Trump completes cabinet nominations as GOP lawmakers defend choices: Live updates

“Kamala is for they/them. Trump is for you,” was the message of a widely aired ad for Donald Trump’ 2024 campaign.

But a resurfaced 2016 clip shows how much the president-elect’s view on transgender rights has shifted in eight years.

Kelly Rissman has the story.

Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order that would remove transgender service members from the military as soon as his first day in office.

The president-elect is reportedly preparing to issue an order following his inauguration on January 20 that would effectively ban trans people serving in the military — and then medically discharge the thousands of currently serving trans service members in the armed forces.

Jerome Adams, who served as surgeon general in the first Trump administration is sounding the alarm about alarming trends in infectious diseases.

He says he hopes the incoming administration has a strong response plan and can ensure vaccine confidence stays high “or they’ll be distracted with outbreaks for 4 years this time instead of 1.”

Senator Lindsey Graham said the US should “crush” the economies of all those who comply with the warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The prime minister of Israel faces arrest if he enters Britain, Downing Street has said. On Friday No 10 refused to explicitly comment on the case, saying it was a hypothetical situation, but added that the UK would follow its legal obligations.

President-elect Donald Trump is planning an executive order that would remove all transgender troops from the US military, according to a report by The Times.

Such an order could be signed as soon as Inauguration Day on January 20, 2025, when the newly sworn-in president returns to the White House.

It is estimated there are approximately 15,000 active service transgender personnel across the branches of the US military.

According to The Times, they would be medically discharged, deeming them unfit to serve. There would also be a ban on trans people joining the armed services — as was the case in the first Trump administration, when already serving trans personnel were permitted to keep their jobs.

“These people will be forced out at a time when the military can’t recruit enough people,” a source familiar with Trump’s plans told the paper. “Only the Marine Corps is hitting its numbers for recruitment and some people who will be affected are in very senior positions.”

Those who fought the trans ban in the first Trump administration have been preparing for a similar move when he takes office again.

“Should a trans ban be implemented from day one of the Trump administration it would undermine the readiness of the military and create an even greater recruitment and retention crisis, not to mention signaling vulnerability to America’s adversaries,” Rachel Branaman, executive director of Modern Military Association of America, an organization that campaigns on behalf of LGBT+ military personnel and veterans, told The Times.

“Abruptly discharging 15,000-plus service members, especially given that the military’s recruiting targets fell short by 41,000 recruits last year, adds administrative burdens to warfighting units, harms unit cohesion, and aggravates critical skill gaps,” she said. “There would be a significant financial cost, as well as a loss of experience and leadership that will take possibly 20 years and billions of dollars to replace.”

With Republicans determined to make her arrival in Congress a spectacle, Sarah McBride is decidedly shutting it down as a “distraction” from their agenda.

America’s first openly transgender member of Congress has been far from the most vocal candidates on the Democratic side after their party sustained losses in the Senate and presidential races, while seeing the balance of power change little in the House.

John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.

Donald Trump said he has “no idea” who’s behind it. His presidential transition chair and the man he picked to be the secretary of commerce said he wouldn’t touch it. “They made themselves nuclear,” he said.

On the campaign trail over the summer, Donald Trump claimed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “misses me,” and that relations between their two countries would improve with a second Trump term.

At a defense expo in Pyongyang this week, the North Korean dictator had a very different message, as Josh Marcus reports.

Firebrand Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is gloating about cuts she could help enable as part of Elon Musk’s government efficiency drive.

MTG told Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures what she has in store for her new subcommittee covering the work of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The subcommittee will operate under the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, headed by Rep James Comer of Kentucky, and will work alongside DOGE, led by Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, ostensibly to cut government waste and spending when Donald Trump becomes president.

Greene promised a “deep dive” into every government department and program, with one recommendation being to have leaders of so-called “sanctuary cities”, whose policies protect immigrants, explain why they deserve federal funding.