As Donald Trump and Kamala Harris fight in the race for the White House, one key term is back in the limelight: the US Electoral College.

The US president is elected on the basis of two, not one, elections: the popular votes, followed by electoral college votes.

This is a unique form of proportionate voting which could be confusing to people in other countries.

Here is what you should know about the Electoral College.

Watch: US Presidential Elections: Donald Trump, Kamala Harris Make Final Push For Victory

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Simply put, the Electoral College is a group of electors chosen to represent the election choices of each American state.

Based on population data derived from the Census, each state is allocated a specific number of electoral college votes that adds up to 538 (see list below).

<h2>Why was the Electoral College established in the US?</h2>

The Electoral College system was established in view of the possibility that, considering the different population sizes of each state, the popular vote could be skewed in favour of one winner.

For instance, whoever wins California could take the White House, as it has the largest population. This would not be a proportionate mandate that takes into account the wishes of the people of all states.&nbsp;

In order to solve this, the Founding Fathers of the US introduced the Electoral College as a compromise between congressional selection and direct popular vote.

The Electoral College consists of 538 votes. Whoever gets a total of 270 or more electoral college votes wins the election.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-election-la-times-owner-blocks-newspaper-from-endorsing-kamala-harris-heres-why-771258">Also read: US election: LA Times owner blocks newspaper from endorsing Kamala Harris. Here's why</a>

The electors' numbers in each state are proportionate to how many members of Congress it sends. One electoral college vote is equal to one house seat plus two senate seats.

The District of Columbia, which is not a state, has three electors. This exemption was given under the 23rd Amendment of the Constitution, which treats the District of Columbia as a state for electoral college purposes.

<h2>How are Electoral College electors chosen?</h2>

In the general elections, voters are actually choosing their preferred electors rather than directly voting for the presidential candidates.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-wraps-up-msg-rally-while-grooving-with-melania-vows-to-win-new-york-771283">Also read: Trump wraps up MSG rally while grooving with Melania, vows to win New York</a> 
 
In most states, the 'winner-takes-all' system is used, meaning all electoral votes for these states go to the candidate who has won the popular vote there.

The states of Maine and Nebraska, however, use a proportionate&nbsp;method.

<h2>How electoral votes are recorded and announced</h2>

Once the general election is over on 5th November, the state officials will prepare a Certificate of Ascertainment listing the electors and their votes, which is sent to the National Archives and Records Administration or NARA.&nbsp;

These electors will meet on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December to cast their votes for president and vice president.&nbsp;

Their votes are then recorded and sent to Congress, which counts them on January 6 at a joint session presided over by the incumbent vice president.&nbsp;

The announcement of the electoral college by the Congress will follow.

This is the formal declaration of the president-elect and vice president-elect, ending the US presidential election process.

The new president will the oath of office on January 20.

<h2>The Electoral College in numbers: States and votes</h2>

As already mentioned, there are a total of 538 electoral votes, and the majority mark, or the magic number, is 270.

Below are the electoral college votes of each state, and District of Columbia

Alabama - 9 votes

Kentucky - 8 votes

North Dakota - 3 votes

Alaska - 3 votes

Louisiana - 8 votes

Ohio - 17 votes

Arizona - 11 votes

Maine - 4 votes

Oklahoma - 7 votes

Arkansas - 6 votes

Maryland - 10 votes

Oregon - 8 votes

California - 54 votes

Massachusetts - 11 votes

Pennsylvania - 19 votes

Colorado - 10 votes

Michigan - 15 votes

Rhode Island - 4 votes

Connecticut - 7 votes

Minnesota - 10 votes

South Carolina - 9 votes

Delaware - 3 votes

Mississippi - 6 votes

South Dakota - 3 votes

District of Columbia - 3 votes

Missouri - 10 votes

Tennessee - 11 votes

Florida - 30 votes

Montana - 4 votes

Texas - 40 votes

Georgia - 16 votes

Nebraska - 5 votes

Utah - 6 votes

Hawaii - 4 votes

Nevada - 6 votes

Vermont - 3 votes

Idaho - 4 votes

New Hampshire - 4 votes

Virginia - 13 votes

Illinois - 19 votes

New Jersey - 14 votes

Washington - 12 votes

Indiana - 11 votes

New Mexico - 5 votes

West Virginia - 4 votes

Iowa - 6 votes

New York - 28 votes

Wisconsin - 10 votes

Kansas - 6 votes

North Carolina - 16 votes

Wyoming - 3 votes

(With inputs from agencies)

As Donald Trump and Kamala Harris fight in the race for the White House, one key term is back in the limelight: the US Electoral College. The US president is elected on the basis of two, not one, elections: the popular votes, followed by electoral college votes.

As Donald Trump and Kamala Harris fight in the race for the White House, one key term is back in the limelight: the US Electoral College. The US president is elected on the basis of two, not one, elections: the popular votes, followed by electoral college votes. This is a unique form of proportionate voting which could be confusing to people in other countries. Here is what you should know about the Electoral College. Watch: US Presidential Elections: Donald Trump, Kamala Harris Make Final Push For Victory × Simply put, the Electoral College is a group of electors chosen to represent the election choices of each American state. Based on population data derived from the Census, each state is allocated a specific number of electoral college votes that adds up to 538 (see list below). Why was the Electoral College established in the US? The Electoral College system was established in view of the possibility that, considering the different population sizes of each state, the popular vote could be skewed in favour of one winner. For instance, whoever wins California could take the White House, as it has the largest population. This would not be a proportionate mandate that takes into account the wishes of the people of all states. In order to solve this, the Founding Fathers of the US introduced the Electoral College as a compromise between congressional selection and direct popular vote. The Electoral College consists of 538 votes. Whoever gets a total of 270 or more electoral college votes wins the election. Also read: US election: LA Times owner blocks newspaper from endorsing Kamala Harris. Here's why The electors' numbers in each state are proportionate to how many members of Congress it sends. One electoral college vote is equal to one house seat plus two senate seats. The District of Columbia, which is not a state, has three electors. This exemption was given under the 23rd Amendment of the Constitution, which treats the District of Columbia as a state for electoral college purposes. How are Electoral College electors chosen? In the general elections, voters are actually choosing their preferred electors rather than directly voting for the presidential candidates. Also read: Trump wraps up MSG rally while grooving with Melania, vows to win New York In most states, the 'winner-takes-all' system is used, meaning all electoral votes for these states go to the candidate who has won the popular vote there. The states of Maine and Nebraska, however, use a proportionate method. How electoral votes are recorded and announced Once the general election is over on 5th November, the state officials will prepare a Certificate of Ascertainment listing the electors and their votes, which is sent to the National Archives and Records Administration or NARA. These electors will meet on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December to cast their votes for president and vice president. Their votes are then recorded and sent to Congress, which counts them on January 6 at a joint session presided over by the incumbent vice president. The announcement of the electoral college by the Congress will follow. This is the formal declaration of the president-elect and vice president-elect, ending the US presidential election process. The new president will the oath of office on January 20. The Electoral College in numbers: States and votes As already mentioned, there are a total of 538 electoral votes, and the majority mark, or the magic number, is 270. Below are the electoral college votes of each state, and District of Columbia Alabama - 9 votes Kentucky - 8 votes North Dakota - 3 votes Alaska - 3 votes Louisiana - 8 votes Ohio - 17 votes Arizona - 11 votes Maine - 4 votes Oklahoma - 7 votes Arkansas - 6 votes Maryland - 10 votes Oregon - 8 votes California - 54 votes Massachusetts - 11 votes Pennsylvania - 19 votes Colorado - 10 votes Michigan - 15 votes Rhode Island - 4 votes Connecticut - 7 votes Minnesota - 10 votes South Carolina - 9 votes Delaware - 3 votes Mississippi - 6 votes South Dakota - 3 votes District of Columbia - 3 votes Missouri - 10 votes Tennessee - 11 votes Florida - 30 votes Montana - 4 votes Texas - 40 votes Georgia - 16 votes Nebraska - 5 votes Utah - 6 votes Hawaii - 4 votes Nevada - 6 votes Vermont - 3 votes Idaho - 4 votes New Hampshire - 4 votes Virginia - 13 votes Illinois - 19 votes New Jersey - 14 votes Washington - 12 votes Indiana - 11 votes New Mexico - 5 votes West Virginia - 4 votes Iowa - 6 votes New York - 28 votes Wisconsin - 10 votes Kansas - 6 votes North Carolina - 16 votes Wyoming - 3 votes (With inputs from agencies)

US elections: What is Electoral College? Understanding myths and facts

US President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday nominated Merrick Garland to be US attorney general. Garland is a centrist judge that Republicans denied a seat on the Supreme Court five years ago.&nbsp;

Garland is currently a judge on the Washington federal appeals court and has a record of being a moderate liberal. Garland is not aligned with either political party.

In 2016, the Senate Republicans blocked his nomination to the high court by then-president Barack Obama for eight months.&nbsp;

The president-elect's transition team in a statement on Thursday Biden introduced Garland and other key picks for the Justice Department via Twitter post.

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Our nominees for the Justice Department will restore the independence of the Department, so it serves the interests of the people—not a presidency. They’ll rebuild public trust in the rule of law and work to ensure a more fair and equitable justice system. <a href="https://t.co/MSCRAwsmaH">https://t.co/MSCRAwsmaH</a>
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1347200066646376448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The 68-year-old Garland has a prolific career as a private-sector lawyer and a federal prosecutor.&nbsp;

Merrick's long career goes back to 1993 when he was named deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice, handling important national security cases including the Oklahoma City and Atlanta Olympics bombings.

In 1997, president Bill Clinton named him to the Washington appeals court, and he received broad support from Democratic and Republican senators in his confirmation.

He went on to become the chief judge of that court in 2013 and, in March 2016, was picked by Obama to fill a seat on the Supreme Court after Antonin Scalia died.

His nomination as attorney general is likely to easily pass the Senate, which is to come under narrow Democratic Party control. He is likely to garner Republican support as well.

(Inputs from AFP)

US President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday nominated Merrick Garland to be US attorney general. Garland is a centrist judge that Republicans denied a seat on the Supreme Court five years ago.

US President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday nominated Merrick Garland to be US attorney general. Garland is a centrist judge that Republicans denied a seat on the Supreme Court five years ago. Garland is currently a judge on the Washington federal appeals court and has a record of being a moderate liberal. Garland is not aligned with either political party. In 2016, the Senate Republicans blocked his nomination to the high court by then-president Barack Obama for eight months. The president-elect's transition team in a statement on Thursday Biden introduced Garland and other key picks for the Justice Department via Twitter post. Our nominees for the Justice Department will restore the independence of the Department, so it serves the interests of the people—not a presidency. They’ll rebuild public trust in the rule of law and work to ensure a more fair and equitable justice system. https://t.co/MSCRAwsmaH — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 7, 2021 × The 68-year-old Garland has a prolific career as a private-sector lawyer and a federal prosecutor. Merrick's long career goes back to 1993 when he was named deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice, handling important national security cases including the Oklahoma City and Atlanta Olympics bombings. In 1997, president Bill Clinton named him to the Washington appeals court, and he received broad support from Democratic and Republican senators in his confirmation. He went on to become the chief judge of that court in 2013 and, in March 2016, was picked by Obama to fill a seat on the Supreme Court after Antonin Scalia died. His nomination as attorney general is likely to easily pass the Senate, which is to come under narrow Democratic Party control. He is likely to garner Republican support as well. (Inputs from AFP)

President-elect Joe Biden nominates Merrick Garland as US attorney general

Donald <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-election-2020-trump-refuses-to-concede-bidens-camp-gets-to-work-343775">Trump's</a> lawyer Rudy Giuliani said today that US president's campaign team is withdrawing the lawsuit in Michigan which complained against vote results in the state as the president struggles to put a legal challenge to his re-election bid.

Watch:

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<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo">“This morning we are withdrawing our lawsuit in Michigan as a direct result of achieving the relief we sought: to stop the election in Wayne County from being prematurely certified before residents can be assured that every legal vote has been counted and every illegal vote has not been counted,” Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani said.</div>

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/judy-shelton-trump-fed-nominee-fails-to-advance-to-final-vote-343889">Also Read:&nbsp;Judy Shelton, Trump fed nominee, fails to advance to final vote</a>

Earlier, Trump's election team had asked a judge to declare him the winner in <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-asks-judge-to-declare-him-winner-in-pennsylvania-344151">Pennsylvania</a> asserting that the state's Republican-controlled legislature should select the electors that will cast votes in the US electoral college system.

In Michigan, elections workers had started opening envelopes on November 2, one day before election day.

"The results of the 2020 presidential general election are defective and providing for the Pennsylvania General Assembly to choose Pennsylvania’s electors," Trump's team said in a court filing.

A judge in Michigan had rejected Republican claims of fraud. US networks had earlier declared Democrat Joe Biden winner in the crucial battleground state of Michigan. The state has 16 electoral vote.

President-elect Joe Biden has won 306 electoral college votes against 232 votes won by President Trump in the US elections held on November 3.

Trump's early leads in Michigan was built by high in-person voting, however, the advantage evaporated after mail-in votes were counted.

Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani said today that US president's campaign team is withdrawing the lawsuit in Michigan which complained against vote results in the state as the president struggles to put a legal challenge to his re-election bid.

Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani said today that US president's campaign team is withdrawing the lawsuit in Michigan which complained against vote results in the state as the president struggles to put a legal challenge to his re-election bid. Watch: “This morning we are withdrawing our lawsuit in Michigan as a direct result of achieving the relief we sought: to stop the election in Wayne County from being prematurely certified before residents can be assured that every legal vote has been counted and every illegal vote has not been counted,” Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani said. Also Read: Judy Shelton, Trump fed nominee, fails to advance to final vote Earlier, Trump's election team had asked a judge to declare him the winner in Pennsylvania asserting that the state's Republican-controlled legislature should select the electors that will cast votes in the US electoral college system. In Michigan, elections workers had started opening envelopes on November 2, one day before election day. "The results of the 2020 presidential general election are defective and providing for the Pennsylvania General Assembly to choose Pennsylvania’s electors," Trump's team said in a court filing. A judge in Michigan had rejected Republican claims of fraud. US networks had earlier declared Democrat Joe Biden winner in the crucial battleground state of Michigan. The state has 16 electoral vote. President-elect Joe Biden has won 306 electoral college votes against 232 votes won by President Trump in the US elections held on November 3. Trump's early leads in Michigan was built by high in-person voting, however, the advantage evaporated after mail-in votes were counted.

US elections 2020: Trump campaign drops Michigan vote count lawsuit

For India, Joe Biden is not a stranger. As America's vice president, and even before that Biden has engaged with the Indian establishment on more occasions than one committing his support for a strong India-US partnership.

In September 2014, there was a buzz in Washington DC that the Indian prime minister was visiting America's capital right after his thumping victory in the general elections. While the focus of the world was on the talks between Barack Obama and Narendra Modi, on September, 30t, Joe Biden, the then vice-president of America hosted a lunch for the Indian prime minister.

Obama's secretary of state John Kerry was present too. The leaders had spent time together before the luncheon. They were convinced India and the United States can become strong partners.

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Prime Minister Modi agreed - he had nothing but praise for the American leadership with Joe Biden now getting ready to take charge as president, Prime Minister Modi would find a familiar face and a dependable ally in the Oval office because in his 40-year long career in politics Joe Biden has extended his support to India on more than one occasion.

In 1998, when India conducted its first nuclear test Biden issued a statement of support in his capacity as a ranking member of the Senate foreign relations committee. Back then when the US was opposed to India's nuclear tests, Biden had said that a nation of India's size, importance, and stature cannot be isolated forever and that the United States will have to engage India.

Three years later, Biden stood up in India's support again. As the Chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, Biden wrote a letter to the then President George W. Bush calling on his administration to lift the sanctions on India.

Biden wrote: "The economic sanctions against India serve to stigmatise rather than stabilize, if the sanctions are removed, India will respond with reciprocal acts of goodwill in non-proliferation and other arenas."

Biden's support to India didn't waver when Obama was elected president of America. As vice president-elect, he travelled to Pakistan with a demand - Biden wanted Islamabad to help India bring the culprits behind the 26/11 terrorist attack to justice and when Prime Minister Modi rose to power India had deepened its partnership with America.

In 2016, the Obama-Biden administration declared India a major defence partner - a distinctly unique definition that the US had not used before for any other ally. With Prime Minister Modi still at the helm of affairs in New Delhi, the Biden administration will get a chance to build on the same foundation.

For India, Joe Biden is not a stranger. As America's vice president, and even before that Biden has engaged with the Indian establishment on more occasions than one committing his support for a strong India-US partnership.

For India, Joe Biden is not a stranger. As America's vice president, and even before that Biden has engaged with the Indian establishment on more occasions than one committing his support for a strong India-US partnership. In September 2014, there was a buzz in Washington DC that the Indian prime minister was visiting America's capital right after his thumping victory in the general elections. While the focus of the world was on the talks between Barack Obama and Narendra Modi, on September, 30t, Joe Biden, the then vice-president of America hosted a lunch for the Indian prime minister. Obama's secretary of state John Kerry was present too. The leaders had spent time together before the luncheon. They were convinced India and the United States can become strong partners. × Prime Minister Modi agreed - he had nothing but praise for the American leadership with Joe Biden now getting ready to take charge as president, Prime Minister Modi would find a familiar face and a dependable ally in the Oval office because in his 40-year long career in politics Joe Biden has extended his support to India on more than one occasion. In 1998, when India conducted its first nuclear test Biden issued a statement of support in his capacity as a ranking member of the Senate foreign relations committee. Back then when the US was opposed to India's nuclear tests, Biden had said that a nation of India's size, importance, and stature cannot be isolated forever and that the United States will have to engage India. Three years later, Biden stood up in India's support again. As the Chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, Biden wrote a letter to the then President George W. Bush calling on his administration to lift the sanctions on India. Biden wrote: "The economic sanctions against India serve to stigmatise rather than stabilize, if the sanctions are removed, India will respond with reciprocal acts of goodwill in non-proliferation and other arenas." Biden's support to India didn't waver when Obama was elected president of America. As vice president-elect, he travelled to Pakistan with a demand - Biden wanted Islamabad to help India bring the culprits behind the 26/11 terrorist attack to justice and when Prime Minister Modi rose to power India had deepened its partnership with America. In 2016, the Obama-Biden administration declared India a major defence partner - a distinctly unique definition that the US had not used before for any other ally. With Prime Minister Modi still at the helm of affairs in New Delhi, the Biden administration will get a chance to build on the same foundation.

When US president-elect Joe Biden supported India's stand on nuclear issue in 1998

Donald Trump is poised to take office with the lowest approval ratings of any new president in recent history, but despite a chaotic transition Americans trust the billionaire on one crucial point: jobs.

Since the real estate developer&#39;s White House win in November, companies have lined up to announce new factories or jobs in the United States, including air conditioning manufacturer Carrier, Japan&#39;s SoftBank, Ford, Fiat Chrysler and Amazon with a headline-grabbing promise to create 100,000 jobs.

The latest additions to the growing list: Wal-Mart announced Tuesday it would invest $6.8 billion in the United States and create 10,000 jobs, General Motors announced $1 billion in new US investments and pledged to create 5,000 new jobs.

Trump, who since his election has wielded a mix of threats and incentives to push an America-first jobs agenda, has been quick to take credit.

&quot;With all of the jobs I am bringing back into the US (even before taking office), with all of the new auto plants coming back into our country and with the massive cost reductions I have negotiated on military purchases and more, I believe the people are seeing &#39;big stuff,&#39;&quot; he tweeted on Tuesday.

Trump last month denounced the $4 billion price tag on the next presidential plane, which is currently under development, threatened to cancel the order unless the price came down.

Dennis Muilenburg, CEO of the aviation giant Boeing, visited Trump Tower in Manhattan on Tuesday, telling reporters he and Trump were &quot;on the same page&quot; about the cost and value of the jet.

The president-elect&#39;s message appears to be resonating.

&#39;Phony election polls&#39;

Sixty-one per cent of Americans believe it is likely the 45th president will be able to create good-paying jobs in economically challenged areas, according to a CNN/ORC poll released on Tuesday.

The same percentage expects Trump to do a good or excellent job in handling the economy, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released the same day.

But this confidence in Trump&#39;s ability to boost American job creation stands out as the exception, with polls suggesting an overall distrust of Barack Obama&#39;s successor.

Trump is half as popular as Obama was when he was preparing to take office in January 2009, according to the Washington Post-ABC News poll. He is less popular than any other incoming US president of the past four decades, going back to Jimmy Carter.

The latest surveys confirm the findings of other recent polls.

Trump slammed the findings, pointing out that a majority of surveys ahead of his November 8 electoral win predicted victory for his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

&quot;The same people who did the phony election polls, and were so wrong, are now doing approval rating polls. They are rigged just like before,&quot; he said on Twitter.

Trump is less popular than any other incoming US president of the past four decades, going back to Jimmy Carter

Donald Trump is poised to take office with the lowest approval ratings of any new president in recent history, but despite a chaotic transition Americans trust the billionaire on one crucial point: jobs. Since the real estate developer's White House win in November, companies have lined up to announce new factories or jobs in the United States, including air conditioning manufacturer Carrier, Japan's SoftBank, Ford, Fiat Chrysler and Amazon with a headline-grabbing promise to create 100,000 jobs. The latest additions to the growing list: Wal-Mart announced Tuesday it would invest $6.8 billion in the United States and create 10,000 jobs, General Motors announced $1 billion in new US investments and pledged to create 5,000 new jobs. Trump, who since his election has wielded a mix of threats and incentives to push an America-first jobs agenda, has been quick to take credit. "With all of the jobs I am bringing back into the US (even before taking office), with all of the new auto plants coming back into our country and with the massive cost reductions I have negotiated on military purchases and more, I believe the people are seeing 'big stuff,'" he tweeted on Tuesday. Trump last month denounced the $4 billion price tag on the next presidential plane, which is currently under development, threatened to cancel the order unless the price came down. Dennis Muilenburg, CEO of the aviation giant Boeing, visited Trump Tower in Manhattan on Tuesday, telling reporters he and Trump were "on the same page" about the cost and value of the jet. The president-elect's message appears to be resonating. 'Phony election polls' Sixty-one per cent of Americans believe it is likely the 45th president will be able to create good-paying jobs in economically challenged areas, according to a CNN/ORC poll released on Tuesday. The same percentage expects Trump to do a good or excellent job in handling the economy, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released the same day. But this confidence in Trump's ability to boost American job creation stands out as the exception, with polls suggesting an overall distrust of Barack Obama's successor. Trump is half as popular as Obama was when he was preparing to take office in January 2009, according to the Washington Post-ABC News poll. He is less popular than any other incoming US president of the past four decades, going back to Jimmy Carter. The latest surveys confirm the findings of other recent polls. Trump slammed the findings, pointing out that a majority of surveys ahead of his November 8 electoral win predicted victory for his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. "The same people who did the phony election polls, and were so wrong, are now doing approval rating polls. They are rigged just like before," he said on Twitter.

US President-elect Donald Trump to take office with lowest approval ratings

Allegations of Russian interference in US politics cast a shadow over inaugural preparations on Sunday, with the CIA chief warning that President-elect Donald Trump must tamp down his shoot-from-the-hip style to protect national security.&nbsp;

John Brennan&#39;s warning to the incoming Republican president -&nbsp;just days before Friday&#39;s inauguration -&nbsp;came as senators launched a bipartisan probe into Moscow&#39;s alleged meddling in the 2016 election.

&quot;I don&#39;t think he has a full appreciation of Russian capabilities, Russia&#39;s intentions and actions,&quot; ?Brennan said of Trump on Fox News Sunday.&nbsp;

Trump has been effusive in his praise of Vladimir Putin and said in a news conference last week that if the Russian leader &quot;likes&quot; him it would be an &quot;asset&quot; to help repair the strained US-Russian relationship.

&quot;I think Mr. Trump has to be very disciplined in terms of what it is that he says publicly,&quot; Brennan said. &quot;He is going to be, in a few days&#39; time, the most powerful person in the world, in terms of sitting on top of the United States government and I think he has to recognise that his words do have impact.&quot;

&quot;This is more than being about him, it&#39;s about the United States and national security... he&#39;s going to have the opportunity to do something for national security as opposed to talking and tweeting,&quot; he said.

&quot;Spontaneity is not something that protects national security interests, so therefore, when he speaks, when he reacts, he has to make sure he understands that the implications and impact on the United States could be profound.&quot;

&#39;A sophisticated effort&#39;

US intelligence agencies allege that Putin ordered a covert effort to interfere in the election to boost Trump, 70, and harm his opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Incoming Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday dismissed notions that the Trump team and the Kremlin had made contact during the 2016 race.

&quot;This is all a distraction,&quot; he said on NBC&#39;s Meet the Press. &quot;It&#39;s all part of a narrative to delegitimize the election and to question the legitimacy of his presidency.&quot;

A report from the Director of National Intelligence released this month said hackers working for Russia penetrated Democratic Party computers and accounts to release files embarrassing to Clinton, and also conducted a campaign of media manipulation with the same aim.

Asked whether she believed Russian efforts impacted the election&#39;s outcome, Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California -- vice chair of the Senate committee launching the bipartisan probe into the matter -- told NBC &quot;that&#39;s what I believe.&quot;

&quot;I have had all of the major classified briefings. I have been astonished at what has been a two-year effort at Russia to spearfish, to hack, to provide disinformation, propaganda, wherever it really could,&quot; the senator said.

&quot;I think it has been a very sophisticated effort.&quot;

&#39;Salacious allegations&#39;

Speculation was also swirling around an unproven dossier compiled by a former British MI6 intelligence agent, which alleged close ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and also said Moscow had compromising video of Trump.

The fact that intelligence agencies had briefed the president-elect on the dossier -- which was later published online by BuzzFeed -- lent the allegations credence, but Brennan said the intelligence community was only &quot;making sure that the president-elect was aware that it was circulating.&quot;

&quot;I think there are some very salacious allegations in there -- again, unsubstantiated,&quot; he said, adding it was &quot;a responsibility in the minds of the intelligence directors&quot; to inform Trump as well as the Obama White House of the report.

Brennan bristled at Trump&#39;s likening of the US intelligence community to Nazi Germany, a comparison the president-elect made last week in a tweet after &nbsp;suggesting it was those agencies that had leaked the report.

&quot;What I do find outrageous is equating the intelligence community with Nazi Germany,&quot; the outgoing spy chief said of Trump&#39;s outburst. &quot;I do take great umbrage at that.&quot;

Speaking earlier Sunday on CBS, Pence blamed the scandal on &quot;media bias.&quot;

That some news organizations &quot;actually trafficked in a memo that was produced as opposition research and associated that with intelligence efforts -- I think that could only be attributed to media bias,&quot; the vice president-elect said.&nbsp;

(AFP)

Trump said last week that if the Russian leader 'likes' him it would be an 'asset' to help repair the strained US-Russian relationship

Allegations of Russian interference in US politics cast a shadow over inaugural preparations on Sunday, with the CIA chief warning that President-elect Donald Trump must tamp down his shoot-from-the-hip style to protect national security. John Brennan's warning to the incoming Republican president - just days before Friday's inauguration - came as senators launched a bipartisan probe into Moscow's alleged meddling in the 2016 election. "I don't think he has a full appreciation of Russian capabilities, Russia's intentions and actions," ?Brennan said of Trump on Fox News Sunday. Trump has been effusive in his praise of Vladimir Putin and said in a news conference last week that if the Russian leader "likes" him it would be an "asset" to help repair the strained US-Russian relationship. "I think Mr. Trump has to be very disciplined in terms of what it is that he says publicly," Brennan said. "He is going to be, in a few days' time, the most powerful person in the world, in terms of sitting on top of the United States government and I think he has to recognise that his words do have impact." "This is more than being about him, it's about the United States and national security... he's going to have the opportunity to do something for national security as opposed to talking and tweeting," he said. "Spontaneity is not something that protects national security interests, so therefore, when he speaks, when he reacts, he has to make sure he understands that the implications and impact on the United States could be profound." 'A sophisticated effort' US intelligence agencies allege that Putin ordered a covert effort to interfere in the election to boost Trump, 70, and harm his opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton. Incoming Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday dismissed notions that the Trump team and the Kremlin had made contact during the 2016 race. "This is all a distraction," he said on NBC's Meet the Press. "It's all part of a narrative to delegitimize the election and to question the legitimacy of his presidency." A report from the Director of National Intelligence released this month said hackers working for Russia penetrated Democratic Party computers and accounts to release files embarrassing to Clinton, and also conducted a campaign of media manipulation with the same aim. Asked whether she believed Russian efforts impacted the election's outcome, Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California -- vice chair of the Senate committee launching the bipartisan probe into the matter -- told NBC "that's what I believe." "I have had all of the major classified briefings. I have been astonished at what has been a two-year effort at Russia to spearfish, to hack, to provide disinformation, propaganda, wherever it really could," the senator said. "I think it has been a very sophisticated effort." 'Salacious allegations' Speculation was also swirling around an unproven dossier compiled by a former British MI6 intelligence agent, which alleged close ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and also said Moscow had compromising video of Trump. The fact that intelligence agencies had briefed the president-elect on the dossier -- which was later published online by BuzzFeed -- lent the allegations credence, but Brennan said the intelligence community was only "making sure that the president-elect was aware that it was circulating." "I think there are some very salacious allegations in there -- again, unsubstantiated," he said, adding it was "a responsibility in the minds of the intelligence directors" to inform Trump as well as the Obama White House of the report. Brennan bristled at Trump's likening of the US intelligence community to Nazi Germany, a comparison the president-elect made last week in a tweet after suggesting it was those agencies that had leaked the report. "What I do find outrageous is equating the intelligence community with Nazi Germany," the outgoing spy chief said of Trump's outburst. "I do take great umbrage at that." Speaking earlier Sunday on CBS, Pence blamed the scandal on "media bias." That some news organizations "actually trafficked in a memo that was produced as opposition research and associated that with intelligence efforts -- I think that could only be attributed to media bias," the vice president-elect said. (AFP)

US: CIA chief urges Trump to temper impulses amid Russia claims

US President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday hit back at civil rights leader and politician John Lewis who had said that he did not see Trump as a &quot;legitimate president&quot;.

Trump tweeted Lewis should focus more on &quot;fixing and helping his district&quot; and not make false complaints about election results.

&quot;All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!&quot; Trump tweeted.

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Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to......
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/820251730407473153">January 14, 2017</a></blockquote>
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mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/820255947956383744">January 14, 2017</a></blockquote>
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In a segment of &quot;Meet the Press&quot; released by NBC on Friday, Lewis said he believed Russians helped Trump in his Nov.8 election victory. He also said that he would not be attending the Jan.20 inaugration, missing it for the first time since he was elected to the House in 1896.

&quot;I believe in forgiveness,&quot; Lewis said in the segment about Trump. &quot;I believe in trying to work with people,&quot; Lewis said. &quot;It&rsquo;s going to be very difficult. I don&rsquo;t see this president-elect as a legitimate president.&quot;

&quot;I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton,&quot; he told the network

&quot;You cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong.&quot;

The democratic representative has been a civil rights leader for more than half a century whose districts include Atlanta and surrounding areas.

Trump&#39;s verbal attacks come just days before the holiday honouring civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. Reuters reported that Lewis had protested alongside King in 1963. He was beaten by police during a march he led in 1965 in Selma, Alabama. The day later became knows as &quot;Bloody Sunday&quot;.

At least 2,000 people marched against Trump to a park near the monument to King in Washington on Saturday.

Some chanted, &quot;We will not be Trumped.&quot;

&quot;We won&#39;t go back,&quot; said civil rights leader Al Sharpton, calling on marchers to fight to defend the accomplishments of Barack Obama&#39;s eight years in the White House, reported AFP.

&quot;We want this nation to understand what has been fought for and gained,&quot; he added. &quot;You are going to need more than one election to turn it around.&quot;

Trump&#39;s swearing-in ceremony at the US Capitol next Friday will be boycotted by at least 16 House democrats in an act of political protest.

Several Republicans have&nbsp;criticised Trump&#39;s tweet.

Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska tweeted that &quot;John Lewis and his &#39;talk&#39; have changed the world.&quot;

Neoconservative critic Bill Kristol tweeted &quot;It&#39;s telling, I&#39;m afraid, that Donald Trump treats (Russian President) Vladimir Putin with more respect than he does John Lewis.&quot;

US intelligence organisations believe Russians manipulated the presidential elections in Trumps&#39;s favour. They have also accused Russia of cyberattacks.

Trump has admitted to Russian interference but denied it helped him in defeating rival Hillary Clinton.

(WION with inputs from agencies)

'I don?t see this president-elect as a legitimate president,' Lewis had said on Friday

US President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday hit back at civil rights leader and politician John Lewis who had said that he did not see Trump as a "legitimate president". Trump tweeted Lewis should focus more on "fixing and helping his district" and not make false complaints about election results. "All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!" Trump tweeted. Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to...... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2017 × mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2017 × In a segment of "Meet the Press" released by NBC on Friday, Lewis said he believed Russians helped Trump in his Nov.8 election victory. He also said that he would not be attending the Jan.20 inaugration, missing it for the first time since he was elected to the House in 1896. "I believe in forgiveness," Lewis said in the segment about Trump. "I believe in trying to work with people," Lewis said. "It’s going to be very difficult. I don’t see this president-elect as a legitimate president." "I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton," he told the network "You cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong." The democratic representative has been a civil rights leader for more than half a century whose districts include Atlanta and surrounding areas. Trump's verbal attacks come just days before the holiday honouring civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. Reuters reported that Lewis had protested alongside King in 1963. He was beaten by police during a march he led in 1965 in Selma, Alabama. The day later became knows as "Bloody Sunday". At least 2,000 people marched against Trump to a park near the monument to King in Washington on Saturday. Some chanted, "We will not be Trumped." "We won't go back," said civil rights leader Al Sharpton, calling on marchers to fight to defend the accomplishments of Barack Obama's eight years in the White House, reported AFP. "We want this nation to understand what has been fought for and gained," he added. "You are going to need more than one election to turn it around." Trump's swearing-in ceremony at the US Capitol next Friday will be boycotted by at least 16 House democrats in an act of political protest. Several Republicans have criticised Trump's tweet. Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska tweeted that "John Lewis and his 'talk' have changed the world." Neoconservative critic Bill Kristol tweeted "It's telling, I'm afraid, that Donald Trump treats (Russian President) Vladimir Putin with more respect than he does John Lewis." US intelligence organisations believe Russians manipulated the presidential elections in Trumps's favour. They have also accused Russia of cyberattacks. Trump has admitted to Russian interference but denied it helped him in defeating rival Hillary Clinton. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Trump slams civil rights icon John Lewis

China&#39;s foreign ministry said on Saturday that its &quot;One China&quot; principle was the non-negotiable political basis for China-US&nbsp;relations, and urged &quot;relevant parties&quot; in the United States to recognise the sensitivity of the Taiwan issue.

The comments, posted on the foreign ministry&#39;s website, were a direct response to remarks by US&nbsp;President-elect Donald Trump in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in which he said the &quot;One China&quot; policy was negotiable.

Since 1979, the United States has acknowledged Taiwan as part of &quot;one China&quot;, but Trump prompted a diplomatic protest from Beijing by accepting a congratulatory phone call on his election win from President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan on December 2.

(Reuters)

The comments were a direct response to remarks by Trump in an interview with the WSJ in which he said the 'One China' policy was negotiable

China's foreign ministry said on Saturday that its "One China" principle was the non-negotiable political basis for China-US relations, and urged "relevant parties" in the United States to recognise the sensitivity of the Taiwan issue. The comments, posted on the foreign ministry's website, were a direct response to remarks by US President-elect Donald Trump in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in which he said the "One China" policy was negotiable. Since 1979, the United States has acknowledged Taiwan as part of "one China", but Trump prompted a diplomatic protest from Beijing by accepting a congratulatory phone call on his election win from President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan on December 2. (Reuters)

Beijing to Trump: 'One China' policy non-negotiable

BBC&#39;s Washington&nbsp;correspondent Paul Wood has<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38589427#pq=RbIoXb"> published </a>what he knows about the explosive allegation that Russia has compromising personal and financial information over Trump.&nbsp;While the BBC opted not to break the story earlier because they hadn&#39;t seen the alleged recordings themselves, if they do in fact exist,&nbsp;Wood adds more&nbsp;details&nbsp;about the allegations.&nbsp;

Wood describes hearing about the alleged tapes through as many as four sources. It is not clear whether these sources got their information from the same place.&nbsp;The claims here are still allegations.&nbsp;

Wood says &quot;The CIA finds it credible that the Kremlin has such Kompromat--or compromising material--on the next US commander in chief&quot;, and that&nbsp;there is also a joint task force comprising of the CIA and FBI investigating whether Russia sent money to Trump&#39;s election campaign.

Wood saw the report written by&nbsp;the former British intelligence agent, now identified in various world media as&nbsp;Chistopher Steele,&nbsp;alleging&nbsp;that Trump was filmed with a group of prostitutes in the presidential suite of Moscow&#39;s Ritz-Carlton hotel. He states that the BBC decided not to break the story when he was shown the report, which was in the week of the election,&nbsp;because they had not seen the alleged tapes, if such tapes&nbsp;do in fact exist.

The opposition research that prompted Steele&#39;s investigation&nbsp;was initially funded by an anti-Trump super pac (political&nbsp;action committee) during the Republican primaries, but then was funded by an anomyous Democratic Party supporter.

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<h5>He got a message back: there was &quot;more than one tape&quot;, &quot;audio and video&quot;, on &quot;more than one date&quot;, in &quot;more than one place&quot;, and that the material was &quot;of a sexual nature&quot;.</h5>
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While Trump was relentless in his criticism of these reports, likening his&nbsp;situation&nbsp;to&nbsp;Nazi Germany&nbsp;and calling them &quot;sick people [who] put that crap together&quot;, Wood says &quot;these are not political hacks&quot;.

Nobody, not even Trump, disputes that the intelligence briefing describing the above allegations&nbsp;were definitely brought to the attention of President Obama&nbsp;and, indeed, even Donald Trump. But the allegations in the report remain unverified.

Wood points out that both the Washington Post and the New York Times report that the allegations were sufficiently credible to be brought to the attention of the president. On the night&nbsp;the main tape was supposedly made,&nbsp;in 2013, Trump appeared on television in Moscow&nbsp;attending his Miss Universe competition.

Wood does not characterise this as a political hack. He says Christopher Steele&#39;s line of research is &quot;country analysis and commercial risk assessment&quot;, and that Steele&nbsp;&quot;apparently&quot; gave the dossier he collected on Trump to the FBI against the wishes of the firm who employed him.&nbsp;As early as August, Wood was told of this claim&nbsp;by a retired spy, who learned it from&nbsp;the &quot;head of an East European intelligence agency&quot;.&nbsp;

Wood used a go-between to pass questions along to the CIA officers tasked with this file. He got a message back: there was &quot;more than one tape&quot;, &quot;audio and video&quot;, on &quot;more than one date&quot;, in &quot;more than one place&quot;, and that the material was &quot;of a sexual nature&quot;.

Wood says that a Russian specialist says FSB agents are prone to boasting about public figures on which they have tapes. A CIA officer who spoke to Wood said he spoke to an FSB agent, who concluded,&nbsp;&quot;it&#39;s hokey as hell&quot;.

There are&nbsp;still&nbsp;ongoing inter-agency investigations looking into Trump&#39;s connection with Russian money, and it&#39;s not clear what will come of the&nbsp;task force investigating&nbsp;Trump under Trump&#39;s presidency. They may not be allowed to work.

Russia has denied all accusations, and so has Trump. Wood says that Michael Hayden, the former head of both the CIA and NSA, referred to Trump as a &quot;polezni durak&quot;-- a useful fool.

During the election, Clinton called Trump a &quot;puppet&quot; of Russia&#39;s leader Vladimir Putin.

Wood points out that a New York Times opinion&nbsp;piece from the summer written by former CIA director Michael Morrell wrote, &quot;In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr Putin had recruited Mt Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation&quot;.

Wood closed the piece declaring Americans will need to look at all the facts and judge for themselves.

(WION)

The BBC correspondent, who before the election had seen the report alleging Russia had compromising info on Trump, describes what he knows

BBC's Washington correspondent Paul Wood has published what he knows about the explosive allegation that Russia has compromising personal and financial information over Trump. While the BBC opted not to break the story earlier because they hadn't seen the alleged recordings themselves, if they do in fact exist, Wood adds more details about the allegations. Wood describes hearing about the alleged tapes through as many as four sources. It is not clear whether these sources got their information from the same place. The claims here are still allegations. Wood says "The CIA finds it credible that the Kremlin has such Kompromat--or compromising material--on the next US commander in chief", and that there is also a joint task force comprising of the CIA and FBI investigating whether Russia sent money to Trump's election campaign. Wood saw the report written by the former British intelligence agent, now identified in various world media as Chistopher Steele, alleging that Trump was filmed with a group of prostitutes in the presidential suite of Moscow's Ritz-Carlton hotel. He states that the BBC decided not to break the story when he was shown the report, which was in the week of the election, because they had not seen the alleged tapes, if such tapes do in fact exist. The opposition research that prompted Steele's investigation was initially funded by an anti-Trump super pac (political action committee) during the Republican primaries, but then was funded by an anomyous Democratic Party supporter. He got a message back: there was "more than one tape", "audio and video", on "more than one date", in "more than one place", and that the material was "of a sexual nature". × While Trump was relentless in his criticism of these reports, likening his situation to Nazi Germany and calling them "sick people [who] put that crap together", Wood says "these are not political hacks". Nobody, not even Trump, disputes that the intelligence briefing describing the above allegations were definitely brought to the attention of President Obama and, indeed, even Donald Trump. But the allegations in the report remain unverified. Wood points out that both the Washington Post and the New York Times report that the allegations were sufficiently credible to be brought to the attention of the president. On the night the main tape was supposedly made, in 2013, Trump appeared on television in Moscow attending his Miss Universe competition. Wood does not characterise this as a political hack. He says Christopher Steele's line of research is "country analysis and commercial risk assessment", and that Steele "apparently" gave the dossier he collected on Trump to the FBI against the wishes of the firm who employed him. As early as August, Wood was told of this claim by a retired spy, who learned it from the "head of an East European intelligence agency". Wood used a go-between to pass questions along to the CIA officers tasked with this file. He got a message back: there was "more than one tape", "audio and video", on "more than one date", in "more than one place", and that the material was "of a sexual nature". Wood says that a Russian specialist says FSB agents are prone to boasting about public figures on which they have tapes. A CIA officer who spoke to Wood said he spoke to an FSB agent, who concluded, "it's hokey as hell". There are still ongoing inter-agency investigations looking into Trump's connection with Russian money, and it's not clear what will come of the task force investigating Trump under Trump's presidency. They may not be allowed to work. Russia has denied all accusations, and so has Trump. Wood says that Michael Hayden, the former head of both the CIA and NSA, referred to Trump as a "polezni durak"-- a useful fool. During the election, Clinton called Trump a "puppet" of Russia's leader Vladimir Putin. Wood points out that a New York Times opinion piece from the summer written by former CIA director Michael Morrell wrote, "In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr Putin had recruited Mt Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation". Wood closed the piece declaring Americans will need to look at all the facts and judge for themselves. (WION)

Four sources to possible claims of Trump-Russia blackmail: BBC's Paul Wood

In his first press conference since&nbsp;winning the November 8 election, US President-elect Donald Trump slammed reports that Russia had compromising information about him, calling it &quot;all fake news&quot; and phony.&nbsp;

Trump addressed the media at the lobby of Trump Tower&nbsp;in midtown Manhattan at 2130 Indian Standard Time (1400 hours GMT) on Wednesday.&nbsp;

The President-elect lashed out at the allegations&nbsp;as &quot;nonsense that was released by, maybe the intelligence agencies, who knows, but maybe the intelligence agencies ... It should never have been written, it should never have been released.&quot;

&quot;I think it&#39;s a disgrace that information would be let out. It&#39;s all fake news. It didn&#39;t happen. It&#39;s phony stuff. It was a group of opponents who got together, sick people, who put that out.&quot;

&quot;That&#39;s something that Nazi Germany would have done.&quot;

Trump was responding to allegations after a&nbsp;35-page dossier was&nbsp;published in Buzzfeed and reported by CNN.&nbsp;Trump treated&nbsp;the BuzzFeed report and the CNN report as if they were the same, but they are different.&nbsp;

<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/10/politics/donald-trump-intelligence-report-russia/">CNN first reported</a>&nbsp;that both President Obama and President-elect Trump were&nbsp;briefed&nbsp;by US&nbsp;intelligence about&nbsp;allegations that Russian operatives claimed to have &quot;compromising&quot; personal and financial information on Trump. CNN didn&#39;t disclose anything about the nature of the personal&nbsp;information. They have responded to Trump, and stand&nbsp;behind their story.

BuzzFeed published the 35-page document itself, which contains unsubstantiated claims from a former British intelligence officer who US intelligence claims to find&nbsp;sufficiently credible to warrant further investigation into him.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&quot;I think it&#39;s pretty sad when intelligence reports are leaked out to the press. First of all, it&#39;s illegal,&quot; Trump said.&nbsp;

While he praised some news organisations for not publishing the unsubstantiated report, like The New York Times, but refused to take questions from CNN which had published it.&nbsp;

&quot;I&#39;m not going to give you a question. You are fake news,&quot; he told the CNN reporter.&nbsp;&quot;Some of the media outlets we are dealing with are fake news ... All I can ask for are honest reporters.&quot;

Trump also asserted that he had &quot;no dealings in Russia&quot; after he was asked if he accepted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had a hand in his victory.&nbsp;He responded by saying &quot;If Putin likes Donald Trump, I consider that an asset, not a liability.&quot;

&quot;I have no dealings with Russia. I have no dealings in Russia ... I have no loans with Russia at all.&quot;

He also accepted that Russia could be behind the hacking saying, &quot;As far as hacking, I think it&#39;s Russia. But we also get hacked by other countries and other people and I can say that.&quot;

Trump does not divest, cedes business to sons&nbsp;

Trump said he will cede control of business empire to his two sons, Don Jr and Eric while maintaing ownership of the company.&nbsp;He said he will resign from all positions and shift his assets into a trust to avoid conflict of interest. &quot;They are not going to discuss [the business] with me,&quot; said Donald Trump.

<a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/313779-trump-to-hand-over-businesses-to-sons">Ethics experts believe&nbsp;</a>Trump must sell all his assets and place proceeds into a blind trust, saying that this is the only way to ensure that he is free of any conflicts between his international business empire and the office of the presidency, The Hill reports.

Last November, the Trump transition team&nbsp;asked about the possibility of getting&nbsp;top secret&nbsp;security clearance for Donald Trump&#39;s children, CNN reported. A&nbsp;Trump spokesman said the President-elect did not make this request, and that no paperwork was filed about it.&nbsp;

Supreme Court judge appointment&nbsp;

Trump said he will appoint a Supreme Court justice within two weeks of 20th January to replace Justice Scalia.&nbsp;

&quot;So, as you know, I have a list of 20. I&#39;ve gone through them. We&#39;ve met with numerous candidates. They were outstanding in every case ... I&#39;ll be making the decision on who we will put up for justice of the United States Supreme Court, a replacement for the great, great Justice (Antonin) Scalia. That will be probably within two weeks of the 20th (of January). So within about two weeks, probably the second week.

&quot;It will be a decision which I very strongly believe in. I think it&#39;s one of the reasons I got elected. I think the people of this country did not want to see what was happening with the Supreme Court. So, I think it was a very, very big decision as to why I was elected.&quot;

The President-elect also discussed building the wall between US and Mexico saying he will not wait for negotiations to get over before starting the constructions. Adding that Mexico will&nbsp;reimburse US for the cost of the wall.&nbsp;

He also spoke about the pharmaceutica sector saying&nbsp;&quot;We have to get our drug industry coming back,&quot; he said, adding it had been &quot;disastrous and leaving left and right.&quot;

He also called for new bidding policy for US pharmaceutical firms saying&nbsp;&quot;They&#39;re getting away with murder (with drug prices) ... There&#39;s very little bidding for drugs. We&#39;re the largest buyer of drugs in the world and yet we don&#39;t bid properly. We&#39;re going to start bidding and we&#39;re going to start saving billions of dollars.&quot;

Trump said the F-35&#39;S&nbsp;were &quot;billions of dollars way over budget. &quot;We&#39;re going to get those costs way down, and we&#39;re going to get some competition and it&#39;s going to be a beautiful thing.&quot;&nbsp;

He&nbsp;also announced that Dr. David Shulkin was appointed as secretary of Veteran Affairs.

&quot;We&#39;re going to straighten out the VA for our veterans. I have been promising that for a long time ... We interviewed at least 100 people (for VA head), some good, some not so good ... Our veterans have been treated very unfairly.&quot;

He also declared that he will be the &quot;greatest jobs producer that God ever created,&quot; and that he will not make his tax returns public &quot;as they&#39;re under audit&quot;.&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from Reuters)

&nbsp;

In his first news briefing after Nov 8, Trump spoke on issues ranging from Russia hacking election to appointment of Supreme Court justice

In his first press conference since winning the November 8 election, US President-elect Donald Trump slammed reports that Russia had compromising information about him, calling it "all fake news" and phony. Trump addressed the media at the lobby of Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan at 2130 Indian Standard Time (1400 hours GMT) on Wednesday. The President-elect lashed out at the allegations as "nonsense that was released by, maybe the intelligence agencies, who knows, but maybe the intelligence agencies ... It should never have been written, it should never have been released." "I think it's a disgrace that information would be let out. It's all fake news. It didn't happen. It's phony stuff. It was a group of opponents who got together, sick people, who put that out." "That's something that Nazi Germany would have done." Trump was responding to allegations after a 35-page dossier was published in Buzzfeed and reported by CNN. Trump treated the BuzzFeed report and the CNN report as if they were the same, but they are different. CNN first reported that both President Obama and President-elect Trump were briefed by US intelligence about allegations that Russian operatives claimed to have "compromising" personal and financial information on Trump. CNN didn't disclose anything about the nature of the personal information. They have responded to Trump, and stand behind their story. BuzzFeed published the 35-page document itself, which contains unsubstantiated claims from a former British intelligence officer who US intelligence claims to find sufficiently credible to warrant further investigation into him. "I think it's pretty sad when intelligence reports are leaked out to the press. First of all, it's illegal," Trump said. While he praised some news organisations for not publishing the unsubstantiated report, like The New York Times, but refused to take questions from CNN which had published it. "I'm not going to give you a question. You are fake news," he told the CNN reporter. "Some of the media outlets we are dealing with are fake news ... All I can ask for are honest reporters." Trump also asserted that he had "no dealings in Russia" after he was asked if he accepted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had a hand in his victory. He responded by saying "If Putin likes Donald Trump, I consider that an asset, not a liability." "I have no dealings with Russia. I have no dealings in Russia ... I have no loans with Russia at all." He also accepted that Russia could be behind the hacking saying, "As far as hacking, I think it's Russia. But we also get hacked by other countries and other people and I can say that." Trump does not divest, cedes business to sons Trump said he will cede control of business empire to his two sons, Don Jr and Eric while maintaing ownership of the company. He said he will resign from all positions and shift his assets into a trust to avoid conflict of interest. "They are not going to discuss [the business] with me," said Donald Trump. Ethics experts believe Trump must sell all his assets and place proceeds into a blind trust, saying that this is the only way to ensure that he is free of any conflicts between his international business empire and the office of the presidency, The Hill reports. Last November, the Trump transition team asked about the possibility of getting top secret security clearance for Donald Trump's children, CNN reported. A Trump spokesman said the President-elect did not make this request, and that no paperwork was filed about it. Supreme Court judge appointment Trump said he will appoint a Supreme Court justice within two weeks of 20th January to replace Justice Scalia. "So, as you know, I have a list of 20. I've gone through them. We've met with numerous candidates. They were outstanding in every case ... I'll be making the decision on who we will put up for justice of the United States Supreme Court, a replacement for the great, great Justice (Antonin) Scalia. That will be probably within two weeks of the 20th (of January). So within about two weeks, probably the second week. "It will be a decision which I very strongly believe in. I think it's one of the reasons I got elected. I think the people of this country did not want to see what was happening with the Supreme Court. So, I think it was a very, very big decision as to why I was elected." The President-elect also discussed building the wall between US and Mexico saying he will not wait for negotiations to get over before starting the constructions. Adding that Mexico will reimburse US for the cost of the wall. He also spoke about the pharmaceutica sector saying "We have to get our drug industry coming back," he said, adding it had been "disastrous and leaving left and right." He also called for new bidding policy for US pharmaceutical firms saying "They're getting away with murder (with drug prices) ... There's very little bidding for drugs. We're the largest buyer of drugs in the world and yet we don't bid properly. We're going to start bidding and we're going to start saving billions of dollars." Trump said the F-35'S were "billions of dollars way over budget. "We're going to get those costs way down, and we're going to get some competition and it's going to be a beautiful thing." He also announced that Dr. David Shulkin was appointed as secretary of Veteran Affairs. "We're going to straighten out the VA for our veterans. I have been promising that for a long time ... We interviewed at least 100 people (for VA head), some good, some not so good ... Our veterans have been treated very unfairly." He also declared that he will be the "greatest jobs producer that God ever created," and that he will not make his tax returns public "as they're under audit". (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Trump cedes business to sons, slams media over Russia allegations

US&nbsp;President-elect Donald Trump will make Jared Kushner his senior adviser, US media reported.&nbsp;The position, unlike Cabinet posts, does not require US&nbsp;Senate confirmation.

Kushner, 35, is married to Donald Trump&#39;s&nbsp;eldest daughter Ivanka, and like Trump&nbsp;is a New York-based real estate developer with business dealings that could lead to conflict of&nbsp;interest.&nbsp;

Kushner, who like Donald&nbsp;has no previous experience working in politics, has been instrumental in Trump&#39;s campaign during the presidential elections, playing a key role in advising him in matters of appointment and strategy. He was&nbsp;involved in almost every aspect of it, from personnel decisions to strategy and fundraising.

It remains to be ascertained how Kushner&#39;s appointment could affect the&nbsp;federal anti-nepotism law that prohibits a president from hiring relatives.&nbsp;Kushner will need to argue that the federal anti-nepotism laws, which prohibit&nbsp;any federal official from hiring family members to an agency or office which he or she leads,&nbsp;do not apply to him, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/09/jared-kushner-senior-adviser-donald-trump">The Guardian</a> reports.

The law has loopholes: Ethics experts say that Kushner could retain a technically unofficial rule, such as serving as&nbsp;&quot;consultant&quot;, and bypass the law, The Guardian reports.&nbsp;Trump&#39;s transition team has said that Kushner &quot;has chosen to forego his salary while serving in the administration&quot;. Forbes estimates that Kushner, along with his parents and adult brother, is worth an estimated $1.8 billion, PTI reports.

&nbsp;

Divesting?

Kushner&nbsp;and his wife will reportedly undertake significant divestments of their wide-ranging financial portfolios as they prepare for their move to Washington from New York and face inevitable questions about&nbsp;potential conflicts of interest. Kushner will resign from his positions as chief executive of the Kushner Companies and as publisher of the New York Observer newspaper and divest from any interests in the New York Observer, Thrive Capital, the 666 Fifth Avenue office building in midtown Manhattan and any foreign investments.

In addition, Kushner will recuse himself from participating in matters that could have a direct effect on his remaining financial interests. Those interests include real estate in the New York area, Ivanka Trump&#39;s interest in the new Trump hotel in Washington and the Ivanka Trump Brand fashion business, the officials said. Kushner will file a public financial disclosure form.

While those in his cabinet appear to be divesting themselves, Donald Trump, who owns at least&nbsp;<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/28/politics/trump-foreign-businesses/">144&nbsp;foreign companies in 25 different countries</a>, has never indicated that he will sell off his&nbsp;business interests before serving as president.&nbsp;Foreign diplomats&nbsp;are reportedly going out of their way to stay in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/2016/11/18/9da9c572-ad18-11e6-977a-1030f822fc35_story.html?utm_term=.2f13ec6258a0">Trump&#39;s hotel and buy his products</a>&nbsp;when they visit Washington, the Washington Post reports.&nbsp;

Trump&nbsp;has repeatedly failed to&nbsp;release his tax returns, a document that&nbsp;could potentially shed light on potential conflicts of interest, after promising to do so. Originally Trump said he would release them publicly except he was not allowed to because he was under audit.&nbsp;American tax collectors said he was under audit, but that he was free to release them. Trump&#39;s&nbsp;son said that his father would release his tax return, except&nbsp;doing so would subject them to public scrutiny.

Ivanka Trump, who like her husband has been a close adviser to the president-elect, will not take on an official role in her father&#39;s White House, but will reportedly focus on settling her family in Washington. While Donald Trump has claimed she will run his businesses and have no political role, Ivanka was pictured attending&nbsp;a meeting in Trump Towers with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and was also pictured at a meeting with American tech industry leaders, leading to doubts that there will be a meaningful separation between Trump&#39;s business interests and his role&nbsp;as public servant.

Trump has said he would transfer control of his business to his children, but he has given no details. Trump claimed in November via Twitter there would be a&nbsp;news conference in December on the topic, but&nbsp;it&nbsp;was cancelled. Trump is expected to take questions from reporters this week.

&nbsp;

&#39;We have the better argument&#39;

Jamie Gorelick, a New York lawyer who served as deputy attorney general for Democratic President Bill Clinton and helped advise Kushner, said his new post would not violate a 1967 anti-nepotism statute.

She said Congress in 1978 authorised the president to hire personnel for the White House office &quot;without regard&quot; to federal personnel laws like the anti-nepotism statute and that court rulings had determined the White House was not an &quot;agency&quot; under the anti-nepotism law.

&quot;I&#39;m not saying that there isn&#39;t an argument on the other side, and I respect the people who have made the argument on the other side. I just think we have the better argument,&quot; Gorelick said.

Richard Briffault, a government ethics expert at Columbia Law School, disagreed, saying: &quot;Given the fact that the president is specifically mentioned, you would think that someone that is working for the president would be covered&quot; by the anti-nepotism law.

Bill Clinton aroused controversy in 1993 when he named his wife, Hillary Clinton, to lead his healthcare reform drive. She lost the November&nbsp;8 election to Trump. After John F&nbsp;Kennedy was elected president in 1960, he chose his brother Robert as attorney general.

Late on Monday, a group of six Democrats on the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee said they had written to the Justice Department and US&nbsp;Office of Government Ethics asking them to review concerns about nepotism and conflicts of interest arising from Kushner&#39;s appointment.

(With inputs from agencies)

Jared Kushner has no political experience whatsoever, and his family is worth $1.8 billion. Anti-nepotism lawyers are already at work

US President-elect Donald Trump will make Jared Kushner his senior adviser, US media reported. The position, unlike Cabinet posts, does not require US Senate confirmation. Kushner, 35, is married to Donald Trump's eldest daughter Ivanka, and like Trump is a New York-based real estate developer with business dealings that could lead to conflict of interest. Kushner, who like Donald has no previous experience working in politics, has been instrumental in Trump's campaign during the presidential elections, playing a key role in advising him in matters of appointment and strategy. He was involved in almost every aspect of it, from personnel decisions to strategy and fundraising. It remains to be ascertained how Kushner's appointment could affect the federal anti-nepotism law that prohibits a president from hiring relatives. Kushner will need to argue that the federal anti-nepotism laws, which prohibit any federal official from hiring family members to an agency or office which he or she leads, do not apply to him, The Guardian reports. The law has loopholes: Ethics experts say that Kushner could retain a technically unofficial rule, such as serving as "consultant", and bypass the law, The Guardian reports. Trump's transition team has said that Kushner "has chosen to forego his salary while serving in the administration". Forbes estimates that Kushner, along with his parents and adult brother, is worth an estimated $1.8 billion, PTI reports. Divesting? Kushner and his wife will reportedly undertake significant divestments of their wide-ranging financial portfolios as they prepare for their move to Washington from New York and face inevitable questions about potential conflicts of interest. Kushner will resign from his positions as chief executive of the Kushner Companies and as publisher of the New York Observer newspaper and divest from any interests in the New York Observer, Thrive Capital, the 666 Fifth Avenue office building in midtown Manhattan and any foreign investments. In addition, Kushner will recuse himself from participating in matters that could have a direct effect on his remaining financial interests. Those interests include real estate in the New York area, Ivanka Trump's interest in the new Trump hotel in Washington and the Ivanka Trump Brand fashion business, the officials said. Kushner will file a public financial disclosure form. While those in his cabinet appear to be divesting themselves, Donald Trump, who owns at least 144 foreign companies in 25 different countries, has never indicated that he will sell off his business interests before serving as president. Foreign diplomats are reportedly going out of their way to stay in Trump's hotel and buy his products when they visit Washington, the Washington Post reports. Trump has repeatedly failed to release his tax returns, a document that could potentially shed light on potential conflicts of interest, after promising to do so. Originally Trump said he would release them publicly except he was not allowed to because he was under audit. American tax collectors said he was under audit, but that he was free to release them. Trump's son said that his father would release his tax return, except doing so would subject them to public scrutiny. Ivanka Trump, who like her husband has been a close adviser to the president-elect, will not take on an official role in her father's White House, but will reportedly focus on settling her family in Washington. While Donald Trump has claimed she will run his businesses and have no political role, Ivanka was pictured attending a meeting in Trump Towers with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and was also pictured at a meeting with American tech industry leaders, leading to doubts that there will be a meaningful separation between Trump's business interests and his role as public servant. Trump has said he would transfer control of his business to his children, but he has given no details. Trump claimed in November via Twitter there would be a news conference in December on the topic, but it was cancelled. Trump is expected to take questions from reporters this week. 'We have the better argument' Jamie Gorelick, a New York lawyer who served as deputy attorney general for Democratic President Bill Clinton and helped advise Kushner, said his new post would not violate a 1967 anti-nepotism statute. She said Congress in 1978 authorised the president to hire personnel for the White House office "without regard" to federal personnel laws like the anti-nepotism statute and that court rulings had determined the White House was not an "agency" under the anti-nepotism law. "I'm not saying that there isn't an argument on the other side, and I respect the people who have made the argument on the other side. I just think we have the better argument," Gorelick said. Richard Briffault, a government ethics expert at Columbia Law School, disagreed, saying: "Given the fact that the president is specifically mentioned, you would think that someone that is working for the president would be covered" by the anti-nepotism law. Bill Clinton aroused controversy in 1993 when he named his wife, Hillary Clinton, to lead his healthcare reform drive. She lost the November 8 election to Trump. After John F Kennedy was elected president in 1960, he chose his brother Robert as attorney general. Late on Monday, a group of six Democrats on the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee said they had written to the Justice Department and US Office of Government Ethics asking them to review concerns about nepotism and conflicts of interest arising from Kushner's appointment. (With inputs from agencies)

Trump to make son-in-law senior adviser

Republican Lindsey Graham said in an interview on Tuesday that 99 per cent of US senators believe Russia interfered in the US presidential elections, which led to Trump winning.

&ldquo;There are 100 United States senators. ... I would say that 99 percent of us believe that the Russians did this, and we&rsquo;re going to do something about it,&rdquo; Graham told CNN&rsquo;s Jim Sciutto in an exclusive interview on Tuesday. &quot;We&#39;re going to put sanctions together that hit Putin as an individual and his inner circle for interfering in our election, and they&#39;re doing it all over the world -- not just in the United States.&quot;

Graham, along with senator John McCain, appeared on &quot;The Situation Room&quot; in the Baltic nation Estonia.

The American news network CNN reported that Graham, McCain and Democratic senator Amy Kloubuchar will be meeting with officials from Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Georgia and Montenegro to discuss Russia.

A US political website &#39;The Hill&#39; on Tuesday reported that a lawsuit&nbsp;filed against the CIA, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence seeks records concerning the interference of Russia in the November 8 elections.

The website reported that a US journalist and a Ph.D candidate had filed the lawsuit as the agencies had failed to give out the information they requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Washington Post quoted, on December 9, a secret CIA report that found that Russian interference in the November 8 US presidential election helped Donald Trump win the White House. The Post also reported that individuals connected to the Russian government provided Wikileaks with hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee emails and Hillary Clinton&#39;s campaign chief, among others.

United States President Barack Obama had ordered intelligence agencies to review Russian intervention in the 2016 presidential elections on December 9.

President-elect Donald Trump rejected Russian involvement in the elections.

(WION)

'We're going to put sanctions together that hit Putin as an individual and his inner circle for interfering in our election'

Republican Lindsey Graham said in an interview on Tuesday that 99 per cent of US senators believe Russia interfered in the US presidential elections, which led to Trump winning. “There are 100 United States senators. ... I would say that 99 percent of us believe that the Russians did this, and we’re going to do something about it,” Graham told CNN’s Jim Sciutto in an exclusive interview on Tuesday. "We're going to put sanctions together that hit Putin as an individual and his inner circle for interfering in our election, and they're doing it all over the world -- not just in the United States." Graham, along with senator John McCain, appeared on "The Situation Room" in the Baltic nation Estonia. The American news network CNN reported that Graham, McCain and Democratic senator Amy Kloubuchar will be meeting with officials from Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Georgia and Montenegro to discuss Russia. A US political website 'The Hill' on Tuesday reported that a lawsuit filed against the CIA, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence seeks records concerning the interference of Russia in the November 8 elections. The website reported that a US journalist and a Ph.D candidate had filed the lawsuit as the agencies had failed to give out the information they requested under the Freedom of Information Act. The Washington Post quoted, on December 9, a secret CIA report that found that Russian interference in the November 8 US presidential election helped Donald Trump win the White House. The Post also reported that individuals connected to the Russian government provided Wikileaks with hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee emails and Hillary Clinton's campaign chief, among others. United States President Barack Obama had ordered intelligence agencies to review Russian intervention in the 2016 presidential elections on December 9. President-elect Donald Trump rejected Russian involvement in the elections. (WION)

99% senators believe Russia interfered in US elections: Republican senator Graham

US President-elect Donald Trump said he plans to close down his controversial Trump foundation while an investigation is ongoing into the charitable institution.

He said he was making the decision to &quot;avoid even the appearance of any conflict&quot; with his presidency.

&quot;The foundation has done enormous good works over the years in contributing millions of dollars to countless worthy groups, including supporting veterans, law enforcement officers and children,&quot; Trump said in a statement.&nbsp;

&quot;However, to avoid even the appearance of any conflict with my role as president I have decided to continue to pursue my strong interest in philanthropy in other ways.&quot;

Trump&#39;s businesses have attracted increasing scrutiny since his election victory on November 8. The shuttering of his charity would be his first big step to avoid a brewing storm of potential conflicts of interest, news agency AFP said.

Trump has already directed his counsel to start the process of closing down the foundation.

The Trump Foundation is under investigation by New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman. The attorney general&#39;s office on Saturday said that the president-elect could not shut down the foundation yet.

&quot;The Trump Foundation is still under investigation by this office and cannot legally dissolve until that investigation is complete,&quot; Schneiderman spokeswoman Amy Spitalnick said.

An investigation by the Washington Post in June had found that Trump had paid only a small amount of the money he&#39;d promised to the charity. He pledged to donate $1 million to a non-profit group for veterans after public pressure.

Critics say Trump will run into conflicts unless he fully divests himself of all his business and charitable interests, AFP said.

(With inputs from AFP)

The Trump Foundation is under investigation by New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman

US President-elect Donald Trump said he plans to close down his controversial Trump foundation while an investigation is ongoing into the charitable institution. He said he was making the decision to "avoid even the appearance of any conflict" with his presidency. "The foundation has done enormous good works over the years in contributing millions of dollars to countless worthy groups, including supporting veterans, law enforcement officers and children," Trump said in a statement. "However, to avoid even the appearance of any conflict with my role as president I have decided to continue to pursue my strong interest in philanthropy in other ways." Trump's businesses have attracted increasing scrutiny since his election victory on November 8. The shuttering of his charity would be his first big step to avoid a brewing storm of potential conflicts of interest, news agency AFP said. Trump has already directed his counsel to start the process of closing down the foundation. The Trump Foundation is under investigation by New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman. The attorney general's office on Saturday said that the president-elect could not shut down the foundation yet. "The Trump Foundation is still under investigation by this office and cannot legally dissolve until that investigation is complete," Schneiderman spokeswoman Amy Spitalnick said. An investigation by the Washington Post in June had found that Trump had paid only a small amount of the money he'd promised to the charity. He pledged to donate $1 million to a non-profit group for veterans after public pressure. Critics say Trump will run into conflicts unless he fully divests himself of all his business and charitable interests, AFP said. (With inputs from AFP)

Trump says he intends to dissolve controversial charitable foundation

President-elect Donald Trump has tapped ExxonMobil chief Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state, US media reported late Monday, setting up what will likely be contentious confirmation hearings over the oilman&#39;s ties to Russia.

&quot;I will be making my announcement on the next Secretary of State tomorrow morning,&quot; Trump said Monday evening using his favoured medium, Twitter.

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News outlets including The New York Times, Washington Post and NBC News cited sources as saying the real estate mogul had settled on Tillerson after a drawn-out and public search for the nation&#39;s top diplomat.

There had been eight or nine contenders for the job, including former CIA director David Petraeus, former UN ambassador John Bolton and Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker.

Also on that list was erstwhile Trump critic and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who indicated on Facebook he was out of the running shortly after Trump said he would soon make his choice official.

&quot;It was an honour to have been considered for secretary of state of our great country,&quot; Romney wrote.

&quot;My discussions with President-elect Trump have been both enjoyable and enlightening. I have very high hopes that the new administration will lead the nation to greater strength, prosperity and peace.&quot;

CNN reported that Trump had called Romney to tell him he had not been selected.

Sharp questions&nbsp;

Trump&#39;s secretary of state will be tasked with overseeing international relations for a political novice who seems intent on trashing protocol and upending relationships built on decades of delicate diplomacy.

If he is indeed nominated on Tuesday, Tillerson -- who has no formal foreign policy background -- is sure to face sharp questions in Senate confirmation hearings.&nbsp;

As ExxonMobil&#39;s president and CEO, the 64-year-old Texan oversees the company&#39;s business activities in more than 50 countries.

He has opposed sanctions on Russia and in 2013 was awarded Russia&#39;s Order of Friendship by Vladimir Putin following several years of Exxon projects in the country.

Trump has praised Tillerson as &quot;much more than a business executive.&quot;

&quot;I mean, he&#39;s a world-class player,&quot; the president-elect told Fox News Sunday. &quot;He knows many of the players and he knows them well.

&quot;He does massive deals in Russia. He does massive deals for the company, not for himself, for the company.&quot;

&nbsp;Ruffling feathers

With more than five weeks to go before he is sworn in, Trump is already ruffling feathers with his statements about two major world powers: Russia and China.

The president-elect has stoked alarm -- even among fellow Republicans -- by calling for closer ties with Moscow, in contrast to received wisdom in Washington that Russia remains a global security threat.

He has dismissed as &quot;ridiculous&quot; reports that US intelligence has concluded that Russia interfered in last month&#39;s presidential election to sway the vote in his favor.

And Sino-US relations are strained after a series of moves by Trump that provoked China, America&#39;s biggest single goods trading partner and the holder of almost a trillion dollars in US government debt.

The incoming president has suggested that Beijing may have to make concessions on trade if US policy toward China is to stay the same. He also directly challenged China over its currency and its takeover of disputed islets in the South China Sea.

That came after Trump raised eyebrows by taking a congratulatory call from the president of Taiwan, a self-ruling island that Beijing considers a rogue province awaiting unification.&nbsp;

It was a break from the &quot;One China policy&quot; -- which recognises Beijing as the sole representative of China -- the cornerstone of the relationship between the countries since Richard Nixon went to China in 1972.

China&#39;s foreign ministry has warned that if the One China policy is &quot;compromised or disrupted,&quot; cooperation in major fields would be &quot;out of the question.&quot;

(AFP)

There will probably be contentious confirmation hearings over Rex Tillerman's ties to Russia

President-elect Donald Trump has tapped ExxonMobil chief Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state, US media reported late Monday, setting up what will likely be contentious confirmation hearings over the oilman's ties to Russia. "I will be making my announcement on the next Secretary of State tomorrow morning," Trump said Monday evening using his favoured medium, Twitter. If he is indeed nominated on Tuesday, Tillerson -- who has no formal foreign policy background -- is sure to face sharp questions in Senate confirmation hearings × News outlets including The New York Times, Washington Post and NBC News cited sources as saying the real estate mogul had settled on Tillerson after a drawn-out and public search for the nation's top diplomat. There had been eight or nine contenders for the job, including former CIA director David Petraeus, former UN ambassador John Bolton and Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker. Also on that list was erstwhile Trump critic and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who indicated on Facebook he was out of the running shortly after Trump said he would soon make his choice official. "It was an honour to have been considered for secretary of state of our great country," Romney wrote. "My discussions with President-elect Trump have been both enjoyable and enlightening. I have very high hopes that the new administration will lead the nation to greater strength, prosperity and peace." CNN reported that Trump had called Romney to tell him he had not been selected. Sharp questions Trump's secretary of state will be tasked with overseeing international relations for a political novice who seems intent on trashing protocol and upending relationships built on decades of delicate diplomacy. If he is indeed nominated on Tuesday, Tillerson -- who has no formal foreign policy background -- is sure to face sharp questions in Senate confirmation hearings. As ExxonMobil's president and CEO, the 64-year-old Texan oversees the company's business activities in more than 50 countries. He has opposed sanctions on Russia and in 2013 was awarded Russia's Order of Friendship by Vladimir Putin following several years of Exxon projects in the country. Trump has praised Tillerson as "much more than a business executive." "I mean, he's a world-class player," the president-elect told Fox News Sunday. "He knows many of the players and he knows them well. "He does massive deals in Russia. He does massive deals for the company, not for himself, for the company." Ruffling feathers With more than five weeks to go before he is sworn in, Trump is already ruffling feathers with his statements about two major world powers: Russia and China. The president-elect has stoked alarm -- even among fellow Republicans -- by calling for closer ties with Moscow, in contrast to received wisdom in Washington that Russia remains a global security threat. He has dismissed as "ridiculous" reports that US intelligence has concluded that Russia interfered in last month's presidential election to sway the vote in his favor. And Sino-US relations are strained after a series of moves by Trump that provoked China, America's biggest single goods trading partner and the holder of almost a trillion dollars in US government debt. The incoming president has suggested that Beijing may have to make concessions on trade if US policy toward China is to stay the same. He also directly challenged China over its currency and its takeover of disputed islets in the South China Sea. That came after Trump raised eyebrows by taking a congratulatory call from the president of Taiwan, a self-ruling island that Beijing considers a rogue province awaiting unification. It was a break from the "One China policy" -- which recognises Beijing as the sole representative of China -- the cornerstone of the relationship between the countries since Richard Nixon went to China in 1972. China's foreign ministry has warned that if the One China policy is "compromised or disrupted," cooperation in major fields would be "out of the question." (AFP)

Trump to pick ExxonMobil chief as secretary of state: US media

Donald Trump said the United States did not necessarily have to stick to its long-standing position that Taiwan is part of &quot;one China&quot;, in his first Sunday show interview as president-elect, news agency Reuters reports.

Trump&rsquo;s comments on &ldquo;Fox News Sunday&rdquo; came after his phone call with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan on December 2 prompted a diplomatic protest from China.

&quot;I fully understand the &#39;one China&#39; policy, but I don&#39;t know why we have to be bound by a &#39;one China&#39; policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade,&quot; Trump told Fox, Reuters reports.

&quot;I don&#39;t want China dictating to me and this was a call put into me. &nbsp;I didn&#39;t make the call, and it was a call, very short call saying congratulations, sir, on the victory. It was a very nice call. Short,&quot; Trump added.

Trump&#39;s call with President Tsai Ing-wen was the first such contact with Taiwan by a US president-elect or president since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979, acknowledging Taiwan as part of &quot;one China&quot;, according to Reuters.

Trump has accused China of manipulating the value of its currency in order to give its products price advantages in the American market.

&quot;We&#39;re being hurt very badly by China with devaluation, with taxing us heavy at the borders when we don&#39;t tax them, with building a massive fortress in the middle of the South China Sea, which they shouldn&#39;t be doing, and frankly with not helping us at all with North Korea,&quot; Reuters quoted him as saying.

&quot;You have North Korea. You have nuclear weapons and China could solve that problem and they&#39;re not helping us at all.&quot;

(WION) 
&nbsp;

Trump?s comments on 'Fox News Sunday' came after his phone call with Taiwan's president prompted a diplomatic protest from China

Donald Trump said the United States did not necessarily have to stick to its long-standing position that Taiwan is part of "one China", in his first Sunday show interview as president-elect, news agency Reuters reports. Trump’s comments on “Fox News Sunday” came after his phone call with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan on December 2 prompted a diplomatic protest from China. "I fully understand the 'one China' policy, but I don't know why we have to be bound by a 'one China' policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade," Trump told Fox, Reuters reports. "I don't want China dictating to me and this was a call put into me. I didn't make the call, and it was a call, very short call saying congratulations, sir, on the victory. It was a very nice call. Short," Trump added. Trump's call with President Tsai Ing-wen was the first such contact with Taiwan by a US president-elect or president since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979, acknowledging Taiwan as part of "one China", according to Reuters. Trump has accused China of manipulating the value of its currency in order to give its products price advantages in the American market. "We're being hurt very badly by China with devaluation, with taxing us heavy at the borders when we don't tax them, with building a massive fortress in the middle of the South China Sea, which they shouldn't be doing, and frankly with not helping us at all with North Korea," Reuters quoted him as saying. "You have North Korea. You have nuclear weapons and China could solve that problem and they're not helping us at all." (WION)

Trump says US not necessarily bound by 'one China' policy

Donald Trump clashed on Wednesday with a union official who accused the president-elect of lying about the number of jobs saved in a deal to keep air conditioner maker Carrier from moving some jobs from Indiana to Mexico.

Chuck Jones, president of United Steelworkers Local 1999, which represents workers at United Technologies Corp&#39;s Carrier plant in Indianapolis, in an interview on CNN criticized Trump for at least the second time in two days over the deal.

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Trump, in a Twitter post on Wednesday, offered a sharp reply: &quot;Chuck Jones, who is President of United Steelworkers Local 1999, has done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies flee country!&quot;

On Tuesday, Jones told The Washington Post that when Trump spoke at the Carrier factory last week, &quot;He got up there and, for whatever reason, lied his ass off.&quot;

Indiana state officials have agreed to give Carrier $7 million in tax breaks to encourage it to keep about 1,100 jobs in the state, although about 300 of the jobs are in the company&#39;s headquarters and were not scheduled to go to Mexico.

Only 800 of the positions are union factory jobs, and Carrier still plans to send an estimated 1,300 jobs to Mexico.

Some employees are disappointed, Jones said on CNN on Wednesday. &quot;We had a lot of our members, when the word was coming out of 1,100, they thought that they would have a job,&quot; he said.

In more remarks on CNN later on Wednesday, Jones responded to Trump&#39;s Twitter post. &quot;That&#39;s pretty low-down, low life,&quot; he said. &quot;He doesn&#39;t like to be challenged, and I challenged him.&quot;

Trump, who made tough talk on trade a centerpiece of his election campaign, had vowed to impose hefty tariffs if Carrier did not reverse course on shifting jobs to Mexico.

Trump posted another tweet after Jones&#39; later remarks on CNN. &quot;If United Steelworkers 1999 was any good, they would have kept those jobs in Indiana,&quot; Trump wrote.

(Reuters)

Chuck Jones accused Trump of lying about the number of jobs saved in a deal to keep air conditioner maker Carrier from moving jobs to Mexico

Donald Trump clashed on Wednesday with a union official who accused the president-elect of lying about the number of jobs saved in a deal to keep air conditioner maker Carrier from moving some jobs from Indiana to Mexico. Chuck Jones, president of United Steelworkers Local 1999, which represents workers at United Technologies Corp's Carrier plant in Indianapolis, in an interview on CNN criticized Trump for at least the second time in two days over the deal. Trump said on Twitter: 'Chuck Jones, who is President of United Steelworkers Local 1999, has done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies flee country!' × Trump, in a Twitter post on Wednesday, offered a sharp reply: "Chuck Jones, who is President of United Steelworkers Local 1999, has done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies flee country!" On Tuesday, Jones told The Washington Post that when Trump spoke at the Carrier factory last week, "He got up there and, for whatever reason, lied his ass off." Indiana state officials have agreed to give Carrier $7 million in tax breaks to encourage it to keep about 1,100 jobs in the state, although about 300 of the jobs are in the company's headquarters and were not scheduled to go to Mexico. Only 800 of the positions are union factory jobs, and Carrier still plans to send an estimated 1,300 jobs to Mexico. Some employees are disappointed, Jones said on CNN on Wednesday. "We had a lot of our members, when the word was coming out of 1,100, they thought that they would have a job," he said. In more remarks on CNN later on Wednesday, Jones responded to Trump's Twitter post. "That's pretty low-down, low life," he said. "He doesn't like to be challenged, and I challenged him." Trump, who made tough talk on trade a centerpiece of his election campaign, had vowed to impose hefty tariffs if Carrier did not reverse course on shifting jobs to Mexico. Trump posted another tweet after Jones' later remarks on CNN. "If United Steelworkers 1999 was any good, they would have kept those jobs in Indiana," Trump wrote. (Reuters)

Trump says union head who accused him of lying has 'done a terrible job'

US President-elect Donald Trump&#39;s call to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could &quot;upset the delicate balance&quot; of India-Pakistan ties, the New York Times said as it sounded a critical tone of him breaking decades of diplomatic practice in freewheeling calls with foreign leaders.

&quot;President-elect Donald J Trump has broken with decades of diplomatic practice in freewheeling calls with foreign leaders,&quot; the New York Times said as the next leader of the US upset the status quo in his conversations with world leaders.

In an unprecedented break from diplomatic practice and a move that could irk China, Trump spoke with Taiwan&#39;s President Tsai Ing-wen, becoming the first president or president-elect to speak with a Taiwanese leader since at least 1979, when Washington had severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan as part of its recognition of China.

On November 30, Trump spoke with Sharif, who according to a Pakistani government readout of their call, invited Trump to visit the south Asian country. The readout said Trump had called Pakistan a &quot;fantastic&quot; country full of &quot;fantastic&quot; people that he &quot;would love&quot; to visit as president. He had also called Sharif as &quot;terrific&quot; and Pakistanis &quot;are one of the most intelligent people&quot;, according to the Pakistani readout which added that Trump said he is &quot;ready and willing to play any role that you want me to play to address and find solutions to the outstanding problems&quot;.

&quot;Should Trump follow through, he risks alienating India, which sees Pakistan as a major antagonist, and appearing to reward Pakistan&#39;s behaviour; should he renege, he risks upsetting Pakistani leaders who are sensitive about perceived American intransigence. Either way, the call could upset the delicate balance of India-Pakistan ties, which the US has struggled to manage amid a history of wars and recent skirmishes,&quot; the New York Times said.

On Trump&#39;s conversation with Ing-wen, NYT said the call &quot;risks infuriating China&quot;, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province governed by Chinese rebels.

&quot;By honouring the Taiwanese president with a formal call, Trump&#39;s transition team implicitly suggests that it considers Taiwan an independent state,&quot; it said, noting that the US has declined to recognise Taiwan since 1979, when it shifted recognition to the government in Beijing. Taiwan itself has yet to declare formal independence.

Trump had tweeted, &quot;The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency&quot;.

In a December 2 conversation with Rodrigo Duterte, President of the Philippines, Trump invited him to visit Washington.&nbsp;

NYT said Duterte has been accused of gross human rights abuses, had used abusive language against President Barack Obama and declared his country&#39;s &quot;separation&quot; from the US during a recent trip to Beijing.

&quot;Honoring Duterte with a presidential invitation implies US approval of his behavior, which Obama&#39;s administration had been working to curb,&quot; NYT said.

Trump also praised Kazakhstan&#39;s leader Nursultan Nazarbayev for &quot;fantastic success&quot;, in tones that suggest approval for Nazarbayev&#39;s strongman rule.

According to the Kazakh government&#39;s readout of the call, Trump &quot;stressed that under the leadership of Nursultan Nazarbayev, our country over the years of independence had achieved fantastic success that can be called a miracle&quot;.

The NYT further said that after brushing off the United Kingdom, Trump offered a casual invitation to British Prime Minister Theresa May.

&quot;If you travel to the US you should let me know,&quot; he told her, far short of a formal invitation. Trump also met with Nigel Farage, former leader of the fringe UK Independence Party a &quot;slap to May&quot;, NYT said.

Trump later said that Farage should become the British ambassador to the US, though presidents typically avoid telling foreign counterparts how to staff their governments, NYT added.

In another break from diplomatic protocol, Trump&#39;s daughter Ivanka Trump had joined his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

NYT said why such a move matters is that rather than inviting state department officials to staff his meeting with Abe, Trump invited his daughter.

&quot;The meeting alarmed diplomats, who worried that Trump lacked preparation after a long record of criticizing Japan. It also blurred the line between Trump&#39;s businesses, which (his daughter) helps run, and the US&nbsp;Government, with which she has no role,&quot; it said.

(PTI) 
&nbsp;

Those two calls, the paper said, could risk alienating India and China

US President-elect Donald Trump's call to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could "upset the delicate balance" of India-Pakistan ties, the New York Times said as it sounded a critical tone of him breaking decades of diplomatic practice in freewheeling calls with foreign leaders. "President-elect Donald J Trump has broken with decades of diplomatic practice in freewheeling calls with foreign leaders," the New York Times said as the next leader of the US upset the status quo in his conversations with world leaders. In an unprecedented break from diplomatic practice and a move that could irk China, Trump spoke with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, becoming the first president or president-elect to speak with a Taiwanese leader since at least 1979, when Washington had severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan as part of its recognition of China. On November 30, Trump spoke with Sharif, who according to a Pakistani government readout of their call, invited Trump to visit the south Asian country. The readout said Trump had called Pakistan a "fantastic" country full of "fantastic" people that he "would love" to visit as president. He had also called Sharif as "terrific" and Pakistanis "are one of the most intelligent people", according to the Pakistani readout which added that Trump said he is "ready and willing to play any role that you want me to play to address and find solutions to the outstanding problems". "Should Trump follow through, he risks alienating India, which sees Pakistan as a major antagonist, and appearing to reward Pakistan's behaviour; should he renege, he risks upsetting Pakistani leaders who are sensitive about perceived American intransigence. Either way, the call could upset the delicate balance of India-Pakistan ties, which the US has struggled to manage amid a history of wars and recent skirmishes," the New York Times said. On Trump's conversation with Ing-wen, NYT said the call "risks infuriating China", which considers Taiwan a breakaway province governed by Chinese rebels. "By honouring the Taiwanese president with a formal call, Trump's transition team implicitly suggests that it considers Taiwan an independent state," it said, noting that the US has declined to recognise Taiwan since 1979, when it shifted recognition to the government in Beijing. Taiwan itself has yet to declare formal independence. Trump had tweeted, "The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency". In a December 2 conversation with Rodrigo Duterte, President of the Philippines, Trump invited him to visit Washington. NYT said Duterte has been accused of gross human rights abuses, had used abusive language against President Barack Obama and declared his country's "separation" from the US during a recent trip to Beijing. "Honoring Duterte with a presidential invitation implies US approval of his behavior, which Obama's administration had been working to curb," NYT said. Trump also praised Kazakhstan's leader Nursultan Nazarbayev for "fantastic success", in tones that suggest approval for Nazarbayev's strongman rule. According to the Kazakh government's readout of the call, Trump "stressed that under the leadership of Nursultan Nazarbayev, our country over the years of independence had achieved fantastic success that can be called a miracle". The NYT further said that after brushing off the United Kingdom, Trump offered a casual invitation to British Prime Minister Theresa May. "If you travel to the US you should let me know," he told her, far short of a formal invitation. Trump also met with Nigel Farage, former leader of the fringe UK Independence Party a "slap to May", NYT said. Trump later said that Farage should become the British ambassador to the US, though presidents typically avoid telling foreign counterparts how to staff their governments, NYT added. In another break from diplomatic protocol, Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump had joined his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. NYT said why such a move matters is that rather than inviting state department officials to staff his meeting with Abe, Trump invited his daughter. "The meeting alarmed diplomats, who worried that Trump lacked preparation after a long record of criticizing Japan. It also blurred the line between Trump's businesses, which (his daughter) helps run, and the US Government, with which she has no role," it said. (PTI)

From Pak to Taiwan, Trump's phone calls upsetting diplomacy: NYT

US President-elect Donald Trump is &quot;well aware&quot; of what US policy has been on Taiwan, Trump&#39;s spokeswoman said, after the US president-elect spoke by phone on Friday with Taiwan&#39;s president, a move likely to infuriate China.

&quot;President-elect Trump is fully briefed and fully knowledgeable about these issues on an ongoing basis, regardless on who is on the other end of the phone,&quot; Trump spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway told CNN.

The White House on Friday said there was &quot;no change&quot; to the United States&#39; longstanding &quot;one China&quot; policy after&nbsp;Donald Trump spoke with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

&quot;We remain firmly committed to our &#39;one China&#39; policy,&quot; said Ned Price, a national security spokesman for President Barack Obama. &quot;Our fundamental interest is in peaceful and stable cross-Strait relations.&quot;

(Reuters)

Trump is 'fully knowledgeable about these issues on an ongoing basis, regardless on who is on the other end of the phone'

US President-elect Donald Trump is "well aware" of what US policy has been on Taiwan, Trump's spokeswoman said, after the US president-elect spoke by phone on Friday with Taiwan's president, a move likely to infuriate China. "President-elect Trump is fully briefed and fully knowledgeable about these issues on an ongoing basis, regardless on who is on the other end of the phone," Trump spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway told CNN. The White House on Friday said there was "no change" to the United States' longstanding "one China" policy after Donald Trump spoke with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. "We remain firmly committed to our 'one China' policy," said Ned Price, a national security spokesman for President Barack Obama. "Our fundamental interest is in peaceful and stable cross-Strait relations." (Reuters)

Trump is 'well aware' of what US policy has been on Taiwan - spokeswoman

US President-elect Donald Trump will nominate retired General James Mattis to lead the Pentagon, two media outlets reported on Thursday, but a Trump spokesman said no decision had been made.

The Washington Post said Trump had chosen Mattis and that an announcement was likely to be made early next week. CNN also reported that Trump had settled on Mattis. Reuters could not immediately confirm the planned nomination.

Trump spokesman Jason Miller said on Twitter that &quot;no decision has been made yet with regard to Secretary of Defense.&quot;

Mattis is a revered figure in the Marine Corps known for his tough talk, distrust of Iran and battlefield experience in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The choice of a seasoned military strategist would be another indication that Trump, a Republican, intends to steer US&nbsp;foreign policy away from Democratic President Barack Obama&#39;s increased reliance on US&nbsp;allies to fight Islamist militants and to help deter Russian and Chinese aggression in Europe and Asia.

While the nomination of the 66-year-old Mattis would likely be popular among US&nbsp;forces, many of whom know him by his colourful nickname &quot;Mad Dog,&quot; it would have to clear a bureaucratic hurdle.

Because he retired only in 2013, Mattis would need the US&nbsp;Congress to waive a requirement that a defense secretary be a civilian for at least seven years before taking the top job at the Pentagon. His impressive combat record, however, may deter some Senate Democrats from trying to block his nomination.

Trump has described Mattis as &quot;a true general&#39;s general.&quot;

The New York real estate magnate famously claimed last year that, &quot;I know more about ISIS than the generals do.&quot;

(Reuters)

The CNN and the Washington post reported that sources close to the matter confirmed the decision that Trump's spokesman has denied

US President-elect Donald Trump will nominate retired General James Mattis to lead the Pentagon, two media outlets reported on Thursday, but a Trump spokesman said no decision had been made. The Washington Post said Trump had chosen Mattis and that an announcement was likely to be made early next week. CNN also reported that Trump had settled on Mattis. Reuters could not immediately confirm the planned nomination. Trump spokesman Jason Miller said on Twitter that "no decision has been made yet with regard to Secretary of Defense." Mattis is a revered figure in the Marine Corps known for his tough talk, distrust of Iran and battlefield experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. The choice of a seasoned military strategist would be another indication that Trump, a Republican, intends to steer US foreign policy away from Democratic President Barack Obama's increased reliance on US allies to fight Islamist militants and to help deter Russian and Chinese aggression in Europe and Asia. While the nomination of the 66-year-old Mattis would likely be popular among US forces, many of whom know him by his colourful nickname "Mad Dog," it would have to clear a bureaucratic hurdle. Because he retired only in 2013, Mattis would need the US Congress to waive a requirement that a defense secretary be a civilian for at least seven years before taking the top job at the Pentagon. His impressive combat record, however, may deter some Senate Democrats from trying to block his nomination. Trump has described Mattis as "a true general's general." The New York real estate magnate famously claimed last year that, "I know more about ISIS than the generals do." (Reuters)

Trump chooses General Mattis as secretary of defence: US media

US President-elect Donald trump warned of &nbsp;&#39;consequences&#39; for American companies that relocate out of the country, as he announed a deal with air conditioning manufacturer Carrier to retain jobs in the US.

Trump said that the firms could move states and negotiate deals with different states but he would make leaving the country difficult.

&quot;Companies are not going to leave the United States anymore without consequences. Not going to happen,&quot; the Republican said on a visit to a Carrier Corp plant in Indianapolis.

&quot;They can leave from state to state, and negotiate deals with different states, but leaving the country will be very, very difficult,&quot; Trump added.

The billionare had promised in his presidential campaign to impose a 35 percent import tariff on firms that took their business to places like Mexico or Aisa where cost of labour is cheap.

He said that he had beein urging Carrier not to shift thousands of jobs to Mexico. He further warned that if the relocated, his administration would impose heavy tarriffs on Carrier products as they made their way back into the United States. But he did not mention if Carrier&#39;s parent company, United Technologies, would face any punishment for continuing with plans to move 1,300 other Indiana jobs to Mexico.

&quot;But I called Greg (Hayes, UTC&#39;s chairman) and I said it&#39;s really important, we have to do something because you have a lot of people leaving and you have to understand we can&#39;t allow this to happen anymore with our country,&quot; Trump said as he recalled an early exchange with the firm&#39;s top executive, news agency AFP reported.

The state offered Carrier $7 million in incentives over 10 years, &quot;contingent upon factors including employment, job retention and capital investment,&quot; the company said in a statement.

Trump said his negotiations with the maker of air conditioning units were a model for how he would approach other U.S. businesses that are tempted to move jobs overseas to save money, Reuters reported.

&quot;I just want to let all of the other companies know that we&#39;re going to do great things for business. There&#39;s no reason for them to leave anymore,&quot; Trump said.

Pence said the deal will keep about 1,100 jobs in &quot;the heart of the heartland.&quot;

&quot;This is a great day for Indiana and it&#39;s a great day for working people all across the United States of America,&quot; Pence said.

The deal is seen as an extraordinary industry intervention by a president-elect.

But liberal Senator Bernie Sanders said the deal should worry Americans.

Carrier &quot;took Trump hostage and won,&quot; Sanders said in an op-ed he wrote for The Washington Post.

Trump &quot;endangered&quot; other US jobs, Sanders said, &quot;because he has signalled to every corporation in America that they can threaten to offshore jobs in exchange for business-friendly tax benefits and incentives.&quot;

(With inputs from AFP)

The companies can move states and negotiate deals with different states but 'leaving the country will be very, very difficult', he said

US President-elect Donald trump warned of 'consequences' for American companies that relocate out of the country, as he announed a deal with air conditioning manufacturer Carrier to retain jobs in the US. Trump said that the firms could move states and negotiate deals with different states but he would make leaving the country difficult. "Companies are not going to leave the United States anymore without consequences. Not going to happen," the Republican said on a visit to a Carrier Corp plant in Indianapolis. "They can leave from state to state, and negotiate deals with different states, but leaving the country will be very, very difficult," Trump added. The billionare had promised in his presidential campaign to impose a 35 percent import tariff on firms that took their business to places like Mexico or Aisa where cost of labour is cheap. He said that he had beein urging Carrier not to shift thousands of jobs to Mexico. He further warned that if the relocated, his administration would impose heavy tarriffs on Carrier products as they made their way back into the United States. But he did not mention if Carrier's parent company, United Technologies, would face any punishment for continuing with plans to move 1,300 other Indiana jobs to Mexico. "But I called Greg (Hayes, UTC's chairman) and I said it's really important, we have to do something because you have a lot of people leaving and you have to understand we can't allow this to happen anymore with our country," Trump said as he recalled an early exchange with the firm's top executive, news agency AFP reported. The state offered Carrier $7 million in incentives over 10 years, "contingent upon factors including employment, job retention and capital investment," the company said in a statement. Trump said his negotiations with the maker of air conditioning units were a model for how he would approach other U.S. businesses that are tempted to move jobs overseas to save money, Reuters reported. "I just want to let all of the other companies know that we're going to do great things for business. There's no reason for them to leave anymore," Trump said. Pence said the deal will keep about 1,100 jobs in "the heart of the heartland." "This is a great day for Indiana and it's a great day for working people all across the United States of America," Pence said. The deal is seen as an extraordinary industry intervention by a president-elect. But liberal Senator Bernie Sanders said the deal should worry Americans. Carrier "took Trump hostage and won," Sanders said in an op-ed he wrote for The Washington Post. Trump "endangered" other US jobs, Sanders said, "because he has signalled to every corporation in America that they can threaten to offshore jobs in exchange for business-friendly tax benefits and incentives." (With inputs from AFP)

Stay or pay: President-elect Trump warns US companies

US President-elect Donal trump&#39;s calls for jailing anyone who burns the US flag faced a backlash Tuesday from much of political Washington.

Trump tweeted that anyone who burns the US flag must face &quot;consequences&quot;&nbsp;on Tuesday.

He posted on Twitter: &quot;Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!&quot;

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/803567993036754944">November 29, 2016</a></blockquote>

White House spokesman Josh Earnest responded by saying that though he himself found the burning of the flag &quot;offensive&quot;,&nbsp;&quot;the freedom that we all have to express ourselves in the way that we choose&quot; is protected under the US Constitution.

&quot;The vast majority of Americans, myself included, find the burning of the flag offensive, but we have a responsibility as a country to carefully protect our rights,&quot; Earnest said.

President Barack Obama&#39;s spokesman also said such rights applied to &quot;being able to say whatever you want on Twitter,&quot; a sly reference to Trump&#39;s unprecedented use of social media to bash opponents and the press, news agency AFP reported.

Trump&#39;s allies in the Congress also politely pushed back.

&quot;That activity is a protected First Amendment right, a form of unpleasant speech, and in this country we have a long tradition of respecting unpleasant speech,&quot; senate majority leader Mitch McConnell told reporters when asked about Trump&#39;s suggestion, reported AFP. &quot;I happen to support the Supreme Court decision on that matter.&quot;

The country&#39;s top court had made a ruling allowing the burning of American flag in the name of freedom of expression.

In 2012, conservative justice Antonin Scalia explained the importance of differentiating between personal opinions and respect for the law, reported AFP.

&quot;If I were king, I would not allow people to go about burning the American flag,&quot; said Scalia, who died early this year. &quot;However, we have a First Amendment which says that the right of free speech shall not be abridged, and it is addressed in particular to speech critical of the government. I mean, that was the main kind of speech that tyrants would seek to suppress.&quot;

&quot;Burning the flag is a form of expression,&quot; Scalia said.

Theodore Boutrous, a constitutional law expert, told AFP that Scalia had joined the majority in the appeals case of Texas v. Johnson, which held &quot;unequivocally&quot; that flag burning is protected speech under the First Amendment.

&quot;The Constitution protects all Americans, even those who act like they hold it in contempt,&quot; Boutrous said.

(With inputs from AFP)

Trump tweeted that anyone who burnt the flag must be punished with 'loss of citizenship or year in jail'

US President-elect Donal trump's calls for jailing anyone who burns the US flag faced a backlash Tuesday from much of political Washington. Trump tweeted that anyone who burns the US flag must face "consequences" on Tuesday. He posted on Twitter: "Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!" Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2016 White House spokesman Josh Earnest responded by saying that though he himself found the burning of the flag "offensive", "the freedom that we all have to express ourselves in the way that we choose" is protected under the US Constitution. "The vast majority of Americans, myself included, find the burning of the flag offensive, but we have a responsibility as a country to carefully protect our rights," Earnest said. President Barack Obama's spokesman also said such rights applied to "being able to say whatever you want on Twitter," a sly reference to Trump's unprecedented use of social media to bash opponents and the press, news agency AFP reported. Trump's allies in the Congress also politely pushed back. "That activity is a protected First Amendment right, a form of unpleasant speech, and in this country we have a long tradition of respecting unpleasant speech," senate majority leader Mitch McConnell told reporters when asked about Trump's suggestion, reported AFP. "I happen to support the Supreme Court decision on that matter." The country's top court had made a ruling allowing the burning of American flag in the name of freedom of expression. In 2012, conservative justice Antonin Scalia explained the importance of differentiating between personal opinions and respect for the law, reported AFP. "If I were king, I would not allow people to go about burning the American flag," said Scalia, who died early this year. "However, we have a First Amendment which says that the right of free speech shall not be abridged, and it is addressed in particular to speech critical of the government. I mean, that was the main kind of speech that tyrants would seek to suppress." "Burning the flag is a form of expression," Scalia said. Theodore Boutrous, a constitutional law expert, told AFP that Scalia had joined the majority in the appeals case of Texas v. Johnson, which held "unequivocally" that flag burning is protected speech under the First Amendment. "The Constitution protects all Americans, even those who act like they hold it in contempt," Boutrous said. (With inputs from AFP)

Trump calls for punishment for US flag burners, faces backlash

US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to terminate the deal with Cuba if Havana did not respond with a better offer, a move that would upend the historic rapprochement engineered under his predecessor Barack Obama..

&quot;If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the US as a whole, I will terminate deal,&quot; Trump said on Twitter.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the U.S. as a whole, I will terminate deal.
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/803237535178772481">November 28, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">&times;</a></div>

His senior advisors had vowed to strike a &quot;better deal&quot; with the island country after former leader Fidel Castro&#39;s death on Friday. Republicans have long condemned the arrangement for giving up too much to the communist-ruled country without significant gains in return.

To the White House&#39;s likely dismay, Castro&#39;s death has pressed Trump to respond to an issue that almost certainly would have remained further down on his agenda, AFP said.

Prominent Republicans have blasted Castro as a murderous tyrant since his death. Trump himself called Castro a &quot;brutal dictator.&quot;

There was, however, no direct threat to the political alliance announced by Obama and Raul Castro in 2014 until Trump&#39;s tweet on Monday.

But no one close to Trump had directly threatened to end the political opening announced &nbsp;by Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro -- until Trump&#39;s Monday morning tweet.

Communications director Jason Miller told reporters on a call that Trump is &quot;aware of the nuances and complexities&quot; of the challenges faced by Cuba&#39;s people, and that he will address the issue &quot;once he becomes president,&quot; reported AFP.

&quot;To be clear, the president-elect wants to see freedom in Cuba for the Cubans, and a good deal for Americans where we aren&#39;t played for fools,&quot; Miller added. &quot;Our priorities are the release of political prisoners, return of fugitives from American law, and also political and religious freedoms for all Cubans living in oppression.&quot;

Trump changed his stance on Cuba several times during his presidential campaign. First, he supported the opening of diplomatic ties between the countries. But he pledged before elections to reverse Obama&#39;s &quot;one-sided&quot; deal that he said benefitted the other side.

&quot;All of the concessions that Barack Obama has granted the Castro regime were done through executive order, which means the next president can reverse them, and that I will do unless the Castro regime meets our demands.&quot; Trump said in September, reported AFP.

&quot;We&#39;ve got to have a better deal,&quot; Trump&#39;s chief of staff, Reince Priebus, said on Fox News Sunday.

Trumps team has criticised the concessions they said that were made to Havana, significantly the easing of the 1962 US economic embargo.

&quot;Though the tragedies, deaths and pain caused by Fidel Castro cannot be erased, our administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty,&quot; Trump said after Castro&#39;s death.

Just weeks before the presidential election, Obama in October had aimed to make the normalisation policy with Cuba &quot;irreversible&quot; by announcing a directive and unveiling a new round of loosened trade and travel rules.

Senior officials at the time had said that the changes could be reversed when the new administration took office.

(AFP)

'If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people... and the US as a whole, I will terminate deal,' he tweeted

US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to terminate the deal with Cuba if Havana did not respond with a better offer, a move that would upend the historic rapprochement engineered under his predecessor Barack Obama.. "If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the US as a whole, I will terminate deal," Trump said on Twitter. If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the U.S. as a whole, I will terminate deal. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 28, 2016 × His senior advisors had vowed to strike a "better deal" with the island country after former leader Fidel Castro's death on Friday. Republicans have long condemned the arrangement for giving up too much to the communist-ruled country without significant gains in return. To the White House's likely dismay, Castro's death has pressed Trump to respond to an issue that almost certainly would have remained further down on his agenda, AFP said. Prominent Republicans have blasted Castro as a murderous tyrant since his death. Trump himself called Castro a "brutal dictator." There was, however, no direct threat to the political alliance announced by Obama and Raul Castro in 2014 until Trump's tweet on Monday. But no one close to Trump had directly threatened to end the political opening announced by Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro -- until Trump's Monday morning tweet. Communications director Jason Miller told reporters on a call that Trump is "aware of the nuances and complexities" of the challenges faced by Cuba's people, and that he will address the issue "once he becomes president," reported AFP. "To be clear, the president-elect wants to see freedom in Cuba for the Cubans, and a good deal for Americans where we aren't played for fools," Miller added. "Our priorities are the release of political prisoners, return of fugitives from American law, and also political and religious freedoms for all Cubans living in oppression." Trump changed his stance on Cuba several times during his presidential campaign. First, he supported the opening of diplomatic ties between the countries. But he pledged before elections to reverse Obama's "one-sided" deal that he said benefitted the other side. "All of the concessions that Barack Obama has granted the Castro regime were done through executive order, which means the next president can reverse them, and that I will do unless the Castro regime meets our demands." Trump said in September, reported AFP. "We've got to have a better deal," Trump's chief of staff, Reince Priebus, said on Fox News Sunday. Trumps team has criticised the concessions they said that were made to Havana, significantly the easing of the 1962 US economic embargo. "Though the tragedies, deaths and pain caused by Fidel Castro cannot be erased, our administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty," Trump said after Castro's death. Just weeks before the presidential election, Obama in October had aimed to make the normalisation policy with Cuba "irreversible" by announcing a directive and unveiling a new round of loosened trade and travel rules. Senior officials at the time had said that the changes could be reversed when the new administration took office. (AFP)

Trump threatens to end US-Cuba deal

The White House on Monday said that there was no substantial evidence to support Trump&#39;s claims that &#39;millions&#39; had voted illegally in the November presidential election.

&quot;There has been no evidence produced to substantiate a claim like that,&quot; said White House spokesman Josh Earnest, news agency AFP reported.

Experts also dismissed his claims as the Green Party advanced their efforts to organise vote recounts in three key swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, where Trump gained victory over Clinton.

US President-elect Donald Trump had tweeted on Sunday that he would have won the popular vote had &quot;millions of people&quot; not voted illegally.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/802972944532209664">November 27, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

&nbsp;

Trump secured the Electoral College count in the November 8 election but lost the popular vote to his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton by more than two million votes.

He further tweeted complaining about the bias in the media.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California - so why isn&#39;t the media reporting on this? Serious bias - big problem!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/803033642545115140">November 28, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

&nbsp;

Green party candidate Jill Stein filed for a statewide recount of votes in Wisconsin last Friday. She announced on Monday that voters had requested for recounts in more than &nbsp;100 precincts in Pennsylvania and said more would follow, AFP reported. The party also announed their intentions to file for recount in Michigan state on Wednesday.

Despite a huge call for recounts, experts and analysts do not expect any major change in the results.&nbsp;

Trump won 306 Electoral College votes, compared to 232 for Clinton after officials in Michigan on Monday certified the state&#39;s election results, AFP said.

Elected officials from both major parties dismissed Trump&#39;s claims as totally unsubstantiated.

&quot;I have not seen anything in the millions, I don&#39;t know what he was talking about,&quot; Republican Senator James Lankford told CNN, reported AFP.

Some experts warn that the claims could &nbsp;set a dangerous precedent by potentially undermining trust in democracy.

&quot;I think he&#39;s trying to plant a seed of doubt in the American public to negate against the things advanced on the other side of the aisle about potential irregularities or even fraud that are the basis for the recounts,&quot; said Costas Panagopoulos, a political scientist at Fordham University, reported AFP.

Hillary Clinton&#39;s campaign has announced its participation in the recount process, though they said they have not found any evidence of vote tampering. 
&nbsp;

(With inputs from AFP)

On Sunday, the US president-elect claimed he would have won the popular vote if it were not for 'the millions of people who voted illegally'

The White House on Monday said that there was no substantial evidence to support Trump's claims that 'millions' had voted illegally in the November presidential election. "There has been no evidence produced to substantiate a claim like that," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest, news agency AFP reported. Experts also dismissed his claims as the Green Party advanced their efforts to organise vote recounts in three key swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, where Trump gained victory over Clinton. US President-elect Donald Trump had tweeted on Sunday that he would have won the popular vote had "millions of people" not voted illegally. In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016 Trump secured the Electoral College count in the November 8 election but lost the popular vote to his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton by more than two million votes. He further tweeted complaining about the bias in the media. Serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California - so why isn't the media reporting on this? Serious bias - big problem! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 28, 2016 Green party candidate Jill Stein filed for a statewide recount of votes in Wisconsin last Friday. She announced on Monday that voters had requested for recounts in more than 100 precincts in Pennsylvania and said more would follow, AFP reported. The party also announed their intentions to file for recount in Michigan state on Wednesday. Despite a huge call for recounts, experts and analysts do not expect any major change in the results. Trump won 306 Electoral College votes, compared to 232 for Clinton after officials in Michigan on Monday certified the state's election results, AFP said. Elected officials from both major parties dismissed Trump's claims as totally unsubstantiated. "I have not seen anything in the millions, I don't know what he was talking about," Republican Senator James Lankford told CNN, reported AFP. Some experts warn that the claims could set a dangerous precedent by potentially undermining trust in democracy. "I think he's trying to plant a seed of doubt in the American public to negate against the things advanced on the other side of the aisle about potential irregularities or even fraud that are the basis for the recounts," said Costas Panagopoulos, a political scientist at Fordham University, reported AFP. Hillary Clinton's campaign has announced its participation in the recount process, though they said they have not found any evidence of vote tampering. (With inputs from AFP)

'No evidence' to substantiate Trump's 'illegal' vote claims: White House

Three mosques in the western California city of US have received hate letters calling Muslims &quot;vile and filthy&quot;, an association of Muslim-Americans said on Sunday.

The document further praised US President-elect Donald Trump and said that he had plans to &#39;cleanse&#39; America of Muslims.

The letter called on the Muslims to pack their bags and &quot;get out of Dodge,&quot; the council said.

Addressed to &quot;Children of Satan&quot;, the same letter was sent to mosques in San Jose in northern California and Long Beach and Claremont in the Los Angeles area, said the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, news agency AFP reported.

The letter threatened that Donald Trump was &quot;going to cleanse America and make it shine again. And, he&#39;s going to start with you Muslims.&quot;

&quot;This hate campaign targeting California houses of worship must be investigated as an act of religious intimidation, and our state&#39;s leaders should speak out against the growing anti-Muslim bigotry that leads to such incidents,&quot; said Hussam Ayloush, leader of the council&#39;s Los Angeles branch, reported AFP.

The document has prompted council chapters in California to appeal for stepped-up police protection of mosques, AFP said.

Trump had rallied against immigrants and Muslims in his presidential campaign. Since his victory in the November 8 elections, more than 100 anti-Muslim incidents have occurred across the country, said CAIR.

The council quoted the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which monitors hate crimes, as saying over 700 incidents targeting different minority groups had been documented since election day.

(With inputs from AFP)

The letter further praised President-elect Donald Trump saying he plans to 'cleanse' America

Three mosques in the western California city of US have received hate letters calling Muslims "vile and filthy", an association of Muslim-Americans said on Sunday. The document further praised US President-elect Donald Trump and said that he had plans to 'cleanse' America of Muslims. The letter called on the Muslims to pack their bags and "get out of Dodge," the council said. Addressed to "Children of Satan", the same letter was sent to mosques in San Jose in northern California and Long Beach and Claremont in the Los Angeles area, said the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, news agency AFP reported. The letter threatened that Donald Trump was "going to cleanse America and make it shine again. And, he's going to start with you Muslims." "This hate campaign targeting California houses of worship must be investigated as an act of religious intimidation, and our state's leaders should speak out against the growing anti-Muslim bigotry that leads to such incidents," said Hussam Ayloush, leader of the council's Los Angeles branch, reported AFP. The document has prompted council chapters in California to appeal for stepped-up police protection of mosques, AFP said. Trump had rallied against immigrants and Muslims in his presidential campaign. Since his victory in the November 8 elections, more than 100 anti-Muslim incidents have occurred across the country, said CAIR. The council quoted the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which monitors hate crimes, as saying over 700 incidents targeting different minority groups had been documented since election day. (With inputs from AFP)

US mosques receive hate letter calling Muslims 'vile and filthy'