Trump team prepares dramatic cuts  —  is ready to take an ax to government spending.  —  Staffers for the Trump transition team have been meeting with career staff at the White House ahead of Friday's presidential inauguration to outline their plans for shrinking the federal bureaucracy, The Hill has learned.

Trump Sought Military Equipment For Inauguration, Granted 20-Plane Flyover  —  “It's very Red Square,” said Stephen Kerrigan, who oversaw the past two inaugurations.  —  Foreign Affairs Reporter, The Huffington Post  —  WASHINGTON Part of being a great president is showing off America's …

Intercepted Russian Communications Part of Inquiry Into Trump Associates  —  WASHINGTON — American law enforcement and intelligence agencies are examining intercepted communications and financial transactions as part of a broad investigation into possible links between Russian officials …

Washington Hotel Presents Trump With a ‘Minefield’ of Potential Scandal  —  WASHINGTON — With sirens blaring, a fleet of limousines and security personnel raced down Pennsylvania Avenue twice in less than the last 24 hours to deliver Donald J. Trump to inauguration events.

Report: Trump has given up personal cellphone  —  Less than 24 hours before his inauguration, the Associated Press reports President-elect Donald Trump  —  has given up his personal cellphone.  —  Trump apparently told a friend on Thursday that he has given up the phone on the advice of security agencies.

Ivanka Trump Says She Will Not Be Filling In as First Lady in Trump Administration  —  Ivanka Trump dispelled speculation that she would be filling in as a surrogate first lady or occupying the East Wing office of the White House, traditionally reserved for the president's wife.

First on ABC: George W. Bush's Inauguration Day Letter to Barack Obama  —  Writing a letter to the next commander-in-chief has been a tradition for outgoing presidents.  —  As Barack Obama prepares to hand the baton to Donald Trump, ABC News has obtained an exclusive look at the missive …

4 Recent Examples Show Why No One Trusts Media Coverage Of Trump  —  One may have hoped that the media would respond to their 2016 failures and resulting lack of credibility by reforming.  Instead, it seems that many in political media are quadrupling down on the mistakes that served …

Thank You  —  Editor's note: President Obama sent this final message to the White House email list this morning.  —  My fellow Americans,  —  It's a long-standing tradition for the sitting president of the United States to leave a parting letter in the Oval Office for the American elected to take his or her place.

A Final Reminder: Here's Who ‘Owns’ the Trump Presidency and Who Will Get the Blame/Praise  —  As we all brace for the official start to a Donald Trump presidency which most of us never thought would happen, it is important to set down some markers.  Specifically, who will get the credit/blame …

Michael Moore leads massive anti-Trump protest in NYC  —  Documentary director Michael Moore held a massive protest Thursday night outside Trump's New York City International Hotel featuring speeches from public figures including actors Robert De Niro and Mark Ruffalo.

The Reinvigoration of the Clemency Authority  —  Today, the President granted commutation to 330 individuals.  The President has now granted commutation to a total of 1,715 individuals, including 568 people who had been sentenced to life in prison.  The vast majority of these men and women …

Wyden objection to Pompeo could push vote to Monday  —  Trump CIA pick backs intel on Russian hacking  —  (CNN)Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, a Democratic member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a vocal privacy advocate, has formally objected to the Senate voting Friday on CIA director nominee …

Malia Obama's Secret Trip to Bolivia and Peru  —  The Bolivian guides were convinced it was the blonde.  It had to be the blonde.  American Embassy officials in November had told three brothers who led guided hikes across Bolivia's majestic Cordillera Real mountain range that they would soon be hosting an important American dignitary.

Steven Mnuchin, Treasury Nominee, Failed to Disclose $100 Million in Assets  —  WASHINGTON — Steven Mnuchin, President-elect Donald J. Trump's pick to be Treasury secretary, failed to disclose nearly $100 million of his assets on Senate Finance Committee disclosure documents and forgot …

Wayne Barrett, Fierce Muckraker at The Village Voice, Dies at 71  —  Wayne Barrett, the muckraking Village Voice columnist who carved out a four-decade career taking on developers, landlords and politicians, among them Donald J. Trump and Rudolph W. Giuliani, died Thursday in Manhattan.  He was 71.

El Chapo, Mexican Drug Kingpin, Extradited to the U.S.  —  Mexico City — Joaquin Guzman Loera, the notorious drug lord known as El Chapo, who twice slipped out of high-security Mexican prisons and into criminal legend, was being extradited to the United States on Thursday night, officials said …

Americans seem more interested in inauguration protests than in the inauguration  —  On Friday, an estimated 800,000 people are expected to gather around the National Mall in Washington, DC, for Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony.  The following day, the Women's March on Washington …

It's time to relax about Trump  —  Hugh Hewitt hosts a nationally syndicated radio show and is author of the forthcoming “The Fourth Way: The Conservative Playbook for a Lasting GOP Majority.”  —  My wife and I welcomed Mike and Debbie for dinner at our California home Tuesday night.

Cornyn: No One Covered Under Medicaid Expansion Will Lose Coverage  —  A group of Republican governors met with Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, and some expressed concerns about the number of people who could lose insurance once GOP lawmakers repeal the Affordable Care Act.

CNN Announces Washington Correspondent Assignments  —  Washington, D.C. - Jan. 18 - Today, CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker announced the following assignments for the network's Washington, D.C. based correspondents.  — Dana Bash will continue as the network's chief political correspondent.

Facebook's Zuckerberg sues to force land sales  —  When Facebook's co-founder Mark Zuckerberg paid around $100 million for 700 acres of rural beachfront land on Kauai two years ago to create what Forbes magazine described as a secluded family sanctuary, he actually acquired a not-so-secluded property.

Trump says his Cabinet has ‘highest IQ of any Cabinet’ … offered resounding praise for his Cabinet nominees Thursday, boasting that the team has “the highest IQ of any Cabinet ever assembled.”  —  Speaking at a luncheon at the Trump International Hotel shortly after arriving in Washington …

Democrats prepare for Trump with one of the earliest resistance movements ever to greet a new president  —  When Donald Trump takes the presidential oath of office on Friday, thousands of protesters will be marching his way from an “Occupy the Inauguration” rally at Malcolm X Park.

Congress moves to give away national lands, discounting billions in revenue  —  Though recreation on federal lands creates $646bn in economic stimulus and 6.1m jobs, Republicans are setting in motion a giveaway of Americans' birthright  —  n the midst of highly publicized steps …

ASSANGE LATEST WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange stands by offer to be extradited to US following Chelsea Manning release  —  The creator of the secret-spilling website had previously said he would leave the Ecuadorian embassy if the former soldier was freed  —  WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange …