Puppy-killing Governor Kristi Noem taking part in Senate hearing; Trump names ‘Hollywood ambassadors’: Live updates

The South Dakota Governor has heard a series of flattering testimonies to her character from various silver-haired Republican senators and is now delivering her opening statement, expressing her belief in the importance of collaboration between agencies in the interests of keeping America safe.

Here she is a short while ago arriving for the hearing.

Jeff Landry has warned the Senate not to delay in appointing South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security – her confirmation hearing is happening right now – because doing otherwise could have an adverse impact on security arrangements for two major events taking place in the coming weeks in New Orleans, which is still recovering from the terror attack of New Year’s Day.

The Florida Governor has claimed that during a round of golf with Trump, the president-elect told him that inflation wasn’t really the issue that got him elected.

“He told me, he said, ‘Listen, I know inflation is a big deal but…’, the number one reason why he got elected, he said, was because of the immigration and the border issue,” DeSantis said on The Dana Show hosted by Dana Loesch.

Trump nevertheless campaigned on bringing inflation down and anger at the rising cost of everyday goods was a major reason why many Americans voted for him in the 2024 election, at least according to the polling.

Gustaf Kilander has more.

“America’s mayor” was nowhere to be seen when his trial in a federal courtroom in Manhattan was scheduled to begin on Thursday morning.

Four hours later, with a post on social media, Giuliani celebrated a settlement in a long-running legal battle for control of his properties and assets.

Alex Woodward reports from the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in Lower Manhattan.

California Senator Adam Schiff, absolutely loathed by Trump, has mocked House Speaker Mike Johnson for taking orders from the president-elect after Republican tearaway Mike Turner was dropped from the chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, allegedly on the orange one’s say-so.

His House colleague Jaime Raskin had a similar assessment to offer:

Here’s more on the removal of Turner.

The president-elect sees halting the bipartisan ban on the social video app as an easy way to show he’s delivering results.

He’s probably right, says John Bowden.

America’s elite will descend on Washington, DC, this weekend to ring in the second Trump era by attending a series of lavish and exclusive inaugural parties.

Some of the biggest names in tech and finance will be at the celebrations happening across the city this weekend and next week when the president-elect will be sworn in.

Rhian Lubin has the lowdown.

The president-elect will reportedly be hosting Eric Adams at his Florida lair today, with the Mayor’s Office saying they will discuss ways to move the city and country forward.

However, it should also be noted that Adams is under federal indictment and that Trump has expressed sympathy for him as a fellow sufferer and promised to look into the possibility of issuing a presidential pardon.

Mute Egede appeared on Fox News last night to say that his country’s residents “don’t want to be Americans”, no matter how often Donald Trump Jr jets in to Nuuk to press the flesh.

“We will always be a part of Nato,” Egede told anchor Bret Baier.

“We will always be a strong partner for the US. We are close neighbors. We have been cooperating in the last 80 years, and I think the future has a lot to offer to cooperate with.

“But we want to also be clear. We don’t want to be Americans. We don’t want to be a part of the US, but we want a strong cooperation together with the US.”