November 12, 2024 - US election

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Kaitlan Collins details challenges Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would face in possible new roles

01:40 • Source: CNN

Kaitlan Collins details challenges Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would face in possible new roles

01:40

President-elect Donald Trump is announcing key positions in his incoming administration as he prepares to return to the White House.

Trump said Florida Republican Rep. Mike Waltz will be his national security adviser and tapped Pete Hegseth, a veteran and the co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend, to be secretary of defense.

Trump selected former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be the next US ambassador to Israel and longtime friend and real estate developer Steve Witkoff to serve as Special Envoy to the Middle East.

Veteran Republican lawyer Bill McGinley will serve as his White House counsel and John Ratcliffe as CIA director, the president-elect said.

And Trump said Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the new “Department of Government Efficiency.”

Here’s what else we know about Trump’s potential new team:

This post has been updated with more details on Trump’s administration picks.

Mike Huckabee moderates a roundtable discussion with Donald Trump in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, on October 29.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who was tapped on Tuesday by President-elect Donald Trump as US ambassador to Israel, called for a “complete reset” of “international relations” when Trump returns to the White House.

Speaking in an interview with Fox News, Huckabee suggested a major reevaluation of diplomatic relationships across the board, laying out what he anticipates for Trump’s foreign policy vision.

Huckabee claimed that Trump’s election victory has already impacted the Middle East conflict, while further teasing a “realignment” of the country’s place in foreign diplomacy.

“You’re seeing a scrambling all over the Middle East of countries suddenly trying to behave differently because they know a new sheriff has come to town,” he said.

Slamming the UN: Huckabee also praised Trump for selecting New York Rep. Elise Stefanik as the next US ambassador to the United Nations, saying she will bring “a great revelation of what’s wrong” at the UN.

Stefanik has frequently criticized the international organization, particularly over its criticism of Israel, and last month said the Biden administration should consider a “complete reassessment” of US funding for the UN if the Palestinian Authority continues to pursue a push to revoke Israel’s UN membership.

Pete Hegseth, the Fox News anchor who became President-elect Donald Trump’s surprise pick for Defense Secretary, says he was removed from inauguration duty in 2021 because of what he described as a religious tattoo.

In his book “The War on Warriors,” Hegseth wrote that he had served under former Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. His unit was also tasked to work the inauguration of President Joe Biden on January 20, 2021.

Some context: While the symbol still holds religious and historical significance — the Crusader Cross is included on the flag of the country Georgia — far right groups have seized upon them, using them to represent an anti-Muslim ideology, according to the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center, two organizations that study hate groups.

One day before Biden’s inauguration, the National Guard Bureau said it had removed 12 soldiers from inauguration duty following a security vetting process intended to ensure troops do not have any ties to extremist groups.

Two individuals were flagged because of “inappropriate” comments and texts, Gen. David Hokanson, the commander of the National Guard Bureau, told reporters at the time. The other 10 were removed for questionable behavior found during the vetting process.

The National Guard Bureau never identified the soldiers who had been removed from inauguration duty so its unclear if Hegseth was one of those identified. There is also no indication that any follow-on disciplinary action was taken against those who were removed.

Hokanson emphasized that the removal of the Guard members did not indicate they had ties to extremism, but only that they had been “identified” during the process and removed out of an abundance of caution.

CNN has reached out to the National Guard Bureau for comment.

Elon Musk embraces Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on October 5.

Hours after President-elect Donald Trump announced that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the new “Department of Government Efficiency,” the tech billionaire pledged to post all of the department’s actions online for transparency.

He also promised to have a “a leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars,” adding: “This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining.”

During a private two-and-a-half-hour candidate forum for GOP leaders, Sens. John Thune, John Cornyn and Rick Scott discussed their positions on recess appointments for President-elect Donald Trump’s appointees as well as the looming debt limit fight.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who is backing Thune, said their discussion was “very cordial” and that Thune did a “really good job explaining” how they could use recess appointments to get Trump’s nominees confirmed. He added that the debt limit would be a “huge concern” that all three addressed.

Thune’s past criticism of Trump did not come up in the meeting, he also noted.

“There’s so many people in that building, and even so many people in the Trump world that at one time said something negative about President Trump before they got to know him,” Mullin argued, saying that Thune’s past comments are “not a concern.”

Sen. Mike Lee, who organized the forum and endorsed Scott as it ended, said much of the discussion was about the need to return to “regular order” and an open amendment process, where control over legislation would theoretically be divided more evenly amongst senators in the conference.

Thune called it a “fulsome discussion,” but would not say how confident he is feeling ahead of tomorrow. “You never know until the voters vote,” he said.

Cornyn similarly avoided discussing his level of confidence tonight, telling reporters, “I made my pitch to my colleagues, not to you.” Scott insisted that they “had a great conversation” before the elevator doors closed.

Sen. Ron Johnson noted that he would still like to extend the conversation, and push the elections back, and that he raised his concerns – but he believes many of his colleagues are ready to vote.

Rep. David Valadao participates in the House Republican Conference news conference at the Capitol on September 14, 2022.

Republican Rep. David Valadao will win reelection in California’s 22nd District, once again defeating Democrat Rudy Salas in a rematch, CNN projects.

Valadao was one of two members of the “Impeachment 10” — the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump after the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol — who returned to Congress following the 2022 midterms.

The California Republican was first elected to Congress in 2012 after serving one term in the state Assembly. He lost his House seat in 2018 to Democrat TJ Cox but then won again in 2020.

California’s 22nd District in the Central Valley is Democratic-leaning and predominantly Latino. President Joe Biden would have won the district by 13 points in 2020. The son of an immigrant from the Azores Islands in Portugal, Valadao has deep roots in the Central Valley, where his family owns several dairies.

Many people in President-elect Donald Trump’s orbit were caught by surprise by his decision to select Pete Hegseth to run the Pentagon, sources familiar with the discussions told CNN.

The sources argued it came down to Trump having a longstanding relationship with Hegseth, noting that Trump always thought he was “smart” and was impressed by his career. Trump also likes that Hegseth is a military veteran and the account of his service in his book, the sources said.

For his first term, Trump had considered Hegseth to potentially lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. However, at the time people close to Trump ultimately convinced him against it.

Unlike many of the other picks Trump has announced to serve in top roles in his administration, the president-elect did not meet with Hegseth at Mar-a-Lago in recent days, one of the sources told CNN. Their discussions over the role were conducted remotely, the source added.

Hegseth didn’t emerge as a top candidate for secretary of defense until Monday, a Trump adviser said, adding that he interviewed for the role over the last 24 hours.

A senior Republican close to Trump and the transition called the choice of Hegseth “a complete surprise,” and not in the line of what has been discussed in multiple meetings. While not discounting Hegseth’s intellect or service, this Republican described the choice as “not what anyone was expecting” and far less serious than others under contention.

The pick is also seen as a response to Trump’s likely choice of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for State Secretary – which has been criticized by many across MAGA world – as someone to placate the base.

This post has been updated with more information.

Donald Trump speaks during an election night event in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 6.

As President-elect Donald Trump is narrowing down his choices for top roles in his incoming administration and making congratulatory phone calls to those he’s chosen, one position that’s been at the forefront of his choices remains unsolved tonight: attorney general.

Trump has thought about who he would install at the Department of Justice if he won reelection for months, but now, after meeting with several candidates at his Palm Beach club, the incoming president is still wrestling with his decision, according to three people who have spoken with him.

Trump has solicited the opinions of those in his inner circle at Mar-a-Lago, made phone calls on the matter and met with at least one candidate Tuesday. But he has yet to come to a decision, mainly because no one he’s encountered has checked all of the boxes he’s looking for, one person familiar with his thinking told CNN.

His picks last time: Trump’s fixation with his next attorney general has stemmed from his intense displeasure with the two he nominated during his first term, Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr.

Trump fired Sessions after the midterm elections in 2018 when the two had essentially stopped speaking. And Barr left in December of 2020 as Trump continued to push election lies that Barr had publicly dispelled.

For context: Trump and his team have cited the attorney general as the most important Cabinet position if he is to make good on campaign promises, which include immigration-related executive orders and investigations of his political enemies. The Justice Department is also charged with defending administration actions in court, covering issues from health care to the environment to gun control.

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'We are in a new place': Bernstein reacts to Hegseth's comments about women in combat roles

01:34 • Source: CNN

'We are in a new place': Bernstein reacts to Hegseth's comments about women in combat roles

01:34

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth has criticized efforts to allow women into combat roles in the military, accusing the military of lowering standards to allow women into those jobs.

Speaking about his book, “The War on Warriors” published this year, Hegseth said in a recent podcast he was surprised “there hasn’t been more blowback” on the book, “because I’m straight up just saying, we should not have women in combat roles.”

Hegseth later added that he took issue specifically with women in “physical, labor-intensive type jobs,” such as those with the Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, Army Special Forces, Marine Special Operations, and jobs such as those in infantry, armor and artillery units.

“I’m talking about something where strength is the differentiator,” he said.

Republican senators trickled out of the candidate forum about two and a half hours after it began, saying it was drama free and a serious discussion about the way forward for their conference.

Most senators refused to say who they’d support as they left, though Sen. John Hoeven said he’d back Sen. John Thune, and Sen. Marsha Blackburn said she was voting for Sen. Rick Scott.

Pete Hegseth appears on "Fox & Friends" at Fox News Channel Studios in New York in 2019.

Fox News host Pete Hegseth’s name was not among those considered as likely picks for Donald Trump’s Defense Secretary among those in the Defense Department. In fact, his name hardly emerged in the run up to the announcement if at all.

Another defense official who was following the potential picks for the position only learned about the possibility of Hegseth in the hours before the nomination and, like others who spoke on condition of anonymity with CNN, didn’t even know how to react.

But in Hegseth, Trump is likely to have a loyalist leading the department with which he had an often rocky relationship during his first term. Trump feuded with his first Defense Secretary, James Mattis, who resigned in protest after Trump announced an immediate withdrawal of US forces from Syria. Mark Esper, Trump’s other confirmed Defense Secretary, had openly warned about the threat of another Trump administration in the weeks leading up to the election.

Republican senators are reacting to President-elect Donald Trump picking Fox News host Pete Hegseth as the next defense secretary. Here’s what they are saying:

Sen. Lisa Murkowski: “Wow,” the Alaska Republican said when told about the pick. “I’m just surprised. I’m not going to comment whether it’s good, bad or indifferent. I’m just surprised, because the names that I’ve heard for secretary of defense have not included” his. She said she did not know if Hegseth would have trouble being confirmed.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito: “I trust the president to make a good choice,” the West Virginia senator said. Asked if she had any concerns about his qualifications since it’s such an important and significant job, she replied, “it’s a huge job” before walking off.

Sen. Ted Budd: The North Carolina senator, who is also on the Armed Services Committee, called Hegseth “an impressive individual” and said he would not have problems being confirmed. “There’s lot of great options, and I’m certainly going to support President Trump and his agenda, his nominees,” Budd said. Asked if he thinks he’s qualified to run such a major department, Budd said, “Oh I do. They’ll put a great team around him.”

Sen. Todd Young: The Indiana lawmaker, who has been critical of Trump at times, said he wanted to learn more about his the nominee. “I just don’t know much about his background and his vision. I look forward to learning more. I want to give all of President Trump’s nominees fair opportunity to state their qualifications and their vision,” he said.

Sen. Thom Tillis: “Interesting,” the North Carolina lawmaker said.

Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, cast doubt on whether President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for the defense department had the necessary experience.

Smith explained how having a Pentagon leader not familiar with department policy could have an impact on the military’s ability to meet new challenges.

He said he and House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers agree that the Pentagon needs to be “better at innovation, better at adapting new technologies, more quickly,” as the acquisition process is “incredibly slow.”

“Lack of experience of making the Pentagon bureaucracy work better is a concern,” he said.

He also said the US has a “lot of iron to the fire” in the Middle East, Asia and Ukraine and he sees “no evidence” Hegseth has “any relationship whatsoever with our overseas partners.”

Democratic Rep. Mike Levin speaks at an event in Encinitas, California, on June 1.

Democratic Rep. Mike Levin will hold onto his seat in California’s 49th Congressional District, CNN projects, beating out a challenge from a Republican businessman.

Levin, an environmental attorney, first flipped the southern California seat blue in 2018. He held on against Matt Gunderson, an owner of multiple Orange County car dealerships, in a district that national GOP leaders targeted as a potential flip opportunity.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Speaker Mike Johnson.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene blamed Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership for Republicans not yielding a commanding majority of seats in the House of Representatives, saying Americans voted for President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda — not the actions taken by the House GOP.

Greene told CNN she wouldn’t rule out backing a challenger to Johnson, something that would be significant in the January floor vote where Johnson can’t afford to lose more than a handful of votes.

Greene pointed to Trump’s lead over Vice President Kamala Harris in the popular vote, as well as his decisive electoral vote win, and said “that didn’t transfer over to House races, and it should have.”

“We should have a major majority, a super majority, but we don’t,” she told CNN in an interview. “I think it’s based on the performance of this Congress.”

Greene argued the American people approved the “MAGA agenda,” and “that was not the agenda that was focused on in this majority of Republicans.”

Remember: CNN has not yet made projections in enough House races for either party to reach the 218 seats needed to control the chamber, but Republicans are currently just three seats away from keeping the majority.

When pressed on whether Johnson, who has fought to govern with a narrow majority, is to blame, Greene answered, “yes,” referencing the House passing more aide to Ukraine and reauthorizing FISA as instances where the speaker should have pushed back on the will of more moderate members.

Fox News has released a statement praising Pete Hegseth’s work at the network and noting that he will no longer be hosting Fox & Friends Weekend.

Hegseth’s deal with Fox ends today, the network said.

Hegseth started with Fox News as a contributor in 2014 and was named the co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend in 2017. He started co-hosting the show on a regular basis in late 2016 and was officially named to the role in January 2017, according to Fox.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks at a press conference in Washington, DC, on November 13, 2023.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Tuesday that Democrats could learn from Republicans when it comes to “constant direct communication” with voters, especially when crafting an economic message.

Asked by CNN’s Manu Raju what she takes away from people in her district in New York who voted for both President-elect Donald Trump and her, Ocasio-Cortez answered:

She said the content of the party’s message is “of course, very important,” but expressed the value of “having a laser-focused, class-focused, economic-focused message that is simple, easy to understand in three words, and also digitally and constantly communicated every day.”

Asked about former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent suggestion that a Democratic candidate could have had a better chance at winning if President Joe Biden had stepped aside sooner, Ocasio-Cortez answered, “at the end of the day, I think that when it comes to that kind of crystal ball speculation, it’s really hard to tell.”

“It’s important to note that Kamala Harris came very, very close. It is possible for anybody to name any one individual factor as the deciding factor and make their case,” she said, again expressing the importance of delivering for working-class Americans in “clear, tangible ways” that they can feel “in their pockets.”

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign town hall, on October 14, 2024, in Oaks, Pennsylvania.

President-elect Donald Trump announced that he is selecting South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

CNN had previously reported on the selection.

Noem will be tapped to take over the agency as two key immigration hardliners — Stephen Miller and Tom Homan — are slated to serve in senior roles, signaling Trump is serious about his promise to crack down on his immigration pledges. With his selection of Noem, Trump is ensuring a loyalist will head an agency he prioritizes and that is key to his domestic agenda.

The department saw an immense amount of turmoil the last time Trump was in office. Then, DHS had five different leaders, only two of whom were Senate-confirmed. The agency has a $60 billion budget and hundreds of thousands of employees.

Noem, who previously was a South Dakota representative, will now be tasked with overseeing a sprawling agency that oversees everything from US Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the US Secret Service.

This post has been updated with more details on the appointment.

Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy.

President-elect Donald Trump has announced that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the new “Department of Government Efficiency.”

“This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!” Musk was quoted saying.

The work of the department will end no later than July 4, 2026, Trump said in the release.

“A smaller Government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift to America on the 250th Anniversary of The Declaration of Independence. I am confident they will succeed!” Trump said in the release.