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The NBA on Saturday suspended three players for their roles in an on-court clash during Friday's game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns. Dallas forward Naji Marshall was suspended for four games and Suns center Jusuf Nurkic for three while Mavericks forward P.J Washington will sit out one game. The incident came with 9:02 remaining in the third quarter when Nurkic committed on offensive foul on Dallas's Daniel Gifford. "Marshall and Nurkic then engaged in an on-court altercation. Nurkic escalated it by swinging his arm and striking Marshall on top of his head. Marshall responded by throwing a punch that connected with Nurkic's face," the NBA said in a statement. "As the officials and other players attempted to diffuse the situation, Washington further escalated the altercation by shoving Nurkic to the floor. For their roles, Marshall, Nurkic and Washington were assessed technical fouls and ejected from the game," the league added. Marshall late confronted Nurkic near the locker rooms, in a "hostile manner" according to the NBA. The NBA said the players will not be paid during their suspension periods. sev/bbJimmy Spithill introduces his new Red Bull Italy SailGP Team
How cops use at-home DNA kits to uncover criminals in YOUR family – from Golden State killer to mystery baby deathsIsrael strikes Houthi rebels in Yemen's capital while the WHO chief says he was meters away JERUSALEM (AP) — A new round of Israeli airstrikes in Yemen have targeted the Houthi rebel-held capital of Sanaa and multiple ports. The World Health Organization’s director-general said the bombardment on Thursday took place just “meters away” as he was about to board a flight in Sanaa. He says a crew member was hurt. The strikes followed several days of Houthi attacks and launches setting off sirens in Israel. Israel's military says it attacked infrastructure used by the Houthis at the international airport in Sanaa, power stations and ports. The Israeli military later said it wasn’t aware that the WHO chief was at the location in Yemen. An uneasy calm settles over Syrian city of Homs after outbreak of sectarian violence HOMS, Syria (AP) — Syria’s new security forces checked IDs and searched cars in the central city of Homs a day after protests by members of the Alawite minority erupted in gunfire and stirred fears that the country’s fragile peace could break down. A tense calm prevailed Thursday after checkpoints were set up throughout the country’s third-largest city, which has a mixed population of Sunni and Shia Muslims, Alawites and Christians. The security forces are controlled by the former insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which led the charge that unseated former President Bashar Assad. The US says it pushed retraction of a famine warning for north Gaza. Aid groups express concern. WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say they asked for — and got — the retraction of an independent monitor's warning of imminent famine in north Gaza. The internationally Famine Early Warning System Network issued the warning this week. The new report had warned that starvation deaths in north Gaza could reach famine levels as soon as next month. It cited what it called Israel's “near-total blockade” of food and water. The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Jacob Lew, criticized the finding as inaccurate and irresponsible. The U.S. Agency for International Development, which funds the famine-monitoring group, told the AP it had asked for and gotten the report's retraction. USAID officials tell The Associated Press that it had asked the group for greater review of discrepancies in some of the data. Trump has pressed for voting changes. GOP majorities in Congress will try to make that happen ATLANTA (AP) — Republicans in Congress plan to move quickly in their effort to overhaul the nation’s voting procedures, seeing an opportunity with control of the White House and both chambers of Congress. They want to push through long-sought changes such as voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements. They say the measures are needed to restore public confidence in elections. That's after an erosion of trust that Democrats note has been fueled by false claims from Donald Trump and his allies of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Democrats say they are willing to work with the GOP but want any changes to make it easier, not harder, to vote. Americans are exhausted by political news. TV ratings and a new AP-NORC poll show they're tuning out NEW YORK (AP) — A lot of Americans, after an intense presidential election campaign, are looking for a break in political news. That's evident in cable television news ratings and a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The poll found nearly two-thirds of Americans saying they've found the need recently to cut down on their consumption of political and government news. That's particularly true among Democrats following President-elect Donald Trump's victory, although a significant number of Republicans and independents feel the same way. Cable networks MSNBC and CNN are really seeing a slump. That's also happened in years past for networks that particularly appeal to supporters of one candidate. New York to charge fossil fuel companies for damage from climate change ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Large fossil fuel companies would have to pay fees to help New York fight the effects of climate change under a bill signed by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. The governor signed the new law Thursday. It requires companies responsible for substantial greenhouse gas emissions to pay into a state infrastructure fund for repairs or projects that help avoid future damage from climate change. Lawmakers approved the bill earlier this year. It's meant to make big oil and gas companies contribute to the cost of repairs after extreme weather events or for resiliency projects. Such projects may include restoring coastal wetlands or upgrading roads, bridges and water drainage systems. Legal challenges to the new law are expected. Aviation experts say Russia's air defense fire likely caused Azerbaijan plane crash as nation mourns Aviation experts say that Russian air defense fire was likely responsible for the Azerbaijani plane crash the day before that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured. Azerbaijan is observing a nationwide day of mourning on Thursday for the victims of the crash. Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons yet unclear and crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau in Kazakhstan. Cellphone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before smashing into the ground in a fireball. Ukraine's military intelligence says North Korean troops are suffering heavy battlefield losses KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's military intelligence says North Korean troops are suffering heavy losses in Russia's Kursk region and face logistical difficulties as a result of Ukrainian attacks. The intelligence agency said Thursday that Ukrainian strikes near Novoivanovka inflicted heavy casualties on North Korean units. Ukraine's president said earlier this week that 3,000 North Korean troops have been killed and wounded in the fighting in the Kursk region. It marked the first significant estimate by Ukraine of North Korean casualties several weeks after Kyiv announced that North Korea had sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help it in the almost 3-year war. How the stock market defied expectations again this year, by the numbers NEW YORK (AP) — What a wonderful year 2024 has been for investors. U.S. stocks ripped higher and carried the S&P 500 to records as the economy kept growing and the Federal Reserve began cutting interest rates. The benchmark index posted its first back-to-back annual gains of more than 20% since 1998. The year featured many familiar winners, such as Big Tech, which got even bigger as their stock prices kept growing. But it wasn’t just Apple, Nvidia and the like. Bitcoin and gold surged and “Roaring Kitty” reappeared to briefly reignite the meme stock craze. Why this Mexican American woman played a vital role in the US sacramental peyote trade MIRANDO CITY, Texas (AP) — Amada Cardenas, a Mexican American woman who lived in the tiny border town of Mirando City in South Texas, played an important role in the history of the peyote trade. She and her husband were the first federally licensed peyote dealers who harvested and sold the sacramental plant to followers of the Native American Church in the 1930s. After her husband's death in 1967, Cardenas continued to welcome generations of Native American Church members to her home until her death in 2005, just before her 101st birthday.Business News | CII Proposes Reforms in PSL Framework; Calls for More Development Finance Institutions in Budget Demands
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London, Dec 28 (PTI) Britain’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs David Lammy has hailed the bold economic reforms of Dr Manmohan Singh as a legacy which continues to shape modern India. In a social media tribute to the former prime minister who was cremated in New Delhi on Saturday, Lammy also credited Singh for laying the foundations of the “thriving” bilateral partnership between India and the UK. “Dr Manmohan Singh’s bold economic reforms transformed India’s economy,” Lammy said in a post on X on Friday evening. “His legacy continues to shape modern India, and his vision laid the foundations for today’s thriving UK-India partnership. My deepest condolences to his family and the Indian people,” he said. Manmohan Singh, who was prime minister between 2004 and 2014 and finance minister before that, has been widely hailed the world over as the architect of India's economic liberalisation. He died aged 92 and was laid to rest with full state honours in a ceremony attended by leading political dignitaries and included a 21-gun salute. Following his death on Thursday night, the government declared seven days of national mourning. Earlier, British High Commissioner to India Lindy Cameron took to social media to pay tribute to “a great Prime Minister, Finance Minister and global statesman who advanced India’s interests through bold economic reforms and played a key role in putting India in its rightful place on the world stage and stabilising the global economy after the financial crisis”. “The UK will always be proud of his invaluable partnership with three UK Prime Ministers, and proud of him as an alumnus of two of our great universities. My thoughts and wishes are with his family and the people of India,” she said. Singh’s tenure overlapped with Labour prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and Conservative David Cameron, who later wrote in his memoir that he “got on well” with this “saintly man” who was robust on the threats India faced. “On a later visit he told me that another terrorist attack like that in Mumbai in July 2011, and India would have to take military action against Pakistan,” notes the former UK PM in ‘For the Record’, published in 2019. The Guardian’ newspaper referenced Singh’s “trademark sky-blue turbans and home-spun white kurta pyjamas” in its obituary. “Singh, called India’s ‘reluctant prime minister’ due to his shyness and preference for being behind the scenes, was considered an unlikely choice to lead the world’s biggest democracy. But when Congress leader Sonia Gandhi led her party to a surprise victory in 2004, she turned to Singh to be prime minister,” the newspaper notes. The BBC, in its obituary, hailed Singh as one of India's longest-serving prime ministers who was considered the “architect of key liberalising economic reforms, as premier from 2004-2014 and before that as finance minister”. “In his maiden speech as finance minister he famously quoted Victor Hugo, saying that ‘no power on Earth can stop an idea whose time has come’. That served as a launchpad for an ambitious and unprecedented economic reform programme: he cut taxes, devalued the rupee, privatised state-run companies and encouraged foreign investment,” reads the report. (This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)
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WASHINGTON — Elon Musk, clad in tuxedo and black tie, took the stage at President-elect Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort shortly after the election with all the swagger of the winning candidate himself. "The public has given us a mandate that could not be more clear, the clearest mandate. The people have spoken. The people want change," Musk told the audience of Trump's biggest donors, campaign leaders and appointment seekers. "We are going to shake things up. It's going to be a revolution." Musk's attachment to Trump created an alliance between America's most powerful politician and its richest businessman — and roughly the same percentages of Americans have favorable views of each, according to a new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Aff airs Research. Experts are split on whether that overlap in public opinion is a good or bad thing for Musk's businesses or for Trump's politics, but it could have far-reaching eff ects in both realms. Musk, whose net worth tops $400 billion, oversees six businesses while working closely with Trump: electric car manufacturer Tesla, the X social media platform, space technology company SpaceX, brain link company Neuralink, the startup xAI and tunneling operator The Boring Co. "Even though there's a negative impact, in terms of potentially alienating some of their customers that might not be fans of Trump, the benefits far outweigh any negatives when it comes to having a right-hand seat next to Trump in the White House," said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, identified himself as an investor in Musk's Tesla and a driver of Tesla's new Cybertruck, the futuristic pickup that drew huge amounts of attention but also was the subject of safety concerns and multiple recalls. "Having your CEO not working at your company and working at the job of having to fire government employees ... as a shareholder, I'm paying someone to not work for my company," he said. "As a Cybertruck owner with self-driving that sucks and doesn't work, I'm like, 'Dude, this isn't fair.'" Despite his skepticism, Gerber said he won't stop investing in Musk's businesses. "I've made a lot of money with Elon," he said. "I'm not in the business of investing based on the popularity of CEOs." Musk doesn't appear to give Trump much boost with people who don't back the incoming president. He is viewed somewhat or very unfavorable by about half of adult Americans, similar to Trump, according to the APNORC poll. About 4 in 10 Americans have a somewhat or very favorable view of the world's richest person, very similar to the percentage who view Trump positively. One political strategist said Musk is the ideal validator for someone who cultivates an image of success in business and who stocked his Cabinet and key adviser roles with billionaires. "Trump has always pushed this narrative that he's a successful developer and a very successful businessman. I think having Musk with him is his double-down on this business success, good-forthe-economy, good-for-everybody-making money kind of persona," said Christine Matthews, a national political pollster who has worked for Republicans. "In this case, Musk is seen as this successful, innovative, tech entrepreneur, frontier-buster." Musk also has at his disposal X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that he purchased and turned into a megaphone for conservative ideas. Having spent an estimated $250 million to support Trump in the election, Musk signaled he is willing to back Republican primary challenges to GOP members in the House and Senate seeking reelection in 2026 who waver on Trump's appointments and agenda. Trump tasked him with leading a group to reduce the size of the federal government and reduce the rulemaking authority of the federal bureaucracy. Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump's plans for extensive tariff s on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon. Some analysts believe the billionaire's role will create a very friendly landscape for Tesla in coming years. Ives believes ending the EV credit and taking subsidies from Detroit carmakers, Hyundai and other companies will create only opportunity for Tesla. Tesla's stock price nearly doubled since Trump's victory, creating an additional $750 billion shareholder wealth in the past six weeks. Gerber feels that jump is because investors believe Tesla will have an advantage when it comes to autonomous driving because Trump could grant the company a national autonomy license. Still, he thinks Tesla will be the "big loser" of Musk's businesses because of Trump's promise to end the EV tax credit for carmakers. Musk's other companies — including his artificial intelligence company, xAI — could reap the benefits of working within the Trump administration, he said. The relationship between the two men has no parallel in U.S. history, said David Nasaw, biographer of American business tycoons Andrew Carnegie and William Randolph Hearst. He noted Musk, to a level unlike other tycoons, relied on subsidies and favorable government decisions for his success from Tesla to SpaceX.Louisiana judge halts state police plans to clear New Orleans homeless camps before Thanksgiving
IDX Dynamic Innovation ETF ( NASDAQ:DYNI – Get Free Report ) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,700 shares, a growth of 750.0% from the November 30th total of 200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 9,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.2 days. IDX Dynamic Innovation ETF Stock Performance Shares of DYNI opened at $28.32 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.39. IDX Dynamic Innovation ETF has a one year low of $25.76 and a one year high of $30.35. IDX Dynamic Innovation ETF Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 24th were issued a dividend of $0.1547 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 24th. IDX Dynamic Innovation ETF Company Profile The IDX Dynamic Innovation ETF (DYNI) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in stocks based on a particular theme. The fund is an actively managed fund-of-funds that invests in technology equity ETFs with exposure to companies from around the world with addressable markets perceived to have potential for widespread adoption. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for IDX Dynamic Innovation ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for IDX Dynamic Innovation ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .High school girls basketball: Kingston’s Steve Garner likes look of youthful Tigers squad
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump’s personnel choices for his new Cabinet and White House reflect his signature positions on immigration and trade but also a range of viewpoints and backgrounds that raise questions about what ideological anchors might guide his Oval Office encore. With a rapid assembly of his second administration — faster than his effort eight years ago — the former and incoming president has combined television personalities, former Democrats, a wrestling executive and traditional elected Republicans into a mix that makes clear his intentions to impose tariffs on imported goods and crack down on illegal immigration but leaves open a range of possibilities on other policy pursuits. “The president has his two big priorities and doesn’t feel as strongly about anything else — so it’s going to be a real jump ball and zigzag,” predicted Marc Short, chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence during Trump’s 2017-21 term. “In the first administration, he surrounded himself with more conservative thinkers, and the results showed we were mostly rowing in the same direction. This is more eclectic.” Indeed, Secretary of State-designee Marco Rubio, the Florida senator who has pilloried authoritarian regimes around the world, is in line to serve as top diplomat to a president who praises autocratic leaders like Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Hungary’s Viktor Orban. Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon has been tapped to sit at the Cabinet table as a pro-union labor secretary alongside multiple billionaires, former governors and others who oppose making it easier for workers to organize themselves. The prospective treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, wants to cut deficits for a president who promised more tax cuts, better veterans services and no rollbacks of the largest federal outlays: Social Security, Medicare and national defense. Abortion-rights supporter Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is Trump’s choice to lead the Health and Human Services Department, which Trump’s conservative Christian base has long targeted as an agency where the anti-abortion movement must wield more influence. Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich allowed that members of Trump’s slate will not always agree with the president and certainly not with one another. But he minimized the potential for irreconcilable differences: “A strong Cabinet, by definition, means you’re going to have people with different opinions and different skills.” That kind of unpredictability is at the core of Trump’s political identity. He is the erstwhile reality TV star who already upended Washington once and is returning to power with sweeping, sometimes contradictory promises that convinced voters, especially those in the working class, that he will do it all again. “What Donald Trump has done is reorient political leadership and activism to a more entrepreneurial spirit,” Gingrich said. There’s also plenty of room for conflict, given the breadth of Trump’s 2024 campaign promises and his pattern of cycling through Cabinet members and national security personnel during his first term. This time, Trump has pledged to impose tariffs on foreign goods, end illegal immigration and launch a mass deportation force, goose U.S. energy production and exact retribution on people who opposed — and prosecuted — him. He’s added promises to cut taxes, raise wages, end wars in Israel and Ukraine, streamline government, protect Social Security and Medicare, help veterans and squelch cultural progressivism. Trump alluded to some of those promises in recent weeks as he completed his proposed roster of federal department heads and named top White House staff members. But his announcements skimmed over any policy paradoxes or potential complications. Bessent has crusaded as a deficit hawk, warning that the ballooning national debt, paired with higher interest rates, drives consumer inflation. But he also supports extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts that added to the overall debt and annual debt service payments to investors who buy Treasury notes. A hedge-fund billionaire, Bessent built his wealth in world markets. Yet, generally speaking, he’s endorsed Trump’s tariffs. He rejects the idea that they feed inflation and instead frames tariffs as one-time price adjustments and leverage to achieve U.S. foreign policy and domestic economic aims. Trump, for his part, declared that Bessent would “help me usher in a new Golden Age for the United States.” Chavez-DeRemer, Trump promised, “will achieve historic cooperation between Business and Labor that will restore the American Dream for Working Families.” Trump did not address the Oregon congresswoman’s staunch support for the PRO-Act, a Democratic-backed measure that would make it easier for workers to unionize, among other provisions. That proposal passed the House when Democrats held a majority. But it’s never had measurable Republican support in either chamber on Capitol Hill, and Trump has never made it part of his agenda. When Trump named Kennedy as his pick for health secretary, he did not mention the former Democrat’s support for abortion rights. Instead, Trump put the focus on Kennedy’s intention to take on the U.S. agriculture, food processing and drug manufacturing sectors. The vagaries of Trump’s foreign policy stand out, as well. Trump’s choice for national security adviser, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, offered mixed messages Sunday when discussing the Russia-Ukraine war, which Trump claims never would have started had he been president, because he would have prevailed on Putin not to invade his neighboring country. Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” Waltz repeated Trump’s concerns over recent escalations, which include President Joe Biden approving sending antipersonnel mines to Ukrainian forces. “We need to restore deterrence, restore peace and get ahead of this escalation ladder, rather than responding to it,” Waltz said. But in the same interview, Waltz declared the mines necessary to help Ukraine “stop Russian gains” and said he’s working “hand in glove” with Biden’s team during the transition. Meanwhile, Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, the top intelligence post in government, is an outspoken defender of Putin and Syrian President Bashar al Assad, a close ally of Russia and Iran. Perhaps the biggest wildcards of Trump’s governing constellation are budget-and-spending advisers Russell Vought, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Vought led Trump’s Office of Management and Budget in his first term and is in line for the same post again. Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, and Ramaswamy, a mega-millionaire venture capitalist, are leading an outside advisory panel known as the “Department of Government Efficiency.” The latter effort is a quasi-official exercise to identify waste. It carries no statutory authority, but Trump can route Musk’s and Ramaswamy’s recommendations to official government pathways, including via Vought. A leading author of Project 2025, the conservative movement’s blueprint for a hard-right turn in U.S. government and society, Vought envisions OMB not just as an influential office to shape Trump’s budget proposals for Congress but a power center of the executive branch, “powerful enough to override implementing agencies’ bureaucracies.” As for how Trump might navigate differences across his administration, Gingrich pointed to Chavez-DeRemer. “He might not agree with her on union issues, but he might not stop her from pushing it herself,” Gingrich said of the PRO-Act. “And he will listen to anybody. If you convince him, he absolutely will spend presidential capital.” Short said other factors are more likely to influence Trump: personalities and, of course, loyalty. Vought “brought him potential spending cuts” in the first administration, Short said, “that Trump wouldn’t go along with.” This time, Short continued, “maybe Elon and Vivek provide backup,” giving Vought the imprimatur of two wealthy businessmen. “He will always calculate who has been good to him,” Short said. “You already see that: The unions got the labor secretary they wanted, and Putin and Assad got the DNI (intelligence chief) they wanted. ... This is not so much a team-of-rivals situation. I think it’s going to look a lot like a reality TV show.”Imphal: A massive search was started in Manipur’s Imphal East district on Saturday evening for the armed men who were involved in the recent incidents of shooting at Thamnapokpi and Sanasabi, police said. Combined teams of police, Army, CRPF and BSF were conducting the search in Yaingangpokpi and the surrounding hill areas, they said. “The operations will continue till the area is clear of armed miscreants,” they said in a statement. However, a team of security forces was stopped near Saibol village by tribal women and asked to go back. They had to return from there, officials said. Meanwhile, a huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from near Muallum village in Kuki-dominated Churachandpur district, officials said. Among the items seized were an INSAS rifle with a magazine, a 9 mm country-made pistol with a magazine, and a single-barrel rifle with a magazine, they said. The recovered items were handed over to the Singhat police station for further legal procedures, they added.Elon Musk pens German newspaper opinion piece supporting far-right AfD party80% to China, 7% to India, Brazil. Renewable energy investment imbalance needs to fixed: Ajay Mathur, International Solar Alliance
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PHOENIX — Donald Trump suggested Sunday that his new administration could try to regain control of the Panama Canal that the United States “foolishly” ceded to its Central American ally, contending that shippers are charged “ridiculous” fees to pass through the vital transportation channel linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. President-elect Donald Trump speaks at AmericaFest on Sunday in Phoenix. Panama's conservative president José Raúl Mulino, who was elected in April on a pro-business platform, roundly rejected that notion as an affront to his country's sovereignty. The Republican president-elect's comment came during his first major rally since winning the White House on Nov. 5. He also used his comments to bask in his return to power as a large audience of conservatives cheered along. It was a display of party unity at odds with a just-concluded budget fight on Capitol Hill where some GOP lawmakers openly defied their leader's demands. Addressing supporters at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Arizona, Trump pledged that his “dream team Cabinet” would deliver a booming economy, seal U.S. borders and quickly settle wars in the Middle East and Ukraine. “I can proudly proclaim that the Golden Age of America is upon us,” Trump said. “There’s a spirit that we have now that we didn’t have just a short while ago.” His appearance capped a four-day pep rally that drew more than 20,000 activists and projected an image of Republican cohesion despite the past week's turbulence in Washington with Trump pulling strings from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida as Congress worked to avoid a government shutdown heading into the Christmas holiday. House Republicans spiked a bipartisan deal after Trump and Elon Musk, his billionaire ally, expressed their opposition on social media. Budget hawks flouted Trump's request to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, which would have spared some new rounds of the same fight after he takes office Jan. 20, 2025, with Republicans holding narrow control of the House and Senate. The final agreement did not address the issue and there was no shutdown. Trump, in his remarks in Phoenix, did not mention the congressional drama, though he did reference Musk's growing power. To suggestions that "President Trump has ceded the presidency to Elon,” Trump made clear, “No, no. That’s not happening.” “He’s not gonna be president,” Trump said. The president-elect opened the speech by saying that "we want to try to bring everybody together. We’re going to try. We’re going to really give it a shot." Then he suggested Democrats have “lost their confidence” and are “befuddled” after the election but eventually will ”come over to our side because we want to have them.” A cargo ship traverses the Agua Clara Locks of the Panama Canal on Sept. 2 in Colon, Panama. Atop a list of grievances — some old, some new — was the Panama Canal. “We’re being ripped off at the Panama Canal,” he said, bemoaning that his country ”foolishly gave it away.” The United States built the Panama Canal in the early 1900s, as it looked for ways to facilitate the transit of commercial and military vessels between its coasts. Washington relinquished control of the waterway to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, under a treaty signed in 1977 under President Jimmy Carter. The canal depends on reservoirs to operate its locks and was heavily affected by 2023 Central American droughts that forced it to substantially reduce the number of daily slots for crossing ships. With fewer ships using the canal each day, administrators also increased the fees that are charged all shippers for reserving a slot. With weather returning to normal in the later months of this year, transit on the canal has normalized. But price increases are still expected for next year. Mulino, Panama's president, has been described as a conservative populist who aligns with Trump on many issues. Panama is a strong U.S. ally and the canal is crucial for its economy, generating about one-fifth of that government’s annual revenue. Still, Trump said, that, once his second term is underway, "If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America, in full, quickly and without question.” “I’m not going to stand for it," Trump said. "So to the officials of Panama, please be guided accordingly.” He did not explain how that would be possible. A short time after Trump's speech, Mulino released a video declaring that “every square meter of the canal belongs to Panama and will continue to belong” to his country. Without mentioning Trump by name, Mulino addressed the president-elect's complaints over rising fees for ships crossing the canal, saying that they are set by experts who take into account operational costs, and supply and demand factors. “The tariffs are not set on a whim” Mulino said. He noted that Panama has expanded the canal over the years to increase ship traffic “on its own initiative,” and added that shipping fee increases help pay for improvements. “Panamanians may have different views on many issues” Mulino said. “But when it comes to our canal, and our sovereignty, we will all unite under our Panamanian flag.” The canal aside, Trump’s appearance at Turning Point’s annual gathering affirmed the growing influence the group and its founder, Charlie Kirk, have had in the conservative movement. Kirk’s organization hired thousands of field organizers across presidential battlegrounds, helping Trump make key gains among infrequent voters and other groups of people that have trended more Democratic in recent decades, including younger voters, Black men and Latino men. ”You had Turning Point’s grassroots armies,” Trump said. “It’s not my victory, it’s your victory.” Earlier Sunday, Trump said that Stephen Miran, who worked at the Treasury Department in Trump's first term, was his choice to lead the Council of Economic Advisers. Among President-elect Donald Trump's picks are Susie Wiles for chief of staff, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, former Democratic House member Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Susie Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making a former sharp critic his choice to be the new administration's top diplomat. Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement. The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations. Pete Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea. Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year. Trump tapped Pam Bondi, 59, to be attorney general after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. She was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She also was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist, she served as part of a Trump-allied outside group that helped lay the groundwork for his future administration called the America First Policy Institute. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appears on Fox News and has been a critic of the criminal cases against him. Trump picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog, to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda. Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic. She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. The governor of North Dakota, who was once little-known outside his state, Burgum is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump, and spent months traveling to drum up support for him, after dropping out of the race. Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump made the announcement about Burgum joining his incoming administration while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club, and said a formal statement would be coming the following day. In comments to reporters before Trump took the stage, Burgum said that, in recent years, the power grid is deteriorating in many parts of the country, which he said could raise national security concerns but also drive up prices enough to increase inflation. “There's just a sense of urgency, and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration,” Burgum said. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran for president as a Democrat, than as an independent, and then endorsed Trump . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign. The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Scott Bessent, 62, is a former George Soros money manager and an advocate for deficit reduction. He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. “This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then. Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her reelection bid this month, but received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, she would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and would add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Scott Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Sean Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term. President-elect Donald Trump tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she expressed support for charter schools and school choice. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Brooke Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as White House domestic policy chief during his first presidency. The 52-year-old is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. She previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Trump chose Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary, a position in which he'd have a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration. The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial. FILE - Former Rep. Doug Collins speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign event at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Oct. 15, 2024, in Atlanta. Karoline Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps. Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, was a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term before she became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields. Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement. Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions. Trump has picked John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump's first term, leading the U.S. government's spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.” Kash Patel spent several years as a Justice Department prosecutor before catching the Trump administration’s attention as a staffer on Capitol Hill who helped investigate the Russia probe. Patel called for dramatically reducing the agency’s footprint, a perspective that sets him apart from earlier directors who sought additional resources for the bureau. Though the Justice Department in 2021 halted the practice of secretly seizing reporters’ phone records during leak investigations, Patel said he intends to aggressively hunt down government officials who leak information to reporters. Trump has chosen former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency . Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X , “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.” “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added. During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration's promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referring to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign his administration would “Drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration. In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.” Trump has named Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband. Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC’s general counsel. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission. Carr made past appearances on “Fox News Channel," including when he decried Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' pre-Election Day appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” He wrote an op-ed last month defending a satellite company owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk. Trump said Atkins, the CEO of Patomak Partners and a former SEC commissioner, was a “proven leader for common sense regulations.” In the years since leaving the SEC, Atkins has made the case against too much market regulation. “He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World. He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The commission oversees U.S. securities markets and investments and is currently led by Gary Gensler, who has been leading the U.S. government’s crackdown on the crypto industry. Gensler, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, announced last month that he would be stepping down from his post on the day that Trump is inaugurated — Jan. 20, 2025. Atkins began his career as a lawyer and has a long history working in the financial markets sector, both in government and private practice. In the 1990s, he worked on the staffs of two former SEC chairmen, Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt. Jared Isaacman, 41, is a tech billionaire who bought a series of spaceflights from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and conducted the first private spacewalk . He is the founder and CEO of a card-processing company and has collaborated closely with Musk ever since buying his first chartered SpaceX flight. He took contest winners on that 2021 trip and followed it in September with a mission where he briefly popped out the hatch to test SpaceX’s new spacewalking suits. Rep. Elise Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment. Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He has also called for peace as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to target Hezbollah. President-elect Donald Trump says he's chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO. Trump has expressed skepticism about the Western military alliance for years. Trump said in a statement Wednesday that Whitaker is “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.” The choice of Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual one, given his background is as a lawyer and not in foreign policy. President-elect Donald Trump tapped former Sen. David Perdue of Georgia to be ambassador to China, saying in a social media post that the former CEO “brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China.” Perdue lost his Senate seat to Democrat Jon Ossoff four years ago and ran unsuccessfully in a primary against Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Perdue pushed Trump's debunked lies about electoral fraud during his failed bid for governor. Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah. “He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.” Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Guilfoyle is a former California prosecutor and television news personality who led the fundraising for Trump's 2020 campaign and became engaged to Don Jr. in 2020. Trump called her “a close friend and ally” and praised her “sharp intellect make her supremely qualified.” Guilfoyle was on stage with the family on election night. “I am so proud of Kimberly. She loves America and she always has wanted to serve the country as an Ambassador. She will be an amazing leader for America First,” Don Jr. posted. The ambassador positions must be approved by the U.S. Senate. Guilfoyle said in a social media post that she was “honored to accept President Trump’s nomination to serve as the next Ambassador to Greece and I look forward to earning the support of the U.S. Senate.” Trump on Tuesday named real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be special envoy to the Middle East. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud." Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Trump said Wednesday that he will nominate Gen. Keith Kellogg to serve as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general who has long been Trump’s top adviser on defense issues, served as National Security Advisor to Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence. For the America First Policy Institute, one of several groups formed after Trump left office to help lay the groundwork for the next Republican administration, Kellogg in April wrote that “bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to a close will require strong, America First leadership to deliver a peace deal and immediately end the hostilities between the two warring parties.” (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) Trump asked Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, Trump announced in a statement Tuesday. The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. “Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump's statement said, "and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump's priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump's first administration. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump's policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation's economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security. Thomas Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign. Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump's policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to "run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” Democrats have criticized Homan for his defending Trump's “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Customs and Border Protection, with its roughly 60,000 employees, falls under the Department of Homeland Security. It includes the Border Patrol, which Rodney Scott led during Trump's first term, and is essentially responsible for protecting the country's borders while facilitating trade and travel. Scott comes to the job firmly from the Border Patrol side of the house. He became an agent in 1992 and spent much of his career in San Diego. When he was appointed head of the border agency in January 2020, he enthusiastically embraced Trump's policies. After being forced out under the Biden administration, Scott has been a vocal supporter of Trump's hard-line immigration agenda. He appeared frequently on Fox News and testified in Congress. He's also a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Former Rep. Billy Long represented Missouri in the U.S. House from 2011 to 2023. Since leaving Congress, Trump said, Long “has worked as a Business and Tax advisor, helping Small Businesses navigate the complexities of complying with the IRS Rules and Regulations.” Former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler was appointed in January 2020 by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and then lost a runoff election a year later. She started a conservative voter registration organization and dived into GOP fundraising, becoming one of the top individual donors and bundlers to Trump’s 2024 comeback campaign. Even before nominating her for agriculture secretary, the president-elect already had tapped Loeffler as co-chair of his inaugural committee. Dr. Mehmet Oz, 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime television talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz's bid for elected office. Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy speak before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at an Oct. 27 campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. Trump on Tuesday said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency" — which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added the move would shock government systems. It's not clear how the organization will operate. Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election. Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump. Trump said the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Russell Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency. After Trump’s initial term ended, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Vought has also previously worked as the executive and budget director for the Republican Study Committee, a caucus for conservative House Republicans. He also worked at Heritage Action, the political group tied to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Trump says he’s picking Kari Lake as director of Voice of America, installing a staunch loyalist who ran unsuccessfully for Arizona governor and a Senate seat to head the congressionally funded broadcaster that provides independent news reporting around the world. Lake endeared herself to Trump through her dogmatic commitment to the falsehood that both she and Trump were the victims of election fraud. She has never acknowledged losing the gubernatorial race and called herself the “lawful governor” in her 2023 book, “Unafraid: Just Getting Started.” Dan Scavino, deputy chief of staff Scavino, whom Trump's transition referred to in a statement as one of “Trump's longest serving and most trusted aides,” was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, as well as his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino had run Trump's social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. James Blair, deputy chief of staff Blair was political director for Trump's 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump's economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate's “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago. Taylor Budowich, deputy chief of staff Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Budowich also had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency. Jay Bhattacharya, National Institutes of Health Trump has chosen Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya is a physician and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, and is a critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates. He promoted the idea of herd immunity during the pandemic, arguing that people at low risk should live normally while building up immunity to COVID-19 through infection. The National Institutes of Health funds medical research through competitive grants to researchers at institutions throughout the nation. NIH also conducts its own research with thousands of scientists working at its labs in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Marty Makary, Food and Drug Administration Makary is a Johns Hopkins surgeon and author who argued against pandemic lockdowns. He routinely appeared on Fox News during the COVID-19 pandemic and wrote opinion articles questioning masks for children. He cast doubt on vaccine mandates but supported vaccines generally. Makary also cast doubt on whether booster shots worked, which was against federal recommendations on the vaccine. Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, Surgeon General Nesheiwat is a general practitioner who serves as medical director for CityMD, a network of urgent care centers in New York and New Jersey. She has been a contributor to Fox News. Dr. Dave Weldon, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Weldon is a former Florida congressman who recently ran for a Florida state legislative seat and lost; Trump backed Weldon’s opponent. In Congress, Weldon weighed in on one of the nation’s most heated debates of the 1990s over quality of life and a right-to-die and whether Terri Schiavo, who was in a persistent vegetative state after cardiac arrest, should have been allowed to have her feeding tube removed. He sided with the parents who did not want it removed. Jamieson Greer, U.S. trade representative Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House National Economic Council Trump is turning to two officials with experience navigating not only Washington but the key issues of income taxes and tariffs as he fills out his economic team. He announced he has chosen international trade attorney Jamieson Greer to be his U.S. trade representative and Kevin Hassett as director of the White House National Economic Council. While Trump has in several cases nominated outsiders to key posts, these picks reflect a recognition that his reputation will likely hinge on restoring the public’s confidence in the economy. Trump said in a statement that Greer was instrumental in his first term in imposing tariffs on China and others and replacing the trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, “therefore making it much better for American Workers.” Hassett, 62, served in the first Trump term as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. He has a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and worked at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute before joining the Trump White House in 2017. Ron Johnson, Ambassador to Mexico Johnson — not the Republican senator — served as ambassador to El Salvador during Trump's first administration. His nomination comes as the president-elect has been threatening tariffs on Mexican imports and the mass deportation of migrants who have arrived to the U.S.-Mexico border. Johnson is also a former U.S. Army veteran and was in the Central Intelligence Agency. Tom Barrack, Ambassador to Turkey Barrack, a wealthy financier, met Trump in the 1980s while helping negotiate Trump’s purchase of the renowned Plaza Hotel. He was charged with using his personal access to the former president to secretly promote the interests of the United Arab Emirates, but was acquitted of all counts at a federal trial in 2022. Trump called him a “well-respected and experienced voice of reason.” Andrew Ferguson, Federal Trade Commission Ferguson, who is already one of the FTC's five commissioners, will replace Lina Khan, who became a lightning rod for Wall Street and Silicon Valley by blocking billions of dollars worth of corporate acquisitions and suing Amazon and Meta while alleging anticompetitive behavior. “Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding, “Andrew will be the most America First, and pro-innovation FTC Chair in our Country’s History.” Jacob Helberg, undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment Dan Bishop, deputy director for budget at the Office of Budget and Management Leandro Rizzuto, Ambassador to the Washington-based Organization of American States Dan Newlin, Ambassador to Colombia Peter Lamelas, Ambassador to Argentina Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.