On Tuesday, Trump reiterated his desire to acquire the autonomous Danish territory, saying it was “critical” for national and economic security.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told French radio “there is obviously no question that the European Union would let other nations of the world attack its sovereign borders, whoever they are”.

Barrot said he did not believe the US was going to invade the vast Arctic island, but he was clear the EU should not let itself be intimidated.

Trump has repeatedly expressed an interest in buying Greenland, having mooted the idea during his first term as president.

Denmark, a long-time US ally, has made clear that Greenland is not for sale and that it belongs to its inhabitants.

Greenland’s prime minister, Mute Egede, is pushing for independence and has also made clear the territory is not for sale. He was visiting Copenhagen on Wednesday.

Trump made the remarks at a free-wheeling news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, less than two weeks before he is sworn in for his second term as president.

Asked if he would rule out using military or economic force in order to take over Greenland or the Panama Canal, Trump said: “No, I can’t assure you on either of those two.

“But I can say this, we need them for economic security.”

Greenland has been home to a US radar base since the Cold War and has long been strategically important for Washington.

Trump suggested the island was crucial to military efforts to track Chinese and Russian ships, which he said are “all over the place”.

“I’m talking about protecting the free world,” he told reporters.

Speaking to France Inter radio, Barrot said: “If you’re asking me whether I think the United States will invade Greenland, my answer is no.

“Have we entered into an era that sees the return of the survival of the fittest? Then the answer is yes.

“So, should we allow ourselves to be intimidated and overcome with worry, clearly not. We must wake up, build up our strength.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told Danish TV on Tuesday that “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders” and that only the local population could determine its future.

However, she stressed Denmark needed close co-operation with the US, a Nato ally.

Greenland, which is the largest island in the world but has a population of just 57,000, has wide-ranging autonomy, although its economy is largely dependent on subsidies from Copenhagen and it remains part of the kingdom of Denmark.

It also has some of the largest deposits of rare earth minerals, which are crucial in the manufacture of batteries and high-tech devices.

Danish Broadcasting Corporation senior international correspondent Steffen Kretz, who has been reporting in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, said most of the people he had spoken to were “shocked” by Trump’s suggestion he could use military force to take control of the territory.

While a majority of people in Greenland hoped for independence in the future, he said there was widespread acknowledgment that it needed a partner who could provide public services, defence and an economic foundation, as Denmark did now.

“I have yet to meet a person in Greenland who is dreaming of the island becoming a colony for another outside power like the USA.”

Kretz told the BBC that while the Danish government had sought to “downplay” any confrontation with Trump, “behind the scenes I sense the awareness that this conflict has the potential to be the biggest international crisis for Denmark in modern history”.

The president-elect’s son, Donald Trump Jr, paid a brief visit to Greenland on Tuesday, in what he described as a “personal day trip” to talk to people.

He then posted a photo with a group of Greenlanders in a bar wearing pro-Trump caps.

By BBC News

The post Europe Will Not Allow attacks, Says France, After Trump Greenland Threat appeared first on KahawaTungu.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon may represent a short-lived victory for Trump, but it’s nonetheless the latest instance of the Trump-appointed jurist taking action in the Republican’s favor. The halt followed an emergency request Monday by defense lawyers to block the release of a report that they said would be one-sided and prejudicial.

Trump responded to Cannon’s order by complaining anew at a news conference about Smith’s investigation and saying, “It’ll be a fake report just like it was a fake investigation.”

It was unclear what the Justice Department, which has its own regulations governing special counsels and the reports they are expected to produce when they conclude their own, intended to do following Cannon’s order.

The two-volume report is expected to describe charging decisions made in separate investigations by Smith into Trump’s hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Cannon’s order did not make a distinction between the two volumes, instead barring the release of any information from any report for three days after the dispute is resolved by the Atlanta -based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, unless the court orders otherwise. Smith’s team said it would file a response to the appeals court.

Trump was charged alongside two co-defendants in the classified documents case, which was dismissed in July by Cannon, who concluded that Smith’s appointment was illegal. Trump was also charged in an election interference case that was significantly narrowed by a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity. Smith’s team abandoned both cases in November after Trump’s presidential victory, citing Justice Department policy that prohibits the federal prosecutions of sitting presidents.

Lawyers for Trump, including Todd Blanche, who was picked by Trump to serve as his deputy attorney general, urged Attorney General Merrick Garland a letter that was made public late Monday to block the release of the report and to remove Smith from his position “promptly” — or defer the release of the report to the incoming attorney general.

Using language mimicking Trump’s own attacks on Smith and his work, Blanche told Garland that the “release of any confidential report prepared by this out-of-control private citizen unconstitutionally posing as a prosecutor would be nothing more than a lawless political stunt, designed to politically harm President Trump and justify the huge sums of taxpayer money Smith unconstitutionally spent on his failed and dismissed cases.”

The letter was included as part of an emergency request filed late Monday with Cannon by lawyers for Trump’s codefendants in the documents case, Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira.

They asked Cannon to block the report’s release, noting that Smith’s appeal of her dismissal of charges against the men is pending and that the disclosure of pejorative information about them would be prejudicial.

In response to that request, Smith’s team said in a two-page filing earlier Tuesday that it intended to submit its report to Garland by that afternoon and that the volume pertaining to the classified documents investigation would not be made public before 10 a.m. Friday.

Justice Department regulations call for special counsels appointed by the attorney general to submit a confidential report at the conclusion of their investigations. It’s then up to the attorney general to decide what to make public.

Garland has made public in their entirety the reports produced by special counsels who operated under his watch, including Robert Hur’s report on President Joe Biden’s handling of classified information and John Durham’s report on the FBI’s Russian election interference investigation.

By Agencies

The post Judge temporarily blocks release of special counsel report on Trump cases as court fight simmers appeared first on KahawaTungu.

The date also marks the fourth anniversary of a riot at the US Capitol, when Trump’s supporters tried to thwart the certification of Democratic President Joe Biden’s election victory in 2020. Normally the occasion is a mere formality.

Heavy security is in place in Washington DC, and Biden has vowed there will be no repeat of the violence on 6 January 2021 – which led to several deaths.

As lawmakers meet in Washington DC, heavy snow forecast for the American capital could prove disruptive.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has vowed to go ahead with the certification at 13:00 EST (18:00 GMT) in spite of the weather, telling Fox News: “Whether we’re in a blizzard or not, we’re going to be in that chamber making sure this is done.”

As the current vice-president, Harris is required by the US Constitution to officially preside over the certification of the result, after Trump beat her in the nationwide poll on 5 November.

Trump won all seven of the country’s swing states, helping him to victory in the electoral college, the mechanism that decides who takes the presidency. It will be Harris’s job on Monday to read out the number of electoral college votes won by each candidate.

Trump’s second term will begin after he is inaugurated on 20 January. For the first time since 2017, the president’s party will also enjoy majorities in both chambers of Congress, albeit slender ones.

Trump’s win marked a stunning political comeback from his electoral defeat in 2020, and a criminal conviction in 2024 – a first for a current or former US president.

Amid the dramatic recent presidential campaign, Trump also survived a bullet grazing his ear when a gunman opened fire at one of his rallies in Pennsylvania.

While away from the White House, he has faced a slew of legal cases against him – including over his attempts to overturn the 2020 result, which he continues to dispute.

Following his defeat that year, Trump and his allies made baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud – claiming the election had been stolen from them.

In a speech in Washington DC on certification day, 6 January 2021, Trump told a crowd to “fight like hell” but also asked them to “peacefully” make their voices heard.

He also attempted to pressurise his own vice-president, Mike Pence, to reject the election result – a call that Pence rejected.

Rioters went on to smash through barricades and ransack the Capitol building before Trump ultimately intervened by telling them to go home. Several deaths were blamed on the violence.

Trump’s pledges after returning to office include pardoning people convicted of offences over the attack. He says many of them are “wrongfully imprisoned”, though has acknowledged that “a couple of them, probably they got out of control”.

Conversely, Biden has called on Americans never to forget what happened.

“We must remember the wisdom of the adage that any nation that forgets its past is doomed to repeat it,” Biden wrote in the Washington Post over the weekend.

For Trump’s Republican Party, the new Senate Majority Leader John Thune has signalled a desire to move on, telling the BBC’s US partner CBS News: “You can’t be looking in the rearview mirror.”

By BBC News

The post Harris to Certify Trump’s US Election Win, Four Years After Capitol Riot appeared first on KahawaTungu.

“The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, highly unfair,” he told a crowd of supporters in Arizona on Sunday.

“This complete rip-off of our country will immediately stop,” he said, referring to when he takes office next month.

His remarks prompted a quick rebuke from Panama’s president, who said “every square metre” of the canal and surrounding area belong to his country.

President José Raúl Mulino added that Panama’s sovereignty and independence were non-negotiable.

Trump made the comments to supporters of Turning Point USA, a conservative activist group that provided significant support to his 2024 election campaign.

It was a rare example of a US leader saying he could push a country to hand over territory – although he did not explain how he would do so – and a sign of how American foreign policy and diplomacy may shift once he enters the White House following his inauguration on 20 January.

Trump’s comments followed a similar post a day earlier in which he said the Panama Canal was a “vital national asset” for the US.

If shipping rates are not lowered, Trump said on Sunday, “we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, quickly and without question”.

The 51-mile (82km) Panama Canal cuts across the central American nation and is the main link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

It was built in the early 1900s and the US maintained control over the canal zone until 1977, when treaties gradually ceded the land back to Panama. After a period of joint control, Panama took sole control in 1999.

Up to 14,000 ships cross the canal per year, including container ships carrying cars, natural gas and other goods, and military vessels.

As well as Panama, the president-elect also took aim at Canada and Mexico over what he called unfair trade practices. He accused them of allowing drugs and immigrants into the US, although he called Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum a “wonderful woman”.

Trump hits the usual themes

Trump made his remarks in front of thousands at Turning Point’s annual conference, one of the country’s largest gatherings of conservative activists.

Turning Point poured huge resources into get-out-the-vote efforts in swing states designed to bolster Trump and other Republicans during the election campaign.

It was his first speech since a deal passed Congress this week to keep the US government open, after several provisions were removed including one that would have increased the country’s debt ceiling.

Trump had supported raising the debt ceiling, which restricts the amount of money the US government can borrow.

But his speech on Sunday avoided that issue entirely, instead recapping his election victory and hitting on themes – including immigration, crime and foreign trade – that were mainstays of his campaign.

He did, however, mention Elon Musk.

“You know, they’re on a new kick,” he said. “All the different hoaxes. The new one is that President Trump has ceded the presidency to Elon Musk.”

“No, no, that’s not happening,” he said. “He’s not gonna be president.”

Several speakers here at the conference were critical of government spending and of politicians in both parties – however the divisions inside the Republican Party which have played out in Congress in recent days were mostly muted.

By BBC News

The post Trump Threatens to Try and Regain Control of Panama Canal appeared first on KahawaTungu.

Trump said it was his “great honour” to pick his former colleague for the role, which is separate to the position of US ambassador to the UK.

“Mark will work to enhance diplomatic relations, focusing on areas of mutual interest, including trade, investment opportunities, and cultural exchanges,” he added.

Burnett said in a statement: “I am truly honoured to serve The United States of America and President Trump as his Special Envoy to the United Kingdom.”

He created The Apprentice and produced it along with a range of other reality TV programmes, winning 13 Emmy Awards.

“With a distinguished career in television production and business, Mark brings a unique blend of diplomatic acumen and international recognition to this important role,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Saturday.

The president-elect, who takes office next month, has already picked billionaire donor Warren Stephens as his ambassador to the UK. While Stephens’s nomination requires confirmation by the US Senate, Burnett’s role needs no such approval.

Burnett, 64, was raised in Essex and served as a paratrooper in the Army before emigrating to the US in 1982, when he was 22.

He went on to work for MGM and became known as a significant figure in reality television.

In addition to creating and producing The Apprentice, Burnett created formats such as Survivor and Shark Tank – the US version of Dragon’s Den.

He helped propel Trump, a real estate developer, to new heights of fame as he starred in The Apprentice from 2008-15.

Burnett became president of MGM Television in December 2015, but stood aside in 2022 when Amazon acquired the studio.

He had a role in planning Trump’s first inauguration in 2017.

Burnett told the BBC in 2010 that Trump was “fearless” and “a big, strong tough guy”.

“He is a very, very down-to-earth normal guy and he’s a really, really loyal friend and, as I’ve seen him with many other people, not the kind of enemy you would want,” said Burnett.

Trump’s first run for the presidency as Republican nominee in 2016 was plunged into crisis as tapes emerged of him telling Access Hollywood presenter Billy Bush that “you can do anything” to women “when you’re a star”.

Burnett released a statement at the time denying he was a supporter of Trump.

“Further, my wife and I reject the hatred, division and misogyny that has been a very unfortunate part of his campaign,” he said. Burnett is married to Londonderry-born actress Roma Downey.

Another former producer of The Apprentice subsequently claimed that Trump had been heard making “far worse” remarks in recordings from the show.

But Burnett rejected calls to release all outtakes of Trump, saying he was unable to do so and citing “various contractual and legal requirements”.

By BBC News

The post Trump Picks Apprentice Producer Mark Burnett as UK Envoy appeared first on KahawaTungu.

The pledge follows a threat from President-elect Donald Trump to impose, when he takes office in January, a 25% tariff on Canadian goods if the country does not secure its shared border to the flow of irregular migrants and illegal drugs.

Economists say such tariffs could strike a blow to Canada’s economy.

Announcing details of the plan, Canada’s minister of finance and intergovernmental affairs said the federal government would devote C$1.3bn ($900m; £700bn) to the plan.

The measures “will secure our border against the flow of illegal drugs and irregular migration while ensuring the free flow of people and goods that are at the core of North America’s prosperity”, Minister Dominic LeBlanc said on Tuesday.

The five pillars of the plan cover the disruption of the fentanyl trade, new tools for law enforcement, enhanced coordination with US law enforcement, increased information sharing and limiting traffic at the border.

They include a proposed aerial surveillance task force, including helicopters, drones and mobile surveillance towers between ports of entry.

The government is also giving the Canada Border Service Agency funds to train new dog teams to find illegal drugs, and new detection tools for high-risk ports of entry.

And LeBlanc provided further detail on the so-called “joint strike force” for Canadian and US authorities, saying it would include “support in operational surges, dedicated synthetic drug units, expanded combined forces, special enforcement units, binational integrated enforcement teams, and new operational capacity and infrastructure”.

The new plan appears to correspond to the concerns publicly disclosed by Trump in recent weeks: the flow of fentanyl and undocumented immigrants into the US.

The number of crossings at the US-Canada border is significantly lower than at the southern border, according to US Border Patrol data on migrant encounters, as is the amount of fentanyl seized.

Mexico is also facing a 25% tariff threat.

LeBlanc said he and other officials had a “preliminary” conversation with Trump’s incoming “border tsar” Tom Homan about the new plan.

“I’m in encouraged by that conversation,” he said.

LeBlanc was present at a meeting last month between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Trump at Mar-a-Lago, a trip reportedly meant to head-off the levy.

The announcement comes on LeBlanc’s first day as Canada’s finance minister.

The longtime ally to Trudeau was hastily sworn in on Monday after the surprise resignation of Chrystia Freeland, who served as both finance minister and deputy prime minister.

Freeland quit her posts with a scathing open letter to Trudeau in which she outlined disagreements she had with him on spending and “the best path forward for Canada”.

Her abrupt exit from cabinet has put additional strain on Trudeau’s weakened minority government.

By BBC News

The post Canada Announces New Border Rules Following Trump Tariff Threat appeared first on KahawaTungu.

The Nov. 2 poll suggested Democratic nominee Kamala Harris would win Iowa, a predominantly Republican state.

Trump filed the lawsuit fresh off the victory of having ABC News settle a defamation lawsuit for $15m (£12m), over an anchor falsely saying Trump was found liable for rape last year (he was liable for sexual abuse).

Trump’s often hostile approach to the American press goes back to his first presidential campaign, and is expected to carry into his second term.

He announced his plans to sue the Iowa-based paper during a news conference on Monday where he called the press “corrupt”. The lawsuit was filed in Polk County, Iowa, later that morning.

In it, he accuses renowned pollster J. Ann Selzer of “brazen election interference”.

Her poll had suggested the president-elect would lose in Iowa by 3-4 points. Other Iowa polls pointed to a different outcome and many analysts were baffled that she would predict Trump would lose a state he had won by more than eight points in 2020.

In the election less than a week later, Trump carried Iowa by 13 points.

“In my opinion, it was fraud and it was election interference,” Trump said during the Monday press conference.

“I feel I have to do this,” he added. “It costs a lot of money to do it but we have to straighten out the press.”

The lawsuit alleges Selzer intentionally swung the poll results in favour of Harris.

“The Harris poll was no ‘miss’ but rather an attempt to influence the outcome of the 2024 presidential election,” the lawsuit reads.

It also accuses “left-wing pollsters” in general of manipulating the results of their data and not using “widely accepted polling methodologies”. The filing, though, does not identify any other pollsters or give details on those allegations.

Selzer retired soon after the election, which she said was not related to the poll.

Trump is asking the court to award him financial damages and cover his attorneys’ fees, and also to compel the news outlet to “disclose all information upon which they relied” for the poll.

Spokesperson for the Des Moines Register Lark-Marie Anton said it has already released the “the poll’s full demographics, crosstabs, weighted and unweighted data, as well as a technical explanation from pollster Ann Selzer”, and that it has acknowledged that the poll “did not reflect the ultimate margin of President Trump’s Election Day victory in Iowa”.

“We stand by our reporting on the matter and believe a lawsuit would be without merit,” she said in a statement to BBC’s news partner CBS News.

Seth Stern, advocacy director for the Freedom of the Press Foundation said the lawsuit would create an environment where “journalists can’t help but look over their shoulders knowing the incoming administration is on the lookout for any pretext or excuse to come after them”, according to a post on X.

Trump has previously sued CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Times. In the final days of his 2024 campaign, he also sued CBS over how it had edited an interview with Harris, which the network is seeking to have dismissed.

The Des Moines Register lawsuit comes after ABC News agreed to pay $15m (£12m) as a charitable contribution to a “presidential foundation and museum” that Trump is expected to establish for his post-presidency life.

George Stephanopoulos falsely said in an interview earlier this year that Trump had been found “liable for rape”.

A jury in a civil case last year in fact had determined Trump was liable for “sexual abuse”, which has a specific definition under New York law, of writer E. Jean Carroll .

ABC also published an editor’s note expressing its “regret” for the statements by Stephanopoulos and agreed to pay $1m towards Trump’s legal fees.

By BBC News

The post Trump Sues Iowa-based Newspaper for ‘Election Interference’ appeared first on KahawaTungu.

Trump was due to meet Shou Zi Chew at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Monday, the BBC’s US partner CBS News reports, citing sources familiar with the meeting.

A law passed earlier this year means TikTok will be banned unless it is sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, before 19 January.

The company has made an emergency application to the US Supreme Court to have the ban delayed.

The US wants TikTok sold or banned because of alleged links between ByteDance and the Chinese state, links that both TikTok and ByteDance have always denied.

The bill introducing the law said it was intended to “protect the national security of the United States from the threat posed by foreign adversary controlled applications”.

Trump opposes the ban – despite supporting one during his first term – partly on the grounds that it could help Facebook, which he has accused of aiding his 2020 election loss.

Trump’s second term, however, won’t begin until he is inaugurated on 20 January, the day after the deadline set out in the law.

In its filing to the Supreme Court, submitted on Monday, TikTok asked for a “modest delay” to the enforcement of the ban to “create breathing room” for a review by the Court and to allow the incoming administration to “evaluate this matter”.

It described TikTok as “one of the most significant speech platforms” in the US and said the ban would do “immediate irreparable harm” to the company and its users.

Earlier this month, the company’s bid to have the ban overturned was rejected by the federal appeals court, which found that the law was the “culmination of extensive, bipartisan action by the Congress and by successive presidents”.

At a press conference on Monday, Trump said his administration would “take a look at TikTok”.

“I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok, because I won youth by 34 points,” he said.

“There are those that say that TikTok has something to do with that. TikTok had an impact.”

A majority of 18 to 29-year-olds backed Trump’s Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, in November, but the vote did see a significant swing towards Trump among young voters since the 2020 election.

Trump only joined TikTok in June, but gained millions of followers on the platform over the course of the campaign.

By BBC News

The post Trump Meeting TikTok CEO as Ban Deadline Looms appeared first on KahawaTungu.

In July, the country’s top court ruled that presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution for “official actions” they take while in office.

But on Monday, Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan – who presided over Trump’s trial this past spring – sided with prosecutors, saying the convictions on 34 felony counts centred on “unofficial conduct”.

The decision preserves Trump’s historic conviction which, if upheld, would make Trump the first felon to serve in the White House.

In his 41-page ruling, Justice Merchan pushed back on Trump’s argument that the government’s case relied on evidence related to his official work as president, which would be covered by immunity.

The evidence shown at trial pertained “entirely to unofficial conduct”, he wrote. And the judge noted that in its own ruling the Supreme Court had found that “not everything the president does is official”, even if done from the Oval Office.

In a statement to US media, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung criticised the ruling, calling it “a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s decision on immunity”.

“This lawless case should have never been brought, and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed,” Mr Cheung said.

In May, a New York jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records.

The conviction stemmed from Trump’s attempt to cover up reimbursements to his ex-lawyer, Michael Cohen, who in 2016 paid off an adult film star to remain silent about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump.

Trump has denied all wrongdoing.

Justice Merchan had been scheduled to rule on the conviction on 12 November, but he postponed the decision, saying he wanted to hear from prosecutors on how to move forward with the case following Trump’s re-election.

In the days since, Trump filed another motion to dismiss the case, arguing that his forthcoming return to the White House required the case to be tossed.

Now, following Justice Merchan’s ruling, Trump’s team is almost certain to seek further delays and appeals.

And the judge is still yet to decide whether to issue a sentence before Trump assumes office in January, after his term ends in 2029 or not at all.

By BBC News

The post New York Judge Rejects Trump’s Bid to Dismiss Hush Money Conviction appeared first on KahawaTungu.

“The first term everybody was fighting me,” he said. “This term everybody wants to be my friend.”

It may have been a typically Trumpian overstatement, but the contrast between the way his first presidential term began – and ended – and the current transition to his second term eight years later is dramatic.

In just the past few weeks, many of the president-elect’s former critics and adversaries have made overtures and outreach.

Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Sam Altman of OpenAI have pledged million-dollar donations to Trump’s inauguration festivities.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew met Trump at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate on Monday.

During his first term, Trump sought to ban the Chinese-owned social media company, which conservatives at the time blasted as a national security risk.

The president-elect now opposes a current effort to ban the platform, this time from the Biden administration, partially because it could help Facebook, which he has accused of aiding his 2020 election loss. The ban is scheduled to go into effect before Trump is sworn into office.

Others have also made the trek to Florida or plan to.

The day before Thanksgiving, Zuckerberg, whose Facebook had once banned Trump, travelled to the president-elect’s private club in Florida for dinner.

Google head Sundar Pichai also said he plans a sit-down meeting with the president-elect.

And when Trump appeared on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to ring the opening bell and mark his announcement as Time Magazine’s “person of the year” last week, senior executives from major US corporations gathered to watch.

“This marks a time of great promise for our nation,” Marc Benioff, head of Salesforce and owner of Time, posted on X. “We look forward to working together to advance American success and prosperity for everyone.”

The increasingly accommodating attitude isn’t confined solely to the corporate boardrooms. In the media, too, there has been something of a shift.

MSNBC personalities Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, who host Morning Joe, visited Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump last month. “It’s time to do something different, and that starts with not only talking about Donald Trump, but talking with him,” Brzezinski said.

And on Saturday, ABC News – which is owned by the Disney Corporation – announced that it was paying Trump $15m and legal fees to settle a defamation lawsuit related to remarks made in March by morning news presenter George Stephanopoulos.

Defamation cases against media outlets require proving malice or a reckless disregard for the truth – and other news organisations have successfully fought off previous Trump lawsuits. With Trump soon returning to power, however – and the president-elect threatening new lawsuits on Monday against CBS, the Des Moines Register and the Pulitzer Prize foundation – the calculus for ABC and Disney may have changed.

A protracted legal battle with the president-elect was seemingly deemed unpalatable.

In Washington’s corridors of power, a similar dynamic appears to be at play.

Senate Republicans who had seemed wary of confirming some of Trump’s more controversial political appointees, such as Fox News host Pete Hegseth for secretary of defence, are falling in line as they face increasing pressure not just from Trump but from his supporters, who warn of dire consequences for the uncooperative.

Even some Democrats are reaching out to the incoming Trump administration. Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman said he would consider backing Hegseth and has expressed support for some Trump picks.

Other Trump critics in Congress are taking a pragmatic approach. On Sunday, independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders suggested he would be open to supporting vaccine sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr as Trump’s health secretary, saying he shared concerns about the health impacts of processed food.

Eight years ago, it was a different story. Democrats were pledging across-the-board resistance to the newly elected president. The day after his inauguration, millions took to the streets in protest.

Trump’s political opponents dug in and fought for every inch of political terrain, successfully blocking conservative attempts to repeal Democratic-backed healthcare reforms and spend tens of billions of dollars on a US-Mexico border wall, and fighting immigration law changes in the courts.

After Trump’s presidential term ended in controversy and chaos four years later, with his supporters attacking the US Capitol, dozens of powerful American corporations – including American Express, Microsoft, Nike and Walgreens – cut ties to Trump as well as Republicans who challenged the results of the 2020 election. Many in Trump’s own party denounced the former president.

This time around, such evidence of resistance – at least for the moment – is difficult to discern. Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, who as Senate majority leader sharply criticised Trump in 2021 but opposed his impeachment conviction, has been offering stern warnings about the dangers of an “America First” foreign policy.

The 82-year-old McConnell, however, stepped down from his leadership position in the Senate earlier this year and is unlikely to seek re-election in 2026. There is little Trump or his supporters can do to threaten him at this point.

Meanwhile, more than a dozen congressional Democrats have said they will skip Trump’s 20 January inauguration ceremony.

“I don’t think that this is a time for celebration,” Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett said. “I think that if we had a traditional Republican, where there were disagreements, then I would most likely be there.”

But while some Democrats may stay home, the party for Trump and his supporters is in full swing – and, given his remarks on Monday, the president-elect seems to know it.

Once Trump takes offices and begins attempting to implement his agenda of mass deportations and trade tariffs, however, opposition could build – both from Democrats looking for political opportunity and from adversely affected business interests.

Then the fighting Trump remembers from his first term could quickly re-emerge.

By BBC News

The post Trump Buoyant as Big Business and Former Foes Fall in Line appeared first on KahawaTungu.