Trump picks Musk to head new 'efficiency' department ahead of White House meeting with Biden: Live

Kaitlan Collins reported on CNN last night that one position the president-elect is still unable to fill is that of U.S. attorney general, a position that has caused him many problems in the past.

Here is Thomas Beaumont with a summary of who we've had so far.

While Trump and Biden will meet in the Oval Office today, their wives will not.

Here is James Liddell with the late-night host's guess as to why that might be (Melania's people have cited a scheduling conflict, for the record).

The Massachusetts senator wasted no time here in pointing out an obvious logical flaw in the tech bro's DOGE project: the colossal waste and cost of creating a new government agency to reduce waste and costs in government agencies.

Meanwhile, Musk himself is already dreaming about the merchandise sales – and maybe even saying the quiet part out loud.

Other Cabinet appointments confirmed by Trump on Tuesday included naming Mike Huckabee as his new ambassador to Israel, Steven Witkoff as his special envoy to the Middle East and William Joseph McGinley as his White House adviser.

Here's a little more about Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and longtime conservative favorite.

If you don't believe this at first glance, here's a little explanation.

Hegseth, 44, is a former Bear Stearns banker who served Army National Guard deployments to Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan and led veterans-focused advocacy organizations.

He joined Fox News as a contributor in 2014 and co-hosts the morning show Fox and friends.

During his time at the network, Hegseth has pushed Trump to support U.S. soldiers and contractors accused of war crimes, including Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher and a group of Blackwater employees accused of massacres of civilians in Baghdad.

Hegseth complained on the show that the U.S. was spending too much money supporting Ukraine's fight against Russia, was an outspoken supporter of Israel, and made a number of controversial statements, some examples of which are listed here:

There was also this notable near miss:

“Pete has spent his entire life as a warrior for the troops and for the country,” Trump said in a statement yesterday.

“Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First. With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on guard – our military will be great again and America will never back down.”

The new 47th president announced a number of other appointments to his new administration on Tuesday, choosing John Ratcliffe, his national intelligence director from 2020 to 2021, as his next CIA director.

Josh Marcus has more on a returning face from Trump's first term.

The former and future commander in chief will return to Washington DC on Wednesday to meet with Republicans on Capitol Hill and Joe Biden at the White House to discuss a transition plan as the Senate elects a new majority leader in place of Mitch McConnell, Rick Scott , John Cornyn and John Thune in competition.

Biden's team defended the invitation to Trump, who did not extend the same courtesy to his successor in late 2020 when he used false reasons to dispute his election defeat.

Asked why the president is giving the Republican a clemency he wasn't given four years ago, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said it was “easy” to answer the question.

“Because he believes in the norms, he believes in our institutions, he believes in the peaceful transfer of power,” she said.

President-elect Donald Trump has announced that tech billionaire Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), tasked with reducing government costs, eliminating regulations and federal agencies to restructure.

Musk responded to the news by pledging that DOGE will “send shockwaves through the system and everyone involved in government waste, a lot of people.”

Trump compared the office to the Manhattan Project, which developed the world's first atomic bombs.

Here is Alex Woodward's report.

Bitcoin price hit a new record on Tuesday, marking the third consecutive day the cryptocurrency hit an all-time high.

The new price high above $89,900 is part of a broader rally that began when Donald Trump emerged as the likely winner of the US presidential election on November 6.

The president-elect positioned himself as a pro-crypto candidate, promising to end what he described as the “persecution” of the crypto industry and position the United States as the “world’s Bitcoin superpower” once in power .