January 16, 2025 - Presidential transition news

We’ve wrapped up our live coverage for the day. Read below to catch up on today’s coverage of the Trump presidential transition.

President Joe Biden on Thursday recalled a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which he condemned the killing of civilians amid the war in Gaza.

Biden recounted to MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell that Netanyahu retorted with the US’ use of nuclear bombs during World War II.

“I said: ‘But that’s why we came up with the UN,’” Biden recalled telling Netanyahu, pointing to the deals that were made after the war to protect civilians.

Asked by O’Donnell whether Netanyahu was comparing 21st century war tactics to those of World War II, Biden said, “What he was really doing – he was going after me for saying you can’t indiscriminately bomb civilian areas, even if the bad guys are there.”

Biden said he does not believe Netanyahu delayed a ceasefire for his own political gain.

Asked Thursday whether he had discussed the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal with President-elect Donald Trump, President Joe Biden said he had not spoken directly with his successor during negotiations.

Biden told MSNBC during an Oval Office sit-down interview that the two spoke “very, very briefly” about the Middle East conflict when he met with Trump at the White House following the November election. But during negotiations for a ceasefire deal, the president said Trump’s incoming national security team was briefed.

Read about how the Biden and Trump teams worked together to get the Gaza ceasefire and hostages deal done.

Biden appears on MSNBC for a final interview from the Oval Office.

President Joe Biden, in an interview from the Oval Office Thursday, criticized the “concentration of enormous wealth and power” and expressed concerns that the “guardrails” that hold the government accountable are eroding.

“I guess what I’m worried about is that the thing that keeps it on track are the guardrails,” Biden told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell. “There’s a Supreme Court that’s independent, but not — but accountable. There’s a Congress that you speak your mind but you’re held accountable to basic standards. There’s a presidency that says you have really limited powers. I mean you’re the top dog but you’re not — you can’t dictate everything.”

Biden also shared how he had to defend himself from bullies as a child due to his stutter — a lesson he applied to his 50 years in public service.

President Joe Biden met Tuesday at the White House with the mother of a Muslim boy who was stabbed to death in his Chicago-area home in 2023, allegedly by his family’s landlord, in what authorities said at the time was a hate-fueled attack.

Shortly after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack in Israel, 6-year-old Wadee Al Fayoumi was stabbed 26 times and killed because he was Muslim, authorities said. His killing prompted a national conversation about anti-Muslim and anti-Arab hate. His mother, Hanan Shaheen, also suffered more than a dozen stab wounds, and was unable to attend her son’s funeral due to her injuries. The man charged with murdering the boy, attacking his mother and committing hate crimes, Joseph Czuba, pleaded not guilty and is set to go on trial next month.

Shaheen was joined at the White House by her attorney Maaria Mozaffar, who encouraged Biden to meet in person after an “open and frank” phone call on the one-year anniversary of Wadee’s death.

“First we had a meeting with the advisers, and then Hanan herself had a private meeting with him, and just a moment with her and the president as two parents that lost children,” Mozaffar told CNN in an interview Thursday. “He said that this is personal, you know, and, and so he wanted to just show his support and connect with her.”

“It’s respectful to have a human-to-human meeting, it was important to have a human-to-human meeting,” Shaheen said in a statement to CNN.

Last year, the White House released its first ever National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate, citing the attack as one in a series of “grievous attacks on Muslim and Arab Americans,” in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel.

President Joe Biden said Thursday that when he finished his farewell address Wednesday night, he didn’t feel a sense of relief after having served 50 years in politics. Instead he felt “concerned” about democracy.

“I really think we’re at an inflection point in history,” he added in a clip shared by MSNBC. “Where, unrelated to any particular leader, things are going to change drastically.”

Biden’s comments echo the warning he made during his farewell address. He cautioned about the path he sees the nation following, one that could erode the institutions he’s spent more than 50 years revering.

Read key lines from Biden’s address here.

New York Mayor Eric Adams will meet with President-elect Donald Trump on Friday, according to a statement from the city.

Adams, who Trump has said he would consider pardoning, was indicted in September on charges of bribery, corruption, wire fraud and soliciting and accepting donations from foreign nationals. He pleaded not guilty and has denied any wrongdoing.

The statement said Trump and Adams will “discuss New Yorkers’ priorities” and that the mayor looks forward to a conversation about “how we can move our city and country forward.”

Trump, during a news conference last month, said he believed Adams had been “treated pretty unfairly” by prosecutors and promised to “look at” the case — and a potential pardon.

With just a few days to spare, the Biden Energy Department on Thursday finalized a $6.6 billion loan that Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) co-chair Vivek Ramaswamy threatened to claw back once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

The federal loan to electric vehicle company Rivian will help it build a new 9 million-square-foot manufacturing facility in Georgia, aiming to produce hundreds of thousands of electric SUVs. By closing the loan on Thursday, it will be more difficult for the incoming Trump administration to undo.

In a statement, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said the new facility would provide “thousands of jobs in the state” and noted hiring for construction jobs to build the factory has already begun.

Last month, Ramaswamy says Rivian’s loan and others like it would be “high on the list of items” that he and co-chair Elon Musk will look to claw back once his cost-cutting commission gets going next year.

Tesla received a similar DOE loan for $465 million in 2010, which proved to be a game-changer for the company.

Texas Border Czar Mike Banks visits Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas on April 16, 2024.

Texas border czar Mike Banks has been tapped to be the next US Border Patrol chief, according to two sources familiar with the plan, reinforcing the close ties between Texas border officials and President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration.

Banks, a former Border Patrol agent, will replace Jason Owens, who has been filling the chief role. Owens plans to announce his retirement this week, but is expected to stay at the agency through April to help Banks and other officials get positioned, according to another source.

Trump has tapped Rodney Scott, who served as Border Patrol chief for a portion of the president-elect’s first administration, to lead Customs and Border Protection. Scott had also served as a distinguished senior fellow for borders security at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

Late last year, incoming border czar Tom Homan joined Gov. Greg Abbott, Banks and other state officials to serve meals to Texas National Guard soldiers and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and deliver remarks along the Texas-Mexico border.

CNN previously reported Texas’ preparations to bolster its operation on the US southern border is serving as a roadmap for how Trump’s team plans to lean on states as part of its immigration plans.

FBI Director Christopher Wray, right, applauds US Attorney General Merrick Garland as he delivers a farewell address to the Justice Department on Thursday.

After a tumultuous tenure clouded by two failed criminal prosecutions against the incoming president, Attorney General Merrick Garland is leaving the Justice Department the same way he came in: trying to defend it against political attacks.

As he departs, some of the work that Garland did is in limbo. The incoming administration has vowed to pardon people who participated in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot — the largest criminal investigation in the department’s history. Task forces established under Garland, like the one aimed at protecting reproductive rights, may be disbanded, and civil rights agreements with police departments across the country could be abandoned.

Garland’s own legacy is also still unclear. Some believe his steady hand brought a period of normalcy to the department, and his meticulous dedication to following the law built strong, and successful, legal cases.

But critics suggest he slow-walked important decisions including whether to prosecute Trump, or that he lost control of the department he was running by allowing politically tinged investigations to continue, like the special counsel cases against Hunter Biden. And Garland is leaving behind a department at the heart of a bitter political conflict over how, and whether, to bring legal cases in the United States.

Read more about Garland’s tenure and his farewell address here.

The cryptocurrency industry on Friday is staging its first-ever inaugural ball to help celebrate Donald Trump’s return to the White House – in the latest sign of its newfound influence in Washington and hopes of advancing industry-friendly policies in the incoming administration and Congress.

Snoop Dogg will be among headliners at the ball, a source familiar with the planning confirmed. The rapper’s representatives did not respond to inquiries from CNN on Thursday.

Co-hosts and sponsors of the event include the advocacy group Stand with Crypto and Coinbase, an online platform for buying and selling digital assets. A VIP reception will be hosted by MAGA Inc., the super PAC that has supported Trump’s candidacy and is expected to help advance his agenda as president in the months ahead, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by CNN.

Other sponsors of Friday’s ball include Exodus, a crypto wallet software company, recently listed on the New York Stock Exchange American.

He said crypto executives are seeking a “clear regulatory framework” from the federal government.

The Crypto Ball is one of dozens of events – balls, receptions and other festivities – that will mark Trump’s inauguration. Four days of official activities are planned, including three balls on Monday night at which Trump is expected to deliver remarks.

Richardson said tickets for crypto industry’s ball are sold out.

Vice President Kamala Harris signs the drawer of her desk as Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff takes a picture during a signing ceremony in the Vice President's Ceremonial Office at the White House on Thursday.

Vice President Kamala Harris signed the inside of her desk in her ceremonial office Thursday, telling staffers and press gathered that she will “not go quietly into the night” once she leaves office.

Asked by reporters in the room what her next move will be after she leaves office in four days, she said that she will “continue getting work done until Monday.”

The vice president joined her predecessors in a tradition that began with President Harry Truman, who used the desk in the Oval Office. Harris made history herself when she became vice president, becoming the first woman, as well as the first Black or Asian American person in the role.

“I stand in a long tradition as the 49th vice president of the United States, in a long tradition of vice presidents who have signed this desk, and I do so with great honor and with the knowledge that our work here has mattered,” Harris said.

President Joe Biden’s signature is among those inside the desk drawer — he signed the desk in the closing days of the Obama administration in January 2017.

Rep. Jim Himes talks with CNN's Manu Raju on Thursday.

Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, emphasized that GOP Rep. Mike Turner’s ouster as chair of the panel is a blow to bipartisan oversight after Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Thursday that Rep. Rick Crawford would be the new chairman.

“We’ve lost a huge amount of national security knowledge and credibility,” Himes said. Turner “knew more about the national security of the United States than any 20 members of Congress wandering these halls.”

Himes said he would be “happy” to work with Crawford and hopes to develop the same “superb relationship” he had with Turner with the incoming chairman, stressing the importance of bipartisan oversight by the panel, especially under a Trump presidency.

Himes said he has spoken to Turner since he was ousted and that the Ohio Republican plans to “spend more time on his beloved NATO.”

Johnson has denied the president-elect’s involvement in his decision, and a source familiar with Johnson’s thinking told CNN that the speaker wanted to bring in his own chairman of the committee, just as then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy did in initially naming Turner to the role. Turner was not told in the meeting that it was Trump’s decision to remove him, the source added.

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly participates in an interview with CNN's Jim Sciutto on Thursday.

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said that she does not believe President-elect Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs against Canada is “legitimate,” but must still be taken seriously, and maintained that Canada would impose retaliatory tariffs on the US.

Joly would not detail the kinds of tariffs Ottawa might impose in retaliation, saying they are focused on getting to “a deal without any tariffs,” but did say that “everything is on the table.”

“We’re pleading for peace, because I think that we need to be stronger together to deal with the threat coming from other adversaries,” said Joly in a reference to China.

Joly said that the work Canada has done to secure their border with the US, which Trump has slammed as “open,” should be good enough for the incoming president not to feel the need to levy tariffs against Canada.

“We came up with this really strong border plan … $1 billion worth of support, and it means more boots on the ground, it means also more drones, Blackhawk helicopters, technology, cameras,” said Joly.

Asked about Trump wanting to annex Canada, Joly responded, “We can be the best ally, but we will never become a state and we will never be a colony.”

Thursday’s trio of confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees put the focus squarely on Trump’s domestic and economic agenda, which will dominate the debates on Capitol Hill this year.

None of the nominees before the Senate – Scott Bessent at Treasury, Doug Burgum at Interior and Lee Zeldin at the Environmental Protection Agency – appear to be in any danger of not winning confirmation.

Here are takeaways from today’s hearings:

Bessent says Trump tax cuts should be made permanent: The hedge fund manager tapped to lead the Treasury Department pitched Trump’s economic agenda as a way to “unleash a new economic golden age” that would “lift up all Americans.”

That agenda includes making the 2017 tax cuts permanent, he said.

Democrats push Bessent over who would pay for Trump’s proposed tariffs: Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, questioned Bessent over who would bear the brunt of the cost of Trump’s proposed tariffs on foreign goods.

“I believe these tariffs — you can call it whatever you want, in trying, in terms of trying to gussy it up — they’re going to be paid for by our workers and small businesses,” Wyden said.

Bessent said that he disagreed. “The history of tariffs and tariff theory, optimal tariff theory, does not support what you’re saying,” he said. “Traditionally we see that the current, if we were to say, use a number that has been thrown around in the press of 10%. Then traditionally, the currency appreciates by 4%, so the 10% is not passed through.”

Burgum vows to follow the law and Constitution: Burgum told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee he will “follow the law and follow the Constitution” if confirmed, when asked whether he would stand up to demands made by Trump.

Zeldin says he believes “climate change is real”: The former New York congressman who ran for governor in 2022 said he sees climate change as a threat, while he defended the incoming president’s position on the matter.

TikTok is seen in the app store of a Google Pixel on January 8.

The White House has looked into options to keep TikTok accessible to its 170 million American users if a ban that is set to go into effect Sunday continues as planned.

But White House officials say they don’t believe President Joe Biden has the authority to defer enforcement of a law he signed in April that required the app’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell TikTok to American ownership by January 19. If it is not sold, TikTok would be barred from US app stores.

The ban is scheduled to take effect on the last full day of Biden’s administration, barring an unlikely last-minute intervention from the Supreme Court. A White House official said Thursday that because the ban’s timing comes at the end of Biden’s term, it will be up to President-elect Donald Trump’s administration to decide how to implement the ban.

The law allows Biden to impose an extension of up to 90 days, but it requires the president prove that negotiations surrounding the purchase of TikTok make significant progress, and ByteDance has maintained that they have no intention to sell the app.

Still, some lawmakers have urged Biden to grant ByteDance that extension. Democratic Sen. Ed Markey and Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul wrote to Biden in December asking for a delay in the law’s implementation citing “its consequences for free expression.”

Read more about how the Trump administration will handle the impending TikTok ban.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will not attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, a source familiar with her plans told CNN.

Pelosi attended Trump’s first inauguration in 2017 when she was the top Democrat in the House.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will depart Washington, DC, for sunnier skies following the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on Monday, traveling to California aboard a government plane.

The Bidens, two sources familiar with planning tell CNN, are expected to spend time in Santa Ynez, the heart of Santa Barbara County wine country, on a personal trip.

The Santa Ynez trip was first reported by NBC News.

It is customary for departing presidents to partake in a final trip aboard the presidential aircraft — Trump flew to West Palm Beach, returning to Mar-a-Lago, and former President Barack Obama vacationed in Palm Springs, though that flight was temporary diverted due to bad weather.

Before their departure, the Bidens will receive a farewell from staff and administration appointees will attend a sendoff ceremony at Joint Base Andrews on Monday afternoon after inaugural activities, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by CNN.

The Bidens previously vacationed in Santa Ynez in August, departing to the luxurious enclave after the president’s speech on the first night of the Democratic National Convention.

Their return comes amid catastrophic wildfires across Los Angeles County. Santa Ynez is more than 100 miles Northwest of the Pacific Palisades fire.

The Bidens are expected to ultimately spend the vast majority of their time in Delaware, where they have residences in Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, the former GOP leader, told CNN he was not ready to announce whether he could back Tulsi Gabbard as the next director of national intelligence.

McConnell, who has more hawkish views than Gabbard and is planning on making a push for a robust foreign policy central to his message the next two years, is seen as a swing vote in Gabbard’s Senate confirmation.

Asked whether he could support Gabbard, McConnnell told CNN: “I haven’t made any announcement on that yet.”

McConnell’s comments came after he delivered his first floor speech as a rank-and-file member where he said he would vote to “confirm nominees to senior national security roles whose record and experience will make them immediate assets — not liabilities — in pursuit of peace through strength.”

He also said the president deserves deference on his picks and that he would vote for a “large slate” of nominees.

Jon Voight, Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone

President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday announced actors Jon Voight, Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone would be “Special Ambassadors” to Hollywood, California.

“They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Voight has been a longtime Trump supporter and backed the president-elect’s first run for office in 2016. In 2019, Trump awarded Voight the National Medal of Arts.

Gibson told TMZ he was backing Trump in October 2024 and insulted Vice President Kamala Harris’ intelligence. He more recently has been spreading conspiracy theories about the California wildfires on Fox News after his house burned down.

Stallone endorsed Trump late in the 2024 campaign and introduced the president-elect at the America First Policy Institute Gala in November, calling Trump “the second George Washington” and “a really mythical character.”