Trump’s cabinet choices poll poorly with public with 38 days to inauguration: Live

What happens when you preemptively try to stop a coup, only to discover that you’ve incited one?

That is the very real scenario that Rupert Murdoch finds himself in, after a Nevada court ruled that he couldn’t change the family trust and give control to his son Lachlan.

In trying to solidify his eldest son’s position as head of his powerful media empire to preserve Fox News’ right-wing slant, the 93-year-old Rupert seems to have drawn his other three eldest children – James, Elisabeth and Prudence – closer together.

What does the Middle East look like under Trump 2.0?

The president-elect is due to take office in just a few weeks, having frequently attacked Joe Biden — and later Kamala Harris — for supposedly having failed to stop the two bloody conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza from breaking out under their watch. On top of that, he also made two lofty promises while campaigning: that he would end the conflict in Ukraine quickly upon taking office; and that he would bring a “lasting peace” to the Middle East.

The latter promise was made during an interview with a Saudi news channel, Al-Arabiya, in October.

This is highly optimistic from Laura Ingraham.

Greg Evans has the story.

The president-elect’s eldest son appears to have ditched his fiancee for Florida socialite Bettina Anderson, if the rumors are to be believed, and People magazine now says Guilfoyle’s fashion sense is to blame.

Don Jr has reportedly been “telling people for months that Kim is so uptight and always dresses so professionally in these kinds of dresses and high heels, and never looks relaxed or casual,” according to an insider.

Here’s Kelly Rissman with the latest gossip from Palm Beach.

Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong, owner of The Los Angeles Times, killed off an opinion column that was critical of the president-elect’s recent cabinet picks, telling his newspaper’s editorial board that it could only publish the piece if it also ran an editorial with an opposing view, according to The New York Times.

The spiked column was set to be published in the outlet’s Sunday newspaper and website on November 24.

Soon-Shiong intervened just hours before the op-ed was scheduled to be sent to the printer, prompting the editors to pull the piece as the deadline approached.

According to The NYT, the column was headlined: “Donald Trump’s cabinet choices are not normal. The Senate’s confirmation process should be.”

The editorial board decided that after the incoming president had announced a slew of controversial picks, many of which the board members were concerned about, it would have one of its writers pen a piece calling on the Senate to take its job of confirming nominees seriously.

Justin Baragona has more.

The president-elect is reported to be annoyed by delays to the new Air Force One, which means he likely won’t be able to fly on a new jet during his second term.

Boeing has reportedly said told the US Air Force that the new planes won’t be ready until after Trump leaves the White House, The Wall Street Journal reports.

It was previously reported that the two new planes were due to be delivered in 2026 and 2027.

But the jets won’t be ready until 2029 or possibly even later, according to the Journal.

The former speaker of the House of Representatives suffered an injury on a trip to Luxembourg and has been admitted to a hospital for evaluation, her office said in a statement on Friday.

Pelosi, 84, is the first woman to serve as speaker of the House and had also been a longtime leader of the House Democratic Caucus.

The veteran San Francisco congresswoman stepped down from her role as speaker in 2023 but has continued to serve in the House.

She was re-elected in November to another two-year term beginning on January 3.

Pelosi played a key role in passing President Joe Biden’s sweeping $1 trillion infrastructure bill in 2022 and famously feuded with Republican Donald Trump during his first four years in office, culminating with the moment when she tore up his State of the Union speech on national television in 2020.

More than half of Americans are not confident in Trump’s abilities to appoint well-qualified people to his cabinet or manage government spending effectively, despite recently electing him to lead the United States, according to a new poll.

Just 44 percent of US adults reported feeling “very” or even “moderately” confident that Trump will appoint well-qualified individuals for cabinet or high-level government positions.

The new results from the Associated Press and NORC arrive as the president-elect has selected a group of controversial individuals to serve in his cabinet and other high-level positions including former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, ex-congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and erstwhile presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr, among others.

Those three nominations are particularly expected to face an uphill battle during Senate confirmations.

And the American electorate aren’t fans either.

Hegseth, Gabbard and Kennedy all face low approval ratings from those surveyed.

Ariana Baio has more on the survey’s findings.

What a charming Christmas setting for this brutal threat against an elected official.