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royale-777 Best Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training in Kerala: A Journey Towards Nurturing Life 11-21-2024 10:22 PM CET | Health & Medicine Press release from: Yogakulam Academy International Best Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training in Kerala with Yogakulam Academy Kerala, the heart of India's yoga and Ayurveda traditions, is the perfect setting for immersing yourself in the transformative practice of prenatal yoga. Among the myriad of yoga schools in Kerala, Yogakulam Academy stands out for its exceptional prenatal yoga teacher training program. Known for its holistic approach, expert guidance, and serene environment, Yogakulam Academy offers a life-changing experience for aspiring prenatal yoga instructors. Why Choose Yogakulam Academy for Prenatal Yoga Training? Yogakulam Academy is renowned for its dedication to traditional yoga practices, combined with modern methodologies to address contemporary needs. Here's why it's a top choice for prenatal yoga teacher training in Kerala: Experienced Faculty The academy boasts a team of experienced and certified instructors specializing in prenatal yoga. They bring a deep understanding of anatomy, physiology, and the emotional aspects of pregnancy to the program. Holistic Curriculum Yogakulam's curriculum is designed to provide comprehensive knowledge, blending yoga techniques with Ayurvedic principles and mindfulness practices. This ensures participants gain a complete understanding of supporting expectant mothers. Idyllic Setting Located in a tranquil part of Kerala, the academy provides a serene backdrop of lush greenery and calming surroundings. This environment fosters introspection and relaxation, enhancing the learning experience. Yoga Alliance Certification Yogakulam's prenatal yoga teacher training program is Yoga Alliance-certified, making its certification globally recognized and ensuring students can teach anywhere in the world. Highlights of Yogakulam's Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training The prenatal yoga teacher training at Yogakulam Academy is a thoughtfully designed program that equips participants with the skills to guide expectant mothers through their pregnancy journey. Key features include: Trimester-Specific Practices Learn safe and effective yoga postures tailored to the needs of each trimester. Explore modifications to support varying physical and emotional conditions. Anatomy and Physiology of Pregnancy Gain in-depth knowledge of how the body changes during pregnancy and how yoga can complement these changes. Understand the role of the pelvic floor and core strength during childbirth. Breathwork and Meditation Incorporate pranayama techniques to help mothers manage stress, improve oxygen flow, and enhance relaxation. Practice mindfulness and meditation techniques that promote emotional balance. Labor Preparation and Postnatal Recovery Explore yoga techniques for easing labor and delivery. Learn postnatal yoga practices that aid recovery and strengthen the bond between mother and baby. Ayurvedic Wisdom Understand Ayurvedic dietary and lifestyle recommendations for pregnancy. Discover Ayurvedic therapies to support holistic well-being during pregnancy. Practical Teaching Skills Gain hands-on experience in planning and leading prenatal yoga classes. Learn how to create a supportive and nurturing environment for expectant mothers. Program Details * Duration: 2-4 weeks (100-hour and 200-hour options available). * Location: Yogakulam Academy, set amidst the serene landscapes of Kerala. * Eligibility: Open to yoga practitioners, certified yoga instructors, and healthcare professionals with a passion for supporting pregnant women. What Sets Yogakulam Apart? Personalized Attention The academy limits class sizes to ensure individualized attention and personalized feedback for every participant. Integration of Ayurveda and Yoga Yogakulam uniquely blends Ayurveda with yoga, offering students a holistic approach to prenatal care that extends beyond physical postures. Community of Like-Minded Practitioners Being part of Yogakulam means joining a supportive community of yoga enthusiasts and experts dedicated to holistic wellness. Practical Experience Trainees have the opportunity to observe and assist in real prenatal yoga classes, providing valuable practical experience. Benefits of Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training with Yogakulam Empower Mothers: Help women navigate pregnancy with confidence and grace through yoga. Global Opportunities: Use your Yoga Alliance certification to teach prenatal yoga anywhere in the world. Deepen Your Practice: Expand your yoga knowledge while cultivating empathy and mindfulness. Holistic Growth: Grow personally and professionally in an environment that emphasizes physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Student Testimonials "Yogakulam Academy's prenatal yoga training was transformative. The knowledge of the instructors, combined with the serene environment, made learning truly enriching. I now feel confident to guide expectant mothers with care and expertise." - Sarah, USA "The integration of Ayurveda into the prenatal program was eye-opening. I left with tools not only to teach but also to support women holistically during pregnancy." - Priya, India Conclusion Yogakulam Academy's prenatal yoga teacher training in Kerala is more than just a course; it's a journey of self-discovery and empowerment. With its comprehensive curriculum, expert instructors, and serene environment, Yogakulam equips participants with the skills and confidence to support women through one of the most profound experiences of their lives. Whether you're a yoga instructor looking to specialize or someone passionate about helping mothers, Yogakulam Academy is the perfect place to begin your journey. Experience the transformative power of prenatal yoga in the heart of Kerala, and emerge as a certified prenatal yoga teacher ready to make a meaningful impact. About Yogakulam Academy: Yogakulam Academy is dedicated to promoting wellness and mindfulness through yoga, meditation, and holistic practices. With a mission to inspire and empower individuals of all ages, we strive to create supportive and inclusive environments where personal growth and transformation flourish. For more information about the Yoga Teacher Training and to register for the upcoming webinar, Please visit https://www.yogakulam.com or contact Raghu Shankar at 07829210166. For media inquiries, please contact: Call: +917829210166 Email: info@yogakulamacademy.com Visit: https://www.yogakulamacademy.com/ WhatsApp: https://wa.me/7829210166 Follow Us on Social: Yogakulam Academy: Twitter: https://twitter.com/KulamYoga/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yogakulamacademy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yogakulam_academy/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@yogakulamacademy Yogakulam Academy International: Pinterest: https://in.pinterest.com/yogakulamacademyintl/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/yogakulam-academy-in .. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yogakulamacademyintl/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yogakulamacademyintl/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@YogakulamAcademyInternational Vk.com: https://vk.com/yogakulamacademy Tripaneer.com: Bookyogateachertraining.com: https://www.bookyogateachertraining.com/yogakulam-aca .. Bookyogaretreats.com: https://www.bookyogaretreats.com/yogakulam-academy Yoga Alliance: https://www.yogaalliance.org/SchoolPublicProfile?sid= .. #195, 3rd Main, 10th Cross, CBI Road, Ganganagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, 560032 Yogakulam Academy is a Registered Yoga School with Yoga Alliance (RYS200). After successful completion of the course, we will award you the 200- hour Yoga Teacher Training Certificate (RYT200) accredited by Yoga Alliance, USA. This certificate is recognized internationally by Yoga Alliance and International Yoga Federation. This means that you will have the rights to teach yoga anywhere on the globe. The course is also certified by the Indian Yoga Alliance for 200 hours Yoga Teacher Training Program. This release was published on openPR.‘We can make it if we try’

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A top Romanian court on Friday annulled the first round of the country's presidential election, days after allegations emerged that Russia ran a coordinated online campaign to promote the far-right outsider who won the first round. The Constitutional Court’s unprecedented decision — which is final — came after President Klaus Iohannis declassified intelligence on Wednesday that alleged Russia organized thousands of social media accounts to promote Calin Georgescu across platforms such as TikTok and Telegram. The court, without naming Georgescu, said that one of the 13 candidates in the Nov. 24 first round had improperly received “preferential treatment” on social media, distorting the outcome of the vote. Georgescu denounced the verdict as an “officialized coup” and an attack on democracy, as did the second-place finisher, reformist Elena Lasconi of the center-right Save Romania Union party. Despite being an outsider who declared zero campaign spending, Georgescu emerged as the frontrunner who was to face Lasconi in a runoff on Sunday. Some 951 voting stations had already opened abroad on Friday for the runoff for Romania’s large diaspora, but had to be halted. Iohannis said he would remain in office until a new presidential election could be rerun from scratch. On Dec. 1, one week after the first round of the presidential race, Romania also held a parliamentary election , which saw pro-Western parties win the most votes but also gains for far-right nationalists. Iohannis said that once the new government is formed, the date of the new presidential vote would be set. On Wednesday the president had released intelligence files from the Romanian Intelligence Service, the Foreign Intelligence Service, the Special Telecommunication Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In a televised statement Friday, Iohannis said he was “deeply concerned” by the contents of the intelligence reports. “Intelligence reports revealed that this candidate’s campaign was supported by a foreign state with interests contrary to Romania’s. These are serious issues," he said. The Constitutional Court in its published decision cited the illegal use of digital technologies including artificial intelligence, as well as the use of “undeclared sources of funding.” It said one candidate received “preferential treatment on social media platforms, which resulted in the distortion of voters’ expressed will." Georgescu slammed the verdict as putting “democracy is under attack.” “I have only one pact ... with the Romanian people and God,” he said in a video statement. “We are no longer talking about fairness but rather about a mockery that betrays the principles of democracy ... It is time to show that we are a courageous people who know that the destiny and rights of the Romanian nation are in our hands.” Lasconi also strongly condemned the court's decision, saying it was “illegal, immoral, and crushes the very essence of democracy" and that the second round should have gone forward. “Whether we like it or not, from a legal and legitimate standpoint, 9 million Romanian citizens, both in the country and the diaspora, expressed their preference for a particular candidate through their votes," she said. “I know I would have won. And I will win because the Romanian people know I will fight for them, that I will unite them for a better Romania,” she added. Some 9.4 million people — about 52.5% of eligible voters — had cast ballots in the first round in this European Union and NATO member country. The president serves a five-year term and has significant decision-making powers in national security, foreign policy and judicial appointments. Most surveys had predicted the top candidate would be Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu of the ruling center-left Social Democrats. They indicated that second place would be claimed by either Lasconi or the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, George Simion. As the surprising results came in with Georgescu on top, and Lasconi narrowly beating Ciolacu, it plunged the political establishment into turmoil. The same court last week ordered a recount of the first-round votes, which added to the myriad controversies that have engulfed a chaotic election cycle. Following a recount, the court then validated the first-round results on Monday. Many observers have expressed concerns that annulling the vote could trigger civil unrest. The court said Friday that its decision was meant “to restore citizens’ trust in the democratic legitimacy of public authorities, in the legality and fairness of elections.” Simion, of the far-right party, said the development was a “coup d’état in full swing” but urged people not to take to the streets. “We don’t let ourselves be provoked, this system has to fall democratically,” he said. Cristian Andrei, a political consultant based in Bucharest, said the court's decision amounts to a “crisis mode situation for Romanian democracy.” “In light of the information about the external interference, the massive interference in elections, I think this was not normal but predictable, because it’s not normal times at all, Romania is an uncharted territory,” he told The Associated Press. “The problem is here, do we have the institutions to manage such an interference in the future?” Georgescu’s surprising success left many political observers wondering how most local surveys were so far off, putting him behind at least five other candidates before the vote. Many observers attributed his success to his TikTok account, which now has 6 million likes and 541,000 followers. But some experts suspected Georgescu’s online following was artificially inflated while Romania’s top security body alleged he was given preferential treatment by TikTok over other candidates. In the intelligence release, the secret services alleged that one TikTok user paid more $381,000 (361,000 euros) to other users to promote Georgescu content. Intelligence authorities said information they obtained “revealed an aggressive promotion campaign” to increase and accelerate his popularity. Georgescu, when asked by the AP in an interview Wednesday whether he believes the Chinese-owned TikTok poses a threat to democracy, defended social media platforms. “The most important existing function for promoting free speech and freedom of expression is social media,” he said.Arcus Biosciences Announces New Employment Inducement GrantsPolice say suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing wasn't a client of the insurerJack Fitzpatrick knew something was up when he got a call from his 75-year-old mother asking him if he was in jail. His mother, who had recently purchased a flip phone after years of aversion to technology, told him that she’d received a call from someone claiming to be him; they sounded just like him and even referred to her using the nickname that Fitzpatrick has been calling her since he was a kid. She was told by the caller that she needed to send him $6,000 via FedEx immediately to pay for a lawyer to bail him out. She needed to send the money to Quebec, which was especially curious seeing as she lives in a small town in northern New Brunswick and her son lives just outside Halifax. Fitzpatrick knew right away that it was a scam, but the detail with which it was executed took him aback. “I’d like to think I’m pretty security-aware, but again, they had my voice and they had my mom’s name,” Fitzpatrick, 39, says, now a few months removed from the experience. Though he was able to stop her from sending anything to anyone, the fact that she could be targeted so specifically and convincingly was alarming. Falling for scams has never been easier. In 2022, Canadians lost more than $58 million to spear phishing scams, which are a form of scam that target individuals with specific names, events or pieces of information, according to — in other words, highly personalized cyberattacks that can come via text message, email or by phone. In 2023 alone, Canadians lost a staggering $567 million to fraud — an increase of $37 million from 2022 and $187 million since 2021. Ali Dehghantanha, a professor of cybersecurity and threat intelligence at the University of Guelph and the founding director of the Cyber Science Lab, says even seasoned tech professionals fall for generative AI-driven email scams and fake links. With AI-assisted scams increasingly prevalent online, the days of being able to easily recognize scam emails by finding obvious typos and poor formatting are all but over. Still, there are ways to keep things locked down as the busy holiday shopping season ramps up. Experts say that using two-factor authentication, taking a moment to verify the legitimacy of transactions, and using “safe” words to distinguish between family members and fraudsters can keep your data safe from malicious online actors this holiday season. Ivo Wiens, field chief technology officer of cybersecurity at CDW Canada, advises using two-factor authentication whenever possible as an extra layer of security when banking and shopping online. Two-factor authentication — sometimes stylized as “2FA” — can be set up within banking and finance apps or through external apps like Google Authenticator or Duo; it prompts you for a one-time verification code to make sure it’s really you trying to log in to your account. “It’s like having a lock and an alarm system on your house,” Wiens says. “Think of that (as) the equivalent for your digital accounts.” It may be annoying — and slow down the snappy pace you’re used to when shopping — but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, especially when it comes to making financial transactions online. If you can’t get two-factor authentication enabled on banks and other accounts, Dehghantanha recommends any form of SMS or text message alerts to make sure that you catch any fraudulent charges or entries the moment they come across your account’s dashboard. At the very least, it’ll help develop a habit of checking (and rechecking) all transactions. “If your bank is not offering that, at least enable notifications — whether it’s SMS or app notifications — from your bank for every single purchase,” Dehghantanha adds, which can be done through the notifications settings in various banking and finance apps. Perhaps less obviously, Wiens recommends having a “safe” word to use with family to quickly determine whether you’re actually speaking with a member of your family. AI-driven impostor scams like the one that targeted Fitzpatrick’s mother are becoming increasingly common, he says, and having quick and clear checks that can help identify fake voices, doctored video and look-alike profiles can be a game-changer. “This helps spot the scammers pretending to be family members,” Wiens says. “Having that word that you share as a family, the family secret word that you can call out for when this is happening.” Making sure you’re speaking to a real family member is even more important amid a rise in identity theft. As a result, it may be worth it to invest in identity monitoring — services that scan the web to check if your personal information appears in a data breach — or fraud insurance, Equifax Canada chief information security officer Octavia Howell says, just in case. “Fraud and identity insurance is out there to help people get back on their feet,” Howell advises. “Because we know that when your identify is stolen or when you’re defrauded for anything, it’s very difficult for you to do it on your own.” Experts say some digital scams can be avoided simply by recognizing them. Though there may be a temptation to blaze through online transactions, shipping confirmations and coupon codes, taking even a few seconds to double-check transactions, verify the legitimacy of offers and closely examine URLs for things like typos in names can save you a headache down the line. Professionally made, convincing-looking, fake online stores are more common (and effective) than you might think; blocked 9.9 million attempts by users to access fake shops in September and 13.4 million such attempts in October, with more fake pop-ups expected ahead of Black Friday and Christmas. So if a deal in an email or pop-up ad looks too good to be true, it usually is, says Wiens. “It’s like getting a counterfeit bill nowadays, that even bank tellers have trouble spotting,” Wiens says. “That’s why it’s crucial to slow down and verify.” Back in Nova Scotia, Fitzpatrick advises getting a second opinion to give yourself time to critically examine the situation, in line with the “slow down and verify” approach. “If you have something like that — that doesn’t make much sense — and you can’t get a hold of the person, tell the story to somebody else,” Fitzpatrick says. “Someone who’s emotionally removed.”

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Major League Soccer will conclude its 29th season on Saturday, when the LA Galaxy and New York Red Bulls face off in MLS Cup, the league’s championship match. Ahead of Saturday’s final, MLS commissioner Don Garber gave his annual “state of the league” address, touting the growth of the league at home and abroad. In a subsequent Q&A with the assembled media, Garber, who has headed MLS since his appointment in 1999, addressed a wide range of topics, even breaking a bit of news in the process. Advertisement Here, then, are the highlights from Garber’s remarks. Quotes have been lightly edited for length and clarity. MLS schedule change Garber broke a bit of news during the Q&A portion, confirming that MLS will “not be playing during the 2026 World Cup.” MLS will also take off “for a portion” of the 2025 Club World Cup, clarifying that it would be a “specific break, not a full one.” Garber said the league is still finalizing details for its break for the Club World Cup, which will be played in the U.S. next summer from June 15 to July 13. Any changes would have to be approved by the MLS board of governors, which is set to meet next week. The 2026 World Cup will be co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico and will run from June 11 to July 19, 2026. The 48-team tournament will be hosted jointly by 16 cities across the three countries, with a record 104 games played. MLS paused for the World Cup group stage in 2010, for two weeks in 2014 and for nine days in 2018. Earlier during his state of the league address, Garber confirmed the league is weighing potential schedule changes which could have an impact on what the MLS schedule looks like in 2026. The Athletic previously reported the league was weighing a move to a fall-spring calendar used by many European leagues. “It’s important to point out that the league, in 2004 and 2005, and then again in 2014 and 2015, looked at a schedule change,” Garber said. “I think now we could be the only league, or one of only two leagues in the world that works on our schedule. But it’s complicated. We’re across three time zones, multiple weather factors, we’re traveling across a continent, and making those changes is something we’ve got to be very, very thoughtful about. I do think that we are considering, more than ever before, this opportunity to change, but it’s not something that we’re ready to talk about right now.” Advertisement Club World Cup Garber was at the draw for the Club World Cup, which took place in Miami on Thursday. Two MLS clubs — Inter Miami and the Seattle Sounders — will compete in the tournament, which will be played across the United States next summer. Miami’s draw included Brazilian club Palmeiras, historic Portuguese club Porto and Egyptian club Al Ahly. Seattle landed with some significant global giants, including Paris St-Germain and La Liga powerhouse Atletico Madrid. While clubs like Seattle and Miami are high-spending sides within MLS, their roster values pale in comparison to other clubs, globally. Seattle and Miami’s place in this tournament is surely a rare opportunity for the league to leave a stamp internationally — and to sell itself to a domestic audience that will be able to compare MLS teams against top clubs from around the world. That could backfire, of course, if results go badly. On Friday, Garber was asked whether he feels MLS’ clubs are truly equipped to compete on a global stage. His answer felt grounded in reality and did not do a ton to inspire confidence. “I was at the draw yesterday,” said Garber, “and I saw something in the news today about transfer market values of each club (in the tournament) and clearly, MLS teams are at the lower quadrant of transfer market value. And that’s something, over time, that I hope will continue to grow as our teams are investing more in players and hopefully generating more revenue to justify that expense. “We’re working on ways that we can provide each team with some opportunity to be more competitive,” added Garber. “Talk about that a bit at our next board meeting, which is next Thursday. So stay tuned on that factor.” Garber also alluded to potential changes the league could make in terms of roster construction and spending but stopped short of giving any specifics. “There’s discussions going on (about that),” Garber told reporters, “But I wouldn’t put it in the category of significant. MLS is constantly, every year, looking at ways that we could incentivize our teams to use their resources better, to be very, very productive and efficient. We’re in the middle of a collective bargaining agreement with the (Major League Soccer Players Association) and we’ve got a great relationship with them, but I don’t anticipate anything significant happening in the next couple of years.” Advertisement What is the right metric for Apple and audience comparisons to linear? On a media tour ahead of MLS Cup over the last few days, Garber has continued to express optimism around the league’s media deal with Apple. The commissioner has also been more open about his desire to share numbers that might give the public a better idea of how the partnership is going, but said that the industry is still figuring out how to gauge streaming numbers. At some point, Garber said, “we and Apple and the rest of the streaming world” will determine a measurement that will “become the norm.” “This is a new world for all of us,” Garber said. “We have decades and generations of Nielsen ratings, of traditional measurements of how people consume sports. There’s a couple of people have a box in their house, and those people have that box turned on, and that’s the way we measure traditional, linear viewership. As we get into a world of streaming, the entire industry has got to figure out a new metric. Is that metric, average minute audience? Is it unique viewers? How could we figure out the right way to compare the audiences that we’ve had in the past to the audiences that we have now? GO DEEPER MLS took a risk with the timing of its Apple TV partnership. Did they get it right? “How important is subscriptions to viewership? To us, subscriptions are very important. Somebody’s paying for the opportunity to watch a game, so when they do watch it, it is intentional. That’s leading to this 65-minute time that people are spending on our games. But we are very pleased with the viewership numbers.” Garber speculated whether the league should be measuring audience on a per-game basis, as they did when they had games on ESPN, or whether they should measure nightly audience across games on their streaming app. “We have over a million viewers watching those games on a Saturday night, the collective viewership of those games; we’re proud of that,” Garber said. “That’s way more than we’ve ever had for a regular season match. We’re having more than than that watch our playoff games. ... At some point soon, we’re all going to have a measurement that the industry is going to accept, and we’ll be the first ones to be happy to talk about it.” What is MLS doing to grow the fanbase? If MLS wants its viewership numbers on Apple TV to grow, it needs to find ways to reach new audience, a challenge that is even more difficult when the majority of the product is behind a paywall. The league has said it wants to double its fanbase in coming years, though it hasn’t been specific as to what metric it is using toward that goal. Garber said the league has been studying how it can reach new fans. Advertisement “What does it mean now that we have a direct relationship with a consumer? How could we lean in better to data? How do we have a more structured infrastructure, and investment in that infrastructure for our teams and for our league to be a funnel to collect information about fans and talk to them about what matters to them, so that we can convert them from being a soccer fan to being an MLS fan,” Garber said. “How could we work with Apple to have more content and other partners like Bleacher Report and OneFootball to have more content that would promote and tell the story about our players, similar to what we’re doing with (production company) Box to Box (Films). “And then we’ve got to look at our competitive format. Should that change? Should it stay the same? What are we going to do with our calendar? When could those changes be made? Do we have the same conference set up?... I don’t have an answer to it, but we’re looking at it. Now that we’ll have 30 teams, do we have the same playoff format? Maybe. Maybe we don’t. But all those things will go into a pathway to grow our fan base and make our league more competitive.” On Bruce Arena Garber was asked about San Jose Earthquakes head coach Bruce Arena, who joined the club in November. Arena, the winningest coach in MLS history, was forced to resign from his most recent MLS job at the New England Revolution after a league investigation found he’d made “insensitive and inappropriate remarks.” The nature of those remarks has never been publicized. Arena landed in San Jose after completing a league-mandated reinstatement protocol, the specifics of which have never been shared. Arena himself has never specifically addressed the incident in any real detail but expressed remorse for his actions in the aftermath of the investigation. Garber was asked whether the league could shed any light on any of it. “I appreciate the question, but it’s not something that I’m going to talk about,” said Garber. “Obviously Bruce would not have been approved to coach in Major League Soccer if he didn’t satisfy whatever standards and things that we wanted him to satisfy. Much more than that, I’m not going to comment.” Open Cup/Leagues Cup chatter The Leagues Cup, MLS and Liga MX’s joint venture that includes every team in both leagues, suffered a bit of a letdown in year two, failing to recapture the Messi-inspired magic of the tournament’s inaugural edition in 2023. Some of those issues stemmed from the format of the tournament itself, which led to a bevy of matches played between MLS sides, sort of defeating the competition’s stated purpose of pitting one league’s clubs against the others. The tournament, played in the middle of the MLS season, felt more like a burden for some MLS clubs. Advertisement Changes could be afoot — ESPN and others have reported that MLS may limit which clubs participate, choosing to send some to the U.S. Open Cup instead. MLS has in recent years also revised its approach to that tournament, the oldest competition in American soccer. On Friday, Garber addressed both tournaments, saying that the league would like teams to play in at least one tournament each season, and for some clubs to participate in multiple competitions. “We will participate in the US Open Cup again next year,” Garber said, “We will likely have more teams (than 2024) ... but it is going to be nearly impossible for all teams to be able to participate in all tournaments, it’s just not enough games during the schedule, with or without any change in the calendar.” Of the changes to Leagues Cup, Garber didn’t provide specifics but seemed to hint that it would be geared toward more rivalry play between the MLS and Liga MX sides. “We need more MLS versus Liga MX matches,” Garber said. “That was really the point of the Leagues Cup in the in the beginning. ... We’ve been trying to figure out a way to get this right. I think we really got it right with the Leagues Cup. It worked super well in the first year. That was not just about Messi, it was just the way the tournament laid out. And we’re looking at modifications that will, I think, make it more focused on what it is that we’re trying to achieve, which is this great rivalry between our two leagues.” (Top photo: Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)Vikings withstand Bears' furious rally, win on field goal in OT

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump offered a public show of support Friday for Pete Hegseth, his choice to lead the Defense Department, whose confirmation by the Senate is in doubt as he faces questions over allegations of excessive drinking, sexual assault and his views on women in combat roles. Hegseth, a former Fox News host, Army National Guard major and combat veteran, spent much of the week on Capitol Hill trying to salvage his Cabinet nomination and privately reassure Republican senators that he is fit to lead Trump's Pentagon. "Pete Hegseth is doing very well," Trump posted on his social media site. "He will be a fantastic, high energy, Secretary of Defense." The president added that "Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!!" The nomination battle is emerging not only as a debate about the best person to lead the Pentagon, but an inflection point for a MAGA movement that appears to be relishing a public fight over its hard-line push for a more masculine military and an end to the "woke-ism" of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be defense secretary, responds to reporters during a meeting with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Military leaders are rattled by a list of “woke” senior officers that a conservative group urged Hegseth to dismiss for promoting diversity in the ranks if he is confirmed to lead the Pentagon. The list compiled by the American Accountability Foundation includes 20 general officers or senior admirals and a disproportionate number of female officers. It has had a chilling effect on the Pentagon’s often frank discussions as leaders try to figure out how to address the potential firings and diversity issues under Trump. Those on the list in many cases seem to be targeted for public comments they made either in interviews or at events on diversity, and in some cases for retweeting posts that promote diversity. Tom Jones, a former aide to Republican senators who leads the foundation, said Friday those on the list are “pretty egregious” advocates for diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, policies, which he called problematic. “The nominee has been pretty clear that that has no place in the military,” Jones said of Hegseth. Hegseth embraced Trump’s effort to end programs that promote diversity in the ranks and fire those who reflect those values. Other Trump picks, like Kash Patel for FBI director, have suggested targeting those in government who are not aligned with Trump. Trump's allies forcefully rallied around Hegseth — the Heritage Foundation's political arm promised to spend $1 million to shore up his nomination — as he vows to stay in the fight, as long as the president-elect wants him to. Vice President-elect JD Vance offers a public show of support for Pete Hegseth, the embattled choice to lead the Defense Department. "We're not abandoning this nomination," Vance told reporters during a tour of western North Carolina. "We're not abandoning this nomination," Vice-President-elect JD Vance said as he toured post-hurricane North Carolina. He said he spoke with GOP senators and believes Hegseth will be confirmed. The effort became a test of Trump's clout and of how far loyalty for the president-elect goes with Republican senators who have concerns about his nominees. Two of Trump's other choices stepped aside as they faced intense scrutiny: former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., his first choice for attorney general, and Chad Chronister, a Florida sheriff who was Trump's first choice to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration. Thanking the president-elect for the support, Hegseth posted on social media, "Like you, we will never back down." Hegseth faces resistance from senators as reports emerged about his past, including the revelation that he made a settlement payment after being accused of a sexual assault that he denies. He promised not to drink on the job and told lawmakers he never engaged in sexual misconduct, even as his professional views on female troops came under intensifying scrutiny. He said as recently as last month that women "straight up" should not serve in combat. He picked up one important endorsement from Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, whose support was seen as a potentially powerful counterweight to the cooler reception Hegseth received from Sen. Joni Ernst, a former Army National Guard lieutenant colonel. Ernst, who is also a sexual assault survivor, stopped short of an endorsement after meeting with Hegseth this week. On Friday, Ernst posted on X that she would meet with him again next week. “At a minimum, we agree that he deserves the opportunity to lay out his vision for our warfighters at a fair hearing,” she wrote. On Friday, Trump put out the statement in response to coverage saying he lost faith in Hegseth, according to a person familiar with his thinking who was not authorized to discuss it publicly. The president-elect and his team were pleased to see Hegseth putting up a fight and his performance this week reiterates why he was chosen, the person said. They believe he can still be confirmed. Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be defense secretary, left, joined by his wife Jennifer Rauchet, attends a meeting with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) If Hegseth goes down, Trump's team believes the defeat would empower others to spread what they cast as "vicious lies" against every candidate Trump chooses. Still, Trump's transition team is looking at potential replacements, including former presidential rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis plans to attend the Dec. 14 Army-Navy football game with Trump, according to a person familiar with the Florida governor's plans who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. DeSantis and Trump spoke about the defense secretary post Tuesday at a memorial service for sheriff deputies in West Palm Beach, Fla., according to people familiar with the matter who said Trump was interested in DeSantis for the post, and the governor was receptive. DeSantis is poised to select a replacement for the expected Senate vacancy to be created by Marco Rubio becoming secretary of state, and Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump is seen as the preferred choice by those in Trump's orbit. Among President-elect Donald Trump's picks are Susie Wiles for chief of staff, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, former Democratic House member Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Susie Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making a former sharp critic his choice to be the new administration's top diplomat. Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement. The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations. Pete Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea. Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year. Trump tapped Pam Bondi, 59, to be attorney general after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. She was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She also was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist, she served as part of a Trump-allied outside group that helped lay the groundwork for his future administration called the America First Policy Institute. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appears on Fox News and has been a critic of the criminal cases against him. Trump picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog, to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda. Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic. She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. The governor of North Dakota, who was once little-known outside his state, Burgum is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump, and spent months traveling to drum up support for him, after dropping out of the race. Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump made the announcement about Burgum joining his incoming administration while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club, and said a formal statement would be coming the following day. In comments to reporters before Trump took the stage, Burgum said that, in recent years, the power grid is deteriorating in many parts of the country, which he said could raise national security concerns but also drive up prices enough to increase inflation. “There's just a sense of urgency, and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration,” Burgum said. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran for president as a Democrat, than as an independent, and then endorsed Trump . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign. The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Scott Bessent, 62, is a former George Soros money manager and an advocate for deficit reduction. He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. “This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then. Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her reelection bid this month, but received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, she would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and would add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Scott Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Sean Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term. President-elect Donald Trump tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she expressed support for charter schools and school choice. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Brooke Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as White House domestic policy chief during his first presidency. The 52-year-old is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. She previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Trump chose Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary, a position in which he'd have a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration. The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial. Doug Collins is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who gained recognition for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial, which centered on U.S. assistance for Ukraine. Trump was impeached for urging Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in 2019 during the Democratic presidential nomination, but he was acquitted by the Senate. Collins has also served in the armed forces himself and is currently a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command. "We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need," Trump said in a statement about nominating Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Karoline Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps. Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, was a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term before she became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields. Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement. Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions. Trump has picked John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump's first term, leading the U.S. government's spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.” Kash Patel spent several years as a Justice Department prosecutor before catching the Trump administration’s attention as a staffer on Capitol Hill who helped investigate the Russia probe. Patel called for dramatically reducing the agency’s footprint, a perspective that sets him apart from earlier directors who sought additional resources for the bureau. Though the Justice Department in 2021 halted the practice of secretly seizing reporters’ phone records during leak investigations, Patel said he intends to aggressively hunt down government officials who leak information to reporters. Trump has chosen former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency . Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X , “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.” “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added. During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration's promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referring to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign his administration would “Drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration. In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.” Trump has named Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband. Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC’s general counsel. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission. Carr made past appearances on “Fox News Channel," including when he decried Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' pre-Election Day appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” He wrote an op-ed last month defending a satellite company owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk. Trump said Atkins, the CEO of Patomak Partners and a former SEC commissioner, was a “proven leader for common sense regulations.” In the years since leaving the SEC, Atkins has made the case against too much market regulation. “He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World. He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The commission oversees U.S. securities markets and investments and is currently led by Gary Gensler, who has been leading the U.S. government’s crackdown on the crypto industry. Gensler, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, announced last month that he would be stepping down from his post on the day that Trump is inaugurated — Jan. 20, 2025. Atkins began his career as a lawyer and has a long history working in the financial markets sector, both in government and private practice. In the 1990s, he worked on the staffs of two former SEC chairmen, Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt. Jared Isaacman, 41, is a tech billionaire who bought a series of spaceflights from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and conducted the first private spacewalk . He is the founder and CEO of a card-processing company and has collaborated closely with Musk ever since buying his first chartered SpaceX flight. He took contest winners on that 2021 trip and followed it in September with a mission where he briefly popped out the hatch to test SpaceX’s new spacewalking suits. Rep. Elise Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment. Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He has also called for peace as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to target Hezbollah. President-elect Donald Trump says he's chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO. Trump has expressed skepticism about the Western military alliance for years. Trump said in a statement Wednesday that Whitaker is “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.” The choice of Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual one, given his background is as a lawyer and not in foreign policy. President-elect Donald Trump tapped former Sen. David Perdue of Georgia to be ambassador to China, saying in a social media post that the former CEO “brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China.” Perdue lost his Senate seat to Democrat Jon Ossoff four years ago and ran unsuccessfully in a primary against Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Perdue pushed Trump's debunked lies about electoral fraud during his failed bid for governor. A Republican congressman from Michigan who served from 1993 to 2011, Hoekstra was ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump's first term. “In my Second Term, Pete will help me once again put AMERICA FIRST,” Trump said in a statement announcing his choice. “He did an outstanding job as United States Ambassador to the Netherlands during our first four years, and I am confident that he will continue to represent our Country well in this new role.” Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah. “He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.” Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump on Tuesday named real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be special envoy to the Middle East. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud." Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Trump said Wednesday that he will nominate Gen. Keith Kellogg to serve as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general who has long been Trump’s top adviser on defense issues, served as National Security Advisor to Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence. For the America First Policy Institute, one of several groups formed after Trump left office to help lay the groundwork for the next Republican administration, Kellogg in April wrote that “bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to a close will require strong, America First leadership to deliver a peace deal and immediately end the hostilities between the two warring parties.” (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) Trump asked Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, Trump announced in a statement Tuesday. The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. “Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump's statement said, "and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump's priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump's first administration. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump's policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation's economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security. Thomas Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign. Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump's policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to "run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” Democrats have criticized Homan for his defending Trump's “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Former Rep. Billy Long represented Missouri in the U.S. House from 2011 to 2023. Since leaving Congress, Trump said, Long “has worked as a Business and Tax advisor, helping Small Businesses navigate the complexities of complying with the IRS Rules and Regulations.” Former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler was appointed in January 2020 by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and then lost a runoff election a year later. She started a conservative voter registration organization and dived into GOP fundraising, becoming one of the top individual donors and bundlers to Trump’s 2024 comeback campaign. Even before nominating her for agriculture secretary, the president-elect already had tapped Loeffler as co-chair of his inaugural committee. Dr. Mehmet Oz, 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime television talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz's bid for elected office. Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy speak before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at an Oct. 27 campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. Trump on Tuesday said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency" — which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added the move would shock government systems. It's not clear how the organization will operate. Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election. Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump. Trump said the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Russell Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency. After Trump’s initial term ended, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Vought has also previously worked as the executive and budget director for the Republican Study Committee, a caucus for conservative House Republicans. He also worked at Heritage Action, the political group tied to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Dan Scavino, deputy chief of staff Scavino, whom Trump's transition referred to in a statement as one of “Trump's longest serving and most trusted aides,” was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, as well as his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino had run Trump's social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. James Blair, deputy chief of staff Blair was political director for Trump's 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump's economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate's “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago. Taylor Budowich, deputy chief of staff Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Budowich also had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency. Jay Bhattacharya, National Institutes of Health Trump has chosen Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya is a physician and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, and is a critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates. He promoted the idea of herd immunity during the pandemic, arguing that people at low risk should live normally while building up immunity to COVID-19 through infection. The National Institutes of Health funds medical research through competitive grants to researchers at institutions throughout the nation. NIH also conducts its own research with thousands of scientists working at its labs in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Marty Makary, Food and Drug Administration Makary is a Johns Hopkins surgeon and author who argued against pandemic lockdowns. He routinely appeared on Fox News during the COVID-19 pandemic and wrote opinion articles questioning masks for children. He cast doubt on vaccine mandates but supported vaccines generally. Makary also cast doubt on whether booster shots worked, which was against federal recommendations on the vaccine. Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, Surgeon General Nesheiwat is a general practitioner who serves as medical director for CityMD, a network of urgent care centers in New York and New Jersey. She has been a contributor to Fox News. Dr. Dave Weldon, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Weldon is a former Florida congressman who recently ran for a Florida state legislative seat and lost; Trump backed Weldon’s opponent. In Congress, Weldon weighed in on one of the nation’s most heated debates of the 1990s over quality of life and a right-to-die and whether Terri Schiavo, who was in a persistent vegetative state after cardiac arrest, should have been allowed to have her feeding tube removed. He sided with the parents who did not want it removed. Jamieson Greer, U.S. trade representative Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House National Economic Council Trump is turning to two officials with experience navigating not only Washington but the key issues of income taxes and tariffs as he fills out his economic team. He announced he has chosen international trade attorney Jamieson Greer to be his U.S. trade representative and Kevin Hassett as director of the White House National Economic Council. While Trump has in several cases nominated outsiders to key posts, these picks reflect a recognition that his reputation will likely hinge on restoring the public’s confidence in the economy. Trump said in a statement that Greer was instrumental in his first term in imposing tariffs on China and others and replacing the trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, “therefore making it much better for American Workers.” Hassett, 62, served in the first Trump term as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. He has a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and worked at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute before joining the Trump White House in 2017. Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.Amid political anxiety, providers see uptick in requests for long-acting birth controlVikings withstand Bears' furious rally, win on field goal in OT

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