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Trump taps hardliners and loyalists for key positions
If his expanding slew of cabinet picks tells us anything, President-elect Donald Trump will, as expected, take an ultra-hardline approach to immigration, security matters, and relations with the United Nations.
He is reportedly set to appointStephen Miller as his deputy chief of staff. Miller, a former Trump speechwriter and close adviser, is a stickler on immigration who helped formulate Trump’s proposals for the mass deportation of up to one million undocumented immigrants per year, as well as a review of current citizenship and naturalization policies.
In that capacity, Miller will work closely with Thomas D. Homan, whom Trump has tapped as his somewhat vaguely defined “border czar.” According to Trump, Homan will oversee border security and “be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens.” Homan, a former ICE official, oversaw record deportations under the Obama administration and helped design Trump 1.0’s controversial “family separation policy.”
Trump has also nominated New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik as US ambassador to the United Nations. Stefanik, a staunch Israel supporter and harsh critic of the UN, has called for defunding UNRWA, the organization’s humanitarian relief agency for Palestinian refugees, over allegations that it is infiltrated by Hamas. Stefanik has accepted the post, and as ambassador, she will carry Trump’s UN-skeptic, “America First” agenda right into the heart of the organization.
Trump has reportedly tapped Florida Rep. Michael Waltz, a retired Special Forces officer and China hawk, as his national security adviser. Former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin, meanwhile, has been appointed to run the Environmental Protection Agency, where Trump says Zeldin will “ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses.” Sen. Marco Rubio is expected to bring harsh stances on Latin America -- notably Venezuela and Cuba -- and China and Russia to the position of secretary of state, and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is set to become Trump's secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, according to reports.
Trump has already appointed his White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and she told GOP donors yesterday that Trump plans to hit the ground running by reinstating several executive orders from his first term on Day 1 of taking office — though she did not specify which ones. Wiles also told the group that Trump plans to revolutionize the government in two years, rather than four, in recognition that he could face harsh midterm elections.
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Japanese PM keeps his job, but that might be the easy part
In a stunning feat of survival, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba of the Liberal Democratic Party won a run-off vote on Monday that will keep him in his job despite his party losing its parliamentary majority in last month’s snap elections.
The back story: Ishiba, a former defense minister, took over as LDP leader in September after his predecessor, Fumio Kishida, resigned amid corruption scandals. Gambling on a fresh mandate, Ishiba called snap elections. It didn’t work out: The LDP took a beating.
Now, he will preside over a minority government. The LDP will work on a vote-by-vote basis with a small, centrist faction, the Democratic Party for the People, whose leader on Monday caused waves of his own by admitting to have cheated on his wife with a model.
Ishiba has his work cut out for him. Growth in the world’s fourth-largest economy is sluggish, and inflation is high. Meanwhile, Ishiba has said Japan faces “the most severe and complicated security environment” since World War II, as China and North Korea become more assertive, and Donald Trump’s return to the White House heralds a more protectionist and transactional attitude from Tokyo’s most important security ally.
Germany faces political uncertainty after coalition collapse
Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden and co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, shares his perspective on European politics from Stockholm, Sweden.
What does Germany's coalition collapse mean for Chancellor Scholz, the country, and Europe as a whole? Well, the collapse of the coalition government was, to some extent, expected. There had been speculations for weeks on how long it was going to hold together, and finally, the Chancellor himself pulled the plug in a rather vicious personal attack against the finance minister. Then he sacked him and then the government went up in flames. Now, what he wants to do is strangely enough to stay in power until January 15th and vote for the confidence, lose vote the confidence in parliament then, and have elections in March. I doubt that will be the case. I think there is now very heavy pressure by the opposition, needless to say.There's pressure by business, there are pressure by others saying that we can't have this uncertainty going on for months and months, particularly in a situation where other things are happening in the world, mildly speaking. So I wouldn't be surprised if we have, for example, a vote of confidence or he has to put himself a vote of confidence by mid-next week or something like that, and Germany is heading for election perhaps very early next year. Then of course, the other question will arise, what kind of government could possibly arise out of that particular election? That's a later, somewhat complicated issue. I guess we will have reason to return to it.
Europe's reaction to US election win: Gloom and despair
Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden and co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, shares his perspective on European politics from Stockholm, Sweden.
This is Carl Bildt in Stockholm. I’m going to do one question this morning.
What’s the mood on this side of the Atlantic after the US election?
Well, I think it can be summed up fairly shortly: gloom and despair in Brussels and Kyiv, jubilation in expectations in Budapest, and a determination to press on in Moscow and Tel Aviv. That’s roughly, it.
US election: GOP could win a Trump-led sweep
Jon Lieber, Eurasia Group's head of research and managing director for the firm's coverage of United States political and policy developments, shares his perspective on US politics from Washington, DC.
It's election night in America. And a slightly unexpected result tonight, with the election returns coming back very strong for President Donald Trump. He may actually end up winning the national popular vote, which was not, I think, on anyone's bingo card, really.
Big surprise for Trump has been a surge in rural support where the Trump coalition showed up to vote for him. Meanwhile, Harris has somewhat underperformed in urban areas, and while she did have a pretty good showing with women voters, it wasn't enough to keep her ahead of Trump, at least in the results as we know them tonight.
Harris has been underperforming down-ballot Democrats generally, which has kept the Democrats competitive in the House, which could lead to an unusual situation where all three of the main political bodies in the United States, the White House, the House, and the Senate, flip in the same election. The Senate is in the bag for Republicans. They're going to have somewhere between 52 and 55 seats, it looks like. And Trump is probably the favorite to win in the Electoral College.
The House outcome we may not know in the next 24 hours. Some of the House seats that really matter in determining the majority, which is very close, are slow to count. But right now, it does look like Democrats have some momentum with a couple of Republicans losing key seats.
So stay tuned for more of what we're watching this week in US politics.
NATO likely to respond if Russia sends North Korean troops to Ukraine
Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.
With reports of North Korean troops in Kursk, what is the likelihood of NATO directly intervening in the Ukraine-Russia war?
I do think that North Korean troops fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war is a major escalation, will lead to tougher sanctions, will lead to greater likelihood the Americans decide to allow for Western missiles to be used to target targets inside Russia. But the ultimatum that's been given is that if Russia deploys North Korean troops inside Ukraine itself, then NATO will respond with combat troops in Ukraine. That is a major escalation in this war. It is meant for the Russians to take it very seriously. I hope that Putin accordingly decides to keep those North Korean troops in Russia itself. And I know that the Chinese also are very concerned about where this is going. So, we'll watch this very closely.
Moldova's pro-Western President secured a second term after narrow runoff win. Does her victory reflect Western strength against Putin?
I'm not so sure. I mean, first of all, of course, lots of efforts by the Russians themselves to interfere monetarily, disinformation in this election, the way they did successfully in Georgia. In the case of Moldova, you have an awful lot of Moldovans voting that were outside Moldova legally, but that's what turned this race. It wasn't the people on the ground. And it was, as mentioned in the question, very tight indeed. This helps them stay on track with the European Union membership. But there's a very large Russian population in breakaway Transnistria with Russian troops on the ground. And I suspect that Putin and the Kremlin has no interest in giving up on this. So, it's going to keep going in the coming years.
How is the political rift between Bolivia's government and the former President Evo Morales affecting the country's stability and economy?
Well, Bolivia, extremely mountainous, very easy to shut down the economy. Just roadblocks in some of the mountain roads that are hard to move along and that means that you can't get goods through and massive inflation. And that's what's happening right now. And he, though he's from the same party as the president, believes that he's being mistreated. They're going after him for all style of corruption. Does appear to be legitimate charges, but he has leverage with a lot of Bolivians that are turning out in his favor. So I suspect if they don't come to some kind of compromise, this is going to hurt the economy there quite a bit. Not the only place we have instability in the world. And then we'll see what happens in the US later today. Be good and I'll talk to you all real soon.
Episodes
2024 US election: What to look out for
A long, exhausting US presidential election cycle comes to a close tomorrow. When will we know the results? What should we be looking out for on Tuesday and beyond? Jon Lieber explains.
Will offensive Puerto Rico remarks hurt Trump's chances?
With the US election a week away, why do Israelis prefer a Trump presidency? How might the results of the Georgia elections and subsequent protests affect political stability and EU membership prospects? To what extent will Puerto Rico and Latino voters sway the election in Kamala Harris's favor? Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.
What does Russia give in exchange for North Korean troops?
What are the global consequences of North Korean soldiers now appearing on the frontlines in Ukraine? What’s the nature of the agreements that German Chancellor Scholz concluded during his recent visit to Delhi? Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden and co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, shares his perspective on European politics from Stockholm, Sweden.
What Sinwar's death means for the war in Gaza
BRICS Summit: A "new world order" or already a relic of the past? Is Sinwar's death the beginning of the end of the war in Gaza? Yankees versus Dodgers. Who's winning? Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.
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