Why Trump is sticking with Gaetz, Hegseth despite new accusations – and his 'Morning Joe' meeting

If you instrumentality a measurement backmost – marque that respective steps backmost – it’s easier to recognize what Donald Trump is doing.

Why would helium deliberately ignite a media firestorm implicit specified arguable nominees arsenic Matt Gaetz and Pete Hegseth, and to a lesser grade with Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr.?

The abbreviated reply is that the president-elect can’t tally again and wants these nominees to disrupt – oregon adjacent stroke up – the departments they’d beryllium successful complaint of running. And if they don’t person the accustomed credentials, if they’ve ne'er tally a ample organization, helium doesn’t springiness a damn.

But wouldn’t it amended service his purposes to nominate arsenic disruptive Cabinet members who don’t person the baggage of a Matt Gaetz? But would they person the unquestioned loyalty?

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President-elect Trump is lasting by his nominations of Pete Hegseth and Matt Gaetz to top-ranking Cabinet positions. (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images | Aaron Schwartz/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Even skeptical members of his interior ellipse person nary prime but to fto Trump beryllium Trump.  

If Gaetz were to go lawyer general, for instance, helium could occurrence FBI main Chris Wray alternatively than Trump having to beryllium the atrocious guy. 

The reasoning successful Trump World is that the Senate won’t beryllium capable to cull much than 2 of his nominees. So adjacent if Gaetz, who doesn’t look to person the votes, is rejected, and possibly Hegseth arsenic well, everyone other gets through, including Kennedy and Gabbard.

And wouldn’t it beryllium hard for the Republican Senate, successful the aftermath of specified rejections, to beryllium fundamentally obligated to o.k. the replacement nominees, fixed the magnitude of Trump’s victory? Is this 4-dimensional chess?

White House main of unit Susie Wiles was connected the plane, with Gaetz, erstwhile Trump offered the now-former congressman the AG’s job. Whether Wiles, who ran a tightly organized campaign, knew astir it oregon not, she had nary powerfulness to halt it.

Privately, immoderate Trump advisers are opposed to the astir radioactive picks, but they besides cognize that the brag gets what helium wants.  

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The incoming Senate bulk leader, John Thune, who’s not a Trump instrumentality and was opposed by Trump, is deemed not apt to spell on with recess appointments, which would beryllium surrendering the chamber’s law relation of counsel and consent.

New reporting has analyzable things for Gaetz and Hegseth, the decorated Army combat seasoned and erstwhile Fox play big tapped to tally the Pentagon. 

The Washington Post scoop astir Hegseth’s lawyer saying helium paid disconnected a pistillate accuser who says helium raped her successful 2017, arsenic portion of a non-disclosure agreement, would descend a nominee nether immoderate different president. Hegseth, visibly intoxicated, says the brushwood successful his edifice country was consensual; the 30-year-old pistillate was astatine the blimpish league with her hubby and tiny children.

Speaker Johnson has pushed backmost against unit to merchandise the Ethics Committee's study connected Gaetz. (Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In the lawsuit of Gaetz, House Speaker Mike Johnson doesn’t privation the morals committee study released, since the antheral has resigned his seat. Does anyone uncertainty that if this was a Democrat, helium would instrumentality the other stance and denounce the nominee arsenic a pervert?  

In immoderate event, a lawyer for aggregate women making accusations of intersexual misconduct told ABC that 2 of his clients accidental Gaetz paid them for sex. And helium plans much interviews.

Attorney Joel Leppard said that successful their House morals testimony, staffers "essentially enactment the Venmo payments connected the surface and asked astir them. And my clients repeatedly testified, ‘What was this outgo for?’ ‘That was for sex.'" .

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Leppard had antecedently said that 1 of his clients had besides watched Gaetz person enactment with a minor.

John Clune, different lawyer for a pistillate who contends that Gaetz had enactment with a insignificant past successful precocious school, called the Gaetz information "a perverse improvement successful a genuinely acheronian bid of events."

And arsenic CNN noted, 1 of the underage girls says she had enactment with Gaetz connected an aerial hockey table, according to her testimony.

Reporting connected Gaetz's alleged past has importantly analyzable what was already a longshot information for lawyer general. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

One happening is certain: Trump continues to enactment some nominees. He is not going to backmost down.

By the way, if Kamala Harris had won the election, I’d beryllium scrutinizing her nominees the aforesaid way. A fig of pro-Trumpers online accused maine of Trump Derangement Syndrome for covering the astir arguable nominees, which is hilarious due to the fact that the president-elect granted maine 2 interviews successful 10 months, 1 conscionable a mates of weeks earlier the election, and told maine that some were fair.

Meanwhile, Trump’s determination to conscionable with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, who person relentlessly bashed him for the past 7 years, was a superb move. Both made the request, and Trump was magnanimous capable to assistance them an assemblage astatine Mar-a-Lago – truly a stunning development.

As they explained yesterday connected "Morning Joe:"

"We talked astir a batch of issues, including abortion, wide deportation, threats of governmental retribution against governmental opponents and media outlets. We talked astir that a bully bit," Scarborough said.

"It volition travel arsenic nary astonishment to anybody who watches this show, has watched it implicit the past twelvemonth oregon implicit the past decade, that we didn’t spot eye-to-eye connected a batch of issues and we told him so."

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What they did hold on, Brzezinski said, "was to restart communications."

She noted that her father, the precocious Zbigniew Brzezinski, "often spoke with satellite leaders with whom helium and the United States profoundly disagreed. That is simply a task shared by reporters and commentators alike. We had not spoken to Trump since March of 2020, different than a idiosyncratic telephone that Joe made aft the effort connected his beingness successful Butler, Pennsylvania."

Trump was "cheerful and upbeat" and "seemed funny successful uncovering communal crushed with Democrats connected immoderate of the astir divisive issues."

"Morning Joe" co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough enraged liberals connected societal media aft gathering with President-elect Donald Trump. (Getty Images)

As for the expected wide backlash for gathering with a antheral they’d described arsenic a fascist, Mika turned it around: "Why wouldn’t we?"

Trump aboriginal told Fox’s Brooke Singman: "Many things were discussed, and I precise overmuch appreciated the information that they wanted to person unfastened communication. In galore ways, it’s excessively atrocious that it wasn’t done agelong ago…

"In bid to Make America Great Again, it is precise important, if not vital, to person a free, just and unfastened media oregon press." 

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Trump besides said of his meeting with the husband-and-wife MSNBC hosts that they "congratulated maine connected moving a ‘great and flawless campaign, 1 for the past books,’ which I truly judge it was, but it was besides a run wherever I worked agelong and hard — possibly longer and harder than immoderate statesmanlike campaigner successful history."

"We talked astir assorted Cabinet members — some announced and to beryllium announced. As expected, they similar immoderate precise much, but not all. The gathering ended successful a precise affirmative manner, and we agreed to talk successful the future." And here’s the olive branch: "I expect this volition instrumentality spot with others successful the media, adjacent those that person been highly hostile."

Trump said helium has "an work to the American public, and to our state itself, to beryllium unfastened and disposable to the press."

"If not treated fairly, however, that volition end."

President-elect Trump was speedy to pigeon-hole the media into a carrot-and-stick concern – dainty him reasonably this go-round, otherwise, his openness to property inquiries whitethorn conscionable a swift end. (Jovanny Hernandez/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

So determination you person it, a carrot and a stick. 

The denunciations came accelerated and furious.

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"Byron York – Annals of shamelessness: They telephone Trump a fascist, and much, overmuch more, and then, conscionable 22 days aft his 'Nazi-like' rally, they alert to Florida for an audience. Afterward, they say, 'We didn't spot eye-to-eye connected a batch of issues,' but they privation to 'restart communications.' What?"

Steve Cortes – "It’s hard to overstate however dishonest these 2 are. Mika & Joe shriek for months that Trump is simply a ‘fascist’ who would ‘end democracy.’ Now that he’s elected — and precise fashionable — they sojourn him similar it’s conscionable java with an opposing enactment politician???"

I couldn’t disagree more. The meeting, which whitethorn not beryllium unrelated to ratings, means they volition person immoderate entree to their onetime person and, they say, knock him erstwhile they deliberation he’s wrong.

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Who wants to perceive different 4 years of Trump-bashing, which didn’t work? This mode they tin study what the adjacent president says and past instrumentality a stance. And with Trump vowing to scope retired to different hostile outlets, I anticipation the truce lasts.

Footnote: Trump has named erstwhile Congressman Sean Duffy, a co-host of "Bottom Line" connected FOX Business, arsenic Transportation secretary.