Sen. Marco Rubio Will Be The Next Secretary Of State, Trump Says

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Speaking at a conference for parents of children with autism in 2019, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. compared the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine division to the Catholic Church's child sex abuse scandals, NBC News reported Wednesday.

Kennedy, who Trump picked to head the Department of Health and Human Services, reportedly made the remarks to a private audience at an autism conference while also calling the CDC and its vaccine division fascist.

“The word ‘fascism’ in Italian means a bundle of sticks, and what it means is the bundle is more important than the sticks,” Kennedy said, according to NBC News. “The institution, CDC and the vaccine program, is more important than the children that it’s supposed to protect."

“It’s the same reason we had a pedophile scandal in the Catholic Church,” Kennedy said. “Because people were able to convince themselves that the institution, the church, was more important than these little boys and girls who were being raped. And everybody kept their mouth shut."

Read more on RFK Jr.'s full comments at NBC News here.

Trump said Wednesday he had spoken to Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, after vowing to impose massive tariffs on goods from the country on his first day in office.

“She has agreed to stop Migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We also talked about what can be done to stop the massive drug inflow into the United States, and also, U.S. consumption of these drugs. It was a very productive conversation!”

He went on to say Mexico would stop people from heading to the country’s border with the U.S. “effective immediately.”

“THIS WILL GO A LONG WAY TOWARD STOPPING THE ILLEGAL INVASION OF THE USA,” Trump wrote. “Thank you!!!”

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg met with Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club on Wednesday afternoon, according to The New York Times.

It’s unclear what the pair spoke about, but the Times, citing people familiar with the meeting, said Zuckerberg initiated the get-together.

Earlier this year, the techtold Trump his defiant pose after an assassination attempt was “badass.”

Elon Musk called for the abolition of a federal agency that protects ordinary Americans from being ripped-off by the financial sector.

The billionaire on Wednesday signaled he has his eye on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ahead of leading a central government cost-cutting drive in the Trump administration.

“Delete CFPB. There are too many duplicative regulatory agencies,” Musk wrote in a post on his X platform.

His tweet was a response to a clip of “The Joe Rogan Show” where guest Marc Andreessen, a Silicon Valley investor, rails against the agency for "terrorizing" big banks.

The CFPB, the brainchild of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), was set-up in the aftermath of the 2008 crash as a consumer finance watchdog, and has long been a Republican punchbag.

Musk is set to lead the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside fellow billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy. It's unclear how seriously Musk's words should be taken since only Congress can get rid of the CFPB, Reuters reported.

In response to the Musk outburst, Public Citizen, a consumer rights nonprofit, called the CFPB the “model of government efficiency,” citing how it has clawed back around $20 billion for Americans “cheated by bank and financial corporation wrongdoing.”

“This is systemic corruption at a grand and intolerable scale,” said Robert Weissman, co-president of the group.

Trump confirmed on Wednesday that he is nominating retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg as his incoming administration’s special envoy to the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Kellogg previously served in Trump’s last administration as chief of staff for the White House National Security Council, as well as national security adviser to then-Vice President Mike Pence. There is no special envoy for the Russia-Ukraine war under the Biden administration.

”Keith has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first Administration. He was with me right from the beginning!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN!”

The retired general has purportedly presented the president-elect with a plan to end Russia’s yearslong war in Ukraine. The plan would involve imposing a ceasefire based on their prevailing battle lines while forcing leaders of both countries to the negotiating table, Reuters reported in June.

The U.S. would reportedly warn Kyiv that it will halt military aid unless it enters peace talks, and warn Moscow that refusing to negotiate will lead to increased American support for Ukraine.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) said the “power” vested in Trump's new “border czar” means the position should be confirmed by the Senate.

Since being selected by the president-elect for the role, Tom Homan has espoused hardline anti-immigrant rhetoric during a series of media appearances as he explained how Trump's mass deportation plans will be enforced.

Most recently, Homan said he will jail Denver Mayor Mike Johnston if the Democrat resists deportations.

As his job is not officially in the government, Homan will avoid scrutiny from senators who could block a Trump pick.

Appearing on “CNN Newsroom” with Jim Acosta on Tuesday, Crockett described Homan as Trump's “henchman,” and said he should face the same Senate confirmation hearing as cabinet nominees.

“At the end of the day, he should have to go through the same level of scrutiny if he is going to get this type of power,” she said, referring to Homan's threat to incarcerate opponents.

President-elect Donald Trump is considering picking retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg as special envoy for the conflict in Ukraine, a newly created position, Reuters reported Wednesday.

Kellogg was most recently a national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence.

Kellogg is one of two advisers with a plan to end the war that the president-elect seemed to react favorably to, Reuters reported in June. The plan calls for a ceasefire along the current battle lines. Then, it attempts to force both sides to the negotiating table by telling Kiev the U.S. won't provide any more weapons until they enter talks, and telling Moscow the U.S. will increase support for Ukraine if the talks don't happen.

Richard Grenell, Trump's former acting director of national intelligence, is still in the running for the role, Reuters reported.

Fox News describes Grenell as an "outspoken Trump loyalist." He was reportedly passed over for the secretary of state role in favor of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

Kamala Harris has given her first public comments since conceding the election to Trump three weeks ago.

During a call with donors and volunteers Tuesday, the vice president said there was still “a lot to fight for” despite it being “an uncertain time.”

“I'm clear-eyed about that," she added. “I know you're clear-eyed about it, and it feels heavy.”

In a clip posted by the Democrats’ X account, Harris then added: “I just have to remind you, don’t let anybody take your power from you. You have the same power that you did before Nov. 5, and you have the same purpose that you did. And you have the same ability to engage and inspire. So don’t ever let anybody or any circumstance take your power from you.”