Headlines, topics and themes that caught our eye.

Trump Starts New Administration With A Bang

The 2nd Trump Admin Is Staffed With MAGA Talent Pool Which Knows How Levers Of Power Work — Michael Every, Rabobank, via Zero Hedge

Trump’s Day One: A look at his opening moves in the White House — Just The News

Left Already Losing It As Trump Announces His Starting Lineup — Clash Daily

Trump’s National Security Team Is Pro-India, Pro-Israel, and Very Anti-China — PJ Media

Donald Trump Picks Mike Huckabee for US Ambassador to Israel — Newsweek

Secretary of State Marco Rubio? Woo hoo! — Monica Showalter, American Thinker

Homan Brings Tough Treatment To Heal America’s Border Crisis — TIPP Insights

GOP Rep. Mike Waltz tapped to be Trump’s national security adviser — Fox News, via Yahoo News

Rep. Elise Stefanik Named U.N. Ambassador, Meets With Israeli President Isaac Herzog — Fox News

Who are Trump’s cabinet picks so far and who is in the running? — Reuters

Trump’s Cabinet: Here Are His Picks And Finalists For Key Roles — Mike Huckabee, Kristi Noem And More — Forbes

Trump Turns to Loyalists and Lawmakers to Fill Posts — New York Times

Shocked Democrats Finding Out Why They Lost To Trump . . .

The Democrats’ 2020 Victory Was a Blessing in Disguise — Dennis Prager, The Daily Signal

The Fault, Dear Democrats, Is in Yourselves — Victor Davis Hanson, American Greatness

Trump won by uniting those who think liberal rulers have gone too far — Martin Gurri, New York Post

It Wasn’t the Revenge of the Working Class Voter in 2024. It Was Something Much Worse for Dems — Matt Vespa, Town Hall

Trump’s gains with Latinos could reshape American politics. Democrats are struggling to respond — Associated Press

Revenge of the Silent Male Voter — Quillette

CBS News’ 60 Minutes Was a Brutal Takedown of the Dems — Town Hall

Democrats need a reality check — Yascha Mounk, The Spectator World

7 Lessons for Democrats to Learn — American Thinker

WaPo’s Brutal Election Postmortem Destroys the Democrats — Matt Margolis, PJ Media

Is Israel The Biggest Winner Of U.S. Election?

Will Trump’s new cabinet be good for Israel? — The Jewish Chronicle

Trump will reverse Biden’s Israel delusions and bring an era of Mideast peace — Caroline Glick, NY Post

Israelis Hopeful Trump Shares Their Vision of Peace in the Middle East — And They’re Celebrating His Victory — Washington Free Beacon

Trump announces shock Ambassador to Israel pick Mike Huckabee as Middle East approaches brink of war — UK Daily Mail

‘Deal of the Century’ in the Works? Boulos Reaches Out to Palestinians; Trump Talks to Netanyahu — Breitbart

Bye-Bye Dysfunctional Education Department?

Former Trump Education Secretary DeVos Supports Plan to End Department Of Education — Newsmax

Trump’s former education secretary says she is ‘very open’ to discussion about returning to previous post — Fox News

What’s Wrong With Education In One Picture And One Very Telling Chart — Elon Musk, Corey DeAngelis, via Instapundit

The EdTech Revolution Has Failed — Jared Cooney Horvath, After Babel

Energy, Climate-Change Due For Big Changes

Energy Policy, Where the Sun Don’t Shine — John Hinderaker, Powerline

Green Grifters — Heather Mac Donald, City Journal

A victory for energy and climate sanity — Chris Talgo, American Thinker

‘Deep State’ Is In Deep Trouble

Rethinking the Civil Service — Glenn Harlan Reynolds, Instapundit Substack

‘Feeling of dread’ spreads across federal workforce as second Trump term looms — CNN

Many in government are worried about Trump’s return. At DOJ, they’re terrified — Politico

FBI Execs Rush to Retire After Trump Victory Leaves Them ‘Shell-Shocked’ — The National Pulse

Biden-Harris State Department Holds Therapy Session After Trump Win — The National Pulse

FEMA outrage reveals weaponized government — and points Trump toward reform — NY Post

Some thoughts on how to prune the fourth branch — Devon Eriksen, X