Wednesday Briefing: Trump turns to loyalists and lawmakers

Plus, who won the Booker Prize.

View in browser|nytimes.com November 13, 2024 By Natasha Frost Good morning. We're covering Donald Trump's new appointments and Israeli military action in North Gaza. Plus: The winner of the Booker Prize. Donald Trump has repeatedly complained about not being more rigorous about the people chosen as his aides in his first term. Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times Trump turned to loyalists and lawmakers to fill posts President-elect Donald Trump is moving quickly to assemble his cabinet, naming people he expects to shift America away from the Biden administration's agenda once he reclaims the Oval Office early next year. The appointments came as the judge overseeing Trump's criminal case in Manhattan put a hold on the proceedings, including the sentencing. Yet Trump's push to stack his administration with loyal members of Congress has collided with a tough political reality for Republicans: They are running out of the bodies they need to preserve the narrow House majority they expect to hold. Trump has also demanded that Senate Republicans surrender their role in vetting his nominees, seen by many as an important check and balance. Separately, Trump said that the billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would lead the "Department of Government Efficiency," which he said would be the "Manhattan Project" of this era, driving "drastic change" throughout the government through major cuts to the federal budget. Trump will nominate Pete Hegseth, a veteran and Fox News host with no government experience, to be his defense secretary. Hegseth has often defended Trump on TV. His national security adviser will be Representative Michael Waltz of Florida, a former member of the U.S. Army Special Forces, and Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, is to be the U.S. ambassador to Israel. Here are some other key people in Trump's administration. In other news: The chief executive of Exxon Mobil cautioned Trump against withdrawing from the Paris agreement to curb emissions. The E.U. and Britain are bracing for the "economic nightmare" of Trump's confrontational business policies. Was Trump's victory a setback for women? Even women don't agree. Corporate America, comforted by a clear election result, is anticipating tax cuts and deregulation from a second Trump administration. A Palestinian woman who lost her leg when her family home was destroyed in northern Gaza last week. Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Israel's bloody cycle of war in northern Gaza Israeli forces have stormed back into North Gaza, the same area they swarmed almost exactly a year ago at the start of their offensive against Hamas. The renewed offensive over the past five weeks has unleashed some of the Israeli military's most devastating attacks yet. In order to stamp out what Israel calls a Hamas resurgence, troops, tanks and armed drones have hammered the area almost daily; 100,000 residents have been displaced, and it is likely that more than 1,000 others have been killed, according to the U.N. Context: Israel's return to North Gaza shows how murky its strategy has become: Much of Hamas's senior leadership has been killed, yet Israel has shown no sign of letting up. Related: Israel has recently intensified its strikes on southern Lebanon, despite diplomatic efforts for a temporary truce. The Most Rev. Justin Welby, archbishop of Canterbury. Mary Turner for The New York Times The archbishop of Canterbury resigned After days of pressure, the archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, resigned following a damning report that concluded that he had failed to pursue a proper investigation into claims of widespread abuse of boys and young men decades ago at Christian summer camps. Welby's resignation brings to an abrupt end an eventful and occasionally stormy tenure of 11 years, during which he became the spiritual leader of 85 million Anglicans worldwide and Britain's best-known cleric, presiding over momentous public ceremonies like the coronation of King Charles III and becoming an impassioned voice on issues like migration. MORE TOP NEWS Oli Scarff/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Climate: At the U.N. climate summit, Britain announced the swiftest, most ambitious climate target of any industrial economy. Hong Kong: China's economic downturn has hit the ultrarich so hard that some are selling their luxury properties for a song. China: At least 35 people were killed when a man drove a car into a crowd in the southern city of Zhuhai. NATO: The U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken, will meet in Brussels this week with NATO and European officials to discuss the war in Ukraine. Military: The U.S. Navy's speedboat crews are exposed to chronic brain trauma from years of high-speed wave-slamming, which leaves behind lifelong symptoms. Religion: A federal judge in Louisiana blocked a state law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom. Automobiles: Volkswagen, the German automaker, and Rivian, a California-based maker of electric pickups and S.U.V.s, announced a joint venture to develop software and electronics. Nature: No one saw a Mekong giant salmon carp for 15 years. A persistent employee of Cambodia's Fisheries Administration helped find the species in unexpected places. News From Europe Amsterdam: The authorities said they expected to make more arrests in connection with last week's violence involving Israeli soccer fans. Britain: In a U.S. court filing, a former employee says she was trafficked and raped when Mohamed al-Fayed owned Harrods. Russia: Lawmakers banned any promotion of the "refusal to have children" as part of a broad Kremlin effort to reverse the country's falling birthrate. Germany: A snap election will be held on Feb. 23 after the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's governing coalition. The Netherlands: An appeals court overturned a ruling that would have made Shell reduce its carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2030. SPORTS NEWS Soccer: The Premier League's elite teams aren't reaching the heights of previous seasons this time around. Why is that? N.F.L.: The Kansas City Chiefs remain in top spot, with the Detroit Lions hot on their heels. Check out the Week 11 power rankings. Tennis: The ATP Tour Finals in Turin, Italy, are taking place without the Big Three — Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. MORNING READ Franco Origlia/Getty Images Seventeen years after Amanda Knox, an American exchange student, was charged with killing her roommate in Perugia, some residents are outraged that the picturesque university city in central Italy is once again being dragged into a tragedy that they would prefer to forget — via a new Hulu series about the case. Lives lived: Roy Haynes, who was among the greatest and most influential drummers in the history of jazz, died yesterday at 99. CONVERSATION STARTERS Beating the odds: Hanako Okada was one of 73 women to win seats in Japan's election last month, a record number in a Parliament long dominated by men. The weight of history: "Say Nothing," a new show on Disney+, strives to capture the long sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles. A laughing matter: The cast of "Saturday Night Live" has spent years making fun of Trump. It recently issued a very sarcastic plea to stay off his enemies list. ARTS AND IDEAS Henry Nicholls/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 'Orbital' wins the Booker Prize Samantha Harvey, above, is the first female author to take home the Booker since 2019, and at 136 pages, "Orbital" is the second-shortest novel ever to win. The book centers on astronauts and cosmonauts circling the Earth, observing 16 sunrises and sunsets and witnessing weather passing across fragile borders and time zones. The chair of this year's panel of judges, Edmund de Waal, praised "Orbital" for its lyricism, calling it a "beautiful, miraculous novel." Read our review. We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. RECOMMENDATIONS John Kernick for The New York Times Cook: These baked apple cider doughnuts have 6,000 five-star reviews. Listen: Six ambient tracks to transport you elsewhere. Transform: How to dye your hair — and not regret it. Wear: Our fashion critic offers a first-date fashion philosophy. Play the Spelling Bee. And here are today's Mini Crossword and Wordle. You can find all our puzzles here. That's it for today's briefing. See you tomorrow. — Natasha Reach Natasha and the team at briefing@nytimes.com. Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Morning Briefing: Europe Edition from The New York Times. To stop receiving Morning Briefing: Europe Edition, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018