After a New York judge set President-elect Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush-money case for January 10 — just ten days before his inauguration — his spokesperson called the order a “witch hunt” and said Trump would “continue fighting against these hoaxes until they are all dead.”
Judge Juan Merchan indicated Trump wouldn’t be jailed, but the extraordinary development puts the president-elect on course to be the first president to take office convicted of felonies. In a written decision, Merchan said he would sentence the former and future president to what’s known as a conditional discharge, in which a case gets dismissed if a defendant avoids rearrest.
Following the order, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung issued a statement claiming that “the Constitution demands” that the case be “immediately dismissed.” He said the president-elect must be allowed to continue his presidential transition “unobstructed by the remains of this or any remnants of the Witch Hunts.”
Cheung concluded: “There should be no sentencing.”
Trump ripped the entire case as a “rigged charade” Friday on Truth Social.
Before Merchan’s ruling, House Speaker Mike Johnson was reelected at the start of the 119th Congress. Despite having Trump’s endorsement, the Louisiana representative earned 218 votes, the bare minimum.
What you need to know: Biden ramps up bird flu spending as scientists fret about H5N1 response
As concerns about outbreaks of bird flu and the nation’s response continue to grow, the Biden administration announced Friday that it would ramp up spending to support its efforts.
There are currently 66 confirmed human cases reported across 10 states, with the majority reported in California and Colorado. Of the dozens, one case in Louisiana marked the nation’s first severe illness from the virus, which likely mutated inside the patient. However, there has not yet been human-to-human transmission of H5N1.
Julia Musto reports.
How might Republicans pay for Trump’s tax cuts?
Trump is determined to cut taxes for Americans but doing so means the government will need to cut federal spending elsewhere, or risk raising the national debt by trillions of dollars.
Ariana Baio takes a look.
Vance calls Musk’s piece praising far-right German party AfD ‘interesting’
Vice President-elect JD Vance took to X to call an op-ed by Elon Musk in Die Welt explaining his support for the far-right German party Alternative for Germany (AfD) “interesting.”
Musk shared a post on X by Martin Varsavsky, who posted what he said was the article submitted by Musk to the German paper. The AfD is a far-right populist, eurosceptic party that opposes immigration and has called for mass deportations.
Gustaf Kilander reports.
Report: LA Times owner talked about setting up a ‘MAGA version of The View’
The owner of the Los Angeles Times reportedly considered launching a conservative version of the daytime talk show The View and met with comedian and anti-vaccine advocate Rob Schneider and the wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., actor Cheryl Hines, to discuss it.
Ariana Baio has the story.
Inauguration Day looms: Here are the promises Trump made for ‘Day One’ in office
So far, he’s already promised to take action on 59 different issues “on Day One,” according to an Axios analysis of pledges made on the campaign trail.
The key MAGA issues he promised to address are closing the border, pardoning the January 6 Capitol riot prisoners, and rolling back protections for transgender students.
The Independent has contacted Trump’s team seeking clarity on the issues he will tackle first.
Here are some of the promises the president-elect made.
Biden blocks Japanese takeover of US Steel
President Joe Biden on Friday invoked a rarely-used presidential power to prevent the Japanesesteel giant Nippon Steel from purchasing the United States Steel Corporation, citing the $14.1 billion deal’s potential consequences to American national security after a year-long review process.
The long-awaited decision to prohibit the transition, which would have placed America’s largest steel-making enterprise under foreign control, blocks Nippon Steel and its’ American affiliates from any attempt to acquire control of the Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel.
Andrew Feinberg reports.
As Trump complains nation is ‘breaking down’, murder rates drop for third year in a row
Although Trump declared in a Truth Social post Thursday that the U.S. is “breaking down” with violence, blaming the current administration’s “open borders,” data shows that rates of violent crime and murder actually plummeted in 2024.
Kelly Rissman reports.
Mike Johnson remains House speaker after Republican holdouts flip votes at last minute
Mike Johnson has become speaker of the House after a dramatic delay caused by a handful of insurgent Republicans who revolted against him during the first vote of the 119th Congress.
Johnson ultimately earned the vote of 218 Republicans, the bare minimum needed to win the speaker’s gavel, after discussions with two holdouts — Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Keith Self of Texas — who ended up flipping their votes at the last moment. According to CNN, Trump called both lawmakers while the voting was still open and urged them to throw their weight behind Johnson.
Thomas Massie, the idiosyncratic libertarian Republican from Kentucky, led the opposition against Johnson, voting instead for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer. Norman initially voted for Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Self voted for Byron Donalds of Florida.
Eric Garcia reports from Capitol Hill.
Chosen by Trump to head up Medicare, Dr. Oz once said uninsured have no ‘right to health’
The physician, better known as the TV celebrity Dr. Oz, made the comment during a 2013 address to the National Governor’s Association. He told attendees that uninsured people should be given “a way of crawling back out of the abyss of darkness, of fear, over not having the health they need” in a “festival-like setting” with physicians.
He added that the uninsured don’t have a right to health, only the right to access a chance at health.
Katie Hawkinson reports.
Musk and Ramaswamy want to force federal workers back to the office — why aren’t economists convinced?
Federal employees could be required to return to the office five days per week as a way to reduce its workforce under President-elect Donald Trump’s administration – but economists say that it could also cost the government productivity and money.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the billionaire entrepreneurs recently bestowed government advisory jobs, said they have several ideas to drastically cut the federal workforce and budget through their newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
One way they could inspire change is by suggesting Trump mandate the approximately 2.28 million employees return to the office five days per week – something they claim will “result in a wave of voluntary terminations.”
Ariana Baio reports.
Source: independent.co.uk