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Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump transition, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.

President-elect Trump on Friday posted a message on his Truth Social account that contrasted his 2023 mugshot with his Time magazine cover.Trump was named Time’s Person of the Year this week, which included a cover and an in-depth interview as he prepares to take office for the second time. “How it started, how it’s going,” Trump wrote with his mugshot on the left side and his Time cover on the right.

An uptick in alleged drone sightings along the East Coast touched off a flurry of panicked calls for investigation on Friday from residents and state lawmakers, even as public officials stress the aircraft in question are, in fact, being flown lawfully, and a retired port authority aviation expert tells Fox News Digital that fears are overblown.

A top Team Trump official disclosed the moment that “really set the campaign on a trajectory to victory” – the day President-elect Donald Trump arrived in Columbiana County, Ohio, to survey the East Palestine train derailment.”The ripples from that day do not get enough attention,” White House communications director-designate Steven Cheung said on X, formerly Twitter, in retweeting an op-ed making that assertion.

A New Jersey lawmaker says he “can’t believe” how the government is wording its investigation into recent drone sightings across northeast America.State Assemblyman Paul Kanitra joined “Fox News @ Night” on Thursday to discuss the bipartisan outrage at how the government is handling the drone sightings.

A U.S. Senator from Connecticut said the mysterious drones spotted recently flying over states in the mid-Atlantic region should be “shot down, if necessary.”In an interview on Capitol Hill Thursday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said intelligence analysis is needed on the drones and the U.S. must act “more aggressively” against the sightings that have been reported.

The Biden administration announced a new $500 million military aid package to Ukraine Thursday, weeks before President-elect Trump takes office. “The United States is providing another significant package of urgently needed weapons and equipment to our Ukrainian partners as they defend against Russia’s ongoing attacks,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

The Biden administration on Thursday announced it is launching a national strategy to combat Islamophobia. The move, which the administration described as the first-ever Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate, comes a little more than a year after Hamas’ unprovoked attack on Israel Oct. 7, 2023, which was followed by spikes in antisemitic protests and antisemitism across the United States.Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

The White House released a list of names of the 39 people whom President Biden pardoned, as well as a list of the nearly 1,500 whose sentences he commuted, on Thursday. The move from Biden set a new, single-day record for clemency under any president, and it comes after he pardoned his son, Hunter, earlier this month. The controversial pardon of his son put pressure on Biden from others in the Democratic Party to issue additional pardons.

President-elect Donald Trump described Richard “Ric” Grenell, his former acting director of National Intelligence, as a “fabulous person” and “A STAR” in response to a news report about him potentially serving as a special envoy for Iran.Reuters reported that Trump is considering appointing Grenell to the position, citing “two people familiar with the transition plans.

The House voted to pass its yearly defense bill Wednesday, adding about another $1 trillion to the $36 trillion national debt.The 1,800-page bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), details how $895.2 billion allocated toward defense and national security will be spent.On Wednesday, the bill passed 281-140, with 16 Republicans voting no. Only 81 Democrats voted yes, while 124 voted no.

President-elect Donald Trump nominated a few more candidates on Wednesday night to serve in various positions during his second term.He tapped Kari Lake as the next director of the Voice of America, a state-funded U.S. government broadcaster. Lake was a longtime Arizona broadcaster who ran unsuccessfully for public office in 2022 and 2024.”I am pleased to announce that Kari Lake will serve as our next Director of the Voice of America.

Reparations activists in California hope their snubbed bills that were shelved in September will be re-introduced by a legislator during the next special session that Gov. Gavin Newsom called in January.

Republicans and conservatives on social media are taking a victory lap after Senate Democrats failed in a last-minute attempt to keep control of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Wednesday after narrowly losing a vote to end debate on re-appointing the board’s chair, Lauren McFerran.

Former U.S. ambassador to El Salvador Ronald Johnson has been tapped by President-elect Trump to serve as ambassador to Mexico in his upcoming administration.Like many of his picks, Trump announced the news on his Truth Social network. “Ron will work closely with our great Secretary of State Nominee, Marco Rubio, to promote our Nation’s security and prosperity through strong America First Foreign Policies,” he wrote.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said she was physically accosted on Capitol grounds Tuesday night, and the suspect has since been arrested.The U.S. Capitol Police said that just before 6 p.m. the office of a member of Congress, later identified as Mace, reported an incident in the Rayburn House Office Building.House division officers and agents with the Threat Assessment Section of the police department tracked down the suspect, identified as 33-year-old James McIntyre of Illinois.

President-elect Trump has tapped Andrew Ferguson to serve as chair of the Federal Trade Commission, the anti-trust agency of which he already serves as a commissioner. “Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country,” Trump said in a Tuesday statement posted to his Truth Social network. “Andrew will be the most America First, and pro-innovation FTC Chair in our Country’s History.

President-elect Trump on Tuesday announced several picks to join his incoming administration, including tapping Jacob Helberg to serve as his Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment and Kimberly Guilfoyle to serve as ambassador to GreeceTrump announced the picks on his Truth Social platform.”In this role Jacob will be a champion of our America First Foreign Policy,” he wrote.

San Diego County has voted to further block county cooperation with federal immigration authorities ahead of an expected deportation push by the incoming Trump administration next year – a move quickly slammed by a top local Republican.The resolution goes further than California’s existing ‘sanctuary’ law, which generally limits law enforcement’s cooperation with ICE. The vote was approved in a 3-1 vote by San Diego County’s board of supervisors.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, signed a bill into law on Monday to prohibit public libraries and school libraries from banning books in the state.The law will also implement protections for librarians who follow the law against civil and criminal charges, according to The Associated Press.This makes New Jersey the latest state to enact a law prohibiting book bans, joining other Democrat-led states, including Illinois and Minnesota.

An apparent swatting call at the north Georgia home of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., left a woman dead following a car accident involving local police.Greene took to social media on Monday to report that she was the subject of a bomb threat directed at her home. The congresswoman said the Rome Police Department’s assistant chief received the threat via email, prompting a bomb squad to be dispatched to her home.

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon, praised women in the military as some of the “greatest warriors” after critics took issue with comments he made about women not being fit to serve in combat roles.

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, celebrated that he had a “great meeting” with Sen. Joni Ernst after the Iowa Republican slow-walked an endorsement of the Cabinet nominee. “It was a great meeting. People don’t really know this. I’ve known Sen. Ernst for over 10 years.

President-elect Trump on Sunday nominated Harmeet K. Dhillon as the assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Justice Department.Trump said Dhillon has consistently protected civil liberties throughout her career, including taking on Big Tech for censoring free speech, representing Christians who were not allowed to pray together during the COVID-19 pandemic, and suing corporations who use woke policies to discriminate against their employees.

Lara Trump announced via X that she would be stepping down as co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) citing that during her time the RNC had three distinct goals, and they had all been accomplished.She started her journey as co-chair of the RNC in March 2024, but it has been widely discussed that she is considering her potential options as father-in-law, President-elect Donald Trump once again takes the reins at the White House.

President-elect Trump announced that Alina Habba would be joining his White House team as the counselor to the President on Sunday evening.”Alina has been a tireless advocate for Justice, a fierce Defender of the Rule of Law, and an invaluable Advisor to my Campaign and Transition Team,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

President-elect Donald Trump has released a new fragrance line for men and women to commemorate his historic election victory, and he found an unwitting model to help sell it.An online ad for the fragrance features a viral photo of Trump and Jill Biden, with the first lady seemingly smiling at him at the reopening ceremony of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Saturday.