Trump picks Musk to lead new ‘efficiency’ department ahead of White House meeting with Biden: Live

The former and future commander-in-chief will return to Washington DC on Wednesday to meet with Republicans on Capitol Hill and Joe Biden at the White House to discuss a transition schedule as the Senate elects a new majority leader in place of Mitch McConnell, with Rick Scott, John Cornyn and John Thune in contention.

Biden’s team has defended making the invitation to Trump, who did not extend the same courtesy to his successor in late 2020 while he disputed his election defeat on false grounds.

Asked why the president is granting the Republican a grace he was not afforded four years ago, White House press secretart Karine Jean-Pierre replied that it was “easy” to answer the question.

“Because he believes in the norms, he believes in our institutions, he believes in the peaceful transfer of power,” she said.

President-elect Donald Trump has announced that tech billionaire Elon Musk and ex-Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will head a new “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), tasked with cutting the cost of government, stripping away regulations and restructuring federal agencies.

Musk responded to the news by pledging that DOGE “will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in government waste, which is a lot of people”.

Trump compared the office to the Manhattan Project, which developed the world’s first atomic bombs.

Here’s Alex Woodward’s report.

The price of bitcoin hit a new record on Tuesday, marking the third consecutive day that the cryptocurrency has reached an all-time-high.

The new price high above $89,900 forms part of a broader rally that began when Donald Trump emerged as the likely winner of the US presidential election on 6 November.

Positioning himself as a pro-crypto candidate, the president-elect has promised to end what he calls the “persecution” of the crypto industry and to position the United States as the “bitcoin superpower of the world” once in power.

The American political historian had been dubbed the “Nostradamus” of elections because – until last week – he successfully predicted the last nine out of 10 presidential races since 1984. He consistently backed his original prediction that Harris would win in 2024.

Reflecting on the result, Lichtman said he was “sounding the alarm” about Musk.

President-elect Donald Trump plans to restore multiple executive orders from his first term that President Joe Biden rescinded as soon as he takes office, Susie Wiles, the incoming White House chief of staff, told Republican donors at a private event on Monday.

Biden reversed at least 24 Trump administration policies within his first 100 days in office.

While the Trump family name has been long famous in the business and entertainment industry, Donald Trump’s political reputation has made the family more prominent than ever. Some members have expressed they share different views with Donald Trump’s conservative political agenda, yet the family have all shown their encouragement one way or another throughout Trump’s presidential campaign. Donald Trump has a total of five children and ten grandchildren in his immediate family.

With his second presidential term approaching, the public has seen more of the younger generation of family members enter the public arena to support him.

But it came as president-elect Trump indicated that he would be taking the US in the opposite direction with the controversial appointment of Lee Zeldin to lead the US Environment Protection Agency.

President-elect Donald Trump is starting to fill key posts in his second administration, putting an emphasis so far on aides and allies who were his strongest backers during the 2024 campaign.

Here’s a look at who he’s selected so far.