The Secretary of Defense nomination of Pete Hegseth, the ex-Fox News weekend co-host under a cloud of allegations ranging from sexual assault and sexual harassment to abuse of alcohol to financial mismanagement of two charities, appears to have turned around after several media appearances, and the support from key Republican Senators, especially Joni Ernst, who is being subjected to a “swarm of MAGA attacks,” Politico reports.

Senator Ernst, a combat veteran who sits on the critical Armed Services Committee and initially appeared skeptical about Hegseth running the world’s largest and most lethal military, has opened the door to the possibility of giving him the thumbs up.

Ernst “previously said she wasn’t ready to back Hegseth. But after their second meeting on Monday, she said she’d be ‘supporting him through this process’ — though she would not say whether she would ultimately vote in favor of his confirmation,” ABC News reports.

Meanwhile, Politico reports Ernst’s possibly changed stance may have something to do with the extraordinary pressure she is receiving, thanks to Trump’s transition team and MAGA allies.

READ MORE: Hegseth Successfully Gaslights on Women in ‘Combat’

“In recent days, allies of Trump adopted an approach that is not novel for the president-elect and his followers: Make life extremely uncomfortable for anyone who dares to oppose him. The swarm of MAGA attacks that Sen. Joni Ernst has experienced is a warning of what’s in store for others who express skepticism of his personnel choices.”

Politico adds that “the palpable shift demonstrated how grassroots pressure, combined with the influence of Vice President-elect JD Vance, helped bolster Hegseth only days after Trump was drawing up contingency plans to tap Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis instead.”

“People in Trump’s orbit believed that if Hegseth’s nomination was ‘sacrificed’ to Ernst, it would become a ‘feeding frenzy’ with the president-elect’s other controversial picks.”

Senator Lindsey Graham, who served in the military for decades, on Tuesday appeared dismissive of the numerous allegations against Hegseth, claiming that they were made anonymously. He seemed prepared to afford the nominee the same civil rights as if he were being prosecuted and tried in a court of law, and not a presidential cabinet nominee to head the Pentagon, which has a budget of just under $1 trillion.

“The accusations are anonymous, the police report I’ve read uh, right now, he’s in pretty good shape,” Graham told CNN’s Manu Raju (video below). “I think he’s very smart, I actually was with him in Afghanistan what he’s doing is his duty, I was over there very briefly as a reservist. So, the accusations about mismanaging money and about, um, nonconsensual behavior, if they come forward, I will listen to those accusations, but they have to be credible and they have to be presented in a fashion that Pete can rebut.”

READ MORE: ‘USA Is a Threat’: Canadians Slam ‘Bully’ Trump’s ‘Arrogant’ Mockery of ‘Governor Trudeau’

“So he’s much better off this week than he was last week,” Graham said.

Raju reports there currently are no GOP Senators who have said publicly they absolutely will not vote for Hegseth.

But Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal “says a number of his GOP colleagues are opposed to Pete Hegseth’s nomination to be Defense Secretary,” reports CBS News Congressional Correspondent Scott MacFarlane. “But he says GOP colleagues might still vote for Hegseth because ‘Trump is a bully and a tyrant.'”

Watch below or at this link.

Lindsey Graham, who said last week that Pete Hegseth would have a “difficult” time, says: “Right now, he’s in pretty good shape.”
He said he would “listen to those accusations” about alleged misconduct if “if they come forward…but they have to be credible.” pic.twitter.com/fKuWMLK9xO

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 10, 2024

READ MORE: ‘I Love His Charisma’: Republican Lauds ‘Man of Integrity’ Hegseth Who Will ‘Get Rid of DEI’

Image via Reuters

Overnight, President-elect Donald Trump continued his verbal assaults on Canada, America’s largest trading partner and a top defense partner, by calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau the “Governor” of the “Great State of Canada.” Some Canadians are striking back.

After the November election, Trump announced that one of his first actions would be to impose massive tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China. The President of Mexico fought Trump in the press, explaining that his border demands were nonsensical since Mexico was already doing what he was calling for.

But Prime Minister Trudeau decided to fly down to Mar-a-Lago to negotiate with Trump—who is not yet President—and by doing so, some claim, gave Trump the upper hand.

“It was a pleasure to have dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website at 12:06 AM Tuesday. “I look forward to seeing the Governor again soon so that we may continue our in depth talks on Tariffs and Trade, the results of which will be truly spectacular for all!”

READ MORE: ‘I Love His Charisma’: Republican Lauds ‘Man of Integrity’ Hegseth Who Will ‘Get Rid of DEI’

During their Mar-a-Lago meeting, Trump reportedly mocked Trudeau to his face with his “51st state” trolling, according to Fox News.

🔥 PETER DOOCY: “Tonight, we’re getting new details about that Trump-Trudeau dinner from two people who were at the table. We are told that when @JustinTrudeau told President-elect Trump that new tarrifs would kill the Canadian economy, Trump joked to him that if Canada can’t… pic.twitter.com/eAYNJL6SCq

— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) December 2, 2024

Trump’s midnight move followed Prime Minister Trudeau saying on Monday that Americans “are beginning to wake up to the real reality that tariffs on everything from Canada would make life a lot more expensive,” The Associated Press reported. Trudeau also threatened to retaliate.

Trudeau warned that Trump’s tariffs would “mean real hardship for Americans,” who “import 65% of their crude oil from Canada, [and] significant amounts of electricity. Just about all the natural gas exported from Canada goes to the United States. They rely on us for steel and aluminum. They rely on us for a range of agriculture imports. All of those things would get more expensive.”

Trump last week promoted what appeared to be an AI-generated image of him standing in snow looking out at what was supposedly Canada but was reportedly the Matterhorn, the mountain that borders Switzerland and Italy.

So Trump is in Switzerland, looking at the Matterhorn and thinking about Canada.

That’s nice. pic.twitter.com/sYeLAlUx79

— Canadians For Trudeau 🇨🇦 (@donmorrison063) December 3, 2024

On Sunday Trump falsely claimed on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that America is “subsidizing Canada to the tune of over $100 billion.” He appeared to be referring to the U.S. trade deficit with Canada, which is not “over $100 billion.” In 2023, it was $67.9 billion. The U.S. economy is about ten times that of Canada, and the U.S. population is about eight times that of Canada.

READ MORE: ‘You Have to’: Trump Confirms Plan to Deport US Citizens With Undocumented Parents

“If we’re going to subsidize them, let them become a state,” Trump angrily declared.

Trump: We’re subsidizing Canada to the tune of over 100 billion a year. We’re subsidizing Mexico to almost $300 billion. If we’re going to subsidize them, let them become a state pic.twitter.com/zTR1xI7Y3e

— Acyn (@Acyn) December 8, 2024

Some in the U.S. suggested Trudeau meeting with Trump may not have been the best move.

“Trudeau running down to Mar-a-Lago right after Trump posted his tariff threat was a huge mistake. Now Trump thinks he owns him. Amazing after all this time so many people still have no clue how to deal with him,” noted MeidasTouch editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski.

Prime Minister Trudeau “hopping on a flight to mar a lago on back of us tariff threat (correctly) perceived as weakness by president-elect trump,” noted Ian Bremmer, founder of the political risk research and consulting firm Eurasia Group. He added that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum “has handled this better.”

But critics in the U.S. and Canada are blasting the President-elect.

“Trump’s ‘great state of Canada’ would have cast 20 Senate votes to convict him at his 2021 impeachment trial,” wrote The Atlantic’s David Frum, a former Bush 43 White House speechwriter who reportedly coined the term “axis of evil.”

“Perhaps Trump doesn’t realize that annexing Canada would be handing Democrats control of the House, Senate, and White House … ?” observed The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser.

“Disrespectful trolling of Canada and other countries around the world by Trump is a feature of who the man is, not a bug. The world is an unstable and dangerous enough place,” warned Bruce Anderson, a Canadian pollster and political commentator.

Canadian pundit Laura Babcock also issued a warning, writing, “FFS this is EXACTLY what I warned about on radio: Trump has a proven process of signalling, mocking and normalizing preposterous ideas (Manifest Destiny in this case) so he can weaken resistance to them! It’s how he destroys norms. We need to fight back early and often Canada.”

Former Cabinet Minister and Deputy Premier of Alberta, Canada, Thomas Lukaszuk added, “Referring to Canada as US state and to our Prime Minister as Governor must concern us all. This arogant passive aggressive language shows Trump has no respect for Canada’s sovereignty and the integrity of our borders. Such language is dangerous and can’t be tolerated.”

Canadian journalist Geoffrey Johnston slammed “ignorant bully” Trump, writing, “Canada will never join USA. Time for Canadians to stop thinking of USA as a friend. Under Trump, USA is a threat to Canada’s economy & sovereignty. Most Canadians prefer our cooperative ways to American private medicine, gun violence, & imperialism.”

See the videos and social media posts above or at this link.

READ MORE: Butker’s ‘Traditional Values’ PAC Took Retiree Cash, Spent Most on Fundraising: Report

Image via Reuters

Failed ultra-MAGA GOP nominee for Arizona governor and U.S. Senator, Kari Lake, is being mocked after a report detailed that she has emerged as a “leading contender” to be President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Mexico.

Semafor published the “scoop” late Monday afternoon, noting also that “Lake has echoed Trump in backing strict limits on immigration. On the campaign trail, Lake described the influx of migrants entering the US as an ‘invasion.’”

“She campaigned on finishing the wall at the US southern border, increasing the number of judges who hear asylum claims, stepping up quick deportations of undocumented immigrants who cross outside official ports of entry and building additional border detention facilities,” Semafor reports.

READ MORE: ‘I Love His Charisma’: Republican Lauds ‘Man of Integrity’ Hegseth Who Will ‘Get Rid of DEI’

Notably, like Trump, she refused to concede her election loss in the 2022 race for Arizona governor.

Mexico is a critical trading partner and the health of the U.S. economy hinges in part on America’s relationship with our neighbor to the south.

In September, the U.S. Dept. of State noted that “Mexico remains one of the United States’ closest and most valued partners, with a 2,000-mile shared border containing 47 active land ports of entry, and a shared history that has established deep cultural and people-to-people ties over 200 years of diplomatic relations. This bilateral relationship directly impacts the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans on issues as varied as trade and economic development, education exchange, citizen security, drug control, migration, human trafficking, entrepreneurship, innovation, environmental protection, climate change, and public health.”

“Each day, hundreds of thousands of people cross both sides of the border legally to work, live, or visit close relatives and friends. In addition, an estimated 1.6 million U.S. citizens live in Mexico and Mexico is the top foreign destination for U.S. travelers.”

READ MORE: ‘You Have to’: Trump Confirms Plan to Deport US Citizens With Undocumented Parents

If nominated and confirmed, Lake would be responsible for maintaining and, presumably, improving this relationship.

Critics expressed largely negative responses.

Eric Boehm, a reporter at the libertarian magazine Reason commented, “Tell me you’re not serious about negotiating with Mexico over trade or immigration without telling me….”

Bridgeport, Pennsylvania Councilman Tony Heyl sarcastically asked, “How is she going to have time to do this when she is already Governor and Senator from Arizona?”

Another critic, mocking Trump’s 2015 presidential campaign launch speech, wrote: “When America sends its people, they’re not sending their best.”

READ MORE: Butker’s ‘Traditional Values’ PAC Took Retiree Cash, Spent Most on Fundraising: Report

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license