Trump Corruption

Reuters reports: The Trump transition team wants the incoming administration to drop a car-crash reporting requirement opposed by Elon Musk’s Tesla, according to a document seen by Reuters, a move that could cripple the government’s ability to investigate and regulate the safety of vehicles with automated-driving systems. Musk, the world’s richest person, spent more than a quarter of a billion …

USA Today reports: President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be the top health insurance regulator in the country, Dr. Mehmet Oz, has invested in companies that do business with the agency he would run. Oz, Trump’s choice to run Medicare, Medicaid and the insurance marketplace under the Affordable Care Act, owned up to $33.7 million stock in these companies when he …

Politico reports: Trump’s pick of longtime loyalist Kari Lake to lead Voice of America has some Arizona Republicans breathing a sigh of relief. Lake has for the last two election cycles dominated Republican politics in Arizona, running and losing back-to-back races for governor and Senate — and earning her the ire of some of her fellow conservatives in the state. …

“I was in the legislative branch. We were investigating, as per the request from Congress to do that. We obviously came up with answers that embarrassed Trump. He was embarrassed by it. It showed that he was completely complicit for 187 minutes while violence happened. He frankly wanted his vice president to be– to have violence against him. And that …

The New York Times reports: President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Middle East adviser, Massad Boulos, has enjoyed a reputation as a billionaire mogul at the helm of a business that bears his family name. Mr. Boulos has been profiled as a tycoon by the world’s media, telling a reporter in October that his company is worth billions. Mr. Trump called him …

NBC News reports: Asked whether his presidency would be a “failure” if grocery prices don’t come down, Trump responded it would not, while blaming the current administration for the way it handled inflation that led to higher food prices in the first place. “Look, they got them up. I’d like to bring them down. It’s hard to bring things down …

The New York Times reports: For the third year in a row, Elon Musk’s charitable foundation did not give away enough of its money. And it did not miss the mark by a small amount. New tax filings show that the Musk Foundation fell $421 million short of the amount it was required to give away in 2023. Now, Mr. …

Politico reports: A Justice Department watchdog found no evidence that the FBI deployed undercover agents to the Capitol or nearby protests on Jan. 6, 2021, further undercutting debunked conspiracy theories about the riot being instigated by law enforcement. The long-awaited report from Inspector General Michael Horowitz also determined that there were 26 FBI informants in the crowd that day — …

More from Trump’s new interview with TIME Magazine: TIME: RFK Jr, who is a noted vaccine skeptic. If he moves to end childhood vaccination programs, would you sign off on that? TRUMP: We’re going to have a big discussion. The autism rate is at a level that nobody ever believed possible. If you look at things that are happening, there’s …

Axios reports: Musk was already the world’s richest person before the election, and now his pocketbook and his power are getting even bigger. His net worth is now estimated at $353 billion, up $91 billion over the last month, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Seen as the First Buddy to Trump after opening his personal coffers for campaign purposes, …

People Magazine reports: New details have emerged about Donald Trump Jr.’s rumored relationship with Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson. A source tells PEOPLE that “Don Jr. has been dating Bettina for about six months,” though he has yet to comment on the status of his engagement to longtime fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle. The source claims that Don Jr., 46, the eldest …

From Trump’s Person Of The Year interview with TIME: TIME: Can I shift to the transgender issue? Obviously, sort of a major issue during the campaign. In 2016, you said that transgender people could use whatever bathroom they chose. Do you still feel that way? TRUMP: When was that? TIME: In 2016. TRUMP: I don’t want to get into the …

The Buenos Aires Herald reports: United States President-elect Donald Trump announced that Peter Lamelas, a Cuban-born physician and businessman, will be the next U.S. ambassador to Argentina. “I am pleased to announce that Dr. Peter Lamelas, MD, MBA, will serve as our United States Ambassador to Argentina,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social account. Trump described Lamelas …

Reuters reports: Trump on Wednesday asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him of making defamatory statements during his campaign about five Black and Hispanic men who were wrongly convicted and imprisoned for the 1989 rape of a white jogger in New York’s Central Park. Trump’s lawyers said in a court filing that his statements about the men, …

The New York Times reports: With students at many colleges wrapping up final exams this week and preparing for their winter break, a number of schools, including Harvard, U.S.C. and Cornell, are advising their international students to return to campus before President-elect Donald J. Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20. “A travel ban is likely to go into effect soon …

The New Republic reports: The Trump Organization on Wednesday announced a new project in Saudi Arabia: Trump Tower Jeddah. The two companies have spent about $532 million on this residential apartment site, which is expected to be completed in four years. The Trump Organization relies a lot on Saudi Arabia, as the company’s real estate deals in the United States …

Law & Crime reports: MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is putting another lender on notice that the terms of a recent loan to his bedding company are “usurious, unconscionable, and thus unenforceable.” Last week, in Carver County District Court, the pro-Donald Trump election denier sued named and unnamed defendants over a triple-digit interest rate on a $1.559 million loan taken out …

Politico reports: Donald Trump is expected to be named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” — and to celebrate the unveiling of the cover, the president-elect will ring the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday morning, according to three people familiar with the plans granted anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge the plans. Last …

The Associated Press reports: President-elect Donald Trump is expected to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, the ceremonial start of the day’s trading, according to four people with knowledge of his plans. It will be a notable moment of recognition for Trump, a born-and-bred New Yorker who gave up living full time in his …

Politico reports: President-elect Donald Trump announced private equity executive Tom Barrack, a longtime ally who faced legal scrutiny for his work on behalf of the United Arab Emirates, as his pick to be the next U.S. ambassador to Turkey. But Barrack may face a rocky road to confirmation. He was indicted by the Department of Justice in 2021 on charges …