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Trump picks key political loyalists for top jobs

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is moving quickly to fill his nascent administration with Republican officials who have been the most politically loyal to him in the four years he was out of office.

Trump, according to various U.S. news accounts, has decided to name Florida Senator Marco Rubio as secretary of state, the country’s top diplomat, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as the Homeland Security chief.

Both Rubio and Noem were on Trump’s short list of possible vice-presidential running mates several months ago. While Trump later picked first-term Ohio Senator JD Vance, now the vice president-elect, to join him on the Republican national ticket, both Rubio and Noem remained Trump stalwarts as he easily won the election last week over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump has settled on Michael Waltz, a Florida congressman, as his national security adviser. Waltz earlier this year supported a long-shot Republican legislative effort to rename Washington’s international airport for Trump.

Trump on Monday also named Thomas Homan, his former acting immigration chief, to be his “border czar” to head efforts to deport undocumented migrants living in the U.S., possibly millions, back to their home countries. News accounts reported that Stephen Miller, another vocal anti-migrant adviser who served in Trump’s first term, would be named as Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy.

The president-elect picked another ardent supporter, Elise Stefanik, a New York congresswoman, as the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He nominated former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel.

Just ahead of the election, Trump, who only rarely publicly admits making any mistakes, told podcaster Joe Rogan that his biggest error during his term from 2017 to 2021 was hiring “bad people, or disloyal people.”

“I picked some people that I shouldn’t have picked,” he said.

Some of the top officials Trump chose then, including former chief of staff John Kelly and national security adviser John Bolton, became sharp public Trump critics after he ousted them. Kelly said during this year’s campaign that Trump met the definition of a fascist ruler. Trump attacked both former officials, calling Kelly “a bully but a weak person” and disparaging Bolton as “an idiot.”

Ahead of the election, Bolton said, “What Trump will look for in senior nominees in a second term is fealty. He wants ‘yes men’ and ‘yes women.'”

Rubio sparred sharply with Trump during their 2016 run for the Republican presidential nomination, which Trump captured enroute to his first term as president. Rubio mocked Trump as having small hands and sporting an orange spray tan, while Trump derided Rubio as “little Marco.”

But Rubio, like numerous other one-time Trump critics, was a staunch Trump supporter in this year’s campaign. In recent years, Rubio has proved to be an outspoken foreign policy hawk, taking hard lines on U.S. relations with China, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba.

He has at times been at odds with Republicans who were skeptical about U.S. involvement in overseas conflicts, such as helping to fund Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s 2022 invasion. But more recently, he voted against sending more U.S. military aid to Ukraine, while Trump has also voiced skepticism about the extent of U.S. assistance to Kyiv.

Rubio told NBC News in September, “I think the Ukrainians have been, such incredibly brave and strong in standing up to Russia. But at the end of the day, what we are funding here is a stalemate war, and it needs to be brought to a conclusion, or that country is going to be set back 100 years.”

“I’m not on Russia’s side — but unfortunately, the reality of it is that the way the war in Ukraine is going to end is with a negotiated settlement,” Rubio said.

Noem rose to national prominence and won conservative plaudits after refusing to impose a statewide mask mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

Trump was reportedly considering her as his vice-presidential running mate. But she faced widespread criticism and fell in the stakes to be Trump’s No. 2 in April when she wrote in a memoir that she shot to death an “untrainable” dog that she “hated” on her family farm.

Waltz is a former Army Green Beret who shares Trump’s views on illegal immigration and skepticism of America’s continued support for Ukraine.

Waltz, who also has served in the National Guard as a colonel, has criticized Chinese activity in the Asia-Pacific and said the United States needs to be ready for a potential conflict in the region.

Just as notable as Trump’s initial selections are two former officials he has rejected for top jobs in his new administration: Nikki Haley, his former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Haley ran against Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and Pompeo considered opposing Trump before backing off.

Trump is heading to Washington on Wednesday to meet with President Joe Biden, who defeated Trump in the 2020 election, about the transfer of power when Trump is inaugurated on January 20. Trump is also planning to meet with Republicans in the House of Representatives.
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Trump sets sights on Gaza, Ukraine as early foreign policy goals

Beyond promising a return to the America First doctrine, President-elect Donald Trump has not provided details on what U.S. foreign policy will look like under his incoming administration. But his early conversations with leaders following his election victory indicate he aims to fulfill his promises to quickly end the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports.
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Transition period for US president-elect takes weeks

Although Donald Trump has won the presidential election, nearly 11 weeks will pass before he can assume office, giving him 76 days to prepare a new government.
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Voters in Oakland oust Mayor Sheng Thao just 2 years into her term

OAKLAND, Calif. — Voters in Oakland, California, have ousted Mayor Sheng Thao just two years after she narrowly won office to lead the liberal San Francisco Bay Area city.

The Associated Press called the race Monday.

“Thank you for choosing me to serve as your Mayor. As the first Hmong American woman to become the mayor of a major American City, it has been the honor of my lifetime,” she said in a statement last week.

She committed to ensuring a smooth transition.

Thao must vacate the office as soon as election results are certified Dec. 5 and the Oakland City Council declares a vacancy at its next meeting, which would be Dec. 17, Nikki Fortunato Bas, City Council president, said in a statement.

A special election for a new mayor will be held within 120 days, or roughly four months.

Until then, Bas — as president of the City Council — would serve as interim mayor unless she wins a seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. As of Monday, Bas was trailing in that race.

Thao was elected mayor in November 2022 and became the first Hmong American to lead a major city. She faced criticism almost immediately after taking office for firing popular Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong. Frustrated voters, including the local NAACP, blamed Thao for a long list of city woes related to public safety, homelessness and the city’s budget.

In her statement, Thao said she was proud of her administration’s accomplishments.

Thao was not the only official booted from office in Tuesday’s election. Pamela Price, district attorney for Alameda County, which includes Oakland, also was ousted by voters in a recall election. Critics of both Thao and Price disagreed with the officials’ progressive politics.

Thao went into Tuesday’s election weakened by an FBI raid in June of her home — along with properties owned by a politically influential family that controls the city’s recycling contract. Thao has maintained her innocence and authorities have not said what they are investigating.

Oakland uses a ranked choice voting system that allows voters to list multiple choices in order of preference. Thao narrowly beat Loren Taylor in 2022 despite getting fewer first-place votes than Taylor.

Oakland has about 400,000 residents and is, at times, more politically liberal than San Francisco. It is Vice President Kamala Harris’ hometown.

In recent years, Oakland has lost three professional sports franchises, including Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has sent state highway patrol officers, state prosecutors, and surveillance cameras to help Oakland battle crime.
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Trump breaks Republican losing streak in nation’s largest majority-Arab city

DEARBORN, Michigan — Faced with two choices she didn’t like, Suehaila Amen chose neither. 

Instead, the longtime Democrat from the Arab American stronghold of Dearborn, Michigan, backed a third-party candidate for president, adding her voice to a remarkable turnaround that helped Donald Trump reclaim Michigan and the presidency. 

In Dearborn, where nearly half of the 110,000 residents are of Arab descent, Vice President Kamala Harris received over 2,500 fewer votes than Trump, who became the first Republican presidential candidate since former President George W. Bush in 2000 to win the city. Harris also lost neighboring Dearborn Heights to Trump, who in his previous term as president banned travel from several mostly-Muslim countries. 

Harris lost the presidential vote in two Detroit-area cities with large Arab American populations after months of warnings from local Democrats about the Biden-Harris administration’s unwavering support for Israel in the war in Gaza. Some said they backed Trump after he visited a few days before the election, mingling with customers and staff at a Lebanese-owned restaurant and reassuring people that he would find a way to end the violence in the Middle East. 

Others, including Amen, were unable to persuade themselves to back the former president. She said many Arab Americans felt Harris got what she deserved but aren’t “jubilant about Trump.” 

“Whether it’s Trump himself or the people who are around him, it does pose a great deal of concern for me,” Amen said. “But at the end of the day when you have two evils running, what are you left with?” 

As it became clear late Tuesday into early Wednesday that Trump would not only win the presidency but likely prevail in Dearborn, the mood in metro Detroit’s Arab American communities was described by Dearborn City Council member Mustapha Hammoud as “somber.” And yet, he said, the result was “not surprising at all.” 

The shift in Dearborn — where Trump received nearly 18,000 votes compared with Harris’ 15,000 — marks a startling change from just four years ago when Joe Biden won in the city by a nearly 3-to-1 margin. 

No one should be surprised 

The results didn’t come out of nowhere. For months, in phone calls and meetings with top Democratic officials, local leaders warned, in blunt terms, that Arab American voters would turn against them if the administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war didn’t change. 

The Biden-Harris administration has remained a staunch ally of Israel since the brutal Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took over 200 hostages. The war between Israel and Hamas has killed more than 43,000 people in Gaza, Palestinian health officials say. They do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. 

While Harris softened her rhetoric on the war, she didn’t propose concrete policies toward Israel or the war in Gaza that varied from the administration’s position. And even if she had, that might not have made much of a difference in places like Dearborn. 

“All she had to do was stop the war in Lebanon and Gaza and she would receive everyone’s votes here,” said Hammoud. 

More voters thought Trump would be better able to handle the situation in the Middle East than Harris, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide. About half of voters named Trump as better suited, compared with about a third who said Harris. 

Among those who opposed more aid for Israel, 58% backed Harris in the presidential election; 39% supported Trump. 

Even some Harris voters had their doubts. About three-quarters of Harris voters in Michigan said she was the better candidate to handle the situation. Few preferred Trump, but about 2 in 10 Harris voters said they were equivalent or neither would be better. 

In the absence of support for Harris in the Arab American community, Trump and his allies stepped in. 

A key part of Michigan’s electorate — a state Trump won by nearly 11,000 votes in 2016 before he lost it by nearly 154,000 to Biden in 2020 — Arab Americans spent months meeting with Trump allies, who encouraged community leaders to endorse him. 

Things began to move in September, when Amer Ghalib, the Democratic Muslim mayor of the city of Hamtramck, endorsed Trump. Shortly afterwards, Trump visited a campaign office there. 

That was a turning point, said Massad Boulos, who led Trump’s outreach with Arab Americans. Boulos’ son Michael is married to Trump’s daughter Tiffany. 

“They very, very much appreciated the president’s visit and the respect that they felt,” said Massad Boulos. “That was the first big achievement, so to speak. After that, I started getting endorsements from imams and Muslim leaders.” 

An apparent shift toward Trump in final week 

While support for Harris had been declining for months — especially after her campaign did not allow a pro-Palestinian speaker to take the stage at August’s Democratic National Convention — some voters say the last week of the campaign was pivotal. 

At an October 30 rally in Michigan, former President Bill Clinton said Hamas uses civilians as shields and will “force you to kill civilians if you want to defend yourself.” 

“Hamas did not care about a homeland for the Palestinians, they wanted to kill Israelis and make Israel uninhabitable,” he said. “Well, I got news for them, they were there first, before their faith existed, they were there.” 

The Harris campaign wanted Clinton to visit Dearborn to speak in the days following the rally, according to two people with direct knowledge of the discussions who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about them. The potential visit never materialized after backlash over Clinton’s comments. 

“That comment was the talk of the town. It hurt many like me, who loved him,” said Amin Hashmi, who was born in Pakistan and lives in suburban Detroit. A self-proclaimed “die-hard Dem,” Hashmi said casting a ballot for Trump “was a seismic move” that came after he stood in the voting booth for 25 minutes. 

On the Friday before the election, Trump visited The Great Commoner in Dearborn, a Lebanese-owned restaurant. That stood in sharp contrast with Harris, who met with Dearborn’s Democratic mayor, Abdullah Hammoud — who didn’t endorse in the race — but never came to Dearborn herself. 

“He came up to Dearborn. He spoke with residents. Whether some people say it wasn’t genuine, he still made the effort. He did reach out and try to work with them, at least listen to them,” said Samia Hamid, a Dearborn resident. 
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Young Black, Latino men say they chose Trump because of economy, jobs

WASHINGTON — Brian Leija, a 31-year-old small-business owner from Belton, Texas, was not surprised that a growing number of Latino men of his generation voted for Donald Trump for president this year. Leija had voted for the Republican in 2016 and 2020. 

Leija’s rationale was simple: He said he has benefited from Trump’s economic policies, especially tax cuts. 

“I am a blue-collar worker,” Leija said. “So, tax breaks for small businesses are ideal for what I do.” 

For DaSean Gallishaw, a consultant in Fairfax, Virginia, a vote for Trump was rooted in what he saw as Democrats’ rhetoric not matching their actions.  

“It’s been a very long time since the Democrats ever really kept their promises to what they’re going to do for the minority communities,” he said. 

Gallishaw, 25, who is Black, also voted for Trump twice before. This year, he said, he thought the former president’s “minority community outreach really showed up.” 

Trump gained a larger share of Black and Latino voters than he did in 2020, when he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, and most notably among men under age 45, according to AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of more than 120,000 voters. 

Even as Democrat Kamala Harris won majorities of Black and Latino voters, it wasn’t enough to give the vice president the White House, because of the gains Trump made. 

Economy, jobs made men under 45 open to Trump 

Voters overall cited the economy and jobs as the most important issue the country faced. That was true for Black and Hispanic voters as well. 

About 3 in 10 Black men under age 45 went for Trump, roughly double the share he got in 2020. Young Latinos, particularly young Latino men, also were more open to Trump than in 2020. Roughly half of young Latino men voted for Harris, compared with about 6 in 10 who went for Biden. 

Juan Proano, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights organization for Hispanic Americans, said the election results make it clear that Trump’s messaging on the economy resonated with Latinos. 

“I think it’s important to say that Latinos have a significant impact in deciding who the next president was going to be and reelected Donald Trump,” Proano said. “[Latino] men certainly responded to the populist message of the president and focused primarily on economic issues, inflation, wages and even support of immigration reform.” 

The Rev. Derrick Harkins, a minister who has served Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York, has overseen outreach to Black American religious communities for more than a decade. He said that Trump’s hypermasculine appeal worked to win over some younger men of color. 

“I think that Trump with this bogus machismo has been effective amongst the young men, Black, white, Hispanic,” Harkins said. “And I think unfortunately, even if it’s a very small percentage, you know, when you’re talking about an election like we just had, it can be very impactful.” 

Black, Latino voters’ priorities changed from 2020 

While about 4 in 10 young voters under 45 across racial and ethnic groups identified the economy as the top issue facing the country, older white and Latino voters were likely to also cite immigration, with about one-quarter of each saying that was the top issue. 

A clear majority of young Black voters described the economy as “not so good” or “poor,” compared with about half of older Black voters. Majorities of Latino voters, regardless of age, said the economy is in bad shape. 

That belief made it more difficult for Harris to highlight the actual numbers in the economy, which show that inflation has receded dramatically, unemployment remains low and wages have risen. These voters simply did not feel that progress. 

This is the first time Alexis Uscanga, a 20-year-old college student from Brownville, Texas, voted in a presidential election. The economy and immigration are the issues that drove him to vote for Trump, he said. 

“Everything just got a lot more expensive than it once was for me,” Uscanga said. “Gas, grocery shopping, even as a college student, everything has gone up in price, and that is a big concern for me, and other issues like immigration.” 

Having grown up washing cars and selling tamales and used cars, Uscanga knows how hard it can be to make a living. When Trump was president, he said, it did not feel that way, he said. 

“I was not very fond of President Trump because of his rhetoric in 2016, but I look aside from that and how we were living in 2018, 2019.” Uscanga said. “I just felt that we lived a good life no matter what the media was saying, and that’s why I started supporting him after that.” 

Though the shift of votes to Trump from Black and Latino men was impactful, Trump could not have won without the support of a majority of white voters. 

“Men of color are really beginning to emerge as the new swing voters,” said Terrance Woodbury, co-founder of HIT Strategies, a polling and research firm that conducted studies for the Harris campaign. 

“For a long time, we talked about suburban women and soccer moms who can swing the outcome of elections. Now men of color are really beginning to emerge as that, especially younger men of color, who are less ideological, less tied to a single party, and more likely to swing either between parties or in and out of the electorate,” Woodbury said. 

Desire for strong leadership  

A majority of voters nationally said Trump was a strong leader; slightly fewer than half said the same about Harris. Among Hispanic voters, even more saw Trump as strong in this election. Roughly 6 in 10 Hispanic men described Trump as a strong leader, compared with 43% who said that in 2020. About half of Hispanic women said Trump was a strong leader, up from 37%. 

Black men and women were about twice as likely as in 2020 to describe Trump as a strong leader. 

David Means, a purchasing manager in Atlanta who is Black, abstained from voting in the election because he did not feel either Harris or Trump was making the right appeals to Black men. But the results of the election did not disappoint him. 

“I’m satisfied with the result. I don’t feel slighted. I wasn’t let down. I wasn’t pulling for Trump or Kamala, but I did not want a woman in that position,” he said. And if it were to be a woman, Means said, “I’d rather have a really strong and smart woman, for example, like Judge Judy.”
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Harris appears with Biden for first time since election loss

U.S. President Joe Biden laid a wreath Monday to honor the nation’s fallen soldiers on Veterans Day, an event marking his first appearance with Vice President Kamala Harris since her election defeat last week.

The ceremony, at historic Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington, is also the first time Harris has been seen in public since her Nov. 6 speech in which she conceded the presidential election to Donald Trump.  

Democrats, facing a painful reckoning over their drubbing, have begun soul-searching internal discussions — and some not-so-private blaming — over what caused Harris’s loss, with some pointing to Biden’s initial insistence on running again at age 81, despite having promised to be a bridge president to the next generation.

Criticism of Harris herself has been more muted, and Biden heaped praise on Harris last Thursday in a televised White House address.  

Earlier Monday, Biden hosted veterans at the White House to mark the holiday before heading to Arlington, the final resting place of two presidents, generals from all major U.S. wars, and thousands of other military personnel.  

Biden and Harris, both dressed in dark suits, placed their hands on their hearts before participating in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  

The president was to deliver remarks at the cemetery’s Memorial Amphitheater.

The ceremony comes ahead of Biden hosting Trump at the White House on Wednesday.

The Republican has begun naming loyalists to his new administration. He announced he is bringing a hard-line immigration official, Tom Homan, back into the fold to serve as his so-called “border czar,” and congresswoman Elise Stefanik to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Trump himself has long claimed he is a fierce supporter of America’s military, but he has made a series of controversial comments about veterans.  

His longest-serving White House chief of staff, retired general John Kelly, has said the Republican leader privately disparaged U.S. service members, including describing those who died or were imprisoned defending America as “suckers” and “losers.”  

Trump denies the accusation.  

But the soon-to-be 47th president has been on record expressing contempt for late American war hero and senator John McCain, who spent years in a Hanoi prison during the Vietnam war.
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California Trump supporters celebrate victory

Donald Trump’s supporters in California, a state that went for his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, have been celebrating Trump’s presidential election victory. This comes as the state’s Democratic governor has called for a special legislative session to protect the state’s progressive policies from a Trump presidency. VOA’s Genia Dulot has the report.
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Americans wonder how Trump will govern, as left reflects on loss

As the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump begins to take shape, questions about how he’ll implement his campaign promises, or even whether he’ll seek retribution against his adversaries, are on the minds of many Americans. Democrats, meanwhile, are reflecting on their White House loss. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports.
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Trump pressures candidates for Senate Republican leader to fill Cabinet quickly

WASHINGTON — Days before Senate Republicans pick their new leader, President-elect Donald Trump is pressuring the candidates to change the rules and empower him to appoint some nominees without a Senate vote.

Republican Sens. John Thune of South Dakota, John Cornyn of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida are running in a secret ballot election Wednesday to lead the GOP conference and replace longtime Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who is stepping aside from the job after almost two decades. All three have courted Trump’s support in the race, vying to show who is the closest to the president-elect as they campaign to become majority leader.

Trump has not endorsed any candidate in the race, but Sunday he made clear that he expects the new leader to go around regular Senate order, if necessary, to allow him to fill his Cabinet quickly. In a statement on X and Truth Social, Trump said that the next leader “must agree” to allow him to make appointments when the chamber is on recess, bypassing a confirmation vote.

“Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner,” Trump posted, adding that positions should be filled “IMMEDIATELY!”

The Senate has not allowed presidents to make so-called recess appointments since a 2014 Supreme Court ruling limited the president’s power to do so. Since then, the Senate has held brief “pro-forma” sessions when it is out of town for more than 10 days so that a president cannot take advantage of the absence and start filling posts that have not been confirmed.

But with Trump’s approval paramount in the race, all three candidates quickly suggested that they might be willing to reconsider the practice. Scott replied to Trump, “100% agree. I will do whatever it takes to get your nominations through as quickly as possible.” And Thune said in a statement that they must “quickly and decisively” act to get nominees in place and that “all options are on the table to make that happen, including recess appointments.”

Cornyn said that “It is unacceptable for Senate Ds to blockade President @realDonaldTrump ‘s cabinet appointments. If they do, we will stay in session, including weekends, until they relent.” He noted that recess appointments are allowed under the Constitution.

The social media exchange Sunday became a first test for the three candidates since Trump was decisively elected last week to a second term.

Trump’s relationship with Congress — especially the advice and consent role afforded to the Senate when it comes to nominations — was tumultuous in his first term as he chafed at resistance to his selections and sought ways to work around lawmakers. With Trump now entering a second term emboldened by his sweeping election victory, he is already signaling that he expects Senate Republicans, and by extension, their new leader, to fall in line behind his Cabinet selections.

Trump also posted Sunday that the Senate should not approve any judges in the weeks before Republicans take power next year — a more difficult demand to fulfill as Democrats will control the floor, and hold most of the votes, until the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3. Trump posted that “Democrats are looking to ram through their Judges as the Republicans fight over Leadership. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.”

With days to go, the race for Senate Republican leader is deeply in flux.

Thune and Cornyn are both well-liked, longtime senators who have served as deputies to McConnell and have been seen as the front-runners, despite past statements criticizing Trump. Scott — a longtime friend of Trump’s and fierce ally — has been seen as more of a longshot, but he has mounted an aggressive campaign in recent days on social media and elsewhere with the aim of getting Trump’s endorsement.

Senators who are close to Trump, such as Mike Lee of Utah and Marco Rubio of Florida, have endorsed Scott, as have tech mogul Elon Musk and other people who have Trump’s ear.

“We have to be the change,” Scott said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” “That’s what Donald Trump got elected to do, to be the change.”

All three candidates are promising that they will be more open and transparent than McConnell was and that they would give senators more power to get their priorities to the floor. They have also tried to make clear that they would have a much different relationship with Trump than McConnell, who once called the former president a “despicable human being” behind closed doors.

As the Senate haggles over how to fill Trump’s Cabinet, many of his allies are campaigning for the nominations. Former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said on ABC’s “This Week” that there are “a couple of great options on the table.” Sen. Bill Hagerty, a Republican from Tennessee who served as U.S. ambassador to Japan between 2017 and 2019, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that one of his greatest honors was to represent the Trump administration overseas. He said he would advance “the positions that President Trump has articulated.”

“I’ll do that in whatever role necessary,” said Hagerty, who has endorsed Scott in the leadership race.

While Trump has made only one personnel move public so far, naming Susie Wiles his chief of staff, he has already ruled out two names for top positions.

Trump said Saturday that he would not be inviting Mike Pompeo, his former U.S. Secretary of State and CIA chief, and Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor who served as his U.N. ambassador and challenged him for the Republican nomination. Pompeo rallied with Trump on the night before Election Day.

“I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and would like to thank them for their service to our Country,” Trump posted on his network Truth Social.

Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., reposted on X a message by podcaster Dave Smith suggesting to put pressure to “keep all neocons and war hawks out of the Trump administration.”

“The ‘stop Pompeo’ movement is great, but it’s not enough,” Smith posted on X. “America First: screw the war machine!”
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Donald Trump’s US presidential victory was sweeping 

Washington — In the end, former U.S. President Donald Trump’s victory in last week’s 2024 national election for a new four-year presidential term in the White House was sweeping.

Ahead of the Nov. 5 election, national polling showed Vice President Kamala Harris with a slight edge over Trump, maybe a percentage point or two, depending on the survey.

Harris, the Democratic candidate, and Trump, a Republican, were virtually deadlocked, the surveys indicated, in seven political battleground states that election analysts viewed as critical to the election outcome.

Trump, however, captured all seven states, leading to his lopsided edge in the state-by-state vote count in the Electoral College, 312 to 226, which determines the outcome of U.S. presidential elections. The number needed to clinch the presidency is 270. He won the seven battleground states by a range of just under 1% in Wisconsin to more than 6% in Arizona.

On January 20, 2025, the 78-year-old Trump will take office as the country’s 47th president and the first president to win two nonconsecutive terms since Grover Cleveland in the 1890s. He is the oldest elected president in U.S. history.

Trump also won the popular vote, the first Republican candidate to do so since former President George W. Bush in 2004.

While the last ballots are still being counted, Trump already is the clear winner, capturing nearly 75 million votes so far to just under 71 million for Harris, a 50.5% to 47.9% edge for Trump.

Trump’s 2024 vote tally was about the same as the 74 million he received in losing the 2020 election to Democratic President Joe Biden, but the vote for Harris was about 10 million fewer than Biden received.

U.S. pollsters often like to say their surveys are just a snapshot in time, and not necessarily predictive.

But over Trump’s three runs for the presidency since 2016, his level of support has consistently been underestimated in polling, no matter how many times pollsters have tried to adjust their published results to account for a hidden Trump vote from people unwilling to tell even anonymous surveyors that, yes, when they went to polling centers or cast mail-in ballots, he was their choice.

Exit polls showed that women voters favored Harris and men Trump. More educated voters went for Harris, while those without college degrees voted for Trump, but nearly two-thirds of Americans do not have a college degree.

In amassing his majority vote, Trump cut into two traditional Democratic constituencies, Black and Latino voters.

According to The Associated Press’ VoteCast survey of voters, 16% of Black voters supported Trump in 2024, double that from his 2020 campaign. In comparison, 83% of Black voters supported Kamala Harris, down from the 91% who supported Biden in 2020.

Democrats also lost ground among Latino voters, with 56% voting for Harris in 2024 compared to 63% for Biden in 2020. Trump’s support grew from 35% four years ago to 42% this year.
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A Texas border county backed Democrats for generations; Trump won it decisively

RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas — Jorge Bazán’s family has lived on the U.S.-Mexico border for generations and voted for Democrats as long as he can remember.

He broke the family tradition this year and voted for Donald Trump because he doesn’t trust the Democratic Party’s economic policies.

“I think they forgot about the middle class,” said Bazán, who works for the utility company in Rio Grande City, seat of the most Hispanic county in the nation. “People are suffering right now. Everything’s very expensive.”

The South Texas region — stretching from San Antonio to the Rio Grande Valley — has long been a Democratic stronghold. A slide toward Trump in 2020 rattled Democrats in the predominately Hispanic area, where for decades Republicans seldom bothered to field candidates in local races. However, few Democrats expected the dramatic realignment that happened Tuesday, when Trump flipped several counties along the border including Hidalgo and Cameron, the two most populous counties in the Rio Grande Valley.

In Starr County, where Bazán lives, voters backed a Republican presidential candidate for the first time in a century. The predominantly Hispanic and working-class rural county, with a median household income of $36,000 that’s one of the lowest in the nation, gave Trump a 16 percentage-point victory margin over Vice President Kamala Harris. Roughly 2 million residents live at Texas’ southernmost point, among vast tracts of farmland and many state and federal agents patrolling the border.

Trump’s victories in the Rio Grande Valley starkly showed how working-class voters nationwide are shifting toward Republicans. That includes voters on the Texas border, where many Democrats long argued that Trump’s promised crackdowns on immigration would turn off voters.

“I was always a lifelong Democrat, but I decided to change to Republican with the political landscape that it is now,” said Luis Meza, a 32-year-old Starr County voter. “I felt that going Republican was the better choice, especially with the issues of immigration and everything like that that’s going on.”

Meza said that he was against Trump at first but noticed too few changes under President Joe Biden to justify voting for Harris.

Biden won Hidalgo County by less than half the margin that Hillary Clinton did in 2016. Since then, Republicans have invested millions of dollars to persuade Hispanic and working-class voters soured by Democratic policies.

A similar scenario played out in the state’s three most competitive races in nearby counties. Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz claimed a decisive victory in the 15th Congressional District. In the two other races, seasoned Democratic incumbents barely held on to their seats.

Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar narrowly escaped defeat against a political newcomer in the most competitive race of his two-decade career. Cuellar, whose district includes Rio Grande City, was indicted this year on bribery and other charges for allegedly accepting $600,000 from companies in Mexico and Azerbaijan. His support for abortion restrictions makes him one of the most conservative Democrats in the House.

Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez also narrowly escaped defeat by an opponent he comfortably beat two years ago.

Nationally, Black and Latino voters appeared slightly less likely to support Harris than they were to back Biden four years ago, according to AP VoteCast data. More than half of Hispanic voters supported Harris, but that was down slightly from the roughly 6 in 10 who backed Biden in 2020. Trump’s support among those groups appeared to rise slightly compared to 2020.

In McAllen, Texas, Jose Luis Borrego said that inflation and the promise of tougher border restrictions made him vote for a Republican presidential candidate for the first time.

“I wanted to see change and that’s why I did vote for Trump. I did vote red. I would not call myself a Republican” Borrego, 37, said. He said that he voted for Hillary Clinton and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders in prior elections.

Borrego’s whole family voted Trump.

“We just (made) this choice, because we didn’t have another choice that we felt comfortable with,” he said.

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said he had months of visits to the region during his campaign race against Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred. In a victory speech on Election Day, Cruz said Hispanic voters are leaving the Democratic Party because of immigration.

“They are coming home to conservative values they never left. They understand something the liberal elites never will: There’s nothing progressive about open borders,” Cruz said. “There is nothing Latino about letting criminals roam free.”

Michael Mireles, the director of civil engagement for labor rights group La Unión del Pueblo Entero, believes that Democrats did not engage Hispanic voters enough about the issues that concern them.

“I think that folks on the Democratic side have been really slow to have those conversations with Latino households and families.” Mireles said in Hidalgo County after Election Day.

“We can’t wait for a big election to have those conversations. By that point, it’s too late.”
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Trump completes swing state sweep by taking Arizona

Washington — Donald Trump won the state of Arizona in this week’s U.S. presidential election, U.S. TV networks projected on Saturday, completing the Republican’s sweep of all seven swing states.

After four days of counting in the southwest state with a large Hispanic population, CNN and NBC projected Trump had obtained its 11 electoral votes as he defeated Vice President Kamala Harris.

Outgoing President Joe Biden scored a narrow but crucial victory in Arizona in 2020 that condemned Trump to defeat after his first term in office.

The scale and strength of Trump’s comeback, which also saw the real estate tycoon win the popular vote by a margin of around 4 million votes, has sent shockwaves through the defeated Democratic Party.

The Republicans have already regained control of the Senate and look well set to retain a majority in the House of Representatives thanks to support from white working-class voters and a large share of Hispanics.

CNN has called Republican victories for 213 seats in the House, with 218 needed for a majority in the lower chamber.

The networks’ figures show Democrats on 205 seats, although senior party figures are still hoping they can pull off a slim victory that would significantly curtail Trump’s powers.

NBC sees the Republicans with 212 seats so far, and 204 for the Democrats.

The other six swing states won by Trump in the presidential race are Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada and Georgia.

The latest good news for Trump came as the White House said Biden would meet with the president-elect at the White House on Wednesday.

Trump — who never conceded his 2020 loss — sealed a remarkable comeback to the presidency in the November 5 vote, cementing what is set to be more than a decade of U.S. politics dominated by his hardline right-wing stance.

This type of meeting between the outgoing and incoming presidents was considered customary, but Trump did not invite Biden for one after making unsubstantiated election fraud claims that culminated in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Trump also broke with precedent by skipping Biden’s inauguration, but the White House has said the Democratic president will attend the upcoming ceremony.

Biden’s meeting with Trump will take place in the Oval Office, the White House said Saturday, with the clock ticking down to the ex-president’s return to power.

Trump, the 78-year-old ex-reality TV star, won wider margins than before, despite a criminal conviction, two impeachments while in office and warnings from his former chief of staff that he is a fascist.

Exit polls showed that voters’ top concerns remained the economy and inflation that spiked under Biden in the wake of the COVID pandemic.

The 81-year-old president, who dropped out of the White House race in July over concerns about his age, health and mental acuity, called Trump on Wednesday to congratulate him on the election win.

Trump 2.0

Democrats have been pointing fingers over who is to blame for Harris’ decisive loss after she replaced Biden at the top of the ticket roughly 100 days before the election.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took aim at Biden, telling The New York Times that “had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race.”

As the Democrats weigh what went wrong, Trump has begun to assemble his second administration by naming campaign manager Susie Wiles to serve as his White House chief of staff.

She is the first woman to be named to the high-profile role and the Republican’s first appointment to his incoming administration.

Jockeying for jobs

Trump on Saturday ruled out re-appointing two senior figures from his first administration, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Former Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell is seen as a front-runner for the secretary of state position, as is Florida Senator Marco Rubio who called Trump a “con artist” and the “most vulgar person to ever aspire to the presidency” in 2016.

The other front-runners for a place in the Trump 2.0 administration reflect the significant changes it is likely to implement.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a leading figure in the anti-vaccine movement for whom Trump has pledged a “big role” in health care, told NBC News on Wednesday that “I’m not going to take away anybody’s vaccines.”

The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, could also be in line for a job auditing government waste after the right-wing SpaceX, Tesla and X boss enthusiastically backed Trump. 
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Why AP called Arizona for Trump

WASHINGTON — The Associated Press declared President-elect Donald Trump the winner in Arizona on Saturday night after vote updates in Maricopa and other counties added to his overall lead, putting the state out of reach for Vice President Kamala Harris.

At the time the AP called the race at 9:21 p.m. ET, Trump led Harris, 52.6% to 46.4%, a margin of about 185,000 votes. Harris needed to win about 7 out of every 10 votes of the roughly 443,000 uncounted ballots remaining, a percentage that has steadily grown as additional votes were counted.

Trump has now swept all seven of the hotly contested presidential battlegrounds, winning 312 electoral votes, compared to 226 for Harris. The number needed to clinch the presidency is 270.

In 2020, President Joe Biden carried the state narrowly over Trump, but he won Maricopa County by a margin of 50 percentage points to 48. On Saturday, Trump was leading Harris 52 to 47.

The AP only declares a winner once it can determine that a trailing candidate can’t close the gap and overtake the vote leader.

Here’s a look at how the AP called this race:

Candidates: President: Harris (D) vs. Trump (R) vs. Chase Oliver (Libertarian) vs. Jill Stein (Green).

Winner: Trump.

Poll closing time: 9 p.m. ET Tuesday. Arizona does not release votes until all precincts have reported or one hour after all polls are closed, whichever is first, usually 10 p.m. ET.

About the race: Both Harris and Trump crisscrossed this border state, where immigration is a prominent issue, multiple times before Election Day.

Trump put immigration at the center of his candidacy, promising to deport people without legal documentation while Harris called for pathways to citizenship as well as tighter security at the border.

Independent voters are the largest bloc in the state, followed by Republicans, then Democrats, who have succeeded in winning Senate contests and the governorship since 2018.

Biden became just the second Democrat to win the state in more than 70 years.

Both candidates made a play for vote-rich Maricopa County, which is home to Phoenix, Mesa and Tempe. Trump carried the county by 3 points in 2016, while Biden won with a 2-point margin four years later. Arizona is primarily an early voting state. In 2016, just over three-quarters of the votes were cast early. In 2020, that climbed to nearly 90%.

Why AP called the race: In statewide elections going back a dozen years, Democrats have always carried four counties in both winning and losing campaigns: Apache, Coconino, Pima and Santa Cruz.

Harris had large leads over Trump in all four counties, but she far underperformed Biden’s showing from 2020.

She was trailing Trump in decisive Maricopa County, which Biden won in 2020 and has been a must-win county for statewide Democratic candidates in recent elections.

Although Harris very briefly led in the statewide vote count on election night, Trump has consistently led since then.

The AP’s analysis of Arizona’s voting history and political demographics at the county level showed there was no scenario that would allow Harris to close the gap. The analysis also showed that even if remaining updates showed vote swings in Harris’ favor, they would not be enough to give her the lead. 
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Record 13 women will be governors next year in US

The election of Republican Kelly Ayotte as New Hampshire’s governor means 13 women will serve as a state’s chief executive next year, breaking the record of 12 set after the 2022 elections.

Governors hold powerful sway in American politics, shaping state policy and often using the experience and profile gained to launch campaigns for higher offices.

“It matters to have women in those roles to normalize the image of women in political leadership and even more specifically in executive leadership, where they’re the sole leader, not just a member of a team,” said Kelly Dittmar, director of research at the Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was floated as a potential Democratic nominee for president after President Joe Biden exited the race. Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was thought to be in the running for President-elect Donald Trump’s vice presidential post.

Ayotte, a former U.S. senator, defeated the Democratic nominee Joyce Craig, a former mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire’s largest city.

Still, 18 states have never had a woman in the governor’s office.

“This is another side of political leadership where women continue to be underrepresented,” Dittmar said. “Thirteen out of 50 is still underrepresentation.”

With two women vying for governor in New Hampshire, a new record for female governors was inevitable. The state has a long history of electing women. As a senator, Ayotte was part of the nation’s first all-female congressional delegation. It was also the first state to have a female governor, state Senate president and House speaker at the same time, and the first to have a female majority in its Senate. Ayotte will be the state’s third woman to be governor.

“Being a woman isn’t really that critical to her political persona,” Linda Fowler, professor emerita of government at Dartmouth College, said of Ayotte.

Both Ayotte and Craig said their gender hasn’t come up on the campaign trail although reproductive rights often took front and center.

In her campaign, Craig attacked Ayotte’s record on abortion, and both candidates released TV ads detailing their own miscarriages. Ayotte said she will veto any bill further restricting abortion in New Hampshire where it is illegal after 24 weeks of pregnancy.

When Ayotte is sworn in, five Republican women will serve as governor at the same time, another new high. The other eight are Democrats.

New Hampshire’s was one of the few competitive gubernatorial races among the 11 this year. More inroads or setbacks for women’s representation could come in 2026 when 36 states will elect governors.Most voters tend to cast their ballots based on party loyalty and ideology rather than gender, Dittmar said. However, she noted female candidates often face layers of scrutiny that male counterparts largely avoid, with voters judging such things as a woman’s intelligence, appearance and even dating history with a sharper lens.

The small gain for women in governor’s offices comes as Vice President Kamala Harris failed in her effort to become the first female president.

“I would not suggest to you that Kamala Harris lost a race because she was a woman, because she was a Black and South Asian woman,” Dittmar said. “We would also fail to tell the correct story if we didn’t acknowledge the ways in which both gender and race shapes the campaign overall, and also had a direct effect on how Kamala Harris was evaluated by voters, treated by her opponents and even in the media and other spaces.”

Executive roles, especially the presidency with its associations like commander in chief, often carry masculine stereotypes that women must work harder to overcome, Dittmar said.

Experts say women confront these perceptions more acutely in executive races, such as for governor and president, than in state legislatures, where women are making historic strides as leaders, filling roles such as speaker and committee chairs.

“Sexism, racism, misogyny, it’s never the silver bullet. It’s never why one voter acts one way or another,” said Erin Vilardi, CEO of Vote Run Lead, a left-leaning group that supports women running for state legislatures. “But we have so much of that built in to how we see a leader.”
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Lithuanian defense minister proposes ways for smoother relations between Europe, Trump

PRAGUE — European nations should not repeat the mistake of creating a barrier between them and President-elect Donald Trump but instead cooperate on issues of common interest, Lithuania’s defense minister said Saturday.

Assuming that Trump will again apply what Laurynas Kasciunas called “his contract approach to our relations,” Kasciunas outlined areas where Europe and the new president could join forces: more investment in defense, European acquisition of American weapons and cooperation on containing China and Iran.

“What we did a little bit wrong last time when he was elected [by defeating] Hillary Clinton, and it was unexpected, we built against him a moral wall,” Kasciunas told The Associated Press.

“I think it was not a correct way,” Kasciunas said. He was speaking on the sidelines of a three-day gathering in Prague focusing on European and transatlantic military capabilities.

During his first term, from 2017 to 2021, Trump pushed NATO’s European members to spend more on defense, up to and beyond 2% of gross domestic product, and to be less reliant on U.S. military.

That’s what the allies have been doing. A total of 23 members are expected to meet the 2% target this year, compared with three 10 years ago, according to NATO. Lithuania has already surpassed 2.5% with a goal of reaching 4%, which would be more than the United States.

Europe’s defense industry managed to increase output of some products after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but European countries also donated their own weapons to Ukraine and “remain dependent on the U.S. for some important aspects of their military capability,” a report published by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies at the Prague event said.

Lithuania, which borders Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave to the west and Belarus to the east, remains the largest buyer of U.S. arms among the three Baltic states.

The minister, whose country was in a spat with China over Taiwan, also spoke in favor of European Union sanctions on Iran.

However, Russia’s war against Ukraine has been divisive.

Trump has repeatedly taken issue with U.S. aid to Ukraine, made vague vows to end the war and has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kasciunas insisted that Europe’s military aid to Ukraine must continue and that Russia should not dictate the conditions for peace, while a limited cease-fire would not make sense because it would only help Russian troops recover from losses and strike again.

“We need a just peace, credible peace,” he said.

During his election campaign, Trump also threatened actions that could have groundbreaking consequences for nations across Europe, from a trade war with the EU to a withdrawal of NATO commitments.
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Biden, Trump will meet in Oval Office Wednesday, White House says

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with President-elect Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday after Biden pledged an orderly transfer of power following the Republican’s decisive election victory.    

Biden and Trump will meet at the Oval Office at 11:00 a.m., the White House said Saturday, with the clock ticking down to the ex-president’s return to power in January. 

Trump sealed a historic comeback to the White House in the November 5 election, cementing what is set to be more than a decade of U.S. politics overshadowed by his often divisive politics. 

The 78-year-old won wider margins than before, despite a criminal conviction and two impeachments while in office. 

Exit polls showed that voters’ top concern remained the economy and inflation that spiked under Biden in the wake of the COVID pandemic. 

Biden, who dropped out of the race in July over concerns about his ability to continue at the age of 81, called Trump to congratulate him after his election win.
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After election, Kenya-born legislator heads to Minnesota capitol

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA — Huldah Momanyi Hiltsley made history November 5 by becoming the first Kenyan-born immigrant elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives. She describes her victory as a testament to resilience, determination and the realization of the American dream.

Standing in the State Capitol for the first time on the morning of her orientation, Hiltsley told VOA she was overwhelmed with emotions and eager to start her journey as an elected official.

“I am super excited,” Hiltsley said. “Today is orientation day for new legislators, and to be standing in this Capitol as an African immigrant woman is a tremendous honor. I’m just overexcited right now.”

She said this milestone did not come easily. Her path to the Minnesota State Capitol was marked by struggles, including a fight against an immigration system that nearly led to her family’s deportation. She credits much of her success to the community support and the intervention of the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone, whose advocacy she said ultimately secured her family’s green cards and, later, citizenship.

“Getting to this moment honestly is just a testament to the struggles that my family has gone through to be in this country,” she said.

There has been a media frenzy surrounding Hiltsley’s victory and it has captured the attention of Kenyan media, with celebrations taking place in her hometown, Nyamemiso village, which is eight hours from Nairobi, Kenya’s capital. Despite the attention, Hiltsley said she remains humble. 

“I’m that little girl from that little village somewhere in the middle of Kenya, and now I’m in the spotlight of this media frenzy. And so, I’m still trying to really appreciate the magnitude of the moment,” she said.

Hiltsley said she has a desire to inspire others, particularly young girls in Kenya and the United States.

“It is still surreal,” she said, adding that “if I can make it to this point, I can be a role model to somebody to remind them that it is possible that our wildest dreams are possible. And that would be something that I would look back and say, wow, I’ve made a difference in somebody’s life.”

Her legislative priorities

Looking ahead, Hiltsley said she is committed to championing issues that matter to her constituents in Minnesota’s Legislative District 38A. Her priorities include community-centered public safety policies, affordable housing options, workers’ rights and support for small businesses — many of which are run by African immigrants.

“The resources are out here,” she said, promising to empower her community.

“It is my job to go back to my community and tell them, hey, there are resources here. This is how this system works. Let’s work together to mobilize and make sure that we are also taking a piece of the pie,” she said.

As the first Kenyan American woman in Minnesota’s Legislature, Hiltsley said she recognizes the weight and responsibility of her position.

She described it as “an honor that I don’t take lightly.”

“I don’t want to be the last,” she, adding that she hopes “this moment right here is a testimony that you can come to this country, work hard, take care of business, know your craft, stick to it, be consistent and get to where you want to.”

Her message to those who have yet to succeed in their political campaigns is clear: Perseverance is key.

“Be consistent. Keep going. There’s enough space in this Legislature for more people of color, especially immigrants, because that’s the voice that is missing,” Hiltsley said.

Changing political scene

Hiltsley shared her thoughts on the changing political landscape in Washington, particularly with the coming administration under President-elect Donald Trump. While acknowledging the challenges, she said she will stay focused on serving her constituents in Minnesota, regardless of politics.

“We are here to serve the people, and it doesn’t matter if you are Democrat or Republican,” she said. “We are here as legislators to serve the people of Minnesota.”

Hiltsley also shared her heartfelt message to fellow Kenyans who have been celebrating her historic achievement.

“This is a historical moment, and I’m honored to be a Kenyan American,” she said. “Let’s continue celebrating this victory, but after that, we have work to do.”

She said her eyes are set on not just her role in Minnesota, but also finding ways to collaborate with Kenya’s leaders to address issues facing the country, including corruption and a lack of strong leadership.

“Kenya has unlimited potential,” she said. “It’s up to our leaders to do right by the people.”

Hiltsley will officially take her seat in the Minnesota State House of Representatives and be sworn in on January 7. Representatives are elected to serve two-year terms.

This story originated in VOA’s Swahili Service. Salem Solomon contributed to the report from Washington.
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Iran urges Trump to change ‘maximum pressure’ policy

TEHRAN, IRAN — Iran signaled an openness toward Donald Trump Saturday, calling on the president-elect to adopt new policies toward it after Washington accused Tehran of involvement in a plot to kill him.

Vice President for Strategic Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif urged Trump to reassess the policy of “maximum pressure” he employed against the Islamic republic during his first term.

“Trump must show that he is not following the wrong policies of the past,” Zarif told reporters.

His remarks came after the United States accused Iran of conspiring to assassinate Trump.

The Foreign Ministry described the American accusations Saturday as “totally unfounded.”

Tehran and Washington severed diplomatic relations shortly after the Islamic revolution in 1979.

2015 nuclear power accord

Zarif, a veteran diplomat who previously served as foreign minister, helped to seal the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and Western powers, including the United States.

However, the deal was torpedoed in 2018 after the United States unilaterally withdrew from the deal under Trump, who later reimposed sanctions on Tehran.

In response, Iran rolled back its obligations under the deal and has since enriched uranium up to 60%, just 30 percentage points lower than nuclear-grade uranium.

Tehran has repeatedly denied Western accusations that it seeks to develop a nuclear weapon.

Zarif said Saturday that it was Trump’s political approach toward Iran that led to the surge in enrichment levels.

“He must have realized that the maximum pressure policy that he initiated caused Iran’s enrichment to reach 60% from 3.5% and increased its centrifuges,” he said.

Provocations

“As a man of calculation, he should do the math and see what the advantages and disadvantages of this policy have been and whether he wants to continue or change this harmful policy,” Zarif said.

In December 2017, Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the following year moved the American embassy there.

Trump also recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967 and later annexed.

During his first term, Trump also ordered the killing of revered Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani, who led the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps foreign operations arm, the Quds Force.

Soleimani was killed in a drone strike while he was in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, in January 2020.

The Islamic Republic has not recognized its archnemesis Israel since the U.S.-backed shah was toppled in 1979.

On Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said he hoped the president-elect’s return to power would allow Washington to “revise the wrong approaches of the past,” although he avoided mentioning Trump by name.

On Tuesday, election day in the United States, Trump told reporters he was “not looking to do damage to Iran.”

“My terms are very easy. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I’d like them to be a very successful country,” he said after casting his ballot.

Iran insists that it uses nuclear technology for safe and civilian purposes.

Trump’s election victory came after Iran and Israel attacked each other directly, raising fears of a further regional spillover of the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon.
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Who is Trump’s new chief of staff? Susie Wiles will be 1st woman to hold post

With her appointment as chief of staff to President-elect Donald Trump, Susie Wiles moves from a largely behind-the-scenes role of campaign co-chair to one of the most prominent positions in a new White House administration.

The 67-year-old will become the first woman to serve in the post for any U.S. president when she assumes the role as the president’s closest adviser in January.

In announcing his decision Thursday, Trump said Wiles is “tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected.” It was his first appointment since winning Tuesday’s election against Vice President Kamala Harris.

“It is a well deserved honor to have Susie as the first-ever female Chief of Staff in United States history. I have no doubt that she will make our country proud,” Trump said in his statement.

Wiles largely avoided the spotlight during her time as co-chair of Trump’s successful election campaign and was credited — along with co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita — with bringing some discipline to Trump’s free-wheeling, off-script campaign style.

She didn’t speak during Trump’s victory celebration early Wednesday morning when he called her to the podium, and she refused to take the microphone.

Wiles rarely gives televised interviews and tends to avoid the spotlight, a contrast with LaCivita, who is known for being outspoken.

For someone of her stature, she is not well-known in political circles. During his victory speech, Trump referred to Wiles as the “ice maiden.”

She is one of Trump’s most trusted advisers. During a rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, earlier this month, he said: “She’s incredible. Incredible.”

Top Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio told Politico in April, “There is nobody, I think, that has the wealth of information that she does. Nobody in our orbit. Nobody.”

While Wiles is a somewhat enigmatic figure, she has a long career of working behind the scenes in U.S. politics.

Shortly after she graduated from the University of Maryland in 1979, she went to work for New York Congressman Jack Kemp and joined Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign in 1980.

She eventually moved to Florida where she advised the campaigns of two Florida mayors and helped then-businessman Rick Scott transition to politics in his successful 2010 campaign for governor.

She managed Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr.’s presidential bid in 2012, and managed Florida for Trump’s 2016 campaign. She joined Ron DeSantis’ race for governor in 2018, but she parted ways with him after a falling out in 2019.

Wiles made a rare appearance on social media shortly before DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race in January. “Bye, bye,” she wrote.

She went on to run Trump’s primary campaign against DeSantis, which Trump easily won.

Wiles is the only campaign manager to survive an entire Trump campaign and is known for her ability to tamp down his mercurial, sometimes volatile behavior.

In one anecdote reported by The Associated Press, during a campaign speech in Pennsylvania when Trump strayed off his talking points and quipped about not minding if members of the media were shot, she came out and silently stared at him until he got back on track.

That ability should serve her well in her new role. In his last four years in office, Trump went through four chiefs of staff, a record for modern presidents.

Some information in this report was provided by The Associated Press.
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India optimistic about Trump presidency, worried about trade, tariffs

NEW DELHI — As India looks ahead to President-elect Donald Trump taking charge in Washington, there is optimism the strategic relationship built by the two countries in recent years will strengthen. India also hopes to benefit if Trump takes a less confrontational approach to Russia, say analysts.

New Delhi also is bracing for turbulence in trade ties, though, which could be affected by Trump’s “America first” agenda.

In his congratulatory message posted on social media platform X, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Trump “my friend” and said, “I look forward to renewing our collaboration to further strengthen the India-U.S. Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership.”

Modi shared photos of the two leaders hugging and Trump’s visit to India during his first term in 2020 — a time when Trump shared warm relations with Modi.

Analysts in New Delhi expect that India will remain a key partner for Washington.

“Compared to most other countries, particularly some of the USA’s closest partners, perhaps India is better placed because of its centrality in the Indo-Pacific and the role it plays in counterbalancing China,” said Harsh Pant, vice president for studies and foreign policy at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.

“Given that Trump had invested in this partnership in his earlier term, there is hope it will continue the same trajectory,” he said.

The Quad group — a partnership among the United States, Japan, Australia and India, which had been dormant earlier — was revived under the previous Trump administration with an eye on China.

However, a sense of uncertainty lingers in the corridors of power in New Delhi. “The relationship may face hiccups, which we cannot anticipate at the moment given Trump’s leadership style and unpredictability,” said Pant.

India also hopes that confrontation between the U.S. and Russia will lessen under the Trump administration. During the campaign, Trump had said he would end the Russia-Ukraine war without elaborating. In the past he has spoken of having a good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“If U.S. hostility to Russia lessens under Trump, we believe that it would reduce the extreme and overwhelming Russian dependence on China, which is good from India’s perspective,” according to Sreeram Chaulia, dean at the Jindal School of International Affairs at O.P. Jindal Global University.

Despite a recent thaw in ties with China, India remains wary of Beijing.

Others point out that maintaining India’s time-tested ties with Russia could become easier under a Trump presidency. India refused to join Western sanctions against Russia or condemn the war in Ukraine, positions that became an irritant in Washington.

“Trump appears to have a less strident approach to Russia, and that will help India by making it simpler to balance relations between Washington and Russia,” said Anand Kumar, associate fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses in New Delhi.

“Tariff king”

While security ties will likely stay on track, there are worries over whether trade relations will take a hit under Trump, who has said he will follow an “America first” agenda and impose tariffs on countries that have trade surpluses with Washington.

The U.S. is India’s largest trading partner — two-way trade last year totaled almost $120 billion, with a surplus of $30 billion in India’s favor.

During his previous term, Trump called India a “tariff king,” criticized high duties that New Delhi imposed on American products such as Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and terminated India’s designation as a developing nation that had allowed businesses to export hundreds of products duty-free to the United States. India retaliated by raising duties on some American products.

Such tensions could be exacerbated because Trump is likely to push New Delhi to lower import duties for American companies. “This will be a slippery slope for India; he could demand market concessions,” said Chaulia.

Indian officials, however, have sounded an optimistic note.

“There was already a reordering of the supply chains taking place. It is very likely that in view of the [U.S.] election results, this would accelerate. Some of it will be disruptive, but we in India see it as an opportunity,” Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar Subrahmanyan told business leaders in Australia on Thursday.

He was referring to the trend of companies such as Apple setting up manufacturing bases in India as they looked to diversify production from China.

But analysts say Trump could take a diametrically different approach.

“He has this philosophy of onshoring, that is bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. rather than friendshoring which Biden used to talk about — that is encouraging businesses to move to friendly countries. So, the overall idea that U.S. businesses that are leaving China would think of India as an alternative — that model Trump may not encourage,” said Chaulia.

Defense and technology

There also are questions about how the defense and technology cooperation between India and the U.S. that gained momentum under the Biden administration will move forward. India has pushed for co-production of defense technology rather than relying solely on direct purchases of military equipment; sustaining that under Trump may pose a challenge, according to analysts.

“The U.S. has operated under the assumption that boosting India’s capabilities is in America’s self-interest, especially in balancing China. But Trump is likely to demand some Indian ‘pro’ for American ‘quid,’” analyst C. Raja Mohan wrote in the Indian Express newspaper on Thursday.

“India may find itself on a steep learning curve as it figures out there may be no ‘free lunch’ under Trump’s second term,” Mohan wrote.

Still, as India prepares to navigate a Trump presidency, there is an overall sense of confidence.

“I don’t think India is as worried as some other world capitals. New Delhi understands that if Trump’s obsession with China continues, that gives India greater space to maneuver,” said Pant.
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Trump agenda to strengthen American might and prosperity offers few details

Donald Trump’s agenda calls for him to deliver on key campaign talking points: improving border security, strengthening the economy and putting America first. While his promises are bold, details on how they’ll be carried out are few. Tina Trinh reports.
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How Trump won 

washington — Political polls leading up to this week’s U.S. presidential election showed a tight race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. But Trump pulled off a resounding win across several demographic groups, securing critical battleground states that often determine the outcome of U.S. presidential contests.

Trump held on to his base of voters while making gains with several groups that traditionally vote for Democrats, including young Black men, Latino men and young people, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.  

“They came from all corners — union, nonunion, African American, Hispanic American, Asian American, Arab American, Muslim American,” Trump said after declaring victory early Wednesday. “We had everybody.”

Trump, who was convicted on 34 felony charges for falsifying business records in May, is now poised to become the first Republican presidential candidate in 20 years to win the popular vote. In addition, in May 2023, a federal jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing former columnist E. Jean Carroll and subsequently defaming her.

“It is interesting, over the course of recent political history, why certain things land, certain things don’t,” said Samuel Abrams, a professor of politics and social science at Sarah Lawrence College in New York.

“Why some candidates are Teflon-covered and others are not. Why Donald Trump’s record, for instance, of infidelity and problems with some of the criminal stuff has not stuck to him.”

What has stuck is Trump’s messaging and his ability to successfully tap into the concerns of many Americans across numerous demographics.

“And that is, ‘I hear you. I understand your struggle. I understand that things are not as good as they could be, and I’d like to help you out. I’d like to make it easier. I’m interested in helping you put more money in your wallet or pocketbook,’ ” Abrams said.

“The press and the media like to talk about some of the crazy things he said and all of that, but at the end of the day, it’s been a very strong America First message and a message of, again, ‘I know what you need, and I’m here to help you.’ ”

Trump’s campaign targeted key audiences, often through podcasts and social media. His appearance on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast has drawn almost 47 million views on YouTube.

“They targeted young men. They targeted those that didn’t vote. They targeted those individuals that, you know, have struggled under the last several years of inflation, and that’s paid off,” said Thom Reilly, a professor at the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University.

Harris had about 100 days to run her campaign after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race in July — a rush toward Election Day that may have hurt her chances.

“I think the real challenge that the Harris campaign had was that she had a very compressed period of time in order to run her campaign,” Reilly said, “and she really struggled with, one, distancing herself from Biden, particularly around his economic policy, but also with developing a convincing summary of her agenda dealing on critical issues like immigration and like the economy.”

Harris’ inability to distance herself from an unpopular president may have hurt her chances. “It was clear that the American public wanted change,” Reilly said, “and for many individuals, they saw this as a continuation, for good or bad, of the Biden administration.”

Harris also didn’t have to compete in any primaries in 2024, because Biden withdrew after the primary season ended. Primaries are statewide contests in which voters select candidates for the general election.

“I think it was an enormous mistake to have not put her through that test of fire,” Abrams said, “because the whole point is to expose weakness and see if they can do it.”

Other analysts have said Harris focused too much on abortion rights and too little on the economy.

“Clearly, that was a driving and polarizing issue that impacted a lot of voters. But when you step back at the end of the day, far less than 1% of American voters are ever going to have to deal with abortion directly or indirectly,” said Republican strategist Jason Cabel Roe. “All voters have to deal with inflation, gas prices, home energy prices, less take-home pay.”

It’s difficult to know how much, if at all, being a woman of color hurt Harris. Thirty percent of people polled by Pew Research before the election said that Harris’ gender would be a liability at the polls.

“I don’t think, quite frankly, that this really had to do with race and ethnicity or gender at all this time around,” Abrams said. “The messaging that Trump had really resonated just much more deeply than Harris for so many of these voters around the country.” 
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Long list of potential Cabinet appointees awaits Trump team’s vetting 

When the ballots were counted and the presidential race was called for Donald Trump early Wednesday morning, another race immediately began: the 11-week sprint to staff a new administration that will need to be ready to take over the management of the country on January 20.

A president’s administration includes thousands of appointees, but in the first weeks after the election, the focus will be identifying the people who will make up the president’s Cabinet.

The Cabinet traditionally includes the vice president and the leaders of the 15 departments of the executive branch, such as the State and Treasury departments. It also includes about 10 officials serving in Cabinet-level positions, such as the U.S. trade representative, the director of national intelligence and the White House chief of staff. Except for the vice president and the chief of staff, all Cabinet-level appointees require Senate confirmation.

On Thursday evening, Trump said Susie Wiles, a longtime Republican operative who was one of the two main managers of his successful campaign, would be his White House chief of staff. She will be the first woman to hold that position.

A mix of backgrounds

Beyond naming Wiles, Trump has offered few specifics about whom he wants to fill key roles in his second administration.

Many who served in Cabinet and sub-Cabinet posts in his first administration have since broken with the president-elect. Some even went so far as to endorse his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. However, a sizable number of former Trump appointees have maintained good relations with him, and they may reappear in significant roles in the next administration.

Beyond that, those he might tap for key positions include current and former members of Congress as well as major figures from the business world who supported his campaign, such as SpaceX founder Elon Musk.

Transition team

Presidential candidates typically set up transition teams well before the end of the election to get a head start on the process.

Jo-Anne Sears, a nonresident fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, served on transition teams for former President George W. Bush and 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. She told VOA that she has been in touch with Trump transition team members and expects them to cast a wide net when considering potential appointees.

“I’m hearing from folks within the transition that they really want to bring the best and brightest to Washington, D.C.,” Sears said. “And that means they’ll come from all different parts of the country — it won’t just be New York or D.C.

“I think he’s going to try to bring people in who are true experts in their fields, whether that’s national security, homeland security, or in technological solutions to streamline government, which I think is going to be one of his goals,” Sears said.

Former Trump Cabinet appointees 

Some of the most obvious choices for senior positions in Trump’s second administration are the individuals who held senior, Senate-confirmed positions in the first.

Robert Lighthizer served as U.S. trade representative for most of Trump’s first term. He may reappear in the new administration in a more senior role, such as treasury secretary.

Mike Pompeo, who served as CIA director and secretary of state at separate times in the first Trump administration, could return to one of those roles or take up the mantle of secretary of defense.

John Ratcliffe served as Trump’s director of national intelligence during the last year of his first term. He could appear in any of several roles, from a senior intelligence post to the office of the attorney general.

Linda McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, a professional wrestling promoter, served as head of the Small Business Administration in Trump’s first term. Currently one of the leaders of Trump’s transition team, she is said to be under consideration for commerce secretary.

Potential sub-Cabinet-level returnees

Several potential appointees have served in senior sub-Cabinet roles or in Trump’s Cabinet on an acting basis.

Richard Grenell, who served as Trump’s ambassador to Germany and then briefly in 2020 as acting director of national intelligence, is believed to be in the running for secretary of state. Grenell is famously combative, however, and could struggle in the Senate confirmation process. He might also be a candidate for national security adviser, which is not a Cabinet-level position and does not require Senate confirmation.

Robert O’Brien, Trump’s former national security adviser who also served as an envoy for hostage affairs, might also assume a top job in the new administration, potentially as secretary of state.

Stephen Miller, who served first as director of speechwriting and then as a senior adviser to Trump throughout his first administration, may also return to the White House. However, like Grenell, Miller might face long odds in a confirmation hearing. What position Miller might hold is unclear, but his past focus on illegal immigration suggests a role in the Department of Homeland Security or a job related to border policy.

Larry Kudlow, the financial news commentator who served as director of the National Economic Council during Trump’s first term, is rumored to be a potential candidate for a senior position on Trump’s economic team, possibly treasury secretary.

Keith Kellogg, a former Army lieutenant general who briefly served as acting national security adviser early in Trump’s term and remained in the White House as national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, could take a role on the national security team.

Tom Homan, who served as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under Trump, could be brought back on board to lead the Department of Homeland Security and help the next president pursue his stated goal of orchestrating mass deportations of noncitizens living in the U.S.

Another possibility for Homeland Security is Chad Wolf, who led the agency for 14 months at the end of Trump’s administration. During his tenure, Wolf reliably carried out Trump’s draconian immigration policies. However, his appointment was later found to have been illegal. Wolf also resigned his position after Trump attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Jeffrey Clark, a former assistant attorney general who played a key role in pressuring Justice Department officials to help overturn Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, may also return, despite being under indictment in Georgia for attempting to overturn the election in that state. Trump briefly considered appointing Clark acting attorney general in the aftermath of the 2020 election but decided not to after the Justice Department’s senior staff said they would resign en masse.

Kash Patel, who served in several senior staff positions related to the defense and intelligence communities, may also reappear. Patel, a vocal supporter of Trump, vowed at one point that in a second term, the administration would “come after” Trump’s critics.

Jay Clayton, who served as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission under Trump and has a long history as a business lawyer, is seen as a potential pick for Treasury who would bring confidence to the financial markets.

Brian Hook, who served as director of policy planning and later as U.S. special representative for Iran, has been mentioned as a potential nominee to lead the Department of Defense.

One longshot candidate for a senior position is former Army Lieutenant General Mike Flynn, who served briefly as Trump’s first national security adviser before being forced to resign for lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials. Flynn has remade himself as a pro-Trump conspiracy theorist associated with the QAnon movement, and the former president has expressed some interest in bringing him back into the administration.

Current and former members of Congress

Current and former members of Congress are also potential Trump appointees, including Utah Senator Mike Lee. An attorney and ardent Trump supporter who aided efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Lee is believed to be a leading candidate for attorney general.

Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee is believed to be under consideration for various top jobs. He served as Trump’s ambassador to Japan before being elected to the Senate and could fill any of several of trade- and diplomacy-related positions.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a Trump critic-turned-avid supporter, was considered as a vice presidential nominee last year. He is now considered a possible candidate for secretary of state.

Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina is one of Trump’s most visible supporters in the African American community and may be in line for a post as secretary of housing and urban development.

Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a veteran Army officer and national defense hawk, is said to be under consideration for secretary of defense.

Another possibility for the Pentagon is Mike Waltz, a former Green Beret and National Guard colonel who serves in Congress representing Florida. Waltz is a vocal defender of Trump in the media.

Representative Mark Green of Tennessee, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, is seen as a potential pick to run the Department of Homeland Security.

Representative Elise Stefanik of New York has been mentioned as a potential ambassador to the United Nations.

Business leaders

While Musk played a major role in funding Trump’s campaign and has signaled an openness to serving on some sort of commission aimed at making the federal government more efficient, it seems unlikely that he will serve in an official Cabinet position. Musk already serves as CEO of several companies that have billions of dollars’ worth of contracts with the federal government, including the rocket company SpaceX. This creates a web of potential conflicts of interest that would make Senate confirmation difficult.

Several figures from the world of investing and finance are also reported to be in the mix. John Paulson, a billionaire hedge fund manager who has supported Trump since the president-elect’s first campaign in 2016, is reportedly under consideration for treasury secretary.

Also said to be under consideration for treasury secretary is Scott Bessent, a hedge fund manager and adviser to the Trump campaign.

One of the leaders of Trump’s transition team, Howard Lutnick, the CEO of the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, is a possible candidate for an economic policy position.

There have long been rumors that Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, is a potential treasury secretary. However, recent news reports have suggested that he is not interested in the job.

The RFK Jr. factor

During the campaign, onetime independent candidate for president Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and son of the former attorney general, threw his support to Trump.

In return, Trump has offered Kennedy a role in shaping public health policy. In a Zoom call with supporters late in the campaign, Kennedy said that Trump had “promised” him control of the Department of Health and Human Services – which includes the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health – and the Department of Agriculture.

However, there are doubts that Kennedy could survive a Senate confirmation vote for any Cabinet-level position. A former environmental lawyer, he has in recent decades become a prominent vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist, and lawmakers might be reluctant to place him in charge of the country’s public health infrastructure.

Campaign figures

Finally, two figures who arose during Trump’s most recent presidential campaign might find their way into the White House in January.

Former Trump primary opponents-turned-supporters Doug Burgum, the former governor of North Dakota, and Vivek Ramaswamy, a businessman, might also be in the mix. 
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Turkish leader sees opportunity in Trump’s election

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is sometimes at odds with Western leaders but has made no secret of what he says were his warm dealings with President-elect Donald Trump during the U.S. leader’s first term. Observers say he is now looking to those warm ties as an opportunity to end regional conflicts, but also to ask for greater U.S. cooperation against Kurdish separatists, as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
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In Africa, some excited about Trump return, others worried

Reactions in Africa to Donald Trump’s return to the White House are mixed. Some are excited and eager to see what comes next, while others remember the former president’s first term and don’t expect much from a new Trump administration regarding Africa. VOA Nairobi Bureau Chief Mariama Diallo has this report. Contributor: Juma Majanga; Camera: Amos Wangwa
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