Trump team claims credit for Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire – hours after Biden announced it

Unlike Obama and Bush, moreover, Trump did not win a majority of the national popular vote. Though it looked like he was over 50 percent on Election Night, the steady drip of late ballots has eroded his percentage to (currently) 49.87 percent, with further slippage very likely before all the votes are in.

Trump’s win in the Electoral College was more impressive, though his 316 electoral votes were less than Obama’s in either of his elections and just above Biden’s in 2020. In Pennsylvania, the “tipping point” state that clinched a second term for Trump, his margin over Harris was 1.8 percent, not exactly a landslide.

So by any measure, the claim of an “unprecedented” mandate simply isn’t true. Trump won a very close election and will govern a country where a near majority of people have voted against him three times. Yes, his party won control of Congress as well. But in the House, the margin of Republican control (with three contests still undecided) is so small that Trump’s appointment of three representatives to Cabinet positions could make any controversial votes extremely difficult for House Speaker Mike Johnson until special elections are held, and very difficult even then.

Two US Senators Call on FIFA Not to Choose Saudi Arabia as World Cup Host

Ex-envoy says Trump aims to weaken Iran, ‘deal of the century’ likely back on table

Brian Hook, who will reportedly lead Trump’s transition at State Dept., accuses Biden administration of ‘appeasing and accommodating’ Iran, leading to ‘failure of deterrence’

Brian Hook, Donald Trump’s special envoy for Iran during the president-elect’s first term in office, said Thursday that his former boss has “no interest in regime change” in Tehran but does seek to isolate and weaken the Islamic Republic, and that the administration’s “deal of the century” peace plan for Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians will likely be back on the table once Trump returns to the White House in January.

Speaking on CNN, Hook declined to comment on any future role in Trump’s second administration, though the network reported Wednesday that he will lead the transition team at the State Department, citing three sources familiar with the matter.

Without asserting any insider knowledge, the former State Department official said that the incoming commander-in-chief’s foreign policy intentions are “hidden in plain sight,” pointing to Trump’s decisions during the first four years he was in office from 2017 to 2021.