Trump wins latest: Trump appoints ‘border tsar’ ahead of meeting with Biden this week

The Kremlin has denied Donald Trump spoke with Vladimir Putin in a phone call the day after the presidential election.

The US president-elect reportedly urged the Russian president not to escalate the war in Ukraine and reminded him of America’s sizeable military presence in Europe during the conversation on Thursday, according to The Washington Post and Reuters, citing sources familiar with the call.

According to several other sources, the pair went on to discuss the goal of peace on the continent, as well as the prospect of a further call soon to look into the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine.

But today, the Kremlin denied the reports and spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin has no specific plans to speak to Trump at present.

“This is completely untrue. This is pure fiction, it’s just false information,” Mr Peskov said. “There was no conversation.”

Asked if Putin had plans for any contact with Trump, Mr Peskov said: “There are no concrete plans yet.”

Joe Biden, who will hand over power on 20 January, will urge Donald Trump not to abandon Ukraine when the pair meet on Wednesday, the White House has said.

The president-elect and sitting president will meet this week at the Oval Office.

In an interview with CBS News, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said: “President Biden will have the opportunity over the next 70 days to make the case to the Congress and to the incoming administration that the United States should not walk away from Ukraine, that walking away from Ukraine means more instability in Europe.”

Under Biden, Washington has provided tens of billions of dollars of military and economic aid to Ukraine – funding that Trump, and some of his supporters, have repeatedly criticised and rallied against.

Trump insisted last year that Putin never would have invaded Ukraine if he had been in the White House at the time and has repeatedly said he could settle the war “in one day” if he was re-elected again.

Donald Trump has announced former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director Tom Homan will be the new “border tsar” in his administration.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social late last night that Homan will return to government to be in charge of the US’s borders and the deportation of illegal immigrants.

The president-elect said “there is nobody better at policing and controlling our borders” than his new “border tsar”.

Homan served as former acting ICE director during Trump’s first term, and was an early backer of the president’s “zero tolerance” policy – which NBC News reported led to at least 5,500 families being separated at the southern border in 2018.

Earlier this year, he also told a conservative conference he would “run the biggest deportation force this country has ever seen”.

Homan was also a contributor to Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership book.

Hello and welcome back to our live coverage as the world continues to react to Donald Trump’s stunning election victory in the US.

Last week saw Trump snatch all seven of the crucial swing states to secure what is surely the greatest political comeback of all time.  

He secured the presidency while his party took control of the Senate and is on the verge of taking the House of Representatives. 

Over the weekend, we learned that Trump and sitting President Joe Biden will meet at the White House this week, as preparations for a transition of power continue.

Trump famously refused to host Biden in 2020 after the Democrat beat him in that election, but Biden has promised to observe all protocol to ensure a smooth transition of power. 

It also emerged that Trump reportedly spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, with the pair discussing the situation in Ukraine. 

That came a day after Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Joe Biden will himself make a plea to both Trump and Congress to keep backing Kyiv. 

We also brought you reports that Trump has not yet signed a key presidential transition document amid concerns over the mandatory ethics pledge.

That pledge sees a president-elect vow to avoid conflicts of interest once sworn into office.

As the fallout from the election continues, heavyweight Democrat Nancy Pelosi revealed she thinks Biden should have stepped aside as the Democratic candidate earlier to allow for an open primary process – which could have seen a different nominee step forward instead of Kamala Harris. 

And internationally, Iran strongly denied any suggestion of a plot to assassinate Trump after a man was charged. 

Here are some of the other key stories you may want to browse through this Monday afternoon to get you fully up to speed:

Thanks for following along, that’s all for our live coverage tonight.

Today, it emerged that Donald Trump spoke with Vladimir Putin on the phone earlier in the week. 

Sources said Trump warned Putin not to escalate the conflict, and reminded him of the US’s sizeable military presence in Europe.

According to several other sources, the pair also discussed the goal of peace on the continent, as well as the prospect of a further call soon to look into the resolution of the war in Ukraine. 

It comes as aides said Joe Biden would make a plea to Congress and to Trump himself to continue funding and military support for Kyiv. 

In the early hours of the morning, we also learned that Trump had secured the state of Arizona – meaning he won all seven of the swing states.

We’ll be back tomorrow with more news, reaction and analysis. 

Donald Trump will be one of only two presidents to serve two non-consecutive terms after his US election win this week, second only to Grover Cleveland, who did it in the 1800s.

It’s already an historic victory – but Trump has made comments in the past hinting at a third term in office.

An amendment in the Constitution, which is the supreme law of the United States, prohibits anyone from serving for more than two terms.

But what has the incoming president said, how likely is he to pursue a third term in 2028 – and is it even possible?

Donald Trump and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke on the phone this evening, according to a government spokesperson in Berlin. 

The two discussed the current state of play in Europe, and how they could work together in order to restore peace to the continent, with Russia still waging war in Ukraine. 

Scholz also emphasised his government’s “willingness to continue co-operation” between the US and Germany as Trump begins his second term. 

Trump famously had a strained relationship with former chancellor Angela Merkel, with the US trade deficit with Europe and a (relatively) low German defence spend irking the American. 

Elon Musk and Donald Trump have been pictured on a golf course, barely a week after the Republican claimed an historic election victory over Kamala Harris to secure the White House. 

Kai Trump, the president-elect’s granddaughter, shared photos on Musk’s X platform showing her grandfather and his close ally on the course. 

Trump had agreed with the Secret Service in September to stop playing the sport until after the election, following a second attempt on his life near one of his golf courses. 

The president-elect, 78, is an avid golfer but had been told that federal agents were not satisfied he could be well enough protected if he were to play, Sky News’ partner network NBC News reported at the time.

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to kill offshore wind energy projects the first day he returns to the White House – but opponents have warned it might not be that easy.

During campaign appearances, Trump railed against offshore wind and promised to sign an executive order on day one to block such projects.

“They destroy everything, they’re horrible, the most expensive energy there is,” Trump said in a May speech. “They ruin the environment, they kill the birds, they kill the whales.”

Numerous federal and state scientific agencies say there is nothing to link offshore wind to a recent spate of whale deaths, although turbines have been known to kill shorebirds.

Environmental groups say the real reason Trump opposes offshore wind is his support for the fossil fuel industry.

There are almost 65 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity under development in the US – enough to power more than 26 million homes, and Trump is unlikely to end these projects – but he may have more leverage over ones still in the planning stage.

Tina Zappile, director of the Hughes Center for Public Policy at New Jersey’s Stockton University, said even though the president-elect has bashed the technology, he won’t just make it go away.

“Offshore wind might appear to be on the chopping block – Trump’s explicitly said this was something he’d fix on the first day – but when the economics of offshore wind are in alignment with his overall strategies of returning manufacturing to America and becoming energy-independent, his administration is likely to back away slowly from this claim,” she said in an interview.

“Offshore wind may be temporarily hampered, but its long-term prospects in the US are unlikely to be hurt.”

The offshore wind industry has pledged to work with Trump and his administration. 

But few Republicans appear in a welcoming mood following the election. New Jersey Assemblyman Paul Kanitra listed the major offshore wind companies in a Facebook post, and said: “It’s time to pack your bags and get the hell away from the Jersey Shore, our marine life, fishing industry and beautiful beaches.”

Mr Kanitra said he was looking forward “to your stock prices tanking.”

As the dust settles on Donald Trump’s US election win, the president-elect has begun choosing who will be in his administration for his second stint in the White House.

During the campaign, Trump avoided directly confirming any appointments but frequently dropped hints about who he would like in his top team.

So who is in, who is out and who are the leading contenders for jobs?

Find out here.