Trump Corruption

Politico reports: The portrait of Gen. Mark Milley, the former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, disappeared Monday from the Pentagon — less than three hours after President Donald Trump took office. Incoming Defense Department officials did not explain the portrait’s removal, which the Biden administration hung less than two weeks ago in the spot with other former Pentagon …

ABC News reports: President Donald Trump is preparing to issue a sweeping series of pardons for defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, including commuting the prison sentences of hundreds of his supporters who have been convicted of violent attacks against law enforcement, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. The planned commutations for …

“Governors have also been relegated to the Emancipation Hall overflow viewing space, including Republicans Indiana Gov. Mike Braun, Florida Gov. and former presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat. Kari Lake, a former candidate for senator and governor of Arizona, is also here.” …

Mediaite reports: President Donald Trump did not place his hand on the Holy Bible Monday as he was swearing into office for a second time, multiple clips of his inauguration show. Trump was sworn in by US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts at 12:01 ET Monday to begin his second term in the White House. Melania Trump stood by …

“President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent. He was a natural businessman and gave Teddy Roosevelt the money for many of the great things he did, including the Panama Canal, which has foolishly been given to the country of Panama after the United States. “The United States, I mean, think of this, spent more money …

NBC News reports: Trump on Monday plans to sign executive orders proclaiming that the U.S. government will recognize only two sexes, male and female, and ending “radical and wasteful” diversity, equity and inclusion programs inside federal agencies, according to senior White House officials. The officials grouped both orders under the incoming Trump administration’s wider “restoring sanity” agenda. The official presented …

The Washington Post reports: The U.S. government will no longer recognize the citizenship of children born in the United States to immigrants who lack legal status, one of 10 immigration-related executive orders President-elect Donald Trump plans to sign Monday, an incoming administration official told reporters. The incoming official did not provide details on how the administration planned to implement a …

The New York Times reports: Donald John Trump is set to complete his remarkable return to power around noon Eastern on Monday when he is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. He plans an immediate shock-and-awe blitz of orders and actions meant to begin dramatically changing the course of the country. After meeting at the White …

CNN reports: President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are welcoming President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump to the White House following a service at St. John’s Episcopal Church. Typically after the morning service, the president-elect, vice president-elect, and their spouses usually visit the White House, where the president-elect and the outgoing president hold a brief private meeting. This …

The New York Times reports: Trump is seeking to repurchase the Waldorf Astoria hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue and turn it back into a Trump hotel — a safe space for his supporters in a city where he only captured about 7 percent of the vote in November. Other allies are looking to create a social club for Trump insiders. He …

CNN reports: President Joe Biden on Monday issued preemptive pardons for Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci and members of Congress who served on the committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, using extraordinary executive prerogative as a shield against revenge by his incoming successor, Donald Trump. “These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience …

The Washington Post reports: A lawsuit claiming billionaire Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” violates federal transparency rules will be filed within minutes of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration Monday, kicking off a legal battle over a key aspect of the incoming administration’s agenda. In a 30-page complaint obtained by The Washington Post ahead of its filing, the public interest law …

The Washington Post reports: Scores of senior career diplomats are resigning from the State Department effective at noon on Monday after receiving instructions to do so from President-elect Donald Trump’s aides, three U.S. officials familiar with the matter said. The forced departures, aimed at establishing a decisive break from the Biden administration, will result in an exodus of decorated veterans …

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis said Donald Trump’s plans to impose mass deportations of immigrants would be a “disgrace,” as he weighed in on the incoming U.S. president’s pledges nearly a decade after calling him “not Christian” for wanting to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. Francis made the comments during an appearance at an evening talk show, …

The Independent reports: Donald Trump closed his pre-inauguration victory rally in Washington, D.C. with a live performance of “Y.M.C.A.” The president-elect hosted the “Make American Great Again Victory Rally” at Washington’s Capital One Arena on Sunday, less than 24 hours before Inauguration Day. As Trump ended his final speech before taking the White House for a second term, the band …

CNBC reports: Incoming first lady Melania Trump launched her own meme coin ahead of her husband’s inauguration as the 47th president of the United States on Monday. In a Sunday evening post on the X social media platform, she announced that investors “can buy $MELANIA now.” The Melania token was trading at $11.16 at 10:48 a.m. London time on Monday, …

The Associated Press reports: President-elect Donald Trump says he plans to issue an executive order that would give TikTok’s China-based parent company more time to find an approved buyer before the popular video-sharing platform is subject to a permanent ban in the U.S. Trump announced the decision in a post on his Truth Social account on Sunday as millions of …

The Associated Press reports: Donald Trump returned to Washington Saturday evening to celebrate with family, supporters and political allies ahead of his second inauguration. Trump made his way from West Palm Beach, Florida, with his wife Melania Trump and their son Barron aboard a U.S. military C-32 aircraft on a flight dubbed Special Air Mission 47 — a nod to …

The Hill reports: Former Trump White House press secretary Sean Spicer predicted that President-elect Trump will sign over 100 executive orders on a range of topics “early next week. “My guess is that by the time we wake up Wednesday morning, there’s over 100 executive orders in action, signed by this president,” Spicer said on NewsNation’s show “The Hill.” Spicer …

NBC News reports: Incoming administration staffers are being warned to weigh the threat of a pricey legal defense and consider purchasing a form of legal insurance that would provide them a lawyer if needed, a protection that many now consider part of doing business after former Trump aides were hauled before congressional committees and grand juries over the past eight …