Many say that the catastrophic fires ravaging Los Angeles weren’t the fault of Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass. Fires are inevitable in Los Angeles, and the water ran out because no water system could withstand that many fires simultaneously, they add.

But LA firefighters themselves disagree. They say the reason they arrived too late to stop the fires from becoming catastrophic was because of severe budget cuts. The Fire Department did not pre-deploy fire engines to strategic locations, and helicopters arrived half an hour too late to put out the Palisades.

“That [Santa Ynez] reservoir being closed did not allow helicopters to drop and suck water up from five minutes away,” a new firefighter whistleblower, the third who has come forward, told me. “Instead, they had to fly 10 to 15 minutes away to go get water somewhere else.”

The problem is that the LA Fire Department is one of the most severely understaffed of America’s 10 largest cities. It has less than a single firefighter per 1,000 residents compared to Chicago, Dallas, and Houston, which have twice as many.

“ In 1960, our city population was 2.5 million, and we had 112 fire stations. In 2020, our city population was 3.9 million, and we had 106 stations,” a representative of LA’s firefighters ’ union testified last month. “That’s 1.4 million more people and six fewer fire stations.”

This undermines the Department’s ability to respond to emergencies. “In 2020, the average emergency response time was seven minutes and 53 seconds, nearly double the NFPA recommendation.”

Part of the problem is that the number of homeless fires in LA doubled between 2020 and 2023 to an astonishing 38 per day. They start dangerous fires in many ways, including by breaking through the sidewalk into the city’s electrical system, which can result in explosions and death.

Still, many say, it is wrong to blame homelessness for LA’s fires. They are victims of trauma and poverty.

But the research is unequivocal. Over half of all fires that the LA Fire Department responds to are set by a homeless person. “There were two huge explosions, and when I looked out my apartment window, I saw plumes of black smoke,” a resident told NBC-Los Angeles. “People are literally dying in the streets, in tents burning down around them.”

And the evidence is clear: leaving homeless people on the street makes them three times more likely to die than people required to come inside to sleep in shelters.

The third firefighter whistleblower says the firefighters are being put in danger by budget cuts. “Even last week,” the person said, “I wanted to work and I was told, ‘Sorry dude, we don’t have a seat for you to fill because there’s not enough apparatuses,’” meaning fire engines or other equipment.

One hundred fire engines and other apparatus are currently out of service because the city cut the Fire Department’s budget, and it couldn’t afford to hire mechanics to fix equipment.

“We have a crack about halfway down our water tank. Half of our [engines and other] apparatuses are broken. They were sending rookies, new probationary firefighters, out to the field last year with no department-required brush jackets.”

The firefighters lack life-saving equipment. “We were running out of electrodes to do EKGs,” the person said. “We’ve been running out of gloves. We’ve been running out of drugs, you name it. There’s been ambulances that have been having to steal stuff or borrow stuff from the hospitals just to stay available.”

At the meeting last month, the president of the city’s firefighters union warned, “If we cut one position, if we close one station… the residents of Los Angeles are going to pay the ultimate sacrifice, and someone will die.”

All this and yet Los Angeles is one of the richest cities in the world. Eighty-four of America’s richest 400 people live in California, and LA is home to 26 billionaires who collectively possess a net worth of approximately $185 billion.

“It kills us when we see holes in the system,” said the whistleblower, “and we aren’t able to do the job we expect of ourselves, and if we had the appropriate resources and staffing, I don’t think any of the fires were inevitable. I know for a fact it would not be what it is. We saw my particular fire engine in maintenance for a year and a half.”

Some politicians are demanding reform.  ”There are large swaths of the city with no emergency response resources available,” said Councilmember Traci Park, who urged more funding for firefighting last year. “ I think that people are rightly upset, not only that this happened, but there is a sense that we as local leaders needed to do more for them. I feel like I let them down, and I’ve been screaming about it from the day I came in.”

As such, the problem is not poverty, it is severe mismanagement and bad governance. Not only is the city’s mismanagement to blame for LA’s disastrous response to the fire, but it’s also responsible for the city’s ongoing homelessness disaster.

Why is that?

Part of the reason is the city’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) programs. “The city will only purchase from vendors that support DEI,” said the firefighter. “So we’ll go with a vendor that we have to pay twice as much, or the shipment may take twice as long, in order for it to be a DEI vendor rather than the vendor who has it at half the price and can get it to us tomorrow.”

The whistleblower said that DEI programs put firefighters and the public in danger. “I personally witnessed in my own drill tower them making and passing women just to get their [female quota] numbers even though they didn’t have to meet all the criteria the men did….”

Thousands of mainly female protesters descended on Washington, D.C. to protest President–elect Trump’s inauguration on Monday. However, the crowd is only a tenth of the half a million who turned out for the “Women’s March” in 2017.

Saturday’s march, rebranded as the “People’s March,” is taking place at three different locations with demonstrators advocating for a wide range of left-wing causes and showcasing a united front to the new administration.

This morning, a kickoff event took place in Franklin Park for “gender justice” and bodily autonomy, and then demonstrators walked downtown before making their way towards the Lincoln Memorial for the day’s main event.

“It’s really healing to be here with all of you today in solidarity and togetherness, in the face of what’s going to be some really horrible extremism,” Mini Timmaraju, the head of advocacy group Reproductive Freedom for All, told the crowd as events kicked off.

Other protesters gathered at two other parks also near the White House, with one group focused on democracy and immigration and another on local Washington issues,

Vendors hawked buttons that said #MeToo and “Love trumps hate,” and sold People’s March flags for $10. Demonstrators carried posters that read “Feminists v. Fascists” and “People over politics.”

Lillian Fenske, 31, drove six hours from Greensboro, North Carolina, to participate. Her signs expressed concern over oligarchs and the disunity. “America is not for sale,” said one, while another said simply, “Divided We Fall.”

There is a heavy police presence, although law enforcement is not expecting a repeat of the violent scenes seen across the city ahead of Inauguration Day in 2017, where protesters shattered glass storefronts and torched cars, with police arresting more than 200 people in demonstrations that spanned several days.

The enthusiasm behind the so-called resistance movement to Trump has waned somewhat, with many progressive voters expressing feelings of exhaustion and disappointment following Trump’s landslide win in November. He dominated both the Electoral College and the popular vote to defeat Vice President Kamala Harris after a historic campaign cycle.

The 2017 Women’s March took place on the day after Trump’s inauguration. Celebrities like America Ferrera, Madonna, Ashley Judd, Cher, Katy Perry, Amy Schumer, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Michael Moore, Debra Messing, Patricia Arquette and others attended the march.

President-elect Trump is expected to leave Mar-a-Lago later today and head to Washington.

Trump’s advisers have not detailed how he will spend the first part of the day, and the only public event on Trump’s schedule is an evening reception and fireworks show at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia.

On Sunday, there will be a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery and a “Make America Great Again” rally, at which Trump will deliver remarks, followed by a candlelit dinner.

Monday is Inauguration Day when Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance will participate in the swearing-in ceremony, which has been moved indoors due to the forecasted frigid temperatures.

President-elect Donald Trump told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker in a phone interview Saturday that he will “most likely” give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from a potential ban in the U.S. after he takes office Monday.

Trump said he hadn’t made a final decision but was considering a 90-day extension of the Sunday deadline for TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell to a non-Chinese-buyer or face a U.S. ban.

“I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at. The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation,” Trump said in the phone interview.

“If I decide to do that, I’ll probably announce it on Monday,” he said.

A 90-day extension under specific conditions is explicitly allowed for in the bipartisan law passed last year. But an extension Monday may not be enough to avoid the app going dark for at least a day, because the current deadline for compliance is Sunday.

The fate of TikTok is one of the subjects that has consumed the final days of the Biden administration, and many of the app’s millions of U.S. users are eagerly awaiting a resolution.

The Biden administration has repeatedly said it does not plan to enforce the law, punting that responsibility to Trump, but TikTok said Friday that the White House’s assurances may not be enough to prevent the app from shutting down. TikTok has said it plans to “go dark” Sunday unless it receives greater “clarity and assurance” about potential legal fallout, including against third-party service providers.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called TikTok’s plans to go dark “a stunt” in a statement Saturday morning.

“We have seen the most recent statement from TikTok. It is a stunt, and we see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump Administration takes office on Monday,” she said.

“We have laid out our position clearly and straightforwardly: actions to implement this law will fall to the next administration. So TikTok and other companies should take up any concerns with them,” she said.

President Joe Biden signed the law last April. It requires the app’s Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell it to a non-Chinese buyer or face a nationwide prohibition in the United States, but in recent days his aides have been looking for ways to keep TikTok available when that law takes effect Sunday.

Under the law, the president can grant a one-time extension of 90 days if he certifies to Congress that three things are true: There’s a path to divestiture, there’s “significant progress” toward executing it, and “there are in place the relevant binding legal agreements to enable execution of such qualified divestiture during the period of such extension.”

No such binding legal agreements have been made public. If a last-minute buyer came forward, they would likely need to spend tens of billions of dollars for TikTok’s U.S. operations.

Trump did not say whether he was aware of any recent progress toward a sale.

Trump’s support for TikTok is a sharp reversal from his stance during his first term, when Trump signed executive orders to ban not only TikTok but also the Chinese messaging app WeChat. Trump’s attempt at the time was blocked by the courts. His reversal came after he met briefly with one of the app’s billionaire American investors last year.

Lawmakers who have supported a sale or ban say some action is necessary because of ByteDance’s ties to the Chinese government, which they say shouldn’t have control of a major media property that could be used for propaganda purposes. They also cite the app’s collection of personal data from American citizens.

TikTok’s fans have protested the possible sale or ban, including by downloading other Chinese apps such as RedNote despite potential security concerns about those apps, too.

On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the law, rejecting the app’s free speech arguments in an unsigned opinion with no dissents.

Ahead of the Supreme Court’s ruling, Trump asked the court to hit pause on the law, asking for some time for his administration to work on finding alternative solutions to banning the app.

In the wake of the ruling Friday, Trump wrote on Truth Social, “The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it. My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!”

In the past, he has signaled his support for letting the app remain available to users in the U.S., citing the high number of views his TikTok accounts receive.

TikTok CEO Shou Chew is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration ceremony Monday, along with other tech executives.

On Friday, TikTok’s future remained uncertain, as Chew thanked Trump for his efforts to keep the app running in the U.S.

Even before the Supreme Court’s ruling, Biden administration officials signaled that they would not enforce the law on Sunday, the last day of Biden’s term.

“Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday,” the White House’s Jean-Pierre said in a statement after the ruling.

“The statements issued today by both the Biden White House and the Department of Justice have failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok’s availability to over 170 million Americans,” TikTok said in a post on X.

“Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19,” the statement added.

After Israel’s cabinet on Friday approved the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, it is expected to finally take effect beginning at 8:30am Sunday (local), and initially three Israeli women are expected to be named and freed.

“As coordinated by the parties to the agreement and the mediators, the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, January 19, local time in Gaza,” Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari announced on X. “We advise the inhabitants to take precaution, exercise the utmost caution, and wait for directions from official sources.”

CNN writes of the Israeli government that “The 33-member group of ministers approved the agreement following a recommendation earlier Friday by the smaller security cabinet.

Deliberations stretched over seven hours, late into the night on Friday into early Saturday morning local time.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also confirmed the ceasefire’s start time, and three civilian women who are on a list of 33 hostages to be freed in the 42-day first phase of the deal are set to be handed over, after which up to 1,904 Palestinian prisoners will be released from Israeli prisons. 735 of these prisoners will be released in the first phase.

“The State of Israel is committed to achieving all the goals of the war, including the return of all our hostages – both living and dead,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

Times of Israel notes that the Palestinian freed will include “several serving multiple life sentences for deadly terror attacks and murders.”

At least 50 humanitarian aid and fuel trucks are awaiting to enter the Strip as soon as the truce takes effect Sunday morning.

A surge of homeless Gazan refugees are expected to seek to return to their communities in Northern Gaza, but the Israeli army is warning that the situation will still be dangerous.

The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued instructions for Palestinians for when the ceasefire takes effect. Al Jazeera listed out a translation of the instructions as follows:

• Moving from the south to the north of the Gaza Strip or towards the Netzarim Corridor remains dangerous in light of the military activities in the area. Once movement is permitted, instructions will be given.
• The Israeli army will remain deployed in specific areas of the Gaza Strip. You must not approach its officers until further notice and doing so could expose you to danger.
• It is dangerous to approach the Rafah crossing, the Philadelphi Corridor and all areas in southern Gaza where Israeli forces are deployed.
• In the coastal area along the Strip, fishing, swimming and diving is dangerous and we warn against entering the sea in the coming days.
• It is forbidden to approach Israeli territory and the buffer zone. Approaching the buffer zone is very dangerous.

Still, there’s some last minute details still reportedly being worked out, including a demand by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who says Israel will not proceed with the ceasefire until a list of the 33 captives who will be released by Hamas in the first phase is received.

Over the past day, the IDF—led by the Manpower Directorate and the Medical Corps—completed preparations for receiving the hostages from Gaza upon their return to Israel. The IDF, in coordination with the Health Ministry, additional government ministries, and security authorities,… pic.twitter.com/prr8nibD8i

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) January 18, 2025

“We will not move forward with the agreement until we receive the list of hostages who will be released, as agreed. Israel will not tolerate violations of the agreement. The sole responsibility lies with Hamas,” Netanyahu said on X.

A Palestinian stabbed a man in central Tel Aviv Saturday afternoon, seriously injuring him, before being shot and killed by an armed civilian.

Police said the stabbing on Levontin Street was a terror attack. The victim, a man in his 30s, was taken to Ichilov Hospital in serious condition. The hospital later said his condition was stable and there was no threat to his life.

The terrorist was identified as Salah Yahye, 19, from the West Bank city of Tulkarem.

He was in Israel illegally, according to defense sources. Medics say he was shot dead at the scene.

The suspected attack was initially described as “a shooting incident,” apparently due to the shots fired by the civilian at the terrorist.

Surveillance camera video showed the terrorist attacking a group of people standing on the sidewalk outside an eatery in the coastal city and stabbing the victim. The attacker can be seen in the footage fleeing the scene, after which he was shot dead.

The video presented below has been blurred for privacy purposes.

חוצה את הכביש ומתנפל על מבלים במסעדה: תיעוד הפיגוע בתל אביב@AnnaPines_ | @ItayBlumental pic.twitter.com/qDAX7wVThS

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) January 18, 2025

A statement from the police said they were still looking into the circumstances of the incident and that a large number of officers were on the scene.

Many Americans support President-elect Trump’s agenda, including action on immigration and tariffs, according to a new survey released on Saturday.

The New York Times/Ipsos poll found that 87 percent of respondents support deporting illegal immigrants in the U.S. who have a criminal record, something Trump vowed to execute while campaigning in 2024.

A near majority of respondents, 55 percent, said they support deporting all immigrants who are in the country illegally while 42 opposed it.

Ending birthright citizenship for kids born to immigrants in the country illegally did not have as much support with 41 percent saying they backed the initiative while 55 percent said otherwise, according to the survey.

Some four in 10, 41 percent, agreed with the statement that immigrants are a “burden” to the country. More than half, 56 percent, agreed with the statement that immigrants “strengthen our country,” the poll found.

The majority of people, 68 percent, believe that the economic system in the U.S. “unfairly favors the wealthy.” Only 30 percent think the economic system is “generally fair” to most Americans, according to the survey.

Just over a quarter, 27 percent, said one thing they are “worried or pessimistic” about in Trump’s second term is the negative perceptions of his character, behavior and criminal convictions, according to the poll. Favoritism, abuse of power and corruption came in second at 13 percent.

One of Trump’s main talking points during the campaign was his eagerness to impose tariffs across the board.

In November, he threatened to impose new tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, the U.S. largest trading partners, to force them to crack down more on the influx of fentanyl coming into the country and further fortify their borders.

Mexico and Canada would be slapped with a 25 percent tariff while the one for China would be 10 percent, according to Trump.

More people surveyed oppose increased tariffs on imports from Mexico and China. Around 45 percent said they “strongly” or “somewhat” support them while 50 percent said the opposite. Some 4 percent refused to answer.

Despite this, most Americans, 81 percent, think it is “very” or “somewhat” likely that Trump will attempt to increase tariffs on China and Mexico.

The poll was conducted from Jan. 2-10 with 2,128 Americans. The margin of error was 2.6 percentage points.

Rappers Snoop Dogg and Soulja Boy performed at incoming President Donald Trump’s “Crypto Ball” that was thrown in Washington DC ahead of the inauguration. This is despite Snoop Dogg’s cold treatment of Trump in social media videos in the past.

The two rappers were seen in videos posted to X, performing in front of celebrities and DC politicians including House Speaker Mike Johnson and others.

Although Snoop has had a cold relationship with Trump before, after Trump pardoned Death Row Records co-founder Michael Harris, the rapper said, “I have nothing but love and respect for Donald Trump,” per Billboard.

Who had @SnoopDogg performing at a Donald Trump inaugural ball on their 2025 Bingo card? Wow. pic.twitter.com/yfZVuI9Kh6

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) January 18, 2025

Soulja Boy performs at pre-inauguration Crypto Ball” event in lead up to Trump entering the White House.
pic.twitter.com/WDUA8QnfIF

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) January 18, 2025

The event was attended by leaders in the cryptocurrency industry as well as celebrities for a pre-inaugural celebration before Trump returns to the White House. One attendee told Coin Desk, “Overall insane event with legacy Silicon Valley VCs in the room along with I would dare say 50/60% of global crypto investor and founder leadership in the room. Also a lot of policy makers with senior leadership like Mike Johnson.”

Snooping pic.twitter.com/EsirisqpKg

— Jack Poso (@JackPosobiec) January 18, 2025

Big names in the cryptocurrency industry such as Michael Saylor, Brian Armstrong, the Winklevoss brothers, and Jesse Powell were in attendance. Incoming officials for the Trump administration were also in attendance, including Trump’s crypto czar David Sacks, who has been a supporter of Trump in the months leading up to the election.

The Besties in Washington. Are we missing anyone? pic.twitter.com/ZdzU0TL2kb

— David Sacks (@DavidSacks) January 18, 2025

The four-hour-long event was branded as an “exclusive social event” and ticket prices were advertised at $2,500 as well as $5,000 to attend. Outside, the press was barred from entering.

As Trump takes office, the cryptocurrency industry is in high spirits and optimistic about the future of policy in Washington DC that is more favorable for currencies like Bitcoin and others.

In a rare shooting in downtown Tehran, two prominent judges from the country’s Supreme Court have been killed and another wounded, according to Iranian state media reports.

Little information was released about the attacker, but at least one of the judges killed was known to handle death penalty cases for activists and opposition members.

Violent attacks like this shooting are uncommon in Iran, a country where the arms of state security maintain tight control of society. Footage from outside the Supreme Court building on Saturday showed security forces filling the street and yellow police tape cordoning off the area.

“At 10 a.m. this morning an individual entered the room of the judges of judiciary with a pistol and targeted the superior judges,” said Asghar Jahangir, the spokesman for Iran’s judiciary. Jahangir read from a written statement during a state television broadcast Saturday.

Little information was released about the attacker, who shot himself before he could be apprehended, according to the state media reports. One report stated that the attacker was not connected to any of the cases being heard at the court Saturday.

The two judges killed were identified as Mohammad Moghiseh and Ali Razini, both men who have served in Iran’s judicial system for decades. The judiciary spokesman identified the judges as “brave and experienced” men who “had crucial responsibilities in the jurisdiction investigating security cases.”

The judiciary said both men had previously been targeted due to their work in the justice system. The judges had “been targeted by the enemies of Islam and the Islamic Republic because of their precious services in sensitive cases,” Jahangir said.

Razini had been targeted in an attack in 1999, according to Jahangir, after which he was visited in the hospital by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

And Moghiseh, the other judge killed, had held a number of other high-profile positions including as assistant prosecutor in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison, the prison supervisor of two other detention facilities and the head of a court that handled female dress-code violations, according to Tejarat, an Iranian newspaper.

In 2019 Moghiseh was placed under sanctions along with another judge by the United States for penalizing Iranians for exercising freedoms of expression and assembly.

“He is notorious for sentencing scores of journalists and internet users to lengthy prison terms. In one case alone, he sentenced eight Iranian Facebook users to a cumulative total of 127 years in prison for charges including anti-regime publicity and insults to religion,” said the U.S. Treasury Department about Moghiseh in the 2019 designation.

It unclear how the attacker on Saturday was able to enter the highly fortified area. Iran’s Supreme Court is in central Tehran, just blocks away from the Grand Bazaar and government palaces.

While these kinds of attacks are rare, Iran has seen a number of shootings targeting prominent individuals in the past year. In September, October and December there were shootings targeting Friday prayer imams in different parts of the country.

The incoming Trump administration is eyeing immigration arrests of illegal immigrants across the country as soon as day one, as top officials say they are ready to “take the handcuffs off” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The Wall Street Journal reported that the administration is planning a large-scale raid in Chicago on Tuesday, targeting those with criminal backgrounds in particular.

Incoming border czar Tom Homan was asked by Fox News’ Jesse Watters about the media reports of a “big raid” on Tuesday in Chicago, but Homan said ICE will be working across the country.

“There’s going to be a big raid across the country. Chicago is just one of many places. We’ve got 24 field offices across the country. On Tuesday, ICE is finally going to go out and do their job. We’re going to take the handcuffs off ICE and let them go arrest criminal aliens, that’s what’s going to happen,” he said.

“What we’re telling ICE, you’re going to enforce the immigration law without apology. You’re going to concentrate on the worst first, public safety threats first, but no one is off the table. If they’re in the country illegally, they got a problem,” he said.

The administration has promised a mass deportation operation, as well as increased border security. Officials have said they intend to target those with criminal histories and convictions, but have also stressed that they will potentially arrest anyone in the U.S. illegally.

There are currently more than 7 million individuals on ICE’s non-detained docket.

“The administration has been clear that we’re going to start arresting people on day one, and Chicago’s probably not going to be the only place that arrests are going to be made,” a source familiar told Fox News Digital.

The administration is expected to see significant pushback from “sanctuary” cities that refuse to allow state and local law enforcement to honor ICE detainers – requests that ICE be notified when illegal immigrants in custody are being released.

Some Democratic officials in Chicago, as well as Massachusetts and Arizona have said they will not co-operate with the administration.

But New York City Mayor Eric Adams has met with Homan about how they can work together on removing illegal immigrants who have been convicted of violent crimes.

DHS nominee Kristi Noem testified to Congress on Friday, and threw her support behind the mass deportation operation and increasing border security.

She also said the administration will immediately end the use of the CBP One app, which currently allows migrants to be paroled into the U.S.

Paramount Global executives have held internal discussions about settling a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump over a CBS News interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, according to people familiar with the situation, a sign of larger efforts to dial down tensions with the incoming president.

Paramount, owner of CBS, its namesake studio and several cable channels, has a major piece of business in front of the new administration: its planned merger with Skydance Media. It’s become clear to executives at both companies that Trump’s dissatisfaction with CBS News will make the review tougher than they anticipated, and that they’ll likely need to offer concessions to win approval, people familiar with the situation said.

Incoming Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr gave Paramount executives a warning to that effect at a reception late last year following the taping of the Kennedy Center honors in Washington, according to people familiar with the exchange, and he has echoed the message in public remarks.

The FCC has the authority over the transaction because it would involve the transfer of broadcast-TV licenses held by local CBS-owned stations.

Trump’s lawsuit against CBS, which seeks $10 billion in damages, alleges that the network committed election interference by editing portions of an interview with Harris, favoring her campaign for president. Trump claimed CBS aired one version of the interview on “60 Minutes” and another version on its show “Face the Nation,” each containing different answers about Israel. CBS has said it aired a more succinct version of Harris’s interview on “60 Minutes.”

There was no indication that Paramount had approached Trump’s team about a settlement, but executives at the company were gaming out options to reduce friction with the incoming administration.

“What’s going on here is a lot of bluster to discipline the future operations of CBS,” said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, a longtime public-interest attorney and senior counselor at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. “My guess is that this is just to kind of soften them up and a warning to others.”

CBS News is not alone in drawing Trump’s ire. Last year, he filed a defamation lawsuit against Disney’s ABC News and star anchor George Stephanopoulos over comments he made on air stating that Trump had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll. A federal jury determined Trump was liable for sexual abuse. Last month, Disney settled the suit, agreeing to contribute $15 million to Trump’s presidential foundation or museum and to pay $1 million in legal fees to Trump’s lawyer.

Paramount and Skydance executives have considered a number of possible changes the company could make to shore up CBS News editorial operations while reassuring Trump’s camp, including adding new processes around programming and possibly releasing the transcript of its “60 Minutes” interview with Harris, according to the people familiar with the situation.

Skydance is run by David Ellison, the son of billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who has a good relationship with Trump. Under the terms of the deal, Skydance and its investors agreed to spend more than $8 billion to acquire control of Paramount from media heiress Shari Redstone and merge it with Skydance. A person close to Skydance said David Ellison would support measures to promote unbiased journalism.

Paramount finds itself in a similar predicament to the one CNN owner Time Warner faced in 2016 when it proposed merging with telecom giant AT&T. Trump regularly took aim at CNN for alleged bias, and his Justice Department sued to block the deal on antitrust grounds.

Then, however, CNN’s editorial practices weren’t officially part of the government review, which on its face was about whether a unit that included CNN should be sold off as a condition of the deal. AT&T and Time Warner resisted and prevailed, closing their deal.

This time around, an FCC leader is making a news organization’s fairness an explicit issue. For Paramount, as with Time Warner, any concessions to Trump come with the risk of upsetting Hollywood talent. “Paramount has the same problem, which is if you bend the knee on the editorial side, there’s a talent problem on the streaming side,” said Blair Levin, a former FCC official and analyst at New Street Research.

The Paramount-Skydance deal could face other serious challenges. John Moolenaar, the Republican chairman of the House select committee on China, said Wednesday that the merger warranted review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. China’s Tencent Holdings, which was recently added to a U.S. blacklist of Chinese military-linked companies, is an investor in Skydance. A Skydance spokeswoman said the Tencent investment in the new Paramount would be less than 5%.

CBS’s news operations have had a season of turbulence, with certain programming drawing criticism from inside and outside the company. Most recently, the Jan. 12 episode of “60 Minutes” on the Biden administration’s handling of the war in Gaza triggered concerns over bias at the news division.

Jewish organizations and the Anti-Defamation League blasted the episode for being slanted against Israel. Internally, executives raised questions about why more context wasn’t added to the piece to make it more balanced, said people familiar with the situation.

Within hours of the episode airing, Paramount had reached out to Susan Zirinsky, its former president, to oversee standards and help vet stories on an interim basis, according to people familiar with the situation. In recent days, CBS News has reached out to several senior cable news executives to replace Zirinsky on a permanent basis, according to other people familiar with the discussions.

Last fall, CBS News anchor Tony Dokoupil opened an interview about Israel with author Ta-Nehisi Coates by stating that the content in Coates’s new book “The Message,” which is critical of Israel, “would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist.” Dokoupil’s interview caused CBS’ race and culture unit to express concern that his tone and phrasing gave a perception that he was biased.

The incident set off a backlash at the company. Some employees said Dokoupil went too far, while others felt the news division came down too hard on him. Redstone, the controlling shareholder of Paramount, even gave a public statement in support of Dokoupil.

Since then Redstone and David Ellison have spoken about the need for changes at CBS News to make sure it is objective, according to people familiar with the situation.

Carr has said that bias accusations are fair game for the media regulator. In a November Fox News interview, he cited a news-distortion complaint from the Center for American Rights as an element he would consider during the merger review.

Outgoing FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, dismissed the complaint on Thursday, saying in a statement that “the FCC should not be the President’s speech police” or “journalism’s censor-in-chief.”

Add Bill Gates to growing the list of billionaires dining with President-elect Donald Trump before he returns to the White House.

The Microsoft co-founder said he recently spent more than three hours with Trump and spoke to him about global health challenges.

“I had a chance, about two weeks ago, to go have a long and actually quite intriguing dinner with him,” Gates said during an interview with Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Emma Tucker.

The meeting also included Susie Wiles, the incoming White House chief of staff, Gates said. Fellow tech billionaire Elon Musk, a Trump confidant, wasn’t among the small group of people whom Gates mentioned as having attended.

Gates described the discussion as “quite wide-ranging.” He said they talked about global health issues, which has been a focus of his philanthropic work through the Gates Foundation.

The conversation covered topics including efforts to develop a cure for HIV, Gates added. “He, in the Covid days, accelerated the vaccine innovation,” Gates said.

“So I was asking him if maybe the same kind of thing could be done here, and we both got, I think, pretty excited about that.”

Gates also said he discussed efforts to combat polio around the world.

“I felt like he was energized and looking forward to helping to drive innovation,” Gates said. “I was frankly impressed with how well he showed a lot of interest in the issues I brought up.”

Business titans have been working to make inroads with Trump since the Republican’s presidential election victory in November. A series of top executives have met with Trump, including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, and major companies have donated to fund Trump’s inauguration.

NEW – Bill Gates is “impressed” and “excited” after meeting with Trump: “he showed a lot of interest in the issues I brought up.”pic.twitter.com/pf9H94gJ3u

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) January 17, 2025

Vivek Ramaswamy, the multi-millionaire biotech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate, plans to launch a bid for Ohio governor, multiple sources confirm to Fox News Digital.

The sources add that Ramaswamy, who along with Elon Musk is co-leader of President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, is expected to make an announcement on a gubernatorial run “shortly.”

“Vivek’s base plan remains [the] same: to get accomplishments at DOGE and then announce a run for governor shortly,” said an Ohio operative familiar with Ramaswamy’s thinking who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, told Fox News on Friday.

Current Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is term-limited and cannot seek re-election in 2026.

DeWine on Friday announced that Lt. Gov. Jon Husted would fill the U.S. Senate seat held by former Sen. JD Vance until earlier this month, when the vice president-elect stepped down ahead of Monday’s inauguration.

Before the Senate announcement, Husted had long planned to run for governor in 2026 to succeed DeWine.

The now-39-year-old Ramaswamy, who launched his presidential campaign in February 2023, saw his stock rise as he went from a long-shot to a contender for the Republican nomination.

Ramaswamy campaigned on what he called an “America First 2.0” agenda and was one of Trump’s biggest supporters in the field of rivals, calling Trump the “most successful president in our century.”

He dropped his White House bid a year ago after a distant finish in the Iowa caucuses. Ramaswamy quickly endorsed Trump and became a top surrogate on the campaign trail.

Ramaswamy, an Ohio native, was named along with Musk, the world’s richest person, to lead DOGE, in an announcement in November by Trump.

Ohio, which was once a top general election battleground, has shifted red over the past decade as Republicans have dominated statewide elections.

Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD), President-elect Donald Trump‘s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security, cruised through a confirmation hearing Friday on Capitol Hill, just three days before the inauguration in Washington.

Noem is expected to be on track for a forthcoming Senate confirmation vote after surviving a fairly quiet hearing that lasted less than three hours. She faced a minimal amount of pushback from Deomcrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), the committee chairman, said he expects the panel to move on Noem’s nomination on Monday following the inauguration ceremony.

“I don’t see a reason why they, Democrats, would maybe not let her go on Monday,” Paul said. “I think that Secretary of State [nominee] Rubio, I think there’s a chance we’ll vote on him on Monday.”

Here are the top takeaways from Kristi Noem’s confirmation hearing:

Border security tops line of questioning

Border security came up time and time again through Noem’s questioning.

“Securing our homeland is a serious, sacred trust that must be relentlessly pursued and can never be taken for granted,” Noem said, later adding that “the No. 1 threat to our homeland security is the southern border.”

Noem vowed to ensure Biden-era immigration initiatives would be shut down as soon as Trump took office. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) asked if that would include ending CBP One, a phone app run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to schedule appointments and receive documents for immigrants outside the country, who are overwhelmingly admitted.

“Yes, senator,” Noem said. “We will eliminate the CBP One app, maintain some of the data that’s in it that’s critical to knowing who’s in our country, but that app will no longer be in use.”

Noem maintained that although she would be working with homeland security adviser Stephen Miller and “border czar” Tom Homan, Trump himself would be the one making decisions about the border.

“Well, the president will be in charge of the border,” Noem said.

Noem backed by top senator

Noem was introduced by Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), who described her as a champion back home. Thune’s endorsement as the top member of the 100-person Senate was a not-so-subtle nod to senators to confirm Noem.

“It’s going to require a tremendous amount of persistence and determination, which I think she has, an enormous amount of energy, which she has in abundance, and frankly, what I would say is just absolute toughness can take some, some tough and hard leadership to get things back in order,” Thune said.

Thune added that he believed Noem, the governor of South Dakota since 2019 and a former House member, possesses the skill set necessary to oversee the 260,000 employees at the DHS.

“Securing the homeland is the … No. 1 constitutional priority as a Congress, and it is, for sure, the No. 1 priority of the voters in the last election, and it is the No. 1 priority for President Donald Trump,” Cramer said. “Naturally, he would say, ‘Who is the toughest, smartest, most capable protector that I know? I think I’d like to find a ranch woman, mom, grandmother, who knows how to protect her own.’”

Wildfire funding distribution

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) pushed Noem on whether she would withhold federal funding from a state or location at the order of Trump, a reference to Trump’s previous threat not to give Federal Emergency Management Agency aid to people in California for political reasons.

“We won’t give him money to put out all his fires,” Trump said about Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) last fall, as the California governor was asking for federal funding to fight an incoming Trump administration.

“The specter is there of potential discrimination based on politics withholding money from California or other states,” Blumenthal said. “It’s not an unfounded fear.”

Noem promised to exercise “no political bias” in the consideration of who to release federal funding to and vowed to stay within the confines of the law — that if someone was eligible, they would receive money.

Noem also claimed that federal agencies with high levels of employees working remotely had negatively affected the country.

“I’ve heard since being nominated for this position that many of the agencies within the department are not showing up,” Noem told Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA). “They’re not doing their jobs. Even FEMA, who is responsible for disaster response, that they have the alternative, some of these employees to not even respond to a disaster, which might explain the horrific results that we saw in North Carolina when they had such a terrible disaster that impacted families and communities, and FEMA failed them so miserably.”

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be the Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, sparred with Sen. Elizabeth (D-MA) on Thursday during his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Finance Committee.

The exchange happened when Warren asked him to follow up on a question Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) had asked him about taxing billionaires.

“It was Senator Warnock who asked you about, is there any billionaire rich enough who you wouldn’t support a tax cut for going forward,” Warren said.

“I think it’s unwise to single out any–,” Bessent began to respond before Warren cut him off.

“Rich people?” she snapped back.

“Any individual,” he responded.

“Oh okay,” Warren replied. “Is there a group of billionaires, you can just pick a dollar figure and there can be more than one above that?”

“I could give you a glib answer, but I won’t,” Bessent responded. “But you know again, that’s not where the money is. At one point when President Obama was debating Mitt Romney, the moderator said, ‘But sir, that would make collections go down.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, but it’s about fairness.’”

“And I have to tell you some Warren, I’m about collection,” he continued.

Warren seemed to miss the entire point that he was making as she proceeded to give the same answer as Obama, saying: “I understand, but I like to think that fairness is about billionaires actually paying their fair share too.”

Watch:

Philip Rucker, The Washington Post’s high-profile national editor, has indicated to people that he is exiting the newspaper, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mike Semel, a deputy managing editor at the newspaper, is expected to fill the role on an interim basis, according to the people.

Rucker’s expected exit comes amid a larger talent exodus that has seen some of the storied newspaper’s most prized journalists flee the Jeff Bezos-owned and Will Lewis-led institution.

CNN had been aggressively working to recruit Rucker for a high-ranking Washington position, as we first reported.

That effort had been led by the network’s top leadership, including CNN boss Mark Thompson, according to people familiar with the matter.

It’s not clear whether Rucker has formally accepted CNN’s offer, but he had been in the final stages of negotiations with the network this week, according to the people.

Rucker’s impending exit is a major loss for The Post, especially with Donald Trump set to reclaim power in just days. He was a member of various teams of reporters awarded Pulitzer Prizes for stories related to Trump.

The unfortunate saga of Pakistani state persecution against former Prime Minister Imran Khan continues, as a Pakistani court on Friday sentenced Khan and this wife to 14 and seven years in prison after finding them guilty of corruption.

He had already been held in jail for a couple years, despite many months of huge protests in various places by supporters demanding his release, after he and his wife were accused of accepting a gift of land from a real estate tycoon in exchange for laundered money, amid many additional pending graft investigations.

Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party reject the allegations, and the former prime minister had pled non-guilty in the case.

“Whilst we wait for a detailed decision, it’s important to note that the Al Qadir Trust case against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi lacks any solid foundation and is bound to collapse,” PTI’s foreign media wing asserted in a statement.

PTI plans to challenge the verdict in higher courts, with Khan pledging after this conviction: “I will neither make any deal nor seek any relief.”

Khan has meanwhile insisted that his arrest in 2023 was simply politically motivated, designed by his rivals and enemies to keep the popular politician from power. According to a review of the last couple years of turmoil which has gripped Pakistan over Khan’s fate:

While imprisoned, Khan has been facing dozens of cases ranging from charges of graft and misuse of power to inciting violence against the state after being removed from office in a parliamentary vote of confidence in April 2022.

He has either been acquitted or his sentences suspended in most cases, except for this one and another on charges of inciting supporters to rampage through military facilities to protest against his arrest on May 9, 2023.

His supporters have led several violent protest rallies since the May 9 incidents.

He’s gotten some international support and backing amid the saga, with a United Nations panel of exports having announced last year that his detention “had no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him from running for political office”.

Importantly, Khan’s supporters are expressing hope that Trump will use his influence to free him. According to the NY Times on Friday:

Supporters of Imran Khan, the imprisoned former prime minister, are now pinning their hopes on getting him freed — however fanciful — on the wild card among the three: the incoming administration of Donald J. Trump.

Mr. Trump has said nothing publicly to indicate that he plans to intervene in Mr. Khan’s case. Once he is sworn in as president on Monday, Pakistan is unlikely to rank high among Mr. Trump’s foreign policy priorities.

But a series of posts on social media by one of Mr. Trump’s close allies has inspired almost messianic certainty among Mr. Khan’s followers that the once and future American president will help secure his freedom.

I’ll say it again, @geonews_urdu:

Free Imran Khan. pic.twitter.com/z4Uxdejc2O

— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) December 16, 2024

PTI had made a better than expected showing in February 2024 parliamentary elections and had decried that this was all a conspiracy to prevent his return to office by the military-run deep state. There are ultimately a whopping 170 legal cases against Khan.

Current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who emerged victorious in the last elections while Khan had languished in jail, was seen more as the “military’s man” in Islamabad, while Khan’s legacy has sought to be erased by those same elite powers.

A Florida jury found that CNN liable of defaming Navy veteran Zachary Young on Friday, and awarded him a total of $5 million in addition to finding that punitive damages were warranted against the network.

The verdict follows other high-stakes media defamation cases against Fox News, which agreed to pay $787 million to Dominion voting systems, and ABC, which agreed to give $15 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s presidential library.

In his lawsuit against the cable news network, Young sought damages over a November 2021 report in which CNN chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt claimed that bad actors were reportedly running a black market and charging exorbitant fees to Afghans attempting to flee their country after the Taliban retook control of it earlier that year.

Segments about Marquardt’s report ran on both Jake Tapper and Jim Acosta’s shows. Young’s name and face featured in both segments; he was the only individual identified by Marquardt.

Young’s legal team has submitted that CNN published “lies” about his business extracting people from Afghanistan and cited internal communications — which revealed that employees had doubts about the integrity of Marquardt’s story, as well as that Marquardt had called Young a “mf*****” whom he hoped to “nail” and agreed with a producer that the veteran had a “punchable face” — as evidence that the aim of of the story was to “hurt” him.

“Clients and colleagues in the national security community simply cannot associate with anyone involved in ‘black markets’ or ‘exploitation,’” argued Young in his lawsuit. “Thus, despite their falsity, CNN’s defamatory comments have rendered Young permanently unemployable in the career he has trained his whole life for, have resulted in Young’s income plunging to nothing, and have caused Young to suffer millions of dollars in lost income.”

CNN has defended itself by arguing that part of the report were opinion, rather than assertions of fact, and by declaring that “At the time of its reporting, CNN knew little about Young’s financials, his model, or whether he’d successfully evacuated anyone because whenever anyone [including CNN] asked Young to explain his business, he obfuscated, behaved unprofessionally, lied, and hid.”

At closing arguments on Thursday, CNN lead counsel David Axelrod (not the Democratic political strategist and CNN commentator) asked jurors whether Young’s team had proved there was a “conspiracy” or CNN had been “trying to do their best.”

Meanwhile, Devin Freedman, a lawyer for Young, argued that “Zach’s ability to walk into a room with pride and being seen as a professional with integrity has been stripped away.”

“These are injuries that transcend monetary loss. They pierce the soul of who he is, who he was,” added Freedman.

The trial is now set to move on to phase two, during which the figure CNN owes in punitive damages will be determined.

President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration will be moved indoors, he announced Friday, due to dangerously cold temperatures projected in the nation’s capital.

“I have ordered the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be delivered in the United States Capitol Rotunda, as was used by Ronald Reagan in 1985, also because of very cold weather,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

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

CNN reported earlier Friday that plans were underway for Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance to be sworn in in the Rotunda and that Trump’s team was in talks to potentially hold some of the festivities at the arena, where Trump will host a rally on Sunday.

“The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies will honor the request of the President-elect and his Presidential Inaugural Committee to move the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies inside the U.S. Capitol to the Rotunda,” the committee said in a statement.

The Secret Service and other agencies, including DC and US Capitol Police, are working to determine how moving the inauguration and parade indoors will change security plans for Monday, two law enforcement sources familiar with the planning told CNN.

Agencies now have just three days to put together a new security plan that previously took months to plan.

The agencies have worked since early 2024 planning for the inauguration — designated by the Department of Homeland Security as a National Special Security Event, which triggers a multi-pronged federal approach.

Trump’s inauguration was expected to be attended by hundreds of thousands of ticketed guests and involve roughly 25,000 law enforcement and military personnel.

As of Friday morning, more than 30 miles of fencing — more than has ever erected for such an event — was still being set up and was meant to filter crowds through security checkpoints in anticipation for Trump’s now-scrapped outdoor inauguration and parade down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House.

Officials are worried about the low temperatures being a health risk to attendees and guests — a concern Trump voiced on Friday.

“I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way. It is dangerous conditions for the tens of thousands of Law Enforcement, First Responders, Police K9s and even horses, and hundreds of thousands of supporters that will be outside for many hours on the 20th (In any event, if you decide to come, dress warmly!),” Trump posted.

The last president to be sworn in indoors was Reagan in 1985, when daytime temperatures dipped to 7 degrees with a windchill of -25. Reagan took the oath of office inside the Capitol rotunda. His inaugural parade was canceled.

President William Henry Harrison is widely believed to have caught a cold during his 1841 inaugural ceremony, during which he gave a two-hour speech and wore no coat or hat, according to the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. He later contracted pneumonia and died one month after his inauguration.

This year, the temperature on Inauguration Day at noon — when the president-elect swears in — is expected to be in the low 20s, which is around 20 degrees below normal — likely the coldest since Reagan’s second inauguration.

Winds of 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph are likely Monday. These winds will make conditions feel frigid. Wind chills are likely to hover around 10 degrees during the daylight hours and could drop into the single digits after sundown.

A mix of rain and snow is possible Sunday ahead of the main event, but Monday so far looks to be cold and windy, but dry.

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the law requiring China-based ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok by Sunday or face an effective ban of the popular social video app in the U.S.

ByteDance has so far refused to sell TikTok, meaning many U.S. users could lose access to the app this weekend. The app may still work for those who already have TikTok on their phones, although ByteDance has also threatened to shut the app down.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration, upholding the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which President Joe Biden signed in April.

“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community,” the Supreme Court’s opinion said. “But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.”

Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch wrote concurrences.

TikTok’s fate in the U.S. now lies in the hands of President-elect Donald Trump, who originally favored a TikTok ban during his first administration, but has since flip-flopped on the matter. In December, Trump asked the Supreme Court to pause the law’s implementation and allow his administration “the opportunity to pursue a political resolution of the questions at issue in the case.”

In a post on his social media app Truth Social, Trump wrote that the decision was expected “and everyone must respect it.”

“My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!” Trump wrote.

Trump began to speak more favorably of TikTok after he met in February with billionaire Republican megadonor Jeff Yass. Yass is a major ByteDance investor who also owns a stake in the owner of Truth Social.

Trump will be inaugurated Monday, one day after the TikTok deadline for a sale. TikTok CEO Shou Chew is one of several tech leaders expected to be in attendance, seated on the dais.

In a video posted on TikTok, Chew thanked Trump “for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available” in the U.S. He said use of TikTok is a First Amendment right, adding that over 7 million American businesses use it to make money and find customers.

“Rest assured, we will do everything in our power to ensure our platform thrives as your online home for limitless creativity and discovery as well as a source of inspiration and joy for years to come,” he said.

The nation’s highest court said in the opinion that while “data collection and analysis is a common practice in this digital age,” the sheer size of TikTok and its “susceptibility to foreign adversary control, together with the vast swaths of sensitive data the platform collects” poses a national security concern.

Under the terms of the law, third-party internet service providers such as Apple
and Google
will be penalized for supporting a ByteDance-owned TikTok after the Jan. 19 deadline.

If service providers and app store owners comply, consumers will be unable to install the necessary updates that make the app functional.

Users look for alternatives

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated Biden’s support for the law in a statement, saying “TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law.”

“Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday,” Pierre said.

Attorney General Merrick Garland and Lisa Monaco, his deputy, said in a release that the decision “enables the Justice Department to prevent the Chinese government from weaponizing TikTok to undermine America’s national security.”

Kate Ruane, the director of the Center for Democracy and Technology nonprofit, criticized the ruling, saying in a statement that it “harms the free expression of hundreds of millions of TikTok users in this country and around the world.”

In December, members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party sent letters to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, urging the executives to begin preparing to comply with the law.

On Jan. 10, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments from lawyers representing TikTok, content creators and the U.S. government. TikTok’s lead lawyer, Noel Francisco, argued that the law violates the First Amendment rights of the app’s 170 million American users. U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued that the app’s alleged ties to the Chinese government pose a national security threat.

Many TikTok creators have been telling their fans to find them on competing social platforms such as Google’s YouTube and Meta’s
Facebook and Instagram, CNBC reported. Additionally, Instagram leaders scheduled meetings after the Jan. 10 Supreme Court hearing to direct workers to prepare for a wave of users if the court upholds the law.

Chinese social media app and TikTok look-alike RedNote rose to the top of Apple’s app store Monday, indicating that TikTok’s millions of users were seeking alternatives.

The Chinese government also weighed a contingency plan that would have X owner Elon Musk acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations as part of several options intended to keep the app from its effective ban in the U.S., Bloomberg News reported Monday.

Should ByteDance decide to sell TikTok to a U.S. company or group of investors, potential buyers may have to pay between $40 billion and $50 billion, according to an estimate by CFRA Research Senior Vice President Angelo Zino.

Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted will replace Vice President-elect J.D. Vance in the Senate, ending weeks of speculation as Washington, D.C., prepares to inaugurate Donald Trump for a second time as president.

Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) announced his decision to appoint Husted at a Friday afternoon press conference, calling him a workhorse with the “heart” to represent the people of Ohio. Trump had made a late push for DeWine to consider entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, but Husted was widely regarded as the front-runner in Ohio political circles.

He has the confidence of DeWine, serving as his deputy since 2019, and more than a decade of statewide experience.

“I have worked with him, I have seen him – I know his knowledge of Ohio, I know his heart,” DeWine said at the press conference, joined by Husted. “I know what he cares about. I know his skills, and all of that tells me that he is the right person for this.”

The other Republicans under serious consideration were state GOP Chairwoman Jane Timken and former state Rep. Jay Edwards, according to one source familiar with the deliberations.

Husted thanked DeWine for the opportunity as he took the podium on Friday, repeatedly holding back tears as he recounted his path to the Senate.

Husted, who spent part of his childhood in foster care, became emotional as he discussed his work on adoption and protecting children online. He teared up again as he called DeWine a leader and friend.

DeWine’s choice has major ramifications in Ohio, where Husted was expected to run for governor in 2026. Ramaswamy plans to mount a gubernatorial run, according to one person familiar with his plans, with further competition expected from Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.

DeWine is term-limited and previously signaled support for Husted had he chosen to enter the governor’s race.

In Washington, Husted’s appointment will bring Republicans one step closer to solidifying the makeup of their 53-seat Senate majority. Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV), who just finished his term as West Virginia governor, was sworn into the Senate on Tuesday.

Another vacancy is expected to open next week with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on a glide path to becoming Trump’s secretary of state. Already, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has named Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody as his replacement.

Vance had four years left on his Senate term before he resigned last Thursday. However, Husted will have to face voters twice in the next four years if he wants to keep it.

According to state law, he must compete for the remainder of Vance’s term in a 2026 special election and then again for a full, six-year term in 2028.

Democrat Sherrod Brown, a three-term senator ousted by Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) in November, has not ruled out making a comeback bid in 2026.

Husted, 57, first entered politics in 2001 as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, becoming speaker just four years later.

He would serve a single term in the Ohio Senate before his election as secretary of state in 2011, a position he held for eight years.

Husted will begin his tenure in Washington as the junior senator from Ohio. Vance opted to stay in the Senate for the final weeks of President Joe Biden’s term, a move that gave Moreno senior status over Husted.