
The Redbirds are 9-2 (6-2 Missouri Valley Conference) and are looking to reach the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2019 and sixth time in Brock Spack's 16 seasons as head coach. Illinois State opened the game with some trickery. Eddie Kasper pulled up on a fleaflicker and launched a 30-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Loyd to cap a seven-play, 70-yard opening drive. Simon Romfo tied it on North Dakota's only touchdown of the day, throwing 20 yards to Nate DeMontagnac. Wright scored from the 10 to make it 14-7 after a quarter, and after C.J. Elrichs kicked a 20-yard field goal midway through the second to make it 14-10 at intermission, Wright powered in from the 18 and Mitch Bartol caught a five-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Rittenhouse to make it 28-10 after three. Seth Glatz added a 13-yard touchdown run to make it 35-10 before Elrichs added a 37-yard field goal to get the Fighting Hawks on the board to set the final margin. Rittenhouse finished 21 of 33 passing for 187 yards for Illinois State. Loyd caught eight passes for 121 yards. Romfo completed 11 of 26 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown with an interception for North Dakota (5-7, 2-6). Illinois State faced North Dakota for just the fourth time and third time as Missouri Valley Conference opponents. The Redbirds lost the previous three meetings. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballInsurers Urged to Safeguard Data Amid Rising AI Adoption and Privacy Risks, Says Info-Tech Research GroupThe holiday season is rapidly approaching, and for many it will rapidly pass in a flurry of shopping, gift wrapping and, maybe, snow. But The Daily Progress is reminding the greater Charlottesville community that some things are here to stay. One of them is the Santa Fund for Schoolkids, the Christmastime charitable campaign that The Daily Progress has run since 1894 and is marking its 130th anniversary this year. The Santa Fund is one of the oldest newspaper-run charities in the entire U.S., if not the oldest. Established by founding publisher James H. Lindsay two years after the newspaper’s first edition, the Santa Fund collects donations every year to provide vouchers for local families to purchase the essentials their children need but too often go without. “Much has fortunately changed since the Lindsay family founded The Daily Progress in 1892 and established the Santa Fund two years later. But much unfortunately remains the same,” said editor of The Daily Progress Reynolds Hutchins. “Too many of our children see Christmas come and go without even the bare essentials: shoes, socks, glasses, coats, books and medicine.” Hutchins “Any child who goes wanting is one child too many, and in our corner of Virginia, 12.6% of the population lives below the poverty line,” he continued. Today, the Santa Fund is a joint collaboration between Charlottesville’s newspaper of record, radio station WINA and the United Way of Greater Charlottesville. The trio work together to serve children in need across Charlottesville and the surrounding counties of Albemarle, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Nelson and Orange. They have raised roughly $4 million since that partnership was forged. Till “As we mark 130 years of the Santa Fund’s extraordinary legacy, we are reminded of the profound impact the campaign has had on the lives of schoolchildren in the Charlottesville area,” said Daily Progress publisher Kelly Till. “This is more than a campaign – it’s a commitment to our communities’ future.” Last year, the Santa Fund raised $199,135.05. While falling short of its $250,000 target — in a year marked by a precipitous drop in charitable giving nationwide — the fund still managed to assist more than 1,700 children. This year’s target is $225,000. It’s an ambitious goal, but one that Ravi Respeto, president of the local United Way chapter, believes is achievable. Respeto “It has been a program that has always raised money for itself, because it’s so popular and it’s been in our community for so long,” Respeto told The Daily Progress. “Families really look forward to contributing to this program. Also, people love to make a gift in memory or in honor of those people or pets that are really meaningful to them.” Financial contributions ranging from $50 to $75,000 will fund one-time vouchers distributed to the parents or caretakers of children in need, who are identified by teachers, guidance counselors and other school officials. Families can then use the vouchers to shop at one of several participating retailers, including Kid-to-Kid, Marshalls, Shoe Show and TJ Maxx. The store sends the receipt to the United Way for reimbursement, and all the while, the children are entirely unaware they are the beneficiary of any charity. “It’s a pretty seamless program; it doesn’t make a child feel like they have a special circumstance or they don’t even realize that their family, their parents, can’t afford those things,” said Respeto. “It kind of gives the family an easy way to address the needs of their children without it feeling like they’re being singled out.” While the charitable initiative is focused on meeting some of the basic needs for children in the area, the broader priority is on improving their early education experience. “A kid doesn’t just need a coat in December, he needs shoes in March,” Markiana Smith, the local United Way’s engagement and belonging manager, told The Daily Progress. “We understand that kids cannot learn if they don’t have the resources to learn, so I take this as a step in the right direction to early education.” Smith Smith is in charge of operating the Santa Fund, which provides assistance year round. But the holiday season is the busiest for Smith, whose responsibilities include opening, reading and transcribing the hundreds of heartwarming notes attached to every donation to the fund, often made in honor of family, friends, neighbors, pets and heroes. Last year, a $500 donation was made “in honor of the USPS letter carriers delivering for your in spite of trying conditions,” while another $52.50 gift was contributed “in memory of Tigger the tiger cat, every kid deserves a coat.” “These great little notes that are just out there for people in the community to realize that we’re only as strong as our community is strong,” said Respeto. “[The] fabric of community is built by people coming together and pulling the resources, and that’s what Santa Fund represents.” This “warm and fuzzy dynamic” that becomes palpable among the donors, organizers and recipients of the Santa Fund is part of what has allowed the charitable campaign to continue raising hundreds of thousands of dollars every year for well over a century, according to Respeto. Hutchins agreed. “That this charity has raised $4 million since The Daily Progress partnered with the United Way of Greater Charlottesville is admirable,” said Hutchins. “That this charity has not just survived but thrived for 130 years is remarkable. There is evidence this may be the oldest newspaper-run charity in the entire country. That is not only a testament to the good work of The Daily Progress and the United Way, but the good hearts in our community.” Those interested in donating can do so online at thesantafund.org or via the post by mailing a check to Santa Fund for Schoolkids, 200 Garrett St., Suite I, Charlottesville, VA 22902. This year, for the first time ever in honor of the fund’s 130th anniversary, the names of donors will be published in The Daily Progress and every one of its subsidiary newspapers in Central Virginia, including the Orange County Review, the Greene County Record, the Madison County Eagle and the Rural Virginian. “The days are shorter, colder and harder for all of us. I know how easy it is to see the numbers at the gas pump, to read the bank statement, to watch the stock ticker rise and fall, and then draw the purse strings tight,” said Hutchins. “But I beseech our readers, our neighbors, to remember that we only make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give. “Let us honor Christmas in our hearts as its founder, himself a child, instructed us, ‘Give. ... For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.’” Emily Hemphill (540) 855-0362 ehemphill@dailyprogress.com @EmilyHemphill06 on X Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. 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JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Asana (NYSE:ASAN) Stock PriceA bunch of maniacs managed to put the powertrain, motors and battery pack, of a Tesla Model S Plaid in a Cobra kit. The result is a scary fast, and light (for an EV), EV monster. We have seen many EV conversion kits using Tesla battery packs and motors, but a base Tesla vehicle generally has plenty of power and energy to power EV conversion kits. Don Swadley, who we know from , had different ambitions. He aimed to put an entire Tesla Model S Plaid powertrain inside a smaller, and lighter sports car. He a Cobra kit car. That’s a ~100 kWh battery pack and three electric motors putting 760 kW (1,060 hp) of power inside a Cobra. I honestly couldn’t believe you could fit that in there, but I talked to the guys at , who made the controller for the EV conversion’s powertain, and they confirmed it. Swadley let Revolt Systems test out the vehicle and they came out impressed. As he says, it’s probably “too much power”: It weighs about 3,300 lbs. That’s about 1,450 lbs lighter than a regular Model S Plaid, which is about 4,750 lbs. They had to make the chassis longer to fit the entire powertrain, but this thing works... probably too well. It’s basically the third iteration of the vehicle, but it’s the first one with a Plaid powertrain. Swadley claims that it’s the first swap EV with a Plaid powertrain and I can’t prove him wrong right now. What do you guys think about this electric machine? Let us know in the comment section below. and subscribe to the . Tesla is a transportation and energy company. It... Fred is the Editor in Chief and Main Writer at Electrek. You can send tips on Twitter (DMs open) or via email: fred@9to5mac.com Through Zalkon.com, you can check out Fred’s portfolio and get monthly green stock investment ideas. Get interesting investment ideas by Fred Lambert ChargePoint Home WiFi Enabled Electric Vehicle (EV) Charger
f you grew up in the 1980s or '90s, it's very likely that you came of age with , party favors, stickers, beach towels, and all manner of rainbow-splashed products. The company, which at one point brought in an estimated $66 million, was immediately recognizable for its bright pops of color and cuddly, big-eyed animal characters, with fantastical illustrations featuring dolphins, unicorns, puppies, and kittens. But the storied brand has also seen its share of troubles, which are laid out in a new four-part docuseries, , premiering on Prime on Dec. 5. Executive produced by Mary Robertson, Lisa Kalikow, Eli Holzman, and Aaron Saidman, and directed by Arianna LaPenne (who is also co-executive producer), features never-before-seen footage and more than 20 interviews with former Lisa Frank, Inc. employees, journalists, and even Frank’s ex-husband and the company’s former president and CEO, James Green. (Frank herself was not interviewed for .) Tracing the rise, fall, and attempts at the rebranding of , works to understand the woman at the center of it all—the notoriously private Lisa Frank—whom the docuseries outlines as an extreme figure prone to emotional highs and lows and as a toxic, little-seen manager capable of making threats and outbursts. And yet, as former senior designer and product development lead (1987-2002) Rondi Kutz told filmmakers, working for Frank was like having "a parent you wanted to please." Below, we break down the allegations of a “grueling work environment” where anyone could be fired at any time, lawsuits, and controversies behind Lisa Frank and Lisa Frank, Inc., a brand that defined the look and feel of late 20th century childhood. Behind the multicolored, whimsical designs is a real person: The titular artist graduated from the Cranbrook Kingswood School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, in 1972 and later attended the University of Arizona, where she studied art. Also in the 1970s, when she was in her mid-20s, Frank founded the children's jewelry company Sticky Fingers. Later, Sticky Fingers became Lisa Frank Inc. and jumped on the burgeoning 1980s sticker collecting craze. In 2015, an artist and fashion designer named Carly Mark (who is interviewed for the series) emailed Frank, hoping to interview her. Much to her surprise, Frank responded, telling Mark about her upbringing in the Detroit suburbs and how in college she’d visit the Native American reservations to purchase kachina dolls, then resell them at a profit. Meanwhile, a former college friend of Lisa’s named Evan Eglin describes Frank as someone who knew how to "wheel and deal." After the ‘80s sticker collecting trend wore down, Lisa Frank, Inc. began to place a focus on the back-to-school market, placing their characters and designs on folders, trapper keepers, pens, pencils, and stationery. By the 1990s, Lisa Frank, Inc. landed deals with big box retailers like WalMart and Target. However, with market success came massive pressure to produce more. Former employees interviewed for the series describe working 12-hour days at $8.25/hr, just over minimum wage. While Frank lived in a large house with a staff and flew a 12-seat private jet, employees said they were "scrounging" to get by. James Green is Lisa Frank’s ex-husband and former president and CEO of Lisa Frank, Inc. Green began working for Lisa Frank in 1982 as the company's first full-time artist and became Frank’s right hand, assuming a leadership role in the company. As a highly decorated airbrush artist, Green was deeply involved in the company’s art direction and had a lot to do with building the brand. In 1992, James Green was promoted to the company’s president and CEO. Also in 1992, Green and Frank got married, and Frank gifted Green 49% of the company in shares. The couple had two sons: Hunter and Forrest Green. Former Lisa Frank, Inc. employees tell filmmakers that in terms of management, they mainly answered to Green—especially after the couple had children. They say Green’s management style could be erratic; he could be friendly and upbeat one day and highly critical the next. In one issue of the company newsletter , Green railed against employee disloyalty, writing: "Being optimistic is simply a choice. Be positive. Negative people make positive people sick. If you want the relationship to make your career, allow this advice. Be loyal. Bosses will forgive carelessness, stupidity, tardiness, and a temper tantrum. These can be corrected. But disloyalty is a true character flaw. You cannot and will not be trusted. Respect the boss' time... and do not tread on his turf. Keep the boss informed. The boss should be informed about what you are doing, where you are, whom you are talking to and why... These principles will serve you well." Former employees also tell filmmakers how the company ran like a “rainbow gulag,” with workers being admonished or even fired for leaving the premises early. In response, Green tells filmmakers that these allegations are "a crock of sh-t." He adds: "I'm telling you, I wasn't some kind of tyrant. The tyrant was on the other side,” meaning Frank. Green continued to deny having a temper in the workplace. Responding to an allegation that he once flipped the critique table, where designers would put their work for review, he said: "I hope to god I did" flip the table. "Probably because there was a bunch of horsesh-t on it." Then, he backtracked: "I was young. I was under an enormous amount of pressure. When you have a business worth $200 million or more, you have to keep it alive and flowing." In much of the series, Green takes responsibility for nearly all of Lisa Frank, Inc.’s success, telling filmmakers how he designed the company’s famous rainbow logo. "I am the real Lisa Frank. I'm the man behind the Lisa Frank brand. It was a huge lie, and I created it. I created the monster,” he says. Anything visual or marketing-oriented, Green claims to have designed it. "I built the brand around this persona of Lisa Frank... Everything I wrote was about her. That was just part of the marketing strategy to get people to love Lisa Frank." Green also claims that Frank’s only role was to “sell the product... That was her main focus. Sales. Then she would work in product development." He also calls their marriage “a bad business decision.” Rhonda Rowlette was an Executive Vice President at LFI from 1984 to the mid-2000s. Around the office she was known as “the enforcer,” due to her literal enforcement of Green’s workplace rules. "I'd say it's probably pretty accurate," she tells filmmakers in response to her nickname. Rowlette was also known for how many people she fired over the years, a number she estimates to be in the hundreds. One former employee alleged to filmmakers that he’d been fired from LFI because he was a diabetic, and therefore couldn’t stay late at the office because he needed to stick to a specific eating schedule. Rowlette responded to the allegation, telling filmmakers that she didn’t remember that firing. "That's illegal. We didn't do anything illegal that I knew of." Rowlette, however, did admit to firing people for "their attitude" or "not working when we asked them to work." Rowlette herself was eventually fired by Frank, who was convinced she was having an affair with Green. (Both Green and Rowlette firmly denied ever having had an affair with each other.) After she was fired by Frank, Rowlette sued for $2 million plus damages, claiming it was what she had been promised as a severance were she ever to retire or be fired. Frank and Rowlette settled, but the contents were sealed. Likewise, the docuseries reveals how a 51-year-old LFI accountant in the finance dept had a heart attack and died at his desk. "The perfect Lisa Frank employee would go above and beyond in any way. I think they like to push people to see how far they could push them," says Rondi Kutz, who also says employees thought their phones might be tapped. Kutz, who worked for LFI for 15 years, told filmmakers her final straw came after her husband got into a horrific accident the same day she was supposed to attend the New York Toy Fair with Frank. When she called Frank to tell her she couldn’t attend, Frank allegedly "screamed" at her, telling her it was her husband's fault for getting in the accident. After Kutz’s husband came home in a wheelchair, Kutz, who needed to spend less time in the office, would repeatedly be told that her work at LFI was suffering. By 2005, Green and Frank were not getting along. Frank was publicly criticizing her husband and one day, ran out of the office crying. No one knew what was wrong. Later that year, Frank filed for divorce from Green and fired him from the company. During the divorce, Frank allegedly urged company employees to pick a side, leading workers to fret over the status of their jobs if they chose wrong. “She turned everybody against me,” Green told filmmakers, which Frank denied in a lawsuit against Green. In that lawsuit, Frank provided affidavits to make the case that Green was mismanaging the company and that he should be removed as CEO. Frank also claimed that Green and Rowlette were colluding behind her back to sell the company and that they had given instructions to leave Frank out of the loop. Green denied any collusion on camera. "Collusion? There's no collusion. Lisa knew this was all going down, so how could there be collusion?" Meanwhile, Rowlette tells filmmakers Frank wanted to sell the company. “She was aware of every step we took." Ultimately, Green was pushed out, forced to sell his 49% back to Frank, and lost all ownership of the art he’d created while at the company. "I lost my titles, I lost my business, I lost my building, I lost everything else... She owns everything. She owns my life's work,” he told filmmakers. The couple’s oldest son, Hunter, also spoke to filmmakers, and stood up in defense of his father, recalling how theirs was never a happy home and that he is currently estranged from Frank, whom he described as kind and generous to strangers but cruel to those closest to her. "I felt like my mom was making it impossible for me to see my dad," Hunter said of the divorce and custody process. "It seemed like she was trying to get him thrown in jail. She said he would abuse me. None of that happened. My dad never abused me." Green also denied ever hurting his children, saying "I only loved them. I took the best care I could of them." Hunter also backed up Green’s claim that he was the creative director and primary artist on everything Lisa Frank, Inc. "I love my dad more than I love myself. I would take a bullet for my dad. I don't talk to my mom... There is no Lisa Frank without James Green." Employees describe LFI as “directionless” following Green’s removal, with Frank heavily criticizing designs she’d claimed to like only days prior. The company laid off numerous workers and failed to replace them. By 2015, a new art director named James (who did not provide his last name to filmmakers) was brought in to revitalize the brand. He only stayed at LFI for about six months. James told filmmakers how deserted the once-thriving Tucson office looked, comparing it to a "zombie apocalypse” full of "dusty, creepy characters." He also called the office environment "old-school” and a place where you "don't talk until you're talked to." He added, "Everything was closely guarded by Lisa... There wasn't a lot of creative freedom at all. I believe Lisa just wanted to fall back on some of her previous legacy characters... I believe Lisa stood in her own way." By the mid 2010s, LFI had ceased manufacturing (the factory closed in 2013), though they were still licensing out the art to other producers. In 2016, a small, New Jersey-based vegan makeup company called Glamour Dolls reached out to LFI to do a collaboration; the two companies signed a licensing agreement and launched a Kickstarter campaign, which immediately went viral. Even though LFI was no longer manufacturing, the 2010s saw a massive wave of ‘90s nostalgia, which Glamour Dolls planned on leaning into. Glamour Dolls’ two co-founders, Peter Georgotas and Jessica Romano, spoke to filmmakers about how the deal ultimately ruined their reputations and company, with Romano eventually having to file for bankruptcy. Initially, everything seemed great between the two brands. Frank herself joined Romano and Georgotas at Kickstarter’s headquarters. However, Romano said “the tone changed” as soon as she started showing Frank some decorative ideas for a leopard-print makeup brush. From then on, Frank allegedly demanded that she only be in touch with Georgotas. Upon launching the Kickstarter campaign, Glamour Dolls hired influencer Kandee Johnson to announce the collaboration, which was set to feature products like an eyeshadow palette trapper keeper and unicorn-top nail polishes. Because campaign donors were promised a certain timeline delivery, Georgotas and Romano wanted to start producing products ASAP in order to get orders out. But they claimed to filmmakers that Frank micromanaged every aspect of the process, to the point where customers started to complain and harass Romano, who was the face of Glamour Dolls. "We felt like if we didn't do what Lisa wanted, we were going to lose everything," Georgotas said. Georgotas also alleged to filmmakers that Frank started asking him for personal favors, including organizing a two-week trip to Greece for Forrest Green’s high school graduation (Georgotas is of Greek descent). "Lisa told me it was also going to be a business trip, and this is how big companies did things,” he said. During the trip, Georgotas said he waited on Frank hand and foot out of fear that she would terminate the licensing agreement if things didn’t go well, booking himself $100 AirBnBs while Frank stayed in a hotel suite costing about $5,000 per night. Meanwhile, Romano theorized to the filmmakers that Frank might have been dragging her feet on production so that they'd have to renew the licensing agreement, the terms of which she changed “significantly.” "We kept finding money to give to her, but we were eating cereal for dinner," Romano said. In the end, LFI terminated the contract and denied stonewalling Glamour Dolls. LFI also sent emails to the Kickstarter backers blaming Glamour Dolls for the production delays. In 2020, the makeup brand Morphe launched a collab with LFI using what appeared to be the original product designs ideated by Glamour Dolls, who filed a lawsuit in federal court for breach of contract, defamation, and fraud. Frank filed a counterclaim, alleging repeated breaches of its licensing agreement with LFI. Frank also alleged that Glamour Dolls’ updates to Kickstarter backers resulted in customers believing that LFI had defrauded or cheated them. Frank also claimed in court documents that she was "very uncomfortable with the Kickstarter campaign" because she didn't want Lisa Frank fans to think that LFI was in need of money. She also denied that she demanded Romano be removed from the project. The case is currently ongoing. In September 2024, a judge dismissed seven of Glamour Dolls' counts against Lisa Frank, Inc. and some of its claims for breach of contract and defamation. Glamour Dolls’ claims that Lisa Frank, Inc. breached the contract by filing to provide artwork for one of the products, and defamed Glamour Dolls by saying it had "completely failed to live up to our agreement," are set to move forward at trial. Amina "Tasselfairy" Mucciolo is an artist and influencer whom Lisa Frank started following on Instagram in 2018. At first, Mucciolo was delighted for the follow and ensuing positive interactions; as a child, they’d been heavily inspired by Frank’s neon-rainbow style. As an adult, Mucciolo gained a significant social media following for their own color-filled personal aesthetic and home design. However, in September 2019, Mucciolo noticed the news about a forthcoming Lisa Frank pop-up in partnership with Hotels.com taking place in the building directly across from Mucciolo’s home. Speaking to producers, Mucciolo recounted how friends assumed they were involved because the color-splashed pop-up room looked so similar to Mucciolo’s home, which had been featured in and . Regarding whether LFI had stolen Mucciolo’s interior designs, Hotels.com told , "Suggestions that our design was based on anything other than Lisa Frank and her artwork are simply not true." Green currently lives in Mexico, where he owns a coffee shop and a bar. He has an art studio. He sells T-shirts. "My art is still my salvation," he says. Lisa Frank, Inc. has since collaborated with Crocs and Casetify, and they even did the art for an issue of PAPER Magazine with K-pop superstars BTS on the cover. As of November 2023, there have been about the old Lisa Frank factory in Tucson reopening. Lisa Frank, Inc. even shared a TikTok captioned, “'We're baaaack.” Frank’s only statement to filmmakers is as follows: "I have loved art and have been an artist ever since childhood. Lisa Frank, Inc. is the result of that passion. I'm incredibly grateful for the amazing artists and team members who helped bring my vision to life. I'm so excited about the future, as the next generation takes the helm. Stay tuned -- the best has yet to come!"
Lions host Packers on Thursday night, hoping to push winning streak to franchise-record 11 straight
VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) — Aidan Bouman threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Javion Phelps with 12 seconds left and South Dakota defeated FCS top-ranked North Dakota State 29-28 on Saturday to claim a share of its first Missouri Valley Football Conference championship. The Coyotes (9-2, 7-1) trailed 28-17 when Bouman threw deep to Jack Martens for a 40-yard touchdown with 3:22 remaining. They got the ball back with 1:16 left and six plays later Bouman was sacked. The Coyotes quickly lined up and Bouman found Phelps alone 2 yards shy of the end zone along the left sideline and he easily scored. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump said he can't guarantee his promised tariffs on key U.S. foreign trade partners won't raise prices for American consumers and suggested once more that some political rivals and federal officials who pursued legal cases against him should be imprisoned. The president-elect, in a wide-ranging interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" that aired Sunday, also touched on monetary policy, immigration, abortion and health care, and U.S. involvement in Ukraine, Israel and elsewhere. Trump often mixed declarative statements with caveats, at one point cautioning "things do change." Here's a look at some of the issues covered: President-elect Donald Trump takes the stage before he speaks at the FOX Nation Patriot Awards, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Greenvale, N.Y. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa) Trump threatened broad trade penalties, but said he didn't believe economists' predictions that added costs on those imported goods for American companies would lead to higher domestic prices for consumers. He stopped short of a pledge that U.S. an households won't be paying more as they shop. "I can't guarantee anything. I can't guarantee tomorrow," Trump said, seeming to open the door to accepting the reality of how import levies typically work as goods reach the retail market. That's a different approach from Trump's typical speeches throughout the 2024 campaign, when he framed his election as a sure way to curb inflation. In the interview, Trump defended tariffs generally, saying that tariffs are "going to make us rich." He has pledged that, on his first day in office in January, he would impose 25% tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico and Canada unless those countries satisfactorily stop illegal immigration and the flow of illegal drugs such as fentanyl into the United States. He also has threatened tariffs on China to help force that country to crack down on fentanyl production. "All I want to do is I want to have a level, fast, but fair playing field," Trump said. He offered conflicting statements on how he would approach the justice system after winning election despite being convicted of 34 felonies in a New York state court and being indicted in other cases for his handling of national security secrets and efforts to overturn his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden. "Honestly, they should go to jail," Trump said of members of Congress who investigated the Capitol riot by his supporters who wanted him to remain in power. The president-elect underscored his contention that he can use the justice system against others, including special prosecutor Jack Smith, who led the case on Trump's role in the siege on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump confirmed his plan to pardon supporters who were convicted for their roles in the riot, saying he would take that action on his first day in office. As for the idea of revenge driving potential prosecutions, Trump said: "I have the absolute right. I'm the chief law enforcement officer, you do know that. I'm the president. But I'm not interested in that." At the same time, Trump singled out lawmakers on a special House committee who investigated the insurrection, citing Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. "Cheney was behind it ... so was Bennie Thompson and everybody on that committee," Trump said. Asked specifically whether he would direct his administration to pursue cases, he said, "No," and suggested he did not expect the FBI to quickly undertake investigations into his political enemies. At another point, Trump said he would leave the matter up to Pam Bondi, his pick as attorney general. "I want her to do what she wants to do," he said. Such threats, regardless of Trump's inconsistencies, have been taken seriously enough by many top Democrats that Biden is considering issuing blanket, preemptive pardons to protect key members of his outgoing administration. Trump did seemingly back off his campaign rhetoric calling for Biden to be investigated, saying, "I'm not looking to go back into the past." Immigration advocates hold a rally in Sacramento, Calif. on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024, to protest President-Elect Donald Trump's plans to conduct mass deportation of immigrants without legal status. (AP Photo/Haven Daley) Trump repeatedly mentioned his promises to seal the U.S.-Mexico border and deport millions of people who are in the U.S. illegally through a mass deportation program. "I think you have to do it," he said. He suggested he would try to use executive action to end "birthright" citizenship under which people born in the U.S. are considered citizens — though such protections are spelled out in the Constitution. Asked specifically about the future for people who were brought into the country illegally as children and were shielded from deportation in recent years, Trump said, "I want to work something out," indicating he might seek a solution with Congress. But Trump also said he does not "want to be breaking up families" of mixed legal status, "so the only way you don't break up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them all back." President-elect Donald Trump shakes hands with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Notre Dame Cathedral as France's iconic cathedral is formally reopening its doors for the first time since a devastating fire nearly destroyed the 861-year-old landmark in 2019, Saturday Dec.7, 2024 in Paris ( Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP) Long a critic of NATO members for not spending more on their own defense, Trump said he "absolutely" would remain in the alliance "if they pay their bills." Pressed on whether he would withdraw if he were dissatisfied with allies' commitments, Trump said he wants the U.S. treated "fairly" on trade and defense. He waffled on a NATO priority of containing Russia and President Vladimir Putin. Trump suggested Ukraine should prepare for less U.S. aid in its defense against Putin's invasion. "Possibly. Yeah, probably. Sure," Trump said of reducing Ukraine assistance from Washington. Separately, Trump called for an immediate cease-fire. Asked about Putin, Trump said initially that he has not talked to the Russian leader since Election Day last month, but then hedged. "I haven't spoken to him recently," Trump said when pressed, adding that he did not want to "impede the negotiation." Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) The president-elect said he has no intention, at least for now, of asking Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to step down before Powell's term ends in 2028. Trump said during the campaign that presidents should have more say in Fed policy, including interest rates. Trump did not offer any job assurances for FBI Director Christopher Wray, whose term is to end in 2027. Asked about Wray, Trump said: "Well, I mean, it would sort of seem pretty obvious" that if the Senate confirms Kash Patel as Trump's pick for FBI chief, then "he's going to be taking somebody's place, right? Somebody is the man that you're talking about." Trump promised that the government efficiency effort led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will not threaten Social Security. "We're not touching Social Security, other than we make it more efficient," he said. He added that "we're not raising ages or any of that stuff." He was not so specific about abortion or his long-promised overhaul of the Affordable Care Act. On abortion, Trump continued his inconsistencies and said he would "probably" not move to restrict access to the abortion pills that now account for a majority of pregnancy terminations, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights. But pressed on whether he would commit to that position, Trump replied, "Well, I commit. I mean, are — things do — things change. I think they change." Reprising a line from his Sept. 10 debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump again said he had "concepts" of a plan to substitute for the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which he called "lousy health care." He added a promise that any Trump version would maintain insurance protections for Americans with preexisting health conditions. He did not explain how such a design would be different from the status quo or how he could deliver on his desire for "better health care for less money." 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. Doug Collins is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who gained recognition for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial, which centered on U.S. assistance for Ukraine. Trump was impeached for urging Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in 2019 during the Democratic presidential nomination, but he was acquitted by the Senate. Collins has also served in the armed forces himself and is currently a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command. "We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need," Trump said in a statement about nominating Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. 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. A Republican congressman from Michigan who served from 1993 to 2011, Hoekstra was ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump's first term. “In my Second Term, Pete will help me once again put AMERICA FIRST,” Trump said in a statement announcing his choice. “He did an outstanding job as United States Ambassador to the Netherlands during our first four years, and I am confident that he will continue to represent our Country well in this new role.” 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. 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. 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. Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.A 7-year-old rivalry between tech leaders Elon Musk and Sam Altman over who should run OpenAI and prevent an artificial intelligence “dictatorship” is now heading to a federal judge as Musk seeks to halt the ChatGPT maker’s ongoing shift into a for-profit company. Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, sued the artificial intelligence company earlier this year alleging it had betrayed its founding aims as a nonprofit research lab benefiting the public good rather than pursuing profits. Musk has since escalated the dispute, adding new claims and asking for a court order that would stop OpenAI’s plans to convert itself into a for-profit business more fully. The world’s richest man, whose companies include Tesla, SpaceX and social media platform X, last year started his own rival AI company, xAI. Musk says it faces unfair competition from OpenAI and its close business partner Microsoft, which has supplied the huge computing resources needed to build AI systems such as ChatGPT. “OpenAI and Microsoft together exploiting Musk’s donations so they can build a for-profit monopoly, one now specifically targeting xAI, is just too much,” says Musk’s filing that alleges the companies are violating the terms of Musk’s foundational contributions to the charity. OpenAI is filing a response Friday opposing Musk’s requested order, saying it would cripple OpenAI’s business and mission to the advantage of Musk and his own AI company. A hearing is set for January before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland. At the heart of the dispute is a 2017 internal power struggle at the fledgling startup that led to Altman becoming OpenAI’s CEO. Musk also wanted the job, according to emails revealed as part of the court case, but grew frustrated after two other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold too much power as a major shareholder and chief executive if the startup succeeded in its goal to achieve better-than-human AI known as artificial general intelligence, or AGI. Musk has long voiced concerns about how advanced forms of AI could threaten humanity. “The current structure provides you with a path where you end up with unilateral absolute control over the AGI,” said a 2017 email to Musk from co-founders Ilya Sutskever and Greg Brockman. “You stated that you don’t want to control the final AGI, but during this negotiation, you’ve shown to us that absolute control is extremely important to you.” In the same email, titled “Honest Thoughts,” Sutskever and Brockman also voiced concerns about Altman’s desire to be CEO and whether he was motivated by “political goals.” Altman eventually succeeded in becoming CEO, and has remained so except for a period last year when he was fired and then reinstated days later after the board that ousted him was replaced. OpenAI published the messages Friday in a blog post meant to show its side of the story, particularly Musk’s early support for the idea of making OpenAI a for-profit business so it could raise money for the hardware and computer power that AI needs. It was Musk, through his wealth manager Jared Birchall, who first registered “Open Artificial Technologies Technologies, Inc.”, a public benefit corporation, in September 2017. Then came the “Honest Thoughts” email that Musk described as the “final straw.” “Either go do something on your own or continue with OpenAI as a nonprofit,” Musk wrote back. OpenAI said Musk later proposed merging the startup into Tesla before resigning as the co-chair of OpenAI’s board in early 2018. Musk didn’t immediately respond to emailed requests for comment sent to his companies Friday. Asked about his frayed relationship with Musk at a New York Times conference last week, Altman said he felt “tremendously sad” but also characterized Musk’s legal fight as one about business competition. “He’s a competitor and we’re doing well,” Altman said. He also said at the conference that he is “not that worried” about the Tesla CEO’s influence with President-elect Donald Trump. OpenAI said Friday that Altman plans to make a $1 million personal donation to Trump’s inauguration fund, joining a number of tech companies and executives who are working to improve their relationships with the incoming administration. __________ The Associated Press and OpenAI have a licensing and technology agreement allowing OpenAI access to part of the AP’s text archives.
GE Aerospace stock underperforms Wednesday when compared to competitors despite daily gainsThousands of Syrians celebrate in central Damascus during first Friday prayers since Assad's fall DAMASCUS (AP) — Thousands of Syrians have celebrated in Umayyad Square, the largest in Damascus, after the first Muslim Friday prayers following the ouster of President Bashar Assad. The leader of the insurgency that toppled Assad, Ahmad al-Sharaa, appeared in a video message in which he congratulated “the great Syrian people for the victory of the blessed revolution.” Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in the Turkish capital of Ankara that there was “broad agreement” between Turkey and the United States on what they would like to see in Syria. The top U.S. diplomat also called for an “inclusive and non-sectarian" interim government. American released from Syrian prison is flown out of the country, a US official says WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military has transported an American who was imprisoned in Syria for seven months out of the country. That's according to a U.S. official, who says Travis Timmerman was flown out on a U.S. military helicopter. Timmerman, 29, told The Associated Press he had gone to Syria on a Christian pilgrimage and was not ill-treated while in Palestine Branch, a notorious detention facility operated by Syrian intelligence. He said he was freed by “the liberators who came into the prison and knocked the door down (of his cell) with a hammer.” Nancy Pelosi hospitalized after she 'sustained an injury' from fall on official trip to Luxembourg WASHINGTON (AP) — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been hospitalized after she “sustained an injury” during an official engagement in Luxembourg, according to a spokesman. Pelosi is 84. She was in Europe to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. Her spokesman, Ian Krager, did not describe the nature of her injury or give any additional details, but a person familiar with the incident said that Pelosi tripped and fell while at an event with the other members of Congress. The person requested anonymity to discuss the fall because they were not authorized to speak about it publicly. Some in seafood industry see Trump as fishermen's friend, but tariffs could make for pricier fish PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump is likely to bring big changes to seafood, one of the oldest sectors of the U.S. economy. Some in the industry believe the returning president will be more responsive to its needs. Economic analysts paint a more complicated picture, as they fear Trump’s pending trade hostilities with major trading partners Canada and China could make an already pricy kind of protein more expensive. Conservationists also fear Trump’s emphasis on deregulation could jeopardize fish stocks already in peril. But many in the commercial fishing and seafood processing industries said they expect Trump to allow fishing in protected areas and crack down on offshore wind expansion. Russia targets Ukrainian infrastructure with a massive attack by cruise missiles and drones KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia has launched a massive aerial attack against Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia fired 93 cruise and ballistic missiles and almost 200 drones in Friday's bombardments. He says it is one of the heaviest bombardments of the country’s energy sector since Russia’s full-scale invasion almost three years ago. He says Ukrainian defenses shot down 81 missiles, including 11 cruise missiles that were intercepted by F-16 warplanes provided by Western allies earlier this year. Zelenskyy renewed his plea for international unity against Russian President Vladimir Putin. But uncertainty surrounds how the war might unfold next year. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to end the war and has thrown into doubt whether vital U.S. military support for Kyiv will continue. Veteran Daniel Penny, acquitted in NYC subway chokehold, will join Trump's suite at football game FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A military veteran who choked an agitated New York subway rider and was acquitted of homicide this week has been invited by Vice President-elect JD Vance to join Donald Trump’s suite at the Army-Navy football game on Saturday. Daniel Penny was cleared of criminally negligent homicide in Jordan Neely’s 2023 death. A more serious manslaughter charge was dismissed last week. Vance served in the Marine Corps and had commented on the acquittal earlier this week. He said that “justice was done in this case” and Penny should never have been prosecuted. New Jersey governor wants more federal resources for probe into drone sightings TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has asked the Biden administration to put more resources into the ongoing investigation of mysterious drone sightings being reported in the state and other parts of the region. Murphy, a Democrat, made the request in a letter Thursday, noting that state and local law enforcement remain “hamstrung” by existing laws and policies in their efforts to successfully counteract any nefarious drone activity. Murphy and other officials say there is no evidence that the drones pose a national security or a public safety threat. A state lawmaker says up to 180 aircraft have been reported to authorities since Nov. 18. About 3 in 10 are highly confident in Trump on Cabinet, spending or military oversight: AP-NORC poll WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans may have elected Donald Trump to a second term in November, but that doesn’t mean they have high confidence in his ability to choose well-qualified people for his Cabinet or effectively manage government spending, the military and the White House. That's according to a new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About half of U.S. adults are “not at all confident” in Trump’s ability to appoint well-qualified people for high-level government positions. Only about 3 in 10 are “extremely” or “very” confident that Trump will pick qualified people to serve in his administration. President Macron names centrist ally Bayrou as France's next prime minister PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron has named centrist ally François Bayrou as prime minister, after a historic parliamentary vote ousted the previous government last week. The 73-year-old is a crucial partner in Macron’s centrist alliance and has been a well-known figure in French politics for decades. His political experience is seen as key in efforts to restore stability as no single party holds a majority in the National Assembly. Bayrou was recently cleared in a case relating to embezzlement of European Parliament funds. His predecessor resigned last week following a no-confidence vote prompted by budget disputes in the parliament, leaving France without a functioning government. Macron vowed last week to remain in office until his term ends in 2027. Yankees to get closer Devin Williams from Brewers for Nestor Cortes, Caleb Durbin, AP source says NEW YORK (AP) — A person familiar with the trade tells The Associated Press that the New York Yankees have agreed to acquire All-Star closer Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers for left-hander Nestor Cortes, infield prospect Caleb Durbin and cash. A 30-year-old right-hander, Williams is eligible for free agency after the 2025 season. He was diagnosed during spring training with two stress fractures in his back and didn’t make his season debut until July 28.