WEST PALM BEACH — President-elect Donald Trump is set to host a gala fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday night where he will give “champion of America” awards to musician Kid Rock and conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.

The event is a fundraiser for the America’s Future PAC led by Gen. Mike Flynn, who is also scheduled to appear at the event. It is listed as sold out.

The $5,000-per-ticket dinner gala is preceded by a “VIP” poolside reception for those willing to pay an additional $3,800.

The private festivities are in keeping with a transition that has seen the president-elect remain largely out of public view, content to gather with aides and allies at his private club as he works to fill out his administration and awaits his return to the White House.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead HHS, has nearly two dozen meetings scheduled on Capitol Hill, POLITICO has learned.

One of the Hill stops includes a meeting with the incoming leader of the Senate HELP Committee, which could hold a confirmation hearing.

Katie Miller, Kennedy’s media contact during the transition, said he has at least 20 meetings scheduled. But she declined to discuss more details.

Why it matters: The pick, which has roiled many public health experts, comes after Trump promised to let Kennedy “go wild” with health and food policy in his administration after Kennedy dropped his own presidential bid to endorse the now-president-elect.

A person familiar with some of the meetings granted anonymity to discuss the details told POLITICO Kennedy will meet with the Senate HELP Committee’s Republican staff on Thursday and will also meet with committee ranking member Bill Cassidy (R-La.) sometime next week. Cassidy will chair the panel next year. Kennedy could undergo confirmation hearings both with the HELP committee and Senate Finance, but only the latter would vote on his confirmation.

It’s unclear if Kennedy could clinch enough Senate votes to assume the top role at HHS. Trump’s announcement that he would nominate Kennedy to the post has been met with mixed feelings on Capitol Hill.

Though Republicans will have an edge, it will only take four defectors to sink RFK Jr.’s nomination if Democrats, as expected, oppose him in unison. Republicans have rushed to applaud some of Trump’s more conventional Cabinet picks, but the lack of public enthusiasm for RFK Jr. suggests some may be skeptical.

The House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, the leadership group that chooses caucus members for the top panel spots, named their choices Tuesday for the so-called exclusive committees.

These leadership spots for Democrats on the powerful committees were all uncontested, despite generational upheaval elsewhere in the caucus. All of the lawmakers selected Tuesday served as ranking member in this Congress. The steering panel’s recommendations will now go to the full Democratic caucus for approval, though those votes are expected to be perfunctory.

The picks for the exclusive committees include:

• Ways and Means: Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) 
• Financial Services: Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) 
• Appropriations: Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.)
• Energy and Commerce: Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) 
• Rules: Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.)

President-elect Donald Trump lobbed some late-night digs at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, referring to Canada as a “Great State” and addressing Trudeau as “Governor.”

“It was a pleasure to have dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada,” Trump posted to Truth Social at 12:06 a.m. Tuesday. “I look forward to seeing the Governor again soon so that we may continue our in depth talks on Tariffs and Trade, the results of which will be truly spectacular for all! DJT.”

Trump’s comments come as he plans to impose a 25 percent tariff on Canada and Mexico, which Trudeau has said would “be devastating for the Canadian economy” and at which he’s “still looking at the right ways to respond” to.

The Canadian prime minister has also emphasized the impact such tariffs would have on the U.S., saying Trump would “be raising prices for American citizens as well, and hurting American industry and businesses.” The two leaders recently had dinner at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.

Asked on Tuesday if Trump is trolling Canada, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the Canadian government is “absolutely determined to defend the national interest.”

“Our principle during the NAFTA negotiations was that we did not escalate and that we also did not back down,” Freeland said. “I think that is a very Canadian approach, and it’s an approach that works.”

Following the dinner between Trump and Trudeau, where Trump reportedly made a joke about Canadian statehood, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc told reporters that they knew “the conversation was going to be lighthearted” and that “the president was teasing us.”

“It wasn’t a meeting in a boardroom with 10 bureaucrats keeping notes,” LeBlanc, who was at the dinner, said last week. “It was a social evening, and there were moments where it was entertaining and funny, and there were moments where we were able to do, we think, some good work for Canada.”

Trump and Trudeau two have had a fraught relationship. Trump has previously called Trudeau “two-faced” and a “far-left lunatic,” and he slapped tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum during his first term.

Trudeau’s office declined to comment Tuesday morning on the president-elect’s overnight insults, as did the U.S. Embassy in Canada. The Canadian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mickey Djuric and Ari Hawkins contributed to this report.

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has a found an outlet for his sharp tongue and yearning for the limelight: far-right broadcaster One America News Network.

The former lawmaker from Florida’s Panhandle and MAGA provocateur will soon host his own hourlong political talk show on OAN, which heavily supports President-elect Donald Trump. OAN promoted the show in a series of graphics on Tuesday and called Gaetz a “powerhouse” in a release, describing the hire as a “mega MAGA investment” that will air weeknights at 9 p.m.

It is yet another high-profile, public platform for Gaetz, a firebrand Republican who made no shortage of enemies in the House before President-elect Donald Trump announced plans to nominate him to be attorney general. Gaetz immediately resigned from the House after Trump’s announcement, a move that also came just before the House Ethics Committee planned to meet regarding a probe into allegations against him regarding illegal drug use and sex with a 17-year-old.

Gaetz has consistently denied the allegations and a Department of Justice investigation into him resulted in no charges. But the accusations quickly dogged his confirmation process, prompting him to drop out of consideration one week after Trump first announced plans to nominate him. The early withdrawal precluded what would have been a deeply personal and brutal confirmation hearing.

At OAN, Gaetz will also co-host a video podcast with Dan Ball, host of “Real America with Dan Ball,” that the network said would feature “unfiltered conversations” for Gen Z, Millennials and early Gen Xers.

Gaetz praised the network in a statement for embracing platforms like streaming, apps, podcasts and social media, which he called places “where Americans are going.” Trump during his 2024 run similarly embraced alternative media sources to reach voters.

CNN first reported that Gaetz would be an OAN anchor. The network is among the outlets that pushed groundless stories about the 2020 election saying vote tallies in swing states were rigged against Trump. The stories resulted in now-settled lawsuits from voting technology companies Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems.

Plenty of questions swirled about what Gaetz would do next. The former Florida lawmaker didn’t do much to tamp down speculation that he might run for governor of Florida, including sharing a gif on X of the state flag in response to a suggestion that he might seek that office. In August 2023, Gaetz told Donald Trump Jr. and his fiancée, Kimberly Guilfoyle, that if ever elected to the governor’s mansion he would “definitely enjoy that job so much.”

“I would never leave it if I ever got that opportunity,” he said at the time.

Forbes also reported the recent formation of a political action committee that seemed tied to Gaetz, called Florida Firebrand PAC.

Gaetz frequently dragged congressional colleagues when he was in office and, in his highest-profile clash, led the ouster of then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Ever since dropping out, Gaetz has derided members of Congress who buy and sell stocks — something he tried to ban while in Congress — and voiced support for policies such as providing IVF to servicemembers.

He explicitly ruled out a return to his seat in Congress, which will be filled by a special election.

Here’s what we’re watching in transition world today:

 🗓️ What we’re watching

• Sen. Joni Ernst appeared more open to supporting Pete Hegseth as Pentagon chief after the pair met Monday for a second time, although she did not explicitly say whether she’d back Trump’s embattled defense pick.
• Ersnt’s new openness to Hegseth comes after a swarm of MAGA attacks, which could serve as a warning for other senators who complicate the confirmation process for Trump’s Cabinet picks. 

🚨What’s up with the nominees?

• Tulsi Gabbard kicked off her bid to win Senate support as America’s new top spy on Monday by wooing Republican defense hawks with her first visit to the Hill since Trump announced plans to nominate her.

📝ICYMI: Here are the latest Cabinet picks 

• Trump said Monday that he will nominate Harmeet K. Dhillon, the former vice chair of the California GOP, to be the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Department of Justice
• Trump announced Monday that he has asked attorney Mark Paoletta to be general counsel of the Office of Management and Budget

CHICAGO — Donald Trump’s choice to lead border security efforts promised a hard line on enforcement in a speech Monday to Chicago Republicans, with apparently little room for leniency even for the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants.

Tom Homan, who has been picked to serve as “border czar” in the new administration, said the children of non-citizens would be part of the wave of deportations promised by the incoming administration.

“When you have a child, that’s on you. I’m not looking to separate families at all. That’s not my goal. My goal is to enforce the law,” Homan said. “But if you put yourself in that position, it may happen.”

His remarks showed none of the flexibility that Trump himself seemed to suggest in a weekend interview, when he said that he favored some kind of resolution for the status of people brought to the country long ago as children by illegal immigrants — so-called “dreamers.”

“We have to do something about the dreamers because these are people that have been brought here at a very young age,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker.”

Homan, Trump’s former acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director offered a red meat approach to an audience that represents a small group – Republicans in a city that voted 77 percent for Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Chicago is in trouble because your mayor sucks and your governor sucks,” Homan said in reference to Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Once the applause subsided, Homan called on Johnson and Pritzker, along with other Democrats who favor shielding migrants in “sanctuary” cities and states, to work with immigration enforcement authorities like Mayor Eric Adams has done in New York.

Pritzker has pushed back at the promised wave of mass deportations that Trump has said would be a feature of his second administration. “You come for my people, you come through me,” the governor said recently.

Homan said he would “welcome” Illinois Democratic leaders to “come to the table,” on enforcement. “Help us protect you,” he said. “Please. But if you don’t, get the hell out of the way.”

“We’re gonna get some results,” he said. “We’re gonna be arresting a hell of a lot more people.”

As he left the event, Homan told POLITICO he had not reached out to the governor or mayor and that they should call him. “They need to reach out to me. Just like the mayor of New York reached out.”

Chicago Alderman Nicholas Sposato, one of less than a handful of Trump supporters on the 50-member City Council, said he liked what he heard from Homan and doesn’t think Illinois or Chicago’s sanctuary status needs to precent ICE from doing its work.

“It means law enforcement just has to stay out of the way,” Sposato said.

President-elect Donald Trump announced Monday that he has asked attorney Mark Paoletta to be general counsel of the Office of Management and Budget.

Paoletta, a prominent Washington lawyer, served as legal counsel to former Vice President Mike Pence and later to the Office of Management and Budget in the first Trump administration. In the new administration, he will work with the cost-cutting “Department of Government Efficiency,” led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the president-elect said.

“Mark will work closely with our DOGE team to cut the size of our bloated Government bureaucracy, and root out wasteful and anti-American spending,” Trump said in a statement. “Mark is a brilliant and tenacious lawyer, who worked tirelessly to advance my Agenda in the First Term.”

Paoletta is a close friend of Justice Clarence Thomas and called Thomas “our greatest living American.” He also wrote a book on Thomas. Paoletta represented Thomas’ wife, Virginia “Ginny” Thomas, before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Paoletta is also helping Trump’s transition team with proposed Justice Department policies. He’s been an outspoken critic of the Justice Department, which he called the “most partisan and weaponized agency in history” in a social media post in October.

Donald Trump is throwing his support behind KC Crosbie to succeed his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, as co-chair of the Republican National Committee.

Trump gave Crosbie, the RNC’s current treasurer and Kentucky’s national committeewoman, his “Complete and Total Endorsement” in a post on Truth Social.

“As Treasurer, she helped the RNC smash every fundraising record in History, and fortified our Party’s financial foundation. KC has been with me from the very beginning, helping REAL Republicans get elected across the Country, and would be a tremendous Co-Chair of the RNC,” Trump wrote.

Trump’s support for Crosbie comes less than 24 hours after his daughter in law said she was stepping down from her post amid speculation she could replace Florida Sen. Marco Rubio if he is confirmed as secretary of State.

RNC Chair Michael Whatley has already agreed to Trump’s request to remain in the role. It would be difficult for anyone to clinch the co-chair role without Trump’s support.

A rare voice for conservative policies in deep blue California has been invited to join the new Trump administration.

President-elect Donald Trump said Monday that he will nominate Harmeet K. Dhillon, the former vice chair of the California GOP, to be the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Department of Justice.

Dhillon, who represented California on the Republican National Committee, would have a prominent role in enforcing voting rights if her nomination is confirmed by the Senate.

“Throughout her career, Harmeet has stood up consistently to protect our cherished Civil Liberties, including taking on Big Tech for censoring our Free Speech, representing Christians who were prevented from praying together during COVID, and suing corporations who use woke policies to discriminate against their workers,” Trump said in a statement.

Dhillon, a practicing Sikh who was born in India, delivered a Sikh prayer onstage in the 2016 and 2024 Republican National Conventions.

Dhillon founded a law practice, Dillon Law Group Inc., and a nonprofit firm called the Center for American Liberty. She gained notoriety filing free speech-suits on behalf of conservative clients, including the Berkeley College Republicans and a Google engineer who was fired for his memo blasting the company’s diversity policies. She led multiple lawsuits against the state of California in 2020, challenging Covid-19 policies like stay at home orders and mail-in ballots.