News From Around the Web
#10 Microsoft Founder Bill Gates to Donald Trump: ‘I Hope We Can Now….’ TOI Tech Desk Times of India, In2ThinAir, Candace Owens, Matt Wallace, and GenXJoJo on X
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is the latest tech mogul to congratulate the Republican Party’s Donald Trump, acknowledging his recent victory and expressing hope for future collaboration. Gates joins other prominent figures in recognizing the new president, signaling potential opportunities for innovation and progress on global challenges under Trump's leadership. In his message, he also congratulated Vice President-elect JD Vance. Taking to microblogging X (formerly Twitter), Gates wrote, “Congratulations to President Trump and VP-elect Vance. America is at its strongest when we use ingenuity and innovation to improve lives here in the U.S. and around the world. I hope we can work together now to build a brighter future for everyone.”#9 RFK Jr. Wants Trump to Remove Fluoride From Water Over Health Claims. Here’s What Science Says - Beth Greenfield for Fortune Well, Chief Nerd/HighWireTalk/Jeffrey Jackson, Camus/Tucker Carlson on X
Fluoridated drinking water has been hailed as one of the top 10 public health achievements of the 20th century by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Now it’s being called out by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—possibly on track to become head of health initiatives for the incoming presidential administration—as a practice that should be halted. He recently asserted that Donald Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day in office. Over the weekend, Trump told NBC News he had not discussed the issue with Kennedy, saying, “but it sounds OK to me. You know it’s possible.” On Wednesday morning, Kennedy spoke with NPR, noting on Morning Edition, “We don’t need fluoride in our water. It’s a very bad way to deliver it into our systems.” Below, a primer on fluoride in drinking water, its history of controversy, and what the science says...
#8 Biden to Meet With Trump at the White House 4 Years After Being Denied Same Honor - Riley Beggin and Karissa Waddick, USA TODAY, Collin Rugg, Drews Hernandez, and Nico Delgado
President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump will meet on Wednesday in the Oval Office after years of bitter rivalry, and after Trump denied Biden the same honor when he became president. Biden offered congratulations and an invitation to the White House to Trump, four years after an acrimonious presidential transition marked by Trump’s refusal to concede defeat and after repeated debunked claims from Trump that the 2020 election was stolen. Trump broke with a number of ceremonial traditions as Biden took office, including skipping the inauguration in Washington, just weeks after he incited a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol and block certification of the election...
#7 US Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor Ignores Pressure to Retire - Reports - Sam Cabral for BBC News, Josh Hawley, Missus Bennet, Noble Road, Amuse and Leslie/Zerohedge on X
Donald Trump has warned against rushed appointments of judges before he is inaugurated as sources close to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor deny suggestions she should step down to allow her replacement. Justice Sotomayor, 70, is the third-oldest judge on the nine-member bench and has long been public about living her life with type 1 diabetes. Trump's impending return to the White House is now lending steam to anxious Democrats calling for her to resign so President Joe Biden has the opportunity to nominate a younger replacement. But sources tell US media that Justice Sotomayor does not plan to go anywhere...
#6 Vivek Ramaswamy, Dark-Horse Secretary of State Candidate - Curt Mills for The American Conservative, Eric Daugherty, The Calvin Coolidge Project, Flankenstein, and George on X
The American Conservative can confirm that President-elect Donald Trump’s search for secretary of State has narrowed to four candidates: Richard “Ric” Grenell, his former ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence; Marco Rubio, the Florida senator and runner-up to be Trump’s vice president; Bill Hagerty, the Tennessee senator and his former ambassador to Japan; and Vivek Ramaswamy, the former presidential candidate–turned –fierce Trump surrogate. While Ramaswamy is by far the most surprising entrant in the sweepstakes, his selection would be a callback to history...
#5 Former Harris Staffer Calls on Biden to Resign, Install Harris as First Female President - Lindsay Kornick for Fox News, Charlie Kirk, and Allan Piper on X
Former communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris, Jamal Simmons, surprised a CNN panel Sunday by suggesting President Biden step down to allow Harris to serve as the first female president. "Joe Biden’s been a phenomenal president, he’s lived up to so many of the promises he’s made. There’s one promise left that he could fulfill, being a transitional figure," Simmons said on CNN’s "State of the Union." "He could resign the presidency in the next 30 days, make Kamala Harris President of the United States—" The panel, including host Dana Bash, reacted audibly to the idea...
#4 Anti-Trump Protests Erupt Across US From New York City to Seattle - Maya Yang for The Guardian, AlexandruC4, Wall Street Apes/Markedtofuture, Ron Rule, and Simon Ateba on X
Protests against Donald Trump erupted in the US on Saturday as people on both coasts took to the streets in frustration about his re-election. Thousands of people in major cities including New York City and Seattle demonstrated against the former president and now president-elect amid his threats against reproductive rights and pledges to carry out mass deportations at the start of his upcoming presidency. In New York City on Saturday, demonstrators from advocacy groups focused on workers’ rights and immigrant justice crowded outside Trump International Hotel and Tower on 5th Avenue holding signs that read: “We protect us” and “Mr President, how long must women wait for liberty?” Others held signs that read: “We won’t back down” while chanting: “Here we are and we’re not leaving!”
#3 How Kamala Harris Plowed Through $1 Billion and Still Lost to Donald Trump - Liam Archacki for The Daily Beast, Donald J. Trump, Jared, Kyle Becker, and Nick Summy on X
Kamala Harris raised over $1 billion—much of which was spent on advertising—but internal polling showed that she still struggled to convince swing-state voters that Donald Trump had been a bad president. Harris, based on filings, disclosed spending $880 million on the election by mid-October, more than double the $354 million disclosed by Trump, according to The Washington Examiner. And from July 22 to Election Day, Harris and her associated committees outspent Trump and his backers on advertising by a margin of $654 million to $378 million. It also dwarfed Trump’s campaign when it came to payroll expenditures and the associated taxes. Harris reportedly spent $56.6 million on staffing, while Trump spent just $9 million on a much smaller team. The filings also show that Harris spent $12.8 million on a team of political, digital, and media consultants...
#2 Trump Pressures Candidates for Senate GOP Leader to Fill His Cabinet Right Away - Mary Clare Jalonick and Adriana Gomez Licon for AP/ABC News, Rick Scott, Senator Ron Johnson, Charlie Kirk, and Spectrum Bay News 9 on X
Days before Senate Republicans pick their new leader, President-elect Donald Trump is pressuring the candidates to change the rules and empower him to appoint some nominees without a Senate vote. Republican Sens. John Thune of South Dakota, John Cornyn of Texas, and Rick Scott of Florida are running in a secret ballot election Wednesday to lead the GOP conference and replace longtime GOP leader Mitch McConnell, who is stepping aside from the job after almost two decades. All three have courted Trump's support in the race, vying to show who is the closest to the president-elect as they campaign to become majority leader...
https://Twitter.com/SenRonJohnson/status/1855700537423048944
#1 Trump Chooses Rep. Elise Stefanik to Serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations - Garrett Haake and Rebecca Shabad for NBC News, Nick Sortor, New York Post, and Amuse on X
President-elect Donald Trump has tapped House Republican Conference chair and longtime ally Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., to serve as ambassador to the United Nations, a Trump transition official confirmed to NBC News on Monday. Stefanik is Trump's first Cabinet pick for his second term in the White House. “I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter,” Trump told the New York Post, which received a statement from the president-elect. The news was first reported by CNN. NBC News has reached out to Stefanik's office for comment...
