It is a tradition that Trump skips in 2020, but it will happen today
The Up First Newsletter: Donald Trump Returns Senate Leadership Contenders Donald Trump’s Justice Department Priorities (Trump’s final message to the world’s largest economies)
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Congress returns this week with a busy agenda. The first item on the list is electing who will lead each chamber. Donald Trump wants to influence these choices and his allies are pushing for his preferences to happen.
One of Trump’s biggest decisions will be selecting the leader of the Justice Department. He criticized the DOJ on the campaign trail. Soon, he will have the opportunity to address his grievances.
President Biden will be meeting with leaders of the world’s largest economies during his travels to Latin America this week. This is likely his last significant opportunity to leave a mark on the global stage, but it comes on the heels of Trump’s victory. Biden is in a tricky position regarding his final message.
Source: Top contenders to lead the Senate. And, Trump’s DOJ priorities
A Conversation with Karla Sofia Gascón in the Light of President Donald Trump’s Oval Office Preliminary Talk with Morning Edition
One of Trump’s signature campaign promises was to “launch the largest deportation program of criminals in the history of America.” The ‘border czar’ is Tom Homan. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was led by Homan during Trump’s first term. Andrew Selee, president of the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute, talks with Morning Edition about what a plan for mass deportation might look like including whether living in a red or blue state matters.
Karla Sofia Gascón plays the title role in the new film Emilia Pérez, the world’s first Mexican cartel musical focusing on a trans woman. The character of Gascn’s is called “Manitas del Monte”, which means “fear and deadly force” in Spanish. But she wants to leave the life of violence behind and become her true self: a woman. She came out of surgery doing good things to correct her wrongs. Morning Edition and Up First host Steve Inskeep spoke with Gascón about what drew her to the role. Listen to what she had to say about the character and more.
Former and future President Donald Trump is set to visit his old office today, the Oval Office. President Biden invited his predecessor and successor for what is a ceremonial tradition meant to signal the desire for a smooth and peaceful transfer of power.
Sitting side by side, Trump called Obama a “very good man,” said it was an honor to meet with him and that he looked forward to being with him “many, many more times in the future.”
Obama said he wanted to facilitate a transition that would set Trump up for success. “I believe that it is important for all of us, regardless of party and regardless of political preferences, to now come together, work together, to deal with the many challenges that we face,” Obama said.
“This was a meeting that was going to last for maybe 10 or 15 minutes, and we were just going to get to know each other,” Trump said. We had never conversed with each other. I have great respect. The meeting lasted over an hour and a half. It could have gone on for a long time.
That’s something Trump immediately ignored when in office. He frequently held court as reporters shouted questions, responding to the ones he felt like answering and sometimes sparring with the journalists.
The Trump-Obama Relationship is Strict: After 2024, the Biden/Trump Debate Could Be a Painful End
If the Trump-Obama relationship was strained, the one between Biden and Trump is even worse. In 2020, Biden won the Democratic nomination for president by arguing that Trump was an imminent threat to U.S. democracy.
Then during the 2024 campaign, their one meeting on a debate stage in late June essentially ended Biden’s bid for a second term. During the remaining months of the campaign Trump often gloated about his knock-out punch in the debate and bemoaned the “coup” that forced Biden out of the race.