By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and STEPHEN GROVES - Associated Press
The Senate is heading towards a confirmation vote for Pam Bondi as U.S. attorney general. Her confirmation would put a longtime ally of Donald Trump at the helm of a Justice Department that has already been rattled by the firings of career employees seen as disloyal to the Republican president. Bondi is a former Florida attorney general and corporate lobbyist. She is expected to oversee a radical reshaping of the department that has been the target of Trump’s ire over the criminal cases it brought against him. Bondi has sought to reassure Democrats that politics would play no part in her decision-making, but she has refused to rule out investigations into Trump’s adversaries.
FILE - Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine introduces Ohio state senator and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Matt Dolan during a campaign event in Columbus, Ohio, Monday, March 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon, File)
President Donald Trump says Americans could feel “some pain” from the emerging trade war triggered by his tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China. He's also claiming that Canada would “cease to exist” without its trade surplus with the United States. The trade penalties that Trump signed Saturday at his Florida resort are causing a mix of panic, anger and uncertainty. And they're threatening to rupture a decades-old partnership on trade in North America while further straining relations with China. But by following through on a campaign pledge, Trump may have simultaneously broken his promise to voters in last year’s election that his administration could quickly reduce inflation. The tariffs are set to launch on Tuesday.
CBS says it will turn over unedited transcripts of its October interview with Kamala Harris to the Federal Communications Commission. The network said Friday it was compelled to do so by Brendan Carr, President Donald Trump's appointee to lead the FCC. Trump has complained that Harris' interview with his election opponent was deceptively edited to make her look good, filing a $10 billion lawsuit and continuing with the case despite winning the election. The FCC probe is running parallel with the lawsuit, despite published reports that Trump's lawyers are engaged in potential settlement discussions with CBS News' corporate parent, Paramount.
Donald Trump 2.0 is, so far, very much the same as his first go around. But eight years after he was last sworn into office, the new Republican president is emboldened, far more experienced and surrounded by a very different team. The marathon Q&A sessions are back, along with the cream Oval Office rug and old Diet Coke button. So, too, are the late-night social media posts that ricochet across the globe and swallow news cycles. Trump has signed a barrage of executive orders that are testing the bounds of presidential power, sowing confusion and drawing fury from Democrats unsure how to stop him.
Behind closed doors at the IOC seven candidates hoping to lead the Olympic body are making key pitches to an exclusive club of more than 100 voters. The only set-piece campaign event before the March 20 election in Greece lets each candidate make a 15-minute presentation that will not be broadcast. It is open only to IOC members and those voters also are barred from asking questions of their seven colleagues competing for perhaps the most influential job in sports. The candidates are Sebastian Coe, Kirsty Coventry, Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, Prince Feisal al Hussein, Johan Eliasch, David Lappartient and Morinari Watanabe.
