Marco Rubio

The Trump presidency is giving us all a type of news-related diabetes. So much sensational information is spewing out of our screens all the time. There are so many stories, so much richness and history and irony, and so much silliness and seriousness entwined. We are dangerously overfed and now the lines of reality are blurring and people feel mad and sick. The Trump-Musk saga goes on, as Elon telephones Donald and shows his contrition on X. Trump sends in troops to control anti-ICE protests. Trump attends Les Miserables at his increasingly camp Kennedy Center.

Is Donald Trump forsaking four more years? In an interview today with NBC’s Kristen Welker, Trump indicated that while his MAGA faithful may be hawking hats in support of a 2028 run, he’s not keen on the idea. “I’ll be an eight-year president,” he said. “I’ll be a two-term president. I always thought that was very important.” His current term, he added, was more than adequate to accomplish something “really spectacular.” The interest that Trump’s declaration of non-intention is receiving offers a reminder that he stirs up as much news with what he doesn’t do as with what he does.  The only president to smash the barrier was, of course, Franklin D.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Elon Musk settled their week-long feud this morning — through their shared love of eliminating government waste. How cute! The spat began during last week’s cabinet meeting when Musk and Rubio clashed over their different approaches to cutting the US Agency for International Development. The New York Times reported that Musk called out Rubio for firing “nobody,” arguing that he was unwilling to dismiss large groups of employees. Rubio responded by saying that more than 1,500 State Department officials had retired early or accepted redundancy offers under his leadership, the Times reported.

Elon Musk claims that President Trump and DoGE are shutting down USAID.He made his claim on X Spaces last night following the administrative leave of two senior security officials at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) after they denied the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DoGE) the ability to receive sensitive data from the agency, the Guardian reports.DoGE was created on Trump’s first day to “maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.” Headed by Musk, the department has already taken action to bring to light extensive federal spending and has been granted access to the US Treasury’s federal payment system.Musk said that USAID is beyond repair.

Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted of Ohio will replace Vice President-elect J.D. Vance in the Senate, with Florida attorney general Ashley Moody set to take Marco Rubio's place. The imminent departures of Vance and Rubio from the Senate had led to a lot of speculation about their potential replacements. Theories included that Florida governor Ron DeSantis would appoint himself — or his wife — for Rubio’s role, with some suggesting that he was negotiating with President-elect Donald Trump to leave the governorship open for one of Trump’s family members in exchange for a cabinet role. While the theories were imaginative, reality proved duller.

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, military veteran and former Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, had his first hearing in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday. In his opening remarks, the author of The War on Warriors admitted that he is an unorthodox pick. “It is true that I don’t have a similar biography to defense secretaries of the last thirty years. But, as President Trump also told me, we’ve repeatedly placed people atop the Pentagon with supposedly ‘the right credentials’  — whether they are retired generals, academics or defense contractor executives — and where has it gotten us?” his opening statement read. “It’s time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm.

Donald Trump’s ascension to his second presidency comes with a new cadre of followers and sidekicks, in the form of a cabinet built almost entirely from fresh faces. This is not a president interested in continuity, which he signaled early on, stating on social media that Nikki Haley and Mike Pompeo — his erstwhile United Nations ambassador and secretary of state — would have no place in his second administration. The first name wasn’t a surprise, given the obvious tension he had with the woman who was his last challenger in the primary. The second was because Pompeo had been a dutiful supporter of Trump while in office, wrote a book defending their shared record on foreign policy and rejected the opportunity to run himself.

President-elect Donald Trump is assembling his presidential cabinet in record time, leaving those outside of his orbit scrambling to keep up with the abundance of names flooding their inboxes. In just the past few days, Trump announced Russ Vought will return to the helm of the Office of Management and Budget, president of the America First Policy Institute Brooke Rollins will serve as secretary of the Department of Agriculture, billionaire hedge-fund manager Scott Bessent will lead the Department of the Treasury — plus a smattering of other department heads and health-related appointees.Even if the rapid pace — particularly when compared to the 2016 transition — might be giving some whiplash, the American people are so far on board with the president-elect’s picks.

President Joe Biden delighted Kyiv officials and war hawks — and infuriated the incoming Trump administration (and, separately, the Kremlin) — on Sunday by authorizing Ukraine to send long-range missiles into Russia. Ukraine had been begging for approval to conduct strikes deep into Russia with Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMs) for years, only to receive the go-ahead in the final months of Biden’s lame-duck presidency. The decision is being reported as a response to Russia importing 10,000 North Korean troops a few weeks ago, but the timing feels curious.

President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump were all smiles at the White House on Wednesday as the two met to discuss efforts to transition to a new presidential administration. The duo appeared in front of reporters this afternoon as Biden emphatically shook Trump’s hand and congratulated him on his victory before promising a “smooth transition.“We’ll do everything we can to make sure you’re accommodated with what you need,” Biden said. “We’re going to get to talk about some of that today.”  “Thank you very much. Politics is tough and is in many cases not a very nice world, but it is a nice world today,” Trump replied. “I very much appreciate it.

What on earth is Donald Trump thinking? That’s what many realists and restrainers inside and out of Washington are asking themselves after news broke late last night that Marco Rubio, the senior senator from Florida, is set to be tapped as secretary of state in the next administration.  The reactions haven’t been uniformly bad, mind you. Other candidates rumored to be under consideration, such as Vivek Ramaswamy, caused many in the US foreign policy elite to wretch in fear. Others, like former national security advisor Robert O’Brien and Senator Bill Hagerty, who served as US ambassador to Japan during Trump’s first term, would have been predictable choices with whom most could live.  Rubio, however, is one of the most hawkish options Trump could have picked.

Welcome to Thunderdome. The dynamics of the current moment for the presidency, the Democratic Party and the country as a whole are absolutely insane and are gaining speed towards a conclusion that is still unknown. Let’s break down the factors as they stand today, understanding that the current direction could alter dramatically based on what happens next — with President Biden’s press conference tonight and Monday interview, the RNC gathering in Milwaukee and former president Donald Trump’s choice for vice president all scheduled in the coming days. So here’s a snapshot of the moment right now, even as the ground shifts under our feet.

Support for President Joe Biden continuing his reelection campaign is polarizing his own party. The Hill reported yesterday that discontent was growing among Democrats, and the publication offered live updates all day from the Democratic National Committee headquarters, where Dem leadership gathered to discuss Biden’s future as their nominee. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer have both expressed their continued support for Biden. They were joined yesterday by Representatives Ami Bera, Jim Clyburn, Lou Correa, Veronica Escobar, Adriano Espaillat, Steny Hoyer, Stephen Lynch, Jerry Nadler, Jan Schakowsky and Debbie Wasserman Schultz.