It has been about 40 days since Donald Trump was re-elected to become the 47th president of the United States.

He won in the antiquated US electoral college, a relic of the late 18th century, that prevents a direct popular vote of the USA’s apex federal office and one-person-one-vote.

Trump, this time, also won the popular vote but not a majority of it.

Trump has rapidly announced his picks for his cabinet members and other high office holders. Many of those have alarmed and dismayed observers especially Fox News presenter, Pete Hegseth, for Defence Secretary, Kash Patel, for FBI director, Tulsi Gabbard, for National Intelligence Director, Kristi Noem, for Homeland Security and Robert F Kennedy Jr, for Health Secretary.

Billionaires and millionaires will pervade Trump's administration.

The world’s richest man, reputedly, Elon Musk, with his own large reach, social media platform to broadcast pro-Trump propaganda and to spread his personal, often fickle, brand of disinformation, has emerged as a very powerful although entirely unelected figure. A ‘first buddy”?

Trump and his proxies have increased the tempo and intensity of their drumbeat attacks on the media and public interest journalism. The ABC television network, owned by the Disney Corporation, have settled, for 15 million dollars US, a defamation action against them by Trump over an on-air statement that he was legally liable for raping E Jean Carrol. Many legal analysts opined that it was a thin case and, under “normal circumstances”, would have failed.

A chill has settled over the media scape.

Just before the November 5 election day, Margo Kingston and Peter Clarke spoke here with John Lawrence.

John has been a consummate Washington insider. For 38 years he served as a senior staffer in personal, committee and leadership offices in the US House of Representatives. From 2005 to 2013, John was Chief of Staff to now speaker emerita, Nancy Pelosi.

He’s visiting professor at the University of California’s Washington Centre and the author of Arc of Power: Inside Nancy Pelosi's Speakership 2005-2010, and the The Class of 74: Congress After Watergate and the Roots of Partisanship.

John contributes many articles on politics to leading journalism outlets.

John Lawrence returned to the #transitzone to reflect on the re-election of Donald Trump in the 2024 USA election with Peter Clarke.