Politics

President-elect Donald Trump is on the cusp of returning to the White House, with his inauguration ceremony on Monday.

During his third campaign for the presidency, he laid out what he would do on his first day back in office, even referring to himself as a “dictator” but only on “Day 1.”

“We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling,” he said during a 2023 town hall in Iowa with Fox News host Sean Hannity. “After that, I’m not a dictator.”

One task on his apparent to-do list has already become irrelevant. Trump vowed to fire Jack Smith, the special counsel who brought two federal cases against him, “within two seconds” of returning to the White House. Though Smith resigned as special counsel on Jan. 10 after submitting his final report on the probes into allegations of interfering with the 2020 election and unlawfully retaining classified documents after leaving the White House.

Here’s what else Trump has said he would do on Day 1:

Mass deportations and closing the border

With immigration a top issue for voters, Trump has said he’s determined to round up and deport millions of migrants living in the U.S. without legal permission.

“On Day 1, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out,” he said during a rally at Madison Square Garden in the closing days of the presidential race. “I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered, and we will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail, then kick them the hell out of our country as fast as possible.”

Incoming “border czar” Tom Homan has promised to execute “the biggest deportation operation this country has ever seen.”

To do so, Trump has indicated he will seek help from the U.S. military by declaring a national emergency.

Trump has also vowed to close the southern border on his first day in office.

“We’re going to close the border. Day 1, the border gets closed,” he said during the 2023 town hall with Hannity.

Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff of policy, told Fox News following the election that the president-elect would immediately sign executive orders regarding mass deportations and a border closure.

“It is going to be at light speed,” Miller said. “The moment that President Trump puts his hand on that Bible and takes the oath of office, as he has said, the occupation ends, liberation day begins. He will immediately sign executive orders sealing the border shut, beginning the largest deportation operation in American history.”

Trump has railed against the Biden administration’s immigration policies, in part claiming they have made America less safe, though statistics show that U.S.-born citizens are more than twice as likely to be arrested for violent crimes than undocumented immigrants, according to a 2020 Justice Department study cited in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

There are an estimated 11 million unauthorized migrants living in the U.S. without legal immigration status. Removing them could cost billions of dollars per year, according to estimates from the American Immigration Council.

End birthright citizenship

Among other immigration policies, Trump has pledged to sign an executive order on the first day of his new term to end birthright citizenship.

In a 2023 campaign video, Trump said that under the new executive order, at least one parent will have to be a “citizen or a legal resident” for their children to qualify for birthright citizenship.

Such a move, though, is expected to face significant legal hurdles. Under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, any person born within the territory of the U.S. is a U.S. citizen.

Free some convicted Jan. 6 rioters

Trump has said one of his first acts if elected to a second term would be to “free” some people convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, whom he continues to claim are “wrongfully imprisoned.”

“I am inclined to pardon many of them. I can’t say for every single one, because a couple of them, probably they got out of control,” he said on his social media platform last March when announcing the promise.

Trump has repeatedly downplayed the violence that ensued that day, referring to the defendants as “J6 hostages,” calling for their release.

As of early January, more than 1,580 individuals have been charged criminally in federal court in connection with Jan. 6, with over 1,000 pleading guilty, according to the Department of Justice.

Tariffs on Canada and Mexico

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform following the election that one of the first executive orders he will sign when he takes office will be to charge Mexico and Canada with a 25% tariff on all products coming into the United States.

“This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” he posted. “Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!”

In response, Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, warned that any tariff will be met with another and disputed his claims about migration and drugs while blaming the U.S. for Mexico’s drug war — pointing to U.S. consumption and American guns.

Canadian officials said the country “places the highest priority on border security and the integrity of our shared border.”

End the Russia-Ukraine war ‘within 24 hours’

Trump claimed during a 2023 CNN town hall that if he were president, he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine in 24 hours. Though he did not detail what he wanted an end to look like, dodging on whether he wanted Ukraine or Russia to win.

Asked during an ABC News debate in September if he wants Ukraine to win against Russia, Trump did not directly answer but said that he wants the war to stop.

“I’ll get the war with Ukraine and Russia ended. If I’m president-elect, I’ll get it done before even becoming president,” he said.

Though more recently, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s pick to serve as the special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, said on Fox News this month that he’d personally like to see the war end within 100 days.

End ‘Green New Deal atrocities’

Trump said in a campaign video last year he would end the “Green New Deal atrocities on Day 1” if reelected.

The Green New Deal — a public policy initiative to address climate change pitched by Democrats Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey — was never signed into law, though Trump has used the term to generally refer to the Biden administration’s climate and energy policies, like the landmark Inflation Reduction Act.

“To further defeat inflation, my plan will terminate the Green New Deal, which I call the Green New Scam. Greatest scam in history, probably,” Trump said during remarks at the Economic Club of New York in September. “[We will] rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act.”

Trump also said during his Republican National Convention address that he will “end the electric vehicle mandate on Day 1.” There is no such federal mandate, though recent Environmental Protection Agency regulations are aimed to accelerate the adoption of cleaner vehicle technologies.

Green cards for college graduates

Trump deviated from his usual anti-immigrant rhetoric when he advocated for “automatically” giving noncitizens in the U.S. green cards when they graduate from college — not just people who go through the vetting process — during an episode of the “All In” podcast released in June.

“[What] I want to do, and what I will do, is you graduate from a college, I think you should get, automatically as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country. That includes junior colleges, too,” Trump said in the episode.

“Anybody graduates from a college, you go in there for two years or four years, if you graduate, or you get a doctorate degree from a college, you should be able to stay in this country,” he continued.

Asked on the podcast if he would expand H-1B work visas for tech workers after fixing the border, Trump said “yes.”

“Somebody graduates at the top of the class, they can’t even make a deal with the company because they don’t think they’re going to be able to stay in the country. That is going to end on Day 1,” Trump said.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the leaders of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, have also voiced their support for H-1B visas, which allow foreign skilled professionals to work in America, saying they are essential because American culture doesn’t prioritize success in science and engineering careers compared to other countries.

Some of Trump’s far-right supporters have pushed back against support for the visas, arguing they are a way for business leaders to have cheap labor rather than provide job opportunities for Americans.

Reinstate ban on transgender military service

Trump has vowed to reinstate a ban on transgender military service enacted during his first term in 2017, which President Joe Biden repealed in 2021, among other measures that would impact trans people.

“With the stroke of my pen, on day one, we’re going to stop the transgender lunacy,” Trump said at a Turning Point USA rally in December. “And I will sign executive orders to end child sexual mutilation, get transgender out of the military and out of our elementary schools and middle schools and high school. And we will keep men out of women’s sports.”

“And that will likewise be done on Day 1,” he continued.

Estimates on the number of active transgender service members vary. In 2021, the Department of Defense said there were approximately 2,200 people in the military services who were diagnosed with gender dysphoria and seeking medical care, while noting that was a subset of the transgender population.

If a ban on transgender service members were to be reinstated, the Human Rights Campaign said it “will take swift action to push back against this dangerous and discriminatory ban.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

As Joe Biden’s presidency draws to a close, the reviews are being written — what will become the first draft of history.

And the reviews from most Americans are not good.

Surveys show they have mixed views on his four years at the pinnacle of power, the culmination of a career in public service that spans more than five decades.

Gallup found 54% of U.S. adults think Biden will be remembered as a below average or poor president; 19% say he’ll be remembered as outstanding or above average and 26% think he will be viewed as average.

Historians, though, say it will take years to fully assess Biden’s legacy and his lasting imprint on American politics. Several spoke to ABC News to offer a preliminary take on how they regard his presidency as he prepares to make his exit.

COVID recovery and legislative wins

“I think it is likely Joe Biden’s legacy will be assessed far more generously than some would have it today,” said Ellen Fitzpatrick, professor of history at the University of New Hampshire.

“His quick action upon taking office to address the COVID-19 pandemic, including expediting vaccinations and steering the American Rescue Plan to passage, contributed to a ‘first 100 days’ more robust in achievement than perhaps any president since FDR,” Fitzpatrick added.

The American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion relief bill that provided stimulus checks directly to Americans, support for state and local governments and billions of dollars in vaccine distribution, was signed just months after he took office. By mid-May 2021, his administration announced 250 million vaccines had been administered.

“That activism continued with successes in expanding federal investment in clean energy and improved infrastructure, new job creation, efforts to address climate change, curb health care costs and expand insurance coverage among many initiatives,” Fitzpatrick said.

By the end of his second year in office, he’d also signed the Inflation Reduction Act, a massive climate, health and tax law; the CHIPS Act, a multibillion-dollar law to boost domestic computer chip manufacturing; the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first major gun safety bill in decades; and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which provides funding to rebuild the country’s bridges, roads and public transportation.

But some economists question how much the big-ticket bills contributed to inflation, which reached a 40-year high during his time in office though has since cooled.

“He spent a lot of money, but didn’t really change the authorities of government and change the structure of government,” said Tevi Troy, a senior fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute. “I don’t think people are gonna look at the inflation Reduction Act, which everybody acknowledged was misnamed, the same way that we look at the Great Society legislation that Lyndon B. Johnson passed.”

Plus, Americans may not feel the full impact of Biden’s signature policies — such as infrastructure improvements or drug-pricing reforms — for years to come.

“They experienced all the disruptions without any of the payoff,” said Russell Riley, the co-chair of the Miller Center’s Presidential Oral History Program. “And what I think those who are supporters of Biden will count on is that in the long scope of history, once these projects stop being ongoing ventures with all the headaches associated with it and you see the good that came out of it, that his image will be rehabilitated some.”

Foreign policy footprint

“The things that I think will probably stand up as positives were a return to alliances and the importance of engaging in positive relationships with nations around the globe,” said presidential historian Lindsay Chervinsky. “That was something that both our allies really want and is in America’s best interest.”

Biden made support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion a key issue, framing it as a battle for democracy against authoritarianism. He made a surprise visit to wartime Kyiv to stand alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after a year of war.

In the Middle East, Biden tried to balance unwavering support for Israel after Hamas’ terror attack in Oct. 2023 while also pushing for humanitarian assistance for Palestinians inside Gaza. He faced anger from all sides as the conflict unfolded, but managed to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas at the very end of his presidency.

Biden has also touted ending America’s longest war by removing remaining troops in Afghanistan. But the chaos that accompanied the withdrawal, including the deaths of 13 American service members, cast a pall over his presidency.

“On the flip side, the way in which the departure from Afghanistan unfolded — not so much the departure itself but the way it was conducted and that administration’s inability to take responsibility for that — I think really annoyed a lot of people and continued to color their perspective of the administration,” Chervinsky said.

His decision to run for reelection — and later drop out

Biden announced he was running for reelection in April 2023. At the time, he was 80 years old.

There was no competitive Democratic primary and he was on a glide path to become the party’s nominee until his June 2024 debate performance against Donald Trump.

The poor showing stoked concern among Democrats about Biden’s age and ability to campaign. He fought off the growing panic for weeks, but ultimately withdrew from the campaign on July 21 and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place.

“He has sort of two presidencies: before the debate and then after the debate,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston and co-creator of the Presidential Greatness Project.

Riley said he believed this chapter of Biden’s presidency could overshadow his accomplishments.

“I think this is where the light of history will probably be especially harsh, particularly for those who believe that the disruptions of Trumpism are historically significant and adversely impact our constitutional system,” he added.

Biden has maintained a belief that he could have beaten Trump had he stayed in the race. He said he decided to drop out to help unify the Democratic Party.

“The tragic irony of Joe Biden is that he wanted to be president his whole life, certainly his whole Senate career, and when he finally got it, he was too old for the job,” said Troy.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer acknowledged “significant support” from President-elect Donald Trump’s team to secure the ceasefire and hostage exchange deal between Israel and Hamas in an interview Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week.”

The bulk of implementing the deal is expected after Trump takes office on Monday, which Finer said President Joe Biden’s administration was conscious of.

“They’re fully up to speed, and we have been as transparent and supportive as we can as we hand this off,” he said.

But while Finer praised the Trump team’s cooperation, he told “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl that it was his boss’ “persistence” that saw the deal through.

“But ultimately, at the end of the day, it was our team that was in the driver’s seat for the negotiations directed by President Biden with their support,” he said.

The interview came minutes before the first three Israeli hostages were released from captivity in Gaza, the first step in the implementation of a ceasefire deal that also involves the freeing of Palestinian prisoners.

“The attention of the world, of the press, of maybe even other governments around the world had moved on to other issues, but President Biden literally just about every day would call [national security adviser] Jake Sullivan or me or others on our team and ask for an update on the deal, what he could do to help push things forward, who he could deploy to the region, who he could call on the phone,” Finer said. “And he made, you know, dozens of calls to heads of state involved in negotiating this deal, to ultimately get it done.”

“It never escaped his attention and it really was his persistence that ultimately led to the day that we’re going to have today and the opportunity for a better future in the region that this unlocks,” Finer added.

“The Israeli government made a very difficult decision but I think had reached the same conclusion that we have reached over a long period of time, which is that ultimately, the only way to end this war, bring the hostages home, secure humanitarian relief for Gaza was some sort of exchange along the lines that was negotiated,” Finer told “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl.

Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of Israeli-American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen — who is expected to be one of the 33 hostages released — told Karl he was “thrilled” to hear of the first three hostages being released in the first phase of the ceasefire, and expressed his hope that the remaining hostages, including his son, return home safely.

It’s been over a year since Dekel-Chen received a “positive sign of life” of his son, he said.

His son’s wife was seven months pregnant with their third child on Oct. 7, Dekel-Chen said.

“She only knows her dad as a poster on the wall, and not the man himself,” he said.

Dekel-Chen plans to attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday and expressed “immense gratitude” to the president-elect for his work on the deal.

“The Biden team absolutely did extraordinary work in getting the superstructure of this deal together,” he said. “However, it took a tweet, the subsequent statements from President-elect Trump, to get this home.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

President-elect Donald Trump is marking his historic political comeback to the White House with a signature “Make America Great Again Victory Rally” in Washington on Sunday, bringing together more than 20,000 supporters to the nation’s capital ahead of Inauguration Day.

The rally is set to be held at Capital One Arena Sunday afternoon, mirroring the Madison Square Garden rally he held in New York City last October, which served as his closing remarks to American voters a week before Election Day in November.

The Sunday rally is one of numerous festivities planned to celebrate Trump’s second inauguration, along with fireworks Saturday night at his Virginia golf club and exclusive receptions and dinners.

At the same time, it’s a move to pay a special tribute to the major role big arena rallies have played in all three of Trump’s presidential bids to galvanize his supporters and to carry that campaign spirit into his second-term presidency.

The rally is also set to feature performances by several celebrities featured during Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, including the disco band Village People — the ’70s group behind Trump’s beloved “Y.M.C.A.” and his rally dance — and country singer-songwriter Lee Greenwood, whose signature song “God Bless the U.S.A.” has served as Trump’s rally walkout song throughout his campaign.

Longtime Trump supporter and rock musician Kid Rock, country musician Billy Ray Cyrus and Liberty University’s Praise Choir are also set to perform at the rally.

On Monday, Trump and his supporters are expected to once again gather at Capital One Arena, which is expected to serve as an overflow venue with the inauguration festivities moved to a much smaller space inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda due to frigid weather.

Trump on his social media platform touted a “live viewing” of his inauguration at the arena on Monday, and promised to join the crowd after he is sworn in.

“Everyone will be safe, everyone will be happy, and we will, together, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump wrote.

On Monday, following the swearing-in ceremony and the presidential parade, three inauguration balls – the Commander in Chief Ball, the Liberty Inaugural Ball and the Starlight Ball, all attended by Trump – are set to conclude the inaugural festivities.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Whether it is a hurricane, major tornado, wildfire or anything in between, disasters “don’t discriminate” in where they will be and whom they might affect, according to the outgoing top emergency manager.

“We know that these types of severe weather events, they don’t have borders, they don’t discriminate and we [at] FEMA … have the ability to make sure that anyone impacted doesn’t have the barriers to access our programs,” outgoing Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell told ABC News.

Criswell, a member of the Air National Guard for 21 years, has also been the top emergency manager in Aurora, Colorado, and in New York City.

“All disasters start and end at the local level, and our job as federal emergency managers is to enable their ability to be successful, and I’ve been in their role,” she said.

The outgoing administrator said she “never lost sight” of putting herself in the local emergency managers’ shoes and made policy changes based on that thinking.

Criswell noted she received criticism for putting “equity” into her strategic plan to run the agency but defended it, saying the agency needed a “mindset shift” to reach everyone who may be affected by a disaster.

“Having been a customer and understanding the barriers that people experience, whether that’s an individual or a small community, and being able to remove those barriers so everybody has the ability to get what they’re eligible for, was my focus with equity, and I know that there’s naysayers out there that want to say that equity is about picking and choosing winners and losers or however they want to phrase it, but that’s not what this was about,” she said. “This was about removing barriers, helping people through their toughest day in the way that the federal government was designed to do.”

Criswell said the agency is “nonpartisan” and that it should stay that way.

“The only way that we are going to be successful in helping communities recover, helping them rebuild in a way that makes them more resilient to future events, is by maintaining that level of nonpartisanship because if we don’t have it, then we’re going to also lose trust in the communities that we’re going in there to help,” she explained. “Without that trust, we’re not going to be able to help them with their immediate needs, and we’re not going to be not going to be able to help them with their long-term rebuilding.”

She said every disaster she responded to during her time as administrator was “different” and “unique,” including wildfires in Los Angeles, hurricane devastation in western North Carolina and crippling tornadoes in Arkansas.

“I think maybe what’s challenging is that every one I go to, it never got any easier,” she said. “It never got any easier to see people lose so much and want to be able to do whatever we could to help them on this road to recovery, knowing that we can only jump-start that process.”

During her time as administrator, she said she tried to meet people where they were and “could not make decisions about how to implement the response in the recovery from an office in Washington, D.C.”

Criswell said she got to know governors from across the country, both Republicans and Democrats, and saw the care they felt for their states during tragedies big and small.

“I reach out to every governor when something has happened, sometimes even small things that are happening,” she said. “When it comes to helping their communities, their people that have been impacted by natural disasters, I get to see the human side of every one of our state leaders, and they all care so deeply about the people that they were elected to serve.”

Part of the job as FEMA administrator is traveling to disaster zones, often with the president.

Just after Criswell was confirmed as administrator, a condominium complex in Surfside, Florida, collapsed. She and President Joe Biden visited the families who were affected. Criswell said loved ones and survivors were gathered in a room waiting to hear the status of their homes and family members when the president walked in.

“President Biden and the first lady came in, and he walked around and talked to every one of them, and what I saw that day — and then I saw every single disaster following that — was just the human side of how he approached these horrible events, and he didn’t walk around and just shake a hand and move on,” she said. “He sat and had meaningful conversations. He shared his own stories of personal tragedy.”

All told, Criswell said, he spent three hours meeting with and talking to victims.

“I have traveled with President Biden to more disasters than I ever expected to. And I told him — Mr. President, I never thought I’d have to see this much,” she said, adding that he’d always give a chuckle.

Criswell said FEMA will continue to have challenges in battling misinformation.

“We are in a new information environment, and we have to find ways to be more proactive, to build relationships with trusted leaders and communities that they can help be force multipliers [in] us getting the right message out,” she said, adding that it is something the agency has always had to deal with.

“The level … that we’re seeing divisiveness created through some of the information that’s going out there is just going to be something we have to face going forward, and we’re going to have to work on how do we get ahead of that and how do we find trusted voices in communities to help us get the real information out there,” she said.

Criswell said that in the end, it is all about helping people and getting the right information out to the right people.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — As President Joe Biden prepares to pass the baton to President-elect Donald Trump on Monday, it’s unclear if Biden will follow the tradition of leaving his successor a note in the Oval Office.

President Ronald Reagan started the ritual in 1989, according to the Washington Post, when he left a note for his former running mate, President George H.W. Bush.

He used light-hearted stationery that said, “Don’t let the turkeys get you down,” with a drawing of turkeys climbing on top of an elephant. Reagan wrote, “I treasure the memories we share and I wish you all the very best. You’ll be in my prayers. God bless you & Barbara. I’ll miss our Thursday lunches.”

Every president since has taken part in the tradition. But since Reagan’s letter to Bush, each handover has been from a Democrat to a Republican or vice versa.

Bush, who lost the 1992 election to Bill Clinton, said to the nation’s new leader, “Don’t let the critics discourage you or push you off course.”

“You will be our President when you read this note,” he wrote. “I wish you well. I wish your family well. Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting hard for you. Good Luck.”

“I love that letter,” Clinton told ABC News in 2018. “I thought it was vintage George Bush. I thought he meant it, but I also thought he was trying to be a citizen in the highest sense of the word. It was profoundly moving to me personally.”

Clinton followed his predecessor’s tradition in 2001, when he said in a letter to President George W. Bush, “Today you embark on the greatest venture, with the greatest honor, that can come to an American citizen.”

“Like me, you are especially fortunate to lead our country in a time of profound and largely positive change, when old questions, not just about the role of government, but about the very nature of our nation, must be answered anew,” Clinton said. “You lead a proud, decent, good people. And from this day you are President of all of us. I salute you and wish you success and much happiness.”

“The burdens you now shoulder are great but often exaggerated. The sheer joy of doing what you believe is right is inexpressible,” he wrote. “My prayers are with you and your family. Godspeed.”

In 2009, George W. Bush wrote to President Barack Obama, “Congratulations on becoming our President. You have just begun a fantastic chapter in your life.”

“Very few have had the honor of knowing the responsibility you now feel. Very few know the excitement of the moment and the challenges you will face,” he said. “There will be trying moments. The critics will rage. Your ‘friends’ will disappoint you. But, you will have an Almighty God to comfort you, a family who loves you, and a country that is pulling for you, including me. No matter what comes, you will be inspired by the character and compassion of the people you now lead. God bless you.”

When Obama handed off to Trump in 2017, he wrote to his successor, “Congratulations on a remarkable run. Millions have placed their hopes in you, and all of us, regardless of party, should hope for expanded prosperity and security during your tenure.”

“We’ve both been blessed, in different ways, with great good fortune,” Obama said, according to CNN. “Not everyone is so lucky. It’s up to us to do everything we can (to) build more ladders of success for every child and family that’s willing to work hard.”

Obama noted later in the letter, “We are just temporary occupants of this office. That makes us guardians of those democratic institutions and traditions — like rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties — that our forebears fought and bled for. Regardless of the push and pull of daily politics, it’s up to us to leave those instruments of our democracy at least as strong as we found them.”

He concluded by saying, “Michelle and I wish you and Melania the very best as you embark on this great adventure, and know that we stand ready to help in any ways which we can.”

Trump described Obama’s letter as “long,” “beautiful” and “so well-written, so thoughtful.”

“I called him and thanked him for the thought that was put into that letter,” Trump told ABC News “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir in 2017.

Then, in 2021, despite the contentious handover from Trump to Biden when Trump refused to admit he lost the 2020 election, Trump did follow tradition and leave Biden a note.

Biden described it as a “very generous letter,” according to Politico. The letter has never been released.

 

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Since launching in 2021, America First Policy Institute has been known colloquially around Washington, D.C., as Donald Trump’s “cabinet in waiting” should the former president return to office. And now, as Trump’s second administration takes shape, AFPI seems poised to live up to its reputation.

Financial disclosure forms released over the past week show how people aligned with AFPI and its political arm, America First Works, are flooding into the upper echelons of Trump’s new administration.

Several Cabinet-level officials, including the incoming secretaries of education, agriculture, veterans affairs and housing, have worked for AFPI. Trump tapped the group’s president, Brooke Rollins, to lead the Department of Agriculture, and the chairwoman of its board, Linda McMahon, to run the Department of Education.

Rollins reported earning more than $1 million from AFPI in 2024, according to financial disclosures, and earned $560,000 the previous year. McMahon has not yet released her financial disclosures.

Trump’s pick for attorney general, Pam Bondi, reported earning $520,000 from the group last year. John Ratcliffe and Kash Patel, Trump’s incoming directors of the CIA and FBI, respectively, served as members of the group’s American Security Team.
Ratcliffe has reported earning $180,000 from AFPI in financial disclosures.

Other incoming administration officials aligned with AFPI are Lee Zeldin, selected to run the Environmental Protection Agency; Scott Turner, tapped for secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development; Doug Collins, picked for secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs; and Matthew Whitaker, Trump’s choice for U.S. ambassador to NATO.

All told, according to financial records disclosed so far — and many remain outstanding — AFPI doled out nearly $2.6 million to incoming Trump administration officials in recent years.

In its first years of operation, AFPI, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, emerged as a fundraising behemoth. According to its most recent tax forms, filed in November, the group raised roughly $30 million in 2023 and spent $23 million of that.

The Texas-based group regularly hosts forums and issues policy directives in line with the first Trump administration’s vision on foreign policy, national security, economic policy, justice reform and education. It also reportedly hosted training sessions last year for aspiring public servants in a second Trump administration.

At a women’s event hosted by AFPI in April 2024, Rollins revealed that the group has “298 executive orders drafted and ready for day one of the next president.”

Here’s a partial list of AFPI-affiliated picks and their recent earnings based on disclosure forms:

        Brooke Rollins, Department of Agriculture: $1,610,000 (two years)
        Pam Bondi, Department of Justice: $520,000 (one year)
        Kash Patel, FBI: (Not filed)
        Linda McMahon, Department of Education: (Not filed)
        John Ratcliffe, CIA: $180,000 (two years)
        Matthew Whitaker, NATO: (Not filed)
        Doug Collins, Department of Veterans Affairs: $104,000 (two years)
        Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency: $144,999 (two years)
        Scott Turner, Department of Housing and Urban Development: $24,000 (one year)

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Outgoing Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, who for four years has been a target for Republican criticism, said that national tragedies should not be used for “political disagreements.”

“There are people that lobby vitriol in public, and have relationships in private, that are quite inconsistent with the vitriol,” he told ABC News in an exit interview from his office at DHS headquarters in Washington.

“Times of tragedy should drive unity of effort and unity of care, whether that be the hurricanes and tornadoes of Helene and Milton, or whether that be the wildfires in California, or whether that be the tragic death of 14 individuals on in the early morning hours of January 1, and not be ammunition for political disagreement,” he said. “We’ve got to get back to a place where we can disagree and we can unify when the American people need it.”

He said his hope is that “we can disagree with civility and mutual respect.”

Mayorkas’ time as DHS secretary saw one crisis after another, including big increases in migrants crossing the southern border illegally to an unprecedented threat environment to an evolving cybersecurity landscape.

Through it all, he said remains proud of the department’s work.

“I am on the ground with the people of this department in in times of success, in times of tragedy,” Mayorkas said.

He personally traveled to funerals for Border Patrol agents who died in the line of duty, recalling how at one he was moved by the outpouring of honor and respect.

“… along the highway in Texas,” he said, “one saw police officers, firefighters, citizens standing outside of their cars at bus stops all along the multi-mile stretch of highway, saluting the car and the motorcade. Incredibly powerful message of the impact of our work and the impact of people doing the work on the broader community.”

For Mayorkas, who spent 11 years working at DHS, serving as secretary was the honor of a lifetime.

“I love this job. I love the mission. I love the people who perform it, and it’s going to be very hard to leave,” he said.

Regrets, he said, are “unproductive.”

“If I said no, there’s nothing we could have done better, I would be basically saying that we achieved perfection, and that obviously is not the case,” he said. “In any large, multifaceted organization such as an administration, there are disagreements over policy and practice, and decisions are made, and then we all march as one in executing.”

He maintained he is leaving DHS in better shape than how he found it, and, he insists, that starts with the border.

“We have built and delivered a model where the border is more secure now than it was in 2019 and we have safe, lawful and orderly pathways that have delivered humanitarian relief to people in need and cutting out the smugglers, we have modernized the system of border security and humanitarian relief in unprecedented ways,” he says of the department’s work, noting the border has seen the lowest daily average of migrants in December since July 2020.

Mayorkas said that the incoming Trump administration’s critical rhetoric “misses everything that we have tried to do, and I view it as rhetoric that is a political and not substantive.”

“For example, they speak of focusing on public safety and national security threats when they talk about mass deportations,” he said. “Well, they speak of it as something new, when in fact, that is a continuation of precisely what we’ve done.”

Mayorkas also said that the incoming administration will have access to “tools at their disposal that were not tools that we had at our disposal,” meaning potentially increased funding from Congress.

In June 2024, President Joe Biden signed a series of executive actions on the border, that DHS says curbed illegal immigration by nearly 55%.

When asked by ABC News why the Biden administration didn’t act sooner to take the actions that President Joe Biden ordered in June 2024, during the presidential campaign, he said there was “bipartisan pressure” to not lift the order established by then-President Donald Trump to curb migrants at the border due to a public health emergency, known as Title 42.

“Everyone expected that when we lifted it, calamity would ensue, 18,000 encounters, 20,000 encounters in a day, from on both sides of the aisle and that calamity did not occur,” he said. “And then we turned to Congress for funding, more ICE officers, more Border Patrol agents, more Office of Field Operations personnel, more immigration judges denied. We went to Congress again, again, denied. We entered the bipartisan Senate negotiations, mission accomplished, political torpedo, no legislative reform,” he said, noting how how then-candidate Donald Trump told congressional Republicans to block the measure. “And then the president acted,” he said of President Biden.

Mayorkas also became the first Cabinet-level secretary to be impeached because, after House Republicans claimed his failed to handle the immigration issue.

“It should never have occurred. And I wish that the members of Congress had followed the law, and if they had, it would not have occurred,” he said. “And it’s unfortunate when the law is overridden by politics.”

He also said the country is in a “heightened threat environment,” and to look no further than what happened on January 1st in New Orleans as an example.

Mayorkas said that the department under his watch is helping state and local governments take a public health approach to stopping mass attacks.

“If one takes a look at the assailant in Buffalo, the assailant in Uvalde, Texas, the assailant at the July 4 parade outside, in a suburb outside of Chicago, those three assailants exhibited signs manifested externally, signs of radicalizing to violence for different reasons,” he said, adding if someone notices them, the assailant can get help.

Mayorkas said he also has focused on positioning DHS to take on the challenge posed by artificial intelligence by personally recruiting people to come work on the issue and setting up the AI Safety Board — a collection of private and public partners who help shape the department’s AI policy.

The DHS secretary oversees 22 agencies with more than 260,000 employees – on issues ranging from the border to federal disaster management to the Secret Service.

He said that he wishes he could stay on to see reforms being made to the Secret Service after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in July, which he described as an agency “failure.”

“Let me be clear, I consider the Secret Service to be the best protective service in the world. Success is when nothing occurs, and there are countless examples of that success,” he said.

Mayorkas, who said he plans to stay on the job until Monday at noon, told ABC News he has had “substantive and very productive and very collegial” conversations with Trump’s pick to be the new DHS secretary, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday announced his lieutenant governor, Jon Husted, will replace Vice President-elect JD Vance in the U.S. Senate.

Husted, 57, will serve until a special election in November 2026, the winner of which will complete the remainder of Vance’s term.

Vance and President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn into office on Monday.

DeWine said at a news conference that when he mulled over his appointment, he wanted “someone who knew Ohio” and a proven “workhorse.”

“Serious times demand serious people,” he said.

DeWine praised Husted’s track record on economic development, which includes a commitment from Intel to invest more than $20 billion in manufacturing plants in the state.

“In my mind, my mission has always been clear: to ensure Ohioans have access to good jobs, quality job training and the opportunity to achieve their vision,” Husted said as he accepted the appointment on Friday.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump said his inauguration will move indoors Monday and he’ll be sworn in inside the Capitol Rotunda due to the freezing weather expected in Washington, D.C.

“The various Dignitaries and Guests will be brought into the Capitol,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This will be a very beautiful experience for all, and especially for the large TV audience!”

“We will open Capital One Arena on Monday for LIVE viewing of this Historic event, and to host the Presidential Parade,” Trump said. “I will join the crowd at Capital One, after my Swearing In.”

This inauguration is forecast to be the coldest in 40 years.

A quick-moving storm could bring some snow to D.C. on Sunday afternoon.

When Trump is sworn in at noon on Monday, the temperature will be about 18 or 19 degrees. Due to the wind, the wind chill — what temperature it feels like — will be between 5 and 10 degrees.

President Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration in 1985 was also moved inside due to the weather.

The temperature that morning fell to a low of 4 degrees below zero. The temperature was just 7 degrees at noon, marking the coldest January Inauguration Day on record. Reagan’s parade was also canceled.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.