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Second acts: President Trump makes historic comeback

Second acts: President Trump makes historic comeback

President Trump left Washington four years ago a beaten man. He lost a bitter election battle. Faced recriminations over the Capitol riot. That’s to say nothing of a host of criminal charges. F. Scott Fitzgerald famously pronounced “there are no second acts in American lives.” But he may not have been writing about sports or politics. In athletics, Rocky Bleier, Tommy John and even Michael Jordan come to mind. TRUMP WINS 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION Politics is replete with comebacks – Richard Nixon, Winston Churchill and Vladimir Lenin make the cut. And so does President Donald Trump. He’s now only the second American president to return to office. President Grover Cleveland served his first term from 1885 to 1889. But Cleveland lost the presidency in 1888. Cleveland won the popular vote – but lost the Electoral College to President Benjamin Harrison. However, Cleveland rallied to vanquish Harrison in 1892, returning to the White House. So this is a second act for Trump. At least in the presidency. For him, the president enjoys unprecedented public support. He commanded 77 million votes – though failed to reach 50%. But, the president did score a robust 312 electoral votes. And so, Trump, like Cleveland, is into his second act. What’s ahead? The expectations are astronomical. “America issued a verdict on Nov. 5. They spoke loud and clear,” said Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., on Fox. HIGHLIGHTS FROM PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP’S 1ST INAUGURATION DAY; WHAT TO EXPECT FROM MONDAY Republicans promised a makeover. “When I see peace starting to break out again around the world. They’re going to be like, ‘This is the stability that we were asking for,’” said Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., on Fox. “Daddy’s back.” Crackdowns are coming. “When you have a wide open border, you don’t have safety, security or even sovereignty,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on NBC. The president returns to power with more GOP unity than he had in 2016. Congressional Republicans were far from standing foursquare behind him. House Republicans had 241 seats then. His most ardent supporters on Capitol Hill were people who no longer serve. Former Reps. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., and Duncan Hunter Jr., R-Calif., were his first supporters in the House. Both were convicted on unrelated criminal matters and left Congress. Trump then pardoned them. His biggest advocate in the Senate was former Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. Sessions left the Senate to serve as Trump’s first attorney general. He lasted less than two years, stepping down at the president’s request. Congressional Republicans were skeptical of Trump back then. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., led the charge to unwind ObamaCare. After the GOP had to pull the bill in the House, Republicans finally cobbled together the votes to kill it a month later. The bill stumbled in the Senate after the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., voted no. But the House failure on the first try told you everything you needed to know about where the party stood and how much influence Trump wielded. But lawmakers did muscle through the vaunted Trump tax cuts later in the year. The unity is different among Republicans this time around. And the administration and lawmakers start with an agenda of slashing taxes and cleaving the deficit. “Right now there’s a discussion about whether we’ll have one bill or two bills up here. The process doesn’t matter to us. We just know that we’ve got to accomplish this for the American people,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., on Fox. “He’s way ahead of where he was eight years ago.” But one GOP senator has a warning for his colleagues. “I think the number one priority for the Republican Party should be to secure that border,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on CBS. “Get the tax cuts and spending reductions put together later.” It will be about the math. Despite their ambitious legislative ambitions to approve tranches of money for the border – but simultaneously slash spending and cut taxes. And Republicans have a miniscule majority in the House. With the resignation of former Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., to become national security adviser, House Republicans will be down to 218 votes. That majority dwindles to 217 when Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., resigns to become ambassador to the United Nations – presuming she receives Senate confirmation. So, advancing anything through the House is going to be challenging despite the goals. Frankly, they may need help from Democrats on some issues – like avoiding a government shutdown or lifting the debt ceiling. “Even though my colleagues have been talking about that the president got a mandate, and he did electorally, that mandate does not exist in the House,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., on Fox. “They barely have a majority. And so, if they want to work with us, I think they’re going to find a willing partner.” Confirmation votes are coming soon on Trump Cabinet picks. “He needs a team that can be disruptive,” said Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., on Fox. “They want disrupters. They want outside the box thinking.” But some picks could be too disruptive. Think Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard and the selection of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., for Health and Human Services secretary. Senate committees have not yet scheduled hearings for either of them. Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth likely has the votes for confirmation. But the Senate may need to take a procedural vote to break a Democratic filibuster to muscle through Hegseth to confirmation. Still, Democrats are recalibrating their approach for Trump 2.0. “I think Democrats last time around just resisted the president on everything. It was just constant outrage. And I think this time they need to shift to a different strategy of selective resistance,” said Moskowitz. So Trump’s second act is on. The issues that Grover Cleveland grappled with? Tariffs and silver policy. Trump won’t need to wrestle with the latter subject (we presume). But you know about the pending battle about tariffs and issues with China, Canada, Mexico

High-profile Dems warned Biden against preemptive pardons before giving Fauci, Milley passes

High-profile Dems warned Biden against preemptive pardons before giving Fauci, Milley passes

High-profile Democrats and former President Biden, himself, warned about blanket, preemptive pardons before Biden ultimately granted passes to Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of his family in the 11th hour of his administration. “The precedent of giving blanket pardons, preemptive blanket pardons on the way out of an administration, I think, is a precedent we don’t want to set,” now-Sen. Adam Schiff warned on ABC’s “This Week” in December.  Biden ended his term in the Oval Office on Monday, when President Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. But hours before the inauguration, the White House announced pardons for both Fauci and Milley and those involved in the January 6 select committee investigation – though those individuals were not identified by name.  And just 22 minutes before leaving office, Biden also pardoned his family, including his brother James B. Biden, sister Valerie Biden Owens, brother-in-law John T. Owens, and brother Francis W. Biden. The former president had previously issued a blanket pardon to his adult son, Hunter Biden, after he was convicted in two separate federal cases last year.   FAUCI RIPPED OVER NEW PAPER CRITICIZING TRUMP ON CORONAVIRUS, PROMOTING NATURAL ORIGIN THEORY: ‘EMBARRASSMENT’ “My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me – the worst kind of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end,” Biden said in a statement pardoning his family.  Speculation had mounted that Biden would issue blanket pardons and preemptive pardons to those viewed as Trump’s political foes, such as former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, as well as Milley and Fauci and members of the Biden family.  Democrats stretching from former President Bill Clinton to Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., warned Biden against issuing such pardons in the waning days of his administration.  BIDEN PARDONS MARK MILLEY, ANTHONY FAUCI, J6 COMMITTEE MEMBERS “If President Biden wanted to talk to me about that, I would talk to him about it. But I don’t think I should be giving public advice on the pardon power. I think it’s too – it’s a very personal thing, but it is – I hope he won’t do that,” Clinton said of preemptive pardons on “The View.” Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin also warned against such pardons in an interview on CNN last month, remarking, “when we talk about a preemptive pardon, where does it start and where does it stop?” Klobuchar echoed that sentiment in the same month.  “I am not a fan of these [preemptive pardons],” she said. “I didn’t like the pardon of the president’s son. I didn’t think that that was prudent. But I also am very concerned about this idea of preemptive pardons.” Biden, too, had warned against preemptive pardons before he took office in 2020, at a time when speculation swirled that Trump would pardon his children and personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.  HUNTER BIDEN PARDON: MEDIA TAKES LATEST BLOW TO CREDIBILITY WITH BOTCHED COVERAGE OF BROKEN PROMISE “It concerns me in terms of what kind of precedent it sets and how the rest of the world looks (at) us as a nation of laws and justice,” Biden said in an interview with CNN in December 2020.  Trump ultimately did not pardon his adult children or the former mayor of New York City.  Following the 11th hour pardons for Milley, Fauci and staff of the Jan. 6 Select Committee and family, political leaders and lawmakers slammed the decision, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.  “One of Biden’s greatest abuses of power was the forcing of mRNA shots by executive fiat (which Florida successfully blocked). Now, on his way out the door, Biden pardons the chief henchman of that and so many other abuses. The swamp protects its own,” said DeSantis, a Republican, on Monday.  BIDEN COMMUTES NEARLY 2,500 MORE SENTENCES IN FINAL DAYS OF PRESIDENCY Fauci was the national spokesman for the nation’s pandemic response, including advising then-President Trump in 2020 on how to handle COVID-19 as it swept across communities. But his favor with the president waned over time, with Trump slamming him and fellow pandemic task force adviser Dr. Deborah Birx as “two self-promoters trying to reinvent history to cover for their bad instincts and faulty recommendations.” FAUCI RIPPED OVER NEW PAPER CRITICIZING TRUMP ON CORONAVIRUS, PROMOTING NATURAL ORIGIN THEORY: ‘EMBARRASSMENT’ Fauci said Monday he appreciates his pardon, though he stressed he has “committed no crime.”  “I really truly appreciate the action President Biden has taken today on my behalf,” Fauci told ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl. “Let me be perfectly clear, Jon, I have committed no crime, you know that, and there are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of criminal investigation or prosecution of me,” he continued. DR. FAUCI SAYS HE APPRECIATES PRESIDENT BIDEN’S PARDON BUT INSISTS ‘NO CRIME’ WAS COMMITTED Milley, the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also has a contentious relationship with Trump and his supporters. He had called Trump a “fascist” and “the most dangerous person to this country” just ahead of the November election.  WHO ELSE MIGHT BIDEN PARDON AFTER HE SPARED HUNTER FROM SENTENCING? Trump has repeatedly slammed Milley since leaving office, including after the United States’ botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, when he called Milley a “loser who shamed us in Afghanistan and elsewhere!” After the election, Milley appeared to walk back his characterization of Trump as a “fascist,” saying ​​America will “be OK” under Trump’s second administration. Liz Cheney, the Republican former congresswoman from Wyoming, and Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Jan. 6 House Select Committee chair, were also targets of Trump’s ire. Biden did not mention Cheney or Thompson by name in his statement, instead pardoning “staff who served on the Select Committee.” HUNTER BIDEN PARDON WILL UNDERMINE PARTY’S ‘SELF-PROCLAIMED AUTHORITY’ ON RULE OF LAW: DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST “The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in

Dems promise to ‘stand up to’ Trump but laud ‘peaceful transfer of power’ after speech

Dems promise to ‘stand up to’ Trump but laud ‘peaceful transfer of power’ after speech

Congressional Democrats are balancing efforts to stand tough against President Trump while also pledging to work with him where possible after the Republican commander in chief took office. It comes as moderate Democrats and Democrats in vulnerable seats have made overtures toward Republicans in areas like border security and transgender youth after the GOP’s commanding victories in the 2024 elections – which the right has widely interpreted as a mandate for a more conservative America. “My job is to fight to make life better for Texas families, and I will work with anyone, Democrat or Republican, who is interested in lowering costs, securing our border, and keeping our communities safe,” freshman Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Texas, who attended the inauguration, said in a statement.  “But make no mistake, I will always stand up to President Trump, his administration, division, and far-right extremism when any of those individuals or entities threaten our way of life.” DONALD TRUMP SWORN IN AS 47TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., who ran tight races in 2016 and 2022 and is expected to do so again in 2028, said in a statement, “I look forward to working with the incoming administration to lower prices, create jobs, and keep our communities safe. But make no mistake, if President Trump uses his position to hurt hardworking Nevadans, I will always stand strong to protect them.” Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., took a similar conciliatory tone. “There is progress to be made on housing, environmental stewardship, public safety, immigration reform, national security, and more. I will work with anybody and any administration to pursue areas of agreement and aggressively deliver for the people I serve,” he said. “I also firmly believe that our diversity is our strength and our unity is the power to endure and succeed no matter the many challenges that we face. Law-abiding immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, women, and families recovering from devastating natural disasters are understandably worried by the rhetoric from the campaign trail and potential policies from the Trump Administration.” Other Democrats were more guarded in their statements, like Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., who said on X, “Today, and always, I root hard for this country of ours, and I wish [President Trump] well as he takes on the responsibility of leading America.” TRUMP TO TAKE MORE THAN 200 EXECUTIVE ACTIONS ON DAY ONE Progressive Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., however, made clear that she would take a more hard-line approach against Trump. “Day 1 under Trump. We must face these challenges and attacks with courage and clarity. I’m ready for the work ahead to defend our Constitution and will be working tirelessly to address the urgent needs of Vermonters and working people across America,” she wrote on X. Trump was sworn into office for his second term in an inauguration ceremony inside the U.S. Capitol.

Trump national security adviser pick Waltz resigns from House, shrinking GOP majority

Trump national security adviser pick Waltz resigns from House, shrinking GOP majority

Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., retired from Congress Monday to serve as President-elect Trump’s national security adviser — a long-awaited move that he announced just one hour before Trump was sworn in as president. Waltz had confirmed to Fox News his plans to resign on Inauguration Day prior to Trump’s inaugural ceremony — a decision that further narrows the Republican House majority to just 218–215. “As I prepare to assume my duties as National Security Advisor to the president-elect, Donald J. Trump, I hereby make my resignation official from the U.S. House of Representatives, effective January 20th, 2025,” Waltz said in a letter announcing his decision.  “I intend to serve out my term in the 118th Congress, and to be sworn into the 118th Congress. I have also submitted by notice to Governor Ron DeSantis to advise him on my resignation.” A special election to replace Waltz will be held in April.  News of his resignation in the House comes at a time when Republicans in the chamber have struggled to unify amid intraparty divisions over government spending, fealty to Trump, and other differences in ideology.  ‘HELL NO’: HOUSE DEMS ERUPT OVER GOP SPENDING DEAL  These divisions were on sharp display during the election of House Speaker Mike Johnson earlier in January and the massive spending bill in December that narrowly averted government shutdown.  Waltz, a former Green Beret who served in both the White House and Pentagon, was tapped by Trump in the fall of 2024 to serve as his national security adviser.  Trump praised Waltz’s more than 25 years in the Army Special Forces, noting that he “was deployed multiple times in combat for which he was awarded four Bronze Stars, including two with Valor.” Fox News Digital’s Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report. 

Mark Milley pardoned: general at center of Afghanistan withdrawal predicted it wouldn’t be a Saigon moment

Mark Milley pardoned: general at center of Afghanistan withdrawal predicted it wouldn’t be a Saigon moment

Former President Joe Biden issued a preemptive pardon to Gen. Mark Milley on Monday, capping off a presidency marred by the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021. Milley accepted the pardon, saying in a statement he does not want to spend the remainder of his life fighting “retribution.”  But critics of the withdrawal in Congress say they aren’t done with him.  “Mark Milley might be pardoned but we will continue to explore ways to hold him accountable,” said Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., an Afghanistan veteran. Post-withdrawal assessments largely question why the military pulled out of the region before civilian evacuations were complete.  Milley, the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, has admitted the withdrawal where 13 U.S. troops lost their lives was a “strategic failure.”  HOUSE GOP RELEASES SCATHING REPORT ON BIDEN’S WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN During a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in 2024, Milley blamed the State Department for delaying a Noncombatant Evacuation Operations (NEO), or an order to withdraw U.S. civilians working in the country, but praised the military’s actions. That order did not come until mid-August 2021, just two weeks before the deadline Biden had set to leave the country.  “I think that was too slow and too late. And that then caused a series of events that resulted in the very last couple of days. There’s a lot of other mistakes that [were] made along the way … [but] I think that was the key.”  “The U.S. military is responsible for supporting the State Department in a non-combatant evacuation operation, however, the withdrawal of U.S. forces from a combat theater as it relates to an act of war is the responsibility of the Department of Defense, and at the end of the day, we did not leave a residual force behind,” Alex Pritsas, a former counterterrorism official at the Defense Department, told Fox News Digital.  BIDEN THANKS TROOPS FOR ‘STRENGTH’ AND ‘INTEGRITY’ IN UNPRECEDENTED TIMES AT FAREWELL ADDRESS TO MILITARY Milley said in congressional testimony in June 2021 that the U.S. would not see scenes reminiscent of the fall of Saigon in Vietnam, where U.S. personnel were being airlifted from rooftops. “I don’t see Saigon 1975 in Afghanistan. The Taliban just aren’t the North Vietnamese Army.” Milley’s pardon was part of a group of preemptive pardons that included Anthony Fauci and members of the January 6th Committee.  “My family and I are deeply grateful for the President’s action today,”  Milley said in reaction to the pardon.  CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP He went on: “After 43 years of faithful service in uniform to our nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights. I do not want to put my family, my friends, and those with whom I served through the resulting distraction, expense, and anxiety.” Jerry Dunleavy, former top investigator on the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Afghanistan probe, told Fox News Digital of the pardon: “Milley wrongly dismissed the obviously correct comparison between the fall of Saigon and the impending fall of Kabul, massively inflated size of the Afghan forces, woefully underestimated the speed and scope of Taliban district control, then pushed fiction that Afghanistan fell in only 11 days. “After a disaster where thirteen troops were murdered at Abbey Gate and the Taliban regained power, Milley then wrongly predicted Ukraine would fall to the Russians in just three days,” he added, referring to remarks Milley made in a closed-door briefing with lawmakers. 

Trump vows ‘new era of national success,’ says America’s ‘decline is over’ in inaugural address

Trump vows ‘new era of national success,’ says America’s ‘decline is over’ in inaugural address

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump said a “tide of change is sweeping the country,” telling Americans during his inaugural address Monday that he is “optimistic” that the U.S. is beginning a “new era of national success,” while declaring that the country’s “decline is over.” Trump addressed the nation on Monday after taking the oath of office for the second time and being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.  “The golden age of America begins right now,” Trump said in his inaugural address. “From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer.”  DONALD TRUMP SWORN IN AS 47TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES “During every single day of the Trump administration, I will very simply put America first,” Trump said.  Trump vowed that U.S. “sovereignty will be reclaimed, our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end. And our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous and free.”  Trump promised that he would not use the government to go after political opponents, saying it was something he knew something about, a reference to his claims of persecution by the Biden administration. “But first, we must be honest about the challenges we face,” Trump said. “While they are plentiful, they will be annihilated by this great momentum that the world is now witnessing in the United States of America.”  But, the president said in his first remarks to the nation as the 47th president, “our government confronts a crisis of trust.”  “My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal and all of these many betrayals that have taken place, and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy, and indeed their freedom from this moment on, America’s decline is over,” Trump said.  TRUMP TO TAKE MORE THAN 200 EXECUTIVE ACTIONS ON DAY ONE The president delivered his remarks from the Capitol Rotunda Monday due to an arctic blast that hit the nation’s capital, with frigid temperatures forcing the inaugural ceremonies to be moved indoors for the first time in four decades.  Trump, who won the Electoral College and popular vote, defeating now-former Vice President Kamala Harris in a landslide, has vowed that his second administration will bring “the golden age of America.”  Trump was running against then-President Biden, who was seeking re-election, until July 2024. But after the two debated for the first time, and after a disastrous performance by Biden, the incumbent was pressured by Democrat insiders to suspend his presidential bid.  Biden made the announcement in a social media post and endorsed Harris to be the Democratic presidential nominee in his place, moving his vice president to the top of the ticket.  The decision for Biden to drop out of the race came just days after the Republican National Convention (RNC) finished, and after Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, formally accepted the GOP nomination.  But Trump, just days before accepting the Republican nomination, survived an assassination attempt at a rally on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania. During the event, Trump was showing off a chart highlighting how illegal immigration skyrocketed under the Biden-Harris administration. As he turned toward the chart, he was hit by a bullet that pierced the upper part of his right ear by the now-deceased would-be-assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks.  Weeks later, in September, another would-be-assassin hid himself in the bushes at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida. The gunman, Ryan Wesley Routh, had an AK-47-style rifle pointing through the fence toward Trump as he was golfing. Trump was rushed off the golf course by U.S. Secret Service agents, unharmed. TRUMP TO DEPLOY MILITARY TO BORDER, END BIDEN PAROLE POLICIES IN FLURRY OF DAY ONE EXECUTIVE ORDERS Trump reflected on his near-death experience, and his unprecedented trials and legal battles throughout the 2024 campaign cycle.  “Over the past eight years, I have been tested and challenged more than any president in our 250-year history, and I’ve learned a lot along the way. The journey to reclaim our republic has not been an easy one, and that I can tell you. Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and indeed to take my life,” Trump said. “Just a few months ago, in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin’s bullet ripped through my ear.”  He added: “But I felt then and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.”  Trump, on his first day in office, is expected to take more than 200 executive actions – a massive, first wave of policy priorities focused on border security, energy, reducing the cost of living for American families, ending DEI programs across the federal government, and more, Fox News Digital exclusively reported.  Trump will also deliver on his campaign promise to roll back the policies of his predecessor on his first day in office. Trump will end “catch and release”; pause all offshore wind leases; terminate the electric vehicle mandate; abolish the Green New Deal; withdraw from the Paris climate accord; and take several major steps to assert presidential control over the federal bureaucracy.  This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.