President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to serve as his Secretary of State. 

‘It is my Great Honor to announce that Senator Marco Rubio, of Florida, is hereby nominated to be The United States Secretary of State. Marco is a Highly Respected Leader, and a very powerful Voice for Freedom,’ Trump said in a statement. ‘He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries.’

In a statement, Rubio, 53, said he was ‘honored’ by the trust Trump ‘has placed in me.’

‘As Secretary of State, I will work every day to carry out his foreign policy agenda,’ Rubio wrote on X. ‘Under the leadership of President Trump we will deliver peace through strength and always put the interests of Americans and America above all else.’

‘I look forward to earning the support of my colleagues in the U.S. Senate so the President has his national security and foreign policy team in place when he takes office on January 20,’ he added. 

The son of Cuban exiles, the three-term senator is known on Capitol Hill as a foreign policy hawk who favors maintaining U.S. alliances overseas, including NATO. 

For example, he voted against the $95 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine and has urged the eastern European nation to negotiate an end to its war with Russia.

However, Rubio, who sits on both the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee, has taken similar positions to Trump on international conflicts, including Israel’s war with Hamas. He has also publicly supported Israel’s right to defend itself. 

In his announcement, Trump described Rubio as ‘a strong Advocate for our nation, a true friend to our allies, and a fearless warrior who will never back down to our adversaries.’

‘I look forward to working with Marco to Make America, and the World, Safe and Great Again!’ he said. 

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Rubio called the role a ‘tremendous responsibility.’

‘And the job of the Secretary of State is to execute on foreign policy set by the elected President of the United States, and I hope to have the opportunity to do it if my current colleagues here in the U.S. Senate confirm me,’ he said. 

He was Trump’s rival during his 2016 campaign, where both men sparred during televised debates. Trump sometimes belittled him, sometimes calling him ‘little Marco.’ 

Rubio was previously being considered as a possible running mate by the former president until Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance was selected. 

President-elect Donald Trump has announced more than a dozen Cabinet picks just a week after he was declared victorious in his race against Vice President Kamala Harris, reflecting his commitment to putting ‘America first,’ the campaign told Fox News Digital. 

‘The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin, giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail — and his Cabinet picks reflect his priority to put America First. President Trump will continue to appoint highly qualified men and women who have the talent, experience and necessary skill sets to Make America Great Again,’ Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital when asked about Trump’s speedy roll-out of Cabinet picks. 

Trump sailed to victory last week after securing electoral votes from toss-up states such as Pennsylvania and Georgia. All in, he earned 312 electoral votes — sweeping all seven of the battleground states — and won the popular vote. 

‘America first’ and ‘Make America Great Again’ were hallmarks of Trump’s campaign, including during his historic rally at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan last month.

‘We stand on the verge of the four greatest years in the history of the U.S.A. With your help from now until Election Day, we will restore America’s promise. We will put America first, and we will take back the nation that we all love,’ he said at MSG. ‘We bleed the same blood. We share the same home, and we salute the same great American flag. We are one people, one family and one glorious nation under God. We will never give in. We will never give up. We will never ever back down, and we will never, ever, ever surrender. Together, we will fight, fight, fight, and we will win, win, win.’

Shortly after his win at the ballot box, Trump began rolling out his picks for his Cabinet. As of Wednesday afternoon, Trump has announced 17 names for his administration, including Susie Wiles as his chief of staff, longtime ally Dan Scavino as his deputy chief of staff and Fox News co-host Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense.

Trump has announced the picks via emails to the media and supporters, coming at a faster pace than in 2016, when he was elected to his first term in the Oval Office, Fox News Digital found earlier this week.  

Trump announced on Nov. 11, for example, that New York Rep. Elise Stefanik will serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. During the 2016 transition cycle, Trump announced then-Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina would fill that same role on Nov. 23. Haley went on to run unsuccessfully in 2024 for the GOP presidential nomination.

He also tapped Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., to serve as his national security adviser, announcing that pick on Tuesday, about three days ahead of his announcement for the same role in 2016, when he chose former Army Gen. Mike Flynn for the position about 10 days after Election Day. 

Trump also announced he chose former New York Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, a pick Trump didn’t make until Dec. 7, 2016, when he tapped Scott Pruitt to serve in the role.

Trump’s first pick for his administration, Susie Wiles for chief of staff, was announced the day after the election, while his 2016 announcement of Reince Priebus as chief of staff was made five days after the election. 

‘Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected. Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again. It is a well deserved honor to have Susie as the first-ever female Chief of Staff in United States history. I have no doubt that she will make our country proud,’ Trump said after the selection of Wiles.

Trump briefly traveled to Washington, D.C., Wednesday, where he met with congressional Republicans and then went to the White House for a meeting with President Biden before heading back home to Florida.

‘I look forward… to having a smooth transition. We’ll do everything we can to make sure you’re accommodated, what you need,’ Biden said during a short portion of the meeting when reporters were granted access to the Oval Office. 

Trump added that ‘politics is tough, and in many cases it’s not a very nice world, but it is a nice world today.’

‘I appreciate very much the transition that’s so smooth. It will be as smooth as it can get, and I very much appreciate that,’ Trump continued.

Trump was joined by high-profile officials on his transition team and upcoming administration, including Wiles and tech billionaire Elon Musk. 

Musk endorsed Trump over the summer and soon began campaigning for him, most notably in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania. Trump announced on Tuesday evening that Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new task force he is calling the Department of Government Efficiency. 

‘I am pleased to announce that the Great Elon Musk, working in conjunction with American Patriot Vivek Ramaswamy, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency (‘DOGE’). Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies – Essential to the ‘Save America’ Movement,’ Trump said in his announcement. 

‘It will become, potentially, ‘The Manhattan Project’ of our time. Republican politicians have dreamed about the objectives of ‘DOGE’ for a very long time. To drive this kind of drastic change, the Department of Government Efficiency will provide advice and guidance from outside of Government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before,’ the announcement continued. 

Trump is expected to continue quickly announcing his Cabinet picks as he continues establishing his administration ahead of Jan. 20. Trump had pledged throughout the campaign to ‘make America great again’ for voters of all political stripes, putting emphasis on gutting some federal agencies and even dismantling them altogether, such as the Department of Education. 

Fox News’ Michael Lee, Brooke Singman and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report. 

President-elect Trump announced on Wednesday that he is appointing Tulsi Gabbard to serve as director of national intelligence in his new Cabinet.

Gabbard served as a Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii from 2013 to 2021. In 2022, she became an Independent, and joined the GOP last month.

The Republican is also a veteran who served in Iraq, as well as an Army reservist. She was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve three years ago.

In a statement on Wednesday, Trump said that the former congresswoman ‘has fought for our Country and the Freedoms of all Americans.’ 

‘As a former Candidate for the Democrat Presidential Nomination, she has broad support in both Parties – She is now a proud Republican!’ Trump’s statement said. 

‘I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength. Tulsi will make us all proud!’

The director of national intelligence leads the U.S. intelligence community, which includes overseeing the National Intelligence Program and advising the president on security matters. The current national intelligence director is Avril Haines.

Once confirmed to the position, Gabbard will advise Trump, the National Security Council, and the Homeland Security Council on national security matters.

Fox News Digital confirmed earlier on Wednesday that Gabbard was on a shortlist of candidates for the position. In September, the former Democrat told Fox News Digital she would be ‘honored’ to join the Trump administration. 

‘I feel I can make the most impact in these areas of national security and foreign policy, and work to bring about the changes that President Trump talks about,’ Gabbard said at the time.

Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Alec Schemmel and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report. 

President-elect Trump on Wednesday announced Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., as his pick for attorney general — an unexpected pick that took many, including fellow House Republicans, by surprise.

If confirmed, Gaetz will head up the Justice Department after Trump is sworn in for his second term in January.

Trump first announced his nomination in a post on Truth Social, saying Gaetz ‘has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice.’

Gaetz confirmed the nomination on the social media site X, adding, ‘It will be an honor to serve as President Trump’s Attorney General!’

In his statement on Truth Social, Trump praised Gaetz for his experience on the House Judiciary Committee, where he said Gaetz ‘played a key role’ in ‘defeating the Russia, Russia Hoax,’ and exposing what Trump described as ‘alarming and systemic Government Corruption and Weaponization.’

‘He is a Champion for the Constitution and the Rule of Law,’ he added.

Gaetz graduated from William & Mary College of Law and passed the Florida bar exam in 2008.

News of his appointment was met with a certain level of shock from House lawmakers.

Gaetz, a longtime Trump ally, had been under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, which subpoenaed him as recently as September for an ongoing investigation into alleged sexual misconduct with a minor. Gaetz in response told the panel he would ‘no longer voluntarily participate’ in their probe.

‘I explicitly reserve all of my rights pursuant to House Rules and the U.S. Constitution,’ he wrote in the letter, which was shared on social media.

It is unlikely that the investigation itself would block Gaetz’s path to confirmation in the Republican-majority Senate, though it could make it more difficult.

Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., who chairs the House Ethics Committee, told Fox News Digital that their investigation would cease as soon as Gaetz leaves the House. 

‘Once a member is no longer a member of Congress, then Ethics has no jurisdiction,’ he said.

Guest added: ‘Look, I have great trust in President Trump and those people that he will surround himself with and put in his cabinet, so I’m sure that Trump and his transition team have taken into consideration all the good and bad surrounding every one of the candidates that they’re looking at appointing, and so I do not question President Trump’s appointment at all.’

Still, Guest said that the House Ethics Committee would not ramp up the pace of their investigation in light of Gaetz’s nomination. ‘No, we’re not going to do anything to expedite this,’ he told Fox News.

Early contenders for the post had included sitting U.S. senators, former Justice Department personnel and at least one top White House adviser from Trump’s first term.

‘He’s going to want someone who he knows, likes and trusts,’ former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker told Fox News about the role last week. ‘He’s going to want someone who was there from the beginning.’

This is a breaking news story. Check back soon for updates.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was selected to lead the GOP conference again during a closed-door vote on Wednesday.

The vote was unanimous, two sources in the room told Fox News Digital, despite conservatives threatening to protest Johnson getting full support.

The internal election was delayed by roughly an hour and a half as Johnson met with his GOP critics to ‘hash it out,’ two other sources told Fox News.

It comes after President-elect Donald Trump addressed House Republicans earlier in the day and said he was ‘100%’ behind Johnson, multiple sources in the room told Fox News Digital.

It’s been a meteoric rise for the Louisiana Republican, who was a relatively little-known lawmaker when he was elected to succeed former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., after he was ousted by all House Democrats and eight fellow Republicans.

Johnson has endured much of the same chaos as McCarthy while presiding over a razor-thin House majority, with GOP rebels weaponizing the small margin in efforts to force the conference to pass more conservative policy.

But Johnson did not face any significant challengers on Wednesday, nor was he expected to with House Republicans on track to hold onto the chamber majority in the 119th Congress.

It could be a different story in January, when he will need a majority of the entire House chamber to be elected speaker.

McCarthy infamously had to endure 15 rounds of House votes and was forced to make concessions to a small group of holdouts in exchange for their support.

With Johnson projected to win just a slim single-digit majority again, he can afford little opposition – or risk paralyzing the House under a new Trump administration.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., ran uncontested for their current roles and are expected to win.

While President-elect Donald Trump has yet to announce who will be at the helm of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), he has indicated several steps he would take to slash ‘gender-affirming’ care for minors across the country.

In a video posted to Truth Social in February 2023, Trump said his plan ‘to stop the chemical, physical and emotional mutilation of our youth’ would involve issuing an executive order directing all federal agencies to halt any programs that support or promote sex changes at any age.

‘I will then ask Congress to permanently stop federal taxpayer dollars from being used to promote or pay for these procedures and pass a law prohibiting child sexual mutilation in all 50 states,’ Trump said in the video.

Trump announced plans to ban any hospital or healthcare provider involved in gender-transition treatments for minors from participating in Medicaid and Medicare. He also pledged to support legal actions allowing affected individuals to sue doctors who performed these procedures on minors.

‘The Department of Justice will investigate Big Pharma and the big hospital networks to determine whether they have deliberately covered up horrific long-term side effects of sex transitions in order to get rich at the expense of vulnerable patients,’ Trump added.

Trump honed in on transgender issues during the last leg of his campaign with a successful ad that focused on men in women’s sports and Vice President Kamala Harris’ track record of ushering in sex change procedures for incarcerated people in California.

‘Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you,’ the narrator of Trump’s campaign ad said. Experts say the TV spot had a substantial influence on swing voters.

Over the last four years, the Biden-Harris administration used federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, to expand access to surgical procedures for minors. Under Biden, HHS created a regulation that interpreted ‘sex discrimination’ within the Affordable Care Act to include gender identity and sexual orientation.

The expanded definition under Title IX meant that any medical provider not offering sex change procedures for any age was at risk of losing federal funding under the Biden-Harris regulation. The rule was blocked by the Supreme Court in August. 

In June, health officials in the Biden administration urged the international transgender health nonprofit, World Professional Association for Transgender Health, to omit the age limit in its guidelines for transgender surgical procedures for adolescents – and succeeded – according to unsealed court documents.

More than 25 states in the U.S. have enacted bans and restrictions on surgical procedures and hormonal prescriptions for transgender youth. Roughly 24 states still permit gender transition surgeries and drugs for children.

In recent days, Trump has been announcing his administration’s appointments much quicker than he did during his first term. HHS candidates Fox News Digital has learned include Robert F. Kennedy Jr., former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Eric Hargan, former HUD Secretary Ben Carson, Seema Verma, Paul Mango, Joseph Ladapo, Roger Severino, Brian Blase and Joe Grogan.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Trump-Vance transition team for comment.

President-elect Trump will soon choose his nominee to lead the nation’s intelligence community and is believed to be considering a former Democrat. 

Tulsi Gabbard, a former Hawaii House Democrat, is on a short list of contenders for director of national intelligence, multiple sources have confirmed to Fox News Digital.

Former Utah Republican House Rep. Chris Stewart is also in ‘active discussions’ with the transition team about the role, a source said. 

Stewart resigned from the House in 2023 to be with his wife when she had health issues. He co-founded lobbying firm Skyline Capitol with Trump’s former national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, who was also rumored to be considered for an administration job. 

Gabbard, a veteran and active duty Army reservist, served in the House as a Democrat from 2013 to 2021, before joining the Republican Party and campaigning for Trump in his most recent race for president. She is now a co-chair of the Trump transition team. 

In September, Gabbard told Fox News Digital she would be ‘honored’ to join a Trump administration and added that bringing an end ‘to the influence of the military industrial complex,’ working to prevent World War III and bringing the U.S. back ‘from the brink of nuclear war’ would be among her priorities.

She was reportedly interested in the defense secretary job, but Trump is reported to have promised that appointment to former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, also an Army veteran.

Gabbard has criticized Democrats as ‘pro-censorship’ and ‘anti-freedom,’ but her criticisms have extended to Republicans, as well. She has spoken out against U.S. involvement in the Middle East and criticized Trump during his first administration for the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. 

Gabbard controversially met with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in 2017 during the country’s civil war. She was opposed to the U.S. arming Syrian rebel groups and said she was ‘ready to meet with anyone if there’s a chance it can help bring about an end to this war.’

Gabbard was reportedly placed on a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) watchlist for terrorists known as ‘Quiet Skies’ earlier this year. 

The program allows federal air marshals to follow U.S. citizens and collect information on their behavior in an effort to stop threats ‘posed by unknown or partially known terrorists.’ 

‘As I was traveling, I ended up in 30 to 45 minutes of going through screening every time I would go to the airport to fly,’ she told Fox’s One Nation. ‘I noticed air marshals, I noticed K-9 teams. There were things that I saw and noticed that were highly unusual. But the deepest pain and harm and stress that’s been caused by this is that, forever going forward, I will always be looking over my shoulder, wondering if and how my government is surveilling me.’

In Congress, she co-sponsored legislation that would ban first-time use of nuclear weapons and often decries politicians who ‘beat the drums of war and ratchet up tensions.’

Gabbard, who is a Fox News contributor, could not be reached for comment. 

Trump, on Tuesday tapped John Ratcliffe, his former director of national intelligence, to lead the CIA. 

The director of national intelligence leads an office that advises the president, National Security Council and Homeland Security Council on national security matters. Any nominee for the role must be confirmed by the Senate or appointed on an acting basis. 

President-elect Donald Trump threw his full support behind House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to lead the House again during a closed-door meeting with GOP lawmakers on Wednesday.

Trump told current and incoming members that he backed Johnson ‘100%’ hours before Republicans are set to elect their leaders for the 119th Congress, sources said. Johnson was not facing any significant challenges, but a group of conservative members are threatening to slow the process down by demanding a recorded vote rather than unanimous consent for the speaker.

One member of the hardline-right House Freedom Caucus told Fox News Digital that Trump’s strong support for Johnson will likely negate any significant opposition the Louisiana Republican was facing.

Trump told Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., to ‘stick together’ in the next congressional term, two sources said.

Sources said Trump also promised to ‘carry out the largest deportation operation in history,’ sources said, which earned cheers from House Republicans.

He also gave shoutouts to Elon Musk, who was in the room with him, as well as his incoming Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who he tapped to be his new U.N. ambassador, sources said. 

Trump also predicted the GOP could win liberal states like California and New York in the next election — and mused about running a fourth time. 

‘I suspect I won’t be running again unless you do something else, unless you say he’s so good we’ve got to figure something out,’ he joked to a gathering of House Republicans ahead of their closed-door leadership elections in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. 

‘It’s nice to win. It’s always nice to win. A lot of good friends in this room. So, you know, we had, like, historic kind of numbers, especially for the president,’ Trump said. ‘But the House did very well, and I think we’re responsible for helping you.’

Trump’s appearance came as lawmakers returned to Washington for a lame duck session before the next term. Republicans are poised to keep their narrow majority in the House and have won control of the Senate, granting them far greater ease next term at getting conservative legislation to the president’s desk.

Trump went on: ‘We won, which is great because Republicans aren’t supposed to be winning the majority.’ 

‘We won it every way — all seven swing states by a lot … New Jersey is right, just a few points. It’s got them very worried because they said, well, next time if we go up even a fraction of what we went up, you’re going to win New York, you’re going to win new Jersey, you’re going to win places that weren’t winnable. California too.’ 

WASHINGTON – President-elect Trump and President Biden both pledged a smooth transition between administrations, as they met at the White House on Wednesday morning. 

‘I look forward…to having a smooth transition. We’ll do everything we can to make sure you’re accommodated, what you need,’ President Biden said as cameras and reporters were briefly allowed in the Oval Office for the meeting.

Speaking second, Trump emphasized that ‘politics is tough and in many cases it’s not a very nice world, but it is a nice world today.

‘I appreciate very much the transition that’s so smooth. It will be as smooth as it can get, and I very much appreciate that, the former and future president added.

Trump returned to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue just over a week after his sweeping election victory, as he made his first stop back at the White House in nearly four years. He arrived at the White House at the invitation of Biden, the politician he knocked out of the 2024 presidential race.

For Biden – who ended his own re-election bid in July, a month after his disastrous debate performance against Trump reignited questions over whether the 81-year-old president was physically and mentally up for another four years in the White House and sparked calls for him to drop out of the race – the meeting with his predecessor and now successor was likely awkward.

Trump spent years verbally eviscerating Biden and his performance in the White House. And even after Biden ended his re-election bid, Trump continued to slam the president and his successor atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket – Vice President Kamala Harris.

And Biden, for a couple of years, has labeled Trump a threat to the nation’s democracy.

But Biden, a traditionalist, wants to ensure a smooth transition between administrations.

Biden’s offer to Trump to visit the White House was an invitation he himself was never accorded.

Four years ago, in the wake of his election defeat at the hands of Biden, Trump refused to concede and tried unsuccessfully to overturn the results.

Breaking with longstanding tradition, Trump didn’t invite Biden to the White House. And two weeks after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters aiming to upend congressional certification of Biden’s Electoral College victory, Trump left Washington ahead of the presidential inauguration of his successor, becoming the first sitting president in a century and a half to skip out on a successor’s inauguration.

According to sources, incoming White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and current White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients were in attendance on Wednesday as Trump and Biden met behind closed doors.

‘President Biden’s decision to welcome President-elect Trump to the White House is a tribute to normalcy in the presidential transition process. What was denied to Joe Biden following his election, is being restored to Biden’s credit,’ veteran political scientist Wayne Lesperance told Fox News.

Lesperance, the president of New Hampshire-based New England College, called the invitation by Biden ‘ a remarkable gesture in that it legitimizes Trump’s return to power by the nation’s leading Democrat and, hopefully, will be met with a commitment to orderly transitions in the future.’

The meeting will be the first between Biden and Trump since they faced off on June 27 in Atlanta, Georgia, in their one and only debate.

The two presidents – along with Harris and Trump’s running mate and now vice president-elect, Sen. JD Vance – stood next to each other on Sept. 11 in New York City’s Lower Manhattan, at ceremonies for the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

This was Trump’s second meeting at the White House with a departing president.

Eight years ago, after defeating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Trump sat down at the White House with President Barack Obama, who was finishing up his second term steering the nation.

‘We now are going to want to do everything we can to help you succeed. Because, if you succeed, then the country succeeds,’ Obama told Trump at the time.

While a tradition, the meeting between the incoming and outgoing presidents is not mandated.