He threatened that any Republican who opposed him on the bill to avert a government shutdown could be elected in the primary.
The president-elect is earning his reputation as a disruptor, with enough influence over what is now his party to blow up painstakingly negotiated bipartisan compromises. Let’s take a look at some of them.
HOW PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP COULD PULL OFF ‘THE DEAL OF THE CENTURY’ AS HE ENTERS OFFICE
Trump tried in his first term to buy Greenland, controlled through Denmark but under self-government. This was of no use, although it created a diplomatic crisis with Danish officials.
While the U.S. built the Panama Canal in the early 20th century, it was turned over to Panama under a treaty approved by both countries. Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino says “every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent zone is Panama’s and will continue to be so. The sovereignty and independence of our country are not negotiable.”
That didn’t stop Trump from posting an artificial intelligence symbol of an American flag flying over a waterway believed to be the canal.
In fact, the new president has demonstrated his ability to throw demanding situations in the primaries to those who cross his path. But three dozen conservative Republicans voted against him on the government shutdown bill, adding that it passed regardless, dropping his call to remove the debt ceiling while he was in office. Was he going to organize primaries against all of them?
So the overwhelming likelihood is that the status of Greenland, the Panama Canal and rebellious Republicans won’t change in the second term.
The reason Trump does this is that it reinforces his role as a disruptor, someone taking on the decrepit Washington establishment, even though a president, by definition, is the new establishment.
President-elect Trump underscores this point in a speech at AmericaFest on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Phoenix (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri).
Beyond that, whether or not he makes outrageous demands, Trump shapes and dominates the news agenda. As the 47th president admitted to me, he rarely overdoes it because he knows it will provoke a strong media backlash. According to Trump, even a negative policy is a smart policy because the press is playing on its turf.
And they are only negotiating positions aimed at obtaining concessions, as in the case of the threats of price lists of 25% against Canada and Mexico.
Remember that most people outside the political-media complex do not follow such developments with bated breath. Since the government has not shut down, they do not see the fact that he did not get the maximum of what he wanted as a setback for Trump. They probably won’t forget that he once tried to buy Greenland.
What Trump clearly has the power to do is to blow up carefully crafted bipartisan agreements. He did it after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. – whose own future is in doubt because, like Kevin McCarthy before him, he didn’t have the votes – let the bill grow into a Christmas tree monstrosity.
And he did it during the campaign when both parties agreed on a tough border enforcement deal, which was then trashed by Trump’s objections.
But there are obviously limits to Trump’s ability to shape events, especially as they relate to the country. The fact that three dozen Republicans are challenging him on a factor as basic as the debt ceiling shows that he can take his party this far.
TRUMP’S FAMOUS CHRISTMAS CAMEO IS FAR FROM HIS ONLY CURRENT CREDIT: SEE THE FULL LIST
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S. C. , a Trump supporter who voted against him in the last passage, told me Sunday on “Media Buzz” that it was because he sought to keep the debt ceiling low.
But with the GOP clinging to a 1-vote House margin, for now, the cauldron of campaign rhetoric is running up against the cold, hard math of getting to the number 218.
Democrats want to ask themselves if it’s a worthwhile negotiation with the other party if all they’re doing is creating a target for Trump’s demolition derby.
It was Elon Musk who was the first to tweet about the seriousness of the original bill – at Trump’s suggestion – and after more than 70 tweets (including some lies), the new president was thrown into the fight.
Elon Musk speaks with former President Trump at a campaign rally on October 5, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Over the weekend, Trump denied ceding his presidential powers to his billionaire friend and said, half-mockingly, that Musk may never be president:
“Do you know why? He wasn’t born in this country. Hahaha. “
One of the media’s favorite games is whether these two strong-willed men will fight.
For now, though, Trump’s tough talk about Greenland and the Panama Canal shows that he’s most comfortable playing offense, even if nothing much comes of it.
In news:
The House Ethics report says Matt Gaetz paid “regularly” for sex, including with an underage girl, and used illegal drugs.
In 2017, the former attorney general-designate “had sexual relations with a 17-year-old girl,” who also paid.
Gaetz used or had possession of such illegal drugs as cocaine and Ecstasy “on multiple occasions,” and also accepted lucrative gifts, such as transportation and lodging in the Bahamas.
“Many of the women interviewed through the committee made it clear that there is a general expectation about sex,” with one woman telling the committee that Gaetz had paid her more than $5,000 and that sex affected “99% of the time. ” .
The panel said Gaetz “failed to cooperate” and “knowingly and intentionally sought to obstruct and impede the committee’s investigation into his conduct. ” The Justice Department investigated and has yet to file any charges.
TRUMP COULD FACE RENEWED ISIS THREAT IN SYRIA AS TURKEY GOES AFTER US ALLY
Gaetz also misused House resources when he had his chief of staff “assist a woman with whom he engaged in sexual activity in obtaining a passport, falsely indicating to the U.S. Department of State that she was a constituent…
“There was substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, acceptance of impermissible gifts, the provision of special favors and privileges, and obstruction of Congress.”
If Gaetz was still running for AG, that would have blown him out of the water.
Says Gaetz: “I was charged with nothing: FULLY EXONERATED. Not even a campaign finance violation. And the people investigating me hated me. Then, the very ‘witnesses’ DOJ deemed not-credible were assembled by House Ethics to repeat their claims absent any cross-examination or challenge from me or my attorneys. I’ve had no chance to ever confront any accusers. I’ve never been charged. I’ve never been sued.” He says he even sent money to women he wasn’t dating.
–A stalwart Dallas Express reporter found out what happened to Texas Rep. Kay Granger, who disappeared months ago. He discovered it and received official confirmation at a care center specialized in dementia and other memory disorders. She did one about fitness disorders that they didn’t understand at all – how come she doesn’t tell her constituents? Why did you insist on hiding it? There would have been great sympathy for her. Instead, the member kept it all a secret.
–Actress Blake Lively has been the subject of an online smear campaign, as seen in text messages and emails that blatantly tell of plantation stories meant to ruin her reputation, although they warn that it will have to remain a secret because they can’t admit it. They are trying. to “bury” it. “You know we can bury anyone. “
Justin Baldoni and Blake Livel (David Buchan/Variety/Penske Media Getty Images | Lia Toby/Getty Images)
Lively received those documents through a lawsuit against her co-star and director, Justin Baldoni, and reviewed them through The New York Times. She alleges sexual harassment, saying Baldoni and others entered her trailer unannounced when she was topless, as if to have her removed makeup or breastfed.
The Wayfarer studio said the company and its public relations executives “did nothing proactive or retaliated” against the actress, accusing her of being “yet desperate to ‘fix’ her negative reputation. “
Lively says Baldoni tried to add unneeded sex scenes, had improvised unwanted kissing and discussed his sex life, including instances in which he may not have gotten consent. Another member of the team showed her a video of his wife naked.
The sad thing is that this kind of thing happens all the time. This time we got the goods, with Lively portrayed as difficult, deaf and a bully.
–The Daily Mail reported that Jeff Bezos was going to marry his fiancé Lauren Sanchez this weekend in a $600 million extravaganza in Aspen.
The Washington Post’s Amazon founder says it’s:
“This whole thing is completely false — none of this is happening…
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“The old adage ‘don’t believe everything you read’ is even more true today than it ever has been. Now lies can get ALL the way around the world before the truth can get its pants on. So be careful out there folks and don’t be gullible.”
Good on Jeff for standing up to a bullshit story.
Howard Kurtz is the host of FOX News Channel’s MediaBuzz (Sundays from 11:00 a. m. to 12:00 p. m. ET). Based in Washington, D. C. , he joined the network in 2013 and appears on Special Report with Bret Baier and The Story with Martha MacCallum, among other shows.
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