It’s Tuesday. Washington, D.C., just looks so magical from the snow. Another winter storm is possible this weekend, but that’s still up in the air (ha, get it?). Here’s what’s happening today: - Trump appeared for a sprawling press conference in Florida.
- Meta will ditch fact-checking ahead of Trump’s second term.
- Democrats are under fire for not sounding the alarm on Biden.
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Jimmy Carter’s body will arrive in D.C. today.
- Chick-fil-A changed its waffle fry recipe, and fans are *big* mad.
Filing for a second day with my adorable little assistant because of snow closures, I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send tips, commentary, feedback and cookie recipes to cmartel@thehill.com.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: The Hill’s 12:30 Report will not publish tomorrow, but we will be back Thursday with everything you may have missed. In the meantime, check out The Hill’s Morning Report and Evening Report to stay in the know!
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Trump appeared for a wide-ranging press conference in Florida: |
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President-elect Trump appeared for a wide-ranging press conference from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. These are Trump’s first public remarks since Congress officially certified his 2024 electoral win.
Here are a few highlights:
Trump railed against Biden in the transition: Trump claimed the transition with the Biden administration has not been “smooth.” “They told me they’re going to do everything possible to make this transition to the new administration very smooth, it’s not smooth because they’re ... playing with the courts,” Trump said.
Trump announced a $20 billion investment: Trump announced that a Dubai-based company will invest $20 billion to build data centers across the U.S.
Trump floated renaming the Gulf of Mexico: "We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. What a beautiful name,” Trump said. “And it’s appropriate … And Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country."
📸 View from the room
Timing: Trump is expected to meet with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
🗨️ Live blog of today’s updates |
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My Facebook homepage feed is already the Wild West:
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Social media giant Meta announced a major change to its platform this morning: It will no longer fact-check posts in an effort to embrace free speech. What will happen instead?: Instead of using third-party fact-checkers to monitor posts, Meta will use community notes to allow users to add their own comments.
From Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg: “We’re going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms.” 📹 Watch Zuckerberg’s video Which platforms will this apply to?: Facebook, Instagram and Threads
What sparked this: Zuckerberg cited recent elections, criticizing “governments and legacy media” for pushing the company to “censor more and more.”
This is notable: The announcement was made on Fox News. Meta’s chief global affairs officer was in studio at “Fox & Friends” this morning. (h/t CNN’s Hadas Gold and Brian Stelter) |
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*Googles ‘is Greenland for sale?’*:
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Donald Trump Jr. landed in Greenland this morning after his father, President-elect Trump, ruffled feathers recently by suggesting the U.S. take control of the Danish territory. 📹 Watch the Trump plane land in Greenland
📸 Trump Jr. posted photos from Greenland
📹 Trump Jr.’s view landing in Greenland
📹 Trump called into a lunch with Trump Jr.
President-elect Trump chimed in on Monday: “Greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation. We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside World. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!,” Trump posted on Truth Social. 🔎 Read Trump’s full post
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has insisted the country is not for sale and that “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.” Trump leaned into the idea of adding Greenland to the U.S. during his press conference at Mar-a-Lago, arguing "we need Greenland for national security purposes." Keep in mind: This is not the first time this has come up. Remember when Trump called for acquiring Greenland in 2019? Frederiksen called the idea “absurd,” and Trump then called her response “nasty.”
Why would Trump want Greenland?: “Some have seen his Greenland talk as a nod to his national security interests, as the Arctic is a considered key to countering Russia and China. Denmark recently announced a new package to boost security of the Arctic Island.” (The Hill) | |
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➤ MEANWHILE, ON THE NORTHERN BORDER: |
Trump during his Mar-a-Lago remarks also continued to float the idea of combining the U.S. and Canada, calling the border between the two nations an "artificially drawn line.
The president-elect pitched the idea of a "merged" Canada and U.S. earlier this week following the resignation of Justin Trudeau as prime minister. |
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- The Free Press: John Bolton: Why America Needs Greenland
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Bloomberg: Why Would Trump Buy Greenland When He Can Rent It? (Opinion)
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➤ TIDBIT ABOUT TRUMP’S FRIENDSHIP WITH ELON MUSK: |
The New York Times’s Maggie Haberman says that Trump is complaining that tech billionaire Elon Musk is “around a lot.” The details |
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Back to boring and mundane in the best way: |
Congress officially certified President-elect Trump’s electoral victory Monday with no objections from lawmakers.
The final total: Trump won 312 Electoral College votes, and Harris won 226.
The gist: “Harris presided over the event, donning a businesslike or expressionless demeanor and refrained from any applause. The proceedings went off without a hitch. Unlike Trump’s 2016 win, no Democratic lawmakers attempted to block certification of his victory.” (The Hill)
For context: C-SPAN compiled a list of the times it took to count the electoral votes. In 2009, it took 36 minutes. In 2013, it took 22 minutes. In 2017, it took 41 minutes. In 2021, it took 14 hours and 48 minutes. 😅 And this year, it took 30 minutes. |
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Wow: 📸This snowy photo of the U.S. Capitol is stunning. Is this their *beary* first winter?: The Smithsonian National Zoo’s new pandas, Bao Li and Qing Bao, played in the snow. 📹 Enjoy the video How cute!: Check out 📸this little snowman on the National Mall.
Hundreds of people showed up for a public snowball fight: Here are 📸some photos. Overheard at that snowball fight, via @OverheardWDC: “The Geneva Convention does not apply!”
Have any ideas for snowplow names?: The Arlington, Va., Department of Environmental Services has asked the public for ideas to name its snowplows. 📝 Submit your ideas 📸 Monday evening in Lincoln Park |
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The chatter, er, blame game, among Democrats: |
“Democratic leaders and lawmakers are coming under growing scrutiny for not blowing the whistle sooner on what is widely perceived to be President Biden’s decline during the final two years of his presidency,” reports The Hill’s Alexander Bolton. What could happen now: “Some Democrats fear there is going to be a lot more talk as members of their party wrestle over what went wrong in the 2024 election and how to chart a course going forward.” For what it’s worth: “Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and other Democrats who spent time with Biden at the White House or at special events, such as the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of D-Day in June, repeatedly vouched for his mental sharpness before his debate against Trump.”
Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Schumer, who had previously claimed that accusations of Biden’s declining mental acuity were “right-wing propaganda,” said he doesn’t believe Democrats misled the public and called Biden a “patriot” and a “great guy” with “an amazing record.” Read Bolton’s reporting: ‘Democrats under fire for not sounding alarm earlier on Biden’ |
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Expect a last-minute battle over Trump’s sentencing: |
“The New York judge who oversaw President-elect Trump’s criminal trial this spring declined his request to pause Friday’s sentencing, setting up a last-minute appellate battle as he seeks to stave off the proceeding,” reports The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld and Ella Lee. How this could play out: “Trump could still attempt to have an appeals court step in as his attorneys argue Judge Juan Merchan was wrong to reject Trump’s presidential immunity claims and uphold the conviction in his hush money criminal case.” A quick reminder on the case: “In May, a New York jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment made to porn actor Stormy Daniels so she would keep an alleged affair, which he denies, secret ahead of the 2016 presidential election.” Read more: ‘Hush money judge refuses to delay Trump’s criminal sentencing’ |
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There’s been a temporary block on Jack Smith’s report: |
“U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon temporarily blocked the Justice Department from releasing Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on President-elect Trump’s two prosecutions, granting a request from his legal team,” reports The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch.
“The ruling from Cannon comes after Trump’s two co-defendants in the Mar-a-Lago documents case asked her to bar the release of both sections of Smith’s report, including that dealing with Trump’s election interference case.” |
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➤ ANOTHER CHANGE TRUMP WANTS TO MAKE:
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President-elect Trump old conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that he’ll replace the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) leader.
Can he do that?: “According to federal law on the NARA website, Trump has the power to fire the archivist but must ‘communicate the reasons for any such removal to each House of the Congress..”
Keep in mind: “One of the prominent legal cases the president-elect has had to deal with in the past two years, the Mar-a-Lago documents case, centered around his retention of sensitive documents from his first presidency, in the face of work by NARA and the FBI to get them back.” (The Hill)
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🍤 Celebrate: Today is National Tempura Day!
🍟Why Chick-fil-A fans are up in arms: The fast food restaurant made a change to its waffle fries. It involves a new coating containing pea starch that helps fries stay crispier longer. Fans have noticed and are … not pleased. 🚕 Hi, I’m [insert robot’s name], and I’m your driver: Uber and Lyft will offer driverless taxis in Atlanta and Austin, Texas.
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The House and Senate are in. President Biden is in Los Angeles, and Vice President Harris is in Washington. (all times Eastern)
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