Trump completes cabinet nominations as GOP lawmakers defend choices: Live updates

We’ve all been there. That infatuation moment. That time at the outset of a relationship when you can’t think about anyone else, don’t want to be with anyone else. Every minute without them is a minute wasted; where you find yourself engaging in their hobbies because if they love them, so must you, too.

And broadly speaking, that is where we are in that most unlikely of bromances: that of Elon and Don.

In an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union, Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma downplayed Donald Trump’s threats of payback at the Department of Justice over the criminal indictments he faced over election interference and classified documents.

However, he then told Dana Bash: “If someone is in the Department of Justice right now that is actively trying to undercut the president, they should be gone.”

This was a sentiment echoed by Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri, who told NBC’s Meet the Press that one of the president-elect’s first priorities should be to fire any staff at the Justice Department who worked on cases that involved charges against Trump.

“First and foremost, the people involved with this should be fired immediately,” he told Kristen Welker. “And anybody part of this, this effort to keep President Trump off the ballot and to throw him in jail for the rest of his life because they didn’t like his politics, and who continue to cast him as a quote, unquote threat to democracy, was wrong, and so we’ll see where that goes.”

Schmitt framed his stance as a form of “accountability,” telling Kristen Welker, “[The cases] all fell apart under the weight of the law. And so I do think there needs to be accountability. I think that getting it back to crime-fighting is important, but there has to be accountability for these kinds of abuses.”

Senator Bill Cassidy stood up to Donald Trump in 2021 after the January 6 riot — he was one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump. And in January, he will become chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, making the Republican gastroenterologist from Louisana one of the most influential doctors in America.

Trump’s former ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence in his first administration Ric Grenell is under consideration to be the special envoy for the war between Russia and Ukraine.

There’s currently no special envoy for the conflict, but Trump is seriously considering whether to create the role, according to Reuters, pointing to four sources with knowledge of the president-elect’s thinking.

If the position is indeed created, Grenell is reportedly a top contender, but Trump may still choose another candidate, the news agency noted. The sources reportedly said that there’s no guarantee that Grenell would take the job if offered.

Grenell was reported to be one of the candidates to be secretary of state, a nomination that eventually went to Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio.

While Trump hasn’t outlined a specific plan on how to end the war, he has promised to do so quickly once in office.

Grenell has made statements previously that may concern the Ukrainians, telling Bloomberg in July that he would back the creation of “autonomous zones” to end the war. He has also said that he would not back NATO membership for Ukraine in the near future.

The 58-year-old has also served as a special presidential envoy for the Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations and as a spokesperson to the UN during the presidency of George W Bush. He was also the foreign policy spokesperson during Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign for the White House.

“Kamala is for they/them. Trump is for you,” was the message of a widely aired ad for Donald Trump’ 2024 campaign.

But a resurfaced 2016 clip shows how much the president-elect’s view on transgender rights has shifted in eight years.

Kelly Rissman has the story.

Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order that would remove transgender service members from the military as soon as his first day in office.

The president-elect is reportedly preparing to issue an order following his inauguration on January 20 that would effectively ban trans people serving in the military — and then medically discharge the thousands of currently serving trans service members in the armed forces.

Jerome Adams, who served as surgeon general in the first Trump administration is sounding the alarm about alarming trends in infectious diseases.

He says he hopes the incoming administration has a strong response plan and can ensure vaccine confidence stays high “or they’ll be distracted with outbreaks for 4 years this time instead of 1.”

Senator Lindsey Graham said the US should “crush” the economies of all those who comply with the warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The prime minister of Israel faces arrest if he enters Britain, Downing Street has said. On Friday No 10 refused to explicitly comment on the case, saying it was a hypothetical situation, but added that the UK would follow its legal obligations.