Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump's controversial pick for secretary of Defense, will have his confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Why it matters: The former Fox News host and Army combat veteran likely faces a tough hearing due to allegations against him ranging from sexual assault to excessive drinking. Axios has obtained a prepared text of his opening statement.

Read the statement in full:

Thank you Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Reed, and all members of this Committee for the opportunity today. I am grateful for, and learned a great deal from, this "advise and consent" process. Should I be confirmed, I look forward to working with this Committee — Senators from both parties — to secure our nation.

I want to thank the former Senator from Minnesota, Norm Coleman, for his mentorship and friendship in this process. And the incoming National Security Advisor, Congressman — and more importantly—Colonel Mike Waltz, for his powerful words. I am grateful for you both.

Thank you to my incredible wife Jennifer, who has changed my life and been with me throughout this entire process. I love you, sweetheart, and I thank God for you. And as Jenny and I pray together each morning, all glory — regardless of the outcome — belongs to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. His grace and mercy abound each day. May His will be done.

Thank you to my father, Brian, and mother, Penny, as well as my entire family — including our seven wonderful kids: Gunner, Jackson, Peter Boone, Kenzie, Luke, Rex & Gwendolyn. Their future safety and security is in all our hands.

And to all the troops and veterans watching, and in this room — Navy SEALs, Green Berets, Pilots, Sailors, Marines, Gold Stars and more. Too many friends to name. Officers and Enlisted. Black and White. Young and Old. Men and Women. All Americans. All warriors. This hearing is for you. Thank you for figuratively, and literally, having my back. I pledge to do the same for you. All of you.

It is an honor to come before this Committee as President Donald Trump's nominee for the office of Secretary of Defense. Two months ago, 77 million Americans gave President Trump a powerful mandate for change. To put America First — at home and abroad.

I want to thank President Trump for his faith in me, and his selfless leadership of our great Republic. The troops could have no better Commander-in-Chief than Donald Trump.

As I've said to many of you in our private meetings, when President Trump chose me for this position, the primary charge he gave me was — to bring the warrior culture back to the Department of Defense. He, like me, wants a Pentagon laser-focused on warfighting, lethality, meritocracy, standards, and readiness. That's it. That is my job.

To that end, if confirmed, I'm going to work with President Trump — and this committee — to:

1. Restore the Warrior Ethos to the Pentagon and throughout our fighting force; in doing so, we will reestablish trust in our military — and address the recruiting, retention and readiness crisis in our ranks. The strength of our military is our unity — our shared purpose — not our differences.
2. Rebuild our Military, always matching threats to capabilities; this includes reviving our defense industrial base, reforming the acquisition process (no more "Valley of Death" for new defense companies), modernizing our nuclear triad, ensuring the Pentagon can pass an audit, and rapidly fielding emerging technologies.
3. Reestablish Deterrence. First and foremost, we will defend our homeland — our borders and our skies. Second, we will work with our partners and allies to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific from the communist Chinese. Finally, we will responsibly end wars to ensure we can prioritize our resources — and reorient to larger threats. We can no longer count on "reputational deterrence" — we need real deterrence.

The Defense Department under Donald Trump will achieve Peace Through Strength. And in pursuing these America First national security goals, we will remain patriotically a-political and stridently Constitutional. Unlike the current administration, politics should play no part in military matters. We are not Republicans or Democrats — we are American warriors. Our standards will be high, and they will be equal (not equitable, that is a very different word).

We need to make sure every warrior is fully qualified on their assigned weapon system, every pilot is fully qualified and current on the aircraft they are flying, and every general or flag officer is selected for leadership based purely on performance, readiness, and merit.

Leaders — at all levels — will be held accountable. And warfighting and lethality — and the readiness of the troops and their families — will be our only focus.

That has been my focus ever since I first put on the uniform as a young Army ROTC cadet at Princeton University in 2001. I joined the military because I love my country and felt an obligation to defend it. I served with incredible Americans in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, Afghanistan and in the streets of Washington, D.C. — many of which are here today. This includes enlisted soldiers I helped become American citizens, and Muslim allies I helped immigrate from Iraq and Afghanistan. And when I took off the uniform, my mission never stopped.

It is true that I don't have a similar biography to Defense Secretaries of the last 30 years. But, as President Trump also told me, we've repeatedly placed people atop the Pentagon with supposedly "the right credentials" — whether they are retired generals, academics, or defense contractor executives — and where has it gotten us? He believes, and I humbly agree, that it's time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm. A change agent. Someone with no vested interest in certain companies or specific programs or approved narratives.

My only special interest is — the warfighter. Deterring wars, and if called upon, winning wars — by ensuring our warriors never enter a fair fight. We let them win and then bring them home. Like many of my generation, I've been there. I've led troops in combat…been on patrol for days … pulled a trigger downrange … heard bullets whiz by … flex-cuffed insurgents … called in close air support … led medevacs … dodged IEDs … pulled out dead bodies … and knelt before a battlefield cross. This is not academic for me; this is my life. I led then, and I will lead now.

Ask anyone who has ever worked with me — or for me. I know what I don't know. My success as a leader … and I very much look forward to discussing our many successes at my previous organizations, Vets for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America. I'm incredibly proud of the work we did. My success as a leader … has always been setting a clear vision, hiring people smarter and more capable than me, empowering them to succeed, holding everyone accountable, and driving toward clear metrics. Build the plan. Work the plan. And then work harder than everyone around you.

The President has given me a clear vision, and I will execute. I've sworn an oath to the Constitution before, and — if confirmed — will proudly do it again. This time, for the most important deployment of my life.

I pledge to be a faithful partner to this committee. Taking input and respecting oversight. We share the same goals: a ready, lethal military; the health and well-being of our troops; and a strong and secure America.

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your questions.

Pete Hegseth admits he's an unorthodox pick to lead the Pentagon — but says it's "time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm," according to his opening statement, obtained by Axios, for his confirmation hearing Tuesday.

• Hegseth, one of President-elect Trump's most controversial Cabinet choices, plans to tell the Senate Armed Services Committee that he'll "[r]estore the warrior ethos to the Pentagon," give "new defense companies" a better chance to win contracts, and rapidly deploy emerging technologies.

Why it matters: Hegseth, 44 — a former Fox News host (where he made $2.3 million a year) who's a decorated Army combat veteran — has faced a barrage of allegations since Trump announced the surprise selection. They include an accusation of sexual assault and allegations of excessive drinking. A seven-year-old email from his mom, which she quickly recanted, said he routinely mistreated women.

So Hegseth, who calls his selection for Defense secretary "the most important deployment of my life," can expect a grueling hearing: Republicans tell us they expect Democratic senators will try to embarrass him and Trump.

• But GOP senators, some initially skeptical, indicate Hegseth is on track for confirmation.
• The hearing room will be jammed with supporters from all phases of Hegseth's life.

The big picture: The opening statement doesn't directly address the allegations. Hegseth says in his testimony: "It is true that I don't have a similar biography to Defense secretaries of the last 30 years."

• "But, as President Trump also told me, we've repeatedly placed people atop the Pentagon with supposedly 'the right credentials' — whether they are retired generals, academics or defense contractor executives — and where has it gotten us?"
• "He believes, and I humbly agree, that it's time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm. A change agent. Someone with no vested interest in certain companies or specific programs or approved narratives."
• Hegseth says his "only special interest is — the warfighter."

The backstory: Hegseth is "not pretending to be a standard issue SECDEF and wears that as a badge of honor," a source familiar with his thinking tells Axios.

• "The standard-issue SECDEFs have degraded our readiness, our lethality and our ability to win wars. There's never been a singular focus on the warfighter, and that's why we're losing wars and deterrence capabilities."

Zoom in: Hegseth, a fierce DEI opponent, bluntly opposed women serving in combat roles in the military. But he softened that view during meetings with senators, saying he supports "all women serving in our military today."

• Hegseth also has suggested that Gen. Charles Q. Brown, the first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, should be fired over the Pentagon's efforts to diversify its ranks.
• Brown and outgoing Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, a decorated four-star general who also is Black, have rebuked the notion that the Pentagon has undermined its combat readiness with its focus on diversity.

"[W]e are American warriors," Hegseth says in his opening statement. "Our standards will be high, and they will be equal (not equitable, that is a very different word)," he continues.

• "We need to make sure every warrior is fully qualified on their assigned weapon system, every pilot is fully qualified and current on the aircraft they are flying, and every general or flag officer is selected for leadership based purely on performance, readiness and merit."

Zoom out: Hegseth strikes an uncharacteristically humble, bipartisan tone in his opener, saying he looks "forward to working with this committee — senators from both parties — to secure our nation."

• Hegseth — who became famous among conservatives as a "Fox & Friends Weekend" host, and is a bestselling author — is an Army veteran of Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, and earned two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman's Badge.

Between the lines: Hegseth, who's been married three times, portrays himself as a family man and devout Christian. He acknowledged in an interview with Megyn Kelly that he was a "serial cheater" before he found Christ.

• "Thank you to my incredible wife Jennifer, who has changed my life and been with me throughout this entire process," his testimony says. "I love you, sweetheart, and I thank God for you. And as Jenny and I pray together each morning, all glory — regardless of the outcome — belongs to our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. His grace and mercy abound each day. May His will be done."
• Naming his "seven wonderful kids, Hegseth adds: "Their future safety and security is in all our hands."

Hegseth emphasizes his popularity with many in uniform, saluting "all the troops and veterans watching, and in this room — Navy SEALs, Green Berets, pilots, sailors, Marines, Gold Stars and more. Too many friends to name. Officers and enlisted. Black and white. Young and old. Men and women. All Americans. All warriors."

• "This hearing is for you," he says. "Thank you for figuratively, and literally, having my back. I pledge to do the same for you. All of you."

Zoom in: Hegseth lists his three top missions as head of America's largest government agency.

1. "Restore the warrior ethos to the Pentagon and throughout our fighting force; in doing so, we will reestablish trust in our military — and address the recruiting, retention and readiness crisis in our ranks. The strength of our military is our unity — our shared purpose — not our differences."
2. "Rebuild our military, always matching threats to capabilities; this includes reviving our defense industrial base, reforming the acquisition process (no more 'Valley of Death' for new defense companies), modernizing our nuclear triad ... and rapidly fielding emerging technologies."
3. "Reestablish deterrence. First and foremost, we will defend our homeland ... Second, we will work with our partners and allies to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific from the communist Chinese. Finally, we will responsibly end wars to ensure we can prioritize our resources — and reorient to larger threats. We can no longer count on 'reputational deterrence' — we need real deterrence."

In a dig at the Biden administration, Hegseth vows that the Defense Department under Trump "will achieve peace through strength" and "will remain patriotically apolitical and stridently constitutional. Unlike the current administration."

• "Leaders — at all levels — will be held accountable. And warfighting and lethality — and the readiness of the troops and their families — will be our only focus."

"That has been my focus ever since I first put on the uniform as a young Army ROTC cadet at Princeton University in 2001," Hegseth adds. "I served with incredible Americans in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, Afghanistan and in the streets of Washington, D.C."

• "This includes enlisted soldiers I helped become American citizens, and Muslim allies I helped immigrate from Iraq and Afghanistan. And when I took off the uniform, my mission never stopped."

Axios' Zachary Basu contributed reporting.

Meta's Mark Zuckerberg has outlined a new template for companies to make up with President-elect Trump and MAGA.

Why it matters: Meta did this with a methodical striptease over nine days, capturing massive public and MAGA attention.

• "This is speaking Trump's love language," a transition source told us.

Zuckerberg had been considering some of the moves for years. Almost all had been in the works for months. But sources tell us Meta deliberately packaged them all up for detonation over nine days to maximize the pop for Trump.

• "It's hard to break through in this media environment," said a source familiar with the strategy. "It sends a signal."

Here's the Meta formula:

• Put a Trump friend on your board (Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White).
• Promote a prominent Republican as your chief global affairs officer (Joel Kaplan, succeeding liberal-friendly Nick Clegg, president of global affairs).
• Align your philosophy with Trump's on a big-ticket public issue (free speech over fact-checking).
• Announce your philosophical change on Fox News, hoping Trump is watching. In this case, he was. "Meta, Facebook, I think they've come a long way," Trump said at a Mar-a-Lago news conference, adding of Kaplan's appearance on the "Fox and Friends" curvy couch: "The man was very impressive."
• Take a big public stand on a favorite issue for Trump and MAGA (rolling back DEI programs).
• Amplify that stand in an interview with Fox News Digital. (Kaplan again!)
• Go on Joe Rogan's podcast and blast President Biden for censorship.
• And light up social media with all the fireworks.

Between the lines: Love it or hate it, the strategy seemed to work brilliantly. Trump praised Meta. Rogan hailed Zuck.

• House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who has aggressively investigated Big Tech, said he hopes other companies "follow the lead of X and Meta in upholding freedom of speech online."

Behind the scenes: After visiting Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November, Zuckerberg decided to relax Meta's speech policies and "asked a small team to carry out his goals within weeks," The New York Times reported.

• Knowing the change would be contentious, Zuckerberg "assembled a team of no more than a dozen close advisers and lieutenants, including Joel Kaplan ... Kevin Martin, the head of U.S. policy; and David Ginsberg, the head of communications. Mr. Zuckerberg insisted on no leaks," The Times added.
• Zuckerberg was back at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, a day after taping with Rogan in Austin.

The big picture: Every company in America is watching. We can expect some to copy Zuckerberg — after Elon Musk showed the way.

• Shifts this fast are rare. And rarely isolated.

What we're watching: Backlash — internal and external — is already brewing.

• Training materials for Meta's new speech policies list examples of permissible attacks against various identity groups.
• Roy Austin Jr., who built and led a small civil rights team inside Meta beginning in 2021, announced Friday he was leaving the company.
• Biden criticized Zuckerberg's fact-checking reversal as "shameful" at a new conference Friday.

The bottom line: Alex Bruesewitz — CEO of X Strategies LLC, and trusted adviser to the Trump campaign on alternative media — told us companies are either "a. Finally recognizing that 'wokeness' is a cancer, or b. Strategically adapting to the political climate and pandering to Republicans now that we are in power."

• "Only time will tell which is the true motivation," Bruesewitz said. "Regardless, MAGA is winning and will continue to win!"

Axios' Zachary Basu contributed reporting.

Ian Bremmer, in his closely watched annual risk forecast, warns that the world has entered "a uniquely dangerous period of world history, on par with only the 1930s and the early Cold War."

The big picture: "People everywhere are facing heightened geopolitical instability driven by a lack of global leadership," writes Bremmer, the president and founder of Eurasia Group, in its "Top Risks 2025" report.

• "We are heading back to the law of the jungle, where the strongest do what they can, while the weakest are condemned to suffer what they must."

Zoom in: Topping the list out Monday is the arrival of GZERO — the global order "slipping away."

• "No single power or group of powers is willing or able to set a global agenda. It's a world of many pretenders, but no leaders."

The report's other top risks are:

2. The Rule of Don

3. U.S.-China breakdown

4. Trumponomics

5. Russia still rogue

6. Beggar thy world

7. Iran on the ropes

8. Mexican standoff

9. Ungoverned spaces

10. AI unbound

Flashback: Bremmer's group ranked "The United States vs. itself" as the No. 1 risk heading into last year, a nod to the high stakes 2024 election.

President-elect Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) plan to push for what could wind up as the biggest bill in American history — a mega-MAGA reordering of taxes, the nation's borders, federal spending and regulations, transition and Hill sources tell Axios. 

Why it matters: Washington will soon witness a furious, multitrillion-dollar legislative and lobbying fight that likely will dominate politics through late spring and possibly beyond.

At stake: Unprecedented spending to tighten borders and remove people here illegally, huge tax cuts, energy deregulation — plus, presumably, unprecedented spending cuts to help pay for it all. 

• We're told the bill will include Trump's popular "no tax on tips" campaign promise. Raising the federal debt ceiling could be included.

The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates extending the tax cuts from Trump's first term could cost $5 trillion over 10 years.

• So look for a conservative push for significant spending offsets. Senate Republicans have already been busy finding ways to pay for parts of the plan via spending cuts + energy revenue.

Between the lines: Each piece is complicated and costly on its own. Rolling it all into one fat package is unlike anything Washington has done before.

• The margin of error is so slim: As Friday's chaotic House speaker election showed, just a handful of House Republicans can sink any bill. The GOP margin will soon shrink temporarily to zero.

Republicans, who'll control both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue in 15 days, initially were inclined to split up the border and tax packages into a two-track process.

• In mid-December, the hard-right House Freedom Caucus sent Johnson a letter insisting on two bills: "border security must move first — and then we should move forward to a second, larger reconciliation bill covering taxes, spending, energy, bureaucracy, and more."
• The one-track plan is based on the calculation that one big, Trump-branded bill has a better chance of passage than splitting it up. "It motivates people to vote for it," a transition source tells us.

Behind the scenes: The strategy was hotly debated — and only crystallized during a New Year's Day meeting at Mar-a-Lago with Trump, Vice President-elect Vance, Johnson and aides, the sources tell us.

• Both the Trump and Johnson teams made sure each has buy-in.

At the New Year's meeting, the group hashed out pros and cons: Split bills could mean a quick, flashy win on the border. But one bill would give Johnson leverage to force his conference's warring factions to all come to the table.

• In a split scenario, hardliners might insist on passing a border bill, before they discuss raising or eliminating the cap on federal deductions for state and local taxes (SALT). Members from high-tax states might do the opposite.

The logic: We're told Johnson thinks you can squeeze members harder to pass a single "Trump bill" than one-offs.

• The speaker figures that in a big deal, even though everyone will find something not to like, there'll be too much to love.

State of play: The bill would use the budget reconciliation process, which allows budget-related bills to bypass the Senate's 60-vote filibuster. So only a simple majority is needed.

• On Saturday, the day after his dramatic re-election as speaker, Johnson unveiled the plan for a unified reconciliation bill to House Republicans during a closed-door policy retreat at Fort McNair in Washington. Channeling Trumpian lingo, Johnson has called it "one big, beautiful bill."
• "I want to compliment the Trump administration and the team. They've worked so well with us," Johnson told his members, in comments reported by Punchbowl and confirmed by Axios.

What we're hearing: Some Senate Republicans are frustrated by the turn toward a single bill. So the conversation may not be over.

• A big concern among Senate Republicans is that one bill would take too long: They worry they won't be able to move fast enough to secure the border, opening them up to criticism, sources tell us.

Reality check: This is all easier said than done. Every faction within the GOP, and every powerful donor and industry, will want their hobby horse in this bill.

The bottom line: This is likely to take longer than the storied 100 days, which will end April 30. The most optimistic timeline for mega-bill passage is late spring (April or May) — which really means June, and could even take until fall.

Axios' Andrew Solender contributed reporting.

Apple CEO Tim Cook will personally donate $1 million to President-elect Trump's inaugural committee, sources with knowledge of the donation tell Axios.

Why it matters: The donation reflects a long, collaborative relationship between Trump and Cook that included many meetings during Trump's first term, and dinner at Mar-a-Lago last month.

• Other CEOs and companies have made seven-figure inauguration contributions in their efforts to build bridges to the incoming administration.

Between the lines: Cook, a proud Alabama native, believes the inauguration is a great American tradition, and is donating to the inauguration in the spirit of unity, the sources said. The company is not expected to give.

• Cook, with a consistent presence in Washington, has made it clear over the years that he believes in participation, not sitting on the sidelines, and engaging with policymakers from both sides of the aisle.
• Apple, a huge contributor to the U.S. economy, is the largest taxpayer in the U.S. and the world.

The backstory: A front-page story in The Wall Street Journal shortly after the election, headlined "How Tim Cook Cracked the Code on Working With Trump," noted that the Apple CEO spent years building personal rapport with Trump.

• Cook "developed a meeting strategy with Trump where he would bring one data point to home in on a single issue in a meeting," The Journal reported. "That approach helped keep the meetings from spiraling in too many directions."

Zoom in: A Trump financial disclosure form released just after he left office reported that Cook once gave the president a $5,999 Mac Pro computer made at an Austin factory the two toured in 2019.

• Cook also has met with Trump at Trump Tower and at his club in Bedminster, N.J.
• Axios is told Elon Musk joined part of the Mar-a-Lago dinner.

Zoom out: Other Silicon Valley inauguration donors include Amazon, Meta, Uber and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

• Wall Street's seven-figure donors include Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, while crypto exchanges Kraken and Coinbase are also getting in on the action.
• Toyota, Ford and GM are all also donating at least $1 million.

Seven hours and two time zones apart, the New Year's Day pickup-truck attack in New Orleans and Tesla Cybertruck bomb in Las Vegas meant a violent, frightening start to 2025.

The big picture: President Biden said in televised remarks last evening that law enforcement officers were investigating whether there was "any possible connection": "Thus far, there's nothing to report on that."

Driving the news: In what could be either a coincidence or a systemic vulnerability, both vehicles were rented through Turo, a "peer-to-peer" vehicle-sharing app where renters connect directly with owners.

• "The concept is similar to Airbnb, in that customers can rent a specific car make and model and coordinate pickup and drop-off with the car owner," the N.Y. Times explains.
• Turo said it's working with law enforcement: "We do not believe that either renter had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat, and we are not currently aware of any information that indicates the two incidents are related."

The Sugar Bowl between Georgia and Notre Dame, originally scheduled for last night in New Orleans, was postponed to 4 pm ET Thursday.

Biden said during his remarks that Shamsud-Din Jabbar — the deceased 42-year-old U.S. Army veteran suspected of the New Orleans attack, which the FBI is investigating as an act of terrorism — "posted videos to social media indicating that he was inspired by ISIS, expressing a desire to kill."

• The suspect was killed in a firefight with police. The death toll rose to 15 people, with at least 35 injured.
• "I know while this person committed a terrible assault on this city, the spirit of New Orleans will never, never be defeated," Biden said.

Catch up quick: Photos show the truck crashed into construction equipment just short of the Royal Sonesta hotel at 300 Bourbon St., reports Axios New Orleans' Chelsea Brasted.

• An ISIS flag was found inside the truck, as well as multiple weapons and a "potential" IED, the FBI said.
• When Jabbar exited the truck, he began shooting and three NOPD officers returned fire, police said.
• Officials don't believe Jabbar was working alone.

Go deeper: What to know about New Orleans attack victims

Major energy companies doubled down on oil and gas in 2024, slowing down — and at times reversing — climate commitments, in a shift they're likely to stick with in 2025.

Why it matters: Big European energy companies that invested heavily in the clean energy transition found their stocks lagging U.S. rivals Exxon and Chevron, which kept their focus on oil and gas, Reuters reports.

• BP and Shell this year sharply slowed their plans to spend billions on wind and solar power projects and shifted spending to higher-margin oil and gas projects.

Between the lines: The big oil companies are focused on meeting customer demand and maximizing shareholder value, per Axios' Andrew Freedman. That has led them to focus more on their core fossil fuel businesses at a time of geopolitical strife.

• They haven't abandoned their forays into cleaner fuels, including through investments in climate tech companies.
• But some of their investments, including bets on hydrogen fuels, haven't panned out — reinforcing their pivot back to what they do best.

Reality check: Doubling down on fossil fuels complicates global efforts to meet the Paris climate targets, which the oil majors have committed to.

The bottom line: Oil companies this year were profitable — but not as profitable as in recent record years, when there were higher oil prices.

Nothing revs up MAGA like the chance to dunk on DEI — diversity, equity and inclusion.

• DEI-bashing is the core of the "anti-woke" theology. MAGA warriors want a true color/gender-blind meritocracy, they say.

Why it matters: MAGA's DEI unity has hit a big snag. Elon Musk — a MAGA fanboy and fav until this past week — and others on X are arguing forcefully that in a true meritocracy, you'd pick harder-working foreigners for high-skilled gigs over less-qualified Americans.

• Steve Bannon and many MAGA originals consider this apostasy — basically another high-end, rich-guy way to screw the working-class voters behind the Donald Trump movement.

Welcome to the new frontier of the DEI.

• Musk tweeted Friday: "The point was not to replace DEI, which is one form of racism/sexism, with a different form of racism/sexism, but rather to be a meritocratic society!"

The big picture: N.Y. Times columnist David Brooks points out this isn't a "discrete one-off dispute."

• "This is the kind of core tension you get in your party when you do as Trump has done: taken a dynamic, free-market capitalist party and infused it with protective, backward-looking, reactionary philosophy," Brooks writes.
• "We're going to see this kind of dispute also when it comes to economic regulation, trade, technology policy, labor policy, housing policy and so on."

The latest: Musk vowed last night to "go to war" to defend the H-1B visa program for foreign tech workers, branding some Republican opponents as "hateful, unrepentant racists," Axios' Ben Berkowitz writes.

Go deeper: Elon Musk pledges "war" over H-1B visa program, calls opponents racists

President-elect Trump backs H-1B visas, siding with Elon Musk after the tech billionaire pledged to go to "war" to defend the program and branded GOP opponents "hateful, unrepentant racists."

Why it matters: The MAGA-DOGE civil war that erupted over the last 48 hours has now come to a tipping point, with Trump's new techno-libertarian coalition of billionaires taking full aim at his traditional base.

• Trump's support for the controversial visas is the first sign of his picking sides between his richest and most powerful advisors on one hand, and the people who swept him to office on the other.

The latest: The president-elect told the New York Post on Saturday he has "always liked the visas."

• "I have many H-1B visas on my properties," he said of the program for highly-skilled, foreign workers. "I've been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It's a great program."

Reality check: Trump pledged to end the program in 2016.

• "The H-1B program is neither high-skilled nor immigration: these are temporary foreign workers, imported from abroad, for the explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at lower pay," he said.
• He added he was "totally committed to eliminating rampant, widespread H-1B abuse."
• Late in Trump's first term, his administration moved to tighten rules around eligible jobs and wages, though the program largely remained intact otherwise.

Catch up quick: The MAGA-DOGE skirmishes started last Sunday, with anti-immigration and anti-Indian vitriol against Trump's pick of venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan as his AI advisor.

• It escalated into full conflict Thursday when Musk ally and DOGE co-lead Vivek Ramaswamy took to X to blast American "mediocrity" culture. Musk defended Ramaswamy, and the two sides started engaging in an increasingly bitter war of words.
• On Friday afternoon, Musk doubled down, saying MAGA adherents who continued to blast immigration and the tech community were "contemptible fools," later clarifying he was talking about "racists" who would "absolutely be the downfall of the Republican Party if they are not removed."

Zoom in: Just before midnight Friday, Musk once again defended the H-1B program in vulgar, all-caps terms, saying the program was the key to the success of his (and other big American) companies.

• "Take a big step back and F--K YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend," Musk wrote.
• In a separate post, he pledged to "fight to my last drop of blood" to keep America a meritocracy.

What they're saying: As with Musk's previous posts defending Ramaswamy and condemning his opponents, Trump supporters did not react well to Musk's promise to defend the H-1B program.

• "May God bless and protect President Trump from these people," outspoken right-wing commentator Laura Loomer wrote, after accusing Musk of trying to censor her.

The intrigue: Though Trump has been mostly quiet on the matter, those around him have started showing their hands.

• Michael Seifert, the CEO of online marketplace Public Square, whose board of directors includes Donald Trump Jr., took to social media Friday to say the H-1B program was "destroying the lives of American workers."
• Steve Bannon, one of the longest-tenured voices in Trump's orbit, had multiple guests on his show this week to talk about his hardline anti-H-1B views.
• Bannon tells Axios he helped kick off the debate with a now-viral Gettr post earlier this month calling out a lack of support for the Black and Hispanic communities in Big Tech.
• On Saturday Bannon called Musk a "toddler" in a Gettr post, and in another post accused him and Ramaswamy of attacking American workers, families and culture.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional statements and context.

The media, our social media feeds and our most pessimistic friends fill us with doom and gloom stories. But by many measures, there's never been a better time to be alive in America. 

Why it matters: Yes, bad people are always doing bad things for bad reasons. It's called life. This column focuses on the Good Stuff: the undeniable trends that reveal a distinct edge for America, young people and this moment.

When your boozy uncle goes dark today, remind him and others:

1. There's no better place to start a business and rise to unthinkable heights doing what you choose to do. We have the best hospitals, colleges and technology centers.
2. You can think, say and worship as you please without fear of imprisonment. Faith might be fading, but the ability to practice it is unfettered.
3. The United States has the world's strongest military. We enjoy peace with our neighbors and the protection of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Our military is both the most feared — and most sought-after by other nations for assistance.
4. We're blessed with abundant natural resources — we can produce enough energy from the ground and skies to power ourselves for generations. In just eight years, the U.S. "has rocketed from barely selling any gas overseas to becoming the world's No. 1 supplier" — bolstering the economy and strengthening American influence abroad. (N.Y. Times)
5. We're still the place where people want to risk their lives to come live, work and raise a family.
6. The greatest inventions come from the magical animal spirits of American capitalism: freedom and entrepreneurial zest — hardwired into our souls and our national story. We enjoy a massive early lead to build the next great technology: generative artificial intelligence.
7. The United States is the world's longest-surviving democracy, which has remained steadfast, resilient and enduring through existential crises.
8. Young people are more optimistic than ever, earning more than ever, and able to make an instant difference in the workplace because of their tech savvy.
9. And Jim's favorite: Most people are normal. They don't watch cable food fights, or dunk on people on X, or say or do nasty things to others. They work hard, volunteer, help you shovel in a storm.

The bottom line: We're blessed, this and every holiday season, to have smart, engaged, thoughtful readers who trust us — and remind us when we fall short. Enjoy your family. Enjoy the holidays. Enjoy America.

With 28 full days left in office, President Biden announced Monday he is commuting the sentences for 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life without possibility of parole.

The big picture: Biden promised to abolish federal use of the death penalty when he campaigned for the White House in 2020.

• Monday's move spares the lives of people convicted in killings, including the slayings of police and military officers, people on federal land and those involved in deadly bank robberies or drug deals, as well as the killings of guards or prisoners in federal facilities, AP reports.

What he's saying: "Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss," Biden said in a statement. "But guided by my conscience and my experience, ... I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level."

• In a jab at President-elect Trump, Biden added: "In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted."

Between the lines: Three federal inmates still face execution.

• Dylann Roof, the white supremacist who carried out the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C.
• Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who helped carry out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, which left three dead and scores injured.
• Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history.

Zoom in: Earlier this year, Biden's Justice Department asked a federal judge to impose the death penalty for the first time in a new case.

• The request was for Payton Gendron, the white gunman who killed 10 Black people in a mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
• New York doesn't have the death penalty, but the federal government has jurisdiction to seek the punishment with federal interest and alleged violations of federal statutes, the Death Penalty Information Center said in January.

Context: Biden in 2021 announced a moratorium on federal capital punishment to study the protocols used.

• There were 13 federal executions during Trump's first term, more than under any president in modern history.
• Biden this month faced sharp criticism, including from Democrats, after pardoning his son, Hunter Biden. He faced sentencing after being convicted of felony gun charges and pleading guilty to felony tax charges.
• Monday's announcement comes after recent pressure from advocacy groups urging Biden to act to make it more difficult for Trump to increase the use of capital punishment for federal inmates.

Go deeper:

• Biden has some catching up to do on pardons
• Utah executes first death row inmate since 2010

Editor's note: This story was updated with additional context. Axios' April Rubin contributed reporting.

PHOENIX — Five hundred fans of Charlie Kirk — the 31-year-old founder and CEO of Turning Point USA, the MAGA-verse's biggest outside group — broke into applause Saturday as Kirk welcomed former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to the stage for a taping of "The Charlie Kirk Show" podcast.

• "I wish they were all members of the United States Senate," Gaetz joshed, a month after withdrawing as President-elect Trump's choice for attorney general, and with release expected imminently of a House Ethics Committee report on his conduct.
• "I think they want you to be pope!" Kirk quipped.
• "I'm a Baptist!" Gaetz replied.

Why it matters: Kirk is one of the biggest winners of November's election who wasn't on the ballot. He'll introduce Trump today as the climactic guest of Turning Point's annual AmericaFest. This year's victory-lap edition is a triumphalist, four-day MAGAstock that drew 21,000 Trump diehards, many in college, to the desert the weekend before Christmas.

Kirk, who caught snippets of college football playoff games backstage, is the boyish, often controversial leader of a MAGA army that will:

1. Bring grassroots pressure on Republican senators to confirm all Trump nominees. "Confirm the Mandate" is how Turning Point Action, Kirk's political arm, puts it.
2. Insist GOP lawmakers hew the Trump line. In a tectonic change for the right, Turning Point is happy to be as combative with Republicans as with Democrats.
3. Push Trumpers nationwide to act on Elon Musk's insistence, which Kirk repeated onstage, that everyday users of X "are the media now."

Between the lines: It's all backed by a vast network of friendly podcasts, dozens of which are taping here on elaborate sets that sometimes even include teleprompters. "Media Row" is actually two huge wings of the Phoenix Convention Center atrium.

• Kirk is close to Trump, Vice President-elect Vance, Don Jr. and Tucker Carlson. During the election, Turning Point Action launched a high-risk, high-reward "Chase the Vote" turnout operation for Trump — and won big.
• Kirk has become one of the most popular pitchmen for products aimed at "patriots": "Use promo code KIRK today." At the Gaetz taping, audience members had to show proof of membership in "Charlie Kirk Exclusive," the podcast's paid tier.

By the numbers: Turning Point — which also holds a Student Action Summit, a Young Women's Leadership Summit and a Pastors Summit — tells Axios this weekend's AmFest is the group's largest-ever multiday event, with 6,000 students among the 21,000 attendees.

• Turning Point Action staged massive Trump rallies during the campaign, including co-hosting the 20,000-person RFK Jr. endorsement event in Glendale, Ariz., in August, and drawing 16,000 in Duluth, Ga., and 18,000 in Vegas in the campaign's closing two weeks.
• Turning Point USA has 1,000+ college chapters and 1,200 high school chapters — plus a presence at 3,500+ other colleges and high schools (not yet school-sanctioned, but in the process of trying to get recognized).

The big picture: This year's AmFest has "an air not only of celebration but muscle-flexing," The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Zitner writes.

• "Trump's frequent appearances on podcasts, a medium suited to his freewheeling, off-the-cuff banter, wasn't only credited here with drawing young and minority voters to the GOP but with validating the power of new media platforms."

What's next: During an onstage parade of fire-and-brimstone pastors last night at AmFest's "Faith Night," Kirk warned attendees to arrive as early as 6:30 a.m. to get a seat for Trump's 10:30 a.m. speech. Kirk quipped: "I have a feeling the college kids are not gonna go to sleep tonight!"

• Go deeper: Videos from 51 AmFest speakers ... Roster of speakers.

Kara Swisher, the popular podcaster and pioneering tech journalist, is trying to round up a group of rich people to fund a bid for the Washington Post, she told us.

• One big problem: Jeff Bezos, the owner, has shown no interest in selling.

Why it matters: Swisher — who started in the Post mailroom, and became an early tech reporter at the paper (and later one of the first at The Wall Street Journal) — believes the Amazon founder will eventually want to sell, since the paper has become a managerial nightmare.

Like many, Swisher thinks Bezos should sell since he has other financial and personal interests — like space tech — that are more important to him, and can conflict with his Post ownership.

• "The Post can do better," she told us. "It's so maddening to see what's happening. ... Why not me? Why not any of us?"

The backstory: Oliver Darcy reported this fall in his newsletter, Status, that Swisher was "interested in assembling a consortium of wealthy investors to make a bid for the paper."

• Since then, a banker who worked with Swisher in the past has been helping her think through how to move the idea forward.
• The storied paper would be run by a board of civic-minded people willing to write a big check to be part of something important. She'd be open to Bezos remaining a partial investor.

In Swisher's recent memoir, "Burn Book," she recalled imploring former Post publisher Don Graham to pay more attention to the coming digital revolution.

• She's busy as a CNN contributor, host of the "Pivot" podcast with Scott Galloway and her solo "On with Kara Swisher," and editor-at-large for New York Magazine.
• But she has ideas for innovative people who could energize the newsroom, and move the business side toward break-even.

The bottom line: Swisher is confident the money is there. But Bezos would have to want to sell. And she notes there would surely be a long line of other suitors, including giant private equity firms and other power-minded billionaires.

• "Hopefully not Elon," Swisher added, "though he seems pretty busy these days being President (Not) Elect."

🔎 Between the lines: The paper's great quest for an executive editor, once Ben Bradlee's job, has ended with a whimper.

• Matt Murray, originally named to the job through the election, on Thursday announced the newly formed masthead position of standards editor — to be held by Karen Pensiero, who worked for Murray as a managing editor when he was editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal.
• The appointment was intended to signal Murray is there to stay after a high-profile external search.

This week's epic fight over funding the government captures the power — and flaws — of the new information ecosystem.

Why it matters: Elon Musk and his followers on X proved they dominate the Republican media industrial complex — using a digital revolt to kill a spending bill, and open the door to a government shutdown. That revolt was powered by some false information, tweeted with total self-certainty.

"We aren't just the media here now. We are also the government," Donald Trump Jr. tweeted yesterday to his 13 million followers.

• MAGA's online army now can assess "information rapidly & pressure our representatives to act in a manner that actually represents what we want," Don Jr. added. "They can't hide and do the bidding of swamp oligarchs anymore."

🖼️ The big picture: This reality highlights the difference between media (what people consume) and reporting (a set of standards for pursuing fact-based information). In the new world order, media and reporting are tossed together with a mix of truth, opinion, and nonsense.

• This helps explain the confusion that engulfs almost every real-time topic, from drones in the New Jersey skies to whether billions were stuffed into a spending bill for a new D.C. football stadium. (The bill banned the use of federal funds for the stadium.)

💡 Truth bomb: This is your present and future, and little can be done to stop it. A fragmented media means fragmented truths and standards.

• The winners are those who control the flow of information to the largest numbers of people — or the right people at the right moment on the right topic. Right now, Musk controls both for the incoming governing party.

This allowed Musk to tweetstorm (150+ posts) the defeat of the federal spending bill, while sharing some demonstrably false information — including the size of a proposed congressional pay raise (now dropped from the bill).

• Musk also reposted a false claim that the bill included $3 billion for a new NFL stadium in D.C. But the provision, also now stricken from the bill, merely transferred the site of the old RFK Stadium from the federal government to the District of Columbia.
• Musk said the original bill funded a bioweapons lab. It didn't.
• Musk reposted a claim the bill contained $60 billion for Ukraine, which it didn't appear to.

So when Musk tells X followers "You are the media," it's true they're part of his media. But that's different than declaring they're all reporters, trying to validate information before sharing it.

• That puts even more pressure on you as a news consumer to discern what and who you can trust for reliable, actionable information. It demands skepticism and patience when hot news hits fast.
• You need to be skeptical of people or sources unless you feel confident they routinely get it right. You need to be patient in not overreacting to — or oversharing — stories that hit your dopamine button.

A similar burden now falls on businesses, where big strategic decisions are shaped by evolving events. Discerning reality will get harder, as will discerning the scale of micro-movements that quickly become macro-movements — or disintegrate instantly.

• Finally, as we've written before, it puts pressure on media companies like Axios to up our games by winning and keeping trust — offering clarity in moments of confusion, and reporting clinically not emotionally.

🛸 Case in point: New York Times columnist Zeynep Tufekci, a Princeton professor who wrote a book about Twitter and social movements, found a 70-year-old parallel with the New Jersey drone craze. In 1954, an epidemic of car owners in Washington state reported pits in their windshields that they feared could be caused by vandals ... or even H-bomb tests. The Seattle mayor sought presidential intervention.

• The Seattle police crime laboratory determined that the damage reports stemmed from 5% "hoodlum-ism" and 95% "public hysteria."
• "In the Seattle windshield panic," Tufekci wrote, "mainstream media outlets amplified people's panic. In the internet age, ordinary people can perform that service."

🗞️ Context: Newspapers long were the natural home of great investigative reporters. But the pandemic expedited cuts to newsrooms.

• Axios Media Trends author Sara Fischer points out that as news organizations scrambled to survive, investments that would've gone to hiring more reporters went to establishing audiences on TikTok and other new platforms, or making content for streamers.

More local news outlets were forced to pull back or shutter, removing accountability coverage for thousands of U.S. counties.

• Most places around the country that saw their newspapers shutter still haven't gotten replacements. Those communities are relying on TikTok for news. Studies have shown that when a local community loses a legitimate news source, there's a huge spike in wasteful government.

🔮 What we're hearing: Trump insiders tell us this week's X revolt was just the beginning.

• "The problem Congress faces," a Trump transition source says, "is that Elon now has an army of people reviewing every word of every bill — and he's gonna amplify the crazy sh*t in there. So until they come up with a bill without a lot of crazy sh*t, the government will stay shut down."

Axios' Sara Fischer and Noah Bressner contributed reporting.

Elon Musk is arguably the most powerful person in business, the most powerful man in media and, at least at this moment, the most powerful man in politics.

Why it matters: This much power, across this many pillars of society, is without precedent. Musk yesterday single-handedly, his voice amplified by his daylong bombardment of scores of tweets on his X platform, sank a 1,547-page, bipartisan House spending bill aimed at preventing a government shutdown at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

It's a breathtaking preview of the new power centers that will rewire Washington beginning with Trump's inauguration 32 days from now.

• A Trump source told us this is the new playbook: Republican lawmakers got "instant and overwhelming feedback. Before, it had to be slowly funneled through conservative press ... [N]ow there is a megaphone."

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who's friends with Trump and Musk, told us: "Both men never give up, and follow through even if it seems impossible. You should never bet against Trump or Elon."

• Now, the two are a combined force blanketing culture, media and governance.

Zoom in: The number of lawmakers genuflecting to Musk on X was astonishing. "My phone was ringing off the hook," said Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky. "The people who elected us are listening to Elon Musk."

• If the government shuts down, Musk can take credit or blame. Twelve hours after Musk lit the match with a 4:15 a.m. tweet (now with 37 million views) saying the 3-month spending bill must die, Trump and Vice President-elect Vance upped the ante with a statement saying Congress must raise the nation's debt ceiling now instead of waiting, as expected, until next year. Vance was at the Capitol, participating in closed-door negotiations.
• "Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH," Trump and Vance said. "If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF."
• House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), whose speakership looked secure after Republicans kept the House, could lose his gavel after yesterday's revolt — which Musk inspired and stoked.

Behind the scenes: Musk flexed his intimacy with Trump last night by reportedly joining the table with his rival, Jeff Bezos and his fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, as they dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

The big picture: Not too shabby for a guy who barely dabbled in politics until the past year or so. Now, Musk is a full-time policy advocate, government cost-cutter, and omnipresent Trump adviser — while running four companies.

• Trump dominates politics, and will do so without peer once in office. But even Trump found himself responding to Musk's crusade to tank the package, which would have extended existing government programs and services at their current levels through March 14.
• But it included disaster relief, assistance for farmers, a new stadium provision for the Washington Commanders — "a true Christmas tree of a bill, adorned with all manner of unrelated policy measures in the kind of year-end catchall that Republicans have long derided," as the New York Times put it.
• Vivek Ramaswamy — co-leader with Musk of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — joined the online barrage. "We the People won," Ramaswamy tweeted at dinnertime. "That's how America is supposed to work."

Between the lines: Remember that Musk is a private citizen, and Trump isn't in office yet.

• X is now the world's most powerful information tool, with Musk as the architect.

How it happened: "Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!" Musk tweeted in early afternoon, in a post that got 27 million views.

• "THIS CRIMINAL BILL MUST NOT PASS," he added fifteen minutes later.
• Ten minutes after that: "Please call your elected representatives right away to tell them how you feel! They are trying to get this passed today while no one is paying attention."
• After the compromise bill was dead, Musk tweeted at 11:23 p.m.: "The will of the people prevailed."

Trump swooped in yesterday after Musk had softened the ground. "Sounds like the ridiculous and extraordinarily expensive Continuing Resolution, PLUS, is dying fast," Trump gloated on Truth Social at 6:27 p.m.

• Trump then denigrated efforts to push through a stripped-down version of the bill. "If Republicans try to pass a clean Continuing Resolution without all of the Democrat 'bells and whistles' that will be so destructive to our Country,' he wrote, "all it will do, after January 20th, is bring the mess of the Debt Limit into the Trump Administration, rather than allowing it to take place in the Biden Administration. Any Republican that would be so stupid as to do this should, and will, be Primaried."

Reality check: Musk's tweetstorm included a number of misleading or false claims, as Politico pointed out.

• For instance, the bill doesn't include "a 40% pay increase for Congress," as Musk asserted in a tweet with 26 million views. The maximum raise for members of Congress, whose last pay raise was in 2009, would be 3.8%.

A Trump transition source insisted Musk's power flows only from the president-elect. "There are things Elon doesn't agree with us on that he ain't getting," the source said.

President-elect Trump's election victory has produced soaring confidence in the global economy, according to a new survey by Teneo, the global CEO advisory firm.

Why it matters: The survey includes the views of more than 300 global public company CEOs, plus 380 institutional investors representing approximately $10 trillion of company and portfolio value.

What they're saying: "Buoyed by the 'Trump Effect,' the market expects a resurgence of M&A, increased hiring and greater levels of U.S. and foreign investment," said Teneo CEO Paul Keary.

• "The U.S. will clearly be the beneficiary of much of this positive activity, solidifying its position as the most important investment destination for global businesses."

Driving the news: Seventy-seven percent of global CEOs — up from just 45% in 2024 — and 86% of investors expect the global economy to improve in the first six months of 2025, per Teneo's survey.

• More than 80% of CEOs and investors predict a major return of mergers and acquisitions next year, the survey found, citing greater access to capital and the incoming Trump administration as the primary accelerants.
• Among global CEOs, the U.S. ranks as the most attractive investment destination.

State of play: Global CEOs and investors reported being optimistic about the economic impact of Trump's return, an outlook that outweighs concerns about tariffs, trade barriers and geopolitical tensions.

• Half of global CEOs are picking up pace in areas like investing and hiring as a result of the 2024 election, the survey reported.
• More than 64% of respondents said they believe Trump's shift in tariff policies, along with rollbacks in taxes and regulations, will positively impact their businesses next year.

Zoom out: More than 76% of CEOs and 83% of investors reported believing the outcome of global elections in 2024 will improve the global economy and worldwide stability.

Go deeper: Trump wildcard paralyzes global central banks

The situation at the Washington Post is so dire that two candidates to run the paper — Cliff Levy of the New York Times and Meta's Anne Kornblut, a former Post editor — both withdrew from consideration for the top newsroom job over the paper's strategy, sources involved in the process say.

Why it matters: The Post is scrambling to find a new executive editor, the chair once held by Ben Bradlee, amid shrinking paid readership and revenue. Publisher and CEO Will Lewis, handpicked by owner Jeff Bezos to save the Post, hasn't impressed the candidates with his vision for the future, the sources tell us.

• One person involved in the search told us Lewis' pitch was foggy and uninspiring.

Zoom in: Levy, who pulled out last week, and Kornblut, whose conversations ended in September, declined to comment. Other candidates include current interim executive editor Matt Murray. But it's hard to imagine this monthslong process unfolding so publicly — only to end with the same guy in charge.

• A few candidates were asked to write six-page memos — a hallmark of Amazon culture — about their journalistic vision for the paper, using AI and how to grow the Post's audience.
• Levy is a two-time Pulitzer winner who was an early advocate for digital innovation, and now is deputy publisher of two prized Times properties, The Athletic and Wirecutter. He started talking to the Post in August after the paper's search firm, Egon Zehnder, reached out.

Kornblut, who declined to move forward with the process after initial conversations, is Meta's VP of global product content operations.

• She had a formidable newspaper career before moving to the Bay Area as a tech executive: She was a Washington correspondent for the Boston Globe and the New York Times before becoming a Washington Post reporter and editor for eight years.
• Kornblut rose to deputy assistant managing editor for national news, where she was the lead editor on Pulitzer-winning coverage of Edward Snowden's NSA revelations.

Matea Gold — a respected, popular managing editor many reporters wanted in the top job, and who conceived of and ran the Post's Pulitzer-winning investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol — announced last week that she's moving to the New York Times as Washington editor, making her deputy to the bureau chief.

• There's lots of anxiety in the Post newsroom right now about whether the paper is still committed to that kind of fearless accountability reporting.

Axios confirmed that the search firm also reached out to Kevin Merida and Steven Ginsberg, two former Washington Post managing editors. Neither expressed interest in the role.

• Merida stepped down as editor of the L.A. Times earlier this year. Ginsberg is executive editor of The Athletic, the N.Y. Times sports outlet that Levy oversees.

The big picture: Bezos has said little about what he wants for a revived Post. He is scheduled to dine with President-elect Trump at Mar-a-Lago this week — two months after killing a Post endorsement of Trump's rival, Vice President Harris.

• Bezos' various business interests — Amazon and the Blue Origin space company — stand to gain or suffer from Trump's presidency.
• The Post has announced no major shifts or innovations under the Lewis regime. Toss in a demoralized staff and invigorated labor unions, and you have a mighty challenge for the next top editor.

Between the lines: The Post has lost a ton of talent this last year, and several stars are talking to competitors about leaving soon. One hot rumor inside the Post: The Atlantic is licking its chops over political writers who are increasingly poachable. Other Posties are eying the New York Times, long known at the Post as "Brand X."

• People involved in the process say Bezos has been mostly MIA at the Post, leaving matters to Lewis, who is unpopular in the newsroom.
• Several people familiar with the Post's search were baffled by the apparent absence of editorial vision or business strategy. "I'm not sure it's salvageable," one of them said.

Behind the scenes: A huge source of newsroom agita has been a decision by Lewis to scale back the traditional ceremony for the annual Eugene Meyer Awards, which recognize employees with 10+ years of service, and the Ben Bradlee Award for Courage in Journalism, honoring the relentless pursuit of truth.

• The year-end festivities were a huge deal at the paper: Honorees were called onstage and gave speeches, often tearful, before their families, colleagues and friends. Post legends Don Graham and Sally Quinn always attended. There was booze and a buffet supper.
• The extravaganza will be replaced by a smaller awards dinner in the new year for the winners, including revered sportswriter Sally Jenkins, and their families. A scaled-back toast to the newsroom winners will be held today at 2:30pm, along with a sendoff for Gold.

What we're watching: Given Gold's experience at the Post and what sources have described to Axios, Lewis appears most interested in hiring candidates from outside the organization.

• Insiders say Lewis' search for fresh faces is a possible sign that he distrusts the newsroom — especially after the internal meltdown over an aborted plan to appoint Robert Winnett, the top editor of The Telegraph in London.

Think of President-elect Trump's top Cabinet and West Wing officials in two big buckets:

• The Creators are charged with stoking a booming, AI-enabled economy, including a low jobless rate — the "golden age of America" that Trump promised after he won.
• The Destroyers are the more controversial picks — wired to disrupt existing institutions, and acting on smoldering grievances against the organizations they've been picked to lead.

Why it matters: This creators-plus-destroyers dynamic dominates the behind-the-scenes jockeying for jobs and influence. Expect jarring swings between popular, pro-growth moves and ruthless government gutting and payback. It's the Trump Way.

🧱 The Creators are concentrated on Trump's economic team, including Treasury nominee Scott Bessent, a hedge-fund veteran with Wall Street cred.

• Trump wants to spur economic growth via lower taxes and pro-business policies. Howard Lutnick — chair & CEO of the Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald, and co-chair of Trump's transition — was named to a souped-up version of Commerce secretary, as leader of Trump's tariff and trade agenda. Kevin Hassett, who'll be director of the National Economic Council — in Trump I, he chaired the Council of Economic Advisers — is popular on the Hill. Trump's trade representative will be Jamieson Greer, who was chief of staff to Robert Lighthizer — the pro-tariff, China-hawk trade representative in Trump I.
• Trump needs a massive surge in energy production, and greater capacity in adjacent businesses. His pick for Interior secretary, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, will also chair a new National Energy Council, with purview over "ALL forms of American Energy." Joining him on the council will be his choice for Energy secretary, Chris Wright, a Denver-based energy entrepreneur and fracking proponent.
• Trump needs to juice the AI boom to super-boost growth — and provide more wiggle room for other economic policies. He's creating the new role of AI and crypto czar for David Sacks, who became a tech-bro hero as one of the four "Besties" on the "All-In" podcast.

The working theory: Remember, Trump treats the markets as his approval rating. To have the leverage to carry out his economic plans, he needs markets to continue booming, as they have under President Biden.

• So the most savvy companies are finding ways to show how they help Trump boost growth — while keeping quiet on his harder-edged moves.

💣 The Destroyers are out for revenge — sometimes for Trump, sometimes for themselves, sometimes born of ideology. Then they'll rebuild in MAGA's image. These are picks where Trump has gone with this gut.

• Trump is hellbent on retribution against the FBI for investigating him. Thus the aggressive pick of hardliner Kash Patel for FBI director.

Trump would be happy to return the Pentagon, the biggest bureaucracy of them all, to its roots — center it around the needs of warfighters, and tear down and rebuild a broken procurement system. A transition source says Trump told Pete Hegseth, his choice for SecDef: "I expect you to do more with less. They're spending too much money, and we're not getting anything for all that money."

• So Trump fought back when Hegseth's confirmation chances looked shaky after a series of damaging articles last month. But a ferocious operation by Trump's inner circle now has Hegseth on track for confirmation, barring damaging new information.

You can see Trump's deep mistrust of the intelligence community in his selection of former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence.

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would bring radically new instincts and priorities to HHS — and, some public-health critics contend, undermine the mission.
• Trump is stacking destroyers in some jobs that don't need Senate confirmation. These include two hard-line appointees announced over the weekend: Ric Grenell, a presidential envoy to world hot spots, and former House Intelligence Chair Devin Nunes, who'll chair the President's Intelligence Advisory Board while remaining head of Trump's Truth Social.

Between the lines: Some of Trump's picks have been given the delicate charge of both creating and destroying. Hegseth, for instance, is expected both to shake up the "defense industrial complex," while building up a "powerful military that the president can use as a tool for deterrence," a second transition source said.

• John Ratcliffe, who has been tapped for CIA director, is expected to both destroy what Trump sees as "the Deep State" lurking within the agency, while also building an intelligence apparatus that "won't be caught off guard," and will "give the president the best intelligence in the world," the source said.

What we're hearing: Trump is sticking with his destroyers because they're his people. We're told that this time around, he's vastly less inclined to second-guess his instincts when senators or advisers warn him to be more cautious.

• Trump controls the party. Republicans are only going to pick so many fights — and Trump's likely to get his way most of the time.
• Transition sources tell us that if a senator votes against more than a nominee or two, that lawmaker or their allies could wind up with a Trump-backed primary opponent.

What we're watching: Now that once-skeptical senators are signaling they'll vote to confirm Hegseth, the most vulnerable nominees are Gabbard, who faces skepticism on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Kennedy.

• RFK's past support for abortion rights is an increasingly clear danger zone with Republican senators who have been strongly anti-abortion for their whole careers.
• So Trump insiders are quietly wondering whether the anti-abortion movement will flex its muscle to try to sink Kennedy's nomination.
• By contrast, Trump's natural allies haven't been voicing concerns about Patel.

The intrigue: RFK Jr. had pushed his daughter-in-law, former CIA officer Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, for deputy CIA director, as Axios first reported. We also scooped that RFK Jr. wanted her in the job partly to get to the bottom of whether the CIA was involved in the assassinations of his father and uncle.

• We're told Fox Kennedy has been ruled out for the CIA job because of opposition on the Senate Intelligence Committee. But she could well wind up in another administration job — perhaps as part of Gabbard's team, or in a White House position.

The bottom line: A Mar-a-Lago source tells us that after last week's spree of adulation from tech moguls and his victory lap at the New York Stock Exchange, Time's Person of the Year is feeling "unassailable."

A Wall Street Journal headline calls this "The Week CEOs Bent the Knee to Trump."

Driving the news: Apple CEO Tim Cook dined at breezy Mar-a-Lago last night — a day after a pilgrimage to Trump's table on Thursday by Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Google cofounder Sergey Brin. Mark Zuckerberg flew in on Thanksgiving Eve. Jeff Bezos will sit down with Trump next week.

• Meta! Amazon! OpenAI! Rat-tat, each donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund. "President Trump will lead our country into the age of AI, and I am eager to support his efforts to ensure America stays ahead," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a statement to Axios.
• Trump basked in literal Wall Street applause as he rang the bell to open the New York Stock Exchange, beneath a giant Platon cover portrait of himself as "Person of the Year" in his beloved TIME magazine.

Why it matters: The bullish "Trump trade" shows markets, from stocks to crypto, believe he'll be good for business. But after staying arms-length during the campaign, CEOs aren't "leaving anything to chance," as The Journal puts it.

Being there: "When Donald Trump arrived at the New York Stock Exchange this week for a postelection victory lap, dozens of influential executives lined up to catch a glimpse of the man who holds the future of their businesses in his hands," The Journal reports.

• "Gathered behind red velvet ropes were senior executives at Visa, Meta Platforms, Goldman Sachs, Charles Schwab and Citadel ... Real-estate and aerospace magnate Robert Bigelow was spotted in the crowd, as was investor [and Trump stan] Bill Ackman."

Between the lines: In tech, the "turnabout has been especially stark as some tech executives who made donation pledges or met with Mr. Trump this week had appeared to be avowed liberals," the N.Y. Times' Teddy Schleifer and David Yaffe-Bellany note.