Is Musk's great cull of Twitter a blueprint for Doge?published at 12:07 Greenwich Mean Time 13 November

12:07 GMT 13 November

Tom Gerken
Technology reporter

Elon Musk’s track record at X may offer insights into how he will go about his promised attack on what he calls the “insanely dumb spending” of US tax payers’ money.

He bought Twitter, as it was then, in 2022 for $44bn (then £38.1bn). He then rapidly fired much of its workforce, telling the BBC in 2023 that he had reduced it from 8,000 staffers to around 1,500.

It has had problems since: the site has not functioned every now and again, questions have been raised over moderation, and feuds with advertisers have seen its estimated value severely downgraded.

It also faces greater competition from rivals, such as Bluesky and Meta’s Threads.

But it has very much continued to function, and if the endgame of X was political influence, well, with Mr Musk’s new role, you’d have to say it’s been a runaway success.

The American public might be willing to accept that bargain with a social media platform – the question is whether the same will be true with government services.

Image source, EP

Donald Trump's granddaughter, Kai Trump, has posted a behind-the-scenes vlog of election night on her YouTube channel.

The 10-minute video starts by showing the 17-year-old in her house getting her hair and makeup done.

"We're going to Mar-a-Lagosoon, in like 30 minutes. I'm going to see my grandpa and spend time with him," she says.

The camera then follows her to Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump's residence, which is filled with family members such as her uncle Barron Trump, father Donald Trump Jr and Donald Trump himself looking at several TV screens showing the election results.

The family then gathers for a photo, and Donald Trump asks Elon Musk to join in.

"You have to get Elon with his boy," he says.

The video later shows Kai Trump sitting in a car and recapping her grandfather's victory a few days later.

"I'm extremely proud of him," she says.

Image source, Getty Images

The Guardian has announced it will no longer post on Elon Musk's social media platform, X, formerly known as Twitter.

"This is something we have been considering for a while given the often disturbing content promoted or found on the platform, including far-right conspiracy theories and racism," the London-based newspaper and website said.

It added: "The US presidential election campaign served only to underline what we have considered for a long time: that X is a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse."

Laura Blasey & Jessica Murphy
BBC News, Washington

Image source, Bloomberg via Getty Images

Donald Trump and his Republican Party have an ambitious agenda and (near) control of US Congress.

Trump has said he will "make heads spin" as he moves full-speed ahead after his inauguration on 20 January.

His team has said to expect a flurry of executive orders - directives from the US president - out of the Oval Office in the first week.

Policy experts and lawyers are already drafting those orders as part of the administration's transition.

Advocacy groups and Democratic state governors have vowed to challenge at least some of those plans.

• Immigration and climate policy: the changes we might see from Trump as his term begins

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

The vote for the majority leader of the Senate takes place today. The vote is to decide who will replace current Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who has held the post since 2007.

There are three main contenders: Florida Senator Rick Scott, Texas Senator John Cornyn and South Dakota Senator John Thune.

Republican senators will vote in a secret ballot, with the process starting at 14:00 GMT (09:00 ET). If no candidate receives a majority in the first round, the candidate with the fewest votes is dropped and a second round begins.

Trump has said on his social media platform Truth Social that anyone seeking the position must agree to "recess appointments" - which allow the president to make temporary appointments when the Senate is not in session.

Florida's Senator Rick Scott, who Elon Musk has endorsed, replied to Trump's post saying: "100% agree. I will do whatever it takes to get your nominations through as quickly as possible."

Image source, Getty Images

Amid news that Melania Trump will not attend a traditional meeting with outgoing First Lady Jill Biden, let's take a look at what her role in her husband's first administration and throughout this election cycle.

Melania's first stint as first lady saw her notably absent from the White House. She often stayed in New York rather than Washington.

She delivered few speeches while first lady - a theme she continued during Trump's re-election bid. She was never seen stumping for her husband, breaking tradition by attending the Republican National Convention but not giving a speech.

Melania declared her pro-choice stance in a memoir published earlier this year. Many noted the timing of the book release, which took place around the same time Trump was struggling to campaign on the issue of women's reproductive rights.

• Melania Trump's second stint in the White House might look different

Elon Musk’s unlikely journey to the heart of governmentpublished at 10:38 Greenwich Mean Time 13 November

10:38 GMT 13 November

Zoe Kleinman
Technology editor

Image source, Reuters

Elon Musk’s path from tech disruptor to his new position at the very heart of government is probably one he himself would never have predicted 20 years ago.

He is likely to have some big, controversial ideas – as he has in his tech career - alongside his co-pilot Vivek Ramaswamy, whose previous proposals have included dismantling the department for education and the FBI.

And we know Musk can and will make brutal business decisions. Within weeks of buying X, he had laid off half the staff.

Critics of the Musk/Trump power coupling point out that Musk has successfully manoeuvred himself into a smart spot: a position of authority inside the very administration which fundamentally regulates, and often uses, his businesses.

But Musk is also a valuable asset to this new government, bringing with him a wealth of experience in building successful businesses in the US and an enormous fanbase.

Keep an eye on how these two men get on: they’re both volatile, argumentative and controversial. And both like to be number one – so if this new arrangement leaves one of them feeling they are not, Elon Musk’s new path could soon turn into a going of separate ways.

We've been covering a tranche of Trump team announcements over the last week as the president-elect names his team.

The appointment of Elon Musk - the world's richest man - to a new advisory body called the Department of Government Efficiency has been the focus this morning.

But aside from Musk, there have been plenty of other significant manouveres:

• Former Arkansas governor and Baptist minister Mike Huckabee has been named US ambassador to Israel

• Fox News commentator and army veteran Pete Hegseth is Trump's pick to be the next US secretary of defence
• John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman and former director of national intelligence, has been nominated as the next CIA director
• Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota, has been confirmed as Trump's pick for secretary of homeland security
• Trump's long-time golf partner Steve Witkoff, a property investor, has been named as his envoy to the Middle East

Doge: From internet in-joke to government machinepublished at 10:08 Greenwich Mean Time 13 November

10:08 GMT 13 November

Tom Gerken
Technology reporter

Image source, Getty Images

It’s no coincidence that the team announced to slash government spending is called the Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge.

Doge started off as a meme featuring a Shiba Inu dog, which then gave its name to a crypto currency - Dogecoin - both of which have been frequently referred to by Elon Musk online.

Now these internet in-jokes are being referenced in something much more serious - an advisory body that intends to make hugely important decisions about public spending.

Dogecoin has increased in value by 250% over the past month, buoyed by Donald Trump’s pledges to deregulate cryptocurrency during the election.

Reflecting the enduring unpredictability of crypto, however, the coin's value actually went down overnight, dropping around 10% at one point.

As Doge, the government "department", gears up, it could point to the kind of instability that many other bodies and institutions will also have to brace themselves for.

A vest worn by Pete Hegseth in a TikTok advocating for "Veteran-owned, American-made, anti-woke companies" earlier this year caught the eyes of some viewers.

In reference to America's independence from Britain in 1776, Hegseth's vest shows an illustration of George Washington - one of the country's Founding Fathers and the first US president - holding up a "peace" sign and surrounded by text reading "Brexit'd before it was cool".

Image source, @PeteHegseth/X

Image source, Getty Images

The current and incoming US presidents are due to meet at the White House later today.

US President Joe Biden will welcome president-elect Donald Trump for an Oval Office visit, a traditional part of the transfer of power.

It's a ritual that Trump declined to participate in four years ago when he lost the 2020 election to Biden.

That means that their meeting will be the first time, external since 1992 that an outgoing president sits down in the Oval Office with an incoming one he competed against in the election.

Trump also plans to meet with Republicans from Congress as they focus on his Day 1 priorities and prepare for the possibility of a unified government, where the party controls Congress and the White House.

Image source, Reuters

US media is reporting that Florida Senator Marco Rubio is the likely pick to be Donald Trump's secretary of state (a role similar to foreign secretary or foreign minister in other countries).

CBS, the BBC's US reporting partner, has confirmed reports on Rubio's expected appointment - but the Trump camp has yet to comment.

Some in the campaign and transition team are not fond of Rubio.

Presidential hopeful turned Trump supporter Robert F Kennedy Jr is among those sceptical of the senator. Kennedy reportedly “expressed opposition” about Rubio having a major foreign policy role.

Some more conservative members of the party have also expressed concern that Rubio is too "hawkish" - meaning interventionist or aggressive - on foreign policy.

Trump also eyed Rubio as a possible running mate ahead of 2024. The pair have not always had a rosy relationship: Rubio was an outspoken critic of Trump in 2016 and ran against him for the Republican presidential nomination.

The president-elect, known to be fond of assigning his opponents nicknames, referred to Rubio during the 2016 campaign as "Little Marco".

Image source, Reuters

In addition to Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy will co-lead Donald Trump's new "Department for Government efficiency". But who is he?

Age: 39

Background: He's a biotech multi-millionaire who ran to become the Republican presidential nominee earlier this year, before dropping out of the race in January and endorsing Trump

Beliefs: During his presidential bid, he said "faith, patriotism, and hard work" were being replaced by "new secular religions like Covid-ism climate-ism and gender ideology". He has also called for Ukraine to make "major concessions" in order to end the conflict with Russia.

Experience: He has no previous experience of political office. But he put forward plans to scrap a number of federal departments including the Department of Education, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI during his presidential campaign.

Image source, Getty Images

US President-elect Donald Trump has selected Pete Hegseth as his secretary of defence. He is a Fox News commentator and military veteran with no experience in government.

Here's what else you should know about the incoming defence head:

• Hegseth studied at Harvard and Princeton
• The 44-year-old was commissioned as an infantry captain in the Army National Guard in 2003, serving in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay
• In 2019, Hegseth urged Trump to pardon US service members accused of war crimes - and in 2021 he left the military, saying he was side-lined for his political and religious views

• He's criticised Nato allies as "outdated, outgunned, invaded and impotent", and described the US as "the European 'emergency contact number' for the past century"

• He's also expressed disdain for what he calls the "woke" policies of Pentagon leaders, including its top military officer

The statement announcing the appointments of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy was published by Karoline Leavitt, Donald Trump's presidential campaign press secretary, on X, and by the president-elect on Truth Social.

Here's a summary of the key lines:

• The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will "dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies"
• Trump says it will be "The Manhattan Project" of our time - the US government programme during World War Two which developed the atomic bomb
• The advisory board will "provide guidance from outside of government"
• It will "drive out the massive waste and fraud which exists throughout our annual $6.5 trillion of government spending"
• Trump says Musk and Ramaswamy's work "will conclude no later" than 4 July 2026

Image source, EPA

As we've been reporting, Elon Musk has been appointed to co-lead Donald Trump's "Department of Government Efficiency" - or Doge for short - set up to slash government spending.

We know very little about exactly what the body will do, where it will sit against formal government structures, and how much power it will wield - but in an hours-long posting spree on X, Musk offers some sweeping indications.

He's calling Doge "America's last chance" and claims the country will go bankrupt without it, adding: "Threat to democracy? Nope, threat to BUREAUCRACY!!!"

One post, that Musk re-shared, alleged that $750,000 of tax is used for the New York Metropolitan Opera fire alarm.

In another, Senator Rand Paul's claim that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases spent $477,121 "to study HIV in transgender monkeys" is cited.

Musk says Doge's actions will be posted online for transparency, and there will be a leader board for the "most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars".

He claims 99 federal agencies is "more than enough" - there are currently over 400 agencies and sub-agencies.

In summary, Musk promises this is "Making Government Fun Again!"

Trump's Manhattan Project reference is significantpublished at 07:44 Greenwich Mean Time 13 November

07:44 GMT 13 November

Sarah Smith
North America editor

Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump is making clear that he intends to entirely reshape the American government, by appointing Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to drastically reduce government spending, slash regulation, and dismantle government bureaucracy.

Trump describes the body as the new Manhattan Project - the US programme to develop nuclear weapons in the 1940s.

That's an indication of how dramatic he hopes the impact of their work will be.

Trump has also named Pete Hegseth as defence secretary, an army combat veteran with no experience in government, who spent the past eight years working as a presenter on Fox News.

Hegseth may run into opposition from senior military leaders, and might struggle to have his appointment confirmed in the Senate.

But the president-elect is demanding the next Republican Senate leader should call recesses, during which he can side-step the usual confirmation process for his candidates.

Image source, The Washington Post via Getty Images

Last month, Musk said there were "too many people" in the government sector and they could be "more productive elsewhere".

"We will reduce a lot of government headcount, but we're gonna give very long severances. Like I mean two years, or something like that," he said in an event in Philadelphia.

"Look, just go do something else, is what we're going to say. And you'll get paid for two years. So, you've got a lot of time to go and figure out something else to do. The point is not to be cruel."

The SpaceX founder and Tesla chief executive will lead the new Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), working with Vivek Ramaswamy.

Last year, while running for president, Ramaswamy said he would fire more than 75% of the federal work force and close down several major agencies.

Musk's new role could spell substantial job lossespublished at 06:50 Greenwich Mean Time 13 November

06:50 GMT 13 November

David Willis
BBC North America correspondent

Elon Musk emerged as a staunch supporter of Donald Trump in the latter months of the president-elect’s campaign, pumping millions of dollars of his own money into Trump's bid for re-election.

As expected, he’s been rewarded with what is essentially an advisory role alongside fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who was one of Trump’s rivals for the Republican presidential nomination.

A statement from the Trump transition team, external says that together the two men will "dismantle government bureaucracy... cut wasteful expenditures" and create an "entrepreneurial approach to government".

Government spending in this country is thought to amount to around $6.5 trillion a year, and their efforts could lead to substantial job losses.

Trump is moving quickly to assemble his cabinet. Army veteran and Fox News host Pete Hegseth is a surprising choice as defence secretary.

Earlier, Trump announced the nomination of his close ally John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman and federal prosecutor, to head the CIA.

Image source, re

Elon Musk, the world's richest man, has been rewarded for supporting Donald Trump during the election by being given a prominent job.

The X, Tesla and SpaceX owner will lead a body dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency , external- or Doge for short, which is also the name of a cryptocurrency promoted by Musk.

We still don't know much about how this new organisation will function in practice as it appears it will operate independently of normal government department structures.

In a statement, Trump said it will "provide advice and guidance from outside of government", in partnership with both the White House and the Office of Management and Budget.

Along with Vivek Ramaswamy, another vocal Trump supporter, Musk has been told to "pave the way" for a dramatic reduction in red tape and spending, with a deadline of 4 July 2026.

The move could result in substantial federal job cuts, something Musk has called for previously. He has also said he thinks $2 trillion could be saved from the government's budget.

Last night, Musk said on X he will create an online "leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending" of US tax dollars.