On Tuesday, a federal judge temporarily halted the release of Special Counsel Jack Smith's report regarding his investigations into President-elect Trump's alleged 2020 election interference and alleged improper retention of classified records, which have since been suspended.
Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, co-defendants of Trump, submitted an emergency motion to prevent the purportedly imminent publication of Smith's final report, as Politico reported.
Aileen Cannon, the U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida, rendered a decision in favor of Nauta and De Oliveira in order to "prevent irreparable harm."
Cannon indicated that Smith is "temporarily enjoined" from participating in "releasing, sharing, or transmitting the Final Report or any drafts of such Report outside the Department of Justice."
The order will remain in effect for a period of three days following the announcement of a resolution by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
It is customary for special counsels to publish a final report that outlines the results of their investigation and elucidates any prosecution or declination decisions they have made.
Given Trump's status as president-elect and the Justice Department's long-standing policy against bringing criminal charges against a seated president, the prosecution decision in Smith's case is immaterial.
The report would initially be reviewed by the office of Attorney General Merrick Garland, as is customary.
On Monday, Trump's attorneys wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland, imploring him not to disclose Smith's report, a two-volume document that they were permitted to examine in Smith's office over the previous three days.
Trump's attorneys stated in the letter to Garland that the release of a public narrative of the evidence Smith gathered in the classified documents case and the federal election conspiracy case regarding Trump's attempt to subvert the 2020 election would illegally interfere with the presidential transition and be little more than a political attack.
They argued that the administration of Trump should be responsible for determining whether or not Smith's findings should be disclosed. Additionally, they urged Garland to terminate Smith's employment promptly, as he is scheduled to conclude his term by the time of Trump's inauguration.
“Because Smith has proposed an unlawful course of action, you must countermand his plan and remove him promptly,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.
On Tuesday, attorneys for Trump's co-defendants announced that the president-elect would soon seek to formally intervene in court regarding the matter.
Smith and the Justice Department jointly responded on Tuesday morning, stating that Garland had not yet rendered a decision regarding the report's public dissemination and would not do so until at least January 10.
Smith stated that he had not yet transmitted the classified documents report to Garland and would not do so until at least Tuesday afternoon.
Soon-to-be First Lady Melania Trump is happy to have billionaire businessman Elon Musk hanging around Mar-A-Lago on a daily basis, according to a source that gave an exclusive to People.
“Melania is glad to have a babysitter for Donald, and she will find some kind of project to team up with him herself if he stays around,” the source said, and others agreed she hasn't minded having Musk there keeping her husband busy.
"Melania has her own life and isn't bothered by political dealings her husband has with others," the source said. "But so far, she has no issues with Musk."
She has her own stuff going on and is glad to see that her husband also does, sources agreed.
“Melania is in good spirits and does her own thing, and is not bothered one way or the other by Musk hanging around,” a social source told People.
“For the most part, she is not involved with subjects her husband is discussing with Musk or anyone else hanging around him. Right now, Trump has a lot of people wanting things from him. She is all too aware of that.”
Melania will have her own duties as First Lady, which will keep her busy along with taking care of her college-age son Barron in New York.
Musk has reportedly sat in on phone calls with world leaders and weighed in on White House staffing decisions, as well as playing golf and dining at the famous Trump resort.
Trump has used the resort as something of a political headquarters since his campaign began, and continues to do so during the transition.
Musk also spent New Year's Eve with the Trumps, which shows how close their relationship has become.
Of course, Musk has been nominated by Trump to head a new office in his administration: the Department of Government Efficiency.
Melania sees the relationship as a net positive.
After all, who else understands a billionaire like another billionaire.
The two have a shared experience only a handful of others on the globe possess, and Musk risked much to hitch his wagon to Trump's. So far, he has not crashed and burned, but knowing Trump, it still could happen.
U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel of Japan filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration after a $15 billion acquisition deal was blocked by the administration, accusing the head of the Steelworker's union and a rival steel company of colluding to scuttle it.
Biden pretended to be "America first" about the deal, but overlooked the fact that Japan is a strong ally of the U.S.
Major U.S. steel companies need to "keep leading the fight on behalf of America’s national interests,” Biden said.
America's national interests include strong relationships with our allies, or maybe Biden's brain just isn't computing basic facts anymore.
“Nippon Steel and U. S. Steel have engaged in good faith with all parties to underscore how the Transaction will enhance, not threaten, United States national security," the companies said in a prepared statement Monday.
Nippon was poised to invest $2.7 billion into aging blast furnaces in Mon Valley, Pennsylvania and Gary, Indiana.
U.S. Steel said without that investment, it would have to pivot to cheaper non-union furnaces and move its headquarters out of Pittsburgh.
Federal regulators deadlocked over the takeover, which led Biden to halt it.
“A strong domestically owned and operated steel industry represents an essential national security priority. ... Without domestic steel production and domestic steel workers, our nation is less strong and less secure," he said in a statement.
It's the first time a merger with a Japanese company has been blocked by a U.S. president, MSN noted.
A separate suit was filed in the Western District of Pennsylvania jointly by Nippon and U.S. Steel.
It accused rival steel company Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and its CEO, Lourenco Goncalves, in coordination with U.S. Steelworkers union head David McCall, of “engaging in a coordinated series of anticompetitive and racketeering activities” to block the deal.
It turns out Cleveland-Cliffs had offered to buy U.S. Steel in 2023 for $7 billion, but was refused.
McCall has for a long time called Nippon a “serial trade cheater” and accused it of dumping products into the U.S. market.
But Nippon may not fare any better with incoming President Donald Trump, who also opposes the acquisition.
In the final weeks of the Biden presidency, the Biden administration announced a ban on certain natural gas water heaters as part of its climate change agenda.
The new ban will remove non-condensing, natural gas-fired water heaters from the shelves by 2029 meaning that poor and elderly Americans living in smaller builders will have to shovel out more money to buy more expensive water heaters.
The regulation stipulates that the new tankless gas water heaters must use 13% less energy than today’s least efficient tankless models.
Furthermore, this regulation was released on the day after Christmas without any kind of announcement.
Clearly, President Biden didn't want Americans to notice that he had just made energy even more expensive for poor Americans so there was no announcement and the release was disguised on a day when many Americans were spending time with their families so as to attract as little time as possible.
This callous and cruel decision will cost elderly and poor Americans more upfront for energy costs for minimal savings in energy over the long term.
Matthew Agen, the American Gas Association’s chief counsel for energy, responded to the new regulation by saying, "The final rule is a violation of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), which prohibits DOE from promulgating a standard that renders a product with a distinct performance characteristic unavailable."
Hopefully, that accusation means that there will be an extensive legal battle coming to stop this regulation before it can take effect.
Agen continued by saying, "Forcing low-income and senior customers to pay far more upfront is particularly concerning. DOE’s decision to go ahead with a flawed final rule is deeply disappointing."
This decision from the Biden administration is yet another decision that will force Americans to pay more for energy in the name of combatting climate change.
Poor Americans now have to pay hundreds more for more expensive heaters to reduce emissions by some incalculably small amount. These kinds of decisions affect Americans living on fixed incomes the most while the elites will never feel the impact of these absurd regulations.
Furthermore, this regulation completely destroys Rinnai America, a company that has invested $70 million to build a 360,000-square-foot factory in Georgia to build non-condensing gas water heaters.
Frank Windsor, president of Rinnai America, told the Washington Free Beacon that, "When the rule goes into effect, all that manufacturing will basically be irrelevant. A lot of the major equipment that we've invested in will basically have to be scrapped."
So not only is this regulation putting more burden on poor Americans but it could destroy hundreds of jobs in Georgia should Rinnai America have to shut down.
When President-elect Donald Trump assumes office, he should immediately rescind this regulation and ensure that Biden's spiteful last regulations aren't allowed to impact the American people.
Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC) fell at the U.S. Capitol on Friday shortly after the vote to confirm House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) as the next House Speaker.
Foxx, who is the chairwoman of the House Education Committee, fell on a staircase on the GOP side of the Capitol shortly after the vote leading to emergency services moving in to assist Foxx.
Foxx is an astounding 81 years old and her fall comes just weeks after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi fell on a marble staircase in Luxembourg which led to her needing hip replacement surgery.
Thankfully, Foxx wasn't that badly injured and seems to have escaped the worst outcomes that typically come from elderly people falling.
Foxx's fall, along with Pelosi's, has highlighted a growing issue of arguably ancient individuals refusing to retire and remaining in Congress long past retirement age.
Foxx reportedly fell on her face as she was seen with a bloody nose but was up and walking after the fall and was being guided by medical attendants to the Capitol physician's office.
Foxx quickly assured American that she was fine in a post to X saying, "Thank you to everyone for your prayers – just a few small cuts, and I’m doing just fine. I’m a mountain woman, and we’re tougher than a $2 steak."
While luckily Foxx is doing ok and survived with a few cuts this incident is shining the spotlight on the nation's gerontocracy problem.
Nancy Pelosi's scary fall resulted in her needing hip replacement surgery at a military hospital in Germany.
And just days before that, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who is also in his 80s, fell and sprained his wrist at the Capitol.
Congress has gotten entirely too old and the stairs at the Capitol are going to become the most dangerous place in Washington D.C. which has only amplified calls for term limits for both Representatives and Senators.
Many Americans have demanded term limits for Congress for years but these high-profile accidents could do a lot to strengthen that movement.
Foxx has been in Congress representing North Carolina's fifth congressional district since 2005. For Pelosi, the situation is even worse as she has been in Congress since 1987 meaning she has been in Washington D.C. longer than many Americans have been alive.
Mitch McConnell has been in Congress even longer serving seven terms since 1985 making the strongest case yet for term limits.
Being in Congress was never meant to be a career and yet because of the lack of term limits has led to an epidemic of individuals staying in Congress till they die. These people simply cannot possibly represent constituents above their own interests and something must be done about this situation quickly.
A new Gallup poll released on Thursday showed that Americans are mixed in their expectations for what President-elect Donald Trump might achieve in his second term in office, which begins on January 20.
The poll looked at a number of policy priorities, and predicted he'd succeed with seven while failing at the other eight.
The highest expectation for success in the poll was on immigration, which 68% said they thought he would do.
Other policies the respondents expected he would succeed at were reducing unemployment, keeping the country safe from terrorism, improving the economy, keeping the country out of war, cutting people’s taxes and reducing the crime rate.
Respondents thought Trump would not be successful at healing political divisions in the country, improving the quality of the environment, improving the healthcare system, improving race relations, improving education, substantially reducing the federal budget deficit, improving conditions for minorities and the poor, and reducing the prices of groceries and other items.
On two other items, the respondents were about even: improving the way the federal government works and increasing respect for the U.S. abroad.
In the poll, conducted between December 2 and 18, 51% said they approved of how he's handling the transition.
Of course, Republicans were markedly more bullish on Trump's policy success, while Democrats were much less so.
The main differences between the expectations of Trump now and eight years ago were that reducing prices wasn't on the list (inflation was low at the time) and most Americans in 2016 didn't believe Trump would keep the country out of war.
Trump proved in his first term that he could achieve peace through strength, and he is largely perceived now as a leader who avoids war.
If Trump 2.0 is at all similar to first-term Trump, the economy will go roaring over the next few years.
Immigration will decrease, taxes will go down, and his opponents will look to impeach him a few more times.
Before COVID hit, Trump was widely regarded as a successful president, even if the lefties and the media would never admit it.
Now he has a second chance to show America what he can do and to create a positive legacy to leave us with.
On New Years Eve in Palm Beach, Florida, Melania Trump and her husband danced to the Village People's 1978 "YMCA" anthem to the crowd's amusement.
Donald and Melania Trump danced together to the president-elect's favorite song while at Mar-a-Lago during a New Year's Eve video, as Page Six reported.
Melania swayed to the anthem in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday with her husband, who performed the favored dancing routines at election campaign rallies.
Donald’s eldest child, son Donald Trump Jr., 47, captioned in an Instagram video, showing Melania grooving to the song as she mouthed the lyrics to the track and moved her hands as she bobbed about, saying “It’s fun to stay at the YMCA!!!! Happy new year all!”
The dance moves of the incoming First Lady, which went viral, came as a surprise to users of social media. One user on X expressed their opinion:
"Never in my life did I think Melania Trump would be jamming to YMCA on New Year's. Trump has infected the whole country, including his family and Elon Musk, with his dance moves. Everyone is doing it.'
"Love Melania doping her own moves to YMCA,'" another said. "And how some people can't crack a smile at Trump doing his dance is beyond me."
Elon Musk, Trump's friend and now advisor , was also present. He appeared to be in high spirits as he carried his mini-me son, X AE A-Xii, who wore a suit that was nearly identical to his fathers,. Elon smiled as his son held onto his face for support on his shoulders.
As the club hosted a New Year's Eve celebration on Tuesday night, Trump momentarily addressed reporters in the vicinity of a red carpet that had been set up for the event.
His fleeting appearance onstage was to address the attendees, which included a number of his potential Cabinet members and other positions in his forthcoming administration.
Trump utilizes his tablet's Spotify account to play many songs that were frequently played at his campaign rallies during banquets with friends and family.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, and Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and X, have all attended breakfasts, luncheons, and other social events at the Mar-a-Lago club.
According to online videos, Mike Love, one of the original members of the Beach Boys, performed the band's greatest hits under an outdoor tent over the weekend. Trump, who was being followed by Secret Service agents, wandered through the audience, swinging his fists to the music.
At other times of the evening, he stood near the pool, swaying his head in time to the music, alongside his wife, Melania.
Trump declared on Friday that the resort is the "Centre of the Universe" on social media, and he also mentioned that Bill Gates had requested to attend the event that evening.
The presence of the Microsoft co-founder amongst the rich and famous at to Mar-a-Lago was not specifically addressed by representatives of Trump and Gates.
According to a court filing that was made on Monday afternoon, the team of special counsel Jack Smith has decided to withdraw from their appeal of the secret materials case against the co-defendants of President-elect Donald Trump.
Instead, they have transferred the matter to the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, it seems to have finally come to an end, as The Hill reported.
Due to a long-standing policy of the Department of Justice that prohibits the prosecution of a sitting president, Smith decided to withdraw his appeal against Trump last month.
However, his team continued to pursue their appeal against Trump's two co-defendants in the case, Walt Nauta, a longtime Trump aide, and Carlos De Oliveira, an employee of Mar-a-Lago.
In June of 2023, President Trump entered a plea of not guilty to 37 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials.
Prosecutors claimed that Trump had repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents that contained classified information ranging from the nuclear secrets of the United States to the capabilities of the nation's defense, and that he had also taken steps to thwart the efforts of the government to retrieve the documents.
In a superseding indictment, the former president, together with Nauta and De Oliveira, entered a plea of not guilty to the allegations that they attempted to destroy surveillance footage at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence.
After the United States District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed Smith's lawsuit in July, citing the validity of his appointment as special counsel, Smith filed an appeal with the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which is located in Atlanta.
On Monday, Smith's legal team decided to withdraw from the case and hand it over to federal prosecutors in Florida.
This decision was made while the appeal was still proceeding, but under the time-constraints of a potentially complicated presidential inaguration coming in just a few weeks.
Markenzy Lapointe, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, has entered his appearance in the matter in a separate filing.
Requests have been made to the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida about the case, but they have yet to offer any further details.
Smith has also been winding down his federal election interference case against Trump following Trump's reelection.
It is anticipated that Smith would give a report on his investigations to Attorney General Merrick Garland in the coming weeks before stepping down from his position as special counsel.
The 2nd Circuit Appeals Court on Monday rejected an appeal by President-elect Donald Trump that held him liable for allegedly sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll in a New York department store dressing room in the mid-1990s and then defaming her in 2022 by denying the claims.
“Mr. Trump has not demonstrated that the district court erred in any of the challenged rulings,” wrote the 3-judge panel in an unsigned opinion.
Trump communications director Steven Cheung responded to the ruling by saying, the “American People have re-elected President Trump” and have demanded the “swift dismissal of all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoax, which will continue to be appealed.”
Trump's lawyers argued in the appeal that testimony from other women who claimed sexual misconduct by Trump should not have been admitted, and that the Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump claimed to have groped women without their consent should not have been allowed either.
Many courts would consider that evidence to be prejudicial, but that doesn't seem to be an issue for courts that are going after Trump to smear, attack, and punish him for being a successful politician.
Trump has said the allegations against him were politically motivated and denied them repeatedly.
In order to get a new trial in the case, Trump will have to continue his appeal before the full Circuit Court or the Supreme Court.
It's not a great look for the once and future president, but people had every chance to know about the case before November and elected Trump anyway.
In other news, Trump got a win in his defamation case against ABC News and George Stephanopoulos.
The outlet decided to settle with Trump for $15 million after Stephanopoulos said on-air that Trump "raped" Carroll. The courts did not find that he raped her.
ABC News also apologized to Trump and paid $1 million of his legal fees for the suit.
None of the criminal cases against Trump are going anywhere for the next four years while he is president, but the civil cases can still continue, apparently.
A $500 million civil verdict against him is in the hands of an appeals court, and a ruling on the appeal could come soon.
A mjaority of Trump's supporters seem to believe that all litigation against him is politically motivated, so the failure of any appeals will likely only hit his hefty pocketbook, not his reputation.
Attorneys general from Montana and Virginia asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to uphold the requirement that social media platform TikTok sever its connection with the Chinese Communist Party or be dissolved, denying a request from President-elect Donald Trump for a delay in doing so until his administration can act to resolve the situation.
Both the attorneys general and Trump filed amicus briefs to the high court on the same day, with Trump asking for a pause on the ban so that he could make executive decisions about the ban after he takes office.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said whistleblower reports show that data from TikTok was shared with the CCP, and that the platform and its parent company ByteDance pose a national security risk to the U.S.
Some of the data shared includes Americans' browsing habits and facial recognition data.
"Allowing TikTok to operate in the United States without severing its ties to the Chinese Communist Party exposes Americans to the undeniable risks of having their data accessed and exploited by the Chinese Communist Party," Miyares said in a statement. "Virginians deserve a government that stands firm in protecting their privacy and security.
"The Supreme Court now has the chance to affirm Congress’s authority to protect Americans from foreign threats while ensuring that the First Amendment doesn’t become a tool to defend foreign adversaries’ exploitative practices."
Trump's brief was not in support of either side of the case. Instead, he argued that as president, he had the right to make decisions about the fate of TikTok.
The brief said Trump "has a unique interest in the First Amendment issues raised in this case" and that the case "presents an unprecedented, novel, and difficult tension between free-speech rights on one side, and foreign policy and national-security concerns on the other."
"As the incoming Chief Executive, President Trump has a particularly powerful interest in and responsibility for those national-security and foreign-policy questions, and he is the right constitutional actor to resolve the dispute through political means," Trump's brief said.
The ban would take effect on January 19 if ByteDance does not sell TikTok to an American company. It has not done so.
Trump will be inaugurated on January 20, one day too late to halt the ban or facilitate any resolution short of the ban.
TikTok has about 150 million active monthly users in America that will not be able to access the platform under the ban.
It also generates an estimated six billion dollars for the American economy that will be lost if the platform is banned.
Younger voters who are more active on TikTok do not want to see it banned, so if Trump can broker a solution to the national security risk, that would be to his credit.