Elon Musk Backed Trump With Over $250 Million, Fueling the Unusual ‘RBG PAC’  —  The enormous spending from the world's richest man quietly fueled allied groups and was revealed only now, as Mr. Musk plays a key role in the presidential transition.  —  Elon Musk, the world's richest man …

Biden Team Considers Blanket Pardons Before Trump's Promised ‘Retribution’  —  White House officials believe President-elect Donald J. Trump's selection of partisan warriors for top law enforcement jobs indicates that he will pursue revenge against his perceived enemies.

Trump's billionaires set to take government by storm … - They've been picked to lead the departments of Treasury (Scott Bessent), Commerce (Howard Lutnick), Education (Linda McMahon), Interior (Doug Burgum), the Small Business Administration (Kelly Loeffler) and NASA (Jared Isaacman).

Romanian court cancels presidential election amid Russian influence fears  —  Constitutional court throws Romanian politics into turmoil, 2 days before runoff vote was due to take place.  —  BUCHAREST — Romania's top constitutional court on Friday dramatically cancelled high-stakes presidential elections …

Putin's Pals Say Tucker Carlson Is Acting as a Secret Back-Channel to Trump  —  GOING UNDERCOVER  —  Carlson traveled to Moscow to push the Kremlin's Ukraine propaganda in public, but what was he doing in private?  —  Tucker Carlson, the darling of the Russian state media …

How Trump could bring on a second civil war  —  Trump may force a second civil war on America with his plan to use the military to round up at least 11 million undocumented people inside the United States — even if it means breaking up families — send them to detention camps, and then deport them.

TikTok Faces US Ban After Appeals Court Refuses to Block Law  —  TikTok's Chinese parent company faces a ban in the US if it doesn't meet a Jan. 19 deadline to sell the video-sharing app as a result of a federal appeals court ruling Friday.  —  A three-judge panel in Washington upheld …

Searching for a ray of hope?  Look at Wisconsin.  —  Stringing together small wins can lead to big progress. … 🧀  —  A lot of the post-mortems of the 2024 election have felt impossibly grim, with Democrats grappling with the fact that most of the country lurched right to elect a felon who led an insurrection.

No, Trump Can't Just ‘Dismiss’ the Senate  —  The threat from House Republicans should be seen and called out for what it is: an autocratic move that is not just unlawful but contemptuous of constitutionalism.  —  Donald Trump has not even returned to office, and already a constitutional crisis may be in the making.

Trump names ICE chief and makes another round of immigration announcements  —  President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday night announced a new round of nominees and appointments to tackle his aggressive immigration and homeland security agenda.  Trump said he was nominating Rodney Scott as commissioner of Customs and Border Protection.

‘An act of hate’: Counter-terrorism police to investigate synagogue firebombing  —  Officers from the state's Counter Terrorism Command will join the investigation into the firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue that has been widely condemned as an act of antisemitism.

Everybody Loves FRED: How America Fell for a Data Tool  —  From Facebook political debates to college classrooms, the St. Louis Fed's data tool has gained a major following.  —  Fans post about him on social media.  Swag bearing his name sells out on the regular.

Eric Adams doesn't rule out switch to the GOP: ‘Cancel me’  —  The New York City mayor has been at odds with national Democrats over immigration.  —  NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who has taken a soft touch with President-elect Donald Trump, left open the possibility …

EU snubs France to seal huge Latin American trade deal  —  European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen sealed a massive trade agreement with South America on Friday, in a bold step that threatens to widen a rift between France, which hates the deal, and her native Germany, which loves it.

What if everyone had masked up?  Analysis of app data has an answer … What would have happened if everyone in the United Kingdom had worn high-grade masks during the COVID-19 pandemic?  A modelling study 1 has estimated just how sharply transmission might have dropped.  —  Access options

Goldman Sachs quits global climate coalition for banks  —  Goldman Sachs (GS.N) said it has quit a sector coalition aimed at aligning bank lending and investment activities with global efforts to fight climate change, marking the latest high-profile departure of a U.S. financial firm from the group.

In news deserts, Trump won in a landslide  —  But what does this election-result correlation mean?  —  Donald Trump won the 2024 election with one of the smallest popular-vote margins in U.S. history, but in news deserts - counties lacking a professional source of local news - it was an avalanche.

AOC tells Democratic colleagues she's running for top job on Oversight Committee  —  New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's entrance into the Oversight race pits the millennial progressive star against Rep. Gerry Connolly, 74, a senior member of the panel.

Trump Claims a ‘Historic’ Mandate.  Polls Show Americans Have Mixed Feelings.  —  The public may have more nuanced views on issues like tariffs and mass deportations than it might seem at first blush.  —  President-elect Donald J. Trump and his allies have declared that his incoming administration has an …

Trump Names Top Silicon Valley Conservative to Oversee Crypto and A.I.  —  David Sacks, a venture capitalist who hosts a hit podcast, has generally called for a looser hand in regulating both emerging technologies.  —  President-elect Donald J. Trump has named one of Silicon Valley's …

A squeaker: Sports betting passed in Missouri with just 50.05% support, certified results show  —  JEFFERSON CITY — Fans in Missouri will be able to bet on sports next year as a result of a ballot measure that barely passed despite getting help from record-setting spending and the state's professional teams.

Canada to boost Arctic cooperation with US, cites Russia threat  —  Canada plans to work more closely with the United States in the Arctic to ensure regional security in the face of an increasingly aggressive Russia, Ottawa said on Friday.  —  As part of a renewed strategy …

Trump picks David Perdue to be ambassador to China  —  Donald Trump has selected former Georgia Sen. David Perdue to serve as ambassador to China.  Perdue has significant business experience in Asia, including China, something he ran on during his Senate election in 2014.

1-on-1 with Walz: The past, present and his political future  —  1-on-1 with Walz: The past, present and political future  —  1-on-1 with Walz: The past, present and political future  —  Governor Tim Walz is back in St. Paul still settling back into a routine at the Minnesota State Capitol …

Obama calls political ‘divisiveness’ one of the ‘greatest challenges of our time’  —  CHICAGO — Former President Barack Obama called out divisiveness and polarization as “one of the greatest challenges of our time,” as he avoided any specific political references in his first public remarks since the election.

Trump isn't president yet, but that hasn't stopped him from starting to act like he is  —  “He's not going to follow rules that he thinks are stupid rules,” said a former senior White House official in Trump's first term.  —  WASHINGTON — Foreign leaders have lined up to speak with him.

Greene supporting Johnson for speaker  —  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was Speaker Mike Johnson's loudest House GOP critic this past year, told POLITICO in an interview Wednesday that she plans to officially back him for a full term as speaker.  The Georgia firebrand …