Trump Eyes Expansion, Death Penalty; Gaetz Report Rocks House

Trump Signals Expansionist Ambitions, Calls for Increased Use of Death Penalty

Donald Trump has signaled his incoming administration's intention to expand U.S. territory, making unexpected pronouncements about Panama and Greenland. After seemingly joking about Canada becoming the "51st state," the incoming president issued ominous messages alleging that the Panama Canal and Greenland pose serious economic and national security threats to the United States.

Trump has also called for ramping up the use of the death penalty, following President Biden's commutation of the death sentences of most people on federal death row.

Meanwhile, allies of House Speaker Mike Johnson are urging the president-elect to reaffirm his support for the Republican leader after Democrats and some Republicans blocked the Trump- and Elon Musk-led campaign to derail the stop-gap funding bill before Christmas, averting a government shutdown.

The House of Representatives is also facing turmoil after an ethics committee report into former congressman Matt Gaetz concluded that there is "substantial evidence" that he paid tens of thousands of dollars for sex and used illicit drugs while he was a member of Congress.