WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times EST):
10:50 p.m.
Tony Orlando has joined the list of entertainers performing at galas around Washington the night of Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Orlando is best known for the 1973 No. 1 hit “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree.” He is set to perform at Friday night’s Salute to Our Armed Services Ball. That ball is free by invitation only for members and veterans of the armed services and their families. It will be at the National Building Museum.
Two other events, called Liberty and Freedom: The Official Presidential Inaugural Balls, will be Friday at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. A limited number of $50-per-person tickets are available to the general public.
___
9:30 p.m.
Donald Trump has been tweeting that his inauguration will bring record numbers of people to Washington — and he’s doing his utmost to make that happen.
The Trump team is posting ads on Facebook and Twitter encouraging people to come to Washington for the inaugural festivities.
The ads say Trump “wants to personally invite” people to Thursday’s inaugural welcome concert and Friday’s swearing-in ceremony.
They include a video from Trump promising the concert will be “really fantastic.”
Christopher Geldart, the district’s director of homeland security, says officials are planning for inaugural turnout of 800,000 to 900,000 people.
That would be a sizable turnout but nowhere near the 1.8 million who attended Barack Obama’s first inauguration.
___
9:10 p.m.
President-elect Donald Trump will sit down Wednesday with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat and a possible 2020 White House contender.
Cuomo says he hopes to use Wednesday’s meeting in Manhattan to focus on the needs of New York state, including Cuomo’s ambitious plans to upgrade and rebuild bridges, train stations and airports in New York City and around the state.
Trump and Cuomo have known each other for many years and spoke shortly after the Republican president-elect won the election in November.
Cuomo supported Democrat Hillary Clinton in the election. He has called on the state to stand up to the intolerance and discrimination that he says was revealed in the election.
___
9:05 p.m.
President-elect Donald Trump is telling a room filled with diplomats, well-heeled donors and soon-to-be White House staff that he’s assembling a Cabinet “the likes of which has never been assembled before.”
Trump traveled to Washington Tuesday evening to attend the black-tie Chairman’s Global Dinner, a pre-inauguration event that drew nearly 150 diplomats and ambassadors.
Trump told the group: “We have great respect for your countries. We have great respect for our world.”
Trump also joked about the “beauties” he’d considered as potential running mates, made a reference to the scrutiny his pick for secretary of state has received, and bragged about his support from bikers.
He also claimed people are predicting record crowds for his inauguration Friday. That’s despite the fact that plenty of hotel rooms remain available.
___
8:55 p.m.
Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates has agreed to stay on and run the Justice Department until a successor has been confirmed.
The Justice Department made the announcement Tuesday, saying Yates would begin serving as acting attorney general at the end of this week.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican, is President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general and had his confirmation hearing last week before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He is expected to be confirmed within weeks by the Republican-led Senate.
Yates will become acting attorney general effective at noon Friday, when Trump is sworn in.
___
7 p.m.
France’s ambassador to the United Nations says his nation has a message for President-elect Donald Trump: “Stay committed to world affairs.”
Francois Delattre tells reporters at France’s U.N. Mission in New York that the United Nations is “the key venue” for carrying out that commitment, along with other international organizations, including NATO.
He says, “That’s why the U.N.-U.S. partnership is so critically important for the United Nations, and consequently for us all.”
Trump has questioned the U.N.’s effectiveness, calling it “just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time.” He has called NATO obsolete.
Delattre says of the U.S.-France relationship, “We are not only the oldest ally but one of its closest friends — and a true friend is rarely a ‘yes man.'”
__
6:25 p.m.
A former reality television show contestant who accused President-elect Donald Trump of aggressive, unwanted sexual advances has filed a defamation lawsuit against him.
Summer Zervos, a contestant on “The Apprentice,” announced the suit Tuesday in Los Angeles with her attorney Gloria Allred. She alleges Trump defamed her in tweets and at rallies when he said her claims were fabricated.
Zervos alleged in November that Trump accosted her in New York City and at a Beverly Hills hotel in 2007. Tuesday’s lawsuit had no new claims of sexual misconduct.
Allred is a Democratic activist, but says she’s had no contact with Hillary Clinton about the suit.
Zervos says she’ll drop her lawsuit if Trump retracts his claims.
Trump has said he never acted inappropriately toward Zervos. Trump’s spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, said Tuesday there is “no truth to this absurd story.”
___
3:55 p.m.
The Supreme Court says Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the rest of the high court are expected to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration as president.
Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg says the eight justices will be on the West Front of the Capitol Friday for the ceremony.
Ginsburg criticized Trump in interviews with The Associated Press and other news organizations in July, then apologized for her comments a few days later. Trump fired back at Ginsburg on Twitter.
Chief Justice John Roberts will swear in Trump, as is customary. Mike Pence has chosen Justice Clarence Thomas to administer the vice presidential oath.
One Supreme Court seat remains vacant, more than 11 months after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Trump has said he will name a replacement soon.
___
3:40 p.m.
A federal appeals court says protesters planning to demonstrate against President-elect Donald Trump can’t gather on key portions of the inaugural parade route.
The ruling Tuesday upholds National Park Service regulations that say most of the area known as Freedom Plaza and the sidewalks in front of the Trump International Hotel are limited to bleacher seating.
The Act Now to Stop War and End Racism Coalition had argued that the restrictions favored the incoming administration over dissenting speech.
But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia says the regulations did not infringe on protesters’ speech rights. Judge Cornelia Pillard says just 13 percent of the parade route was set aside for Presidential Inaugural Committee bleachers while 70 percent of the route is open to the public.
___
2:55 p.m.
Most young Americans are concerned about the media’s ability to report on Donald Trump and his efforts to obstruct coverage of his administration.
Most, too, think it’s at least somewhat likely he will make it harder for Americans to express dissent.
That’s according to a new GenForward poll of Americans aged 18 to 30.
Nearly two-thirds say they’re either very or somewhat concerned about Trump trying to impede journalists as they report on his incoming administration.
Most young people in the poll also said Trump is likely to make dissent and protest more difficult. More than 7 in 10 young people say they have little to no confidence that Trump will show respect for people he disagrees with.
___
2:35 p.m.
President Barack Obama has met with his national security team to discuss security preparations for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday that the president met with his team earlier that day and directed them to maintain a “high state of vigilance” during Friday’s ceremony.
Washington is currently a maze of barricades and detours in preparation for the ceremony to inaugurate Trump as America’s 45th president.
Earnest says Obama also discussed security issues related to Iraq and Syria with his team.
___
2:30 p.m.
Sam Moore of the soul duo Sam and Dave has been added to the list of performers for President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural events.
Moore told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he felt that the criticism leveled at singer Jennifer Holliday, which led to her backing out of the event, was unfair. Several other musicians have also backed away from performing.
The 81-year-old Moore said he wasn’t going to be intimidated by critics. He will perform at the Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration on Thursday. Others expected to play include country stars Lee Greenwood and Toby Keith.
Sam and Dave were known for their performance of Isaac Hayes’ “Soul Man.”
___
1:50 p.m.
The European Union’s Iran nuclear envoy says it would be impossible to renegotiate the deal limiting uranium enrichment in the Islamic Republic even if President-elect Donald Trump wants to do so.
Helga Schmid said Tuesday “there is a misunderstanding that you can renegotiate this agreement. This cannot be done.”
Schmid said “there is no willingness” to reopen the talks among the five world nuclear powers plus Germany which reached the agreement with Iran on curbing its nuclear ambitions.
During election campaigning, Trump called the Iran nuclear pact “stupid,” a “lopsided disgrace” and the “worst deal ever negotiated.” Israel is deeply opposed to it.
Noting that the deal is endorsed by the U.N. Security Council, Schmid said “it’s a multilateral agreement that cannot be renegotiated bilaterally.”
___
1:45 p.m.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest says a planned boycott by some members of Congress of Friday’s inauguration ceremony is a “reflection of the division” in the country.
Speaking at his final daily press briefing Tuesday, Earnest said that members of Congress are “freer to express their opinion in a way they choose,” adding that they don’t have “the same kind of institutional responsibilities that the administration has.”
Earnest said President Barack Obama spoke “forcefully and with conviction about the determination he and his team would show” in the transition with President-elect Donald Trump and his team.
The press secretary said they’ve tried to work with the Trump team, “in spite of our in some case profound concerns with the rhetoric and policy positions that are being articulated by the other side.”
___
12:15 p.m.
The head of Boeing says “great progress” has been made in negotiations with President-elect Donald Trump to settle on a new price tag for the Air Force One program.
Trump last month blasted the proposed cost to replace the aging fleet of presidential aircraft. He met with Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenberg last month and again Tuesday in Trump Tower.
Muilenerg said they were working to “to refine requirements for Air Force One, to streamline the process, to streamline certain features” and “all of that will lead to a better airplane at a lower cost.”
He said Trump “is doing a good job as an agent of business” and added that more conversations would be forthcoming, though he did not set a timeline on settling on a final price tag.
___
10:15 a.m.
The Presidential Inaugural Committee says Donald Trump will be sworn in as president Friday using two Bibles — his own and the Bible that Abraham Lincoln used at his first inauguration. The oath of office will be administered by Chief Justice John Roberts.
Committee chairman Tom Barrack says Trump “is humbled to place his hand on Bibles that hold special meaning both to his family and to our country.”
Trump’s Bible was presented to him by his mother upon his graduation from Sunday Church Primary School at First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, on June 12, 1955. The Bible is a revised standard version published by Thomas Nelson and Sons in New York in 1953 and is embossed with Trump’s name on the lower portion of the front cover.
The Lincoln Bible was purchased by William Thomas Carroll, clerk of the Supreme Court, and is bound in burgundy velvet with a gold-washed white metal rim along the edges of the covers. After Lincoln’s first inauguration in 1861, it was next used for President Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009 and again in 2013.
__
8:39 a.m.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is accusing the Obama administration of trying to undermine President-elect Donald Trump by spreading fake allegations.
Putin, speaking at a news conference in Moscow on Tuesday, described a dossier on Trump as part of efforts by the Obama administration to “undermine the legitimacy of the president-elect” despite his “convincing” victory.
Putin dismissed as “fake” the dossier’s unverified allegations about Trump’s sexual activities at a Moscow hotel. He added that people who ordered it are “worse than prostitutes.”
Trump has rejected the allegations as “fake news” and “phony stuff.”
___
8:10 a.m.
Donald Trump is shrugging off polls that show him with low approval ratings.
The president-elect tweeted early Tuesday, “The same people who did the phony election polls, and were so wrong, are now doing approval rating polls. They are rigged just like before.”
___
3:49 a.m.
A son of Martin Luther King Jr. says Donald Trump is talking unity.
Martin Luther King III said the president-elect spoke in a private meeting Sunday of representing all Americans. King III said he believes “that’s his intent.”
Trump met with King’s son on the holiday marking the life of the assassinated civil rights icon, just days after the president-elect had gone on Twitter to strike back fiercely at Lewis for questioning the legitimacy of the billionaire businessman’s election as president. Lewis and the elder King were among the Big Six civil rights leaders of the 1960s.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.