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Election 2024 live updates: Trump begins transition as Republicans expected to win House

President-elect Donald Trump names his victorious 2024 campaign manager as first-ever female White House chief of staff as he works on transition to Oval Office

Donald Trump praises ‘ice maiden’ Susie Wiles after historic election win

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President-elect Donald Trump has begun preparing for the Oval Office by naming Susie Wiles as his new White House chief of staff.

The Republicans are expected to retain control of the House, likely handing the GOP a trifecta as they’re set to take back the Senate, possibly handing Trump full control of the levers of power in Washington.

Trump and President Joe Biden both had a trifecta for their first two years in office.

Wiles spearheaded Trump’s successful 2024 campaign and is the first of many appointees who will help to push his agenda, which includes the mass deportation of illegal immigrants, more trade tariffs and extended tax cuts.

The Republican also looks to be on course to win Nevada as he nears the completion of an astonishing clean sweep of the swing states, with only Arizona still to declare.

Trump shared several late-night election victory posts on Truth Social on Thursday – his first since his return to power was confirmed early on Wednesday morning.

The wave of posts included an Electoral College map, newspaper front pages recounting his triumph over Democrat Kamala Harris and a photo of a MAGA cap-clad Trump with the caption: “Get ready for the Golden Age.”

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Donald Trump picks Susie Wiles for White House chief of staff in first cabinet appointment

Good morning!

President-elect Donald Trump has begun preparing for the Oval Office by naming Susie Wiles as his new White House chief of staff.

Wiles spearheaded his successful 2024 campaign and is the first of many appointees who will help to push his agenda, which includes the mass deportation of illegal immigrants, more trade tariffs and extended tax cuts.

Here’s Alex Hannaford with an introduction to the “Ice Maidan”.

Meet Susie Wiles, the ‘ice maiden’ behind Trump’s win - and his new chief of staff

On one hand, Susie Wiles is the generous neighbour who brings you casseroles and sends you flowers when you’re in the hospital. On the other, she’s a ruthless political operator who was the mastermind behind getting Donald Trump back to the White House. Alex Hannaford talks to those who know her to find out how she became one of the few people who can handle her boss...

Joe Sommerlad8 November 2024 09:00
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Elon Musk: King of the MAGA media universe

Elon Musk is now unquestionably the king of MAGA media.

Tech journalist Charlie Warzel once named it “the new media Upside Down”, riffing on Stranger Things. Sean Illing at Vox referred to it as “the fantasy-industrial complex”. Wikipedia simply calls it the “right-wing alternative media”.

To Musk, a born-again MAGA crusader who has spent the last two years reshaping one of the world’s major social networks in his image, this parallel universe of algorithm-aided disinformation is simply “citizen journalism” — even if his description does sound a lot like traditional journalism.

And after Donald Trump’s victory this week, the MAGA media universe might just be the new mainstream media.

Io Dodds reports from San Francisco.

Elon Musk is now king of the MAGA media universe

Earth’s richest person has transformed Twitter into the cornerstone of the right-wing media ecosystem – which makes him one of the powers behind Trump’s throne, writes Io Dodds

Oliver O'Connell8 November 2024 08:40
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Trump’s win teaches Joe Rogan that voting works

Joe Rogan elevated an election integrity conspiracy theory while celebrating Donald Trump’s presidential win, suggesting if the former president had not won the election, it may have been “rigged”.

“So, turns out voting works. It’s real,” Rogan said with delight on Thursday’s episode of The Joe Rogan Experience.

Ariana Baio reports.

Joe Rogan now realizes voting works - but only because Trump won

Rogan, who hosted the former president on his podcast, endorsed Trump on Election Day

Oliver O'Connell8 November 2024 08:10
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Major abortion rights victories on Election Day still under threat from Trump and his allies

Alex Woodward and Bel Trew write:

Two years after the Supreme Court revoked a constitutional right to abortion, millions of voters across the country directly weighed in on the future of reproductive healthcare access in their states.

Voters in seven of 10 states with abortion rights measures on their ballots have agreed to expand protections or enshrine a right to abortion in their own state’s constitutions, effectively redrawing the map for abortion access.

But those victories — from Arizona to Colorado, Missouri, Montana and elsewhere — were followed by warnings from abortion rights advocates that president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration, and an emboldened Republican-dominated Congress, could soon upend hard-fought, newly enshrined protections.

Continue reading...

Abortion rights win major victories on Election Day. Trump could threaten them

Trump says he wants to leave reproductive healthcare up to the states, where millions of women delivered a powerful rebuke to anti-abortion laws. Lawyers and civil rights groups are bracing for what’s next, Alex Woodward and Bel Trew report

Oliver O'Connell8 November 2024 07:10
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Who is on Trump’s enemies list?

For years, Donald Trump has threatened to go after countless political rivals who he claims have wronged him.

In speeches to supporters and rants on his Truth Social platform, he has on multiple occasions vowed to seek “retribution” and called his political opponents the “enemies from within.”

During an interview with Dr Phil in June, he issued an especially ominous threat. “Well, revenge does take time. I will say that. And sometimes revenge can be justified,” he said.

Here’s Rhian Lubin with a brief rundown of who might make the cut...

Trump’s enemies list: political rivals and organizations he threatened to go after

Kamala Harris previously warned that the president-elect ‘has an enemies list of people he intends to prosecute’

Oliver O'Connell8 November 2024 06:10
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Online misogyny spikes after Trump victory with shocking ‘your body, my choice’ posts

Women are facing a barrage of deeply misogynistic comments online following Donald Trump’s US presidential election victory.

The Republican candidate defeated Kamala Harris following a chaotic campaign dogged by anger, insults and division, winning 51 percent of the popular vote on Wednesday, 6 November.

In the wake of the former president’s shocking political comeback, women have reported men are writing “your body, my choice” on their social media posts, among other troubling reproductive rights remarks.

Lydia Spencer-Elliott reports.

Oliver O'Connell8 November 2024 04:40
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ANALYSIS: Conservatives hate Mitch McConnell. But he’s the architect of the Trump comeback

Eric Garcia explains that while MAGA may hate Mitch McConnell, a decision he made in February 2021 sowed the seeds that allowed the movement to grow and thrive and return Trump to the Oval Office.

Mitch McConnell was the true architect of Trump’s second term

Analysis: The man who has long spoken about the long game made the ultimate gamble on Trump twice. It paid off, big-time

Oliver O'Connell8 November 2024 04:10
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‘Nostradamus’ pollster bashes rival after both election predictions flopped

With Donald Trump heading back to the White House, it’s not just the Democrats who face a reckoning, but pollsters as well.

Multiple high-profile polling gurus failed to accurately predict what ended up being a decisive victory for the former president on Tuesday, and now some of the experts are taking pot-shots at each other.

Political pollster and historian Allan Lichtman took a swipe at fellow elections forecaster Nate Silver on Wednesday, saying that ‘unlike his rival’ he will admit he was wrong about the 2024 result.

Ariana Baio has the story.

‘Nostradamus’ of polling bashes rival after both election predictions flopped

Across the board, pollsters failed to predict Trump would win by a comfortable margin

Oliver O'Connell8 November 2024 03:40
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Why Trump will likely never see the inside of a prison cell — or be sentenced at all

In theory, the next President of the United States is supposed to face sentencing for his New York criminal trial conviction at the end of the month.

But following his election win this week it is looking increasingly likely that won’t happen and Donald Trump will once again evade repercussions for his actions.

Ariana Baio reports.

Why Trump will likely never see the inside of a prison cell — or be sentenced at all

Legal experts feel confident the judge overseeing Trump’s hush money case will cancel his sentencing

Oliver O'Connell8 November 2024 02:40
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EDITORIAL: Europe cannot rely on Trump’s protection – it must take the lead on defence

As the US takes its isolationist turn and pivots its own defence efforts towards the Indo-Pacific and China, it is vital that Europe, including Britain, looks to its own resources.

Europe cannot rely on Trump’s protection – it must take the lead on defence

Editorial: As the US takes its isolationist turn and pivots its own defence efforts towards the Indo-Pacific and China, it is vital that Europe, including Britain, looks to its own resources

Oliver O'Connell8 November 2024 01:40

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