president-elect like a son – who was holding X-AE-AXii, the most absurdly named of his own 12 children.Given the prominent roles, official and unofficial, held by Trump’s children and their spouses in his first administration, it is a safe bet that family members will be front and centre in his second. Here is a reminder of the characters likely to feature in the Trump dynasty, season two.Melania TrumpView image in fullscreenWho knows the true nature of the relationship between Trump and his third wife – even the late Queen Elizabeth, according to her biographer Craig Brown, assumed they “must have some sort of arrangement”. Melania was largely absent from the campaign trail, appearing only briefly at the Republican national convention (RNC) in July. The 54-year-old calls New York, where their son Barron is at university, her home, while her husband has been based at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. In recent months, she was arguably more visible in promoting her own memoir, in which she advocated for abortion rights.But while some wondered if the marriage would crumble once Trump was out of office in 2020, she was by his side as he greeted supporters after his win, and is expected to resume her constitutional role as first lady.Donald Trump JrView image in fullscreenTrump’s oldest son has been a significant figure behind the scenes of his father’s campaign, building a close connection to the Maga electoral base.Don Jr, who is the executive vice-president of the Trump Organization and hosts a podcast, Triggered, is credited with helping his friend JD Vance secure the VP nomination, and some argue he could be the power behind the throne of the new administration.He has been closely involved in his father’s transition team and there is inevitable speculation he could be given a prominent role – perhaps with an eye on a political future of his own.Ivanka TrumpView image in fullscreenTrump’s older daughter was highly visible during his first administration, even being given the official title of “first daughter and adviser to the president”. But she has been entirely absent this time – her appearance with the family on Tuesday was her first of the entire campaign.Once described as Trump’s favourite child, Ivanka has testified that she did not believe her father’s false claim that the 2020 election was “stolen”, and in 2022 said in a statement that while she loved her father, “this time around, I am choosing to prioritise my young children and the private life we are creating as a family. I do not plan to be involved in politics.”Jared KushnerView image in fullscreenIvanka’s husband, once a Democrat, was integral to his father-in-law’s 2016 presidential campaign and was appointed a senior adviser during Trump’s first term, helping shape the administration’s Middle East policies.Since 2020 the real estate investor and former publisher of the New York Observer has concentrated on his $3bn investment fund, Affinity Partners. It is heavily backed by the Saudi government’s public investment fund, which has led to questions from the Senate finance committee.He is reported to have ruled out joining the new administration but could advise on foreign affairs.Eric TrumpView image in fullscreenThough he has generally had a lower profile than his older brother, Don Jr, concentrating instead on the family’s business and real estate firm, Trump’s second son supported him in person during his fraud court hearings earlier this year and was a loyal cheerleader on the campaign trail.Lara TrumpView image in fullscreenEric’s wife since 2014 and mother of their two children, the former TV producer has described having a political “awakening” when her father-in-law was first elected in 2016 and has moved increasingly into positions of influence. Earlier this year Trump installed Lara as co-chair of the Republican national committee, reportedly telling her: “I need someone I can trust.”Asked about speculation that she may consider running for office herself one day, she has said: “Never say never with a Trump.”Tiffany TrumpView image in fullscreenTrump’s fourth child, Tiffany, whose mother is his second wife, Marla Maples, has been a loyal if lower-profile family member during his campaign. She recently announced her first pregnancy with her husband, Michael Boulos, a Lebanese-American businessman.Barron TrumpView image in fullscreenTrump’s son with Melania, after spending some of his early teenage years living at the White House, is now 18 and studying business at New York University. Though still young, Barron has been credited as being an important influence on his father’s campaign by urging him to target the “bro vote” through interviews with popular podcasters.Increased visibility has also brought a focus on his 6ft 7in height, which his father has credited to the attentions of his Slovenian maternal grandmother, Amalija Knavs: “Boy, did she take care of Barron … That’s how he got so tall – only ate her food.”Kimberly GuilfoyleView image in fullscreenA former Fox News presenter (and former San Francisco prosecutor alongside Kamala Harris), she has been engaged to Donald Jr since 2020, after his 2018 divorce from his first wife, Vanessa, the mother of his five children.Guilfoyle was previously married to the Democratic mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, but was an outspoken critic of Harris on the campaign trail, hinting at a highly personal animus.Kai TrumpView image in fullscreenThe eldest of Donald Jr’s five children, Kai, 17, addressed the RNC in July, saying of her grandfather: “To me, he’s just a normal grandpa … He gives us candy and soda when our parents aren’t looking.“When we play golf together, if I’m not on his team, he’ll try to get inside of my head, and he’s always surprised I don’t let him get to me. But I have to remind him, I’m a Trump, too.” More

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      Trump White House: after Susie Wiles, who else could be in the cabinet

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      The former US president Donald Trump, due to return to the White House in January, has not yet engaged in formal discussions regarding his new cabinet. Nevertheless, amid his plane journeys, television appearances and rallies, speculation and rumours have swirled around several figures who could find roles in his administration.Confirmed offers of a roleSusie WilesView image in fullscreenConfirmed role: Chief of staffTrump has named Susie Wiles as his White House chief of staff, the first woman to hold the influential role. She was previously the campaign manager for his successful bid for re-election. Although her political views remain somewhat ambiguous, she is seen as having led a successful and streamlined presidential race. Supporters believe she could introduce a level of organisation and discipline that was frequently absent throughout Trump’s first term, marked by a series of changes in the chief of staff role.Expected cabinet picksElon MuskView image in fullscreenPotential role: unspecifiedElon Musk, who turned into a fully fledged cheerleader for Trump and who holds billions in federal contracts, has reportedly sought a role in a second Trump administration in charge of the regulators that oversee him. Trump has appeared to rule out a cabinet role for Musk, but has said he wants the tech billionaire to have some sort of an unspecified role in his administration. The world’s wealthiest person has proposed the establishment of a Department of Government Efficiency.Robert F Kennedy JrView image in fullscreenPotential role: unspecifiedRobert F Kennedy Jr, the son of the assassinated Bobby Kennedy and nephew of JFK, whose independent campaign for president has at times reached as high as 10% of the vote, strongly believes he has a shot at a role in Trump’s cabinet after he backed the Republican. While senior members of Trump’s campaign have ruled out Kennedy getting a job in the Department of Health, Trump has said he would let him “do what he wants” with women’s healthcare if he makes it to the White House, citing how Kennedy would be able to “go wild” on food and medicines.Doug BurgumView image in fullscreenPotential role: ‘energy tsar’The Financial Times reports that Doug Burgum, governor of North Dakota, is being considered for an “energy tsar” role. The role and its powers have yet to be finalised. However, Trump has called the climate crisis “one of the great scams of all time” and has promised to “drill, baby, drill”. It’s expected any climate or energy secretary would be tasked with rolling back environmental regulations.In 2023, Burgum ran a short-lived campaign for the Republican nomination for president. He went on to become a highly visible, prolific Trump surrogate and advised Trump on energy policy.Mike PompeoView image in fullscreenPotential role: secretary of defenceMike Pompeo, a former CIA director and secretary of state and devoted ally of Trump, chose not to challenge his ex-boss for the Republican nomination. The staunch supporter of Israel and a sworn enemy of Iran is widely considered a key contender for a top role in the new administration, possible as secretary of defence.Richard GrenellView image in fullscreenPotential role: secretary of stateRichard Grenell, an ex-Fox News contributor who is among Trump’s closest foreign policy advisers, is probably in the running for secretary of state or other top foreign policy and national security posts. A former US ambassador to Germany and vocal backer of Trump’s America First credo on the international stage in his first term, he has advocated for setting up an autonomous zone in eastern Ukraine to end the war there, a position Kyiv considers unacceptable.Tom CottonView image in fullscreenPotential role: secretary of defenceThe far-right Republican senator from Arkansas emerged as a dark-horse contender to be Trump’s running mate in the final weeks of the vice-presidential selection process. In a notorious 2020 New York Times op-ed headlined Send In the Troops, Tom Cotton, likened Black Lives Matter protests to a rebellion and urged the government to deploy the US military against demonstrators by invoking the Insurrection Act. He is well liked among Trump donors and also seen as a contender for secretary of defence.Cotton has said he won’t take a role.Ben CarsonView image in fullscreenPotential role: secretary of housing and urban developmentA retired neurosurgeon and former US housing secretary, Ben Carson has pushed for a national abortion ban – a posture at odds with most Americans and even Donald Trump himself. During his 2016 run he ran into controversy when he likened abortion to slavery and said he wanted to see the end of Roe v Wade. When the supreme court reversed its decision in the Dobbs case, he called it “a crucial correction”. Carson could be nominated by Trump as housing and urban development secretary.Scott BessentView image in fullscreenPotential role: unspecifiedA key economic adviser to Trump and ally of JD Vance, Scott Bessent, the manager of Key Square macro hedge fund, is seen as a possible cabinet contender. The Wall Street investor and a prominent Trump fundraiser has praised Trump’s use of tariffs as a negotiating tool.Mike WaltzView image in fullscreenPotential role: secretary of defence, or secretary of stateA former US army green beret, who now serves as a congressman for Florida, Michael Waltz has solidified his reputation as a leading advocate for a tougher stance on China within the House of Representatives. He played a leading role in sponsoring legislation aimed at reducing the US’s dependence on minerals sourced from China. Waltz is known to have a solid friendship with Trump and has also voiced support for US assistance to Ukraine, while concurrently pushing for greater oversight of American taxpayer funds allocated to support Kyiv’s defence efforts. He has been tipped in the US media as a contender for either defence secretary or secretary of state.Robert LighthizerView image in fullscreenPotential role: trade or commerce secretaryRobert Lighthizer is Donald Trump’s most senior trade official. He is a firm believer in tariffs and was one of the leading figures in Trump’s trade war with China. Described by Trump as “the greatest United States trade representative in American history”, Lighthizer is almost certain to be back in the new cabinet. Though Scott Bessent and the billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson probably have a better shot at becoming treasury secretary, Lighthizer has a few outside chances: he might be able to reprise his old role as US trade representative or become the new commerce secretary.Brooke RollinsView image in fullscreenPotential role: unspecifiedA former domestic policy adviser in the White House, Brooke Rollins has a close personal relationship with Trump. Considered by many to be one of Trump’s more moderate advisers, she backed the former president’s first-term criminal justice reforms that lessened prison sentences for some relatively minor offences.Donald Trump JrView image in fullscreenPotential role: unspecifiedAlthough he has been less prominent on the campaign trail than in previous election cycles, the 47th president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, was active behind the scenes and advocated for his friend JD Vance as running mate. He has built a loyal following in the Maga universe via his Triggered podcast and has taken a role along with his brother Eric Trump in the transition process to establish a new administration. The formal co-chairs of the transition are the Cantor Fitzgerald chief executive, Howard Lutnick, and Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term.Stephen MillerView image in fullscreenPotential role: unspecifiedA senior policy adviser in the early part of Trump’s first term who was the chief architect of the Muslim travel ban, Stephen Miller is expected to be back in the White House for a second Trump term that the president-elect has said will bring the largest mass deportation in US history. The anti-immigration extremist is also the founder of America First Legal, a group described by him as the right’s “long-awaited answer” to the American Civil Liberties Union, and is already helping drive plans for the second Trump term.Includes reporting by Reuters More

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      Trump’s Republican convention speech: how to watch and what’s at stake

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      The biggest event of the Republican convention kicks off Thursday night, with Donald Trump’s address to thousands of party loyalists in attendance.Trump appeared at the opening night of the Republican national convention on Monday, when he was greeted with thunderous applause, marking his first public appearance since surviving an assassination attempt at his campaign rally. Earlier in the day, Trump announced JD Vance, the Ohio senator and once vocal critic of Trump, as his running mate.Vance formally accepted the Republican vice-presidential nomination on Wednesday, with a speech that presented the Republican party as a champion of working-class Americans while denouncing Democrats as out of touch and ineffective.Other speakers on the third day of the convention included Matt Gaetz, Newt Gingrich, Peter Navarro, Greg Abbott, Kellyanne Conway, Kimberly Guilfoyle and Donald Trump Jr.Notable speakers at the convention so far have also included Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, who both challenged Trump for the GOP nomination but backed him at the convention. Sean O’Brien, Ted Cruz, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Marco Rubio, Elise Stefanik, Ben Carson, Kristi Noem, Rick Scott, Tim Scott and Tom Cotton also spoke at the convention.When is Trump’s convention speech?Trump is expected to deliver remarks on Thursday evening, the final day of the Republican convention, as delegates officially vote to nominate him as the party’s presidential candidate. His speech is scheduled to begin at 9p.m.Earlier this week, Trump told the Washington Examiner that he rewrote his convention speech to focus on calls for national unity. “Honestly, it’s going to be a whole different speech now,” he told the paper.“This is a chance to bring the whole country, even the whole world, together,” he said, adding that the speech will be “a lot different” from the original draft.What else to know?After surviving Saturday’s assassination attempt, Trump suggested he had been changed by the experience and wanted to project a message of unity during his convention speech. In an interview Sunday, Trump said he is reworking his remarks with speechwriter Ross Worthington. He had intended to deliver biting remarks against Joe Biden until the shooting at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, prompted him to throw it out.The test of whether Trump will lead the effort to promote a spirit of unity, or whether it was more of a directive aimed at his surrogates, will probably come when he delivers his speech on Thursday.Where can I watch it?The Guardian will have live coverage of the speech. All major networks will carry convention coverage, including CNN, NBC, MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and C-SPAN. PBS said it will begin broadcasting each night at 6pm ET.A livestream of the convention is also available on the GOP Convention website.Will Melania be in the audience for Trump’s speech?Former first lady Melania Trump has made very few public appearances or statements since Trump left the White House. She did not attend the 27 June debate against Joe Biden, nor did she appear at any of Trump’s court appearances during the hush-money trial.Following Saturday’s assassination attempt against Trump, Melania released a statement condemning the man who authorities say tried to assassinate her husband. She described the shooter as “a monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine”.Melania will attend the convention, according to Eric Trump, but she is not confirmed as a speaker.What about Ivanka Trump?Ivanka Trump has spent the last several years distancing herself from politics, having served as an advisor in her father’s White House. She and her husband Jared Kushner testified before the House committee investigating the January 6 attack.The eldest daughter of the former president was absent in November, 2022 as Trump announced his bid for re-election. “I do not plan to be involved in politics,” she said in a statement at the time.Eric Trump confirmed Ivanka will attend the convention; however unlike in 2016, she’s not confirmed as a speaker.Tiffany Trump is not on the list of confirmed speakers but was in the crowd Monday night. Barron Trump was invited, but will not attend “due to prior commitments”, according to a statement released by his mother, Melania.Trump’s eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump; Eric’s wife, Lara Trump; and Guilfoyle (Donald Jr’s finance) are listed as speakers. More

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      Republican convention day three: JD Vance to speak as focus turns to foreign policy

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      JD Vance will give his first major address as Donald Trump’s running mate on Wednesday and Republicans will turn their focus to foreign policy during the third day of the Republican national convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Vance will be introduced by Donald Trump Jr. The theme for Wednesday – “Make America Strong Once Again” – comes amid internal divisions on how to handle the war in Ukraine. Earlier this year, House speaker Mike Johnson only narrowly passed a bill to provide additional funding for Ukraine over the loud objection of some Republicans.The day will also offer an opportunity for Republicans to attack Joe Biden over his handling of the US military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and the war between Israel and Gaza.Some Republicans have already started attacking Biden’s foreign policy.“When Donald Trump was president, Putin did nothing. No invasions. No wars. That was no accident. Putin didn’t attack Ukraine because he knew Donald Trump was tough. A strong president doesn’t start wars. A strong president prevents wars,” Nikki Haley, said on Tuesday.The focus on foreign policy comes after Republicans focused on crime and safety Tuesday and on the economy on Monday.The four-day event has marked a full-on coronation for Trump, who has made his dramatic return to the campaign trail after surviving an assassination attempt over the weekend.It has also underscored the firm hold he has on the party.Haley and Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who challenged Trump for the GOP nomination, both unequivocally backed Trump in speeches from the convention floor on Tuesday. “You don’t have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him. Take it from me. I haven’t always agreed with President Trump. But we agree more often than we disagree,” Haley said in her remarks.Other speakers on Tuesday highlighted crimes they blamed on the Biden administration. Texas senator Ted Cruz, for example, highlighted Americans who had been killed by undocumented people. Madeline Brame, one of several ordinary Americans picked to speak during the convention, blamed Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg for not prosecuting her son’s killer.Other speakers on Tuesday included Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Marco Rubio, Elise Stefanik, Ben Carson, and Rick Scott and Tom Cotton. More