“President Trump said Thursday night that voters had themselves to blame for the stock market’s historic sell-off,” Axios reports.
“Two days after Republicans lost the midterm elections in historic fashion, the president is lashing out at the voters who rejected his candidates and message.”
Said Trump: “The Stock Market crashed today because the Dumocrats had a big Tuesday — So sad to see, you only have yourselves to blame!”
“Texas Democrats stunned the world this week—and they are only getting started,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“After cycles of overestimating their chances of victory, they completed a total conquest of every statewide seat and control of the statehouse, upending the GOP’s spiritual home in a single night.”
“President Donald Trump is using his postelection public appearances to talk about the lasting physical changes he hopes to leave behind at the White House,” NBC News reports.
“In the two days since Republicans suffered massive losses in the midterm elections, Trump has spoken twice in public. Both times he focused on rooms and renovations at the White House.”
“Democrats are eyeing President Trump’s trade war with Canada as the first target in a campaign to roll back his administration’s tariff agenda,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
It’s not too late to pick up a Blue Wave T-Shirt.
“As President Trump prepares for the final two years of his presidency, he is expected to devote more attention to his presidential library, which has become a growing destination for money from companies and allies,” CBS News reports.
“With Democrats taking control of Congress in January after a sweeping victory in the November elections, lawmakers have pledged investigations into the library’s finances.”
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is not under consideration to be appointed as Tennessee’s next senator, even as President Donald Trump weighs his top war official’s future in the administration,” the Washington Post reports.
“Trump has not spoken to Blackburn about appointing Hegseth, said two people with knowledge of the situation. Blackburn is not considering Hegseth for the role, said a Republican operative in Tennessee with ties to Blackburn.”
MS NOW: Hegseth prepares for his next battle: Impeachment.
“America has a new political reality: Republicans’ generations-long grip on Southern politics has been torn apart,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Sweeping through the states of the old Confederacy, Democrats dismantled decades of GOP dominance in one night. They won Senate seats in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia while capturing both the Senate races and governor’s mansions in Georgia and Texas. Throughout the region, down-ballot state offices and legislatures long held by Republicans flipped blue.”
“Even Mississippi, which last elected a Democratic senator in 1982, remains in play. Democrat Scott Colom is locked in a tight race with Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith that few saw coming.”
New York Times: “Mr. Trump had started his second term intent on harnessing the power of the federal government to resurface false claims that widespread fraud had tainted his earlier defeat — and to use those claims to assert unprecedented control over the midterms this year.”
“He failed.”
“Voters so thoroughly rejected Republicans on Tuesday, ushering in one of the largest Democratic House majorities in generations and flipping seats that had been red for decades, that it became impossible to blame the outcome on fraud.”
“Four of the eight people appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to an influential health panel in September own stock in companies that make drugs and other products affected by the group’s decisions,” the New York Times reports.
“The investments were described in conflict-of-interest waivers that gave the members permission to serve on the panel, the United States Preventive Services Task Force. The Times obtained the waivers through a public records request.”
“Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) is heading back to South Carolina this weekend to speak to Black voters, celebrate Democrats’ success in a deep-red state and lay out his vision for the party’s future,” Axios reports.
“For Senate Democrats, the 2028 presidential primary is getting underway before they formally vote on their next Senate leader.”
“The White House delivered a warning to conservative groups on Thursday: We’re watching you,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Two days after voters rebuked President Trump and his party, the administration moved to hold together a coalition that was beginning to splinter.”
“The White House Office of Public Liaison, which works with outside groups, sent a memo to more than 3,000 conservative organizations that laid out a list of Trump’s accomplishments in office and pledged to prevent newly ascendant Democrats from reversing them. The memo concluded with a sentence that was highlighted in yellow.”
Said the memo: “As always, we are monitoring statements, press releases, and media engagements from your organizations.”
“Senator Dan S. Sullivan is unlikely to make significant gains if the Alaska Senate race advances to ranked-choice tabulation, according to a New York Times analysis of the available ranked-choice data in the state,” the New York Times reports.
“This holds true despite the fact that the reallocated ballots will come from voters who backed two candidates who ran as Republicans — including one also named Dan Sullivan.”
“The findings suggest that Mary Peltola, the Democratic nominee, is on track to eventually prevail in the Alaska Senate race.”
“The coalition that helped return Donald Trump to the presidency two years ago is beginning to fracture, with Democratic Senate candidates peeling away voters to win seats in deeply Republican territory this cycle,” CNN reports.
“In five races won by Democrats in states where Trump voters made up the lion’s share of the midterm electorate – Texas, Ohio, Iowa, Kansas, and South Carolina – roughly one-tenth of those Trump voters backed the Democratic candidate this year. Democratic candidates in Georgia and North Carolina also won more than one-tenth of Trump voters in their states.”
“The artificial intelligence data center boom hit a roadblock on election night, further complicating the tech industry’s historic expansion plans,” CNBC reports.
“There were 41 local ballot measures in 10 states up for a vote on Tuesday that would place restrictions on the construction of data centers in different ways.”
Bloomberg: Only one town out of dozens in U.S. voted in favor of data centers.
“President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Thursday that he said would designate the White House’s Oval Office and Cabinet Room as national landmarks — a move he said would protect the two West Wing spaces from future changes,” CNN reports.
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s office is pushing back against reports that claim he plans to resign to focus on a potential 2028 presidential bid,” NewsNation reports.
Said Assistant Secretary of State Dylan Johnson: “This is complete and total fake news based on the word of anonymous sources, befitting a tabloid. The Secretary has not discussed leaving his role and he will continue to proudly serve in President Trump’s administration long after this fake news is revealed as yet another baseless hoax.”
“Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa used her first news conference since winning election to spotlight her scrutiny of the potential sale of state park land to Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp,” Bloomberg reports.
“Hinojosa said she spoke to the head of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department on Thursday to ‘request that no action be taken’ during her transition to power.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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