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North America

Today

Dakota governor Doug Burgum, shale magnate Harold Hamm, and Trump energy secretary nominee Chris Wright.

How oil ‘wildcatters’ seized Trump’s energy agenda

Shale barons are jubilant about the Republican’s plan for US “energy dominance”. Climate campaigners fear four years of global warming denialism.

  • 1 hr ago
  • Myles McCormick and Jamie Smyth
Apollo Global Management’s Marc Rowan is a contender for Treasury Secretary.

Apollo boss emerges as top contender for Treasury secretary

Donald Trump has tapped billionaires, celebrities and a private equity mastermind in his latest round of cabinet picks.

  • 1 hr ago
  • Matthew Cranston
President-elect Donald Trump speaks with Elon Musk as Senator Kevin Cramer listens, before viewing the launch of a SpaceX test flight in Brownsville, Texas.

Musk’s SpaceX fails to catch Starship booster as Trump attends launch

The catch was called off just four minutes into the test flight from Texas for unspecified reasons, and it hit the water three minutes later.

  • Marcia Dunn
Left to right: Elon Musk, US President-elect Donald Trump, Donald Trump jnr, Mike Johnson and Robert F. Kennedy enjoy a McDonald’s meal aboard Trump’s private plane.

Trump’s demolition of the US state

You measure a leader by his actions not by his heart. To judge from what Trump has done within a fortnight of winning the presidency, his path is destruction.

  • Edward Luce
In the third quarter ended October 31, Walmart’s US comparable sales rose 5.3 per cent, beating analysts estimates of a 3.61 per cent increase, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Walmart lifts annual forecasts again, sees Trump tariff headwinds

Shares in the world’s largest retailer surged to a record high in New York, as it lured ever more affluent Americans to shop in-store and online.

  • Ananya Mariam Rajesh and Aishwarya Venugopal
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Matt Gaetz speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington earlier this year.

Musk defends Gaetz as pressure rises for release of ethics report

Matt Gaetz will bring three critical assets to the US Justice Department, says Elon Musk: “A big brain, a spine of steel and an axe to grind.”

  • Hadriana Lowenkron

Yesterday

Mr Trump’s hardline immigration stance is a central plank of his campaign. This would include resuming construction of his flagship wall on the US-Mexico border and launching the biggest deportation effort in US history.

Trump to use military for ‘largest mass deportation’ in US history

The president-elect confirmed his intention to use the US military to carry out what he has vowed will be the largest mass deportation in US history.

  • Charlie Savage and Michael Gold
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin will benefit from Donald Trump’s vengeful attack on America’s establishments.

Trump’s foreign enemies are about to get a significant boost

The president-elect is threatening to gut the institutions that make America great, which can only benefit Russia and China.

  • Gideon Rachman
Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe had the knack

Diplomats share tips on how to avoid humiliation in Trump meetings

Flattery can make the Republican receptive to a leader’s words, but only if he also thinks that leader strong.

  • The Economist

This Month

Peach harvesting in Georgia. The agriculture sector is entirely reliant on the H-2A program for temporary agricultural workers.

Business owners warn Trump’s deportation plan could shut them down

Food producers, manufacturers and hotels are hiring lawyers to audit the legal status of their workers ahead of the president-elect’s deportation orders.

  • Taylor Nicole Rogers

The RFK Jr diet: No Big Macs, Cokes or dogs

Donald Trump’s public-health czar likes to talk about vitamins and has been known to post videos of himself lifting weights, shirtless.

  • Rebecca Davis O’Brien
Donald Trump and Elon Musk attend a UFC 309 mixed martial arts flyweight title bout on the weekend.

Trump seeks assurance that his economic chief will enact tough tariffs

The president-elect’s Treasury secretary appointment has kicked off a fierce lobbying effort among his loyalists.

  • James Politi, Colby Smith and Demetri Sevastopulo
Peter Thiel

‘Anti-woke’ companies set to boom under Trump

Some in the president’s inner circle invest in the “parallel economy” of companies financing gun sales and a right-wing alternative to YouTube.

  • Hannah Murphy, Stephen Gandel and Patrick Temple-West
Liberty Energy chief executive Chris Wright is a staunch defender of fossil fuel use.

Trump’s new energy secretary linked to Beetaloo Basin gas project

Chris Wright’s Liberty Energy is behind the fracking fleet used for extraction from developing fields in the Northern Territory.

  • Updated
  • Matthew Cranston
CEO Linda Yaccarino

Advertisers set to return to X as they seek favour with Musk and Trump

Media executives said brands were preparing to advertise on X again, as its billionaire owner was likely to gain influence in the White House.

  • Hannah Murphy, Daniel Thomas and Eric Platt
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Joe Biden and Xi Jinping before their bilateral meeting in Lima.

Biden, Xi deliver messages seemingly intended for Trump

The US president seems to try to make the case for maintaining a relationship with Beijing, as Trump talks about imposing more punishing tariffs on China.

  • Zolan Kanno-Youngs
Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden with, from left, Dana White, Kid Rock and Elon Musk.

Bessent, Lutnick in final push for Trump’s Treasury pick

Allies of both men have been lobbying in calls to the president-elect, which is creating tension and increasing the chance that another candidate emerges.

  • Nancy Cook, Saleha Mohsin and Annmarie Hordern
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Why Musk will struggle to reinvent American government

Those carrying scars from previous efforts to streamline US bureaucracy are sceptical about the billionaire’s ability to get any of his agenda through.

  • Joe Miller, Stefania Palma and Stephen Morris
Gaetz resigned from Congress earlier this week after being nominated by Donald Trump as his Attorney General.

Gaetz ethics report should be kept secret: Republican leader

Mike Johnson said releasing a report examining allegations of sexual misconduct against Donald Trump’s pick for attorney-general would be a “terrible” breach of protocol and tradition.

  • David Morgan
Donald Trump.

The dark, unspoken promise of Trump’s return

The president-elect has laid out a blueprint for trampling the system of government as it is currently constituted, a blueprint of destruction.

  • M. Gessen

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/world/north-america