Trump doesn’t place hand on Bible during swearing-in
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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump did not place his hand on the Bible as he took the oath of office during his inauguration on Monday.
First lady Melania Trump stood next to the president holding two Bibles, but the 47th president of the United States didn’t place his hand on either as he raised his right hand to take the presidential oath, which Chief Justice John Roberts issued.
There is no legal requirement for the president to place his hand on the Bible. According to Article VI, Clause 3, of the U.S. Constitution, which covers oaths of office, members of Congress, state legislatures, and executive and judicial officers throughout the country are bound “by oath or affirmation” to support the Constitution.
“But,” it continues, “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
During his first inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017, Trump placed his right hand atop two Bibles held by the first lady as Roberts swore him in as the 45th president.
Trump took the oath of office on Monday immediately after Vice President JD Vance was sworn in by Associate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. As Vance took the oath of office, he placed his right hand on a Bible that was held by his wife, Usha Vance, as she also held one of their three children.
During his presidential campaign, Trump endorsed the “God Bless the USA Bible” that, according to its website, was “inspired by” country singer Lee Greenwood’s patriotic ballad.
“Happy Holy Week! Let’s Make America Pray Again. As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless the USA Bible,” Trump wrote at the time, directing his supporters to a website selling the Bibles for $59.99.
During his inauguration speech on Monday, Trump spoke of God protecting his life when he was shot in the ear in an assassination attempt at a July 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“Just a few months ago, in that beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin’s bullet ripped through my ear,” Trump said. “But I felt then, and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.”
(PALM BEACH, Fla.) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Florida at Mar-a-Lago and is expected to meet with President-elect Donald Trump tonight, according to multiple sources.
The expected meeting comes after Trump threatened sweeping 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada until both countries stop what he claims is a flow of drugs and illegal immigrants into the United States.
Trudeau told reporters earlier this week after he and Trump spoke on the phone following the tariff threat that they had a “good call.” He added that he looks forward to “lots of great conversations” with Trump.
The prime minister has cited the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or UMSCA, negotiations as a sign he believes he can work with Trump on trade and avoid a trade war.
USMCA went into effect in 2020 after it was signed by Trump and was designed to provide mostly duty-free trade among the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Trump’s tariff threats could put that deal in jeopardy.
The terms of USMCA allowed it to be renegotiated after six years, in 2026, but experts have told ABC News that the tariff threat may be an effort to move up that negotiation window.
However, some experts told ABC News’ Selina Wang and Karen Travers that the threat is not likely to work in a second Trump term because it is “the same playbook done the second time around. If you’re on the football field and you call the same play twice, it’s not going to be as effective the second time.”
The tariffs also could significantly raise prices for goods after Trump ran his campaign on lowering too-high inflation.
Trudeau spoke with Trump on Monday, Nov. 25, after Trump had announced the day-one tariffs on Canada and Mexico, as well as on China, the U.S.’s top three trading partners.
“We talked about some of the challenges that we can work on together,” he told reporters of the call. “This is a relationship that we know takes a certain amount of working on, and that’s what we’ll do.”
Trudeau’s plane landed at Palm Beach International Airport on Friday ahead of an expected dinner at Mar-a-Lago with the president-elect, according to reports.
(WASHINGTON) — Many of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees to serve in top Cabinet and senior advisory roles are slated to appear on Capitol Hill this week for hearings before Senate committees, a key test for many of them.
The marathon of nomination hearings will color the week leading up to Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. Republicans hope that by holding these hearings now, many of the nominees will be ready for consideration on the Senate floor shortly after Trump is sworn into office.
In total, 14 of Trump’s nominees will appear before their respective Senate panels before the week is out. More hearings will come in the following weeks.
There’s expected to be no shortage of fireworks as some of the top nominees face a grilling before their panels, but for some nominees the hearings are largely perfunctory.
Sen. Marco Rubio, Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of State, for example, is expected to fly through his hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday.
Rubio’s experience in the Senate serving as the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee, which deals closely with a number of classified issues, gives him the bona fides to make even some Democrats comfortable supporting his nomination.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., Rubio’s Democratic counterpart on the committee, applauded the Florida senator’s nomination in a statement calling him a “strong voice for American interests around the globe.” Rubio’s expected to pick up the support of a number of Senate Democrats including Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida over the weekend.
Fetterman is expected to be a Democratic ally for a number of other nominees as well. He’s expressed support for GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump’s nominee to serve as United Nations ambassador, and Sean Duffy, Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Transportation. Both of these nomination hearings are also expected to pass with little fanfare this week.
But for other nominees who have not been as warmly received on Capitol Hill, these hearings will be a major test.
During these public panels, nominees will take a public grilling from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including Democrats who have made clear they have no intention to go easy on nominees whose records they feel are lacking.
According to a source familiar with the discussion, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told Senate Democrats behind closed doors last week that confirmation hearings are a good opportunity to hold Trump nominees’ feet to the fire and hold them accountable for Trump’s agenda.
In floor remarks, Schumer has called for a “robust” vetting process of the nominees.
That’s why some Senate Republicans have been especially involved in getting Trump’s nominees ready for the gauntlet, holding practice hearings to help them prepare.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., has been part of mock hearings, which include everything from microphones to name tags, those familiar with the preparations told ABC News. Republican senators have stressed these hearings could be make or break — others have told nominees to watch video clips of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s high-stakes hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee for an idea of what could be ahead.
Trump’s nominees will benefit from having a Republican majority that is eager to quickly install his team. Still, with Republicans controlling 53 seats in the Senate, some of the more embattled nominees who will not receive any Democratic support can only afford to lose the support of three Republicans.
In a closed-door meeting with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill last week, Trump urged his conference to stay united behind each of his nominees.
“He asked for strong unity and support to get his team through, and to get them through as soon as possible so they can get to work,” Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said leaving the Wednesday meeting.
Two sources in the room told ABC News that Trump made a special appeal for Pete Hegseth, his nominee to serve as the secretary of defense.
Ahead of his scheduled Tuesday hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Hegseth has been taking part in these practice hearings, ABC News is told.
Hegseth’s hearing will likely be one of the most closely watched of the week.
The former “Fox & Friends” anchor has faced scrutiny from lawmakers over his lack of experience and following reports of both financial and sexual misconduct. Hegseth has denied all of these allegations, but it has created some uncertainty about whether he will get the 50 votes he needs to be confirmed.
That makes Tuesday a make or break moment for him. He’ll face a number of tough lines of questioning from Democrats.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., who serves on the Armed Services Committee, told ABC News she’ll focus her questioning on underscoring Hegseth’s lack of qualifications for the role.
Duckworth, a combat veteran, said she’ll focus on “whether or not he is qualified to do the job, whether or not he has the experience to do the job.”
“From everything that I’ve looked at so far he has never managed more than 40 personnel. I don’t know what the largest budget that he has ever successfully managed,” Duckworth said.
Other nominees to watch this week include Pam Bondi, who Trump nominated to be attorney general. Bondi will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Though she is ultimately expected to be confirmed, Bondi will no doubt face scrutiny from Democrats. So too will Kristi Noem, the nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security, who comes before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday.
Notably, there are a number of high profile nominees whose hearings have not yet been noticed, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who Trump nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, and Tulsi Gabbard, who Trump wants as his spy chief.
For some of these nominees, confirmation hearings are apparently being stalled due to issues with receiving some of the necessary documents.
Sen. John Barrasso, the Republican whip, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that Gabbard’s nomination was being held up by a “paperwork problem” with the Office of Government Ethics.
“We had hoped to have the hearing later this week. It looks like it’s going to be the following week,” Barrasso said.
(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump’s picks for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, are continuing to try to shore up support with senators ahead of confirmation hearings next month.
Gabbard will meet with incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., on Thursday. She is also expected to meet with GOP Sen. Bill Hagerty, a member of the Senate Judiciary and Foreign Relations Committees.
This is Gabbard’s first week making the rounds on Capitol Hill since being tapped by Trump to oversee a sprawling network of 18 agencies in his new administration, despite her inexperience in the intelligence field.
A former Democratic congresswoman and member of the National Guard, Gabbard has face scrutiny for 2017 meetings with Syria’s authoritarian leader Bashar Assad (whose regime was toppled this week) and for controversial views on Russia.
Trump remarked on Gabbard, and his other Cabinet picks, during his interview with Time for the magazine’s “Person of the Year” honor. The interview was conducted on Nov. 25.
Trump said he was surprised by the criticism of Gabbard.
“I mean, I think she’s a great American,” he said. “I think she’s a person with tremendous common sense. I’ve watched her for years, and she has nothing to do with Russia. This is another, you know, a mini Russia, Russia, Russia scam.”
When asked if he’d rethink her possible appointment if foreign allies began withholding intelligence, Trump said, “I think probably, if that’s what’s happening. No, I don’t see it. Certainly, if something can be shown to me.”
Hegseth, another embattled Trump pick, is also back on Thursday to meet with senators, including Kentucky Republican Rand Paul. Notably, he’s also expected to meet with Democrat Sen. John Fetterman, the first to meet with him.
Hegseth’s faced pushback amid allegations of sexual impropriety, public drunkenness and other misconduct — which he’s largely denied. But this week, it appeared he was gaining some Republican support.
Trump’s doubled down on support for Hegseth, and pressure from his MAGA allies on potential GOP skeptics has shown early signs of paying off.
Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, was also spotted back in the Senate hallways on Thursday.
Trump, in the Time interview, was pressed on if he was still considering recess appointments to install his Cabinet picks. Recess appointments would bypass the Senate’s constitutionally-mandated “advice and consent” role regarding Cabinet officials. Trump made a demand that whoever leads the Senate Republican Conference in the new Congress be open to them.
“I really don’t care how they get them approved, as long as they get them approved,” Trump said.
“But I think I have a very good relationship with Senator Thune and the others, all of them. I think almost, almost everybody, many of them I was very instrumental in getting, if not this season, last season, the season before that, I would say more than half,” Trump added.
So far, one of Trump’s pick faced insurmountable opposition.
Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, also accused of sexual misconduct, was Trump’s first pick for attorney general. Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration as opposition mounted to his selection.
Trump was asked by Time what he’d do if the Senate balked at any more of his choices.
“Well, I don’t think they will,” he said. He said he told Gaetz, “You know, Matt, I don’t think this is worth the fight.”
