Donald Trump is expected to be named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” on Thursday morning after winning the presidential election for the second time, according to Politico.
The annual cover – which highlights an individual who has greatly influenced the year, for good or ill – is set to be unveiled today, with sources suggesting in advance that the president-elect will grace the cover again.
The Republican was also named “Person of the Year” in 2016, the year he beat Hillary Clinton to win election to the White House for the first time, and is expected to celebrate the honor by ringing the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange this morning.
Trump has meanwhile been continuing to announce nominees to his new administration and gloating over the resignation of FBI Director Christopher Wray, whom he appointed to replace James Comey in 2017.
Writing on Truth Social, the president-elect called it “great day for America” that would “end the Weaponization of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice.”
Trump went to accuse the bureau of having “illegally raided my home, without cause, worked diligently on illegally impeaching and indicting me.”
Key Points
- Donald Trump expected to be named Time magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’ and ring New York Stock Exchange’s opening bell
- President-elect gloats over resignation of FBI Director Christopher Wray
- Trump taps election-denier Kari Lake for Voice of America director
Trump invites China’s Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration
10:35
Joe Sommerlad
The president-elect has invited his Chinese counterpart to watch his swearing in ceremony on Washington DC on January 20, CBS News reports.
Trump reportedly extended the invite last month but the Chinese embassy in Washington has yet to comment.
The Republican said in an interview with NBC conducted on Friday that he “got along with very well” with Xi and that they had “had communication as recently as this week”.
It would be unprecedented for a leader of China, a top US geopolitical rival, to attend an American presidential inauguration and Trump has risked poking the bear by naming numerous China hawks to key posts in his incoming administration, including Senator Marco Rubio as secretary of state.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta donates $1m to Trump’s inaugural fund in latest attempt to rebuild bridges
10:00
Joe Sommerlad
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly donated $1m to Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, the latest twist in the complicated relationship between the tech boss and the Republican president-elect.
The donation has been confirmed by the Silicon Valley company, according to The Wall Street Journal, and comes despite Trump threatening the Facebook founder with prosecution if he attempted to influence the election against him during the campaign.
The move is the latest example of a tech CEO moving to make a conciliatory gesture towards Trump now that his return to the White House has been confirmed and his party have secured control over both houses of Congress, with the GOP commonly hitting out at the California tech sector, which is seen as predominantly left-leaning.
Here’s more.
President-elect gloats over resignation of FBI Director Christopher Wray
09:40
Joe Sommerlad
Trump has meanwhile been gloating over the resignation of FBI Director Christopher Wray, whom he appointed to replace James Comey in 2017 and who announced his departure on Wednesday, with nominee Kash Patel waiting in the wings.
Writing on Truth Social, the president-elect called it “great day for America” that would “end the Weaponization of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice.”
Trump went to accuse the bureau of having “illegally raided my home, without cause, worked diligently on illegally impeaching and indicting me.”
The resignation of Christopher Wray is a great day for America as it will end the Weaponization of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice. I just don’t know what happened to him. We will now restore the Rule of Law for all Americans. Under the…
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) December 11, 2024
Here’s Andrew Feinberg with a full report in the outgoing Wray.
Donald Trump expected to be named Time magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’ and ring New York Stock Exchange’s opening bell
09:20
Joe Sommerlad
Good morning!
Donald Trump is expected to be named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” on Thursday after winning the presidential election for the second time, according to Politico.
The annual cover – which highlights an individual who has greatly influenced the year, for good or ill – is set to be unveiled today, with sources suggesting in advance that the president-elect will grace the cover again.
The Republican was also named “Person of the Year” in 2016, the year he beat Hillary Clinton to win election to the White House for the first time, and is expected to celebrate the honor by ringing the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange this morning.
As the Truth Social post below suggests, he’s pretty excited about it.
We’ll bring you the cover as soon as it drops a little later on.
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) December 12, 2024
Most Americans approve of Trump transition
09:00
Ariana Baio
A new poll from CNN and SSRS found that more than half of Americans believe Trump is doing a good job of transitioning the Biden administration to his.
Approximately 55 percent said they approve of how Trump is handling the presidential transition process and 54 percent said they believe the president-elect will do a good job when he returns to the White House.
Slightly more Americans have a positive outlook on Trump’s administration than a negative one.
CNN conservative pundit Scott Jennings scorched by colleague for trying to manufacture ‘clip for the internet’
08:00
Justin Baragona
Accusing CNN political commentator Scott Jennings of attempting to create a viral moment during a heated exchange on the Daniel Penny trial, correspondent Audie Cornish told the right-wing pundit that he wanted “a clip for the internet” while mockingly posing for a picture.
During Tuesday night’s broadcast of CNN NewsNight, the panel debated over Penny being acquitted in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely, a homeless man with mental health issues who acted threateningly towards subway passengers. The verdict was met with both applause and anger, with conservatives saying “justice has prevailed” and calling Penny a “hero.”
Read more:
A brief history of Kari Lake: A ‘proud election-denying deplorable’
07:00
Ariana Baio
Unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake gave a ranting speech in 2022 in which she labeled herself a “proud election-denying deplorable” before urging young supporters to procreate and calling Anthony Fauci an “evil elf.”
Read more from Sheila Flynn:
Republican Senator signals he is unsure about Pete Hegseth
06:00
Ariana Baio
Republican Senator Todd Young of Indiana did not give a definitive answer on whether or not he will support Trump’s defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth.
“I haven’t decided yet, as I’ve shared with him and happy to share with others,” Young told CNN on Wednesday. “We had a good meeting. It was an extensive conversation, and he answered the questions I asked.”
Great to meet @PeteHegseth, Pres. Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense and a combat veteran.
— Senator Todd Young (@SenToddYoung) December 11, 2024
I appreciated his candor as we discussed our readiness challenges, the China threat, auditing the Pentagon, his vision for DoD, and other important national security issues. https://t.co/7ktw6AgJ2n
“I appreciated his candor as we discussed our readiness challenges, the China threat, auditing the Pentagon, his vision for DoD, and other important national security issues,” Young said in an X post.
WATCH: Jimmy Kimmel jokes about Trump sending Don Jr's fiancee to Greece
05:00
Gustaf Kilander
I asked Republicans about Tulsi Gabbard’s remarks on Syria. This is what they said
04:00
Eric Garcia
The fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad immediately triggered conversation about Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congressman and President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be Director of National Intelligence — and not just among everyday citizens. Adam Kinzinger, the former Republican congressman, joked on X/Twitter as news broke that Gabbard could offer the deposed Syrian president “safe harbor” in her home.
Gabbard met with the Syrian dictator in 2017, and she did so in her capacity as a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. In one particularly shocking moment, The Independent reported last month that when she met with young girls from Syria who had survived airstrikes from Assad’s military, she allegedly asked them how they knew it was Assad who bombed them. It was a question so insulting that the translator present said he refused to translate it.
Read more:
Trump announces more nominations
03:30
Ariana Baio
Leandro Rizzuto, billionaire co-founder and chairman of Conair, as Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS).
Dr. Peter Lamelas, a physician who practices in Palm Beach, Florida, as United States Ambassador to Argentina
Daniel J. Newlin, a personal injury attorney who funded much of Trump’s campaign advertising, as Ambassador to Colombia
Michael J. Rigas, who served as Deputy Director of the Office of Personnel Management and Acting Deputy Director of Management, is to be Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources.
Kari Lake, a former news anchor who espoused election fraud theories in 2020, as Director of the Voice of America
Trump taps Kari Lake for Director of the Voice of America.
02:49
Ariana Baio
Kari Lake, the failed Arizona gubernatorial and Senate candidate who disputed election results, was chosen to direct the Voice of America by Trump on Wednesday evening.
“She will be appointed by, and work closely with, our next head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, who I will announce soon, to ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media,” Trump wrote. “Kari was a beloved News Anchor in Arizona, which supported me by record margins, for over 20 years,” he added.
Voice of America is a government-funded news agency that primarily serves non-American audiences outside of the U.S.
Trump’s border czar reveals which city is first for mass deportations
02:00
Alex Woodward
Donald Trump’s incoming “border czar” wants officials in America’s third-largest city to “get the hell out of the way” of his plans for mass deportations or risk prosecution.
In remarks to a group of Chicago Republicans on Monday night, Tom Homan said the city and the state of Illinois are “in trouble” because “your mayor sucks and your governor sucks.”
Read more:
Ex-FBI Director James Comey issues warning to former colleagues ahead of Trump second term
01:30
Michelle Del Rey
Former FBI Director James Comey has tried to reassure his former colleagues at the Bureau ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s second term.
In a statement posted to Instagram a day before FBI Director Christopher Wray announced he’d be stepping down, Comey wrote: “I realize there is a great deal of anxiety in the Bureau now — produced by the rhetoric of those who have reason to fear honest investigators.”
“But please know you will be ok in the long run.”
“The special burden of being in the FBI is that you lack friends in high places — by design,” Comey’s statement continued. “America has wanted you to be lonely since the searing lessons of Watergate. Once upon a time, the FBI director was a pal of presidents, sharing late-night drinks and using the Bureau to do favors for the powerful.
“But the country learned 50 years ago that it is not in the national interest for the FBI to be loyal to anything except the constitution and the law.”
The former FBI director’s tenure at the department abruptly ended in 2017 when then-President Trump fired him.
Kimberly Guilfoyle, Trump’s ambassador to Greece, once called Greeks ‘freeloaders’ who should be punished
01:00
Justin Baragona
While late-night comics joke about the actual motive behind President-elect Donald Trump selecting his son’s (ex-?) fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle as the U.S. ambassador to Greece, Greek citizens may not find her previous remarks about them very funny.
In a 2015 segment of Fox News’ The Five unearthed by Media Matters senior fellow Matt Gertz, Guilfoyle once described the Greeks as “freeloaders” who should be punished after rejecting a bailout offer from the European Union.
Read more:
Trump may revoke policy shielding migrants from deportation arrests in churches and schools
00:30
Josh Marcus
As soon as its first day in office, the incoming Trump administration is reportedly planning on rescinding a 2011 immigration policy limiting deportation arrests in sensitive locations like schools, churches, and hospitals.
Instead, the administration plans to let Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents make arrests in these locations if they’re related to national security concerns, the arrest of a dangerous felon, or risks of imminent danger or the compromising of a criminal investigation, according to NBC News, which first reported on the alleged plan, citing three anonymous sources familiar with the new administration.
Elon Musk’s net worth reaches historic peak. What is it?
00:00
Kelly Rissman
Elon Musk now boasts a net worth of $400 billion, making him the first person in history to ever hit that milestone.
The world’s richest person became even richer Wednesday after SpaceX and its investors agreed to buy $1.25 billion of insider shares, valuing the company at $350 billion, Bloomberg reported. The move ballooned the founder’s net worth by $50 billion, meaning he is now worth $439 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Read more:
Trump invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to inauguration: report
Wednesday 11 December 2024 23:30
Ariana Baio
President-elect Trump reportedly invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to his inauguration on January 20th, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News on Wednesday.
While ambassadors and diplomats are typically invited to the inauguration, foreign leaders and usually not.
It is unclear if Xi accepted the invitation.
The Independent has asked Trump’s team for comment
A spokesperson for the Trump team, Karoline Leavitt, told CBS: “World leaders are lining up to meet with President Trump because they know he will soon return to power and restore peace through American strength around the globe.”
C-SPAN host fact-checks GOP lawmaker who thinks Pete Hegseth doesn’t know who’s accusing him of rape
Wednesday 11 December 2024 23:00
Justin Baragona
C-SPAN host Mimi Geerges was forced to correct Republican Rep. Rich McCormick on Wednesday when he insisted that Pete Hegseth does not know the identity of the woman accusing him of sexual assault, only for the Georgia lawmaker to double down on his false claim.
McCormick, who was on Washington Journal to primarily talk about his heated clash with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, was asked about the embattled Hegseth’s efforts to rally support for his nomination as secretary of defense amid a slew of accusations over sexual misconduct and excessive drinking.
Read more:
Incoming FBI director Kash Patel responds to Wray resignation
Wednesday 11 December 2024 22:30
Ariana Baio
When asked to respond to FBI Director Christopher Wray stepping down from his position, incoming director Kash Patel said he was “looking forward” to a smooth transition and will be prepared to take over.
Pres-elect Trump’s pick for FBI Dir, Kash Patel, reacts to Dir Wray’s resignation: “We look forward to a very smooth transition at the FBI and I’ll be ready to go on day 1” pic.twitter.com/m1ZqW5q30n
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) December 11, 2024
No discussion with Trump on his ‘policy agenda’ during call, says Swinney
Wednesday 11 December 2024 22:00
Craig Paton
John Swinney and Donald Trump did not discuss the US president-elect’s “policy agenda” during a call, the First Minister has said.
Mr Swinney spoke to the soon-to-be 47th president on Tuesday, with Mr Trump speaking of his admiration for Scotland, but discussions did not include a potential visit to Bute House when the Republican next comes to Scotland – expected to be some time next year.
Read more:
Read Merrick Garland’s statement on Christopher Wray’s departure in full
Wednesday 11 December 2024 21:30
Gustaf Kilander
Chris Wray has served our country honorably and with integrity for decades, including for seven years as the Director of the FBI under presidents of both parties.
In a heightened threat environment, Director Wray has worked tirelessly to protect the American people and to lead an agency of 38,000 dedicated public servants, many of whom put their lives on the line every day to serve their communities.
Under Director Wray’s principled leadership, the FBI has worked to fulfill the Justice Department’s mission to keep our country safe, protect civil rights, and uphold the rule of law.
He has led the FBI’s efforts to aggressively confront the broad range of threats facing our country — from nation-state adversaries and foreign and domestic terrorism to violent crime, cybercrime, and financial crime.
There are few leadership positions more central to keeping the American people safe than the Director of the FBI.
The Director of the FBI is responsible for leading employees located across the country and around the world who dedicate themselves each day to disrupting complex plots and preventing horrific tragedies before they can occur.
The Director of the FBI is responsible for leading the federal law enforcement agency that serves as the connective tissue among the intelligence community, state and local law enforcement agencies across the country, and our international law enforcement partners.
And the Director of the FBI is responsible for protecting the independence of the FBI from inappropriate influence in its criminal investigations. That independence is central to preserving the rule of law and to protecting the freedoms we as Americans hold dear.
Director Wray has done that job with integrity and skill. He has my gratitude, the gratitude of the FBI agents and employees whose respect and admiration he has earned, and the gratitude of the American people.
Donald Trump to be named person of the year by Time magazine
Wednesday 11 December 2024 21:00
Gustaf Kilander
Donald Trump is set to be named “Person of the Year” by Time magazine and he’ll celebrate the moment and the new cover by ringing the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, according to Politico.
When Taylor Swift was on the cover last year, the CEO of Time, Jessica Sibley, rang the opening bell.
Trump was also selected in 2016. Thirteen other presidents have also been chosen by the magazine, including current President Joe Biden.
Only 2 in 10 Americans actually approve of Biden’s sweeping pardon for son Hunter
Wednesday 11 December 2024 20:30
Will Weissert, Amelia Thomson Deveaux
Only about 2 in 10 Americans approve of Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter after earlier promising he would do no such thing, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
That displeasure tracks with the bipartisan uproar in Washington that ignited over the president’s about-face. The survey found that a relatively small share of Americans “strongly” or “somewhat” approve of the pardon, which came after the younger Biden was convicted on gun and tax charges. About half said they “strongly” or “somewhat” disapprove, and about 2 in 10 neither approve nor disapprove.
Read more:
Trump says his remarks about Central Park Five were ‘substantially true’ in demand to dismiss defamation lawsuit
Wednesday 11 December 2024 20:00
Alex Woodward
Trump is asking a judge to dismiss a defamation lawsuit from the now-exonerated Central Park Five, who accused Trump of repeating “false and defamatory” statements about them during his debate with Kamala Harris.
At the debate, Trump misstated facts of the case and falsely claimed that they had at one point “pled guilty” to having “killed a person, ultimately.”
In 1989, the men were falsely accused of raping and beating a jogger and were coerced into confessing to the crime. They later recanted, pled not guilty and were convicted. Those convictions were vacated in 2002 when another person confessed.
“They admitted, they said they pled guilty and I said, ’well, if they pled guilty they badly hurt a person, killed a person ultimately,” Trump said at the debate. “And they pled guilty, then they pled not guilty.”
Trump had taken out a full-page ad in 1989 for the death penalty.
An attorney for Trump claims that the men are now trying to “recast political rhetoric and debate about criminal justice and public safety as ‘defamation.‘”
“This ignores well-settled First Amendment jurisprudence that protects the President-elect’s speech about matters of public concern,” wrote Karin M. Sweigar, an attorney with Dhillon Law Group, which is owned by Harmeet Dhillon, whom Trump has nominated to lead the Justice Department’s civil rights division.
Trump’s statements, “taken in context, were protected opinions based on true disclosed fact, lacked any defamatory sting, and were substantially true,” according to Sweigar. “Plaintiffs’ remaining claims for false light and intentional infliction of emotional distress fail for the same reasons, and because Plaintiffs fail to meet the additional required elements of those claims.”
Joe Biden names the one thing Trump did that he was ‘stupid’ for not copying
Wednesday 11 December 2024 19:30
Gustaf Kilander
President Joe Biden said he was “stupid” for not doing what president-elect Donald Trump did during his first term — signing the checks sent to the public during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I signed the American Rescue Plan, the most significant economic recovery package in our history, and also learned something from Donald Trump,” Biden noted during his economic speech at the Brookings Institution Tuesday.
Biden said that Trump “signed checks for people for 7,400 bucks...and I didn’t,” adding that it was “stupid,” drawing laughter from the crowd.
Read more:
FBI director Christopher Wray will resign ahead of Trump’s plan to replace him with Kash Patel
Wednesday 11 December 2024 19:18
Andrew Feinberg
FBI Director Christopher Wray has signaled his intention to quit his post next month ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration as president, creating a vacancy that Trump intends to fill with loyalist Kash Patel.
Wray reportedly told FBI employees at an agency town hall that he would step down in January, nearly two and a half years before the expiration of the ten-year term he was sworn in for in August 2017.
Read more:
CNN conservative pundit Scott Jennings scorched by colleague for trying to manufacture ‘clip for the internet’
Wednesday 11 December 2024 19:00
Justin Baragona
Accusing CNN political commentator Scott Jennings of attempting to create a viral moment during a heated exchange on the Daniel Penny trial, correspondent Audie Cornish told the right-wing pundit that he wanted “a clip for the internet” while mockingly posing for a picture.
During Tuesday night’s broadcast of CNN NewsNight, the panel debated over Penny being acquitted in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely, a homeless man with mental health issues who acted threateningly towards subway passengers. The verdict was met with both applause and anger, with conservatives saying “justice has prevailed” and calling Penny a “hero.”
Read more:
An Alabama couple were ardent Trump supporters. Then their trans son told them he wanted to die
Wednesday 11 December 2024 18:30
Michelle Del Rey
Carolyn Fisher will never forget the moment her son told her he wanted to die.
It was November 3, two days before the presidential election. Fisher’s 16-year-old non-binary son, who uses he/they pronouns, was part of an online suicide pact with three other transgender and non-binary teens in Florida, Alabama and Tennessee. The friends who’d met on Discord had agreed to die by suicide if former president Donald Trump won the 2024 election.
Read more:
Trump’s latest DOJ nominee is taking aim at trans rights and elections
Wednesday 11 December 2024 18:00
Joe Sommerlad
The president-elect’s nominee to oversee the federal government’s enforcement of civil rights has spent the last year leading a legal crusade against transgender Americans, signaling where Trump could start with his “day one” pledge to roll back discrimination protections.
Harmeet Dhillon, founder of the Center for American Liberty, has filed a barrage of attention-grabbing lawsuits on behalf of right-wing activists against gender-affirming healthcare and school policies and state and local laws designed to protect LGBT+ people across the country.
Dhillon also supported efforts to reverse election results in states Trump lost in 2020, and she steered the Trump campaign’s 2024 “election integrity” team in Arizona, a hotbed for bogus election conspiracy theories in the wake of Trump’s loss.
Here’s more from Alex Woodward.
Matt Gaetz is heading to OAN. Will anybody even watch him there?
Wednesday 11 December 2024 17:30
Joe Sommerlad
The self-described MAGA “firebrand”, who dropped out last month as Trump’s choice for attorney general amid ongoing sexual misconduct allegations, has finally secured another full-time job now that he’s no longer in Congress.
After news leaked on Monday night that he had agreed to host a primetime show for the little-watched right-wing conspiracy channel One America News (OAN), the network made it official on Tuesday with a press release and promotional video.
Gaetz taking the plunge and becoming a conservative talking head is hardly a surprise but will anybody be watching?
Justin Baragona considers the question.
John Fetterman joins Truth Social
Wednesday 11 December 2024 17:00
Joe Sommerlad
The Pennsylvania Democratic Senator has not only joined Trump’s social media platform but opens with a very MAGA-friendly dismissal of the hush money case against the president-elect as “bulls***”, perhaps thinking ahead about his own electoral future.
John Fetterman has joined Truth Social pic.twitter.com/WVI9EM6PlU
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) December 11, 2024
‘Freeloaders’: Guilfoyle’s past criticism of Greece emerges after she is nominated as new US ambassador
Wednesday 11 December 2024 16:40
Joe Sommerlad
Will be fun watching her explain this one in Athens.
When the Greek public voted down a bailout offer from European creditors in a July 2015 referendum, Kimberly Guilfoyle called them "freeloaders" who need to "suck it up" and stop "retiring too early." She also suggested they should be punished like a dog who pees on the rug. pic.twitter.com/shDtheGan1
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) December 11, 2024
Republican senator warns Hegseth his confirmation hearing will be ‘unpleasant’
Wednesday 11 December 2024 16:20
Joe Sommerlad
How’s it all looking for Trump’s pick for defense secretary?
Not good, according to Texas Republican John Cornyn, who had this to say after meeting with him on Capitol Hill.
“I just told him and his wife, I said this is going to be a very difficult process on all of you,” Cornyn told reporters this week, according to The Hill.
“I’ve been through a lot of Supreme Court nomination fights, including Brett Kavanaugh, and that may pale in comparison to what may be thrown at Pete.”
Hegseth is likely to receive a brutal grilling from Democrats over allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in 2017, has a drinking problem and has mismanaged not one but two veterans’ associations, all of which the nominee denies.
Cornyn, who said he intends to back Hegseth despite it all, has since repeated his warnings to Rob Schmitt on Newsmax, declaring that the candidate is in for “a very unpleasant process for him and his family.”
The Texan continued: “It’s important for all of these nominees to come around and answer questions. I told Pete this is gonna be a very unpleasant process for him and his family, having been involved in the Kavanaugh hearings.
“I know there will be unnamed accusations and some things that are going to be hurtful, not only to him and his family, but he’s ready for that, his wife is ready for that, and I’m confident he will be confirmed.”
The power broker North Carolina senator caught in the middle of Trump’s confirmations fight
Wednesday 11 December 2024 16:00
Joe Sommerlad
A Republican trifecta in Washington should be a good sign for a bipartisan dealmaker like Thom Tillis.
Instead, Eric Garcia reports, he’s getting squeezed by all sides as he faces re-election.
