The 24 Seven: What's Possible, Pt. 1

President-elect Donald Trump has said what he wants to do, but what *can* he do

1. Beat the press?

Latest Ground Game Pod is live!

Patrick Pfingsten

and I got the Julie Mason on today for some deep reflecting on how much the old mainstream media (which I would note has largely been supplanted by an expansive conservative media ecosphere)

Some important points Julie makes, delivered with an expansive background from former White House Correspondents president and longtime Houston Chronicle reporter to top talent on SiriusXM Channel 124.

The collapse of regional coverage of politics has left a lot of journalists trapped in New York and DC bubbles

Hug a reporter today. They’re working, harder than ever.

Don’t cancel your paper subscription. Really folks, you’re only hurting the pros who have covered the Trump administration before and know best how to cover it now. If you don’t like Jeff Bezos, there’s other ways to express your frustration. (Conversely, if you think Bezos is awesome, buy 10 subscriptions. But only after you buy a subscription here.)

Catch her on the Julie Mason Show, Sirius XM 124, M-F, 3-6p ET.

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2. 2nd Trump Administration

So, things are moving fast behind the scenes as Trump prepares to enter the White House a second time. This is no accident, as he spent years preparing behind the scenes and developed a tightknit group around him.

(However, a third Trumpworld is still derived from Trump and some measure of knife-fighting and chaos is guaranteed.)

Trump’s campaign just announced Lee Zeldin will be nominated to head the EPA.

Longtime senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller is set to lead policy in the White House, CNN, New York Times and others report.

Trump picked House Republican conference chair Elise Stefanik to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. This could potentially complicate House votes, depending on how the margins of control shake out.

Former Trump administration ICE director Tom Homan is set to return as “border czar”, virtually guaranteeing a sweeping effort to deport undocumented immigrants (more on that in tomorrow’s newsletter.)

Related to this, watch the Senate Republican Leader race between Sens. John Cornyn, John Thune and Rick Scott, this Punchbowl News roundup is very good. A number of top Trump allies on the extreme right are pushing Scott, but not everyone close to Trump is sold on him endorsing in the Senate battle, one veteran Republican tells me.

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3. ‘Trump Slack’

That’s what one veteran Republican called X.com (formerly Twitter) these days.

(I’m not posting there much if at all anymore, as it creates an apparent conflict of interest - it’s owned by one of the chief advisers and donors to the incoming administration I cover.)

Follow me on

Threads at tom.lobianco

Bluesky at tomlobianco.bsky.social

and of course here on Substack notes.

4. Immigration, civil service protections, more

Here are some good reads, friends, to help you understand what’s plausible in a second Trump administration and what’s bluster.

A good roundup here from The Associated Press of what Trump could possibly do by executive action on immigration, tariffs and more..

This on Civil Service protections from Gov Exec.

(If you work in government or have family who works in government and don’t already read GovExec, you should. It’s long been a DC insider “trade pub”, but the esoteric of Washington administration is fast becoming important national understanding.)

Can Trump arbitrarily prosecute political opponents? RollCall has the goods.

5, 6, 7. Join me at 4p ET

Jump on at the Substack App for a livechat at 4p ET today, I’ll be taking your questions and talking about what I’m seeing and hearing.

If you don’t have the app yet, you can download it here.

And watch for more tomorrow as we keep tracking the contours of what’s coming.