Admin November 12, 2024
What are President-elect Donald Trump’s immigration policies?
On the campaign trail, President-elect Donald Trump pledged to massively deport migrants and revoke certain immigration benefits.
While President-elect Donald Trump is busy picking top aides to serve in his incoming administration, his allies are adding their voices to another high-stakes election: The race to succeed Mitch McConnell as the Senate Republican leader.
Trump allies Tucker Carlson, Vivek Ramaswamy, Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and others are weighing in on the critical vote to become McConnell’s heir. The new Senate leader will play a major role in the incoming administration’s vision for the country.
McConnell – a Kentucky Republican who is the longest-serving Senate party leader in American history – is stepping down from his leadership post in January.
Meanwhile, Trump has tapped Stephen Miller, one of his longest-serving immigration advisers, as deputy chief of staff for policy in the incoming White House. Miller is one of several nominations Trump has announced.
Trump’s choices come as Republicans are poised to keep control of the House. Remember, a party needs 218 seats to lead the lower chamber, and Republicans have locked up 213 so far compared to Democrats’ 205.
Keep up with live coverage from the USA TODAY Network.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that President Joe Biden invited his predecessor, and soon to be president, again, Donald Trump, to meet with him because it is the norm.
“Because he believes in the norm, he believes in the institution, he believes in the peaceful transfer of power,” she said during the White House press briefing.
She said that Biden reached out to Trump and asked for them to meet in the Oval Office.
“That is what is supposed to happen. And also that is what the American people deserve,” she said.
– Francesca Chambers
President-elect Donald Trump announced former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee would be his pick for U.S. Ambassador to Israel. “Mike has been a great public servant, Governor, and Leader in Faith for many years,” Trump said.
“He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East!” Huckabee’s daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is now the governor of Arkansas, formerly served as Trump’s press secretary during his first term.
Trump formally taps Mike Waltz for national security adviser
Trump (finally) made it official: Florida congressman Mike Waltz will be his new national security adviser. The former Green Beret “is a nationally recognized leader in National Security, a bestselling author, and an expert on the threats posed by China, Russia, Iran, and global terrorism,” Trump said in a statement about Waltz’s appointment.
Sources said Monday that Waltz was the national security adviser pick.
The political world still awaits Trump comments about other members of his national security team, including reports that Florida Sen. Marco Rubio may become secretary of State and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem will head up the Department of Homeland Security.
-David Jackson
Trump plans to meet with Congressional leaders tomorrow
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Tuesday that President-elect Donald Trump plans to come to Capitol Hill to meet with Johnson and the next Senate Majority Leader, who will be elected tomorrow morning.
Johnson said he expects the meeting to take place in the morning before Trump meets with President Joe Biden at the White House at 11 a.m. The Senate leadership election is scheduled for 9:30 a.m.
Trump has already drafted two sitting House members — Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla. — to serve in his administration.
That may cause problems for the House GOP, which is on track to hold the majority in the lower chamber on a razor-thin margin.
“President Trump fully understands and appreciates the math here,” Johnson said, adding that he doesn’t expect Trump to select any more current House members, but noted that’s up to Trump.
– Riley Beggin
Three senators are running to succeed Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who is stepping down from the position in January.
The two main contenders to become McConnell’s heir are Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who is currently second-in-command in the Senate GOP as Republican whip, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who has also served as whip and previously led the Senate GOP’s campaign arm.
But several of President-elect Donald Trump’s most recognized allies, including billionaire tech titan Elon Musk, are mounting a campaign to get Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., elected to the post. They argue Scott is the only candidate who has been sufficiently loyal to Trump and would be best equipped to represent the president-elect’s interests.
The election will be held Wednesday behind closed doors.
− Riley Beggin
Donald Trump is expected to tap Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida to serve as his Secretary of State, according to news reports.
Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, is Trump’s choice to become the nation’s top diplomat, according to CNN and The New York Times. Rubio, a Cuban American, would be the first Latino to serve as Secretary of State. The Times noted, however, that its sources said Trump could still change his mind at the last minute.
Rubio has deep foreign policy experience and has transformed from a Trump opponent to a close ally who was a finalist to serve as Trump’s vice president. Rubio has expressed support for Ukraine’s war effort against Russia, but voted against additional aid for the country last year.
− Riley Beggin and Michael Collins
Donald Trump is expected to pick South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security, according to multiple news reports.
CNN first reported that Noem was Trump’s choice to become Homeland Security secretary. Noem, a longtime Trump loyalist who joined Trump on the 2024 campaign trail, served as a South Dakota Republican congresswoman from 2011 to 2019. She was elected the state’s first female governor in 2018 and was reelected in 2022.
A rancher, farmer and small-business owner, the 52-year-old Noem was briefly under consideration as Trump’s vice presidential running-mate this year. But her bid quickly crumbled amid a public backlash after Noem acknowledged in a memoir earlier this year that she shot and killed her dog Cricket for being “untrainable.”
− Joey Garrison
Donald Trump has asked Florida congressman Mike Waltz to serve as his national security adviser, according to two sources familiar with his selection.
Waltz, 50, is set join the new administration as it navigates several tense geopolitical fights, including the Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas wars. The role Trump asked Waltz to serve in does not require Senate confirmation.
The three-term lawmaker has been a member of the House Armed Services Committee, served in civilian roles at the Pentagon and is a decorated Green Beret combat veteran. He’s also an outspoken critic of the Defense Department’s diversity programs.
− Tom Vanden Brook and David Jackson
Donald Trump tapped former Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
As the head of the EPA, Zeldin is expected to be tasked with rolling back many of the environmental regulations from the Biden administration while Trump pushes an expansion of fossil-fuel energy.
“Lee, with a very strong legal background, has been a true fighter for America First policies,” Trump said in a statement. “He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards.”
− Joey Garrison
Donald Trump has tapped Stephen Miller, one of his longest-serving top immigration advisers, as deputy chief of staff for policy in the incoming White House.
Vice President-elect JD Vance congratulated Miller on his new role in a post on X after CNN first reported the move. “This is another fantastic pick by the president,” Vance said.
Miller’s appointment comes after Trump campaigned for president in 2024 on mobilizing mass deportations of undocumented immigrants who are in the country unlawfully.
Miller, 39, served as senior advisor to Trump and director of speechwriting during the Republican’s first term in the White House and is credited with shaping Trump’s immigration policies, which included separating migrant children from their families and a ban on travel from predominantly Muslim countries. Miller played a central role in Trump’s 2024 campaign.
– Joey Garrison
Donald Trump named Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., to be the next ambassador to the United Nations, according to multiple reports. The New York lawmaker has accepted the offer.
Trump’s nomination of Stefanik, a longtime congressional ally, is his first cabinet pick after being reelected Tuesday for a second, nonconsecutive term in the White House.
One of Stefanik’s most prominent moments came last year during a congressional hearing with college presidents from Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and MIT. During the hearing, she asked them whether calling for the genocide of Jews warranted disciplinary action.
All three presidents waffled and dodged the question, instead offering legal responses without directly condemning calling for the genocide of Jews. Two of the presidents, Penn’s Liz Magill, and Harvard’s Claudine Gay, have since left their posts.
– Savannah Kuchar
