Trump Corruption

The Hill reports: President-elect Trump on Wednesday announced Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera as his pick for U.S. ambassador to Panama. The announcement comes as Trump is sparking a feud with the U.S. ally over control of the Panama Canal. Cabrera must figure out how to navigate a tension filled relationship with the country amid the president-elect’s position on …

Politico reports: The country’s largest agricultural constituency backed Trump in November, bucking California’s deep-blue electorate over his campaign promises to “open the faucet” and deliver more water to the state’s parched, conservative-leaning Central Valley. But now it’s reckoning with an uncomfortable contradiction: Trump also campaigned on mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, who make up at least half of the state’s …

The New York Post reports: President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday trolled Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by promising to cut Canadians’ taxes if they agree to become “our 51st state,’’ while urging them to draft NHL great Wayne Gretzky to lead the country. “I just left Wayne Gretzky, ‘The Great One’ as he is known in Ice Hockey circles,” Trump …

Grand Rapids’ ABC affiliate reports: The city of Grand Rapids says the Donald J. Trump for President 2024 campaign has refused to pay more than $49,000 in bills for two rallies in the city this year. That is forcing the city to write off those expenses as uncollectable and to reevaluate policies for future campaign visits. “It’s highly unusual to …

So this happened last night: Trump first directed his Christmas message to the “wonderful soldiers of China” where he accused them of “illegally” operating in the Panama Canal while “the United States puts in Billions of Dollars in ‘repair’ money.” The president-elect then mocked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by referring to him as “governor,” and reiterated his goal to …

Rolling Stone reports: In the past few weeks, Trump has at times asked close allies about how much major corporations have donated to the inaugural committee, and has sometimes inquired about specific companies by name, a person with direct knowledge of the matter tells Rolling Stone. Earlier this month, when the president-elect asked about one big-name corporation and was told …

The Washington Post reports: It’s a little late for this year’s celebrations, but you can get a very early jump on next year and count down with the $38 Trump Advent calendar. Or trim the tree with a $95 Mar-a-Lago bauble or a $16 MAGA hat ornament, sold in nine colors. (A glass version of the hat ornament is $92.) …

Fox News reports: President-elect Trump has nominated John Arrigo for an ambassadorship. If confirmed, Arrigo, who is the vice president of the Arrigo Auto Group in West Palm Beach, Florida, would serve as ambassador to Portugal. “John is a highly successful entrepreneur in the automotive industry, and a champion golfer. For over thirty years, he has been an incredible leader …

Courthouse News reports: Federal courts do not have jurisdiction over a fraud and breach of contract suit filed by former CNN host Don Lemon against Elon Musk, a federal judge said in a ruling determining that Musk and X Corp. were citizens of California when the action was filed. Lemon’s suit — claiming that he and Musk had a deal …

ABC News reports: The Trump-Vance inaugural committee is on track to set a record in inauguration fundraising, with pledged contributions surpassing its fundraising goal of $150 million as of Monday, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. The inaugural committee had roughly $70 million of that in the bank as of Monday, with the rest of the pledged contributions …

The Guardian reports: Toyota is donating $1m to Donald Trump’s inauguration. The report, per Reuters citing a company spokesperson, comes one day after Ford and General Motors said they would donate $1m each to the president-elect’s inaugural fund. The two US automakers will also provide vehicles to the 20 January event, the outlet reported. Trump’s proposed tariffs on goods from …

Law & Crime reports: Rudy Giuliani and his son, Andrew H. Giuliani, both plan to testify under oath that the former New York City mayor gifted four New York Yankees’ World Series rings to his progeny in an attempt to keep the championship jewelry from being turned over to the two Georgia election workers he defamed to the tune of …

The Washington Post reports: When veteran newsmen L. Gordon Crovitz and Steven Brill started their news site rating company, they were prepared for the inevitable cries of bias from both sides. What they didn’t anticipate was that NewsGuard, their company of some 50 employees, would become the target of congressional investigations and accusations from federal regulators that it was at …

The Hill reports: Denmark announced a major new package to boost the security of Greenland two days after Trump called for U.S. ownership of the Arctic island. Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen [photo] told the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on Tuesday that Copenhagen plans to spend the equivalent of around $1.5 billion in the new defense package. Poulsen explained the …

“Allegations of violations of state criminal law would be investigated by law enforcement in the appropriate jurisdiction, such as a local police department, sheriff’s office or the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. “To determine if the agencies in the relevant jurisdictions have received information from the House Ethics Committee or have initiated investigations, you would need to contact those law …

Religion News Service reports: President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is reportedly planning an interfaith prayer service the day before his inauguration, where participants can worship alongside the businessman and his wife, Melania. But those who want to join need to weigh the price of prayer: Tickets to the service will be awarded only to those who donate at least $100,000 …

“Joe Biden just commuted the Death Sentence on 37 of the worst killers in our Country. When you hear the acts of each, you won’t believe that he did this. Makes no sense. Relatives and friends are further devastated. They can’t believe this is happening! As soon as I am inaugurated, I will direct the Justice Department to vigorously pursue …

Axios reports: Trump has been in a strikingly imperial mood since his election victory. He has floated acquiring Greenland, reclaiming the Panama Canal, annexing Canada, and potentially invading Mexico — to the intense consternation of their leaders. Prepare for whiplash after four years of President Biden extolling alliances and institutions. Trump has little regard for the “global order,” and thinks …

CBS News reports: Greenland Prime Minister Múte Egede said the island nation is “not for sale and will never be for sale,” after President-elect Donald Trump suggested the U.S. should take it over. “Greenland is ours,” Egede wrote. “We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom.” This isn’t …

CNN reports: The letter, which was obtained by CNN, begins, “Dear Mr. Iger, Americans no longer trust the national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly.” The FCC oversees a process called retransmission consent, whereby cable distributors pay local stations for the right to retransmit their signals. When Disney-owned channels disappeared from DirecTV lineups for two weeks in September, …