Scott Horsley

Vice President Mike Pence amplified the charge leveled by President Donald Trump recently, saying China has used covert actors, front groups and propaganda in an attempt to sway US public opinion. "To put it bluntly, President Trump's leadership is working and China wants a different American president," Pence said.

President Donald Trump is expected to thank America's farmers for their political support on Jan 8 and to unveil a plan designed to help revive fortunes in struggling rural areas. "While other sectors of the American economy have largely recovered from the Great Recession, rural America has lagged in almost every indicator," according to the president's new task force report. The task force makes a number of recommendations, beginning with improved broadband service.

President-elect Donald Trump has named his campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, to a senior White House job as counselor to the president. Conway has been a trusted adviser and frequent spokesperson for the president-elect. She was the third and final manager of the successful Trump campaign, and credited with bringing some much-needed discipline to both the campaign's message and the candidate himself. There had been some question about whether Conway would end up in the White House. She has spoken openly about the challenge of balancing such a job with raising four children, and suggested she might prefer to serve the incoming president from outside the administration.