President-elect Trump dropped his most recent round of ambassador nominations on social media Tuesday night, before issuing a warning to Senate Republicans about any potential deals with Democratic lawmakers.

The Republican leader began by nominating Herschel Walker as his choice for U.S. ambassador to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. Walker, a staunch Trump ally, ran for the U.S. Senate in 2022 as a candidate from Georgia.

“I am pleased to nominate Herschel Walker as United States Ambassador to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas,” Trump’s post began. “Herschel has spent decades serving as an Ambassador to our Nation’s youth, our men and women in the Military, and athletes at home and abroad.”

Trump went on to call Walker, a former National Football League (NFL) player, a “successful businessman, philanthropist, former Heisman Trophy winner, and NFL Great.” The president-elect also commended Walker’s previous work in the first Trump administration.

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“During my First Term, he served as Co-Chair of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. Herschel has traveled to over 400 Military installations around the World, removing the stigma surrounding mental health,” Trump added. “He represented the United States at the 1992 Winter Olympics as a member of the U.S. bobsled team.”
 
“Congratulations Herschel! You will make Georgia, and our entire Nation, proud, because we know you will always put AMERICA FIRST!”

Trump followed up his post about Walker to announce Nicole McGraw as his pick for U.S. ambassador to Croatia. The president-elect described McGraw as a “philanthropist, businesswoman, and World renowned art collector.”

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Former NFL running back and former Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Herschel Walker addresses the crowd at a rally for Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump at the Atrium Health Ampitheater on November 03, 2024 in Macon, Georgia. (John Moore/Getty Images)

“Nicole has brought fine art to the People through her work leading CANVAS Art Charities, and raised Millions of Dollars for neglected and abused children as a Board Member of Place of Hope,” Trump wrote. “She is a graduate of Southern Methodist University with a BFA in Art History and Studio Art. Congratulations Nicole!”

After issuing the nominations, Trump ended with a note warning Senate Republicans not to make deals with Democrats to “fast track” nominations this month.

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Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally at Santander Arena, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Reading, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

“To all Senate Republicans: NO DEAL WITH DEMOCRATS TO FAST TRACK NOMINATIONS AT THE END OF THIS CONGRESS,” Trump wrote. “I won the biggest mandate in 129 years. I will make my appointments of Very Qualified People in January when I am sworn in.”

FIRST ON FOX: A top Republican senator is introducing legislation to block the federal government from disposing of border wall materials after a controversy over the auctioning of border wall parts made headlines again.

Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., is introducing legislation to prohibit the use of federal funds “to deconstruct, dismantle, or otherwise render inoperable any segment of the physical barrier along the international border between the United States and Mexico.”

The bill would also bar the use of funds “to auction, sell, transfer, or otherwise dispose of any materials or supplies purchased or otherwise acquired by the Federal Government for the purpose of constructing, maintaining, or reinforcing a physical barrier along such border.”

‘STANDING BY TO HELP’: RED STATE REVEALS PLAN TO PURCHASE AUCTIONED BORDER WALL MATERIALS TO STORE FOR TRUMP

The bill comes in response to the ongoing controversy over the auctioning of border wall materials by the Biden administration.

The Biden administration abruptly ended border wall construction in January 2021 after 450 miles had been built during the first Trump administration.

The auctioning of border wall parts began in 2023 with parts listed for sale on GovPlanet.com, an online auction marketplace. The Defense Department’s logistics agency told media outlets the excess material had been turned over for disposition by the Army Corps of Engineers and was for sale.

Those auctions have continued, with officials in Arizona telling Fox News Digital that auctions have been occurring weekly for some time. The practice made headlines last week when The Daily Wire published video showing unused wall parts being transported on flatbed trucks in Arizona even though the materials could be used by the next Trump administration. 

A furious President-elect Trump called the moves “almost a criminal act” and called on President Biden to “please stop selling the wall.” 

TRUMP CALLS FOR END TO BORDER WALL AUCTIONS: ‘ALMOST CRIMINAL ACT’ 

Sen. Bill Hagerty tours the southern border in Eagle Pass, Texas, Feb. 19, 2024. (Senate Republican Conference)

The president-elect also said he is working with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other Texas leaders to reacquire the materials.

“What they’re doing is really an act, it’s almost a criminal act,” he said. “They know we’re going to use it, and if we don’t have it, we’re going to have to rebuild it. And it’ll cost double what it cost years ago, and that’s hundreds of millions of dollars because you’re talking about a lot of, a lot of wall.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

A defense official told Fox News last week that the Pentagon has been disposing of excess wall construction in accordance with the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which required the defense secretary to submit a plan to use, transfer or donate all remaining wall material purchased with Pentagon funds. That plan was submitted in March.

The official said that border states, including Texas, were given preference for materials and that the materials no longer belong to the U.S. government, adding the Defense Department has no legal authority to recall the material or stop further resale of it.

“Through our reutilization, transfer and donation process, nearly 60% of those materials were transferred to authorized recipients, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the states of Texas and California,” the official said. “The remaining 40% was sold to GovPlanet under a competitive sales contract process beginning in June 2024. The material currently being sold through GovPlanet online auctions no longer belongs to the U.S. Government, and DOD has no legal authority to recall the material or stop further resale of material it no longer owns.”

Hagerty’s bill would supersede any existing law, including the NDAA. His office says the NDAA provision was intended to encourage border wall construction.

Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin and Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.

One of Donald Trump’s closing campaign arguments was that he would deliver a new “golden age” for America. This week, he announced that this Trump-powered golden age has already begun.

That’s fitting insofar as Trump has rapidly eclipsed the current president, Joe Biden, in setting expectations and even an agenda for America at home and abroad. It feels as if the clock on the second Trump administration has already started.

So has the usual fight over who should get the credit — or blame — for the economy the next president inherits. This happens to some extent with every new president, regardless of party and not just on the subject of the economy.

Ronald Reagan’s vice president, George H.W. Bush, inherited his economy, but Bush’s aides were quick to note that he also inherited an inevitable recession and a savings and loan crisis from the Gipper. In the closing days of this year’s election, Barack Obama complained that Trump had inherited his economic successes in 2017.

Trump has reason to jump the gun on taking credit for the economy now: It’s doing amazingly well.

That’s not to minimize the pain of many Americans or ignore economic problems such as skyrocketing debt, inflation and dislocations in some regions and industries. Even amid a macroeconomic boom, people live in microeconomic circumstances.

The U.S. economy is nevertheless the envy of the world. Don’t take my word for it: The cover of a special issue of the Economist in October described the American economy as just that, the “Envy of the World,” noting that the United States “has left other rich countries in the dust.” The Financial Times reached the same conclusion this month.

It’s a stark contrast to the 1990s, when many expected Europe’s economies to leave ours in the dust. In 2008, the European Union’s economy was 10% bigger than that of the United States. By 2022, it was 23% smaller. The EU grew 21% during this period, but the American economy grew 72%.

Today the U.S. economy generates about a quarter of global output. U.S. stocks account for 65% of global equities, while Japan, China and the United Kingdom combined account for just over 10%. If Britain were an American state, it would barely edge out Mississippi — our poorest state — in per capita gross domestic product.

There are many reasons for this. Americans simply work harder than citizens of other rich countries. Our productivity has outstripped the eurozone’s more than 3 to 1 since 2008. Our business culture is different too: We are the most entrepreneurial country in the world, and we regard business failure not as a cause for shame but as useful experience for the next attempt. America is also better at assimilating immigrants than most countries, and the immigrants we tend to attract generally work very hard.

I could go on. The point is that we have had different presidents with very different policies and even more different rhetoric over the last 30 years. But U.S. economic trends — with the usual dips and spikes — have been largely positive through all of those presidencies.

As the Manhattan Institute’s Brian Riedl put it in National Affairs, “The notion that there is a simple partisan pattern to the health of the economy is an extension of the exaggerated politicization of our understanding of contemporary American life.”

Recent dissatisfaction with the economy, spurred by inflation, fueled the idea that America was doing especially awful under Biden. Again, we live in microeconomies, so it’s understandable that many people had that view. But we’ve still been doing better than pretty much everyone else.

Trump’s focus on the economic downside was typical for a presidential challenger and fair enough. But he was wrong to suggest that our competitors were eating our lunch.

None of this is to suggest that presidents and their economic policies don’t matter. It’s just that they don’t matter as much as presidents and their partisans claim they do.

@JonahDispatch