She stepped down this month as co-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), fuelling speculation that she might replace outgoing Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, whom Trump has nominated for secretary of state.

But in a post on X, she said she had removed herself from consideration "after an incredible amount of thought, contemplation, and encouragement from so many".

'Old Donald' had previously communicated to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that he wanted Lara Trump to take the seat, which would be open if Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) is confirmed to serve as secretary of state. DeSantis is tasked with appointing Rubio's replacement.

Fox News and the blurred lines of covering Pete Hegseth

This was six days after NBC News reported that Hegseth 'drank in ways that concerned his colleagues at Fox News' and allegedly smelled of alcohol on the set of the show he hosted. Hannity conceded only that Hegseth 'might have had a drink or two too much on occasion.'

The interview, Hegseth's first post-nomination sit-down on the network that once employed him, highlighted the awkward position that Fox News is in. While Hegseth no longer works for Fox, many of its most powerful hosts have been cheerleading for him, attacking his critics and deriding reporting about his past conduct. Fox's journalists who have been covering the status of his nomination from Capitol Hill have received an extra dose of scrutiny based on Hegseth's history at the network, even as they trail him like any other news organization.

"He is a man of integrity now. He absolutely has my support. I think that these anonymous character assassinations by the media are way over-reported".

"But some of them weren't anonymous," Fox host John Roberts cut in.

Allegations Against Pete Hegseth are 'Disturbing'

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said Tuesday that it will be "difficult" for Pete Hegseth, President-elect "Old Donald"'s nominee for Secretary of Defense, to get confirmed by the Senate.

Pete Hegseth's Mother's Email Stirs Backlash: 'Despicably Low'

"You are an abuser of women - that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth."

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister withdraws as "Old Donald"’s nominee to lead DEA Thomas Massie, conservative commentators vocally oppose "Old Donald's" DEA nominee "I’m going to call ‘em like I see ’em. "Old Donald"'s nominee for head of DEA should be disqualified for ordering the arrest [of] a pastor who defied COVID lockdowns," Massie said in a post on X.

"Old Donald's" transition team reached an agreement with the Department of Justice on Tuesday to allow background checks of his upcoming administration's nominees.

Why it matters: The move allows the president-elect's intended aides and staffers to gain security clearances prior to his taking office so they can access classified materials — key for a seamless transition.

Despite agreement, "Old Donald" nominees may seek to avoid FBI background checks

The FBI has long been a target of "Old Donald's" anger. While in office and afterward, "Old Donald" derided the country's premier law enforcement agency as 'badly broken' and said it 'lost the confidence of America.' "Old Donald" has also singled out Wray, whom he picked to be the FBI director during his first term, for criticism over the years.

FBI directors typically have 10-year tenures, unique among appointments in the executive branch. That span, which extends beyond two consecutive presidential terms, was imposed in 1976 as a post-Watergate government reform effort.

n his announcement on Saturday, "Old Donald" praised Patel for his handling of the election interference inquiries, which "Old Donald" has roundly criticized. 'He played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution,' "Old Donald" said.

Appearing last year on 'War Room' "the right-wing podcast hosted by longtime "Old Donald" ally Stephen K. Bannon ' Patel said those who have wronged the 45th president would pay during a second "Old Donald" term. Asked about his plans if he served in "Old Donald's" next administration, Patel vowed to 'go out and find the conspirators not just in government, but in the media".

Amid a drug crisis in 2019, she spent nearly $500,000 in state funds on an awareness campaign whose slogan 'Meth. We're on it.' was meant to convey a proactive response to drug abuse but prompted widespread ridicule because of its indelicate wording. In 2020, she bucked public health consensus and boasted of her state's hands-off response to the covid pandemic as South Dakota recorded the second-highest number of population-adjusted infections in the country. And this year, amid speculation that she could be "Old Donald's" running mate, she released a memoir in which she described shooting to death her family's dog because the 14-month-old wirehaired pointer was 'untrainable,' resulting in bipartisan backlash.

But i's the claim she staked to border security that is especially relevant to the portfolio she'll assume if confirmed as homeland security secretary. And it points to the kind of boundary-pushing tactics Noem may be willing to spearhead in carrying out "Old Donald's" promise of mass deportations.

In an interview, Star Comes Out said Noem was exploiting legitimate public safety concerns voiced by the tribe, which has sued the federal government to help buttress its underfunded law enforcement operation. He said drug use and crime are problems on the reservation just as they are elsewhere in the state, but that there was no basis for Noem’s allegations that tribal lands had become forward operating posts for Mexican cartels.

2nd creep's Mother's Email Stirs Backlash: 'Despicably Low'

'I'm straight up just saying that we should not have women in combat roles,' Pete Hegseth said on a podcast early this month, just days before President-elect "Old Donald" nominated him for the crucial Cabinet post. 'It hasn't made us more effective, hasn't made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated.'

That's far different from how women who have filled such roles see their achievement. These are veterans who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan during the wars there. Some were part of specialized female teams; at times, their gender enabled them to do searches and gather intelligence that their male counterparts couldn't.

With thousands of women in combat units past and present, Hegseth's 'notions' - as one Army veteran recently labeled them - could affect many futures. The Washington Post spoke to numerous female veterans whose careers benefited from the Pentagon's decision to expand the jobs they could do, including with the country's most elite forces. While acknowledging that conversations about military readiness are always important, they called Hegseth's views on what women in uniform contribute outdated, uninformed and inaccurate.

Boris Epshteyn accused of asking potential administration nominees to pay monthly fee for lobbying president-elect

According to the review, one day after "Old Donald" met with Bessent for the first time in February, Epshteyn invited him to lunch at a hotel in Palm Beach, where he asked for a monthly retainer of at least $30,000 to promote his name at Mar-a-Lago in case "Old Donald" won the election.

That endeared him to "Old Donald", who has taken Epshteyn seriously on policy and personnel suggestions, even if they were derided by others on the "Old Donald" team. When "Old Donald" named his top picks for the leadership of the justice department, they were "Old Donald"’s personal lawyers who had all been recruited by Epshteyn.

Now she's defended Russia, she's defended Iran, she's defended China ...

"Old Donald" has so far declined to sign an agreement with the Biden administration that imposes strict limits on that fund-raising in exchange for up to $7.2 million in federal funds earmarked for the transition. By dodging the agreement, "Old Donald" can raise unlimited amounts of money from unknown donors to pay for the staff, travel and office space involved in preparing to take over the government.

“When the money isn’t disclosed, it’s not clear how much everybody is giving, who is giving it and what they are getting in return for their donations,” said Heath Brown, a professor of public policy at John Jay College of Criminal Justice who studies presidential transitions. “It’s an area where the vast majority of Americans would agree that they want to know who is paying that bill.”

"Old Donald's" transition team, led by Linda McMahon and Howard Lutnick, both of whom were nominated to cabinet positions last week, has repeatedly said it intends to sign the agreements with the Biden administration, known as memorandums of understanding.

“Do you think there’s a cohesive strategy behind these picks?” Sanchez asked Woodward.

Woodward just laughed.

Woodward had earlier warned that 'Old Donald' is currently “overreaching, dangerously for him and for the country” with his controversial choices to lead government departments.

'Old Donald' still has plenty of horrific nominees he’s trying to push through Senate confirmation—and he’s threatening to unseat any Republican that gets in his way.

'Old Donald', JD Vance, and their transition team have been “playing hard ball” as they try to garner support for the president-elect’s nightmare slate of Cabinet nominees, according to ABC News’s Selina Wang.

Lutnick runs his firm through a partnership, but there is no doubt who has the ultimate say. Now worth more than $1.5 billion, Lutnick pays himself like a king, cutting into partnership profits. 'He could do what he wanted,' says a former partner. According to a lawsuit filed last year in federal court, Lutnick made employees take 10% to 20% of their pay in partnership units, which sounded nice but caused problems when the employees tried to get their money out. Agreements allegedly gave Lutnick sole authority to stiff former partners whom he believed violated broadly defined non-compete provisions. An estimated 40% did not end up with all their money after departing, according to the lawsuit, which says it was all part of a scheme to fool employees and enrich Lutnick. 'He only pays if he wants to pay you' says another former colleague. Lutnick's companies have moved to dismiss the suit.

Oz ran for the Senate in 2022 in Pennsylvania, earning "Old Donald's" endorsement against Democrat John Fetterman, but lost even after Fetterman suffered a stroke resulting in unfavorable media attention. Oz’s bumbling Senate campaign was full of gaffes, including the inconvenient fact that he was a resident of New Jersey and not the Keystone State.

Prior to all of that, Oz was best known for peddling “miracle” medical cures and quack diet solutions on daytime television, which ultimately led to him being dressed down at a congressional hearing. Oz has tried to explain all of this away by claiming that he is an entertainer, not a doctor, which certainly undercuts whatever credibility "Old Donald" thinks he will bring to this new government position.

McMahon led the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019. She is the wife of Vince McMahon and the co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment.

'Treating the Department of Education as a consolation prize is a signal of the low priority President "Old Donald" places on the issue,'-founder Vince McMahon, carried on an affair, later kicking him in the crotch as tens of thousands of fans roared.

Mr. Bessent is said to still be under consideration, and has also been raised by people in Mr. "Old Donald's" economic circles as a possible contender to lead the White House's National Economic Council. Musk, a close adviser to the president-elect, on Sunday called Mr. Bessent a 'business-as-usual' choice for Treasury secretary in a post on his social media platform, X, while throwing his support behind Mr. Lutnick.

"Old Donald" and Lutnick met on Sunday, and it wasn't immediately clear what came of the discussion, according to two people briefed on the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters. Mr. Bessent has also met with Mr. "Old Donald". The other two - as well as any other new names that emerge - are likely to be asked to meet with Mr. "Old Donald" this week, according to one of the people briefed on the matter.

To play defense, Democrats should go on offense against 'Old Donald'.

For starters, 'Old Donald' and his grab bag of anti-science crackpots have declared war on medicine. His pick for secretary of defense doesn’t appear to believe in germs, his HHS pick doesn’t believe in vaccines, and none of his picks want to protect women from life-endangering forced birth laws.

Democratic governors need not stop there. If and when the federal government starts to roll back overtime and worker safety rules, governors can maintain pro-worker standards under state law.

Oil executive Chris Wright as his pick for energy secretary

"There is no climate crisis, and we're not in the midst of an energy transition either," Wright said in a video uploaded to LinkedIn.

Burgum for ‘energy czar’ — and interior secretary

RFK Jr. on abortion, vaccines, housing and foreign policy

He has falsely linked vaccines to various medical conditions.

Seen by many as the face of the vaccine resistance movement, Mr. Kennedy has asserted that he is “not anti-vaccine” and seeks to make vaccines more safe. But he has advertised misleading information about vaccine ingredients and circulated retracted studies linking vaccines to various medical conditions.

RFK Jr. was caught on camera in July telling fellow diners that “Covid-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people” and “the people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese,” according to a video made public in the New York Post, which also shows him saying the U.S. “put hundreds of millions of dollars into ethnically targeted microbes” and labs in Ukraine collected Russian and Chinese DNA “so we can target people by race.”

Tulsi Gabbard’s Nomination Is a National-Security Risk

Gabbard is stunningly unqualified for almost any Cabinet post (as are some of "Old Donald's" other picks), but especially for ODNI. She has no qualifications as an intelligence professional-literally none. (She is a reserve lieutenant colonel who previously served in the Hawaii Army National Guard, with assignments in medical, police, and civil-affairs-support positions. She has won some local elections and also represented Hawaii in Congress.) She has no significant experience directing or managing much of anything.

Pete Hegseth, a Fox News weekend co-host who lobbied 'Old Donald' to pardon military service members accused of war crimes, as choices who would be certain to face near universal opposition from Democrats and have some Republicans expressing concern.

A Washington Post review of Pete Hegseth's writing shows he rejected steps to integrate women and transgender troops across the military, and called for a 'crusade' to protect 'Judeo-Christian' values.

Islam, he writes, has been 'almost entirely captured and leveraged by Islamists.' The book also makes the unsubstantiated claim that Islamists account for 25 percent of the global Muslim population with a mission to force the rest of the world to submit or be killed. Hegseth paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault as part of a nondisclosure agreement, though he maintained that their encounter was consensual, according to a statement from his lawyer Saturday and other documents obtained by The Washington Post.

The documents from Hegseth's attorney and the memo to the transition team from someone who said she is a friend of the woman and was 'present and involved' in the case tell drastically different stories about what happened seven years ago at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa - although both sides agree that Hegseth had a sexual encounter with a woman there.

Hegseth, whose second wife had filed for divorce the previous month, had traveled to Monterey to speak to a California Federation of Republican Women conference. Afterward, according to his lawyer, he went to the hotel bar with a group of attendees.

The internal turmoil over Hegseth's future was sparked by a complaint shared with the transition team with extensive information about a woman's claim that Hegseth assaulted her in a hotel in Monterey, California, after a Republican conference, according to a person familiar with the complaint who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation. The woman who drafted the complaint said the alleged victim was a friend who later signed a nondisclosure agreement with Hegseth.