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President-elect Donald Trump railed against President Joe Biden's foreign policy, but as he enters the White House, Trump may end up agreeing more than he thinks.

The New York Times outlined some of the ways that Trump has claimed he and Biden differ, but they're actually fairly similar.

For example, both men are firmly behind Israel.

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"Mr. Trump casts himself as Israel’s best friend in American politics, and he may give Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wide latitude on security issues and his treatment of Palestinians. But so did Mr. Biden. While the Biden administration often criticized Mr. Netanyahu’s conduct of the war in Gaza, it took few concrete steps to restrain his behavior," the report said.

In Iran, Trump ripped up former President Barack Obama's denuclearization deal, issuing sanctions. While Trump falsely claimed that Biden lifted the sanctions he imposed, it never happened. Despite efforts, Biden wasn't able to negotiate another deal with Iran. Now, Trump wants another deal.

“We have to make a deal,” he told reporters in September, saying that Iran having nuclear weapons is an “impossible” outcome.

The Times thinks Trump could run into problems because he campaigned on inflation and high gas prices, but if he ends up in a fight with Iran it could adversely impact both.

The report said Taiwan is one "wild card." Biden supported the small democracy and its refusal to genuflect to China.

"Mr. Trump has sounded ambivalent," the report said. That said, many of Trump's appointees are China hawks.

After Obama began diplomatic outreach to Cuba, Trump shut it down, reinstituting a decades-long blockade. Biden didn't change anything Trump did.

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"Similarly, Mr. Biden has largely maintained heavy Trump-era sanctions on Venezuela meant to pressure its authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro, from power," said the Times.

What has caused some anxiety is the U.S. relationship with Europe. One diplomat told the Times that there is an air of "uncertainty and alarm" about relations with the U.S. Trump has already advocated pulling out of NATO, though the diplomat said most think that it's all talk.

"Few in Europe, he said, believe that Mr. Trump will actually take such a radical step," said the Times.

Read the full report here.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is praising Donald Trump as a "real man," and “clever and experienced,” while issuing what has been described as a "bizarre" warning that the American President-elect is "not safe."

“He behaved, in my opinion, in a very correct way, courageously, like a real man,” Putin said Thursday, referring to the assassination attempt in July, Reuters reports. “I take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election.”

“What was said about the desire to restore relations with Russia, to bring about the end of the Ukrainian crisis, in my opinion this deserves attention at least,” Putin also said.

According to Reuters, "Trump said during campaigning that he could bring peace in Ukraine within 24 hours if elected, but has given few details on how he would seek to end the biggest land war in Europe since World War Two."

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The Daily Beast adds that although he described "Trump as 'clever,' Putin used examples of previous assassination attempts on Trump’s life and his treatment by opponents as reason to be cautious. Notably, Trump was wounded during an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania in July."

Putin said that what struck him "the most is not that Donald Trump was faced with uncivilized means—including assassination attempts—more than once," according to a translation from the Associated Press (video below).

“By the way, in my view, even now he’s not safe,” Putin said of Trump, The Daily Beast also reported, describing it as a warning. “But he is a clever and cautious man, I should hope he realizes all that."

The Russian president, currently conducting an illegal war against Ukraine, was speaking to reporters at a Russian Black Sea resort. He suggested he was open to conversation with Trump about the war in Ukraine. Citing a senior Trump aide, journalist Bob Woodward in his latest book reported that since leaving office in 2021, Donald Trump has talked with Putin "maybe as many as seven times," NBC News reported in October.

Bill Browder is the CEO and co-founder of Hermitage Capital, and successfully lobbied Congress to pass the Magnitsky Act, used to punish Russian human rights abuses.

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"If Trump cuts aid for Ukraine," Browder warned, "it will lead to Ukraine’s defences collapsing, which will set off a refugee crisis in Europe like we’ve never seen before."

If Trump cuts aid for Ukraine, it will lead to Ukraine’s defences collapsing, which will set off a refugee crisis in Europe like we’ve never seen before (and that’s before Putin trains he guns on the Baltics). This is all avoidable if we seize the $300B of Russian reserves pic.twitter.com/UWf0ShdpIn
— Sir William Browder KCMG (@Billbrowder) November 29, 2024

On Friday, Newsweek reported, "Russia's currency has continued to plunge, adding to the country's economic turbulence and raising questions about the financial sustainability of Vladimir Putin's aggression in Ukraine."

Russian casualties. Newsweek also reported, "hit more than 2,000 troops in a single day, Ukraine's defense ministry said Friday morning—breaking a bleak record set only weeks ago."

"If the latest figures are accurate, this would bring Russia's total number of casualties since Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 to 738,660."

Watch the video of Putin below and Browder above, or both at this link.

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s former staffers have mostly positive things to say about him, but they doubt he's up to the task of leading a federal agency.

Donald Trump nominated the environmental attorney to be secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which has a budget of more than $1 trillion and more than 80,000 employees, but Kennedy's former colleagues and staffers say that he would face a steep learning curve, reported Politico.

“He’s an inspirational leader who’s able to communicate, but he’s not a manager,” said Jeff Hutt, spokesperson for the Make America Healthy Again political action committee and Kennedy’s former national field director.

The political scion and failed independent presidential candidate, who's known as a vaccine skeptic and for holding other unconventional views on health and science, has held leadership roles as a lawyer and at nonprofit organizations, but staffers say he usually served more as the public face of those operations than an executive manager.

“I have no idea how he’s going to run a full department, if that’s how he ran the campaign,” said one former campaign staffer. “Running a court case and suing folks is a lot different than running a business. I think he’s a fantastic lawyer. I think he does his due diligence and understands law and truly wants to help all people.”

The core of Kennedy's campaign team was largely made up of a small circle of friends and family members, which sparked conflicts on the team and hindered fundraising operations, but former staffers praised his interpersonal skills.

“He is a very genuine person," said a former senior staffer. "He listens and he’s, you know, he likes to find the best answers available, and as he’s said publicly, you know, if you can show him where he’s wrong on something, he will change his mind.”

That staffer doesn't believe Kennedy will "purge" HHS of employees, like Trump and Elon Musk have proposed, but some former staffers say his good intentions and communication skills aren't enough to handle the job he'll have if the Senate confirms him.

“He’s going to need a good deputy,” Hutt said. “I don’t know who he has in mind, but I would hope that he would go outside of his campaign [staffers] for this position.”

Donald Trump claims he has already solved the border crisis nearly two months before taking office, but a former Republican congressman called him out for "lying."

The president-elect declared a win on halting the flow of undocumented migrants from Mexico after speaking to that nation's president Claudia Sheinbaum, whom he said agreed to close the border in the face of his proposed 25 percent tariffs, but she disputed that claim and said her country was already "taking care of" migrant caravans.

"He's lying," former GOP lawmaker Joe Walsh told CNN. "I mean, let's just say it. This is what he does, and he's lying, and I don't want to go through four years of this."

Mexico has already been conducting its largest-ever crackdown on migrants by transporting foreign nationals to the country's south, far away from the U.S. border, and fewer undocumented migrants are being detained at the southern border than at any time since Joe Biden became president.

"America still has to grasp with the fact that we just re-elected somebody who lies every time he opens his mouth," Walsh said. "I mean, period, this is the game. This is the game he plays. He threatens to do something unless he gets his way. He doesn't get his way, but he lies and says he got his way, and now, 'Looky here, Mexico is going to do something brand new.'"

"Bullcrap," Walsh added, catching himself before saying a stronger swear word. "This is Thanksgiving, I caught my tongue. He's lying, plain and simple."

- YouTube youtu.be

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) faced ridicule after revealing he would "never love another president again" after Donald Trump.

In a Thanksgiving Day message posted to social media, Trump wished a happy holiday to everyone, "including to the Radical Left Lunatics who have worked so hard to destroy our Country."

"I'll never love another president again," Gaetz replied despite recently withdrawing as Trump's nominee for attorney general due to reports that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl multiple times.

Some commenters scorned Gaetz after the remark.

"Damn brother, couldn't keep it in your pants and that ultimately f-cked us, now we have a pick that Lady Graham and Jeb Bush celebrated," Joel Stitely wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

"Matt Gaetz knows Trump has no plans of ever leaving office at the conclusion of his four year term," First Amendment enthusiast BuiltUS Tough noted.

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"We need a uniter. This causes division. But Happy Thanksgiving!" Cynthia Brown argued.

"That's some elite Washington DC bootlicking," X user @omprabhu pointed out.

"Well, you are both accused pedophiles. So, I can see where you have so much love for the Felon!" Tim Sutton remarked.

Kash Patel is vying with one of Donald Trump's other insiders for the CIA deputy director post.

Patel became a Trump ally when he coordinated with former Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) to fight back against special counsel Robert Mueller, who investigated Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 election. Patel pressed to have all of the information around the Russia probe declassified, thinking it would expose wrongdoing in the intelligence community, CNN reported in 2020.

Patel is fighting with Cliff Sims, Trump's former deputy director of National Intelligence for Strategy and Communications, over the post, Politico reported Tuesday. The report characterized the position as "one of the most sought-after national security posts."

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Patel was teased as a possible pick to head the FBI, but it never happened. One of his more controversial positions involves jailing journalists, something he proposed to Steve Bannon last year.

Trump insiders told Politico that both men are "angering others who feel they're using their roles on the transition to undermine any would-be contenders."

The post "wields enormous influence inside the U.S. intelligence community," reported Politico.

"The frustration toward Sims ... and Patel, the firebrand former House Intelligence Committee staffer and Pentagon official, stems from the fact that both are helping the transition interview candidates for the CIA role," the report said, citing those in the transition.

“The issue that a lot of us have is that these people are involved in staffing national security jobs, and at the same time, they’re also promoting themselves for the same roles,” said one of the individuals who spoke to Politico.

Patel is known for "fighting dirty," so there's a concern that he's leaking damaging stories about Sims. After leaving the White House, Trump was furious with Sims when he published a tell-all memoir in 2019. At this point, however, many former officials have published memoirs about their political lives and their work with Trump.

At the time, White House officials described Trump as “very p---ed off” and “really hopping mad” after reading excerpts of the tell-all book.

The current deputy, David S. Cohen, helped craft Title III of the USA PATRIOT Act, which dealt with money laundering. He then went on to work as the assistant secretary for Terrorist Financing at the Treasury Department, the under-secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. Neither Sims nor Patel has any experience working on domestic or global terrorism. Trump's previous appointees during his first administration had experience working in the CIA.

Transition spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, refused to comment about the two men, saying only that “remaining decisions will continue to be announced" when made.

Read the full report here.