National Politics

By Kaanita Iyer, Zachary Cohen and Kaitlan Collins, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary pick, Pete Hegseth, paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault in a settlement agreement that included a confidentiality clause, according to Hegseth’s attorney. Attorney Timothy Parlatore said Hegseth denies assaulting the woman and has characterized the October

By Kristen Holmes, Lauren Fox, Pamela Brown, Jamie Gangel and Steve Contorno, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump is pressing forward with his decision to put forward former Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general, despite widespread unease on Capitol Hill about entrusting the Justice Department to a figure with limited legal experience who has recently

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — Seeking to woo targeted groups of voters during his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump rolled out plans for a sweeping array of tax breaks, including promises to eliminate levies on tips, overtime pay and Social Security benefits, for millions of Americans. Now comes the harder part – actually keeping all

By Gregory Krieg, CNN (CNN) — For Democratic pro-Palestinian activists, Donald Trump’s reelection delivered a bitter vindication. Led by the Uncommitted National Movement, they spent months pushing and pleading with the Biden administration to scale back its support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Their warning had been consistent and direct: Not only did Democrats risk

By Steve Contorno, CNN (CNN) — In mid-September, as tech billionaire Elon Musk intensified his efforts to elect Donald Trump as president, a wave of letters arrived at the Department of Transportation, asking the agency to turn over any emails and text messages that federal workers sent about the world’s wealthiest man and his sprawling

By Kevin Liptak and Kayla Tausche, CNN Lima, Peru (CNN) — President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, closed the book on their diplomatic relationship Saturday, meeting for a final time amid uncertainty over what the next Donald Trump presidency might portend for their two countries’ ties. As they opened the talks on

By Priscilla Alvarez and Phil Mattingly, CNN Washington (CNN) — The incoming Trump administration’s plans to implement strict border measures, strike down Biden-era policies and kick off the detention and deportation of migrants at large scale are underway and starting to come into focus, according to four sources familiar with the plans. President-elect Donald Trump

By Casey Gannon and Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — The attorney who represents two women who were witnesses in the House Ethics Committee probe into former congressman Matt Gaetz said Friday that one of his clients told the panel she saw the congressman having sex with a minor. “My client testified to the House Ethics

By Katelyn Polantz, CNN (CNN) — Rudy Giuliani has turned over his 1980 Mercedes-Benz convertible, his luxury watch collection and a diamond ring, marking a partial end to a saga where the former mayor of New York City has tried to outrun the court system as two Georgia election workers try to collect on a

By Kristen Holmes and Kaitlan Collins, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team was in the middle of announcing new Cabinet picks this week when they were informed of a sexual assault allegation about one of his previous selections, Pete Hegseth, stunning several members of Trump’s team who have since raised questions about the

By Ali Main, Annie Grayer and Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Friday that he does not think a House Ethics Committee report on allegations related to Matt Gaetz should be released and is “going to strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report.” Johnson called on the

By Sara Murray, Zachary Cohen, Evan Perez and Pamela Brown, CNN (CNN) — Donald Trump is weighing a push from right-wing allies to nominate Kash Patel to lead the FBI, one of the clearest indications the president-elect plans to stick by his vow to fire Director Christopher Wray before his 10-year term ends and replace

By Kylie Atwood and Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is seen as being pivotal to the incoming administration’s Middle East efforts, even though he is not likely to take a formal job within it, regional diplomats and Trump allies told CNN. Trump’s Middle East team has been taking shape

By Evan Perez, Zachary Cohen, Holmes Lybrand and Kristen Holmes, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is bypassing traditional FBI background checks for at least some of his Cabinet picks while using private companies to conduct vetting of potential candidates for administration jobs, people close to the transition planning say. Trump and his allies