As he takes stock of his Republican Party's midterm drubbing, President Donald Trump faces the difficult question of what to do about his unpopular 8-month-old war against Iran. For weeks, Trump threatened a post-election full-scale bombardment if Tehran didn't accept his terms. On Thursday, Trump suggested that the election losses aren't weighing on his calculations.
A handful of remaining Senate and House races, still to be called by The Associated Press, will determine the strength of Democrats' majority in Congress. Contests in Alaska and Mississippi have narrow margins with votes still outstanding. As the scale of the Democrats' nationwide victories comes into focus, dozens of House races have not yet been called.
The jockeying to replace Sen. Marsha Blackburn is intensifying after she won the Tennessee governor's race, with one Republican congressman publicly expressing interest and speculation swirling around Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. But Hegseth is not currently being considered for the seat, according to a person familiar with the matter who discussed the private conversations on condition of anonymity.
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Houston mayor signs order to limit cooperation with ICE, says ‘elections matter’ after Democrats win
The mayor of Houston on Friday said the city would limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, heralding “a new model” of immigration enforcement after Democrats swept statewide offices in Texas.
Mayor John Whitmire said the city would go after immigrants “that pose a danger, not those that are going about their family business, work and education.”
“Traffic incident will not even ... you write a citation or you warn them and they go about their way. No contact with (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) over nonviolent, non-jailable offenses. it reduces the fear and anxiety.”
Details of the change were to be spelled out in an executive order but the move by the nation’s fourth-largest city is one of the first steps to curb ICE’s powers since Tuesday’s election.
DHS says it acted lawfully in talks with Iran on deportations
Court documents Thursday showed that the Trump administration held secret talks with Iran to deport Iranians during the war.
In its first comments since the revelation, the Department of Homeland Security justified the ongoing contacts in a statement Friday, saying that it’s common practice for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to work with countries to get travel documents.
It said it follows all “established protocols” to allow people to meet with consular officials from their country.
“As promised, the Trump Administration is employing all lawful options to execute the largest deportation operation in history,” the department said.
The judge in a lawsuit challenging the deportations questioned how the U.S. could send people back to a country where they could face a “serious threat of certain death.”
DHS did not respond to a question about the potential danger the deportees might face.
Protesters break into Microsoft data center site as Europe backlash spreads
Some of the protesters climbed a construction crane and set off flares while others clashed with police Friday at the Microsoft data center site in Amsterdam. More actions were planned in other countries after U.S. elections ushered in a wave of Democrats promising to clamp down on data centers.
“We don’t want it to be built. Nobody needs it,” Nathan Timmer of the Push Back group told local broadcaster AT5. “The only thing this will be used for is AI slop. AI warfare, data surveillance, and committing genocides. We don’t want that.”
A Microsoft spokesperson said "we understand that people feel strongly about the project, and we respect their right to express those views peacefully. However, we do not condone any actions that are unlawful or that put people's safety at risk."
Sununu points finger at Trump for midterm losses
The New Hampshire Republican, who fell short in his comeback bid for the Senate on Tuesday, blamed Trump’s failure to deliver on his “drain the swamp” promise for the catastrophic results.
“Now it seems like he or his family is in on every transaction and deal that goes on in Washington,” Sununu told former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, according to a transcript released by Kasich’s SiriumXM show.
That, along with Trump’s handling of the Iran war, “caused people to say, ‘You know, I just can’t vote for a Republican while he’s still in office,’” Sununu said.
Colorado Republican Jeff Hurd wins reelection to the House
Republican incumbent Jeff Hurd defeated Democrat Dwayne Romero Friday in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.
Hurd was first elected to the House in 2024, representing Colorado’s rural Western Slope. He was a lawyer before entering Congress. Democrats had targeted the Republican-leaning district as a potential pickup opportunity. Romero is a retired Army officer and former state economic development official. The Associated Press declared Hurd the winner at 11:24 a.m. EST.
New York Republican Anthony Constantino wins House election
Constantino defeated Democrat Blake Gendebien on Friday in New York’s 21st Congressional District,
Constantino took over his father’s printing business and later founded his own, Sticker Mule. He prominently advertises his support for Trump on one of the company’s buildings. He says he was recruited to run by Trump ally Roger Stone and touts a stint as a professional boxer. He’ll replace Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik. The Associated Press declared Constantino the winner at 11:23 a.m. EST.
White House highlights website for Trump’s proposed arch after judge delays construction
The new website features a series of slick renderings showing the proposed 250-foot (76 meter) arch from multiple angles where Trump wants to build it between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
The White House highlighted the website the morning after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from breaking ground on the arch for 14 days.
The judge’s decision followed a vote to approve the arch by a federal planning commission stocked with the Republican president’s allies. Thursday’s 8-4 vote came after hours of public testimony in opposition to the arch.
A group of veterans joined the District of Columbia and Virginia as plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit seeking to block the arch.
US, allies condemn prison sentence for Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong
The United States and nine of its allies are condemning Hong Kong’s 10-year prison sentence for democracy activist Joshua Wong, demanding an immediate end to “unjust prosecutions” under a strict Beijing-imposed National Security Law.
Wong was sentenced on Thursday by a Hong Kong court for colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security. The U.S. consulate’s condemnation of the punishment was joined Friday by the governments of Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and New Zealand.
Their joint statement said the verdict and similar ones handed down recently show how the law “is being used to target individuals for political expression and participation,” and called for “an immediate end to all unjust prosecutions of individuals charged under the NSL.”
Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials have rejected the complaints.
Republicans might not regain a majority to approve justices for years
The Democrats’ sizable Senate margin will hamper GOP efforts to regain ground in 2028, when Republicans will be defending Senate seats in Wisconsin, North Carolina and Iowa.
“Chance of confirming a worthy successor to Justice Thomas and/or Alito during President Trump’s term: Zero,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted on X after Tuesday’s elections. “Chance of confirming a worthy successor during a hypothetical GOP admin 2029-2033: probably zero (GOP won’t be able to recapture enough seats in 28).”
Even if a surprise Supreme Court vacancy emerges in the coming weeks, a lame-duck confirmation while Republicans still remain in power isn’t a sure thing, given that Trump encouraged the exits of GOP senators Thom Tillis, Bill Cassidy and John Cornyn. Maine Sen. Susan Collins also attributed her defeat in part to Trump.
White House says it’s Democrats who have politicized the Supreme Court
“President Trump will never let them pack the Supreme Court and ruin the independent judiciary,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said, saying some “extreme Democrats” have been “entertaining plans to pack the Court with liberal justices.”
The two oldest justices, Samuel Alito, 76, and Clarence Thomas, 78, have not publicly indicated an imminent retirement before Democratic majorities control the House and the Senate come January.
“I think the justices must know that if they were to retire now, at this moment, right before Democrats take the Senate, there would be an enormous amount of pressure unlike any we’ve seen to make serious change to the court,” said Dale Carpenter, a law professor at Southern Methodist University.
Alito has publicly mused about retirement in recent months, telling The Associated Press that he's not sure "how long I'll be able to continue to do this job." But he's also said he'll stay through next summer. Thomas, meanwhile, would become the longest-serving justice in U.S. history in May 2028.
Trump has declined to say whether they should step down so he can nominate their successors.
Republicans rammed through Supreme Court nominees. Now Democrats can stop them
Trump led Supreme Court transformation that ushered in a conservative supermajority, but he'll soon confront an emboldened Democratic-led Senate ready to play hardball on his judicial nominations.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is likely to return as majority leader next year, promised in an interview with The Associated Press that Democrats will prevent the Republican president from installing a "right-winger" on the Supreme Court or "crappy nominees" elsewhere in the federal judiciary or in Trump's Cabinet.
Democrats will hold at least 54 seats in the 100-member Senate next year, and as many as 56 depending on final results in Mississippi and Alaska, enough to block or ignore Trump's nominations using the same kinds of aggressive tactics that Republicans wielded for years.
Schumer declined to specify whether he would hold any Supreme Court vacancy open until after the next presidential election, as former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell did to enable Trump to nominate the first of his three Supreme Court picks.
Tillis says Hegseth impeachment effort is about ‘incompetence’
In an X post replying to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina is defending a House effort to impeach him.
“This is about you: the incompetence you’ve displayed, the bad advice you’ve given to president, and your shameful and embarassing episodes from firing our top generals to texting war plans to reporters,” Tillis wrote.
Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, who was defeated by a Trump-backed candidate in this year’s Republican primary, has introduced articles of impeachment against Hegseth, citing his handling of the Iran war and other issues. Massie has said he will drop the effort if Hegseth resigns.
Tillis was replying to a video Hegseth posted defending himself. Hegseth said he has restored the Pentagon to its central purpose which is fighting wars, and “we don’t back down.”
Trump talks with Qatar’s emir about de-escalating Iran war tensions
The call between Trump and Qatar's emir came as the Middle East remains on edge over the possibility of renewed U.S. military action against Iran.
Trump’s discussion with Emir Sheik Tamim bin Hamad al Thani centered on international efforts to end tensions, according to a statement Friday from the Qatari ruler’s media office that cited Qatar’s mediation efforts aimed at reaching “a comprehensive agreement that ends the crisis and achieves security and stability in the region.”
Sheik Tamim “stressed the importance of continuing dialogue and adopting diplomatic means to resolve disputes, sparing the region further escalation, and ensuring freedom of maritime navigation and the security of energy supplies,” according to the statement.
Qatar and other U.S.-allied Gulf Arab countries came under heavy fire by Iran and have been anxious to avoid a new escalation that could leave them vulnerable to attacks.
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Top Trump economist says AI data center slowdown wouldn’t undercut growth
Trump's top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, said in an interview on CNBC that even if the construction of data centers slows, the United States can "still have a blockbuster economy."
Stock markets plunged Thursday in response to the Democrats' sweeping election victories, fueled partly by anti-data center sentiment. But Hassett praised Friday's jobs report showing an unexpected boost in hiring and a small dip in the unemployment rate.
“The data right now are singing a beautiful song and I expect the momentum on that to continue,” he said.
Yet the jobs report also showed that hourly wage gains trailed annual inflation for the seventh straight month, a key indicator that most households are seeing rising prices erode their spending power.
US employers created a surprising 165,000 new jobs last month as unemployment dipped to 4.1%
The hiring was far stronger than the 65,000 new jobs that economists had expected.
Friday's jobs report comes three days after voters frustrated with Trump's management of the economy — and especially the high cost of living – handed full control of Congress to the Democrats.
America's economic output and job market have proven resilient in the face of Trump's double-digit taxes on imports and the war with Iran, which has driven U.S. gasoline prices above $4 a gallon and pinched family budgets.
The gross domestic product advanced at a sprightly 3.4% annual pace from July through September, lifted by strong consumer spending and booming investment in artificial intelligence.
But wage gains haven't been keeping up with persistently high inflation.
Federal judge orders 14-day delay on any work beginning on Trump’s monumental arch
The temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from breaking ground on a towering memorial arch for two weeks represents a major setback for one of Trump's most prominent projects in his vision to remake Washington.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s temporary restraining order followed a series of steps taken earlier Thursday by the government, including the final approval of the arch by the National Capital Planning Commission in an 8-4 vote after a 9½-hour hearing where scores of witnesses opposed the construction.
The administration's court filings made it clear that it was taking the steps needed to begin construction.
In approving the temporary stop, Chutkan said Virginia and the District of Columbia had shown that the immediacy of the construction would cause real harm to the plaintiffs.
Which Senate, governors races are still uncalled by The Associated Press
Just a handful of races for Senate and governor have not yet been called by The Associated Press as of 4 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday. In the House, 59 races where party control of the seat is at stake have yet to be called.
In Mississippi's Senate race, Democrat Scott Colom has a lead of a few dozen votes over Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. Several thousand provisional ballots are expected to be counted, and those votes will be decisive. In 2022, the state counted about 5,700 provisional ballots. Mississippi does not have an automatic recount process, but a challenger can seek a court order for one.
The AP has also not called Alaska's Senate contest between incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola, who has a 626-vote lead over Sullivan with an estimated 74% of votes counted. Under Alaska law, if neither candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, then it goes to ranked-choice tabulation.
Trump defends data centers as ‘GOLD’ as newly elected Democrats target them
Trump is doubling down on his support for data centers and warned Friday that states that deny them will lose out on “the riches they bring!”
A wave of Democrats is pledging to clamp down on the energy-hungry behemoths that underpin the artificial intelligence boom. Skepticism of data centers and their impact on electricity prices and overall affordability bolstered successful Democratic campaigns for governor in states such as Texas and Ohio.
Trump has cast data centers as crucial to winning an AI arms race against China but also for lowering taxes and bringing in jobs to communities that allow them.
“As President, I am 100% in favor of Super Intelligence (SI), and will work with the many States in the U.S. that want to become RICH by having them,” Trump said Friday on Truth Social. “They are GOLD, and only foolish leadership will say “NO” to the riches they bring!”
Clergy candidates’ ‘love your neighbor’ message powers Democrats’ gains
Clergy members and other Democratic candidates with an unapologetically Christian message to "love your neighbor" helped their party flip control of Congress.
It was a striking midterm victory that demonstrated the strength of the religious left as a counter to the stalwart evangelical support for Trump and his fellow Republicans.
“This attempt to corner the market on Christianity by evangelicals was repudiated,” said Brian Kaylor, a Baptist pastor and editor of a progressive faith and politics site.
Instead, American mainline Protestantism, with its less-strident theology, took the election spotlight.
As Congress returns to Democrats, Trump’s District of Columbia projects are a likely casualty
In his first public appearance after an election that soundly repudiated his policies, Trump turned to a topic both familiar and, given the context, surprising: not his policies or politics, but his efforts to remake pieces of the city that is the backdrop to his presidency.
Despite Trump’s affinity for project management, though, with Democrats taking control of Congress, the work the administration is doing to change the physical face of the District of Columbia is sure to face far more roadblocks than it did for the first two years of his second term.
Latino voters swung left, lifting Democrats to big wins in Texas and nationwide
Latino voters moved sharply to the left, propelling Democrats to an improbable electoral sweep in Texas and in battleground House races from coast to coast. It's a remarkable pivot for a demographic that had shifted toward Trump just two years ago.
“We showed our power and flexed our muscle during this election,” said Democratic Rep. Gabe Vasquez, who won his battleground district in New Mexico by around 17 percentage points after winning by less than 1 percentage point in 2022.
Democrats capitalized on voters' angst over rising prices and government corruption, riding a wave of frustration to retake control of the House and the Senate. And Hispanics joined in that decisive repudiation of Trump and his Republican Party.