Trump named Time’s ‘Person of the Year’ with 39 days to inauguration: Live

Right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson has reacted to the mysterious drones appearing over the Garden State in recent weeks by wondering if they were part of a “fake alien invasion” being staged to “steal Trump’s swagger”.

Here’s Justin Baragona with a much-needed explanation.

Here’s Kelly Rissman with a roundup of the toadying responses from the president-elect’s MAGA cronies to his latest accolade.

Trump ally Steve Bannon is warning that House Republicans would vote in favor of “massive” tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations while also voting to increase defense spending in a strategy doomed to push the nation even deeper into debt.

Bannon, who has long promoted taxing wealthy individuals and corporations, said the leaderhsip of the key committess will vote that way.

“You watch – every one of them wants increased defense,” he told his podcast guest, Texas Republican Representative Chip Roy, on Tuesday.

“They want to get to a trillion dollars as quickly as possible, and they’re [also] going to vote for massive tax cuts for the wealthy, for the billionaires and corporations.”

As soon as its first day in office, the incoming Trump administration is reportedly planning on rescinding a 2011 immigration policy limiting deportation arrests in sensitive locations like schools, churches, and hospitals.

Instead, the administration plans to let Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents make arrests in these locations if they’re related to national security concerns, the arrest of a dangerous felon, or risks of imminent danger or the compromising of a criminal investigation, according to NBC News, which first reported on the alleged plan, citing three anonymous sources familiar with the new administration.

The new brief would also apply to arrests made in other locations like colleges and at events like protests, which could hamper the kind of large-scale pro-immigration protests seen during the first Trump administration.

Here’s more from Josh Marcus.

Here are a few highlights from the president-elect’s interview accompanying his “Person of the Year” gong.

He says he may not be able to wrestle inflation to the floor after all, claims to see no conflict of interest in giving Elon Musk wide-ranging powers over government and hints that he could yet rein in some of RFK Jr’s more, ahem, eccentric ambitions.

Trump also says “there might be” more detention camps built to temporarily house illegal immigrants.

He adds: “Whatever it takes to get them out. I don’t care. Honestly, whatever it takes to get them out.”

On whether or not he has spoken to Vladimir Putin since winning the election on November 5, Trump says: “I can’t tell you. I can’t tell you. It’s just inappropriate.” (Why not?)

He claims the conflict in Gaza is “easier to solve” than Russia-Ukraine but won’t say what he wants to see from Israel.

“What I want is a deal where there’s going to be peace and where the killing stops”, he tells Time, vaguely.

On trans rights, he says he agrees with the incoming member for Delaware, Sarah McBride, that too much time is spent discussing bathroom access: “I do agree with that. On that – absolutely. As I was saying, it’s a small number of people.”

He also praises under-fire Supreme Court justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito (”incredible”) and says any investigations into his enemies will come at the discretion of Pam Bondi, his nominee for attorney general.

Finally, on whether or not he will pardon January 6 convicts, he says: “I’m going to do case-by-case, and if they were non-violent, I think they’ve been greatly punished.

“And the answer is I will be doing that, yeah, I’m going to look if there’s some that really were out of control.”

The president-elect declares the day’s trading open.

The president-elect wrapped up his brief remarks at the exchange by pivoting to the economy, pledging a return to American prosperity and concluding with a sad but probably fictional story about an elderly lady forced to return an apple to the refigerator in a grocery store because she could not afford it, promising this would never happen again in America under his leadership.

The president-elect is on more ingratiating form than he was in the final weeks of the election campaign, offering praise to Melania and to cabinet nominee Lee Zeldin, among others, even offering a kind word to a gentleman from ABC News.

He moves on to reflecting, suddenly, on the “powerful” and “devastating” threat posed by nuclear weapons before pivoting, equally abruptly, to congratulating Emmanuel Macron on the restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral.

The president-elect also joked about possibly holding the record for Time magazine covers, saying he enjoyed most of them but considers the new issue his favorite.

He said his first term was a success “despite a lot of turmoil that was not necessary” and suggested he has since tamed the media.

He further teased Scott Bessant, his nominee as treasury secretary.

The president-elect, flanked by his wife Melania, daughters Ivanka and Tiffany, Vice President-elect JD Vance, RFK Jr and Doug Burgum and others, just arrived on stage at the New York Stock Exchange to discuss his Time win and the economy before declaring the day’s trading open.