Closing summary
This live coverage is ending now, thanks for following along. Here is a summary of the key recent developments:
Funeral services for Jimmy Carter continued today with a service at the US Capitol Rotunda, where Senate majority leader John Thune, House speaker Mike Johnson and vice-president Kamala Harris delivered eulogies. In her speech, Harris touched on the late Democratic president’s progressive accomplishments as Republicans prepare to take over the statehouse in under two weeks.
At a press conference convened at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Donald Trump signaled that he was serious about the United States gaining control over Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada. He refused to rule out using military force to put Washington in charge of the two former areas, but said “economic force” could be used to merge with the US’s northern neighbor. He also proposed renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America”. In response, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said there’s not “a snowball’s chance in hell” of Canada merging with the US and Greenland’s prime minister Múte B Egede said “Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland.”
Trump-appointed federal judge Aileen Cannon has temporarily prevented the release of justice department special counsel Jack Smith’s report into his two failed attempts to bring Trump to trial on charges related to trying to overturn the 2020 election and hiding classified material. The president-elect called her decision “great news”.
A New York appeals court judge denied Donald Trump’s request to delay this week’s sentencing in his hush-money case.
Meta ended fact-checking on Facebook, which the company’s leaders acknowledged was a reaction to Trump’s return to power.
Enrique Tarrio, a leader of the Proud Boys militia group who is serving a 22-year sentence after being convicted of seditious conspiracy, asked Trump for a pardon.
The Republican-led House has passed its first bill of the new Congress that would require the Department of Homeland Security to take into custody undocumented people charged with certain crimes.
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With Donald Trump’s son visiting Greenland today, sparking renewed attention on the president-elect’s past comments that he would like to acquire the Danish-governed island for the United States, the prime minister of Greenland has released a statement rejecting Trump’s advances.
“Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland,” prime minister Múte B Egede said. “Our future and fight for independence is our business.”
At a press conference at Mar-a-Lago earlier today, Trump said, “We need Greenland for national security purposes.”
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Kamala Harris eulogizes late president Jimmy Carter
Kamala Harris eulogized late president Jimmy Carter at a service in the US Capitol Rotunda this afternoon, in a speech that touched on the Democratic president’s progressive accomplishments as Republicans prepare to take over the statehouse in under two weeks. Alongside praising the work Carter did after his presidency, the vice-president also noted the policies Carter championed during his time in the Oval Office – including establishing national parks, instituting full diplomatic relations with China and securing the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt.
“I vividly recall how my mother admired him, how much she admired his strength of character, his honesty, his integrity, his work ethic and determination, his intelligence and his generosity of spirit,” Harris said, adding that she was in middle school when Carter was elected.
“Jimmy Carter was a forward-looking president with a vision for the future,” she later added, noting Carter’s work to establish the Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Education.
“Throughout his life and career, Jimmy Carter retained a fundamental decency and humility,” Harris said. “He lived his faith, he served the people and he left the world better than he found it.”
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House speaker Mike Johnson has eulogized late president Jimmy Carter, praising Carter’s patriotism, thrift and military service. Johnson also reflected on Carter’s work with Habitat for Humanity and against infectious diseases, emphasizing the role of Carter’s faith in his humanitarian work.
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In his eulogy for late president Jimmy Carter, Senate majority leader John Thune praised the legacy Carter left after his presidency, including his work at the Carter Center and with Habitat for Humanity.
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The US Capitol funeral service for late president Jimmy Carter has begun with an invocation from Chaplain of the US Senate Barry C Black. Senate majority leader John Thune, House speaker Mike Johnson and vice-president Kamala Harris will share eulogies next.
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Jimmy Carter’s casket has arrived at the US Capitol following a funeral procession designed to mirror the former president’s inaugural parade, where Carter and his family walked from the Capitol to the White House on 20 January 1977. Carter’s grandchildren served as honorary pallbearers and the United States army band Pershing’s Own performed as a horse-drawn caisson transported the flag-draped casket along Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues.
Military body bearers will shortly carry Carter’s casket into the Capitol Rotunda, where members of Congress, foreign dignitaries, supreme court justices and others have begun gathering to pay their respects. Senate majority leader John Thune, House speaker Mike Johnson and vice-president Kamala Harris will deliver eulogies during the service. The Carter family has invited the public to pay their respects from 6 pm to midnight.
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Jimmy Carter's casket arrives at Capitol
The horse-drawn caisson carrying Jimmy Carter’s casket has arrived at the US Capitol, where the former president will lie in state until Thursday. Kamala Harris is expected to deliver a eulogy to the former Democratic leader shortly.
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Senate Democrats are pushing back against at least two of Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees in advance of their confirmation hearings, the Washington Post reports.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick for director of national intellgience, Senator Mark R Warner told reporters that he had more questions after speaking with Gabbard than before. He added that he would not agree to a confirmation hearing until Gabbard’s FBI background check and other paperwork had been submitted.
“Listen, these are important positions. The independence of the intelligence community, the ability to share information with our allies. I had a meeting with Ms. Gabbard today. I asked a number of questions. I got more questions,” Warner said. “I take great pride on this intel committee that’s been bipartisan. We do it the same way … no matter which team’s in the majority, and everyone will get a fair hearing.”
Meanwhile, in a 33-page letter, Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren asked Fox News host Pete Hegseth, who Trump has tapped to lead the Department of Defense, to answer more than 70 questions ahead of his confirmation hearing, including regarding allegations of heavy drinking, sexual misconduct and mismanagement of veterans’ organizations he oversaw.
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Spectators have gathered in Washington DC to witness former President Jimmy Carter’s State Funeral Procession. Carter’s flag-draped casket was transferred from the US Navy Memorial before traveling to the US Capitol, where Carter will lie in state until Thursday.
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Trudeau says not 'a snowball’s chance in hell' of Canada merging with the United States
Canada’s outgoing prime minister Justin Trudeau strongly rejected the idea of his country joining the United States, after Donald Trump said he would use “economic force” to merge the two nations during a press conference today.
Writing on X, Trudeau said:
There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States.
Workers and communities in both our countries benefit from being each other’s biggest trading and security partner.
Here’s more on the brewing spat between the two nations:
Jimmy Carter’s casket is on its way to the US Capitol, where it will lie in state until Thursday, when a funeral is scheduled at the National Cathedral in Washington DC.
Kamala Harris is scheduled to this afternoon at 4.30pm eulogize the former president at the Capitol.
Meta’s decision to end fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram marks a new, more partisan era for the social media titan, the Guardian’s Blake Montgomery writes in an analysis:
Meta is shifting to the right, following the prevailing political winds blowing through the United States. A more partisan era now looms for the social media giant and its corporate leaders, though Mark Zuckerberg himself has few personal politics other than ambition.
On Tuesday morning, Meta disbanded Facebook and Instagram’s third-party factchecking program. The company will also recommend more political content across its social networks.
CEO Zuckerberg announced the changes as he attempts to curry favor with Donald Trump’s incoming administration, demonstrating just how far he will go to win the president-elect’s approval.
“Recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards once again prioritizing speech,” he said in a video posted on Instagram. “Factcheckers have just been too politically biased.”
Read the full analysis here:
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Amazon is shelling out $40m to license a documentary about Melania Trump, plus follow-up episodes in a series about the incoming first lady, Puck reports.
The documentary is directed by Brett Ratner, who is known for the Rush Hour and X-Men movie series but hasn’t had a major release since sexual assault allegations were made against him in 2017.
Here’s more on the deal, from Puck:
But I’ve also learned that Amazon is paying a cool $40 million to license the film, per three sources familiar with the deal. That price includes the Ratner documentary, which will get a small theatrical release and then appear on Prime Video, plus a previously undisclosed two-to-three-episode follow-up docuseries on the first lady. Melania will participate in both projects. (Amazon declined to comment.)
That’s quite a payday for Mrs. Trump, who is serving as an executive producer alongside Argentine producer Fernando Sulichin, who has worked with Oliver Stone on several projects, including Stone’s The Putin Interviews, which featured several sit-downs with Vladimir Putin. Music stars and big public figures can often generate eight-figure fees for participatory documentaries. And indeed, I’m told both Disney and Paramount bid for streaming rights to the Melania project. But Amazon outbid them both (neither Netflix nor Apple bid), and is paying the outsize fee for a limited license, not ownership. It’s unclear how much the first lady is personally being paid to participate and “produce” this project while her husband is in office, but I’m betting it’s a big chunk of that $40 million.
Read the full story here:
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Meta’s decision to end factchecking on Facebook comes as it adds a close associate of Donald Trump to its board of directors. Here’s more, from the Associated Press:
Meta has appointed three new members to its board of directors, including Dana White, the president and CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and a familiar figure in the orbit of the incoming president, Donald Trump.
The social media company, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is also adding the auto tycoon John Elkann and the tech investor Charlie Songhurst, Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, said in a Facebook post late on Monday.
Tapping White to join the board is Zuckerberg’s latest maneuver to improve ties with Trump, who was once banned from Facebook. After Trump won re-election in November, Zuckerberg dined at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, gifting him a pair of Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses, and Meta donated $1m to Trump’s inauguration fund. Other big tech companies such as Amazon have donated similar amounts. Meta has also promoted its most prominent conservative, Joel Kaplan, to the company’s top policy job in another move meant to strengthen connections to conservatives.
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The Senate foreign relations committee has scheduled a meeting for next Wednesday to consider Florida senator Marco Rubio, whom Donald Trump has tapped to be his secretary of state, the Washington Post is reporting.
A hearing for New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik, Trump’s pick for US ambassador to the UN, is scheduled for the following day, according to CNN.
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New York appeals court denies Trump bid to delay hush-money sentencing
A New York appeals court judge has denied Donald Trump’s request to delay this week’s sentencing in his hush money case.
In a one-sentence ruling following an emergency hearing, Judge Ellen Gesmer denied Trump’s request for an immediate order that would spare him from being sentenced while he appeals Judge Juan Merchan’s decision last week to uphold the historic verdict, the Associated Press reported.
It was the second time in two days that Trump was denied.
In his ruling on Monday, Merchan rejected a request from Trump’s lawyers to delay the sentencing while they appealed two of the judge’s previous rulings upholding the Manhattan jury’s May guilty verdict on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
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The Republican-led House has passed its first bill of the new Congress that would require the Department of Homeland Security to take into custody undocumented immigrants charged with certain crimes.
The Laken Riley Act, named after the 22-year-old nursing student who was murdered last year by an undocumented immigrant, passed by a 264-159 vote with 48 Democrats joining all Republicans in support.
The bill would require US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain undocumented migrants charged with theft, burglary or shoplifting.
“As promised, we’re starting today with border security,” the House speaker, Mike Johnson, said ahead of the vote.
The Senate is likely expected to take up the bill for the first time on Friday, Politico reported.
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Key lines from Trump's Mar-a-Lago press conference
“Not going to commit” to ruling out using military force to seize control of the Panama Canal and Greenland
“I’m not going to commit to that,” Trump replied, when asked if he would rule out “military or economic coercion” to put the US in charge of the Panama Canal and Greenland.
“It might be that you’ll have to do something. The Panama Canal is vital to our country”, he said.
“We need Greenland for national security purposes,” he added.
Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a longtime US ally and a founding Nato member. Panama’s president, José Raúl Mulino, has previously rejected the notion of turning the canal back to the US, which had owned it before handing over control to Panama in 1999.
Using “economic force” against Canada
Trump, asked if he would also use the military against Canada, which he has also previously suggested the US acquiring, replied: “No, economic force.”
Renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America”
Trump said he would move to try to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America”, which he was a “beautiful name”.
“It covers a lot of territory,” he said. “‘The Gulf of America.’ What a beautiful name.”
Typically, the US Board on Geographic Names (BGN) sets geographic names and states that name changes must have a “compelling” reason. In the past, presidents have used executive orders to rename geographic features.
Reversing Biden’s offshore energy drilling ban
Trump vowed to immediately undo recent action by Joe Biden to ban offshore energy drilling in most federal waters.
Biden’s ban encompasses the entire Atlantic coast and eastern Gulf of Mexico, as well as the Pacific coast off California, Oregon and Washington, and a section of the Bering Sea off Alaska.
“I’m going to put it back on day one,” Trump said. He added: “We will drill, baby, drill. We’re going to be drilling in a lot of other locations, and the energy costs are going to come way down.”
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The day so far
At a press conference convened at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Donald Trump signaled that he was serious about the United States gaining control over Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada. He refused to rule out using military force to put Washington in charge of the two former areas, but said “economic force” could be used to merge with America’s northern neighbor. He also proposed renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America”. Meanwhile, Trump-appointed federal judge Aileen Cannon has temporarily prevented the release of justice department special counsel Jack Smith’s report into his two failed attempts to bring Trump to trial on charges related to trying to overturn the 2020 election and hiding classified material. The president-elect called her decision “great news”.
Here’s what else has happened today so far:
Donald Trump Jr arrived in Nuuk, Greenland, in what Danish officials said was a personal visit.
Meta ended factchecking on Facebook, which the company’s leaders acknowledged was a reaction to Trump’s return to power.
Enrique Tarrio, a leader of the Proud Boys militia group who is serving a 22-year sentence after being convicted of seditious conspiracy, asked Trump for a pardon.
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Trump says 'economic force' could be used to unite Canada, United States
Shortly before his press conference concluded, Donald Trump appeared to rule out using military force to merge Canada into the United States, instead saying he would use “economic force”.
“Canada and the United States, that would really be something. You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for national security,” Trump said.
He also made his usual accusation that the US ally was benefiting from its largesse:
Don’t forget, we basically protect Canada. But here’s the problem with Canada. So many friends up there, I love the Canadian people. They’re great, but we’re spending hundreds of billions a year to protect it. We’re spending hundreds of billions a year to take care of Canada. We lose in trade deficits.
Trump says Meta 'probably' ended factchecking because of his threats
Donald Trump has in the past threatened Meta and other major tech firms who factchecked his statements. Asked at his press conference if he believed that Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg’s decision today to end factchecking on Facebook was related to his warnings, the president-elect replied: “Probably”.
“I think they’ve come a long way, Meta, Facebook. I think they’ve come a long way,” Trump added.
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Trump welcomes blocking of release of special counsel's report as 'great news'
At his ongoing press conference, Donald Trump was asked about federal judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to temporary block the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report on his cases against the president-elect.
Trump gave a rambling response that included several falsehoods about the now-dismissed cases, before saying:
So, what you’re saying is … I’m just hearing that, that they’re not allowed to issue the report. So, if they’re not allowed to issue the report, that’s the way it should be, because he was thrown off the case in disgrace. Why should he be allowed to write a fake report? It’ll only be a fake report. That’s great news.
Smith dismissed his two cases against Trump after he won re-election. Prior to the election, Cannon had dismissed Trump’s indictment on charges related to allegedly hiding classified documents, and Smith was appealing that decision.
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Judge temporarily blocks special counsel from releasing report into Trump prosecutions
A federal judge has temporarily stopped special counsel Jack Smith from releasing his report into the two indictments he brought against Donald Trump, Reuters reports.
The decision was handed down by Aileen Cannon, the Trump-appointed federal judge in Florida who presided over his case for allegedly hiding classified documents, and ultimately ordered the indictment dismissed. Here’s more on Cannon’s latest decision, from Reuters:
U.S. District Aileen Cannon, who presided over the now-dismissed case accusing Trump of illegally holding onto classified documents, directed the Justice Department not to release the report until a federal appeals court rules on a request from Trump’s two former co-defendants in the case.
Lawyers for the co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, who were charged with obstructing the documents investigation, moved late Monday to block release of the report.
Nauta and De Oliveira argued the report would improperly interfere in their case, which remains ongoing.
Smith led both the classified documents case against Trump and a second prosecution accusing Trump of attempting to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election. Both cases have since been dropped.
Trump then elaborated on why he wants the United States to take control of Greenland, an autonomous territory that is administered by Denmark.
“We need Greenland for national security purposes. I’ve been told that for a long time, long before I even ran. I mean, people have been talking about it for a long time,” Trump said.
“You have approximately 45,000 people there. People really don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right to it, but if they do, they should give it up, because we need it for national security. That’s for the free world. I’m talking about protecting the free world.”
Claiming there were “China ships all over the place … Russian ships all over the place,” he seemed to threaten Denmark with “very high level” tariffs if they do not comply.
Trump declines to rule out using military force to control Greenland, Panama Canal
Donald Trump refused to say that he would not use military or economic measures to bring the Panama Canal and the island of Greenland under US control.
“No, I can’t assure you on either of those two,” Trump responded, when a reporter at his Mar-a-Lago press conference asked if he would rule out “military or economic coercion” to put the US in charge of the two areas.
“But, I can say this, we need them for economic security. The Panama Canal was built for our military. I’m not going to commit to that now … it might be that you’ll have to do something,” Trump continued. He added:
The Panama Canal is vital to our country. It’s being operated by China, China, and we gave the Panama Canal to Panama. We didn’t give it to China, and they’ve abused it.
Constructed by the United States, the Panama Canal was handed over to the Central American country in 1999. Its president has refused negotiating with Trump over its control:
Trump says Gulf of Mexico should be renamed to 'Gulf of America'
Continuing his expansionist streak, Donald Trump said the Gulf of Mexico should instead be called the “Gulf of America”.
“We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring that covers a lot of territory,” the president-elect said at his ongoing press conference in Mar-a-Lago. “What a beautiful name. And it’s appropriate.”
He did not outline how he would make the renaming happen, but quickly pivoted to blaming Mexico for undocumented immigration, and threatening tariffs on both of America’s continental neighbors:
Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country. They can stop them. And we’re going to put very serious tariffs on Mexico and Canada, because Canada, they come through Canada too, and the drugs that are coming through are at record numbers, record numbers. So we’re going to make up for that by putting tariffs on Mexico and Canada, substantial tariffs.
Trump pledges to immediately reverse Biden's ban in new offshore drilling
Donald Trump has promised to immediately undo Joe Biden’s decision earlier this week to ban new oil and gas drilling off most US coastal waters.
“President Biden’s actions yesterday on offshore drilling, banning offshore drilling, will not stand. I will reverse it immediately. It will be done immediately, and we will drill, baby, drill,” the president-elect said at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. “We’re going to be drilling in a lot of other locations, and the energy costs are going to come way down.”
The outgoing president cast his decision to stop new drilling as necessary to combat the climate crisis, and imposed the ban in a way that may be difficult for Trump to quickly reverse. Here’s more on Biden’s decision, from the Guardian’s Oliver Milman:
What is to be made of Donald Trump talking about bringing Greenland, Canada and other foreign lands into the United States? The Guardian’s David Smith tries to figure out the answer:
“Merry Christmas,” Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Christmas Day with a photo of himself and his wife, Melania. So far, so traditional. But the US president-elect was just getting started.
In another post, Trump wished merry Christmas to all “including to the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama canal”. He poked fun at the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, and claimed the US could annex Canada as its 51st state. For good measure, he addressed “the people of Greenland, which is needed by the United States for National Security purposes and, who want the US to be there, and we will!”
It was the type of diatribe that, if delivered by a drunk uncle at the Christmas dinner table, might be laughed off or undercut by “Anyone for dessert?” But Trump, 78, is less than a month away from accessing the nuclear codes and commanding the strongest military in the world. No one is quite sure whether to take him literally or seriously – or both.
Notoriously mercurial and whimsical, this is the man who, it was once said, does not play three-dimensional chess but more often than not is just eating the pieces. There are also suspicions that Trump is looking for leverage as part of the “art of the deal” – and that the former reality TV star is grabbing headlines to look strong at home and abroad.
Donald Trump Jr arrives in Greenland after father mulls buying Danish-governed island
Donald Trump Jr is in Greenland, the Danish-governed Arctic territory that Donald Trump has mused about incorporating into the United States.
Photographers have captured the president-elect’s eldest son on a snowy tarmac in Nuuk, the largest city on the island that is an autonomous part of Denmark.
The Associated Press reports that Trump Jr is making a personal visit to the island, which Denmark has shown no interest in turning over to the United States. Here’s more:
The Danish state broadcaster reported that Donald Trump Jr’s plane landed in Nuuk, capital of the vast and icy Arctic territory that has some 57,000 residents. Local media broadcast footage of him walking across a snowy tarmac.
In a statement, Greenland’s government said Trump Jr’s visit would take place “as a private individual” and not as an official visit and that Greenlandic representatives would not meet with him. Greenland is an autonomous territory that’s part of Denmark.
Trump Jr is in Greenland for a day trip to shoot video content for podcasting, according to a person familiar with the plans who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Mininguaq Kleist, permanent secretary for the Greenland foreign affairs department, told The Associated Press that authorities were informed that Trump Jr would stay for about four to five hours.
Neither Trump Jr’s delegation nor Greenlandic government officials had requested a meeting, Kleist said.
The visit nonetheless had political overtones. The president-elect recently voiced a desire – also expressed during his first presidency – to acquire the territory in the Arctic, an area of strategic importance for the US, China, Russia and others.
The world’s largest island, Greenland sits between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans and is 80% covered by an ice sheet.
On Truth Social, the president-elect posted footage of his son’s plane landing, and wrote:
Don Jr. and my Reps landing in Greenland. The reception has been great. They, and the Free World, need safety, security, strength, and PEACE! This is a deal that must happen. MAGA. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!
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Former US government disinformation fighter accuses Zuckerberg of 'bending the knee' to Trump as Meta ends factchecking
Nina Jankowicz, a former homeland security official tasked with fighting disinformation, said Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to end factchecking on his platforms was a “bending of the knee” to Donald Trump.
“Let’s be clear – the factcheckers have not ‘been’ politically biased as Zuckerberg suggests, but have been *perceived as such* because of politically motivated efforts to smear them, one that Zuck is now participating in and capitulating to,” said Jankowicz, who know leads the American Sunlight Project, an anti-disinformation group.
“Zuck’s announcement is a full bending of the knee to Trump and an attempt to catch up to Musk in his race to the bottom. The implications are going to be widespread. Factchecking was not a panacea to disinformation on Facebook but it was an important part of moderation. Bumpers are fully off the lane now. Fact checks don’t suppress speech, fact checks are actually more speech.”
She also noted that the end of factchecking has implications for news outlets worldwide, as several had deals with Meta to assess content on its platforms:
Facebook has already contributed to the demise of journalism and this will be the final nail in the coffin; newsrooms – especially outside the US where subscription models are difficult sells – get grants from Facebook to provide factchecks. That money allows them to do other journalism!
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In his TechScape newsletter that came out this morning, the Guardian’s Blake Montgomery reflected on how the departure from Meta of former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg was a sign that a big shift was in the offing at the global social media network. Here’s more from his newsletter, which you can sign up for here:
Nick Clegg, the former deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom, is now the former head of global affairs at Meta. He announced his resignation on Thursday after six years at the tech giant. He spent two years in the company’s top policy job.
In the announcement of his departure, Clegg wrote: “It truly has been an adventure of a lifetime! … I hope I have played some role in seeking to bridge the very different worlds of tech and politics.” He sold almost $19m worth of Meta shares during his time at the company, and he holds about $21m more. He may return to British politics, as the party he once led, the Liberal Democrats, won a record number of seats at the general election last year.
You can see in Clegg’s book titles how he was a politician of a less polarized era: Politics: Between the Extremes (and How to Stop Brexit (And Make Britain Great Again). He made neither of his two shots on goal with these books: we live in extreme times, and Brexit was not stopped. Donald Trump is president of the US once again, and Meta’s home country has shifted further to the right than when Trump first won the White House. The former Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, so well connected in Democratic circles, isn’t even on Meta’s board any longer. Clegg no longer fits the times.
Clegg is a centrist, asserting in 2011 that his party’s politics were that of the “radical centre”. More than a dozen years later, political centrism has collapsed, unable to compete with the superlative appeal of the extremes, especially on Facebook.
Clegg is also a globalist in a time of protectionism and nationalism, having managed the European Commission’s trade negotiations with China and Russia in his earlier career. A global policy perspective makes financial sense at Meta, which boasts users in every cranny of the world. Such a viewpoint runs counter to “America First”, which is a problem when Mark Zuckerberg is giving $1m to Trump’s inaugural fund and showing off Meta Ray-Bans over dinner at Mar-a-Lago.
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Meta points to Trump's return as it ends factchecking project
Meta is ending its practice of having factcheckers weigh in on disputed content on platforms like Facebook, with company leaders citing Donald Trump’s return to power in the United States as a reason for ending the program.
The social media giant rolled out the factchecking program in the wake of Trump’s first election victory in 2016, which coincided with an increase in inflammatory and inaccurate content on its platforms, often from conservatives.
In an interview given exclusively to conservative outlet Fox News to announce the change, Joel Kaplan, the chief global affairs officer of Meta who is a longtime Republican operative, said: “We have a new administration coming in that is far from pressuring companies to censor and [is more] a huge supporter of free expression.”
Founder Mark Zuckerberg said the factchecks would be replaced with community notes like those seen on X, which is owned by close Trump associate Elon Musk. In a video announcing the change, Zuckerberg said the “factcheckers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they’ve created”.
He also added that Meta would “work with President Trump to push back on governments around the world that are going after American companies and pushing to censor more”.
Here’s more on the decision:
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Donald Trump has vowed to pardon January 6 defendants upon taking office, and the Guardian’s Michael Sainato reports that a militia leader who was given a long sentence over the attack has appealed to the president-elect not to pass him over:
Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys group who received a 22-year sentence for seditious conspiracy related to the January 6 attack on the US Capitol in 2021, has formally asked Donald Trump for a pardon.
A jury convicted Tarrio of helping to orchestrate the insurrection. At the time of the attack, Tarrio had been banned from the city by prosectors for burning a stolen banner from a historic Black church in December 2020 during a protest march against Trump’s election loss.
Prosecutors said Tarrio was the driving force for organizing hundreds of Proud Boys to participate in the attack on January 6, and several top lieutenants in the group – a far-right militant organization – were at the frontlines of the violence.
US district judge Tim Kelly, a Trump appointee, sentenced Tarrio to 22 years in prison after his conviction. It is the longest sentence of any January 6 defendant.
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Trump lawyers suggest decision on releasing special counsel report should be made by incoming president
Attorneys for Donald Trump have asked attorney general Merrick Garland to stop special counsel Jack Smith from completing his report detailing his investigations of the president-elect. Should Garland decline to do that, they propose that the decision to release the report be made by whoever becomes attorney general when Trump takes office.
The position is likely to be filled by Pam Bondi, the former top prosecutor in Florida whom Trump nominated to lead the justice department after his initial pick, former congressman Matt Gaetz, declined the job amid allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use.
We’ll find out if Garland will heed Trump’s request. The president-elect’s attorneys have also asked a federal judge to intervene and block the release of Smith’s report. Here’s more on their requests, from the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell:
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Trump moves to block release of special counsel report as sentencing on hush-money sentencing nears
Good morning, US politics blog readers. Donald Trump may be less than two weeks away from returning to the White House, but his lawyers are keeping busy with motions to frustrate the final developments in his lingering criminal cases. Yesterday, they asked New York judge Juan Merchan to delay the president-elect’s sentencing on the 34 felony business fraud charges he was convicted of last year, but their motion was denied and the hearing is expected to take place on Friday. The case, brought by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, was the only one of Trump’s four criminal indictments to go to trial before his election victory in November. His prosecution in Georgia for allegedly meddling in the state’s election result four years ago has stalled, likely permanently, while special counsel Jack Smith dropped the charges he brought against Trump for allegedly hiding classified documents, and plotting to overturn the 2020 election.
However, justice department regulations mandate that Smith release a report at the end of his investigations, which could bring to light damaging evidence about Trump’s actions. Late yesterday, the president-elect’s attorneys asked outgoing attorney general Merrick Garland to prevent the report’s completion. We’ll let you know if Garland makes his response known today.
Here’s what else is going on:
Donald Trump Jr is scheduled to arrive in Greenland today, the massive island that his father has talked about the United States buying from Denmark. We’ll see how that visit goes.
Jimmy Carter will lie in state at the US Capitol today, with Kamala Harris laying a wreath on his casket and eulogizing him at 4.30pm ET.
The House of Representatives will vote on the Laken Riley Act, an early step in the forthcoming Republican crackdown on undocumented immigrants that would mandate they be taken into custody by immigration authorities over theft charges.
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