Canadian Cabinet ministers meet with Trump's nominee for commerce secretary in bid to avoid tariffsWASHINGTON — As several of President-elect Donald Trump’s choices for high-level positions in his incoming administration face scrutiny on Capitol Hill, a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that Americans have their own doubts. Relatively few Americans overall approve of Pete Hegseth, Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Defense, or Tulsi Gabbard, his pick for intelligence chief, although a substantial share doesn’t know who those figures are. The other selections who were included in the poll, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary and Marco Rubio for secretary of state, are more well-known but not much more popular among Americans overall. Trump and his allies are pushing Republican senators to confirm his picks, who are meeting with lawmakers before Trump returns to the White House next month. Given the Republicans’ slim majority in the Senate, the stakes are high for each Trump pick. An Army veteran and former Fox News commentator, Hegseth has been trying to make his case amid allegations of excessive drinking and the revelation that he made a settlement payment after being accused of a sexual assault that he denies. Trump has reiterated his support for Hegseth, who appears to have won over some of the senators who were once critical of his selection. Hegseth is still an unknown quantity for many Americans. About 4 in 10 don’t know enough about him to give an opinion, according to the poll. But his selection is viewed more negatively than positively among Americans who do know who he is. About 2 in 10 U.S. adults approve of Hegseth being picked for Trump’s Cabinet, while 36% disapprove and about 1 in 10 don’t know enough to have an opinion. He has higher support among Republicans, but it’s not overwhelming. Many Republicans do not have an opinion of Hegseth: About 4 in 10 say they don’t know enough about him. About one-third of Republicans approve of him as a pick, and 16% disapprove. Another 1 in 10 Republicans, roughly, are neutral and say they neither approve nor disapprove. Those approval numbers among Republicans are at least slightly lower for Hegseth than any of the other names included in the poll. Gabbard, who represented Hawaii in the House for four terms as a Democrat, sought the 2020 presidential nomination before leaving her party. She was one of Trump’s most sought-after surrogates in the 2024 campaign. Gabbard has faced new questions about her proximity to Syria amid the sudden end of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s long hold on power. Gabbard is as unknown as Hegseth is, but Americans are a little less likely to disapprove of her nomination. About 2 in 10 Americans approve of Trump’s pick of Gabbard, while about 3 in 10 disapprove. The rest either do not know enough to say — about 4 in 10 said this — or have a neutral view. Approval is slightly higher among Republicans than Hegseth’s, though. About 4 in 10 Republicans approve of the choice, while very few disapprove and 16% have a neutral view. Similar to Americans overall, about 4 in 10 Republicans don’t know enough to say. A scion of a famous Democratic dynasty, Kennedy made a name in his own right as an environmental attorney who successfully took on large corporations. In recent decades, he has increasingly devoted his energy to promoting claims about vaccines that contradict the overwhelming consensus of scientists. Trump has said he would give Kennedy free rein over health policy — from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research and the social safety net programs Medicare and Medicaid. Only 14% of Americans say they don’t know enough to have an opinion about Trump’s move to name Kennedy, but that greater name recognition doesn’t translate into warmer feelings. About 4 in 10 Americans disapprove of Trump’s selection of Kennedy, while about 3 in 10 approve and 14% are neutral. Once a contender for the Democratic presidential primary, Kennedy has become something of a GOP darling, with a strong majority of Republicans approving of him joining the Trump administration. About 6 in 10 Republicans approve, and only about 1 in 10 disapprove. About 2 in 10 are neutral, and about 1 in 10 don’t know enough about him to say. In his third Senate term from Florida, Rubio has gone from a Trump rival for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination to one of his staunchest congressional allies. Rubio is seen as having the incoming president’s ear on foreign policy issues, particularly related to Latin America. Americans are divided about Rubio being elevated to a key Cabinet role: About 3 in 10 approve, and a similar share disapprove, while about 2 in 10 don’t know enough to say and 15% neither approve nor disapprove. Most Republicans, nearly 6 in 10, approve, making his selection nearly as popular with this group as Kennedy’s. Only about 1 in 10 Republicans disapprove, while 14% are neutral and about 2 in 10 don’t know enough to say. Rubio, who is Cuban American, earns higher approval among Hispanic adults than some of Trump’s other high-profile choices, but more still disapprove than approve. Get local news delivered to your inbox!
Mizzou administration breaks ground on Memorial Stadium north concourse renovationsDETROIT – Todd McLellan didn’t waste time or mince words Saturday during his first full practice as Detroit Red Wings head coach. It was long, he was loud, and the message was clear: Show some urgency. You’ve lost four in a row and are tied for last place in the Eastern Conference. “Play f------ hockey, you’ve done it your whole lives,” McLellan blurted out midway through the hour-long session that focused on playing with energy and providing direction. “The foot’s on the gas pedal and it hasn’t come off,” McLellan said. “I’m trying to learn on the fly myself, like how much do we share with them, how much can they absorb before we are getting in the way and we’re becoming a problem. We can overload them and take it the other way instead of moving the train forward. But we’ll figure all this out as we go.” Said Patrick Kane: “You guys can probably hear him in the crowd. He’s got a presence when he talks and a strong voice. I think that’s good for a team like this. Trying to learn new things, talk about it, but also be able to hear and understand everything that’s going on.” After losing to Toronto 5-2 Friday in McLellan’s debut, the Red Wings host Washington on Sunday (5 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network). McLellan and new assistant Trent Yawney are trying to get up to speed as fast as possible with games every other day and not much practice time. “The on-ice part of it was good, we targeted two areas we thought we needed to work on,” McLellan said. “The group was attentive; they asked good questions. That was a good sign. The risk we have is making them more mechanical because they start thinking. But we have to implement some things we want to change. “There was some energy. We were out for an hour and a bit. That tends to be a little bit long, even at this time of the year players conserving energy. But we got to sacrifice a little bit to put our game in order and it’ll be that way for a while.” Kane likened it to the first day of training camp. “You’re getting back out there, getting the pace high, you’re learning the way you want to play systems and different coverages,” he said. “Like how we want to sort on our back-check and slow it down with the penalty kill. I thought it was a good first practice.” McLellan encourages communication and questions. “He’s definitely addressing a lot of stuff and he’s pulling guys aside and giving them little tidbits or different things that he wants to see,” Justin Holl said. “And yeah, he’s been very vocal, and I think he’s trying to establish his culture and his presence.” McLellan likened himself to a teacher in a classroom. “You have to get to know your students,” McLellan said. “Just asking them questions about family sometimes that will lead into a good conversation. It breaks barriers down a little bit. You can tell there’s some players that are a little bit more hesitant to make contact, whether it’s eye or verbal. Others are really relaxed and have no problems conversing.” Holl summarized McLellan’s message: “It’s a blank slate for everybody. We’re going to make our own decisions. We’re going to do our own evaluation process. And it’s a competitive environment for everyone, both competing against the other team and competing against your teammates in practice to show that you’re one of the guys. So, it’s definitely a new chapter.” Looks like #RedWings rolling with these lines: Veleno-Larkin-Raymond DeBrincat-Copp-Kane Berggren-Compher-Tarasenko Rasmussen-Kasper-Motte/Fischer pic.twitter.com/aZLSgaGwsy #RedWings defense pairs: Chiarot-Seider Edvinsson-Petry Gustafsson-Holl Johansson rotating in. pic.twitter.com/w5va6ISdNo
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