The White House News

One of Donald Trump Jr.’s allies and business partners has reportedly been offered a key position in his father’s second term in the White House.

Sergio Gor is expected to lead the Presidential Personnel Office and will be tasked with aiding President-elect Donald Trump in recruiting, vetting and nominating thousands of political appointees across the federal government, according to a report. 

“Awesome news. Sergio will be great!” Trump Jr. posted on the social media platform X in response to the news, first reported by Semafor. 

As president and co-founder of Trump Jr.’s publishing company, Gor is part of President-elect Trump’s latest efforts in assembling a second administration full of allies, loyalists and other supporters.

TRUMP’S PICKS SO FAR: HERE’S WHO WILL BE ADVISING THE NEW PRESIDENT

Trump has previously said that the biggest mistake of his first presidency was picking disloyal people to join his administration.

“The biggest mistake I made was I picked some people – I picked some great people, you know, but you don’t think about that. I picked some people that I shouldn’t have picked,” Trump said last month on the “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.

TRUMP’S SPEEDY CABINET PICKS SHOW HIS ‘PRIORITY TO PUT AMERICA FIRST,’ TRANSITION TEAM SAYS

“I picked a few people that I shouldn’t have picked,” he said.

Not only did Gor help publish books by the former and future president, he also left his position as a longtime aide to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., to join the finance committee for Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign. 

In 2021, Gor also officiated a wedding in California for Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., another Trump ally who Trump recently tapped to be his nominee for attorney general.

Gaetz has since resigned from the House of Representatives after his selection for the Department of Justice, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced.

Gor is among the latest in a string of announced picks for Trump’s new administration. The president-elect has also picked, among others, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., for national security adviser and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., for secretary of state. 

Tesla CEO and billionaire endorser Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy are expected to lead Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency.

Fox News’ Bonny Chu contributed to this report.

Top Republican senators are telling officials in the Department of Justice to ensure that all records concerning the investigation into President-elect Donald Trump by Special Counsel Jack Smith are preserved ahead of the new administration. 

“[C]onsidering the Justice Department’s past destruction of federal records relevant to congressional oversight and political bias infecting its decision-making process, we request that you preserve all records related to the Justice Department’s criminal investigations of former President Trump by Special Counsel Smith,” wrote Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., in a letter to Smith, Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray. 

THUNE SAYS TRUMP’S BORDER PLAN IS 1ST UP IN RIGOROUS PRIORITY LIST FOR NEW CONGRESS: ‘REAL WORK BEGINS’

“The improper conduct of the past cannot be repeated in this matter; therefore, all records must be preserved so that Congress can perform an objective and independent review.”

Smith led federal investigations into Trump’s possession of classified documents and federal election interference before introducing charges. 

After Trump decisively won the presidential election last week against Vice President Kamala Harris, Smith filed a motion to vacate all deadlines in the 2020 election interference case against Trump, which was widely expected . 

MATT GAETZ FACES GOP SENATE OPPOSITION AFTER TRUMP SELECTION FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL

The case has not yet been officially dropped, but Smith claimed his team plans to give an updated report on its official status on Dec. 2. 

Smith also filed a motion in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to halt his previous request to appeal the classified documents case after it was dismissed by U.S. Judge Aileen Cannon. 

THUNE WINS SECRET BALLOT TO BECOME NEW SENATE GOP LEADER, SUCCEEDING MCCONNELL

Grassley and Johnson noted in their correspondence that in 2020, released DOJ records revealed that cell phones of multiple people on then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigative team were “wiped” for various reasons during its probe into Trump. 

According to the records at the time, the devices were wiped of information because of forgotten passcodes, irreparable screen damage, loss of the device, intentional deletion or other reasons before they could be reviewed. 

RICK SCOTT KNOCKED OUT OF SENATE LEADER RACE ON FIRST BALLOT AS THUNE AND CORNYN ADVANCE

“In addition, Senator Grassley’s oversight exposed that during the FBI’s investigation of Secretary Clinton’s mishandling of highly classified information, the FBI agreed to destroy any records that were not turned over to the investigatory team and agreed to destroy laptops associated with Secretary Clinton’s staff,” they wrote.

The DOJ did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Big Oil is calling on President-elect Donald Trump to keep the U.S. in the Paris climate agreement after withdrawing from the treaty during his first term.

The Paris Agreement, established at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in 2015, is a legally binding treaty between nearly 195 parties who are committed to international cooperation on climate change.

Trump officially withdrew from the treaty in 2020, but the U.S. was reinstated to the climate agreement in 2021 after President Biden took office.

After winning a second term in the 2024 election, Trump is expected to consider a second withdrawal from the agreement. However, some oil companies have expressed opposition to the idea.

TRUMP TO INSTALL ‘ENERGY CZAR’ TO DISMANTLE BIDEN CLIMATE RULES: REPORT

When Trump first announced plans to withdraw from the climate agreement in 2017, then-CEO of Shell, Ben van Beurden, was opposed to the idea.

“We believe climate change is real,” van Beurden told NPR. “We believe that the world needs to go through an energy transition to prevent a very significant rise in global temperatures. And we need to be part of that solution in making it happen.”

Ahead of his upcoming second term, Trump is facing renewed calls to consider remaining in the international climate agreement.

BIDEN ADMIN SAYS CLIMATE CHANGE POSES NATIONAL SECURITY RISKS, SENDS DELEGATION TO ADDRESS THEM

“I don’t think the stops and starts are the right thing for businesses,” Darren Woods, CEO of oil giant ExxonMobil, recently told the Wall Street Journal. “It is extremely inefficient. It creates a lot of uncertainty.”

Woods also suggested that it’s not good for business “to have the pendulum swing back and forth as administrations change.” 

Asked about whether Trump should consider staying in the agreement, the American Petroleum Institute told Fox News Digital they support the treaty’s ambitions.

“We have long supported the ambitions of the Paris Agreement, including global action to reduce greenhouse emissions and alleviate poverty around the world,” an API spokesperson told Fox. “The U.S. leads the world in producing energy and reducing emissions, and our industry remains focused on accelerating that progress.” 

The Trump campaign confirmed to Politico in June that the president-elect would be in favor of once again removing the U.S. from the agreement if elected to a second term.

Fox News Digital reached out to Chevron, TotalEnergies and BP for comment but did not hear back by press time.

The Ohio state Senate has passed a bill that would prevent schools from allowing students of the opposite sex into restrooms and locker rooms. 

The legislation, which requires Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to sign in order to become law, aims to prevent transgender students from using facilities associated with their gender identities.

Senate Bill 104, the Protect All Students Act, was voted 24-7 Wednesday on a party-line vote. The House version of the bill was passed before the chamber went on summer break in June. 

STEPHEN A. SMITH SAYS ‘WE ARE SICK’ OF ‘TRANSGENDER ISSUES AND CULTURE WARS’ AFTER TEASING PRESIDENTIAL BID

DeWine has 10 days to sign the bill into law or veto it. The governor has said he’s inclined to sign the bill, but will conduct a legal review first, the Associated Press reports.

The bill applies to public K-12 schools and institutions of higher education. It requires schools to designate separate bathrooms, locker rooms and overnight accommodations “for the exclusive use” of either males and females, based on one’s gender assigned at or near birth, in both school buildings and facilities used for a school-sponsored event.

The passage of the bill was welcomed by Republicans, including state Sen. Jerry Cirino, who said the bill “is about safety and security,” while the ACLU of Ohio condemned it as a violation of the right of privacy of LGBTQ+ Ohioans that will make them less safe.

“We are incredibly disheartened by the Ohio General Assembly’s continuous attacks against transgender and gender non-conforming individuals across Ohio,” Jocelyn Rosnick, policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio said in a statement. 

INSIDE SAN JOSE STATE’S POLICE BATTLE TO PROTECT WOMEN’S ATHLETES THREATENED BY A TRANSGENDER CULTURE WAR

“Senate Bill 104 is a cruel invasion of students’ rights to privacy, which could result in unwarranted governmental disclosures of private, personal information.”

The group called on DeWine to veto the bill and said it is “closely considering next steps. 

The Center for Christian Virtue, a lobbying organization focused upon implementing conservative Christian sexual morality, commended legislators for passing the bill and called on DeWine to sign it. 

“Today is a huge victory for children and families in Ohio,” CCV Policy Director David Mahan said in a statement, adding that it will guarantee the only people entering young ladies’ private spaces are female, “not men claiming to be female.”

Cirino, who introduced S.B. 104, which revises the state’s college credits program, says the legislation was about common sense.

“It protects our children and grandchildren in private spaces where they are most vulnerable,” Cirino said, per the Ohio Capital Journal. “It is us using our legislative authority to ensure schools are, in fact, safe environments. After all, bathrooms, showers, changing rooms should all be safe places for our students.”

Various battles regarding the issue of transgender people using bathrooms that align with their gender as well as participating in female sports are playing out across the nation. President-elect Trump has repeatedly vowed to keep men out of women’s sports.

At least 11 states have adopted laws barring transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s bathrooms in public schools and, in some cases, other government facilities.

The laws are in effect in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah. A judge’s order putting enforcement on hold is in place in Idaho.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

A Texas man is in FBI custody on Thursday after authorities say he attempted to support ISIS and planned a terrorist attack on American soil – all from his apartment in Houston.

Authorities said 28-year-old Anas Said was searching for ways to commit violent acts on behalf of the Islamic State in the Houston area. He has been charged with attempting to provide material support to the terrorist group.

Said was arrested last week at the apartment complex where he lived, according to FBI Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams. 

Williams said that while in custody, Said admitted to researching how to conduct an attack on local military recruiting centers, offering his home as sanctuary for ISIS operatives, bragging that he would commit a “9/11-style” attack if he had the resources and attempting to produce ISIS propaganda.

“We stopped a potential terrorist attack from happening right here in Houston! Any day we can publicly say that is a good day,” FBI Houston said. 

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.