Warren: Trump expansion talk a distraction from nominees
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) argued President-elect Trump’s continued talk about expanding the United States is a distraction from the Cabinet picks and nominees he’s chosen to staff his second administration, many of whom require Senate confirmation.
Warren joined CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday as Trump continued talk about merging with Canada and acquiring Greenland and the Panama Canal. She said she wanted to respond to the conversation in two ways.
“The first one is the United States respects international law. We respect the boundaries of other countries,” Warren said.
She also highlighted Russian President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine — with the ongoing war nearing the three-year mark — arguing that he also did not respect borders.
“But I want to make a second point, and that is: Why is Donald Trump doing this?” Warren said in the interview, highlighted by Mediaite.
“And I think the answer is, let’s have a big distraction and several more questions so we don’t spend more time on Pete Hegseth, the nominee to head the Department of Defense, so we don’t spend more time on Tulsi Gabbard, who has been in the pocket of Putin and is not someone to be trusted with our secrets, so that we don’t spend more time on Robert Kennedy [Jr.]’s views on vaccines,” the Massachusetts Democrat said.
Warren noted that the Senate has a job in front of it to question and vote to either confirm or reject Trump’s host of nominees for top positions.
Several nominees have raised concern for their lack of expertise on an issue or questionable backgrounds.
The Senate will begin its confirmation process soon. The Judiciary Committee set its hearing date for Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, who was tapped as Trump’s second choice to lead the Department of Justice after former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) withdrew from consideration amid controversy.
With less than two weeks to go before the president-elect returns to the Oval Office, he’s ramped up international conversation by suggesting the Gulf of Mexico should be renamed the Gulf of America. He’s also said China has influence over the Panama Canal and now that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced his resignation, the country should become the 51st state. Trump has also fueled debate in Europe, after he claimed the U.S. will acquire Greenland, a Danish territory.
“Donald Trump would love it if we spend no time talking about them,” Warren said of the nominees, adding “and all of our time talking about this idea and that idea and something else.”