the roulette no way out

the roulette no way out As we all know, the stress of a breakup tends to bring out the worst in people. Some individuals can console themselves by listening to Taylor Swift on repeat or having a self-care day — while others simply allow themselves to act on their most WILDLY petty desires... So, the other day, when the r/pettyrevenge community was asked, " What’s the pettiest thing you've ever done after a breakup? " People were more than happy to share the sordid details of their "less-than-finest" moments. From leaving glitter in the air conditioner to destroying designer t-shirts, one thread at a time — here are 17 petty breakup stories that prove revenge truly is a dish best served cold: 1. "Not my story, but rather a buddy whose longtime partner cheated on him. They had lived together for several years, but after their breakup, she decided that she and her new boyfriend (the affair partner) would move in together — meaning my buddy needed to get out of there ASAP. He was devastated but wanted to remove himself from the situation quickly, so he reluctantly agreed." "His now ex-girlfriend went to stay with the new boyfriend for a few days while my buddy packed. A few days prior, he had found a small device on Amazon that made random noises at inconsistent intervals and bought 12 of them. As he packed, he hid them throughout the house in the most inconvenient places one could imagine — inside air conditioner vents, behind wall outlets, inside the bottom panel of the fridge, etc. Then he moved out and never spoke to his ex again, so we never found out how she and her new boyfriend dealt with random noises going off in the house all the time. But I like to think that spending hours looking for the source of the noises drove them nuts." — u/wheresmychin 2. "After my girlfriend and I broke up, she claimed our towels belonged to her..." "We owned four nice, fluffy bath towels then, and I was sad to see them go. So, before she came to pick them up, I sprayed them with 3M Scotchgard to make them waterproof." — u/whenisnowthen 3. "My ex was very into his looks and felt that after I had two babies back to back, I was no longer on his level. So, he started dating a model/country singer on the side..." "At this time, our two-year-old had a serious constipation issue and was prescribed a laxative known as a 'poop bomb.' This just so happened to coincide with my ex having to leave town for work (and to visit his affair partner). In his rush to leave, he somehow ended up ingesting the 'poop bomb' in his protein smoothie. He shit his pants in a panic in the town she lived in and drove all the way home. He threw a tantrum for a solid day but never knew who to direct his anger towards." — u/Turd_Burgle_E 4. "Way back in the day, my fiancé cheated on me. When I found out, I immediately began packing my stuff..." "While I was packing, I had time to think and decided to place an ad in the newspaper that I knew his grandmother read daily with a photo of him and the girl he cheated on me with and everything I knew about the affair. His grandmother called me to apologize after she saw the ad and called him a disgrace. Best part? I charged the ad to his credit card." — u/JynxMama 5. "I was engaged to a guy for four years — only to find out that he was having an affair and had informed his affair partner that I was his 'roommate.' She had no idea we shared a bed nor that he and I were raising a child together." "The day I left him, I poured a gallon of milk over every square inch of our bed and remade it nice and neat afterward. I then packed up every eating utensil, plate, pot, pan, and small appliance in the kitchen and took them with me. The only TV we had was one I had purchased, so I also packed that." — u/Junie_Wiloh 6. "I gave my ex a rose a couple of weeks before breaking up with him (I found out shortly after that he was cheating on me with his ex-wife). At the time, though, I was sad because he had left the rose on his car dash, and it died from the heat." "So after I found out about his affair, I burned the dead rose to a fine crisp, left its charred remains on his dash, lined his car’s air conditioner vents with ultra-fine glitter, and set the dial to high. The next morning, I woke him up at six o'clock to break up with him. He walked out to his car and started bawling upon seeing the rose. Once he climbed in to leave, he was promptly doused in rainbow glitter." — u/IDEFKWImDoing 7. "My ex-girlfriend from out-of-town left a massive pile of dresses and pants at my local dry cleaner and demanded that I pick them up and mail them to her. Did she prepay? Of course not..." "It was about $75 for a cleaning. While I was there, it occurred to me that the cleaner also offered tailoring and clothing alterations, so I had the tailor take in two inches from the waist of all of her dresses and pants and made sure that he disguised the changes as best he could. I also had him swap some buttons around so they wouldn't match. When they were ready a week or so later, I mailed the COD to her, so she had to pay the cleaning charges to get the package. After a few refused deliveries and scathing voicemail messages directed to me, she finally paid at the next delivery attempt. I didn't hear from her for several months. It turns out that so much time had passed between her dropping the clothes off at the cleaners and me picking them up that she didn’t wear them until they came back in season the next year. But oh, boy, did I hear from her afterward! When she called, I feigned ignorance and offered other suggestions as to why her clothes no longer fit. The line went dead, and I never heard from her again. Good riddance! My friends still laugh about it 30 years later." — u/walnut_creek 8. "So, back in the day when we used flip phones, you could set it to show a little message every time you turned on your phone..." "When my geeky programmer ex wasn't looking, I set his phone to display 'STARTUP ERROR 54EDGT4' (or some alphanumeric gibberish) every time he turned it on. He spent several weeks trying to diagnose the problem." — u/psychosis_inducing 9. "I stayed friends with a few people from high school — one of whom became a repo agent. The guy I was working with and dating later on was a shady contractor. He had a habit of never paying his bills, conning people, writing bad checks, etc." "It was a bad scene all around, but for the last year that I worked for him, he would always tell me, 'Get the truck and go park behind so and so's' or 'Take the van out to so and so's farm and put it behind the barn.' George — my high school friend turned repo man — would then call and ask, 'Where's the truck this time?' and I'd tell him so my ex's vehicles kept getting repoed. He never figured out how the repo man knew where to find them even though it happened three times." — u/LemmyLola 10. "Several years ago, I got dumped about two months before Christmas..." "As my ex and I were talking through our breakup, I was scrambling for something to say, so I told her, 'I guess I’m going to return the Christmas presents I already bought you then.' I didn’t mean anything by the comment; I was just thinking out loud. But then she asked me what I got her — and I said, 'No, they’re being returned, and we’re no longer together, so I’m not going to tell you.' Anyway, I heard later from mutual friends that wondering what her gifts could have been drove her nuts for a long time. Very small, very petty, and very unintentional revenge. But it warmed my heart to hear it made her mad." — u/[deleted} 11. "My ex would use my paid football channel to watch her favorite team. So, I waited until her favorite team competed in a derby against their biggest rivals before kicking her out..." "Despite no longer living together, she kept using my channel subscription. So, I clicked the 'log out of all accounts' button a moment before her team scored. She had an explosive temper, so I laughed out loud while picturing her outburst at that moment." — u/Tomisenbugel 12. "My ex had broken my naive little 19-year-old heart and, a few weeks later, dared to show up with the girl he ghosted me for at the pizza place where I worked. I asked to switch from waiting tables to making subs, so I didn’t have to wait on them." "He ordered his favorite — a hot Italian sausage sub. When I made it, I dumped a ton of hot red pepper seeds on top of it, loaded it with jalapeños, and soaked the entire thing in hot pepper juice. While he ate, the server in the dining room gave me hilarious updates. When my ex went to pay at the register, he complained about me to the owner, who informed him that he had more customers than he could handle (which was true) and that good employees were hard to find. I was so happy." — u/MezzanineSoprano 13. "My ex cheated on me and made no effort to hide it — he even went so far as to send me pictures of his affair partner wearing lingerie and cooking in the kitchen after I kicked him out for being a cheater. I guess he wanted me to feel bad?" "Cut to a boring day at work; my BFF and I had nothing to do, so we decided to sign him up for every single email newsletter we could find — the CDC, religious organizations, used car lots, anything to clog his inbox up and make it annoying for him to find his important emails. He’s not tech-savvy, so I knew it would be a challenge for him to unsubscribe from them all. What’s even better is that he was in the midst of looking for a new job, so he had to keep his 'spammed' email address until he heard back." — u/Gdizzle42 14. "It was 1998, and I had been dating a rather 'quirky' guy who liked documenting everyone's address in a little day planner. One day — after we had been together for six months — he told me he would be busy for the next two weeks and that I couldn't stop by because he had family coming over." "So I thought, 'Oh ok, no big deal.' I wouldn't have wished some of my family members on him either. Four days later, I ran into one of his friends, who immediately blurted out that my then-boyfriend was with his fiancé . She had been on an archaeology dig the entire time we were dating. At the end of the two weeks he was 'spending with family,' she would be headed back to her dig site. I broke up with him after confirming I was the 'other woman.' A year later, my best friend and I received invitations to his wedding, along with four other couples who were originally my friends and had gotten to know him through me. His fiancé and her mother had photocopied his address book and invited EVERYONE he knew. In the invitation was a notice that they were registered at Service Merchandise." "Service Merchandise went out of business in 2002, but the store's premise was that you'd look at the merchandise on their showroom floor and bring a ticket to the counter, pay for your item, and they would get it from the large stock room. So, my BFF and I took a little trip to the store with their wedding invitations and got a printout of their gift registry." "She and I then walked through the useless and weird items, made notes, and got a salesperson to mark those as purchased by 'Aunt Agnes' or 'Grandma Doris,' etc. We left SO many items and a bathroom scale for the newly married couple to pick up. It's been 25 years, and I feel sorry for the bride if she only got crappy gifts because of my friend and I." — u/EconomyCode3628 15. "My ex was obsessed with designer t-shirts and spent a fortune on them. Of course, being his 'maid,' it was my job to wash them, and they had to be done with special detergents, on delicate washes, etc. I HATED those shirts..." "So while I was packing my stuff to leave (after discovering he cheated), I took a seam-ripper from my sewing kit and picked the seams on those shirts — one or two snipped stitches every four inches or so, not visible at all. After a few washes, the seams would unravel, and his precious shirts would fall to pieces. I found out six months later that he had to throw them all out." — u/GraphicDesignMonkey 16. "My 'situationship' with a childhood friend ended because he suddenly decided I deserved better. As I later found out, it was actually because he was sleeping with other people." "After two weeks of him ghosting me any time I would ask to come over and pick up my things from his house, he called and invited me over to watch a college football game and have one last hang out before things officially ended. I decided to go, and we ate dinner. I had been drinking that evening and fell asleep on his couch, so he invited me to stay the night. Once he fell asleep, I snuck onto his phone — which he didn't realize I knew the password to — and deleted all the dating app profiles he had, including several that he had paid subscriptions to. I packed up all my things in the morning and left as if nothing happened. I do wonder if he'll ever figure out if it was me or if he'll just think he was hacked." — u/PrettyPisces83 17. "Not my story, but a woman who caught her husband having an affair. When she confronted him, he owned up to it, and a few days later, his affair partner moved into their house. The wife was pissed and heartbroken, for good reason. But she had to do something to stick it to him." "So, she came up with an elaborate idea. She went to the grocery store and purchased a fish. When she came home, she slipped it into the gigantic curtain rods in the living room and went on her merry way. A few weeks passed, and the now ex-husband and his affair partner couldn't figure out where the disgusting smell in their home was coming from. They cleaned everything in the house over and over to no avail. Then they decided to paint all the interior walls because the smell 'seemed to come from the walls.'" "The stench was so bad they decided to sell the house. During the open house, the ex-wife came by and could still smell the horrid fish she left — despite all the efforts to eliminate the smell. Needless to say, the house stayed on the market for a while since the putrid scent was so overwhelming..." "The ex-husband had no choice but to lower the asking price a significant amount so someone would hopefully buy the house." Soon after the price reduction, the house was quickly purchased. By whom, you ask? THE EX WIFE! Her first order of business was to discard the damn curtain rod — and that's how she got the ultimate revenge!" — u/Shot_King_1936 Did any of these revenge stories shock you? Have you ever exacted petty revenge on an ex? Let us know in the comments! (Or if you would prefer to stay anonymous, you can answer using this Google Form ). Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – A rivalry is renewed as the Cleveland Browns host the Pittsburgh Steelers today – Thursday, Nov. 21 – at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio. There are multiple free viewing options for fans who live in the Cleveland and Pittsburgh markets. Nationwide, the game can be watched at no cost through a free trial with Amazon Prime. This “Thursday Night Football” primetime matchup will kick off at 8:15 p.m. Eastern. For the Cleveland (WEWS) and Pittsburgh (WTAE) markets, there is the option to watch on Fubo (free trial and $30 off your first month) and DirecTV Stream (free trial). Sling has promotional offers as well. For out of market viewing, fans who have cut the cord on cable can catch the game at no cost exclusively on Amazon Prime Video with a free trial. The Browns (2-8) once again came out on the losing end in a Bayou battle with the New Orleans Saints in their last game, while the Steelers (8-2) notched their fifth win in a row, taking down the Baltimore Ravens in a juicy matchup atop the AFC North Division. Check out a complete rundown of NFL Week 12 action , including the schedule, predictions, previews, TV information and more. BROWNS-STEELERS Matchup Preview After suffering their seventh loss in eight games , the Browns will look for solace in an otherwise tumultuous campaign as they host the rival Steelers in what is expected be a wintry mix of conditions throughout the evening. After years of earning back respect in the rivalry , the Browns are now headed in the familiar opposite direction of Pittsburgh’s winning franchise. A season of expectations has spiraled into one of misery. With Deshaun Watson suffering a season-ending Achilles injury , quarterback Jameis Winston has stepped into the starting role, tossing for 1,047 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions. Often criticized for his ability to give the ball away, Winston has only had one game with a pick, which was a three-giveaway day against the Chargers' top-ranked defense. Throwing for nearly 400 yards inside the dome last week, the urge to air it out might disappear with unfavorable conditions expected to wreak havoc. The matchup is leaning more to an old-fashioned ground-and-pound style. The Browns rushing attack has been nonexistent. Nick Chubb has not returned to form and Jerome Ford has been held in check all season. Ford touts 57 carries for 279 yards and one touchdown. Chubb suffered a season-ending leg injury in the matchup against the Steelers last season. Wide receiver Cedric Tillman remains a strong threat. He has notched 27 receptions for 311 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 11.5 yards per reception. The Saints loss ended a streak of three straight games with 75 or more receiving yards. Tight end David Njoku has nabbed 39 receptions for 336 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 8.6 yards per reception. Kicker Dustin Hopkins missed three kicks , which nearly looked identical to each other, all hooking to the left. The missed opportunities didn’t make a difference in New Orleans, but in these conditions, they could be the determining factor. He also opposes the best kicker in the league this season, who is coming off a single-footed masterpiece. Reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett has put up average numbers for his talent. He has 21 solo tackles, seven sacks and two forced fumbles. In the loss against the Saints, Garrett did not record a stat for the second time this season. Cleveland’s defense was shredded by Taysom Hill last week. The jack-of-all-trades tight end was unleashed. He notched seven carries for 138 yards and three touchdowns. While that carnage occurred on the ground, Cleveland is allowing 226.5 passing yards per game. The defense, which was the best in the NFL last season , has been known to give up explosives this year. Cleveland has only forced two interceptions this season, which is tied for second-last in the league. Three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward pocketed one of those last week. He has 17 solo tackles and a forced fumble also to his credit this season. With playoff aspirations seemingly out of reach, Cleveland is playing for pride. Spoiling Pittsburgh’s winning streak would be the highlight of the season. The Browns have split the last eight meetings and have been victorious in their last eight home games on “Thursday Night Football.” Watch Browns vs. Steelers on Amazon Prime Video for free The Steelers continue their stretch of four consecutive AFC North games with a rivalry stranglehold against the Browns that has loosened as of late, including a 13-10 loss last November. Pittsburgh’s offense has been a breath of fresh air for fans this season. With questions about their stagnant play coming in, the unit has silenced the critics with consistency. They have managed to score points in 22 consecutive quarters, which is the longest active streak in the NFL. Pittsburgh is led by veteran quarterback Russell Wilson , who has notched 942 yards and six touchdowns with two interceptions in four games. Wilson also has a rushing touchdown to his credit. Backup quarterback Justin Fields, who began the season under center, saw some limited play last game. Fields has notched 1,106 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. Expect the versatile playmaker to be thrown in for some packages to shake things up. Wide receiver George Pickens has gobbled up 48 receptions for 728 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 15.2 yards per reception. Tight end Pat Freiermuth has also found some spots, tallying 31 receptions for 295 yards and three touchdowns. He averages 9.5 yards per reception. Running back Jaylen Warren has been progressing, earning 64 carries for 258 yards. While those numbers may not look like much, they are an improvement from his totals in the opening games of the season. Warren also has 18 receptions for 123 yards. Kicker Chris Boswell scored all of Pittsburgh’s points in the victory over the Ravens. He is firing at a 96.7% clip and has scored an NFL-best 107 points this season. Pittsburgh’s defense resembles the Chargers unit that had a field day with Winston. The Steelers own the second-best turnover differential in the NFL at Plus-11, sitting only behind the Buffalo Bills. The defense has forced 19 takeaways and have only failed to snag an interception in three outings. Punishing linebacker T.J. Watt leads the defense with 27 solo tackles, 7.5 sacks and four forced fumbles. The Watt-Garrett comparison is one of many juicy storylines to this rivalry. Located just 130 miles apart, it’s the 146th rendition of Browns vs. Steelers in conditions that scream AFC North football. Live in Cleveland or Pittsburgh? Watch Browns vs. Steelers for free on FuboTV BROWNS-STEELERS Last Game Recap The Browns kept it competitive with the Saints until a 21-point fourth quarter while the Steelers snuck past the Ravens in a classic AFC North showdown. Cleveland Browns: Lost 35-14 to the New Orleans Saints on Nov. 17. Pittsburgh Steelers: Won 18-16 against the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 17. BROWNS-STEELERS Players to Watch Cleveland’s playmakers will have another chance to shine in a wintry mix while Pittsburgh’s stars will look to steal the show on enemy soil. Cleveland Browns: QB Jameis Winston, DE Myles Garrett, RB Nick Chubb, K Dustin Hopkins, WR Cedric Tillman Pittsburgh Steelers: QB Russell Wilson, S Minkah Fitzpatrick, WR George Pickens, K Chris Bosworth, RB Jaylen Warren BROWNS-STEELERS Injuries of Note The Browns' offensive line took another hit this week while the Steelers remain relatively healthy for the primetime showdown. Cleveland Browns: OT Jedrick Wills Jr. (knee) and TE Geoff Swaim (concussion) are both out. QB Deshaun Watson (Achilles surgery), OT Dawand Jones (lower leg), RB Nyheim Hines (knee), LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (neck), OT James Hudson III (shoulder), LS Charley Hughlett (ribs), CB Tony Brown II, DT Michael Hall Jr. (knee) and C Nick Harris are all placed on injured reserve. Pittsburgh Steelers: LB Alex Highsmith (ankle) is out. CB Cory Trice Jr. (hamstring) and CB C.J. Henderson (neck) and WR Roman Wilson (hamstring) and defensive tackle Montravious Adams (knee) have all been placed on injured reserve. Buy Browns tickets for every game this season Who is announcing Browns vs. Steelers? Al Michaels (play-by-play) and Kirk Herbstreit (analyst) will be the announcers while Kaylee Hartung reports from the sidelines. What are the latest odds for Browns vs. Steelers? Spread: CLE: (+3.5), PIT: (-3.5) Moneyline: CLE: (+160), PIT: (-192) Point total: 37 Odds from DraftKings How to Watch BROWNS-STEELERS Who: Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers When: Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024 Time: 8:15 p.m. Eastern Where: Huntington Bank Field | Cleveland, Ohio Channel: WEWS (Cleveland only), WTAE (Pittsburgh only) Best Streaming Options: Fubo (free trial and $30 off your first month), DirecTV Stream (free trial), Sling (promotional offers) and Amazon Prime Video (free trial) Channel finder if you have cable You can access the channel by using the channel finders online: Verizon Fios , AT&T U-verse , Comcast Xfinity , Spectrum/Charter , Optimum/Altice , DIRECTV and Dish . About FuboTV Fubo (free trial and $30 off your first month) has three main packages: Pro costs $79.99/month; Elite is $89.99; Premier is priced at $99.99. Cancel before the free trial ends to avoid being charged. Fubo includes access to more than 185 sports, entertainment and news channels. You can record games, TV shows, movies and more. About DirecTV Stream DirecTV Stream , which also gives customers a free trial, offers four packages if you continue with the service after your trial ends: Entertainment for $69.99; Choice for $84.99; Ultimate for $109.99; and premier for $159.99. Choice offers the most channels for sports enthusiasts. About Sling Sling , which features promotional offers for new customers, has a Blue package for $20 for your first month ($40 after that) and an Orange package for the same price and deal. Get both the Blue and Orange packages for $27.50 for your first month ($55 after that). RECOMMENDED • cleveland .com Browns vs. Saints: Watch Week 11 NFL live stream for free today Nov. 17, 2024, 6:00 a.m. Steelers vs. Browns predictions and best bets: Expect the unexpected in bad weather game Nov. 21, 2024, 2:00 p.m. About Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video offers a 30-day free trial. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, this video service is included at no extra cost with your membership. Joining Amazon Prime costs $14.99/month or $139 annually. The streaming service features blockbuster movies, hit shows, Amazon Originals and sports, including select NFL games for the 2024 season. For team hats, shirts and more gear: Visit Fanatics , Dick’s Sporting Goods , Lids , Champs Sports and New Era .Lil Wayne, GloRilla, Camila Cabello to perform at College Football National Championship

Trump threatens to try to take back the Panama Canal. Panama's president balks at the suggestionGroups break down barriers on Colorado’s slopes to diversify winter sports that are “just so hard to get into”

Chris Davies praised Jay Stansfield’s mindset after the forward converted a late penalty to seal Birmingham City’s victory on what was a poignant night for the 22-year-old. Stansfield, who was asked to play on the left rather than as Blues’ central striker, was making a first return to Exeter City, the club where he not only came through the youth set-up – but for whom his father Adam played before he passed away at the age of 31. Indeed Adam’s part in Grecians’ folklore is recognised by the stand named in his honour and while his son was clapped on to and off from the pitch by both sets of supporters, when it came to taking care of business, he was nerveless. Read More Related Articles Birmingham City player ratings vs Exeter City as two players stand out in 2-0 win Read More Related Articles Exeter City 0 vs Birmingham City 2 FT as Jay Stansfield and Tomoki Iwata seal win Davies was not surprised. “I don't think there's many people in the world that probably know exactly how Jay feels right now or felt on that pitch. So, credit to him, he didn't let it affect him at all in terms of he's very focused, he gave a really diligent performance, showed his quality and scored a goal, he's a goal scorer. I'm sure his family would be very proud of him. “I didn’t have any worries about him taking it in the moment because I know with Jay he takes everything in his stride really well, to be honest. I spoke to him leading into the game about everything and he was in good mindset and really looking forward to it. “When that penalty gets given, you can see his eyes light up because he sees there's another goal for him.” Davies was pleased with his team’s display as they bounced back from the 3-2 loss at Shrewsbury on Saturday to secure a commanding 2-0 win. “I was really, really happy with the performance. I thought it was one of the best performances of the season, obviously we knew we had to react and challenge the players to make sure that there was a reaction from a really disappointing day on the weekend and to a man, every single one of them reacted. “I thought we looked like a real proper team out there gave very little away. I think they had two touches inside our box, the whole entire game. We created numerous chances for the possession we did have and we scored two good goals.” What did you make of Blues’ display? Have your say here

How Trump's bet on voters electing him managed to silence some of his legal woes

WASHINGTON (AP) — One year after the Jan. 6, 2021 , U.S. Capitol attack, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department was committed to holding accountable all perpetrators “at any level” for “the assault on our democracy.” That bold declaration won’t apply to at least one person: Donald Trump. Special counsel Jack Smith’s move on Monday to abandon the federal election interference case against Trump means jurors will likely never decide whether the president-elect is criminally responsible for his attempts to cling to power after losing the 2020 campaign. The decision to walk away from the election charges and the separate classified documents case against Trump marks an abrupt end of the Justice Department’s unprecedented legal effort that once threatened his liberty but appears only to have galvanized his supporters. The abandonment of the cases accusing Trump of endangering American democracy and national security does away with the most serious legal threats he was facing as he returns to the White House. It was the culmination of a monthslong defense effort to delay the proceedings at every step and use the criminal allegations to Trump’s political advantage, putting the final word in the hands of voters instead of jurors. “We always knew that the rich and powerful had an advantage, but I don’t think we would have ever believed that somebody could walk away from everything,” said Stephen Saltzburg, a George Washington University law professor and former Justice Department official. “If there ever was a Teflon defendant, that’s Donald Trump.” While prosecutors left the door open to the possibility that federal charges could be re-filed against Trump after he leaves office, that seems unlikely. Meanwhile, Trump’s presidential victory has thrown into question the future of the two state criminal cases against him in New York and Georgia. Trump was supposed to be sentenced on Tuesday after his conviction on 34 felony counts in his New York hush money case , but it’s possible the sentencing could be delayed until after Trump leaves office, and the defense is pushing to dismiss the case altogether. Smith’s team stressed that their decision to abandon the federal cases was not a reflection of the merit of the charges, but an acknowledgement that they could not move forward under longstanding Justice Department policy that says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. Trump’s presidential victory set “at odds two fundamental and compelling national interests: On the one hand, the Constitution’s requirement that the President must not be unduly encumbered in fulfilling his weighty responsibilities . . . and on the other hand, the Nation’s commitment to the rule of law,” prosecutors wrote in court papers. The move just weeks after Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris underscores the immense personal stake Trump had in the campaign in which he turned his legal woes into a political rallying cry. Trump accused prosecutors of bringing the charges in a bid to keep him out of the White House, and he promised revenge on his perceived enemies if he won a second term. “If Donald J. Trump had lost an election, he may very well have spent the rest of his life in prison,” Vice President-elect JD Vance, wrote in a social media post on Monday. “These prosecutions were always political. Now it’s time to ensure what happened to President Trump never happens in this country again.” After the Jan. 6 attack by Trump supporters that left more than 100 police officers injured, Republican leader Mitch McConnell and several other Republicans who voted to acquit Trump during his Senate impeachment trial said it was up to the justice system to hold Trump accountable. The Jan. 6 case brought last year in Washington alleged an increasingly desperate criminal conspiracy to subvert the will of voters after Trump’s 2020 loss, accusing Trump of using the angry mob of supporters that attacked the Capitol as “a tool” in his campaign to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence and obstruct the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory. Hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters — many of whom have said they felt called to Washington by Trump — have pleaded guilty or been convicted by juries of federal charges at the same courthouse where Trump was supposed to stand trial last year. As the trial date neared, officials at the courthouse that sits within view of the Capitol were busy making plans for the crush of reporters expected to cover the historic case. But Trump’s argument that he enjoyed absolute immunity from prosecution quickly tied up the case in appeals all the way up to the Supreme Court. The high court ruled in July that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution , and sent the case back to the trial court to decide which allegations could move forward. But the case was dismissed before the trial court could get a chance to do so. The other indictment brought in Florida accused Trump of improperly storing at his Mar-a-Lago estate sensitive documents on nuclear capabilities, enlisting aides and lawyers to help him hide records demanded by investigators and cavalierly showing off a Pentagon “plan of attack” and classified map. But U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case in July on grounds that Smith was illegally appointed . Smith appealed to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but abandoned that appeal on Monday. Smith’s team said it would continue its fight in the appeals court to revive charges against Trump’s two co-defendants because “no principle of temporary immunity applies to them.” In New York, jurors spent weeks last spring hearing evidence in a state case alleging a Trump scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex. New York prosecutors recently expressed openness to delaying sentencing until after Trump’s second term, while Trump’s lawyers are fighting to have the conviction dismissed altogether. In Georgia, a trial while Trump is in office seems unlikely in a state case charging him and more than a dozen others with conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. The case has been on hold since an appeals court agreed to review whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she had hired to lead the case. ____ Associated Press reporter Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed.

Why the first Thanksgiving may not have had the PilgrimsAnalysis: Some Chiefs could rest for 24 days after team clinches No. 1 seed in AFCA man accused of digitally raping a colleague after a work Christmas party has said he was only reaching to grab a vape from her lap. Black Friday Sale Subscribe Now! Login or signup to continue reading All articles from our website & app The digital version of Today's Paper Breaking news alerts direct to your inbox Interactive Crosswords, Sudoku and Trivia All articles from the other regional websites in your area Continue The man, a public servant who has not been named to protect the woman's identity, is facing a trial accused of touching a colleague's breasts without her consent after a government department Christmas party in 2022. He is then accused of digitally raping her through her stockings while she drove him home . The man has pleaded not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent and committing an act of indecency without consent. He also denies an alternate count of committing an act of indecency without consent. Giving evidence in his ACT Supreme Court jury trial on Friday, he denied raping the woman and claimed that when she was driving, he "reached over and grabbed the [vape] on her lap and then puffed out the window". He said, "It was a bad decision to get a lift home", stating she was intoxicated at the time. The man told jurors that earlier on the night in question, he was at a bar with the woman when she confided "she was a bit insecure about her body". He said they discussed "double standards" for men and women in society before he asked: "You want me to touch your tits?" The man claimed she had replied: "Go for it." He told jurors he then consensually touched her breasts. "We just both laughed about it," he said. The man leaves court on a previous occasion. Picture by Hannah Neale Earlier this week, the woman told jurors her colleague had touched her breasts without consent, but she "didn't want to cause a scene". "I'm well aware that if I go to a pub, there is always something ... especially at work parties," she said. Giving evidence, she described the alleged rape as having occurred while she was driving the "drunk" man to his home. "I remember the lights turning red, and as I'm slowing down, I felt [him] reaching across," she told the jury. "He is licking my neck, and he is reaching over, and he has a hand up my dress. "My hand was busy changing gear, my foot was busy [on the clutch], and I was busy trying not to crash my car." The woman stated she "couldn't do anything" because she was "otherwise occupied" and had "swerved my car a little bit". The trial before Justice Louise Taylor continues. Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; Canberra Rape Crisis Centre 6247 2525. Share Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Email Copy Hannah Neale Reporter Hannah is a reporter with The Canberra Times. She is currently covering ACT courts. Hannah started as a journalist with The Southern Highland News and The Goulburn Post before moving to the ACT. Hannah is a reporter with The Canberra Times. She is currently covering ACT courts. Hannah started as a journalist with The Southern Highland News and The Goulburn Post before moving to the ACT. More from Canberra 13 years ago six kinder kids were front page news. They just finished year 12 1hr ago No comment s Accused work Christmas party rapist claims he was only 'reaching for vape' 1hr ago How to play a fan-made Survivor series (from an unexpected challenge beast) 1hr ago No comment s Our safety nets have gaping holes. 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Share Tweet Share Share Email In the fast-paced world of cryptocurrency , finding an under-the-radar asset with the potential for massive growth is every investor’s dream. One such asset that has recently caught the attention of savvy investors is Lightchain AI (LCAI) . Priced at just $0.003, LCAI is not only affordable but also comes with the promise of revolutionary potential thanks to its integration of artificial intelligence (AI) with blockchain technology. While many focus on established players like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, LCAI is quietly positioning itself as a serious contender for exponential growth in the coming years. So, could LCAI be the key to unlocking substantial wealth? Let’s explore why experts are betting on this lesser-known gem. What Makes Lightchain AI (LCAI) So Special? Lightchain AI is unique by mixing blockchain and smart machine to make a place that solves real world problems. Unlike lots of digital money that depend on guessing trades, LCAI looks at use by supporting shared apps (dApps) made for fields like health care, money, and goods movement. These apps use the special skills of smart machine in a safe and shared setup making easy and clear answer͏s. What really sets LCAI apart is its focus on growth and privacy. With a strong setup made to deal with tough calculations and keep data safe, the platform fits well with what today’s businesses need. Also, the money system of LCAI has steady features like token burning that helps values go up over time and let people in the community have a say in how things are run. By prioritizing real-world impact over speculation, Lightchain AI is redefining how blockchain and AI can collaborate to create meaningful advancements across sectors, making it an exciting prospect for forward-thinking investors. Why Investors Are Paying Attention to LCAI Savvy investors are looking for projects that combine innovation, scalability, and real-world utility, and LCAI checks all these boxes. In addition to its cutting-edge technology, LCAI presents an early-stage investment opportunity similar to the early days of other massive success stories in the crypto space. Innovative Consensus Mechanism Investors are keenly interested in Lightchain AI’s (LCAI) innovative consensus mechanism, Proof of Intelligence (PoI). This feature distinguishes LCAI from traditional cryptocurrencies that rely on Proof of Work (PoW) or Proof of Stake (PoS). PoI rewards network participants not just for validating transactions but for contributing to AI computations like model training and inference tasks. This approach not only enhances the utility of the blockchain but also drives the advancement of decentralized AI, attracting investors interested in sustainable and innovative blockchain uses. High Potential in AI and Blockchain Convergence The integration of AI with blockchain represents a cutting-edge frontier in technology. LCAI is at the forefront with its Artificial Intelligence Virtual Machine (AIVM), which is optimized to execute AI tasks efficiently within a blockchain framework. The AIVM supports real-time AI applications, maintaining interoperability with leading AI frameworks like TensorFlow and PyTorch. Investors are drawn to LCAI because this convergence promises to unlock new capabilities in data privacy, security, and operational efficiency, areas ripe for growth and innovation. Commitment to Decentralization and Transparency LCAI’s focus on decentralizing AI development aligns with a broader tech trend towards transparency and user empowerment. By distributing AI model training and decision-making across a decentralized network, LCAI ensures that no single entity can monopolize control over AI insights and analytics. This aspect is particularly appealing to investors who prioritize ethical implications of AI and blockchain, looking to support platforms that foster fairness and inclusivity. Sustainable and Equitable Tokenomics The tokenomics of LCAI are designed to encourage long-term sustainability and equitable distribution. The LCAI token serves multiple purposes within the ecosystem, including facilitating transactions, incentivizing participation in PoI, and governing the decentralized network. Investors appreciate that LCAI’s economic model promotes a balanced growth, preventing token concentration and ensuring a broad distribution among participants. Strategic Development Roadmap LCAI’s detailed and strategic development roadmap offers a clear vision of the platform’s future, detailing phases from prototype development to global adoption. This transparency in planning reassures investors of the project’s preparedness and ambition, making LCAI an attractive investment for those looking to contribute to and benefit from the next stages of AI and blockchain evolution. Can Lightchain AI Unlock Substantial Wealth? While success in the crypto market can never be guaranteed, Lightchain AI (LCAI) is uniquely positioned for significant growth due to its innovative features and strong market potential. By leveraging blockchain and AI integration, the platform addresses real-world challenges across industries like healthcare, finance, and logistics. Investors who enter during the early stages could benefit from substantial returns as LCAI continues to evolve. Projected Growth LCAI’s presale price of $0.003 offers a highly accessible entry point for investors. Analysts predict that as the platform progresses through key milestones such as the mainnet launch and ecosystem expansion, its value could rise significantly. While conservative estimates suggest potential growth to $1 by 2025, more optimistic projections see it achieving even higher valuations. With increasing adoption across industries, LCAI stands out as a high-potential asset in the blockchain market. The AI and Blockchain Revolution The convergence of AI and blockchain is reshaping industries by providing scalable, transparent, and secure solutions. LCAI’s ability to integrate AI computations within a decentralized framework positions it as a leader in this transformative wave. Industries like healthcare can benefit from secure data management, while logistics can optimize supply chain operations. By capitalizing on the rapid adoption of decentralized AI, LCAI is poised to drive innovation and deliver long-term value to its stakeholders. Key to Unlocking Wealth in the Crypto Space If you’re looking for the next big opportunity in the cryptocurrency space, Lightchain AI could be your key to unlocking substantial wealth. With its innovative approach to AI and blockchain, coupled with strong market positioning, LCAI is rapidly becoming one of the most talked-about tokens in the industry. Don’t miss the presale opportunity to get in on the ground floor and potentially see exponential growth in the years to come. The future of crypto is here, and LCAI could be at the forefront of this exciting revolution. So, it’s definitely worth keeping a close eye on this promising project as it continues to make waves in the market. https://lightchain.ai https://lightchain.ai/lightchain-whitepaper.pdf https://x.com/LightchainAI https://t.me/LightchainProtocol Related Items: Lightchain , press release Share Tweet Share Share Email Recommended for you Crypto Gem-Spotter Identifies No Brainer Token Ready To Overtake Polygon’s (POL) 2021 Rally IntelMarkets Impresses With 80% Price Bump While XRP Loses Key Support Levels Investing in These Low-Cost Cryptocurrencies Could Lead To Financial Freedom by 2025 CommentsHow Trump's bet on voters electing him managed to silence some of his legal woes

Seadrill Announces Sale of Jack-Up West Prospero

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. 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. 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. 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 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! 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