January 8, 2025 - Presidential transition news

President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, on January 7, in Palm Beach, Florida.

President-elect Donald Trump told reporters ahead of a meeting with Senate Republicans on Wednesday that they were weighing a one-bill versus two-bill approach to pas his agenda.

“We’re looking at one bill versus two bills and whatever it is, doesn’t matter, we’re gonna get the result,” he said.

Trump was accompanied by his wife, Melania, and trailed by Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

When asked how it feels to be back the US Capitol, Trump said, “It feels great.”

“Couldn’t feel better,” he added.

On her way out of the building, Melania Trump also said, “Yes, of course,” when CNN asked if she was happy to be back at the US Capitol.

Before leaving, she paid her respects to former President Jimmy Carter, who is currently lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda.

President-elect Donald Trump has arrived at the US Capitol to meet with Senate Republicans.

House Speaker Mike Johnson greeted Trump in the Senate carriage as he arrived on Capitol Hill.

Ahead of the meeting with the Senate GOP, Trump, alongside incoming first lady Melania Trump, had a short conversation with Majority Leader John Thune.

Trump adviser Jason Miller and Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, also joined the president-elect on Capitol Hill Wednesday ahead of the meeting.

Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy arrives at the Capitol on November 13, 2024 in Washington, DC.

Freshman Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy told CNN on Wednesday that he plans to push national legislation on wildfires during tonight’s Senate GOP meeting with President-elect Donald Trump.

“Obviously, it’s front of mind for the whole country right now. I think it’s a win that he could deliver on pretty quickly, because it is a bipartisan issue,” he told CNN. Sheehy added that he thinks he and fellow Montana Sen. Steve Daines, as well as Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California, could all get on the same page with Trump about how to fix the problem.

Sheehy, who founded an aerial firefighting company and served on the board of directors until last summer, said local, state and federal entities are not “properly coordinated” to fight wildfires plaguing the western part of the country.

“It’s not the fault of these brave firefighters in the ground with the brave water bottle pilots you see on TV doing a job. That’s what I used to do. It’s the fault of a failed federal coordination system that is not properly built for purpose,” he said.

Pressed on what Congress could do to address the issue, Sheehy pushed for a bill that would mandate resources be provided to respond to a fire within 30 minutes.

“Sometimes it can go days or hours before we respond to these fires, and it’s not because the firefighters on the ground aren’t courageous and aren’t willing to do the job. It’s because we have so much bureaucracy between the incident and the resources needed to respond to that incident,” he said.

“This is a national issue, so rapid response time, appropriate paying benefits for our brave firefighters, and make sure we have aircraft ready to respond at a moment’s notice anywhere in the country,” he continued.

Sheehy’s comments come as massive wind-driven fires in Los Angeles County continue to blaze. The Palisades Fire, burning in the seaside area between Malibu and Santa Monica, has already destroyed at least 1,000 structures, making it the most destructive to ever occur in Los Angeles County, according to CalFire data.

When President-elect Donald Trump mused about buying Greenland from Denmark during his first administration, the Danish prime minister called the idea “absurd” and rebuffed him outright.

Now, Danish officials are being warned by Trump allies and advisers that he is serious, multiple Danish officials told CNN. And they’re carefully weighing how to respond without sparking a major rupture with a close ally and fellow NATO member.

“The ecosystem supporting this idea is totally different now” than it was in 2019, when Trump first proposed it, said one senior Danish official. “This seems much more serious,” said another senior Danish official.

Trump said on Tuesday that “we need Greenland for national security purposes.”

“People really don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right to it, but if they do, they should give it up, because we need it for national security,” he said at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago.

Danish officials say they don’t necessarily agree — a frank conversation about Trump’s remarks, rather than assuming he isn’t serious, will likely be the only way to stave off a crisis, they told CNN.

To that end, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen signaled on Wednesday that the country wants to discuss the issue more with the incoming Trump administration.

“We are open to a dialogue with the Americans on how we can possibly cooperate even more closely than we do to ensure that the American ambitions are fulfilled,” Rasmussen told reporters.

Read more here.

House Republicans gave mixed reactions on Wednesday to President-elect Donald Trump’s push to acquire Greenland and the Panama Canal.

Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon told CNN, “They’re our allies, we should treat them that way.”

North Carolina Rep. Chuck Edwards said that he would “have to talk to the president about his idea,” adding, “Behind the logic, I’m not going to render a judgment just yet.”

Rep. Wesley Hunt of called the push a “great idea,” acknowledging it would be “very ambitious.”

“I think this is the greatest country in the world. And by the way, this isn’t stealing these countries or taking them away. It’s often a better opportunity under America’s flag. I think we should do it,” the Texas Republican said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks during a ceremony for former President Jimmy Carter on January 7, in Washington.

House Speaker Mike Johnson defended his preferred strategy to advance President-elect Donald Trump’s ambitious legislative agenda in one bill, instead of dividing priorities into separate bills, as Senate GOP leaders have pushed for.

While one reconciliation bill would have numerous provisions, including potentially a debt limit increase, Johnson brushed off concerns about the prospect of passing a massive bill.

“When you’re talking about reconciliation, it is an exception to the rule. This is not an omnibus spending bill, like appropriations. This is reducing spending, which is our objective,” he said.

He said raising the debt limit is “very important” to stabilize markets and “send a message around the world that we will pay the nation’s debts.”

Johnson said that he and Senate Majority Leader John Thune are on “exactly the same page with regard to the objectives.” He continued, “We’re determining right now the final sequence of the play calls, so to speak. And that is part of this process. There’s no intrigue about that at all.”

Johnson and Thune met on Tuesday, and Trump, who has expressed support for the one bill strategy, is due to meet with Republican senators on Wednesday evening.

Johnson denied that there was any sort of “existential threat” at hand to Republicans’ legislative objectives.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York City, on September 24.

President Joe Biden departs for Rome and Vatican City on Thursday for the final foreign trip of his presidency, where the White House said Wednesday he’ll “showcase the strength of our partnerships across the globe,” before exiting office in just two weeks.

Biden “plans to discuss efforts to advance peace around the world, including Pope Francis’ work to alleviate suffering for vulnerable communities,” and “will further welcome Pope Francis’s human rights advocacy across the globe,” during his meeting with the pontiff, Kirby said.

And in his meeting with Italy’s leaders, he’ll “highlight the close and enduring bilateral relationship,” while thanking Meloni for her leadership as president of the G7.

During his meeting, the president is expected to highlight a new agreement that will see the G7 disperse $50 billion in loans to Ukraine, “which will be paid back by income earned from immobilized Russian sovereign assets without burdening taxpayers,” Kirby said.

First lady Jill Biden will also be on hand, where she’ll meet with World Food Program Executive Director Cindy McCain around a new announcement surging humanitarian assistance to what the White House says will “deal with many of the worst crises facing the world.”

Biden will also participate in a virtual meeting while in Italy with Japanese and Philippines leaders, Kirby said, “to further strengthen our trilateral partnership and our efforts towards a secure Indo Pacific region.”

Senate Republican allies of President-elect Donald Trump defended his strategic desire for control of the Panama Canal, Greenland and even Canada, while acknowledging they don’t know how serious he is about pursuing them.

“I don’t think he’s kidding,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican of North Dakota. “I do think he’s serious about the Panama Canal and what that’s cost us in ceding it. But I don’t know how realistic it is to get control back or what it would take.”

He added: “I don’t really want to invade Denmark, but I think it’s hard to deny that Greenland would be a really nice strategic piece of property if we could get it,” he said while adding he didn’t think American troops should be used for these purposes.

“I certainly see Greenland as an opportunity, a great national security addition,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, a Republican of Kansas. “The Panama Canal, I certainly understand President Trump’s concerns that China has a huge presence there now. And that’s being abused. That’s a national security issue. We’ll see what happens.”

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a Republican of Alabama, said China has been “all over the Panama Canal” and “we’ve been sitting back and just kind of playing nice. It’s time to expand. You know, it’s good to talk about, whether it’s going to happen or not, who knows.”

“The minerals in Greenland, I mean that would set us apart,” Tuberville added. “And they’re close, they are right off Maine. It’s not like we have to go to Russia to get our minerals.”

“I understand the strategic importance of being in the Panama Canal,” said Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, “It was unbelievably stupid to give away the Panama Canal.”

Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming was asked why Trump is talking about these issues after running on the economy and border security.

“These are transformative times, and transformative discussions should not be dismissed as frivolous. However, I’m focused on the border, overspending, inflation, the things that the voters thought were important during the election,” she said.

Robert Kennedy Jr. on Capitol Hill, on January 8.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. left a nearly hour-long meeting with Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont moments ago, but wouldn’t delve into specific topics of discussion, which he called “private.”

Asked if he thinks he could work with Sanders, who caucuses with the Democrats, on cutting prescription drug prices, Kennedy said, “I think everybody wants to cut prescription drug prices.”

GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said earlier that he had a “frank” conversation with Kennedy.

“It was very productive,” Kennedy said.

Cassidy chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which will play a role in Kennedy’s confirmation process.

GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer said that, while he personally prefers a two-package strategy to pass Donald Trump’s agenda, he wants “real clarity” on the president-elect’s position at tonight’s meeting.

“I do think that the complexities of the Senate, the machinery over here, it would just be — I just think we’re more likely to be successful with two separate ones. But, again, both possible,” Cramer told reporters. “The president hasn’t weighed in in a big way yet. However, he weighs in is probably what we’ll do, and that’s fine. I think he’s got plausible arguments.”

The North Dakota Republican acknowledged the concern that Congress won’t get to the second package if they take the two-bill route.

“There is a possibility you get the first one done, and then some reconciliation fatigue sets in a little bit,” he said.