FOREIGN TIT-BIT: Trump picks Fox News Host Pete Hegseth To Serve As Secretary Of Defense
Compiled by Judex OKORO
“Many people in Trump’s orbit were caught by surprise by his decision, the sources said. Hegseth didn’t emerge as a top candidate for defense secretary until Monday, a Trump adviser said, with the Fox News host interviewing for the role over the last 24 hours. Trump’s choice of Hegseth is a notable departure from his picks for defense secretary in his first term, when he selected a four-star general, James Mattis, and an Army secretary, Mark Esper, to lead the Pentagon. But Trump ultimately soured on both of those secretaries and was sharply critical of them after Mattis resigned and Esper was fired.”
Trump Expected To Shake Up White House Briefing room →
“Confidants of President-elect Trump are considering changes that would give newer, MAGA-aligned voices access to daily press briefings … The briefing room currently seats 49 reporters across an array of outlets. Any efforts to expand access to daily press briefings to pro-Trump outlets, such as Steve Bannon’s War Room, would need to come at the expense of existing outlets.”
Advertisers Set To Return To X As They Seek Favor With Elon Musk And Donald Trump →
“Media executives told the Financial Times that some brands were preparing to advertise on X once again, as its billionaire owner was likely to gain an influential role within a second Trump White House … ‘Whether by accident or design Musk has created not a new Twitter but a new Truth Social, albeit one that Trump isn’t a majority shareholder in.'
Google Is Testing The “Impact” Of Removing EU News From Search Results →
“While the ‘test’ is supposed to determine how it will impact traffic and the overall search experience, it won’t show up for everyone. Google will only remove EU news articles from search results, Google News, and Discover for one percent of users in Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain. Google says it’s running the ‘time-limited’ test because EU regulators and publishers ‘have asked for additional data about the effect of news content in Search.'”
Al Jazeera Gaza Team Stops Broadcasting Over Unpaid Bills →
“In an email obtained by Semafor titled ‘Suspending Operations,’ and sent to hundreds of network staff on Tuesday, one of Al Jazeera English TV’s Gaza-based correspondents Hani Mahmoud said that the team based in Gaza would no longer be broadcasting on air until the network paid its bills. Mahmoud wrote that due to the delay of fuel payments by the Qatar-backed satellite television organization, Al Jazeera’s employees can no longer drive vehicles between their homes and broadcast locations — and don’t want to risk traveling by public transportation … One person familiar with the situation told Semafor that in addition to missed expense repayments, staff in Gaza had also struggled to receive payment in recent months.
Bluesky Adds One Million New Users After Election →
“In the week since the United States presidential election, Elon Musk has used X, the social media platform he owns, to reiterate his support for President-elect Donald J. Trump. Some of the platform’s users have decided that they would rather post elsewhere. Among the largest beneficiaries of that desire is Bluesky, a rival service that has gained more than a million new users in the week since the election … It now has 14.7 million users, the company said.”
Culled from
NiemanLab Daily Digest
