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President-elect Donald Trump met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for an informal visit at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday evening.
Trump praised Meloni to reporters as they stood outside his Palm Beach, Florida estate.
“I’m here with a fantastic woman, the prime minister of Italy,” he said. “She’s really taken Europe by storm, and everyone else, and we’re just having dinner tonight.”
Trump also wants one reconciliation package rather than the GOP leadership’s two-bill strategy, re-elected House Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly informed Republicans Saturday — a sign that the president-elect may be already testing the unity of his party.
Johnson told fellow Republicans that Trump hopes for “one big beautiful bill” that would address border security, energy and tax cuts, Politico reported. All three were some of his biggest campaign promises.
The president-elect’s preference aligns with House Ways & Means Chair Jason Smith, who has pushed for just one piece of legislation rather than the two that Senate Majority Leader John Thune has favored.
The news comes after Johnson was re-elected as speaker after an initial struggle to get enough votes due to the incredibly tight margin in the House.
Demographics of the 119th Congress
Republicans now control both chambers. But what is the demographic makeup of Congress?
Although only 58 percent of the general population is white, 84 percent of Senators and 72 percent of House Reps in the new Congress are white, according to WDSU.
Just 7 percent of the Senate and 8 percent of the House are Hispanic — despite the fact that Latinos make up nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population.
Only 5 percent of Senators and 12 percent of Representatives are Black in the 119th Congress, while Black Americans account for nearly 14 percent of the population.
The outlet also broke down the demographics by party.
Almost all — 92 percent — of Republican Congress members are white; that’s compared to 56 percent of Democrats in Congress who are white.
Kelly Rissman5 January 2025 15:00
Donald Trump met with Italian PM
President-elect Donald Trump met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for an informal visit at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday evening.
Trump praised Meloni, saying she has “taken Europe by storm.”
“I’m here with a fantastic woman, the prime minister of Italy,” he said. “She’s really taken Europe by storm, and everyone else, and we’re just having dinner tonight.”
Katie Hawkinson5 January 2025 14:49
Farage distances himself from Tommy Robinson after Elon Musk backs far-right activist
The Reform UK leader said Mr Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is “not what we need”, as his party seeks to challenge Labour in upcoming elections.
Mr Farage heaped praise on Mr Musk, reportedly mulling a multi-million pound donation to his party, calling him a “hero figure, especially for the youth”.
Archie Mitchell5 January 2025 14:00
Michael J Fox cheered at White House as he steps forward to receive Medal of Freedom from Biden
Cheers rang out through the East Room of the White House on Saturday as actor and activist Michael J. Fox walked up to the stage to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Joe Biden.
Fox is one of 19 people, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Bono, to be given the award on Saturday, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
“You defend the values of America, even when they’re under attack,” Biden told the honorees. “Together, you leave an incredible mark on our country, with insight and influence that can be felt around the globe.”
Andrew Feinberg, Josh Marcus5 January 2025 12:30
Trump claims Dems are ‘giddy’ flags will be half-staff for his inauguration
President-elect Donald Trump claimed that Democrats are “giddy” about flags being flown at half-staff in a sign of mourning and respect to honor the late Jimmy Carter during his inauguration.
President Joe Biden ordered flags be flown at half-staff to honor the late president, who died Sunday at age 100. Trump has tried to politicize the gesture, since the flags will still be lowered during his second inauguration on January 20.
“The Democrats are all ‘giddy’ about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at ‘half mast’ during my Inauguration,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday afternoon. “They think it’s so great, and are so happy about it because, in actuality, they don’t love our Country, they only think about themselves. Look at what they’ve done to our once GREAT America over the past four years – It’s a total mess!”
Kelly Rissman5 January 2025 11:00
Ohio’s lieutenant governor is favored to replace Vance in the Senate: report
Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted is the top candidate to take Vice President-elect JD Vance’s seat in the Senate, CNN reported.
Republican Governor Mike DeWine ultimately makes the appointment. But first, Vance must resign before he takes office on January 20.
Sources told the outlet that both Husted and DeWine met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in December. It’s not clear what they discussed.
The sources also clarified that it’s not a certainty that Husted would accept an appointment since he’s had his eyes set on becoming governor.
Kelly Rissman5 January 2025 10:00
Watch: MSNBC panel laughs while reading Trump rant about being ‘evilly’ treated by courts
Katie Hawkinson5 January 2025 09:30
ICYMI: Trump may show ‘display of fighting’ his sentencing next week, analyst says
Maggie Haberman, CNN political analyst and author of Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, said the president-elect may want a ‘display of fighting’ his sentencing next week.
“He’s very angry about this case in particular,” Haberman told CNN on Friday. ”He may decide that he wants some kind of a display of fighting it.”
“I don’t think we’re going to know that for another two days or so,” she continued.
Trump will be sentenced in his hush money case by Judge Juan Merchan on January 10. Merchan indicated on Friday Trump wouldn’t be jailed at his sentencing, instead noting he’ll impose “a sentence of unconditional discharge.” This means no jail time, probation or fines will be imposed on the president-elect.
Katie Hawkinson5 January 2025 08:00
A majority of Republicans say they are confident in 2024 vote count after Trump win: poll
A majority of Republicans — about 6 in 10 — say they are confident that the votes in the 2024 presidential election were counted correctly after Donald Trump’s victory, according to a new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Before the election, however, another poll showed that most Republicans were skeptical of the integrity of the vote count.
In October, a poll showed that just 2 in 10 Republicans were confident.
From the time he lost the 2020 election through his election victory in November, Trump had expressed doubt about the accuracy about the country’s elections — including on Election Day.
“A lot of talk about massive CHEATING in Philadelphia,” he baselessly wrote in a Truth Social post on November 5.
Kelly Rissman5 January 2025 07:00
ICYMI: Fox News hosts condemn Biden for suggesting Trump should learn ‘decency’ from Jimmy Carter
Katie Hawkinson5 January 2025 06:30