J.D. (James) Vance

Eagle columnist Bill Schmick writes about the billionaires President-elect Donald Trump has nominated to his cabinet.

Who, me? Here are the year's most outrageous official attempts to evade responsibility, from a president with "diminished faculties" to a cop who claimed to mistake a falling acorn for a gunshot.

Journalism morphed into blatant activism before our eyes, we were told things we all witnessed or heard didn't actually happen — and trust in the legacy media hit an all-time low.

Donald Trump and J.D. Vance have yet to be sworn in as president and vice president respectively after their 2024 victory and Fox News is already looking towards the 2028 presidential election when Trump will be ineligible to run.According to Fox's Paul Steinhauser, the Ohio Republican who Trump tapped as his running mate has the inside track to the 2028 GOP nomination but it is not a done deal with the current head of Republican National Committee (RNC) saying they won't put their finger on the scale for any candidate.By all accounts, Vance is the heir to the MAGA crown, with Republican consultant Dave Carney calling the Ohio Republican "the guy to beat," and adding, "The vice president will be in the catbird seat. No question about it."ALSO READ: Why ABC settled a case they knew they would win — and why the Lincoln Project didn'tGOP strategist David Kochel, agreed, but cautioned, "There will be no shortage of people looking at it. But most people looking at it are seeing the relative strength of the Trump victory and the movement."According to Fox's Steinhauser, there will likely be others in the GOP who have long had their eye on the White House who will be testing the waters after having made previous runs.With Carney suggesting a "possible rough four years for the Trump/Vance administration" would hand challengers to Vance "opportunities," Fox's Steinhuaser pointed to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX), Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, 2024 runner-up Nikki Haley and far-right Sen. Tom Cotton, also of Arkansas, as possible candidates.According to the Fox report, "DeSantis, who sources say Trump has considered as a plan B for Defense secretary if his nominee Pete Hegseth runs into trouble, has his eyes on another White House run," adding that Cruz, once thought to be in trouble in 2024 waltzed away with a six-point win in his re-election bid.As for Huckabee Sanders, Steinhauser wrote, "The first-term conservative governor of Arkansas is a well-known figure in MAGA world, thanks to her tenure as Trump's longest-serving White House press secretary during his first administration. The 42-year-old Sanders, the daughter of former Arkansas governor and former two-time presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, has also grabbed national attention for delivering the GOP's response to President Biden's 2023 State of the Union address."Also popping up on the list are Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy who will be part of Trump's unfunded Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Jan. 20th.You can read more right here.

President-elect Donald Trump is staffing his incoming administration with top tech leaders.He chose Scott Kupor and Sriram Krishnan, high-profile leaders at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, for key roles.Tech billionaire Elon Musk has emerged as one of Trump’s closest advisors, which has led to some consternation among Democrats and in the business world.President-elect Donald Trump is tapping tech heavyweights to join his new administration, continuing a trend of Silicon Valley’s growing influence in a second Trump White House.Trump said Sunday he would nominate Scott Kupor, a managing partner at Andreessen Horowitz, to be director of the Office of Personnel Management, which coordinates recruitment and provides resources for government employees.Kupor thanked Trump in a post on X and said the opportunity would allow him to work with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy in their leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a nascent commission aimed at cutting government spending and regulation. Trump also picked Sriram Krishnan as senior policy advisor for artificial intelligence at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Krishnan, who most recently served as a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, has had a long career in tech, with roles at Microsoft, Meta, Twitter, Snap and Yahoo. He has previous ties to Musk, helping him “temporarily” run the social media service X after Musk acquired the platform, formerly known as Twitter, for $44 billion in 2022.Musk, a tech billionaire who was one of Trump’s top donors and most vocal supporters during his campaign, has emerged as one of the president-elect’s closest advisors. His outsized influence over Trump has led to growing consternation among Democrats, foreign leaders and business executives, some of whom compete with Musk’s companies. Along with X, Musk runs vehicle maker Tesla, defense contractor SpaceX and brain tech startup Neuralink.Krishnan will likely work closely with David Sacks, another tech executive who has a long history with Musk. Trump earlier this month named Sacks — a venture capitalist, former PayPal COO and popular podcaster — as “czar” of crypto and AI.Brian Snyder | ReutersU.S. President-elect Donald Trump is joined by Tesla and SpaceX CEO and proposed co-chair of the DOGE commission Elon Musk, and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance at the Army-Navy football game in Landover, Maryland, U.S., December 14, 2024. Trump on Sunday also tapped Ken Howery, a co-founder of PayPal and Founders Fund, as his pick for U.S. ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark. And he appointed Michael Kratsios, who was most recently a managing director at tech startup Scale AI, as the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Kratsios served as chief technology officer during Trump’s first administration.In addition, Trump named former Uber executive Emil Michael as undersecretary for research and engineering.Tech business leaders cheered the choices in social media posts. Former Meta executive David Marcus called Trump’s selections “remarkable picks,” while Box CEO Aaron Levie said the choices were “very strong.” Since Trump’s election victory, a slew of tech companies have thrown their support behind the president-elect — a significant departure from his first term, when the industry at large maintained a tense relationship with Trump.Amazon, Meta and OpenAI Sam Altman have announced donations of $1 million each to Trump’s inaugural committee. And in recent weeks, Silicon Valley executives have made pilgrimages to Trump’s residence Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. Tom Lee says ‘back up the truck’ after Wednesday’s panic sellingWhy the stock market was so disappointed by the Fed on WednesdayNearly all the preconditions for a market bubble are met, says UBS. How to hedgeWhy Wall Street’s S&P 500 forecast for 2025 is likely to be ‘way off‘

The incoming Trump Cabinet has a decidedly Ivy League flavor, contrary to elite opinion.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul thinks the world’s richest man should lead the U.S. House of Representatives during next year’s Congress because—why the hell not?In a Thursday post to X, Paul suggested that megabillionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk should be the Republicans’ next pick for the leadership role, which is currently held by Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson.“The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress,” Paul posted on Thursday. “Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk ... think about it ... nothing’s impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka ‘uniparty,’ lose their ever-lovin’ minds).”xThe Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress . . . Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk . . . think about it . . . nothing’s impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka ‘uniparty,’ lose their ever-lovin’...— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 19, 2024Paul is correct about one thing at least: The speaker of the House does not need to be a member of Congress. The Constitution states only that “the House of Representatives shall chuse their speaker and other officers.” However, a nonmember has never been elected to the post. While it’s unlikely that Paul’s MAGA fantasy will come true, that hasn’t stopped other Republicans from publicly endorsing this ludicrous idea. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene quoted Paul’s tweet and added that she, too, would be “open” to having Musk serve as House Speaker.xI’d be open to supporting @elonmusk for Speaker of the House. DOGE can only truly be accomplished by reigning in Congress to enact real government efficiency. The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday.This could be the way. https://t.co/8YuL56e443— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) December 19, 2024“DOGE can only truly be accomplished by reigning in Congress to enact real government efficiency,” said Green, referring to the toothless advisory commission known as the Department of Government Efficiency, which billionaires Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are expected to head. “The establishment needs to be shattered ... This could be the way.”Then, during an interview on Thursday, Utah Sen. Mike Lee echoed the sentiment. “I think we go outside the box,” Lee said on a right-wing podcast. “I propose Elon Musk or Vivek Ramaswamy. The DOGE movement is extremely popular in the House.” Lee added that electing one of the two billionaires to the role would “revolutionize everything.”What’s gone unsaid in these statements, though, is that even without the speakership, Musk has undue influence over President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican Party as a whole. Musk recently helped tank a critical spending bill, calling it a “steal of your tax dollars.” And while Johnson tried to tamp down the DOGE dork’s anger, he may have to grovel some more before the unelected, unofficial, purely advisory leaders of DOGE for at least a few more weeks—if not months or years.Johnson’s initial effort to appease Musk came too late, though. After the Tesla CEO whipped up outrage—mostly via X, Musk’s social media platform, which was formerly known as Twitter—toward the bill, Trump and incoming Vice President J.D. Vance issued a joint statement similarly slamming it.Some Democrats have speculated that it wasn’t Trump who initially wanted to destroy the funding bill. Instead, Trump kowtowed to Musk’s demands. “Donald Trump has been completely AWOL during these negotiations,” said Rep. Daniel Goldman, a New York-based Democrat. “Only after Elon Musk publicly tweets about his displeasure about this budget deal, all of a sudden Donald Trump ... comes trotting in and blows up the deal.”xRep. Goldman: "It's not Donald Trump asking for this. It's very clearly President Elon Musk asking for this. pic.twitter.com/sZbucGtP3T— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 19, 2024Musk has not yet commented on whether he’d be interested in becoming the chamber’s next leader, which the body will elect on Jan. 3. But if he were, he’d likely face competition from one of his texting buds: Johnson. The Louisiana Republican was elected speaker October 2023, after some far-right House members engineered the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. But now, with a government shutdown looming, some Republicans have pledged to not vote to reelect Johnson in 2025.Given the Republicans’ razor-thin majority in the House, Johnson cannot afford more than a few GOP defections, assuming all other members are present and voting. With Rep. Matt Gaetz no longer serving as a member of Congress, Republicans are set to have 219 seats—or 218, depending on how you count Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana—at the start of the next Congress. This compares with Democrat’s 215 members.What’s more, the weakness Johnson has so far shown in struggling to pass this essential legislation will draw only more naysayers to the murky waters he must navigate if he wants to maintain control of the gavel.What might help Johnson is the fact that some House Republicans are privately annoyed at Musk for intervening in the budget process. (After all, he’s not a member of Congress and can’t actually vote on this thing.) Plus, of the three lawmakers who have endorsed Musk for the speakership, two are elected to the Senate, meaning they won’t get to vote on whom House Republicans elect. There’s also no consensus on a potential successor among the House Republican caucus.Then there’s the Trump effect. On Thursday, the president-elect expressed confidence that Johnson will “easily remain speaker” if he “acts decisively and tough” on the spending package. (But who really knows what that means?) Surely, it’s a feather in Johnson’s cap that he still—somewhat shockingly—has Trump’s stamp of approval. Well, at least he does for now.Campaign Action

'He's got to go, he's got to go'

Welcome back, Mitt.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle appeared caught off guard on Wednesday as President-elect Trump demanded that a debt ceiling hike be paired with a stopgap government funding bill, rejecting a sweeping bipartisan plan to avert a government shutdown this week. Trump said in a joint statement with Vice President-elect J.D. Vance said that while [...]

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause as Trump entered the stadium before kickoff

President-elect Donald Trump attended his fifth Army-Navy Game on Saturday and first since he was last in office.

A Donald Trump executive order can enshrine the principle of colorblind equality on Day 1 — and immediately fire all officials responsible for poisonous DEI programs.

President-elect Donald Trump announced in November that he intended to name Kash Patel to replace Cristopher Wray as FBI director.

Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle have reportedly broken up. See photos of the couple throughout their time together.

'High energy'

Former national security adviser John Bolton wants Donald Trump to seek a higher Defense Department budget.

"Donald Trump campaigned on using our military to go after the ’enemy from within,’ so it’s important for President Biden to clarify the Defense Department’s policies,” U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren told the Herald.

The Massachusetts senator said she views the nomination of Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer as a “test” of whether Trump will be cowed by business groups.

'Star is rising'

Trump tapped Gaetz amid the House Ethics Committee’s open investigation into the congressman over allegations of sexual misconduct.

'Whole-of-government equity agenda'

Since Donald Trump’s rise to prominence in the 2016 presidential campaign and through his first term, out-of-office election-denial antics and his 2024 campaign, many supporters have built a cottage industry excusing his more extravagant claims.

Political pollsters and pundits determined that the power of the Christian vote helped boost President-elect Donald Trump’s first victory to the White House in 2016.

Senators are warning that Gaetz's confirmation could get ugly while previewing why they may ultimately vote "yes"

On Jan. 3, 2020, the Trump administration conducted a drone strike near Baghdad International Airport, killing Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani.

'It wouldn't shock me if CBS News just didn't exist in four years'

As part of the process to land a job in Donald Trump's second administration, hopeful applicants are being asked to provide standard resumes and also include documentation on efforts they made to support him in the past.According to a report from Politico, the president-elect has had a large pool of candidates to choose from as he started doling out prestigious positions in his next administration with many of them having been runner-ups to incoming Vice President J.D. Vance.As Joe Borelli, the New York City Council minority leader who advised Trump after his 2016 win, put it, “He didn’t have a moob like Chris Christie running the transition team without actually thinking about who would fill some of the important spots. This go-around Team Trump knew they were in the catbird position and had a clear depth chart of folks for consideration.”ALSO READ: Why Trump voters should be held accountable for their choiceAs part of that process, job seekers are required to, file not just a resume and cover letter but a document indicating everything they have done to support Trump — whether that be through positive media interviews, fundraising or volunteering."The report adds those who were also-runs to Vance should count themsleves lucky with Politico's Jeff Coltin and Kimberly Leonard writing, "Vance was relentlessly pilloried on the campaign trail. And Trump has turned against a vice president before — reportedly expressing support for the Jan. 6 rioters chanting 'Hang Mike Pence.'"You can read more here.

Donald Trump "exploded" after viewing a dossier on one of his campaign aides, according to a new report.One member of Trump's orbit wrote a tell-all book outlining alleged infighting on that team, and now he's in line to get his foot in the door of the next Trump administration, and "the fangs are out," according to reporting from Politico."The last time Cliff Sims was this close to presidential power, he coined an indelible phrase for the cut-throat coterie around Donald Trump — it was a 'Team of Vipers,' as he titled his 2019 tell-all. Now a key member of the Trump transition, Sims is showing that he knows his way around the old snake pit," the report says.ALSO READ: Why Trump voters should be held accountable for their choiceIt continues:"That has become clear in recent weeks, when he turned into the subject of a Mar-a-Lago whisper campaign that arose alongside frustrations over the spate of leaks coming out of the transition: Why, some MAGA insiders who spoke with POLITICO wondered, was a guy who had publicly portrayed the Trump White House as a den of backstabbers and turf-warriors tied to the hip of transition co-chair Howard Lutnick?"The report quotes two "well-placed Republicans" speaking anonymously who said Trump barely recognized Sims, and asked for information about him."After an aide put a folder of clips about Sims and his book on Trump’s desk, he exploded. Trump was 'beyond pissed,' according to one of the people familiar with the confrontation, and demanded he be removed," the report says. "Yet as of Friday, Sims remains on the job — and could be in line for a plum administration post."People close to Trump, including J.D. Vance, issued statements defending Sims, yet Politico reports that others are still concerned about his potential position in the incoming president's administration.Read the full report here.

President-elect Donald Trump's MAGA advisers are setting him up to fail on a global scale when he returns to the White House in 2025, a new political analysis contends. Trump supporters such as Tucker Carlson have been urging an action that Washington Post global opinions writer Josh Rogin argued Wednesday would threaten American influence abroad and the president-elect's reputation at home. "His MAGA advisers are pushing him toward a policy that would be disastrous...for American influence and for Trump’s own place in history,' wrote Rogin. "They’re urging him to withhold U.S. aid to push Ukraine into a negotiation on terms Ukrainians fear would amount to a surrender to Russian President Vladimir Putin."ALSO READ: The one belief that predicted Trump voters with scary accuracyTrump has multiple anti-Ukraine advisers in his orbit, among them his eldest son, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and Carlson, who has been openly taunting Ukraine with threats about U.S. aid, Rogin reported. But conservatives such as former British prime minister Boris Johnson fear withholding U.S. aid would be calamitous for both Ukraine and the president-elect, according to Rogin. Johnson argued such a withdrawal would be seen as a sign of American weakness and could encourage Putin to attempt toppling the government in Kyiv, Rogin reported.“You have to make the argument to Trump, ‘Do you want this on your legacy, that you lost the first war of the 21st century to Vladimir Putin?’” Johnson said. “It’s going to be worse than Vietnam or Afghanistan.”At home, dozens of Republican lawmakers support Ukraine, among them the chairs of the House Intelligence Committee, House Foreign Affairs Committee and House Armed Services Committee, Rogin reported. Trump's presumed secretary of state choice Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has also called for negotiations on terms not favorable to Putin. Rogin on Wednesday urged Trump to heed the warnings of such conservatives."He has the chance to be remembered not as a president who immediately capitulated to Putin, but as one who turned a precarious moment into a historic achievement," Rogin wrote. "If Trump pushes for a rushed deal on Putin’s terms, the outcome would probably be neither stable nor lasting."

The Russian government has long held that Donald Trump is to their benefit, as it went so far as to interfere on his behalf in the 2016 election, and then enjoyed years of relative friendliness as Vladimir Putin and Trump were together on the world stage. But that doesn't mean Russia's rich and powerful are skipping with joy about his re-election this time around.According to Bloomberg News, the Russian billionaires colloquially known as "oligarchs" do not expect Trump to lift the sanctions imposed by the West on the Russian economy, and don't believe his promises of peace."While they don’t expect a collapse that would force Putin to end his invasion of Ukraine, half a dozen tycoons interviewed by Bloomberg News said Russia’s economy has changed significantly since the fighting started and that makes long-term targets look unreachable," said the report. Furthermore, with respect to Ukraine, "most doubted the war will end soon, even as Trump has pledged to bring it to a rapid conclusion."ALSO READ: 'Not normal times': Ex-intel officials brace for retribution following J.D. Vance vowRussia's invasion of Ukraine, which Putin initially described as a "special operation" that would be in and out quickly, has evolved into an open-ended quagmire with both sides entrenched in a bloody, protracted conflict. Ukraine has held firm, refusing to negotiate against its own land and sovereignty on the world stage. However, sanctions against Russia, though they have caused severe economic damage, have so far not stopped its war machine.This comes despite the fact that international companies with interests in Russia jumped in share price at the result of the U.S. election.Behind the scenes, the sanctions appear to have done more damage than Putin is willing to let on, said the report: "Russia’s economy faces troubling structural changes, according to some of the tycoons. The exit of international companies degraded manufacturing capacity, particularly in the technology and machinery sectors. The defense industry’s demands increasingly shape the war economy, import substitution is proceeding slowly and the army’s need for more new troops is intensifying labor shortages, they said" — and they don't expect Trump's victory alters this situation much.Trump and running mate J.D. Vance have signaled a disinterest in continuing support for the Ukraine war; however, many of Trump's initial executive branch picks appear to be conventional neoconservatives who have backed the fight against Russia, like Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL).

I’ll enjoy my tax cuts and smile at his efforts to promote energy production, but I’ll be sad to recognize, as Le Monde puts it, “The end of an American world.”

Many celebrities have endorsed Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. See below to find out which stars are Trump supporters.

Donald Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance cast their votes Tuesday morning.

Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance said he's lost some friends over his support for former President Donald Trump, his running mate.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez commented after Sen. J.D. Vance called Vice President Kamala Harris "trash."

Both tell supporters to get voters to the polls in tossup race to be won by the party that leaves no favorable ballot un-cast.

Joe Rogan fans have hit out at Kamala Harris after mega episodes with the Republican Presidential ticket, Donald Trump, and J.D. Vance.

EXCLUSIVE: An expert has claimed Donald Trump would be "inconsistent" in his efforts as president and would also "struggle" to share power with J.D. Vance.

But can they tell us who's going to win, not only the presidential race, but also Ward 1 on the Albany City Council?

Editor’s note:

With just days to go until Election Day, Republican lawmakers have raised concerns that the Pentagon has not allocated enough resources so that active-duty service members can cast their ballot on time.

Vance, who served in the Marines in the Iraq War, appeared on stage in Pennsylvania with former Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, a fellow military veteran.

How many Pennsylvania voters are truly up for grabs? We spoke to 10.

Donald Trump is concerned about the troops and about our veterans. I should know. I'm a wounded warrior and I've seen how much he cares about me and the veterans I recovered with.

Former President Donald Trump took the stage at Madison Square Garden on Sunday evening in a historic rally ahead of the Nov. 5 election against Vice President Kamala Harris.

An appointee to Gov. Tim Walz's Minnesota Department of Education is under fire from Republican Rep. Jim Banks for previous comments to overthrow the U.S. government.

‘You did it again and again'

On Sunday morning, NBC "Meet the Press" host Kirsten Welker was forced multiple times to contradict Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) after he stated, without any evidence, that Vice President Kamala Harris is having "her DOJ" arrest her political opponents.As part of three interviews, including CNN and CBS, Vance showed up for that were shown on Sunday, Donald Trump's combative running mate butted heads with all the hosts and NBC's Welker was no exception.Towards the end of his contentious interview with Welker, he changed direction and attempted to make the case that the greatest danger in the U.S. is Harris and President Joe Biden siccing the government of their critics.ALSO READ: Kamala's secret weapon against Trump: The F-word that's changing everythingAfter attacking former Trump White House chief of staff John Kelly of being a "disgruntled " ex-employee seeking revenge because Trump fired him, Vance stated, "If he was what John Kelly said he [Trump] was then why did Donald Trump deliver peace and prosperity. He didn't arrest his political opponents as Kamala Harris and the Department of the Justice have in fact done.""There's no evidence, there is no evidence of that," Welker interrupted as the Ohio Republican tried to talk over her."The Department of Justice has not been going after political political opponents?" Vance parried."Senator, there is no evidence of that," the host replied. "The current Department of Justice under Kamala Harris and Joe Biden has absolutely been going after their political opponents of the current Democratic party and I think it's a disgrace, but it's happening," Vance insisted."There's no evidence that the DOJ is going after their political opponents. Donald Trump was indicted by federal grand juries," the NBC host shot back.Watch below or at the link.- YouTubeyoutu.be

While in Arizona to make the case for electing Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Bill Clinton noted that Harris has a weak spot. “She’s extremely vulnerable, more vulnerable than [...]The post Clinton Does It Again: Humiliates Kamala in Front of Crowd, And There's Nothing She Can Do to Stop Him appeared first on The Western Journal.