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Election live updates: Harris concedes

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Election live updates: Harris concedes

Trump is set to go after the measures doing the most to fight climate change

The election of Donald Trump as president for a second time and the Republican takeback of the U.S. Senate could undo many of the national climate policies that are most reducing planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, according to climate solutions experts.

When they list measures that are making the most difference, it lines up with policies Trump has said he’ll target.

These rollbacks will come as more lives are being lost in heat waves, record amounts of climate pollution are accumulating in the atmosphere, the United States has been hit with what may be two of its most expensive hurricanes, and nations, which will meet in Baku, Azerbaijan next week for climate negotiations, have failed to take strong action to change these realities.

Read about some of the measures

Obamas congratulate Trump and Vance on their White House win

In a statement issued Wednesday, former President Barack Obama, along with former first lady Michelle Obama, said the election’s result “is obviously not the outcome we had hoped for” but noted that “living in a democracy is about recognizing that our point of view won’t always win out, and being willing to accept the peaceful transfer of power.”

Congratulating Trump and Vance, the Obamas expressed pride for Harris and Walz, for both of whom they campaigned, calling them “two extraordinary public servants who ran a remarkable campaign.”

The Obamas cast forward with hope for a divided America, saying that the nation’s problems are solvable “only if we listen to each other, and only if we abide by the core constitutional principles and democratic norms that made this country great.”


Biden White House urges Trump to begin the process for an orderly transition

The White House is encouraging Trump to enter into the required agreements necessary to begin an orderly presidential transition.

Trump’s transition team still has not signed the agreements with the White House and the General Services Administration that allow them access to federal facilities, documents and personnel. The delay is holding up the federal government’s ability to begin processing security clearances for potential Trump administration national security appointees, potentially limiting the number of his staff who could work on sensitive information by Inauguration Day.

White House chief of staff Jeff Zients reached out to co-chairs Howard Lutnick and Linda McMahon to reiterate the role the agreements play in beginning a presidential transition, according to a White House official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive transition planning.

Democrats promise ‘peaceful’ transition of power

Shortly after Harris’ concession speech, a series of Democratic lawmakers issued their first statements in response to the election results and promised to ensure a “peaceful” transition for the incoming Republican administration.

“As deeply, deeply disappointed as I am by the results of the election, make no mistake: my Democratic colleagues and I — unlike many Republicans after the 2020 election — will uphold the will of the American people, fulfill our constitutional duty and do our part to ensure a peaceful transfer of power,” Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois said in a statement.

Trump has been taking calls from world leaders, supporters

Transition talks have not yet begun in earnest, according to a person with knowledge of the Trump campaign. Instead, the president-elect was busy taking calls from leaders, domestic and international, donors and key supporters. Transition discussions are expected to ramp up later in the week, as attention turns to naming an inaugural committee and formal transition team. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.


A Decision Desk update on Nevada

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


Nevada resumed counting votes on Wednesday afternoon, adding almost 21,000 votes including 9,000 from Clark County. Trump’s lead in the state is about 560,000 votes, and the race is too early to call. Clark, home to Las Vegas, has the greatest number of ballots left to be counted. Election officials in Clark plan for another update late Wednesday and to update daily at 11 p.m. EST through Saturday.


In Pictures: Scenes from Harris concession speech at Howard University


Democrats enter a Trump presidency without a plan or a clear leader

Democrats spent billions of dollars warning American voters that Donald Trump posed an imminent threat to democracy, that his economic policies would benefit only his wealthy friends, that he was literally a fascist.

In the end, voters didn’t care — or if they did, it didn’t matter.

And now, after Kamala Harris’ decisive loss, Democrats enter a second Trump presidency with no clear leader, no clear plan and no agreement on what caused them to be so wrong about the 2024 election.

“I think there needs to be a cleaning of the house, there needs to be a new generation of leaders that emerge,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., among the few Democrats with presidential ambitions to address the party’s future on Wednesday. “There needs to be new thinking, new ideas and a new direction. And, you know, the establishment produced a disaster.”

Read more about the Democrats’ future

AP Race Call: Donald Trump wins Alaska

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


Former President Donald Trump won Alaska and its three electoral votes on Wednesday, adding to his lead in the Electoral College. Trump continues a decadeslong trend of Republicans carrying the state in the presidential race. When discussing Alaska, he has often cited his role while president in the passage of a 2017 tax law that called for oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Trump endorsed in Alaska’s other high-profile race this election cycle, backing Republican Nick Begich for U.S. House. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 4:59 p.m. EST.

LGBTQ+ advocates react to election outcomes

More than 70 national, state and local LGBTQ+ rights and advocacy organizations released a “solidarity statement” Wednesday reacting to the results of this week’s elections.

“Election outcomes at national, state, and local levels will impact our health, our safety, and our rights as LGBTQIA2S+ people and families,” the statement read. “Despite anti-LGBTQIA2S+ efforts to divide our communities, and particularly severe attacks against transgender people and LGBTQIA2S+ youth, we have succeeded in moving a few steps closer toward equity and justice for our community.”

The letter highlighted the reelection of lesbian U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and the election of the first transgender member of Congress, Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, of Delaware.

The statement did not mention Trump by name. But he and other Republican candidates frequently employed anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric in campaign ads, remarks and platforms, particularly against transgender and nonbinary people.

The statement was signed by groups including the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, GLAAD, many PFLAG and Equality chapters, the Transgender Law Center, Advocates for Trans Equality, and the Trevor Project, a youth suicide prevention organization.

Jaymes Black, CEO of the Trevor Project, said separately in an email that volume on its crisis line from LGBTQ+ youths seeking help increased about 125% on Election Day through midday Wednesday.

Biden watched Harris’ speech from afar

The president watched Harris’ concession speech from the West Wing, the White House said.


Harris: ‘Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars’


Harris wraps concession speech at Howard University


Harris sets the stage for a fight against Trump’s administration

Harris focuses on the future


Harris: ‘We must accept the results of this election’

Harris acknowledges loss in concession speech

Walz attends Harris concession speech


Harris’ playlist


A Decision Desk update on Arizona

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


Arizona’s biggest county, Maricopa, says it will update its vote count this evening, sometime around 8 p.m. EST. Trump leads Harris by more than 4 points with about 60% of the expected vote counted. The newest votes will be mailed ballots that arrived or were dropped off on Election Day or shortly before. It’s not clear which candidate those will favor.


AP Race Call: Kamala Harris wins the statewide vote in Maine and two electoral votes

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


Democrat Kamala Harris earned a statewide win in Maine, collecting a pair of electoral votes on Wednesday. Maine is one of two states that divide their electoral votes with two votes going to the statewide winner and one vote apiece to the winner of each congressional district. The last time a Republican won the statewide vote in Maine was in 1988, when Republican George W. Bush defeated Democrat Michael Dukakis. The Associated Press declared Harris the statewide winner at 4:23 p.m. EST.

Harris campaign chair marks ‘unfathomably painful’ loss but strikes hopeful note about future work

Harris’ campaign chair acknowledged the Democrat’s “unfathomably painful” loss in a memo to staff, but told the operatives who worked for the vice president that “the work of protecting America from the impacts of a Trump Presidency starts now.”

Jen O’Malley Dillon’s memo to staff acknowledged the pain of the moment for Democrats but took a hopeful tone about the work these staffers have done.

“Losing is unfathomably painful. It is hard. This will take a long time to process,” she wrote. “But the work of protecting America from the impacts of a Trump Presidency starts now.”

O’Malley Dillon said Harris “isn’t finished in this fight” and said the staffers who worked for the vice president are “going to be leaders in this collective mission.”

“View this as the beginning, not the end” she concluded. “It will be hard work. But as the boss says: hard work is good work.”


Beyoncé’s ‘Run the World (Girls)’ plays at Harris’ concession speech

Beyoncé’s “Freedom” became a mainstay of Harris’ presidential campaign, and some of the artist’s other music is providing the soundtrack of the event expected to include her concession speech.

“Run the World (Girls)” played through speakers at Howard University as supporters, members of Congress and other Democratic notables awaited the Democratic nominee.

Harris’ presidential campaign took on Beyoncé’s 2016 track “Freedom” as its anthem, with Harris walking out to it at dozens of events, including her acceptance speech at this summer’s Democratic National Convention.

The singer appeared with Harris last month during a campaign rally in her hometown of Houston, bringing a high level of star power to what had become a key theme of the Democratic nominee’s bid: freedom.

The crowd gathers as Harris prepares to deliver her concession speech


Abortion rights advocates win in 7 states and clear way to overturn Missouri ban but lose in 3


Voters in Missouri cleared the way to undo one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion bans in one of seven victories for abortion rights advocates, while Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota defeated similar constitutional amendments, leaving bans in place.

Abortion rights amendments also passed in Arizona, Colorado, Maryland and Montana. Nevada voters also approved an amendment, but they’ll need to pass it again it 2026 for it to take effect. Another that bans discrimination on the basis of “pregnancy outcomes” prevailed in New York.

The results came in the same election where Trump won the presidency. Among his inconsistent positions on abortion has been an insistence that it’s an issue best left to the states. Still, the president can have a major impact on abortion policy through executive action.

Read more about the national abortion landscape

Harris heads to deliver her concession speech

Harris has left the vice president’s residence and is traveling to Howard University, her alma mater, to publicly concede the election to President-elect Trump.

Harris has already spoken to Trump by telephone to congratulate him on winning, according to one of the VP’s aides. Trump’s team has confirmed the conversation.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff will join Harris at Howard.


Trump gets congratulatory call from Jordanian king

Jordan’s King Abdullah II is urging Trump to boost international efforts to protect regional and global stability.

The Jordanian Royal Court posted on X that the king called Trump to congratulate him on winning the presidential election.

He noted in the call that the United States plays a pivotal role in maintaining stability in the Mideast and world, the royal court said.

Donald Trump has sweeping plans for a second administration. Here’s what he’s proposed


Belarusian president congratulates Trump

Belarus’ authoritarian leader President Alexander Lukashenko has congratulated Donald Trump on winning the U.S. presidential election, despite tensions between the countries.

“You did it first and foremost in the name of America and its citizens. I wish you good health, well-aimed political decisions that will make America great again,” Lukashenko said in a statement.

Since protests against alleged fraud in the 2020 elections that gave Lukashenko a sixth term in office, he has led a harsh and extensive crackdown on opposition. The Trump administration adopted two packages of sanctions against Belarus for the falsification of its own 2020 elections and violence against protesters.

Special counsel evaluating how to wind down two federal cases against Trump after presidential win

Special counsel Jack Smith is evaluating how to wind down the two federal cases against Trump before he takes office in light of longstanding Justice Department policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted, a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

Smith charged Trump last year with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. But Trump’s election defeat of Kamala Harris means that the Justice Department believes he can no longer face prosecution in accordance with decades-old department legal opinions meant to shield presidents from criminal charges while in office.

Read more about the special counsel’s decision


Top Harris adviser says they ‘dug out of a deep hole but not enough’

Biden calls to congratulate Trump


Doc Rivers: ‘We want him to do the best job for the country, at the end of the day’

Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers had campaigned for Kamala Harris and called Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally “atrocious” during an Oct. 28 pregame availability. Rivers struck a conciliatory tone Wednesday while discussing the election results.

“I was disappointed in the results, you know, I really was,” Rivers said during a postpractice media session. “This is the most involved I’ve ever been in an election. A lot of it was personal because I’ve known Kamala for over 15 years. I thought she would have been a terrific president. The problem is 65-million-plus disagreed with me, and now Donald Trump’s our president, and we’re going to have to support him. We want him to do the best job for the country, at the end of the day.”

El-Sissi: Egypt ‘looks forward’ to working with Trump during his new term


UN chief commends voters for ‘their active participation in the democratic process’

Inside AP’s call for Donald Trump in Michigan

The candidates: Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump
Poll closing time: 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET Tuesday (two time zones)
Race called: 12:54 p.m. ET Wednesday

  • Trump improved his margin in Detroit’s county and won overwhelmingly in Republican-leaning parts of the state
  • Even if Harris had won 9 out of 10 of the ballots left to be counted she couldn’t have caught Trump at the time the race was called.

▶ Go behind the scenes of the race call

Harris discussed importance of a peaceful transfer of power with Trump during call

Vice President Kamala Harris called President-elect Donald Trump Wednesday to congratulate him on his election victory, a senior Harris aide said.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the call.

The aide said Harris discussed the importance of a peaceful transfer of power with Trump ahead of her planned concession speech Wednesday afternoon.


JUST IN: Harris called President-elect Trump on Wednesday to congratulate him on election victory, AP source says

By The Associated Press



Why didn’t Florida’s measures to protect abortion rights and legalize marijuana pass?

For months, Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis railed against ballot measures that would have amended the state’s constitution to legalize marijuana and protect the right to an abortion up to viability — usually considered sometime after 21 weeks. He said they were poorly worded, confusing and would be impossible to repeal if written into the state’s constitution.

Image

A doctor wears a button on his scrubs in support of Florida’s Amendment 4, which would enshrine abortion rights in the state, as doctors and others canvas, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Image

Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers discusses the medical marijuana company’s product at an event in support of Amendment 3, a ballot initiative which would legalize the recreational use of pot in Florida, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

But a majority of voters cast ballots in support of them. So why didn’t they pass?

Two decades ago, Republican Gov. Jeb Bush successfully lobbied to make it harder for voters to amend the constitution by requiring them to earn 60% support on ballot measures. Both measures garnered over 50% of the vote, but fell shy of the required threshold.

The results indicate the issues are not cleanly partisan.

Trump won 56 percent of the vote, suggesting that his backers included voters who disagree with the GOP on abortion rights and those who support marijuana legalization.

Trump, perhaps the state’s most famous resident, also had a chance to weigh in. He said he voted against the measure expanding abortion rights. He did not say how he voted on the marijuana measure but has in the past said he supports legalization.

Trump completes ‘Blue Wall’ sweep, just as he did in 2016


Why the AP called Michigan

By The Associated Press


Trump picked up another battleground state early Wednesday afternoon, winning Michigan to complete a sweep of the “Blue Wall” states in the Upper Midwest around the Great Lakes.

The race came down to the final results from Wayne County, where Harris wasn’t able to match Biden’s 2020 winning margin in the Democratic-dominated county that’s home to Detroit.

Macron and Trump spoke about Ukraine, Middle East during call


AP Race Call: Donald Trump wins Michigan

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


Former President Donald Trump won Michigan on Wednesday, reclaiming the battleground state and its 15 electoral votes for the Republicans after Joe Biden flipped it in 2020 on his way to the White House. Trump won Michigan in 2016 by just over 10,000 votes, marking the first time a Republican presidential candidate had secured the state in nearly three decades. Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, faced concerns that discontent among Democrats in metro Detroit over the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war could jeopardize her campaign. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 12:54 p.m. EST.

Donald Trump’s election is historic — in more ways than one

By The Associated Press


Donald Trump’s election victory was history-making in several respects, even as his defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris prevented other firsts. She would have been the nation’s first Black and South Asian woman to be president.

  • He’s the oldest to be elected
  • It’s the second time someone has won two non-consecutive terms
  • He is in line to become the first U.S. president with a felony conviction
  • He’s been impeached (twice)

▶ Read more about how Trump’s election is historic


Nikki Haley calls Trump’s win ‘a great moment for democracy’

Voters in Amarillo, Texas, reject sweeping anti-abortion proposal

Voters in Amarillo, Texas, overwhelmingly rejected a sweeping anti-abortion proposal that would have essentially imposed a travel ban on those seeking abortions out of state by allowing civil lawsuits against anyone who assists them, even if it’s in another state.

Dubbed the “Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn” ordinance, the 18-page proposition was rejected by nearly 60% of voters.

Lindsay London, a local nurse who helped found a volunteer group opposing the effort, described the vote as a “defining win.”

“Amarillo is the first city in the nation to reject an abortion ban,” London said. “We hope to set the tone for not only the state but the nation, that we will not penalize anyone for seeking health care when they’re facing an extreme travel ban in their own state.”

The vote was the culmination of a yearlong effort by abortion opponents who tried unsuccessfully to get city leaders to approve the ordinance.


Netanyahu says he spoke with Trump on Wednesday

Trump and Prince Mohammed have spoken, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry says


Some voters want less government say on vaccines, as Trump promises RFK Jr. big role

Harris to concede Wednesday afternoon

Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver a concession speech Wednesday at 4 p.m., her office announced.

Harris will speak at Howard University, her alma mater in Washington, where her supporters watched returns Tuesday night before being sent home after midnight as President-elect Donald Trump pulled ahead in battleground state results.

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