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Almodóvar returns to Venice with 'The Room Next Door' and gets a nearly 20 minute ovation

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Almodóvar returns to Venice with 'The Room Next Door' and gets a nearly 20 minute ovation
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Almodóvar returns to Venice with 'The Room Next Door' and gets a nearly 20 minute ovation

2024-09-03 11:52 Last Updated At:12:01

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar returned to the Venice Film Festival with stars Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore. Their film, “The Room Next Door,” had its world premiere on the Lido Monday evening, where it received a standing ovation for nearly 20 minutes.

Though a new Almodóvar film is always an event for cinephiles, this one has special significance: It’s his English-language debut.

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Alessandro Nivola, from left, Tilda Swinton, director Pedro Almodovar, Julianne Moore and Alvise Rigo pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Alessandro Nivola, from left, Tilda Swinton, director Pedro Almodovar, Julianne Moore and Alvise Rigo pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore, left, and Tilda Swinton pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore, left, and Tilda Swinton pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore, left, and Tilda Swinton pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore, left, and Tilda Swinton pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore, from left, director Pedro Almodovar, and Tilda Swinton pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore, from left, director Pedro Almodovar, and Tilda Swinton pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton, from left, director Pedro Almodovar, and Julianne Moore pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton, from left, director Pedro Almodovar, and Julianne Moore pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore, left, and Tilda Swinton pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore, left, and Tilda Swinton pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton, left, and Julianne Moore pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton, left, and Julianne Moore pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton, left, and Julianne Moore pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton, left, and Julianne Moore pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton, left, and Julianne Moore pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton, left, and Julianne Moore pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton, from left, director Pedro Almodovar, and Julianne Moore pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton, from left, director Pedro Almodovar, and Julianne Moore pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures Classics shows Julianne Moore, right, and Tilda Swinton in a scene from "The Room Next Door." (Sony Pictures Classics via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures Classics shows Julianne Moore, right, and Tilda Swinton in a scene from "The Room Next Door." (Sony Pictures Classics via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures Classics shows Julianne Moore, left, and Tilda Swinton in a scene from "The Room Next Door." (Sony Pictures Classics via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures Classics shows Julianne Moore, left, and Tilda Swinton in a scene from "The Room Next Door." (Sony Pictures Classics via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures Classics shows Julianne Moore, right, and Tilda Swinton in a scene from "The Room Next Door." (Sony Pictures Classics via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures Classics shows Julianne Moore, right, and Tilda Swinton in a scene from "The Room Next Door." (Sony Pictures Classics via AP)

“My insecurity disappeared after the first table read with the actresses, with the exchange of the first indications,” he wrote in his director’s statement. “The language wasn’t going to be a problem, and not because I master English, but because of the total disposition of the whole cast to understand me and to make it easy for me to understand them.”

Moore and Swinton play disconnected friends, who met in their youths at a magazine job, and whose lives took different paths. Ingrid (Moore) wrote novels. Martha (Swinton) became a war reporter. And now after years apart, they meet again, in New York, when Ingrid finds out Martha has cancer and is in a nearby hospital.

Over the next weeks and months, they reconnect, learning about one another's lives and Martha's estranged daughter through a series of revealing conversations.

Before the film's premiere, Swinton said that it would never have occurred to her that Almodóvar might eventually find a space for her in one of his films. She said she has “worshipped in his high church” ever since seeing “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” in the late 1980s in London. In Almodóvar was a kindred artistic spirit, she thought.

“I still feel like a student seeing his first film,” Swinton said.

But she was English and he worked solely in Spanish. The idea of collaborating seemed like a fantasy only. Then one day, she said, she got up the nerve to say something to him.

“I said, ‘Listen I’ll learn Spanish for you, you can make me mute,’” Swinton said. “Characteristically, he laughed.”

Moore added: “I don’t know how I managed to walk into this world, but I felt lucky that he chose me.”

Almodóvar’s last Venice appearance was in 2021, where he presented the film “Parallel Mothers,” for which Penelope Cruz won its best actress prize. In 2019, Venice also gave him a lifetime achievement award. But his history with Venice stretches back 40 years.

“I was born as a film director in 1983 in Venice,” he said. A few years later, he’d return with the classic “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.”

Of his latest, he wrote “Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore carry the weight of the whole film on their shoulders, and they are a spectacle. I have been fortunate in that both give a veritable recital. At times during shooting, both the crew and I were on the verge of tears watching them. It was a very moving shoot and, in some way, blessed.”

Though death looms in the film, when Martha asks Ingrid to join her in a house upstate for her final days, all felt that it's a film about life.

“We talked a lot about life, but we didn’t really talk about death. What can you say? You can talk about dying,” Swinton said. “This film is a portrait of self-determination ... This feeling of (death) being a celebration felt for me very real and very relatable and I can’t say that I wouldn’t act in the same way if I was in her shoes.”

Both Swinton and Moore were excited to be in a film that spotlighted a female friendship between two women at their ages.

“We very, very rarely see a story of female friendship and especially a story about female friends who are older,” Moore said. “The importance that he shows us is so unusual and was so moving to me that he portrayed this relationship as so profound, because it is.”

The film is playing in competition at the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival, alongside the likes of “Maria” and the yet-to-premiere “Queer” and “Joker: Folie à Deux.” Winners will be announced on Sept. 7.

Sony Pictures Classics will release “The Room Next Door” in theaters in December.

More coverage of the 2024 Venice Film Festival: https://apnews.com/hub/venice-film-festival

Alessandro Nivola, from left, Tilda Swinton, director Pedro Almodovar, Julianne Moore and Alvise Rigo pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Alessandro Nivola, from left, Tilda Swinton, director Pedro Almodovar, Julianne Moore and Alvise Rigo pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore, left, and Tilda Swinton pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore, left, and Tilda Swinton pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore, left, and Tilda Swinton pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore, left, and Tilda Swinton pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore, from left, director Pedro Almodovar, and Tilda Swinton pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore, from left, director Pedro Almodovar, and Tilda Swinton pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton, from left, director Pedro Almodovar, and Julianne Moore pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton, from left, director Pedro Almodovar, and Julianne Moore pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore, left, and Tilda Swinton pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore, left, and Tilda Swinton pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Julianne Moore poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton, left, and Julianne Moore pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton, left, and Julianne Moore pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton, left, and Julianne Moore pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton, left, and Julianne Moore pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton, left, and Julianne Moore pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton, left, and Julianne Moore pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton, from left, director Pedro Almodovar, and Julianne Moore pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Tilda Swinton, from left, director Pedro Almodovar, and Julianne Moore pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures Classics shows Julianne Moore, right, and Tilda Swinton in a scene from "The Room Next Door." (Sony Pictures Classics via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures Classics shows Julianne Moore, right, and Tilda Swinton in a scene from "The Room Next Door." (Sony Pictures Classics via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures Classics shows Julianne Moore, left, and Tilda Swinton in a scene from "The Room Next Door." (Sony Pictures Classics via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures Classics shows Julianne Moore, left, and Tilda Swinton in a scene from "The Room Next Door." (Sony Pictures Classics via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures Classics shows Julianne Moore, right, and Tilda Swinton in a scene from "The Room Next Door." (Sony Pictures Classics via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures Classics shows Julianne Moore, right, and Tilda Swinton in a scene from "The Room Next Door." (Sony Pictures Classics via AP)

Donald Trump began his first day as the 47th president of the United States with a dizzying display of force, signing a blizzard of executive orders that signaled his desire to remake American institutions while also pardoning nearly all of his supporters who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Here's the latest:

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York will be grilled about her lack of foreign policy experience at 10 a.m. ET and strong support for Israel as she vies to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Trump’s pick to lead the Veterans Affairs Department, former Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, is also up at 10 a.m. ET. He’s a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command who helped defend Trump during his first impeachment process.

A Senate committee will vote on money manager Scott Bessent, Trump’s choice for Treasury Secretary, at 10:15 ET. He’s an advocate of cutting spending while extending the tax cuts.

Speaking to Fox News, press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to detail the announcement before Trump spoke at 4 p.m. Tuesday but said it would also send a signal to the world.

“You won’t want to miss it,” she said. Trump is also scheduled to attend a national prayer service Tuesday morning at Washington National Cathedral.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune are heading to the White House to meet with Trump on Tuesday.

It’s the first formal sit down for the GOP leadership teams including Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Senate GOP Whip John Barrasso and the new president as they chart priorities with the sweep of Republican power in Washington.

Despite an ambitious 100-days agenda, the Republican-led Congress isn’t on the same page on some of the basics of their ideas and strategies as they rush to deliver tax cuts for the wealthy, mass deportations and other priorities for Trump.

He pledged to remove more than 1,000 presidential appointees “who are not aligned with our vision.”

In a post on his TruthSocial platform, Trump dismissed chef and humanitarian Jose Andres from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, Ret. Gen. Mark Milley from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, former State Dept. official Brian Hook from the board of the Wilson Center, and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms from the President’s Export Council.

“YOUR’E FIRED!” he wrote in a post just after midnight Tuesday.

Milley, the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff under Trump, received a pardon from former President Joe Biden on Monday over concerns he could be criminally targeted by the new administration. His portrait in the Pentagon was also removed. Hook, who was Trump’s Iran envoy during his first term, had been involved in the Trump administration transition. No reasoning was given for his firing.

Former President Joe Biden also removed many Trump appointees in his first days in office, including former press secretary Sean Spicer from the board overseeing the U.S. Naval Acadamy.

Rep. Elise Stefanik is likely to face questions at her confirmation hearing Tuesday to become the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations about her lack of foreign policy experience, her strong support for Israel and her views on funding the U.N. and its many agencies.

Harvard-educated and the fourth-ranking member of the U.S. House, she was elected to Congress in 2015 as a moderate Republican and is leaving a decade later as one of President Trump’s most ardent allies.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “looks forward to working again with President Trump on his second term,” U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Monday.

When she appears before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Stefanik is likely to be grilled about her views on the wars in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere as well as the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs — all issues on the U.N. agenda.

▶ Read more about Elise Stefanik’s confirmation hearing

Scholz said at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday that “not every press conference in Washington, not every tweet should send us straight into excited, existential debates. That’s also the case after the change of government that took place in Washington yesterday.”

Scholz said the U.S. is Germany’s closest ally outside Europe and he’ll do everything to keep in that way.

He acknowledged that Trump and his administration “will keep the world on tenterhooks in the coming years” in energy, climate, trade and security policy. But he said “we can and will deal with all this, without unnecessary agitation and outrage, but also without false ingratiation or telling people what they want to hear.”

Scholz said of Trump’s “America First” approach that there’s nothing wrong with looking to the interests of one’s own country – “we all do that. But it is also the case that cooperation and agreement with others are mostly also in one’s interest.”

Speaking in the Oval Office Monday, Trump rejected Biden’s warning that the U.S. is becoming an “ oligarchy ” for tech billionaires, saying the executives supported Democrats until they realized Biden “didn’t know what the hell he was talking about.”

“They did desert him,” Trump added. “They were all with him, every one of them, and now they are all with me.”

Despite taking millions from the executives and their companies for his inaugural committee — and receiving more than $200 million in assistance from Musk in his presidential campaign — Trump claimed he didn’t need their money and they wouldn’t be receiving anything in return.

“They’re not going to get anything from me,” Trump said. “I don’t need money, but I do want the nation to do well, and they’re smart people and they create a lot of jobs.”

Some of the most exclusive seats at Trump’s inauguration on Monday were reserved for powerful tech CEOs who also happen to be among the world’s richest men.

That’s a shift from tradition, especially for a president who has characterized himself as a champion of the working class. Seats so close to the president are usually reserved for the president’s family, past presidents and other honored guests.

The mega-rich have long had a prominent role in national politics, and several billionaires helped bankroll the campaign of Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

But the inaugural display highlights the unusually direct role the world’s wealthiest people will likely have in the new administration. In his outgoing address, Biden warned that the U.S. was becoming an oligarchy of tech billionaires wielding dangerous levels of power and influence on the nation.

▶ Read more about the billionaires at Trump’s inauguration

Outside the National Cathedral, just a few hours before the Interfaith Service of Prayer for the Nation, which both President Trump and Vice President JD Vance are expected to attend, the scene before was decidedly quiet.

At the Cathedral only a few dog walkers dotted the sidewalk and the police presence was low.

It was a far cry from yesterday when thousands lined up in downtown D.C. festooned in the red regalia of MAGA nation — or the security and foot traffic from earlier this month for the funeral service of former President Jimmy Carter where Secret Service vehicles could be seen at least a mile from the Cathedral.

The Senate quickly confirmed Marco Rubio as secretary of state Monday, voting unanimously to give Trump the first member of his new Cabinet on Inauguration Day.

Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida, is among the least controversial of Trump’s nominees and vote was decisive, 99-0.

It’s often tradition for the Senate to convene immediately after the ceremonial pomp of the inauguration to begin putting the new president’s team in place, particularly the national security officials.

▶ Read more about Marco Rubio’s confirmation

All the living former presidents were there and the outgoing president amicably greeted his successor, who gave a speech about the country’s bright future and who left to the blare of a brass band.

At first glance, President Donald Trump’ssecond inauguration seemed like a continuation of the country’s nearly 250-year-long tradition of peaceful transfers of power, essential to its democracy. And there was much to celebrate: Trump won a free and fair election last fall, and his supporters hope he will be able to fix problems at the border, end the war in Ukraine and get inflation under control.

Still, on Monday, the warning signs were clear.

Due to frigid temperatures, Trump’s swearing-in was held in the Capitol Rotunda, where rioters seeking to keep him in power the last time roamed during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. Trump walked into the space from the hall leading to the building’s west front tunnel, where some of the worst hand-to-hand combat between Trump supporters and police occurred that day.

After giving a speech pledging that “never again” would the government “persecute political opponents,” Trump then gave a second, impromptu address to a crowd of supporters. The president lamented that his inaugural address had been sanitized, said he would shortly pardon the Jan. 6 rioters and fumed at last-minute preemptive pardons issued by outgoing President Joe Biden to the members of the congressional committee that investigated the attack.

▶ Read more about Trump’s Inauguration Day

President Donald Trump signs an executive order to create the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, as White House staff secretary Will Scharf watches. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump signs an executive order to create the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, as White House staff secretary Will Scharf watches. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks as first lady Melania Trump listens at the Commander in Chief Ball, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump speaks as first lady Melania Trump listens at the Commander in Chief Ball, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump signs an executive order on TikTok in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump signs an executive order on TikTok in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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