Republican Sen. John McCain on Tuesday warned against any attempt to reboot U.S.-Russia relations under Donald Trump's presidency.
"With the U.S. presidential transition underway, Vladimir Putin has said in recent days that he wants to improve relations with the United States. We should place as much faith in such statements as any other made by a former KGB agent who has plunged his country into tyranny, murdered his political opponents, invaded his neighbors, threatened America's allies, and attempted to undermine America's elections," the Arizona senator said in a statement.
Russia on Tuesday launched a major military offensive in Syria where Putin is backing Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Throughout the campaign, Trump spoke highly of Russian President Vladimir Putin and said he would improve relations between the two countries. Putin and Trump spoke after his victory last week.
"The Obama Administration's last attempt at resetting relations with Russia culminated in Putin's invasion of Ukraine and military intervention in the Middle East," McCain said. "At the very least, the price of another 'reset' would be complicity in Putin and Assad's butchery of the Syrian people."
President-elect Donald Trump and Mike Pence are expected to receive their first President's Daily Briefing on Tuesday at Trump Tower in New York, sources tell NBC News.
President Barack Obama has authorized that the same briefing given to him each day be prepared for Trump and Pence. It contains more sensitive information than the briefings provided to the candidates during the presidential campaign.
Trump has designated retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and son-in-law Jared Kushner as his staff level companions for such briefings, however, Kushner does not have any clearance.
Kellyanne Conway, who successfully navigated the final months of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, dismissed criticism of former Breitbart News executive Steve Bannon's appointment as "chief strategist and senior counselor" to the new administration.
"I work very closely with Steve Bannon, he's been the general of this campaign, and frankly, people should look at the full resume," Conway told reporters Monday. "He's got a Harvard business degree, he's a naval officer, he has success in entertainment, I don't know if you're aware of that, and he certainly was a Goldman Sachs managing partner. Brilliant tactician."
Bannon's former news site has been closely associated with the "alt-right" movement, which has been criticized for promoting white nationalism.
"I know that people weren't prepared for us to win, and so they're reaching around to find extreme examples," she added.
Some Republicans leaders have struggled to defend Bannon's past work.
"I do not know Steve. I do not know what he has said," House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters Monday.
Nigel Farage, a key figure in the Brexit movement, met with President-elect Donald Trump Saturday —and said he raised the issue of returning a bust of Winston Churchill to the Oval Office.
While protesters chanted outside, the two met inside Trump Tower and spoke for more than an hour.
"It was a great honor to spend time with Donald Trump," Farage wrote on Twitter. "He was relaxed and full of good ideas. I'm confident he will be a good president."
He also wrote that Trump's support for the U.S.-UK relationship was "very strong," adding — in an echo of former PM Margaret Thatcher's famous comment about Ronald Reagan — "this is a man with whom we can do business."
Farage also write that he was "especially pleased" at Trump's "very positive reaction to the idea that Sir Winston Churchill's bust should be put back in the Oval Office."
President Barack Obama said he removed the bust of Britain's wartime PM because, as the first black president, he thought it necessary to include a bust of Martin Luther King in the Oval Office and feared the potential clutter. He moved the Churchill bust to just outside the office.
The issue of the bust was raised last year British foreign secretary Boris Johnson after Obama appeared to urge British voters to reject Brexit.
A prominent member of France's socially conservative nationalist party and niece of its leader tweeted Saturday that she is looking forward to partnering with the Trump administration.
Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, 26, wrote she was accepting the invitation of Stephen Bannon[1], CEO of President-elect Donald Trump's campaign, "to work together."
Maréchal-Le Pen's far-right party, the National Front, is staunchly anti-immigration. She is the niece of influential conservative French politician Marine Le Pen[2] and the granddaughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, who started the National Front before being expelled by his daughter for a series of racially charged statements.
Maréchal-Le Pen is one of the youngest members of the French Parliament and is considered a rising star in the National Front.
After Hillary Clinton's loss in the presidential election, a group of supporters sent her a special delivery Friday to cheer her up: over a thousand long-stemmed red roses.
"Someone sent 1000 red roses to @HillaryClinton. She brought them to distribute at our staff party tonight. Of course," tweeted[3] Clinton's digital director, Jenna Lowenstein. The number of roses was later confirmed at 1,200.
The flowers were given on behalf of the women's rights group, Ultra Violet. While they were delivered to Clinton's Chappaqua, New York, home, the Democratic nominee shared them during her appearance at her Brooklyn campaign headquarters Friday night to thank her staff and volunteers. She gave the roses out to every staffer as a token of her appreciation, Lowenstein said.
But roses are far from the only message that Clinton has received since losing to Donald Trump. Children writing in chalk scrawled "thank yous" to her in front of her Brooklyn office.
Even though the election for the next Democratic National Committee chairman will not take place until next year, the race is heating up quickly with former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley adding his name to the mix Friday.
"Since the election, I have been approached by many Democrats who believe our party needs new leadership. I'm taking a hard look at DNC Chair because I know how badly we need to reform our nominating process, articulate a bold progressive vision, recommit ourselves to higher wages and a stronger middle class, and return to our roots as a nationwide, grassroots party," O'Malley said in a statement.
O'Malley ran for the Democratic nomination against Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders this year, but withdrew after a disappointing showing in the Iowa caucuses, where he finished with less than 1 percent of the delegates. O'Malley has experience on TV and in the na tional spotlight, and he led a party organ as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, where he helped raise millions of dollars. He's seen as a loyal party solider, though that may not be as much of an asset at a time when many are demanding a fresh take.
Former DNC Chair and Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has also said he's interested in the job, while Rep. Keith Ellison is expected to announce his bid Monday after securing the support for Sen. Chuck Schumer, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and warm words from Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Others are likely to join the fray as well.
Ben Carson said he would be interested in becoming Education Secretary or Health and Human Services Secretary in Donald Trump's new administration.
"I could see [myself] as continuing to help improve the educational environment, the healthcare environment.My preference would be to do that from outside the government as a friend...or an as adviser," Carson said on Fox News."If it can't be done that way, I will do whatever necessary to make sure we succeed."
Carson said all cabinet positions are "things that are under discussion" and will take a few weeks to become clear as "good decisions have to be made."
As Democrats plot a path forward after Donald Trump's victory, incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer backed progressive Rep. Keith Ellison for chairman of the Democratic National Committee Friday, an aide confirmed. The two spoke yesterday, according to the aide, who said Schumer believes the DNC should take on the role of coordinating grassroots organizing in sync with legislative battles on Capitol Hill.
Schumer adds momentum behind Ellison, following support from Sen. Bernie Sanders and several liberals groups. Sen. Elizabeth Warren told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Thursday night that Ellison would be a "terrific" DNC chair.
Ellison, who backed Sanders in the Democratic presidential primary, has been quiet as allies move quickly around him. He told the liberal group Democracy for America Thursday night he would make an announcement on Monday.
Former DNC Chair and Vermont Gov. Howard has tossed announced his bid. "I am very interested in the chairmanship of the DNC, not so much because I think I'm the only person that can fix it, but I think we need a full-time chair," he told MSNBC Friday.
After the tenure of former chairwoman Debbie Wassmerman Schultz, some DNC members want a full-time leader who does not hold elected office, which could complicate Ellison's bid. Some close to Hillary Clinton are pushing former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to run as well.
Donald Trump's verdict on his first meeting[4] with President Barack Obama?
"Really good meeting, great chemistry," he tweeted late Thursday.
There is no love lost between the pair.
Trump kept the birther movement going long after the president[5] released his birth certificate. In August 2012, Trump he tweeted that an "extremely credible source" called his office[6] and said Obama's "birth certificate is a fraud." And in Sept. 2014, he called on internet hackers[7] to find Obama's college records to "check 'place of birth.'"
During the campaign, Obama told Trump to "stop whining."[8] Last month, he also slammed the Republican's "unbelievable rhetoric." Speaking on Oct. 9[9], Obama said: "Demeaning women, degrading women, but also minorities, immigrants, people of other faiths, mocking the disable d, insulting our troops, insulting our veterans —that tells you a couple of things. That tells you that he's insecure enough that he pumps himself up by putting other people down, not a character trait that I would advise for someone in the Oval Office."
Trump has threatened to undo much of Obama's policies and programs. At stake is the president's legacy [10]on health care initiatives, immigration, a global climate change pact and a nuclear deal with Iran.
References
- ^ Stephen Bannon (www.nbcnews.com)
- ^ conservative French politician Marine Le Pen (www.nbcnews.com)
- ^ tweeted (twitter.com )
- ^ first meeting (www.nbcnews.com)
- ^ kept the birther movement going long after the president (www.nbcnews.com)
- ^ he tweeted that an "extremely credible source" called his office (twitter.com)
^called on internet hackers (twitter.com)- ^ told Trump to "stop whining." (www.nbcnews.com)
- ^ Speaking on Oct. 9 (www.nbcnews.com)
- ^ stake is the president's legacy (www.nbcnews.com)
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