In this video, after a general market and sectors review, Tony shares the latest OptionsPlay trade ideas, including bullish and bearish ideas for GOOGL, NVDA, DIS, SHOP, and many more. He analyzes sector rotation with RRGs, and takes a look at key earnings.
This video premiered on January 7, 2025.
President-elect Trump reiterated that ‘all hell will break out’ if the hostages still held in Gaza have not been freed by the time he enters office in two weeks on Jan. 20.
Trump was asked about the threats he first levied in early December at the Hamas terrorist organization that has continued to hold some 96 hostages, only 50 of whom are still assessed to be alive, including three Americans.
‘All hell will break out,’ Trump said, speaking alongside Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East and who has begun participating in cease-fire negotiations alongside the Biden administration and leaders from Egypt, Qatar, Israel and Hamas.
‘If those hostages aren’t back – I don’t want to hurt your negotiation – if they’re not back by the time I get into office, all hell will break out in the Middle East,’ he added in reference to Witkoff.
Trump again refused to detail what this would mean for Hamas and the Trump transition team has not detailed for Fox News Digital what sort of action the president-elect might take.
In response to a reporter who pressed him on his meaning, Trump said, ‘Do I have to define it for you?’
‘I don’t have to say any more, but that’s what it is,’ he added.
Witkoff said he would be heading to the Middle East either Tuesday night or Wednesday to continue cease-fire negotiations.
In the weeks leading up to the Christmas and Hanukkah holidays, there was a renewed sense of optimism that a cease-fire could finally be on the horizon after a series of talks over the prior 14 months had not only failed to bring the hostages home, but saw a mounting number of hostages killed in captivity. Once again, though, no deal was pushed through before the New Year.
After nearly 460 days since the hostages were first taken in Gaza in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, Witkoff appeared to be holding onto hope that a deal could be secured in the near future.
‘I think that we’ve had some really great progress. And I’m really hopeful that by the inaugural, we’ll have some good things to announce on behalf of the president,’ Witkoff told reporters. ‘I actually believe that we’re working in tandem in a really good way. But it’s the president – his reputation, the things that he has said that are driving this negotiation and so, hopefully, it’ll all work out and we’ll save some lives.’
In addition to the roughly 50 people believed to be alive and in Hamas captivity, the terrorist group is believed to be holding at least 38 who were taken hostage and then killed while in captivity, as well as at least seven who are believed to have been killed on Oct. 7, 2023, and then taken into Gaza.
Jimmy Carter, the centenarian former president who lived long enough to see Donald Trump elected again but died just before the start of the new year, has a foreign policy legacy that wasn’t just defined by his four years in the White House.
Over the term of his presidency, the former Georgia governor could boast of helping to establish peace between Israel and Egypt and reestablishing relations with China. But by the time he suffered one of the nation’s most decisive defeats by President Ronald Reagan in 1980, Carter still had ambitions that he was not ready to stop pursuing.
Carter is largely celebrated for the altruistic nature of his post-presidency, volunteering with Habitat for Humanity well into his 90s. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his peace negotiations, but some accused the former president of meddling in international affairs without any official title.
Here’s a look Carter’s forays on the world stage, both as president and beyond:
In 1994, Bill Clinton was in office in the midst of a standoff with North Korea over the communist country’s nuclear program. The U.S. was floating the idea of sanctions – and even considered a preemptive strike on North Korea’s nuclear facilities to destroy their capabilities.
Carter had received invitations from North Korea to visit, and was eager to try his hand at defusing the situation and hashing out an agreement to unify the north and the south. As Clinton weighed his options, Carter called. He had negotiated the framework of a peace agreement, without authorization.
Carter had flown to North Korea with a CNN crew and hashed out the deal. He called Clinton to warn him he was about to go on CNN to announce the deal, which infuriated the Clinton White House, according to Carter biographer Douglas Brinkley’s book, ‘The Unfinished Presidency.’
Carter also accepted a dinner invitation from Kim Il-Sung, where he stated the U.S. had stopped pursuing sanctions at the U.N., which was untrue. Backed into a corner, Clinton had to accept the peace deal and stop pursuing sanctions.
Carter’s discussions with leader Kim Il-Sung may have averted conflict with North Korea in the 1990s. The nation, of course, continued pursuing nuclear weapons and acquired them in 2006.
In the Middle East, Carter declared he could have resolved the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians in a second term, a prospect that has still not been achieved by any president.
‘Had I been elected to a second term, with the prestige and authority and influence and reputation I had in the region, we could have moved to a final solution,’ he told The New York Times in 2003.
Throughout the 1990s, Carter befriended Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat and coached him on how to appear more moderate to the west, even as Arafat continued to lead attacks on Israel and led the Second Intifada in 2000.
When President George H.W. Bush decided to launch the Persian Gulf War after Iraq’s Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, Carter was vehemently opposed to the idea. Five days before Bush’s deadline for Hussein to withdraw, Carter wrote to leaders of nations on the U.N. Security Council and key Arab states – Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria – imploring them to abandon the U.S. and its war efforts.
‘I urge you to call publicly for a delay in the use of force while Arab leaders seek a peaceful solution to the crisis. You may have to forego approval from the White House, but you will find the French, Soviets, and others fully supportive. Also, most Americans will welcome such a move.’
The move prompted former national security adviser Brent Scowcroft to accuse Carter of violating the Logan Act, which says private citizens cannot negotiate with foreign governments.
In 2008, President George W. Bush’s secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, publicly tore into Carter for meeting with Hamas, a designated terrorist group, after the administration explicitly told him not to.
Rice told reporters Carter’s meeting could confuse the message that the U.S. would not work with Hamas.
‘I just don’t want there to be any confusion,’ Rice said. ‘The United States is not going to deal with Hamas and we had certainly told President Carter that we did not think meeting with Hamas was going to help’ further a political settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.
Carter, a strong advocate of the Palestinians after his presidency, claimed that Israel’s policies amounted to an apartheid worse than South Africa’s.
In 1978, the groundbreaking possibility of Egypt and Israel normalizing relations had screeched to a halt. President Anwar Sadat of Egypt suggested ceasing contact with the Israelis.
In September of that year, Carter brought Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to Camp David, where Carter spent more than a week mediating negotiations on an agreement between the two sides. A framework of a treaty known as the Camp David Accords came out of that meeting, and six months later, Egypt became the first Arab state to establish relations with Israel.
The agreement included the return of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt and a ‘pathway’ for Palestinian self-rule in Gaza. Sadat was assassinated in 1981 after Arab fury over the peace agreement.
In 1978, following months of secret negotiations, Carter established formal U.S. relations with China, breaking decades of hostility between the two nations. That meant rescinding a defense treaty with Taiwan, where Carter remains a controversial figure.
It also prompted Congress to pass the Taiwan Relations Act to continue to provide arms to Taiwan and ‘maintain the capacity to resist’ any attempts to take it over.
In 1979, the Iranian regime’s shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, and Carter had a strategic relationship, with Carter quiet on his questionable human rights record even as the shah’s grip on power was slipping.
Protests had kicked up in Iran over the shah’s oppressive policies, but Carter continued to support him, fearing the alternative: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Pahlavi fled into exile in January 1979, and Carter initially resisted requests to grant him refuge in the U.S. before allowing him to seek cancer treatment in New York City in October of that year. And on Nov. 4, Iranian students angry at the decision stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 52 hostages.
The hostage crisis spanned the rest of Carter’s term and, for many, defined his legacy on the world stage. Without any resolution, in April 1980, Carter moved to a military rescue.
The mission ended in tragic failure: several helicopters were grounded outside Tehran in a sandstorm, and eight special forces members were killed when their helicopter crashed. Iran then captured U.S. equipment and intelligence.
The hostages were not released until Jan. 20, 1981 – minutes after President Ronald Reagan was inaugurated.
President-elect Trump has brought Carter’s Panama Canal treaties back into the spotlight, musing on Tuesday that offering control of the canal to Panama lost Carter the 1980 election.
Despite fierce opposition from the right, Carter believed returning the canal would improve U.S. relations in Latin America and ensure peace between U.S. shipping lanes, fearing that opposition to U.S. control could lead to violence on the waterway.
‘It’s obvious that we cheated the Panamanians out of their canal,’ Carter wrote in a diary. But he’d also received intelligence that it could take up 100,000 troops to defend the canal in the event of an uprising.
In recent days, Trump has suggested taking the canal back – claiming the U.S. is paying too much to use it, and it is controlled by China.
‘Giving the Panama Canal to Panama was a big reason why Jimmy Carter lost the election, even more so than the hostages,’ Trump said.
Hawaii’s Democratic Governor and practicing physician, Josh Green, is visiting Capitol Hill this week to lobby lawmakers against the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. In a Tuesday op-ed for The New York Times, he argued that ‘our children’s lives depend’ on preventing Kennedy from leading the agency.
Green, who worked as a physician before entering politics, has continued practicing emergency room medicine throughout his legislative career. In 2019, as Hawaii’s lieutenant governor, Green helped spearhead efforts to increase vaccination rates in Samoa amid a measles outbreak in the region. Green arrived in the nation’s capital on Sunday evening to begin his meetings that will go until he returns to Hawaii on Thursday.
‘As the only physician governor, I need to explain what are good picks and what maybe aren’t so good picks for the cabinet,’ Green said in a video ahead of his planned trip to Washington, noting that his lobbying against Kennedy is not anything personal or politically motivated. ‘[RFK Jr’s] appointment to be the head of Health and Human Services is not consistent with safety for our children,’ he said.
During his trip to Washington, Green said that he would be discussing with lawmakers and other leaders to explore ‘a better place for [RFK Jr.] to be’ rather than HHS, calling his potential confirmation ‘a bad idea.’
Questions over the likelihood of Kennedy’s confirmation took a turn this week after Sen. Bill Cassidy, R–La., the incoming chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, called out the potential future HHS Secretary for being ‘wrong’ on the issue of vaccines. The criticism follows concerns that Kennedy may seek to get rid of the polio vaccine, after news broke that one of his previous colleagues at Childrens Health Defense, a health-focused nonprofit Kennedy previously chaired, petitioned the government in 2019 to revoke its approval.
Green’s criticism of Kennedy has largely revolved around his anti-vaccine views as well, in particular Kennedy’s response to a measles outbreak in Samoa, during which the potential future HHS Secretary promoted doubts around vaccine efficacy, according to Green and others, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. Those efforts included a letter Kennedy sent to the country’s prime minister, as chairman of Children’s Health Defense, suggesting that the measles vaccine could have potentially exacerbated the outbreak.
The Democratic governor penned an op-ed published in The New York Times on Tuesday, continuing to drill at Kennedy’s anti-vaccine efforts in 2019 amid Samoa’s measles outbreak. According to Greene, Kennedy ‘used misinformation to scare all the people of Samoa away from being vaccinated’ and served to ‘torpedo’ the country’s vaccination efforts.
‘Too much depends on our commitment to truth and the lifesaving power of vaccines to entrust Mr. Kennedy with the direction of these programs. Our children’s lives depend on it,’ Green wrote.
Kennedy’s team has not responded to repeated efforts by Fox News Digital to get in touch, but in 2023, Kennedy said during an appearance in a short film that he ‘never told anybody not to vaccinate’ and that he ‘didn’t go [to Samoa] with any reason to do with that.’ Furthermore, amid concerns about how Kennedy might approach the polio vaccine, he told reporters on Capitol Hill last month that he is ‘all for the polio vaccine.’
Proponents of Kennedy’s nomination have suggested his proposed plans, if confirmed, will be rooted in logic and science.
‘I think that Kennedy has aimed to stand for evidence-based changes to policy,’ said Nina Teicholz, a nutrition expert and founder of The Nutrition Coalition, a New York-based nonprofit organization.
‘Right now, the media is covering RFK Jr. poorly and unfairly, giving him no credit for ideas that are well within the bounds of discussion,’ added Dr. Vinay Prasad, in an article published by The Free Press. ‘Many of RFK Jr.’s ideas have a logic.’
Fox News Digital reached out to Green’s office for comment but did not hear back by publication time.
On Tuesday, January 7, 2025, CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2025 opens its doors in Las Vegas for a four-day event. As the world’s largest technology expo, CES is the hub for global tech innovation, spotlighting the cutting-edge advancements that will define tech trends in the year ahead.
Two key drivers are at the heart of today’s tech focus: semiconductor chips and AI technology. Both present a strong case for investment, and investing in semiconductor companies that enable growth in AI ecosystems is among your strongest bets for profiting from future trends.
That said, you should look at the semiconductor industry to see which companies offer the strongest opportunities. Let’s begin with VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) as our industry proxy. Below is a weekly chart.
FIGURE 1. WEEKLY CHART OF SMH. Notice how the Accumulation/Distribution Line (ADL) sits above the current price action. Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.
Following a two-year uptrend, SMH appears to be caught within a narrow trading range (see magenta box). The two blue dotted lines mark SMH’s highest high ($281.82) and its corresponding swing low ($199.61). The current price gap indicates a bullish attempt to break out of the current range.
The Accumulation/Distribution Line (ADL), a volume-based indicator that tracks the cumulative flow of money into and out of a security, shows a noticeable rise despite the price remaining stuck in this range. This creates a slight bullish divergence, suggesting that SMH is experiencing capital inflows that could eventually push the ETF above its current trading range.
Now that you have a broader perspective on what semiconductor stocks are doing, let’s zoom in on three that are highly involved in AI tech production:
NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA): The leader in AI chips.Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD): A secondary competitor in AI-focused GPUs and CPUs.Taiwan Semiconductor, Mfg. (TSM): A major foundry for AI semiconductors.
NVDA’s daily chart shows that the stock is experiencing a volatile uptrend and is now experiencing a strong bout of selling after approaching its all-time high of $152.88. The question is whether NVDA is topping out or has enough technical momentum to eventually break through this level and continue setting new record highs.
FIGURE 2. DAILY CHART OF NVDA. Is it toppy or might it have enough momentum to break above its all-time high?Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.
NVDA’s StockChartsTechnicalRank (SCTR) score, despite occupying the ultra-bullish 90 range for some time, now stands at around 71. Momentum-wise, the MACD (Moving Average Convergence/Divergence) has begun showing green shoots of bullishness, with the MACD line crossing over the signal line and both appearing to ascend above the center line. This indicates that the stock’s short-term momentum is increasing, which suggests the possibility of continued upward movement.
Add NVDA to your ChartList and look to the trendline as a potential support level should the stock dip. It may present a strong buying opportunity.
Take a look at AMD’s weekly chart.
FIGURE 3. WEEKLY CHART OF AMD. As NVDA’s major competitor, AMD’s performance has been frighteningly poor.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.
AMD is supposed to be NVDA’s most direct competitor in AI chip production. If this is the case, can you expect a dramatic turnaround and substantial growth from where AMD is now?
AMD is far underperforming NVDA, down almost -79%. Watch the most recent bounce (see blue arrow) off the support range marked by the blue rectangle. The chart includes an overlay of a ZigZag line. This outlines the trend movement, showing the critical swing points defining an uptrend and downtrend.
Does the current bounce indicate a refusal to break below the most recent swing low? If so, will AMD have enough momentum to break above the last swing high? This is what’s key to monitor: specifically, whether AMD breaks below the swing low or above the swing high. As for now, the trend is still downward.
Add AMD to your ChartLists and, if you’re bullish, wait for a clear sign of reversal using volume-based and momentum indicators, keeping a tight stop on the most recent swing low. Also, you may want to check the SCTR score to see if it is moving dramatically upward.
Last but not least, there’s TSM, the foundry. Take a look at its weekly chart and compare it to that of AMD.
FIGURE 4. WEEKLY CHART OF TSM. There’s a strong uptrend and the stock has reached a record high.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.
This week, TSM is exhibiting an almost ideal uptrend and gapping upwards to “all-time high” territory. But is it bound for another cyclical pullback or does it have enough momentum to drive higher?
Shift over to a daily chart and you might see something problematic.
FIGURE 5. DAILY CHART OF TSM. There’s a clean uptrend, but money flow is lagging.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.
TSM’s uptrend looks pristine (see blue dotted line). But if you look at the ADL, you’ll notice how the cumulative money flows peaked in early 2024. Now it’s showing a bearish divergence, in which TSM has broken into record highs amid a backdrop of dwindling money inflows.
There’s a strong chance of a pullback, and the current bout of selling may be tipping the market’s hand toward this bias. If TSM finds support at the trendline, look for other signs that momentum may be picking up. If it breaks below the trendline, then look for more downside. Hint: There are rumors that NVDA is evaluating Samsung foundry due to TSM’s high costs and limited production capacity. If that transition goes through, it may impact TSM’s bottom line.
So what can you do from here on?
Add SMH, NVDA, AMD, and TSM to your ChartLists.Watch SMH to see if it successfully challenges resistance at $281.82.See if NVDA bounces off the trendline and eventually breaks above $152.88, either of which can serve as a buying opportunity.Monitor AMD for signs of a reversal on strong momentum before considering a long position.Keep an eye on TSM’s trendline for signs of support or further downside in light of weakening money inflows.
And if you’re interested in all the new tech products, follow CES 2025 reports for insights into new tech trends that could impact the semiconductor sector.
Semiconductors and AI remain at the forefront of innovation. CES 2025 is likely to reflect this trend among several of its showcased products. As companies race to meet rising demand in this competitive field, staying alert to rapid developments could offer early insights into future-defining investment opportunities.
Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The ideas and strategies should never be used without first assessing your own personal and financial situation, or without consulting a financial professional.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen emphasized that Greenland is not for sale, as President-elect Trump has ramped up calls for the U.S. to acquire the island.
Frederiksen’s comments to a Danish TV station come as the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., paid a visit to Greenland on Tuesday. The trip is a personal one and Trump Jr. is not expected to meet with any government officials.
The Danish prime minister said in an interview that Greenlandic Prime Minister Múte Egede ‘has been very, very clear – that there is a lot of support among the people of Greenland that Greenland is not for sale and will not be in the future either,’ according to The Hill.
She reportedly told Danish television station TV 2 that Greenland will choose its own future and said, ‘We need to stay calm and stick to our principles,’ while praising the U.S. as a key Danish ally.
In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump said he was ‘hearing that the people of Greenland are ‘MAGA’.’ The Republican attached a video that purportedly shows a Greenlander asking the U.S. to buy his country.
Trump’s son arrived Tuesday in Nuuk, the Arctic territory’s capital. He met with locals, visited cultural sites and shot video for a podcast. The president-elect posted a video showing a plane emblazoned with the word ‘TRUMP’ landing in Nuuk.
‘Don Jr. and my Reps landing in Greenland,’ Trump wrote. ‘The reception has been great. They, and the Free World, need safety, security, strength, and PEACE! This is a deal that must happen. MAGA. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!’
Trump also spoke with locals over speakerphone in video that supporters shared online.
A source familiar told Fox News Digital on Monday that Trump Jr. is ‘popping in for a quick day-long trip to shoot some fun video content for podcasting. He will not be meeting with any government officials or political figures.’
Trump has previously flirted with the idea of buying the territory from Denmark, claiming it is of vital national security interest to the United States.
At a press conference at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate Tuesday afternoon, the president-elect again said, ‘Denmark should give it up.’
Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace, Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is preparing to roll out once the Trump administration is sworn in with the stated goal of slashing government waste and providing increased transparency when it comes to government spending.
DOGE is not a Cabinet-level department but rather a blue-ribbon committee outside of the government that will be tasked with examining issues of government spending, waste, efficiency and operations.
Proponents of DOGE, headed by Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, have suggested that $2 trillion dollars in government waste can be cut from the federal budget through the reduction of spending, eliminating government programs and trimming the federal workforce.
Although the commission does not have formal authority, it has pledged to work closely with the Office of Management and Budget to reform regulatory recissions, administrative reductions and cost savings.
In addition to a working relationship with certain government agencies, DOGE will likely suggest executive actions that may be taken by President Trump.
Several House Committees and caucuses have already expressed the intention and willingness to work with DOGE until it ceases operations on July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of 1776’s Independence Day, to accomplish the goal of slashing government waste.
‘Our national debt has surpassed a staggering $36 trillion and should be a wakeup call for all Americans,’ House Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) has explained. ‘We must take action to avoid diving headfirst off the cliff of fiscal ruin. I’m thrilled with President-elect Trump’s appointment of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead DOGE, but taking on Crazy Town will be no easy task—they will need partners.
‘Our DOGE Caucus, will work closely with the Department of Government Efficiency to help rein in reckless spending and stop the abuse of taxpayer dollars.’
House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) intends to establish a new subcommittee next, led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) that will oversee Delivering on Government Efficiency. The subcommittee will be tasked with coordinating with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) through investigating wasteful spending, looking at how to reorganize federal agencies with an eye to improving efficiency and identifying solutions to eliminate bureaucratic ‘red tape.’
‘It is time to cut red tape, hold the unchecked federal workforce accountable, ensure programs are efficient, & work with @DOGE to tackle waste, fraud, & abuse,’ Comer posted on X in December.
On the Senate side, GOP Sen. Joni Ernst will chair the Senate Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency Caucus.
‘’Iowans elected me with a mandate to cut Washington’s pork!’ Ernst said about the DOGE efforts. ‘From billion-dollar boondoggles to welfare for politicians and trillion-dollar slush funds, my decade-long investigations have exposed levels of abuse that are almost too insane to believe.
‘The tables are finally turning, the knives are out, and waste is on the chopping block. As President Trump, Elon Musk, and Vivek Ramaswamy prepare to take action, the Senate DOGE Caucus is ready to carry out critical oversight in Congress and use our legislative force to fight against the entrenched bureaucracy, trim the fat, and get Washington back to work for Americans.’’
Several historical examples exist in American history, with mixed results and less ambitious goals, of government-led efforts to cut back on unnecessary spending and staffing.
President Theodore Roosevelt, in 1905, set up the Keep Commission, which attempted to ‘place the conduct of the Government on the most economical and effective basis in the light of the best modern business practice’ and has been hailed as the ‘first of the orderly examinations into [Federal] administrative problems.’
Five years later, President William Howard Taft was appropriated $100,000 by Congress to ‘inquire into the methods of transacting the public business of the government in the several executive departments and other government establishments, with the view of… changing old methods…so as to attain greater efficiency… and recommend to Congress what changes in law may be necessary.’
President Bill Clinton’s administration launched the National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPR), led by Vice President Al Gore, with the goal to make the federal government ‘work better, cost less, and get results Americans care about.’
Gore said, ‘We are turning some of today’s agencies into smaller, sleeker organizations that won’t look like government at all. They will be like private companies, with a real CEO on contract to cut costs, and a free hand when it comes to the remaining government rules.’
President Obama signed an executive order in June 2011 establishing the Campaign to Cut Government Waste that created an 11-member Oversight and Accountability Board with a stated mission to give ‘taxpayers the same ability to track where their dollars are going and to have the same confidence that the dollars are not being lost to waste, fraud, or abuse, not just for Recovery Act dollars, but more broadly.’
Steve Davis, president of Boring Co., Musk’s tunneling operation, and Michael Kratsios, former US chief technology officer, are among those leading interviews of potential DOGE employee candidates, according to people familiar with the effort.
DOGE is believed to have hired roughly 10 individuals so far and is seeking software engineers as well as people with experience in artificial intelligence. Other high-profile names believed to be associated with getting DOGE off the ground include Palantir co-founder and investor Joe Lonsdale, investor Marc Andreessen, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and former Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick.
For now, DOGE is operating out of glass-walled office space in Washington leased by SpaceX, another Musk-owned company, about four blocks away from the White House.
Some other key areas that DOGE hopes to make progress in, Musk and Ramaswamy have previously outlined, include simplifying the U.S. tax code, auditing the Department of Defense, returning National Institutes of Health money to taxpayers and foreign aid transparency.
‘I expect DOGE to operate in ‘founder mode’ — lean, decisive and led by two great people in Vivek and Elon who are obsessed over every detail,’ said James Fishback, a Ramaswamy confidant, and the co-founder of investment firm Azoria Partners.
Iran’s nuclear program is nearing the ‘point of no return,’ French President Emmanuel Macron is now warning.
Iran is the top ‘strategic and security challenge’ for France and Europe this year, Macron said this week during an annual foreign policy conference with French ambassadors, according to Reuters.
‘The acceleration of the nuclear program leads us nearly to the point of no return,’ the French leader was quoted as saying.
‘In the coming months we will have to ask ourselves whether to use… the mechanism to restore sanctions,’ Macron added.
The comments come after International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi told Reuters in December that Iran is enriching uranium close to the 90% level required for weapons grade.
French, German and British diplomats are now set to meet their Iranian counterparts on Jan. 13 in an effort to defuse tensions, according to Reuters.
Iran has argued that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Axios recently reported that in a top meeting with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan roughly a month ago, President Biden was presented with a series of strike options should Iran make a move to develop a nuclear weapon.
Biden has vowed not to let Iran develop a nuclear weapon on his watch, but it remains unclear what steps Iran would have to take in order for the Biden administration to respond with direct hits, given that Tehran has already been reported to have stockpiled near-weapons-grade uranium and to be bolstering its weaponization capabilities.
The president was reportedly presented with a series of scenarios and response options during the meeting, though sources told the outlet that Biden has not made any final decisions regarding the information he was given.
Another source reportedly told Axios there currently are no active discussions on militarily hitting Iran’s program.
Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
President-elect Trump announced the Gulf of Mexico is getting a new name.
‘We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring. That covers a lot of territory,’ Trump said on Tuesday. ‘The Gulf of America. What a beautiful name. And it’s appropriate.’
Trump made the announcement in his first press conference since Congress certified his election win over Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday from Mar-a-Lago. He opened the press event by announcing DAMAC Properties will invest $20 billion in new data centers across the country in addition to previewing a bevy of policy issues ahead of his inauguration this month.
The Gulf of Mexico is a partly enclosed sea that borders states such as Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, as well as Mexico.
Trump did not detail how his administration would go about renaming the body of water, but went on to slam Mexico for the immigration woes in the U.S. under the Biden White House.
‘Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country. They can stop them. And we’re going to put very serious tariffs on Mexico and Canada, because Canada, they come through Canada too, and the drugs that are coming through are at record numbers, record numbers. So we’re going to make up for that by putting tariffs on Mexico and Canada, substantial tariffs,’ he said.
Trump’s pledge is his latest remark regarding land territories, including potentially expanding the U.S.
Trump has referred to Canada as the nation’s ’51st state,’ while his son and other Trump allies traveled to Greenland this week following Trump repeatedly calling for the U.S. to acquire the autonomous territory under the Kingdom of Denmark.
‘As someone who has traveled to some fascinating places across the globe as an outdoorsman, I’m excited to stop into Greenland for a little bit of fun this week,’ Donald Trump Jr. told Fox News Digital of his trip to Greenland.
A source familiar told Fox News Digital that Trump Jr. is ‘popping in for a quick day-long trip to shoot some fun video content for podcasting.’ Trump Jr. is not meeting with government officials while in Greenland, Fox Digital previously reported.
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and Brooke Signman contributed to this report.
Donald Trump Jr. arrived in Greenland on Tuesday as his father, President-elect Trump, made remarks that sparked speculation that the U.S. may seek to acquire the Danish territory.
Trump Jr. landed in Nuuk, the Arctic territory’s capital, to meet with locals, visit cultural sites and shoot video for a podcast. The president-elect posted a video showing a plane emblazoned with the word ‘TRUMP’ landing in Nuuk.
‘Don Jr. and my Reps landing in Greenland,’ Trump wrote. ‘The reception has been great. They, and the Free World, need safety, security, strength, and PEACE! This is a deal that must happen. MAGA. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!’
Trump also spoke with locals over speakerphone in video that supporters shared online.
A source familiar told Fox News Digital on Monday that Trump Jr. is ‘popping in for a quick day-long trip to shoot some fun video content for podcasting. He will not be meeting with any government officials or political figures.’
The trip comes as President-elect Trump seeks to buy the mineral-rich, geographically important territory.
At a press conference at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on Tuesday afternoon, the president-elect again said that ‘Denmark should give it up.’
‘We need Greenland for national security purposes,’ Trump said.
American interest in Greenland dates back to the 1800s.
But Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede said last week that the country is not interested.
‘Greenland is ours,’ he said. ‘We are not for sale, and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom.’
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.