Trump talks with Barack Obama, shakes hands with Mike Pence during Carter funeral
Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump shook hands with his former Vice President Mike Pence and spoke extensively with former President Barack Obama during the state funeral for late President Jimmy Carter on Thursday.
All five living U.S. presidents attended Carter’s service at Washington National Cathedral. Carter, the nation’s 39th president, died in late December at the age of 100.
Trump was the first of the presidents to arrive and sit in the second row, joined by his wife Melania Trump.
As he took his seat, Pence stood and the two men shook hands. It was a notable exchange as they have not interacted publicly in four years, after Pence broke with Trump by refusing his demands to unilaterally reject the 2020 election results.
Pence later launched his own campaign for the Republican nomination, though he dropped out before primary voting began. Pence also declined to endorse Trump for president.
Trump was seated next to Obama at the church. Before the program began, they were seen talking to one another and smiling in an extended conversation. Former first lady Michelle Obama was not in attendance.
Also in the second row were former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush, as well as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton.
After they were all seated, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff arrived and took their places in the front row.
Harris, who faced Trump in the 2024 election and lost, did not greet Trump but at one point looked back as Obama and Trump were chatting with one another.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden joined Harris and Emhoff in the front row. Biden will deliver the eulogy for Carter.
Other high-profile figures spotted at Carter’s funeral were former Vice President Al Gore, Biden’s son Hunter Biden and former Vice President Dan Quayle.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Bill Clinton, during an appearance on ABC’s The View on Wednesday, indicated he hopes President Joe Biden will not preemptively pardon people who could be targeted by the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, including Clinton’s wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“If President Biden wanted to talk to me about that, I would talk to him about it. But I don’t think I should be giving public advice on the pardon power. I think it’s too — it’s a very personal thing, but it is — I hope he won’t do that,” Clinton said.
“Most of us get out of this world ahead of where we’d get if all we got was simple justice. And so it’s normally a fool’s errand. You spend a lot of time trying to get even,” he added.
President Biden and his senior aides have been discussing possible preemptive pardons for people who might be targeted by the new Trump administration, according to a source close to the president. Experts have told ABC News he has the power to do so under the Constitution.
Clinton emphasized that he does not believe any potential charges from the incoming Trump administration brought against Hillary Clinton would be valid, arguing that she did not do anything wrong with her handling of emails during her time at the State Department — a controversy which became a flashpoint late in the 2016 election cycle.
Asked separately about his recent comments that a Republican could be more likely to be the first female president, Clinton said, “The impulse to say a woman probably shouldn’t be president comes more from the right than from the left — in the brain — and it’s an impulsive thing.”
He also surmised that voters are not always looking toward how much experience a politician had, because of how they’re focused on day-to-day issues.
“If you’re an alienated voter and you’re genuinely worried about your family’s financial security or your personal security, then the last thing you want is somebody who’s well qualified … if you think the total sum of impact of government action is negative, then you may not want somebody who’s well qualified,” Clinton said.
“And that’s the danger we’re at now, because it actually does matter if you know things.”
Asked about what may happen after Trump’s victory, Clinton emphasized that Trump won fairly.
“So, I think what we have to do is to observe a peaceful transfer of power, stand up for what we believe, and work together when we can,” Clinton said.
“I do not think we should just be jamming them, even though they do that to us a lot. I think it’s a mistake,” he added.
During the 2024 campaign cycle, Bill Clinton campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris, serving as a key surrogate sent to rural areas and to speak with working-class voters.
Asked how Democrats can win back working-class voters who have been shifting to support Republicans, Clinton said that he feels part of the challenge is “cultural,” as rural voters skewer more conservative and are dealing with things they are not used to.
“The world moves on, and things that once made sense to people don’t anymore,” he said. “The world moves on, and things that once made sense to people don’t anymore. Things that should make sense don’t anymore.”
“We need to quit screaming at each other and listen to each other. We need to have a serious conversation about these things. And I think one of the things that Democrats sometimes do is give up on too many people, because the demographics say they’re not going to be for it,” Clinton said.
“Well, that may be, but you know, if you don’t deal with something that’s controversial, just because you don’t want to hear it, that’s like an insult to voters.”
Clinton has devoted time to charitable and health causes since his presidency, and his memoir “Citizen: My Life After the White House” released in November.
“First, it was fun, and secondly, it was important,” Clinton said of his charitable work. “And thirdly, I could do it. And it didn’t matter if the president was Barack Obama or George Bush, we just did things that human beings needed.”
Republican Sen. Mike Rounds emphasized his support for current FBI Director Christopher Wray after President-elect Donald Trump announced he intended to nominate loyalist Kash Patel for the department’s top job.
“I think the president picked a very good man to be the director of the FBI when he did that in his first term,” Rounds told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl about Wray. “When we meet with him behind closed doors, I’ve had no objections to the way that he’s handled himself, and so I don’t have any complaints about the way that he’s done his job right now.”
However, Rounds reiterated the president-elect’s right to select his Cabinet and Trump’s selection of Patel is not surprising.
“It doesn’t surprise me that he will pick people that he believes are very loyal to himself, and that’s been a part of the process,” Rounds said. “Every president wants people that are loyal to themselves.”
In his book “Government Gangsters,” Patel calls for a “comprehensive housecleaning” of the Justice Department and an eradication of “government tyranny” within the FBI, promising to fire and prosecute officials. Patel has also promoted conspiracy theories about the “Deep State” and vehemently defended Jan. 6 rioters.
FBI directors are nominated and confirmed to serve 10-year terms. After being nominated by Trump, Wray’s term began in August 2017. Months earlier, Trump had fired James Comey, who was still less than four years into his tenure as director. Trump did not mention Wray in his Truth Social post announcing Patel for director, but unless Wray resigns the position, Trump will have to fire him to nominate a new leader.
“The president has the right to make nominations, but normally these are for a 10-year term,” Rounds explained. “We’ll see what his process is and whether he actually makes that nomination.”
Rounds reiterated that although the Senate will give Trump the “benefit of the doubt,” it will uphold its “constitutional role.”
“We still go through a process, and that process includes advice and consent, which, for the Senate, means advice or consent sometimes,” Rounds promised.
Turning to the global stage, Rounds — a staunch supporter of the U.S. aiding Ukraine in its war against Russia — called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “tyrant” and suggested that negotiating with him may be futile.
“I think Mr. Putin is a tyrant. I think dealing with him is going to be extremely difficult,” Rounds said, expressing hope for Trump to succeed but recognizing that this would present a challenge for “any president.”
“I want to see Ukraine with its sovereignty protected,” he said. “I just think it’s going to be a major, major task to overcome what Putin is offering” on Ukraine giving up territory to end the war.
He added that you cannot trust “a guy that doesn’t honor their word,” which he says Putin has done.
In regard to Trump’s promise to slap 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico, Rounds said the president-elect is a “successful businessman” who “really does believe that tariffs can be a great tool.”
“He thinks that by suggesting these tariffs right now, he’s going to get the attention of the leaders in the other countries,” Rounds said, adding that Trump believes the tariffs will “fix our borders.”
However, Rounds also recognized the potential impact tariffs could have on his constituents, particularly South Dakota farmers who could be affected by the tariffs.
In 2018, China retaliated against Trump’s tariffs by implementing its own on U.S. soybean exports that hurt U.S. farmers.
“Look, we’re an [agricultural] state. And when I talk to my farmers and to my ranchers about that, they’re concerned about retaliation,” Rounds said, though he added that they understand the importance of tariffs, especially when it comes to the border.
“If we’ve got to have tariffs, so be it,” he said. “We’re going to support the president.”
(NEW YORK) — On the same day that former Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew himself from consideration as President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general, Trump announced that former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is his second choice to fill that role in his administration.
Bondi, 59, has remained in Trump’s inner circle for years and has continued to advise him on legal matters. She was one of the lawyers who defended Trump during his first Senate impeachment trial.
“I have known Pam for many years — She is smart and tough, and is an AMERICA FIRST Fighter, who will do a terrific job as Attorney General!” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
Bondi’s nomination must be confirmed by the Senate. She did not immediately comment on Trump’s announcement.
For more than a decade, Bondi has been a key Trump supporter and has been involved in some controversies — including the “big lie,” pushed by Trump in 2020. She publicly espoused the false claim that he rightfully won the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
In 2013, the Trump Foundation sent a $25,000 donation to Bondi’s fundraising committee for her attorney general reelection campaign.
Around the same time, Bondi’s office had on its desk a lawsuit that probed both Trump himself and Trump University, but it ultimately did not join the suit.
Bondi and Trump both denied allegations that the donation led to her decision to not join the lawsuit, which had been filed by the New York attorney general’s office.
She endorsed Trump for his presidential run and spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention, leading a “lock her up chant” against then-Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.
She also served as a co-chair of Trump’s reelection bid and spoke at the Republican National Convention in 2020.
Bondi was elected attorney general in 2010 and was reelected in 2014. She left the office after reaching her two-term limit in 2019.
A year later, she was selected as part of Trump’s defense team for his first impeachment trial. He was acquitted in the Senate.
Bondi has also been a registered lobbyist since 2019 at Brian Ballard’s firm, Ballard Partners. Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, is also a lobbyist with the firm.
Bondi’s most recent clients include the Florida Sheriffs’ Association, the Florida Sheriffs’ Risk Management Fund and the Major County Sheriffs of America. Her quarterly retainer fees range from $20,000 to $50,000, federal lobbying disclosures show.
She has previously represented investment firms and corporate clients like Amazon, General Motors, the MLB, Fidelity, Uber and the GEO Group, which is a private prison company, according to filings.
In 2019 and 2020, Bondi was engaged in consulting and advocacy services on behalf of the Embassy of the State of Qatar regarding “matters involving anti-human trafficking,” foreign lobbying disclosures filed by Ballard Partners show. Bondi registered as a foreign agent for the government of Qatar as part of her lobbying work.
After his impeachment trial, Bondi remained with Trump’s legal team while he campaigned in 2020 and repeatedly made false claims about voter fraud when he lost to Joe Biden.
Recently, she has been a member of the conservative think tank America First Policy Institute, which was formed by former Trump administration officials. She serves as AFPI’s chair for the Center for Litigation, and co-chair of the Center for Law and Justice, according to the think tank’s website.
Bondi and AFPI attorneys were involved in preemptive election lawsuits in battleground states during this year’s election.
Trump has previously named his other personal attorneys to senior roles in the Department of Justice, including Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and D. John Sauer.
