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Trump Administration Tag

Every year, President Obama filled out a NCAA bracket on ESPN. President Trump will not continue his predecessor's tradition.

President Trump used his press conference to skewer the national press corps Thursday. He lectured the media on their ratings -- suggesting they'd fare better with consumers if they pared back the "hatred" and just presented the news. Trump coached them on the types of questions they should ask, joked about classified information saying they all have copies, and lambasted their love of "fake news." He not so politely reminded members of the media that their national approval rating is collectively lower than Congress's.

Yesterday, President Trump signed three new executive actions: reshuffling the Principals Committee of the National Security Council (NSC), restricting administration officials from lobbying, and calling for a comprehensive plan to defeat ISIS. The first memorandum removes the Director of National Intelligence (Dan Coats has yet to be confirmed, no hearing set) and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs (currently Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford) from and adds Steve Bannon to the NSC Principals Committee.

Democrats are going after Trump's pick for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos because she made financial contributions to FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. FIRE is an outstanding non-partisan organization which defends free speech and due process, among other things, for college students and faculty. Democrats have picked the wrong target. In the words of Professor Jacobson, "That they would try to defame such a great organization to get at her is a sign of how pathetic and dangerous they are."

Several right-leaning non-profit organizations have come together to urge the waning Obama administration to abstain from "midnight litigation". Any litigation instigated by the outgoing administration won't be shelved simply because a new regime takes control. Congress has no authority over such litigiousness either. The Obama administration has made a habit of legislating through bureaucratic agencies, so it's not surprising that these organizations are concerned about spending the next few years pouring valuable resources into battling politically motivated legal complaints.

Trump's Campaign Manager, Kellyanne Conway will join the Trump administration in a new role -- Counselor to the President. Conway turned down an offer to function as Press Secretary but will work closely with that individual who will be announced soon. As counselor to the president, Conway will still have a hand in communications and said that while her role will be similar to that of Valerie Jarret with President Obama and Karen Hughes with President Bush (43), she will not compare herself to any other individual.

Because of course. Tuesday, Kanye West met with president-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower. Trump said there were "just friends" and that they've "known each other a long time." When asked what their meeting entailed, Trump said "life".

Mega gazillionaire, tech innovator, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates sat down for lengthy interview with CNBC Tuesday. The majority of the interview focused on Gates' latest clean energy initiatives -- all privately funded through his private investment fund, stocked with fellow gazillionaire innovators. "I think this administration likes a good deal," said Gates, who explained he and others would feel comfortable approaching the new administration on a variety of issues like energy policy and general regulatory issues.

President-elect Trump sat down with Chris Wallace this morning and discussed a range of topics from the latest on Russia's purported hacking or influence in the election to his decisions on making government more efficient to his choices for his cabinet to trade. Fox News reports:
Trump, meanwhile, told Fox News he wants to make government more efficient, especially when it comes to the EPA.“EPA, you can't get things approved. I mean, people are waiting in line for 15 years before they get rejected, okay? That's why people don't want to invest in this country,” he said. “... So we're going to clean it up. We're going to speed it up and, by the way, if somebody is not doing the right thing we're not going to approve.”

While this has yet to be confirmed by President-elect Trump or his team, NBC News is reporting that CEO Rex Tillerson will be nominated for Secretary of State with John Bolton serving as his second. NBC News reports:
Donald Trump is expected to nominate Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state, two sources close to the transition process told NBC News on Saturday. Tillerson, 64, became president of the Texas-based oil company in 2004 and has a close business relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has spent his entire career at the company now known as Exxon Mobil.

The flood of Wikileaks emails that were released in late October featured several involving Dr. Roger Pielke, Jr., who is on the faculty of the University of Colorado as a professor in the Environmental Studies Program. Pielke is no skeptic of man-made warming; however, he did challenge a cherished climate alarmist talking point that global warming was making extreme weather more severe. The Wikileaks emails made it clear that he was Climate Justice Enemy #1 and was being targeted by an organized campaign to smear his reputation and his ability to advocate for sound science-based policies by ClimateProgress (which is part of the Center for American Progress Action Fund created by John Podesta).