By Guardian- Chris Stein/Martin Belam -Wed 13 Nov 2024 15.45 GMT

Trump speaks with president after addressing House Republicans; Tulsi Gabbard considered for director of national intelligence, Punchbowl reports.

Trump to meet Biden at White House

Donald Trump is scheduled to at 11am sit for a meeting with Joe Biden at the White House to discuss the transition between their administrations.

No such meeting happened after Biden won election in 2020, because Trump refused to acknowledge his victory, and instead tried to prevent him from taking office.

Biden and Trump have spent the past four years denouncing each other, but the president quickly reached out to set up a meeting with the Republican after he won last Tuesday’s election.

Reporters are scheduled to be allowed into the Oval Office, where Biden and Trump are meeting, for a few minutes when it begins. We’ll let you know what the two leaders have to say.

26m ago15.36 GMT

Here’s what it looked like when Donald Trump stopped by Capitol Hill to greet House Republicans:

37m ago15.24 GMT

Trump jokes about running again in meeting with House Republicans

Donald Trump joked about running for a third term as president, during an address to House Republicans in Washington DC.

“I suspect I won’t be running again, unless you say, he’s good, we got to figure something else,” Trump said.

The constitution prohibits Trump from running for re-election, since he previously served one term in office that lasted from 2017 till 2021.

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46m ago15.15 GMT

Trump mulling ex-Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard for top intelligence job – report

Donald Trump is considering appointing Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman who left the party and endorsed his candidacy, as his director of national intelligence, Punchbowl News reports.

Gabbard represented Hawaii from 2013 through 2021, and made a failed attempt to win the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.

As a congresswoman, she made an unusual trip to government-controlled areas of Syria during its civil war, met with its president, Bashar al-Assad, and later publicly doubted his responsibility in a well-documented chemical weapons attack. Should Trump nominate her for the job overseeing US intelligence agencies, you can expect that episode to come up at her confirmation hearings. Here’s more about her, from when she made her bid for president:

Tulsi Gabbard: is the Iraq war veteran 2020's most divisive candidate?

Updated at 15.32 GMT1h ago14.54 GMT

Democratic governors launch new organization to fight Trump overreach

Lauren Gambino

As the dawn of a new Trump era looms, two blue state governors are launching an initiative to confront the threat of authoritarianism and safeguard American democratic institutions.

Governors Safeguarding Democracy is a non-partisan coalition of governors, chaired by Illinois governor JB Pritzker and Colorado governor Jared Polis.

“We founded GSD because we know that simple hope alone will save our democracy,” said Polis. “We need to work together, especially at the state level, to protect and strengthen.”

Across the country, Democratic governors and attorneys general are preparing for a second Trump administration by readying lawsuits and legislation that could serve as a bulwark against any attempts to undermine state-level climate initiatives, abortion access or federal disaster relief funding. The governors said they would seek input from thinktanks, legal experts and democracy advocates.

“What we’re doing is pushing back against increasing threats of autocracy and fortifying the institutions of democracy that our country and our states depend upon.” Pritzker told reporters on Tuesday.

The governors said they have been in contact with several governors about joining the initiative, including Republicans, but did not offer the names of any other members.

The alliance is modeling itself after the Reproductive Freedom Alliance, a governors’ working group that formed after the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade. According to Pritzker and Polis, the new coalition will provide a more formal structure allowing for cross-state collaboration on policies that reinforce and protect the rule of law and democratic institutions. It is also aimed at allowing for a more coordinated response to “emerging threats”.

Polis said the governors were particularly concerned about threats to the integrity of the US election system, but that the group would also be focused on “protecting the principle of an independent judiciary, our Constitutional principles, the health of democracy and civil society”.

“It’s about being proactive around educating people and making sure governors have the toolkit to support our small d democratic institutions, as well as, of course, being reacting effectively and coordinating response to any threats to our democracy that come from any president or from foreign powers,” he added.

1h ago14.35 GMT

Reporters on Capitol Hill have spotted JD Vance arriving for the Senate Republican Conference’s leadership election.

He will become vice-president along with Donald Trump on 20 January, but, until then, represents Ohio in the Senate, a job he got (only!) two years ago.

Punchbowl News reports that Vance declined to say which candidate he is supporting to lead the party.

2h ago14.19 GMT

Senate Republicans to select new leader as McConnell steps down

Another story to watch today is the behind-closed-doors election Senate Republicans are holding to replace outgoing leader Mitch McConnell.

McConnell is one of the most influential conservative politicians in the country. The Kentucky lawmaker led the opposition to Barack Obama’s presidency and blocked him from appointing a supreme court justice in 2014, paving the way for Donald Trump to appoint three justices that decisively tilted the court to the right and overturned Roe v Wade. But after a series of health scares, the 82-year-old announced earlier this year that he would not stand again to lead the party in Congress’s upper chamber.

Three candidates stand to replace him: top-ranking senators John Thune of South Dakota and John Cornyn of Texas, and Rick Scott, a Florida senator who has lately received a boost from people aligned with Trump’s Maga agenda. Whoever emerges as the GOP conference’s pick will become Senate majority leader next year, when the party officially takes control of the chamber from Democrats. He’ll also become a leading figure in implementing Trump’s legislative agenda.

2h ago13.57 GMT

Control of House still undecided, but GOP on track for another majority

It’s worth noting that we still do not know for sure if Republicans will continue to hold a majority in the House of Representatives.

Ballot counting is ongoing in a small number of close races in western states, but according to the Associated Press, the GOP has won 216 seats to the Democrats’ 207, with 218 seats needed for a majority. Donald Trump’s allies have managed to pick up four Democratic-held seats, while the Democrats have flipped only one.

Should Democrats pull of surprise victories in enough outstanding seats to gain a majority, it would put them in a position to block Trump’s legislative proposals. Even if the GOP wins the majority again, it will likely be a small one – which can pose its own problems.

2h ago13.36 GMT

Trump to meet with House Republicans before heading to White House

Donald Trump will meet with the House GOP before he sits down with Joe Biden to discuss the presidential transition at the White House.

Republican House speaker Mike Johnson announced the meeting yesterday, which comes as Republicans appear on track to keep their majority in Congress’s lower chamber. Politico reports that the president-elect will appear at the meeting beginning at 9am.

3h ago13.15 GMT

Jack Smith plans to end prosecutions of Trump, resign before president-elect sworn in – report

Justice department special counsel Jack Smith plans to end his two prosecutions of Donald Trump and resign before the president-elect takes office, the New York Times reports.

Smith last year indicted Trump for allegedly plotting to overturn his 2020 election defeat, and for conspiring to hide classified documents. Neither case made it to trial before Trump’s election victory last week, which appeared to make it impossible for Smith to continue. Justice department policy prohibits the prosecution of sitting presidents, and Trump has vowed to fire Smith within “two seconds” of becoming president again.

Here’s more, from the Times:

Jack Smith, the special counsel who pursued two federal prosecutions of Donald J. Trump, plans to finish his work and resign along with other members of his team before Mr. Trump takes office in January, people familiar with his plans said.

Mr. Smith’s goal, they said, is to not leave any significant part of his work for others to complete and to get ahead of the president-elect’s promise to fire him within “two seconds” of being sworn in.

Mr. Smith, who since taking office two years ago has operated under the principle that not even a powerful ex-president is above the law, now finds himself on the defensive as he rushes to wind down a pair of complex investigations slowed by the courts and ultimately made moot by Mr. Trump’s electoral victory.

Mr. Smith’s office is still drawing up its plan for how to end the cases, and it is possible that unforeseen circumstances — such as judicial rulings or decisions by other government officials — could alter his intended timeline. But Mr. Smith is trying to finish his work and leave before Mr. Trump returns to power, the people familiar with his plans said.

…

As he prepares for his last act as special counsel, Mr. Smith’s ultimate audience will not be a jury, but the public.

Department regulations call for him to file a report summarizing his investigation and decisions — a document that may stand as the final accounting from a prosecutor who filed extensive charges against a former president but never got his cases to trial.

It is not clear how quickly he can finish this work, leaving uncertain whether it could be made public before the Biden administration leaves office. But several officials said he has no intention of lingering any longer than he has to, and has told career prosecutors and F.B.I. agents on his team who are not directly involved in that process that they can start planning their departures over the next few weeks, people close to the situation said.

4h ago12.32 GMT

Blinken: Biden administration will 'use every day' to continue supporting Ukraine before Trump becomes president

Secretary of state Antony Blinken is in Brussels in Belgium, where he has been meeting recently appointed Nato secretary general Mark Rutte.

In comments after the meeting, he set out to the media how Joe Biden’s administration intends to continue supporting Ukraine as the transition to the second Donald Trump administration gets under way. He told reporters:

We have a very intense and important agenda over the next couple of months. And as I said to the secretary general, president Biden fully intends to drive through the tape and use every day to continue to do what we’ve done over these last four years, which is strengthen this alliance that’s so critical to the security of the US and security of countries throughout Europe.

And we will do that and as well to continue to shore up everything we’re doing for Ukraine to make sure that it can effectively defend itself against this Russian aggression.

4h ago12.28 GMT

In a few hours Joe Biden and Donald Trump will meet at the White House, a courtesy that Trump did not afford to Biden when he succeeded him as president after the 2020 election.

Republican strategist Susan Del Percio, writing for MSNBC, suggests that today will see both men on their best behavior. She writes:

For the sake of the country, [Biden] will be gracious, congratulate Trump on winning a fair election and, most of all, emphasize the importance of a peaceful transfer of power.

Trump will likely be polite and probably bring up Biden’s call to him following the first attempt on his life in July — a call he seemed to genuinely appreciate. But don’t be surprised if he drops some sort of wisecrack walking out the door.

Do expect Biden to use a little humor — not only is it in his nature, but it is a disarming technique. It will likely end with Biden assuring Trump, and the public, that he will do everything possible to make this a smooth transition and promise to assist the president-elect in any way needed.

4h ago12.16 GMT

From our opinion desk Moira Donegan has her column today, in which she says that the “Your body, my choice” slogan is a creepy, snide and all-too-revealing mantra for pro-Trump young men.

4h ago11.48 GMT

In his Axios newsletter this morning Mike Allen chooses to major on president-elect Donald Trump’s surprise pick of Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, which Allen describes as a “Pentagon shocker.”

He writes:

President Trump made the biggest and most unconventional pick of his transition last evening by tapping Fox News host and decorated Army veteran Pete Hegseth, 44, to be defense secretary.

Hegseth favors a non-interventionist America First foreign policy, in contrast with Trump’s more hawkish picks for other top national security roles.

The choice channels Trump’s affinity for cable news and high ratings.

Hegseth has lobbied heavily on behalf of several service members accused of war crimes and privately encouraged then-president Trump to issue pardons.

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Editors notes

LIST OF WEF GRADUATED POLITICIANS 2022 (PAGE 13 )

Tulsi Gabbard United States House of Representatives Congresswoman from Hawaii (D), 2nd District

Nikki Haley US Government US Ambassador to the UN