How the Media Will Cover the End…

A glimpse of the near future

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Trump Outlines Ambitious Second Term Plans

By MAGGIE HABERMAN and MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT

In a series of decisions that people close to President-elect Trump called “the most revolutionary made by any president,” Trump outlined his plans that he said would “centralize the government and make it much more efficient.”

In a post-election news conference, Trump, only the second president to be elected to non-consecutive terms since Grover Cleveland in the 1880s, said he would decline to name any heads of cabinet departments, including the Defense Department.

“The Constitution makes me the Commander-in-Chief and I intend to take personal command of the armed forces. They will do what I tell them to do,” Trump said. In addition, he will decline to name an attorney general because “there were so many losers the last time that I won’t go through that again. I will be in charge of the Justice Department.”

Expanding on his program for the government, Trump said he will not name any other cabinet members because “I know more about their issues than they do. I know more about finance than any Treasury Secretary. I know more world leaders than any Secretary of State. I don’t need them. I’m not sure we even need most of the other departments. They don’t do anything and aren’t worth anything. So why should I pick heads of worthless agencies?”

Asked how he would deal with Congress, Trump said, “I won’t. I am president. I will do what I want and there’s nothing those blowhards can do to stop me from doing what I think is good for America. The same goes for the courts. I appointed those people and they let me down time after time. I’m done with them too.”

Sources close to Trump said that the president-elect’s plan will “bring a new level of efficiency and coordination to the government that we have never seen before. It will again confirm that Trump is the greatest president of all time.”

Continued on page A22

THE WASHINGTON POST

Trump Plans Confound Hill

By JOSH DAWSEY and JACQUELINE ALEMANY

No sooner had President-elect Trump outlined an ambitious agenda for his second term than it devolved into a whirl of partisan wrangling on Capitol Hill and across the media landscape.

Trump said at a news conference that he would decline to name cabinet officials, who are the heads of the departments of the Executive branch, and instead take on those responsibilities himself. He said such an action would bring the efficiency of the private sector to the government, “something the government badly needs.”

Democrats immediately went on the attack. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Trump’s plans were “a blueprint for a dictatorship. We cannot allow this.” Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Trump’s plan was “outrageous.” Schumer said that Congress had authorized those agencies and it wasn’t up to Trump to anything with them.

Many other party leaders expressed similar views of the dangers of Trump’s program. One exception was Sen. Joseph Manchin III (D-W.Va.), who declined specific comment but was optimistic he could find bipartisan support for some version of Trump’s plans.

Republicans, however, leapt to Trump’s defense. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Trump was correct that he was the commander-in chief and that “there is no Constitutional requirement that any of those cabinet department exist. Trump is within his rights and authority to do as he wants. I am not going to object.”

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) similarly said that Democratic objections were “totally absurd.” McCarthy said the other party “clearly has no understanding of the Constitution or of the flexibility the president has to run the government. I’m impressed with the breadth and depth of his analysis and proposed actions.”

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she was “concerned” that centralized authority could go to far, but said, “I don’t see any need to protest or act in any way at the moment.”

See WRANGLING on A22

THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW

In 1804, a duel took place in Weehawken, New Jersey. The two men involved were Aaron Burr, a former vice president of the nascent United States and Alexander Hamilton, one of our most distinguished Americans, an aide to George Washington, the first secretary of the treasury and one of the strongest advocates for the type of centralized government we have today through his writings in the Federalist Papers.

Hamilton and Burr were longtime political enemies, and on July 11, 1804, their disputes came to a head in that duel. Burr killed Hamilton and with that, his political career that had been pretty decent.

But Burr had a new plan to resurrect himself. He began to formulate a plan that would have the newly purchased Louisiana territory break away from the United States and form a new country with him, Burr, as emperor. He worked on this for a couple of years, recruited supporters, contacted the British even.

The plan fizzled when one of his supporters betrayed him. Burr was later arrested.

That was the closest the continental United States ever came to having an emperor. Until today. Donald Trump’s suggested plans to take over the government are nothing less than a dictatorship, aided and abetted by the Republican party and with no ability of Democrats to do anything about it.

TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT

This is the greatest day in the history of America. We have won and won big. No more bureaucrats. Heck, even Congress is relevant. The courts are meaningless. We have the wisdom, courage and insight of Donald Trump to guide us for the foreseeable future. That is more than enough to make America great again.