Evening summary
Thank you for reading along with the Guardian’s liveblog as we cover the slew of nominations to various cabinet positions that Trump announced today. Here are some of the key moments from the day in US politics.
Trump’s choice to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is surgeon Marty Makary. He has advocated for re-examining the use of hormone replacement treatment in menopausal women, reducing overuse of antibiotics and reforms to medical education. Makary also raised concerns about a number of public health issues during the Covid pandemic, touting the protection from natural immunity and opposing Covid vaccine mandates.
Donald Trump nominated hedge fund executive Scott Bessent to lead the US treasury. In a statement on Friday Trump said, “Scott has long been a strong advocate of the America First Agenda … he will help me usher in a new Golden Age for the United States, as we fortify our position as the World’s leading Economy … while always, and without question, maintaining the UD Dollar as the Reserve Currency of the World.
Vivek Ramaswamy appeared to confirm he and Elon Musk will try to stop the flow of funds that go to Planned Parenthood. “The federal government shouldn’t be in the business of giving away free money to non-governmental organizations. That should be obvious,” a Thursday post on X by Ramaswamy read.
Tom Homan, Donald Trump’s pick for “border czar”, sent a message specifically to the Los Angeles city council: “If you don’t help, get the hell out of the way,” Homan said on Newsmax on Wednesday.
Donald Trump has been granted permission by the New York Judge Juan Merchan on Friday to seek dismissal of his hush money criminal case. The permission follows his presidential victory on 5 November and multiple sentencing delays surrounding the case of which he was found guilty earlier this year.
After resigning from congress and withdrawing from consideration to be the next US attorney general, Matt Gaetz is taking his talents to Cameo, an app that lets users pay for personalized video messages from celebrities and other notable figures like Gaetz and George Santos. The news website Semafor first reported the move on Friday.
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Donald Trump is considering tapping Richard Grenell, his former intelligence chief, to be a special envoy for the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Reuters reports. While there is currently no special envoy dedicated solely to resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Trump is considering creating the role, according to the four sources Reuters spoke to, who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Trump vowed on the campaign trail to swiftly end the conflict, although he has not said how he will do it. His strategies will continue to be questioned if Grenell is confirmed since some of his stances could give Ukraine’s leaders pause.
During a Bloomberg roundtable in July, Grenell advocated for the creation of “autonomous zones” as a means of settling the conflict, which began after Russia invaded Ukrainian sovereign territory. He also suggested he would not be in favor of Ukraine joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the immediate future, a position he shares with many Trump allies.
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