Trump picks RFK Jr to lead HHS: Live updates

Donald Trump has announced he’s going to nominate former Florida Republican congressman Matt Gaetz to serve as attorney general.

In a statement, the president-elect praised Gaetz, 42, who has frequently defended Trump and criticized the various criminal and congressional probes against the Republican.

“On the House Judiciary Committee, which performs oversight of DOJ, Matt played a key role in defeating the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, and exposing alarming and systemic Government Corruption and Weaponization,” Trump wrote on Wednesday, calling Gaetz a “Champion for the Constitution and the Rule of Law.”

Jail officials in Georgia‘s most populous county violate the constitutional rights of people in their custody by failing to protect them from violence, using excessive force and holding them in filthy and unsafe conditions, U.S. Justice Department officials said Thursday while threatening to get the courts involved if corrective action isn’t taken quickly.

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office doesn’t adequately protect jail inmates from violence by other detainees, including stabbings, sexual abuse and killings, federal officials contend in a lengthy report that details alleged abuses. Vulnerable populations, including people who are gay, transgender, young or have with serious mental illness, are particularly at risk from the violence, which causes physical injury and long-lasting trauma, the report says.

“Our investigation finds longstanding, unconstitutional, unlawful and dangerous conditions that jeopardize the lives and well-being of the people held there,” Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for civil rights, said at a news conference.

“We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE,” the group wrote on X on Thursday. “We don’t need more part-time idea generators. We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting. If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”

Alex Jones watched in real-time as his Infowars website and streaming video platform was taken offline hours after satirical news publication The Onion won the bidding for the bankrupt conspiracy theorist’s operations.

Jones, broadcasting from his studio in Texas on November 14, was joined by formerly incarcerated Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon as Infowars.com was shut down.

“Force them to cut the power … Let’s get the camera on them,” Bannon said. “Put the freaking camera on them. … Let’s see the polish on those jackboots. … They’re nothing but Gestapo. It’s the administrative state and the deep state Gestapo.”

“I said this morning, if you are shocked or surprised by the appointment of Pete Hegseth last night as Secretary of Defense, buckle up baby, because it’s going, we got a lot more coming your way,” Spicer told NewsNation’s The Hill on Wednesday.

Under Musk, the new office – which will operate “outside of government” – will advise on gutting federal departments and which staff should be fired if it deems they are a “massive waste.”

Trump vowed that Musk and Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.”

Sylvester Stallone has described Donald Trump as the “second George Washington” in a warm up speech for the President-elect at Mar-a-Lago.

The Hollywood heavyweight attended a black tie gala on Thursday to celebrate Trump’s election victory that was attended by many of his cabinet picks, including RFK Jr and Matt Gaetz.

“We’re in the presence of a really mythical character,” Stallone said, before adding that “nobody could have pulled off what Trump did”.

Donald Trump reflected on the presidential election on Thursday night during his first public appearance since securing the White House last week.

“Nobody knew we were going to win it the way we won it,” Trump told attendees at the America First Policy Institute gala at Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

“Also, Speaker Mike Johnson, wherever you may be, Mike, in this very big and crowded room, thank you, Mike,” Trump added. “I went yesterday, just in case, I said, ‘Look, I want to tell you, I’m behind this man 100%’ and he got 100% of the vote from Republicans.”

Johnson won the GOP nomination to remain speaker on Wednesday after Republicans officially secured their majority in the House.

Donald Trump made a light jab at billionaire Elon Musk during a speech at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday night.

Musk, who Trump recently appointed to co-chair the new Department of Government Efficiency, has reportedly been a constant presence at his Mar-a-Lago estate over the last week.

“Elon, what a job, what a job he does,” Trump said. “He’s great, he happens to be a really good guy. You know, he likes this place. I can’t get him out of here. He just likes this place.”

President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum to lead the Department of the Interior.

The announcement came during Trump’s first post-victory speech at the America First Policy Institute gala at Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.