(NEW YORK) — In the first and only vice-presidential debate of the 2024 election, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance are going head-to-head on the nation’s most pressing issues.
With just over 30 days till Election Day, the debate stage offers both candidates an opportunity to appeal to undecided voters and help solidify the Democratic and Republican platforms.
The high-stakes, 90-minute debate is being held at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City on Tuesday.
As Walz and Vance make their case for a Kamala Harris or Donald Trump-led White House respectively, ABC News is live fact-checking their statements for answers that are exaggerated, need more context or are false.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
WALZ CLAIM: Gov. Walz said, “The persons closest to them, to Donald Trump, said he is unfit for the highest office. That is Senator Vance.”
FACT-CHECK: True
Vance has shifted his view toward former President Trump since he first rose to prominence. Early in his career, Vance made a number of comments that were disparaging toward Trump. The specific comment that Walz seems to be referencing here is from a 2016 New York Times op-ed written by Vance ahead of the release of his book “Hillbilly Elegy.” In the op-ed, Vance wrote, “Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”
In years since the op-ed was published, Vance has said his views on Trump changed.
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
VANCE CLAIM: Sen. Vance said, “We’ve got 20, 25 million illegal aliens who are here in the country”
FACT-CHECK: False
During Biden’s administration, immigration officials have encountered immigrants illegally crossing the U.S. border around 10 million times. When accounting for “got aways” — people who aren’t stopped by border officials — the number rises to about 11.6 million.
But encounters don’t mean admissions. Encounters represent events, so one person who tries to cross the border twice counts for two encounters. Also, not everyone encountered is let into the country.
The Department of Homeland Security estimates about 4.2 million encounters have led to expulsions or removals. About 3.9 million people have been released into the U.S. to await immigration court hearings under Biden’s administration, Department of Homeland Security data shows.
Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead. Via Flickr
(WASHINGTON) — After a sweeping victory over Vice President Kamala Harris on Nov. 5, President-elect Donald Trump is now set to become just the second ever to serve nonconsecutive terms in office.
Trump has wasted no time in moving to assemble his team for a second term in the White House — naming Susie Wiles as his chief of staff and New York Rep. Elise Stefanik as U.N. ambassador, among other positions.
Inauguration Day is Jan. 20.
November 13, 2024, 11:37 AM EST – The battle for Trump’s treasury secretary
As Trump continues to round out his cabinet, the job of treasury secretary remains in flux, with the co-chair of Trump’s transition team actively vying for the job, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Howard Lutnick is looking to be tapped as treasury secretary, sources said, a move that comes as investor and hedge fund manager Scott Bessent is also a top contender for the role.
Bessent traveled to Mar-a-Lago as recently as Friday to meet with Trump about the job, the sources said.
Lutnick, on the other hand, spends hours with Trump nearly each day, presenting candidates for top roles in the administration. As such, the move by Lutnick to attempt to get a cabinet position for himself has frustrated some close to Trump.
Sources caution the job is still in flux and neither man could get the job — with the potential for other candidates to emerge.
One potential dark horse for the job, one source told ABC News, is former Trump administration trade representative Robert Lighthizer, who Trump sees as an aggressive advocate for his tariff-heavy approach to international trade.
-ABC News’ Jonathan Karl, Olivia Rubin and Katherine Faulders
November 13, 2024, 11:32 AM EST – Trump and Biden meet in Oval Office
President Joe Biden and Trump are meeting in the Oval Office, resuming a tradition that Trump himself flouted in 2020.
Biden spoke first and called for a smooth transition. Trump then said politics is tough but the transition will be smooth.
They did not answer questions.
November 13, 2024, 11:06 AM EST – Trump announces senior White House staff
Trump announced his senior staff on Wednesday, bringing back some of his well-known names from his first term and those who helped on his campaign.
Dan Scavino, one of Trump’s long-time allies, was named assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff. Stephen Miller was named assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff, a move reported earlier this week.
James Blair, the Republican National Committee political director and campaign aide, has been named assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs. Taylor Budowich will serve as assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel. He was a senior member of several of Trump’s PACs.
November 13, 2024, 9:50 AM EST – Trump struggles with attorney general decision, Musk sits in on interviews for key positions: Sources
President-elect Donald Trump is moving quickly to install loyalists and allies into his administration. But he’s struggling with making a decision on one of his top law enforcement positions: attorney general, multiple sources told ABC News.
Trump interviewed multiple candidates for attorney general on Tuesday, but he came away unsatisfied, sources with knowledge of the conversations told ABC News.
Trump interviewed Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Monday, and sat down with lawyers Jay Clayton and Bob Giuffra about the post, sources said. No final decision has been made, sources said.
Notably, billionaire Elon Musk has been involved in — and sitting in on — interviews with potential attorney general candidates, the sources said.
In a sign of how quickly other positions are moving, Pete Hegseth — the Fox News host selected as the nominee for Defense Secretary — was just called Monday and interviewed for the position Tuesday, a source familiar told ABC News.
Within hours, Trump made his choice, sources added. Several Republicans on Capitol Hill and even some Trump allies described being “caught off guard” by the pick.
-Katherine Faulders, Will Steakin, Rachel Scott, John Santucci
November 13, 2024, 5:30 AM EST – Illinois, Colorado governors announce state-level coalition to resist Trump policies
Democratic Govs. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Jared Polis of Colorado will be the co-chairs of a new “non-partisan” coalition of the nation’s governors committed to protecting the “state-level institutions of democracy” ahead of Donald Trump’s incoming presidency.
Governors Safeguarding Democracy, or GSD, will be overseen by governors and supported by a network of senior staff designated by each leader while being supported by GovAct, an organization “championing fundamental freedoms.”
GovAct is advised by a bipartisan board that includes former Republican and Democratic governors and senior officials like former GOP Gov. Arne Carlson of Minnesota, former Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and former GOP Gov. Bill Weld of Massachusetts.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
November 12, 2024, 7:59 PM EST – Gov. Kristi Noem picked for Homeland Security secretary
Trump confirmed he has picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to be his Homeland Security secretary.
Trump said in a statement that Noem will work closely with “border czar” Tom Homan and “will guarantee that our American Homeland is secure from our adversaries.”
The role requires Senate confirmation.
November 12, 2024, 7:47 PM EST – Trump announces Department of Government Efficiency led by Musk, Ramaswamy
Trump has announced that billionaire Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, a former presidential candidate and ally of the president-elect, will lead a new Department of Government Efficiency.
“Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies,” Trump said in a statement.
The Department of Government Efficiency is not a new government agency. Trump said it will “provide advice and guidance from outside of government” and “partner” with the White House and Office of Management and Budget to drive structural government reform.
Trump has previously said Musk would take a role in his administration as head of a new “government efficiency commission.”
November 12, 2024, 7:27 PM EST – Trump nominates Pete Hegseth for defense secretary
Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth to be his defense secretary.
Hegseth is currently a host of “Fox & Friends” as well as an Army combat veteran.
“Nobody fights harder for the Troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘Peace through Strength’ policy,” Trump said in a statement.
The role requires Senate confirmation.
November 12, 2024, 5:57 PM EST – Trump picks John Ratcliffe for CIA director
Trump announced that John Ratcliffe is his pick for director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
The role requires Senate confirmation.
Ratcliffe was a former director of National Intelligence during Trump’s first term.
“I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation’s highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, adding that Ratcliffe “will be a fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans.”
November 12, 2024, 5:55 PM EST – Trump names attorney Bill McGinley as his White House counsel
Trump has named attorney Bill McGinley as his White House counsel, his transition team announced.
McGinley served as the White House Cabinet secretary during Trump’s first term and has served as general counsel at the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
“Bill is a smart and tenacious lawyer who will help me advance our America First agenda while fighting for election integrity and against the weaponization of law enforcement,” Trump said in a statement.
The White House counsel is appointed by the president.
November 12, 2024, 5:27 PM EST – Trump taps friend and donor Steve Witkoff as special envoy to the Middle East
Trump has tapped his longtime friend and donor Steve Witkoff as his special envoy to the Middle East, the president-elect’s transition team announced.
Witkoff, along with former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, has been leading the inauguration efforts.
Witkoff has held multiple fundraisers for Trump throughout the election cycle and accompanied him to numerous campaign rallies. He was also golfing with Trump during the alleged second assassination attempt in West Palm Beach earlier this year.
-ABC News’ Soo Rin Kim, Kelsey Walsh and Lalee Ibssa
November 12, 2024, 4:42 PM EST – Trump expected to tap Kristi Noem for DHS secretary: Sources
Trump is expected to soon announce he has chosen South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as his next secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, according to sources.
The role requires Senate confirmation.
Noem was on the short-list to be Trump’s running mate, but her chances dimmed as she fended off controversy over accounts in her book about killing her dog that she claimed was showing aggressive behavior.
She also faced backlash after her spokesperson said a claim she made about meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and an account of an interaction with former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley were “errors.”
She is a loyal Trump ally who will work closely with Trump’s new border czar Tom Homan and new deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller. CNN was first to report the news of Noem as the secretary pick.
-ABC News’ Jonathan Karl. Rachel Scott, Katherine Faulders and Luke Barr
November 12, 2024, 3:25 PM EST – DeSantis must call for special elections to fill Waltz’s impending vacancy
To replace Florida Rep. Mike Waltz in the U.S. House following his selection to serve as Trump’s national security adviser, state statute requires Gov. Ron DeSantis to call for a special primary and then a special election in Florida.
The special elections to fill the House seat differ from Florida’s way of filling Senate seats. State law mandates that DeSantis appoint an individual to fill any Senate vacancy.
Waltz currently represents Florida’s solidly red 6th Congressional District, one that hasn’t been represented by a Democrat since 1989. DeSantis himself was the congressmember for the northeastern Florida seat ahead of Waltz.
ABC News has not yet reported a projection for who will have control of the House, but Waltz’s impending vacancy could impact Republicans’ numbers as they head toward a GOP “trifecta” in Washington.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
November 12, 2024, 2:01 PM EST – Trump nominates Mike Huckabee to be Israeli ambassador
Trump announced he has nominated former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be the U.S. ambassador to Israel.
“Mike has been a great public servant, Governor, and Leader in Faith for many years,” Trump said in a statement. “He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East!”
The role, which will need to be confirmed by the Senate, will be a key appointment as tensions remain high in the Middle East.
November 12, 2024, 1:37 PM EST – Trump officially announces Waltz as national security adviser pick
Trump has officially announced his appointment of Florida Rep. Mike Waltz as his national security adviser.
The president-elect highlighted Waltz’s military background in a statement on the appointment, noting that he is the first Green Beret to have been elected to Congress and served in the Army Special Forces for 27 years.
“Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda, and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Trump said in a statement.
The national security adviser is appointed by the president without confirmation by the Senate.
-ABC News’ Soo Rin Kim, Kelsey Walsh and Lalee Ibssa
November 12, 2024, 11:50 AM EST – Will Trump’s administration picks impact House control?
While control of the House has not yet been projected by ABC News, Republicans are inching toward maintaining their slim majority.
But already, Trump has picked several lawmakers to serve in his administration: Rep. Elise Stefanik for United Nations ambassador and Rep. Mike Waltz for national security adviser.
Speaker Mike Johnson, asked about the issue on Tuesday, said he’s spoken to Trump about it several times.
“We have a really talented Republican Congress … Many of them can serve in important positions in the new administration. But President Trump fully understands, appreciates the math here and it’s just a numbers game,” Johnson said. “You know, we believe we’re going to have a larger majority than we had last time.”
The speaker added: “I don’t expect that we will have more members leaving, but I’ll leave that up to him.”
November 12, 2024, 11:39 AM EST – Billionaire John Paulson says he’s not a candidate for Treasury role
Billionaire John Paulson said Tuesday he does not plan to formally join the administration as the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, though he said he intends to remain actively involved with Trump’s economic team.
“Although various media outlets have mentioned me as a candidate for Secretary of the Treasury, my complex financial obligations would prevent me from holding an official position in President Trump’s administration at this time,” Paulson said in a statement.
“However, I intend to remain actively involved with the President’s economic team and helping in the implementation of President Trump’s outstanding policy proposals,” he added.
-ABC News’ Beatrice Peterson
November 12, 2024, 11 AM EST – Johnson teases Trump visit to the Capitol
House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed that Trump is expected to visit the U.S. Capitol to celebrate a potential Republicans “trifecta” on Wednesday morning before he sits down in the Oval Office with President Joe Biden later in the day.
“Well, I’ll say I didn’t intend to break this as news this morning,” Johnson quipped as he held a press conference with House Republican leadership.
“He wanted to come and visit with House Republicans, so we’re working out the details of him gathering with us potentially tomorrow morning, before he goes to the White House,” Johnson said. “And that would be a great meeting and a moment for all of us, there’s a lot of excitement, a lot of energy here. We’re really grateful for President Trump leaving it all on the field to get reelected.”
ABC News’ John Parkinson, Isabella Murray and Lauren Peller
November 12, 2024, 11 AM EST – House Republican leadership say they’re ready for Day 1 under Trump
Returning to Washington on Tuesday, Speaker Mike Johnson and other top House Republicans took a victory lap on last week’s election results.
While ABC News has not yet projected House control, Republicans are three seats away from clinching the 218 needed for a majority.
Johnson said they are monitoring outstanding races closely but are confident they will have a “unified” government come January.
“This leadership will hit the ground running to deliver President Trump’s agenda in the 119th Congress, and we will work closely with him and his administration to turn this country around and unleash, as he says, a new golden age in America,” Johnson said at a press conference on the Capitol steps.
November 11, 2024, 11:22 PM EST – Trump’s new ‘border czar’ issues warning to sanctuary states and cities
President-elect Donald Trump’s newly picked “border czar” Tom Homan addressed his forthcoming deportation plan and state leaders who have objected to sweeping immigration policies.
During an appearance on Fox News on Monday, Homan issued a warning to so-called “sanctuary” states and cities to “get the hell out of the way” of the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans.
“I saw today numerous governors from sanctuary states saying they’re going to step in the way. They better get the hell out of the way. Either you help us or get the hell out of the way, because ICE is going to do their job,” he warned, referring to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where he formerly served as director.
“I’ll double the workforce in that sanctuary city. We’re going to do our job despite the politics. We’re doing it. So get used to it, because we’re coming,” Homan said.
When asked if he plans to deport American citizens, Homan said, “President Trump has made it clear we will prioritize public safety threats and national security threats first, and that’s how the focus would be.”
-ABC News’ Soo Rin Kim
November 11, 2024, 8:48 PM EST – Trump expected to tap Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state: Sources
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to announce his intention to nominate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for secretary of state, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
Rubio, 53, has served in the Senate since 2011. He is currently the vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on Foreign Intelligence, and he also sits on the chamber’s Foreign Relations Committee.
Several long-serving State Department officials tell ABC News they respect Rubio’s extensive foreign policy experience and view him as unlikely to overly politicize the secretary of state role.
The secretary of state is appointed by the president with the consent of the Senate.
-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders and Shannon Kingston
November 11, 2024, 7:00 PM EST – Trump asks Rep. Mike Waltz to be his national security adviser: Sources
Trump has asked Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., to be his national security adviser, multiple sources said.
Waltz was at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, sources said.
Waltz is a former Green Beret and China hawk who emerged as a key surrogate for Trump, criticizing the Biden-Harris foreign policy record during the campaign.
The Florida Republican sits on the Intelligence, Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees.
He has supported aid to Ukraine in the past but has demanded “conditions,” including increased spending from European allies, additional oversight of funds and pairing the aid with border security measures.
Waltz, who has visited Ukraine, was a vocal critic of the Biden administration’s policy towards Ukraine, criticizing the White House and allies for not providing Ukraine with more lethal aid — such as MiG fighter planes — earlier in the conflict.
Before running for elected office, Waltz served in various national security policy roles in the Bush administration, Pentagon and White House.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Benjamin Siegel, John Santucci and Katherine Faulders
November 11, 2024, 6:06 PM EST – Volunteer-run effort on RFK Jr.’s website crowd-sourcing ideas for Trump admin appointments
A volunteer-run effort on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s website has begun crowd-sourcing ideas for appointments in Trump’s administration.
A website titled “Nominees for the People” gives anyone the chance to submit names of people they’d like to see join the administration.
“President Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. want your help nominating people of integrity and courage for over 4,000 appointments across the future Trump administration,” the website reads.
Stefanie Spear, a Kennedy spokeswoman, told ABC News that the crowd-sourcing effort is “a grassroots initiative run by volunteers,” and is not actually spearheaded by Kennedy, although the page uses the “mahanow.org” URL that Kennedy’s official campaign website adopted after he exited the race.
“We’ve always offered space on our website to our grassroots movement,” Spear said.
This post has been updated to reflect that the crowd-sourcing effort is a volunteer-run effort.
-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik
November 11, 2024, 5:55 PM EST – Trump’s ‘border czar’ says mass deportation strategy will be a main priority
Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan, Trump’s newly announced “border czar,” said his main priority will be overseeing and formulating Trump’s long-vowed mass deportation strategy while consolidating decisions related to border security.
“Everybody talks about this mass deportation operation. President Trump talks about. I’ll oversee that and come up with a strategy for that,” Homan said during a lengthy interview with his hometown television station WWNY on Monday.
Homan said Trump’s mass deportations is “going to be a targeted enforcement operation, concentrating on criminals and national security threats first.”
He acknowledged that the deportations would be costly but argued the policy would “save the taxpayers a lot of money.”
Homan said he does not plan to “separate women and children” but acknowledged that deporting alleged criminals would result in breaking up families.
“When we arrest parents here, guess what? We separate them. The illegal aliens should be no different,” Homan said.
Homan also said worksite enforcement — an aspect of immigration policy focused on unauthorized workers and employers who knowingly hire them — is “going to get fired back up.”
“Under President Trump, we’re going to work it and we’re going to work it hard,” he said.
-ABC News’ Peter Charalambous
November 11, 2024, 5:46 PM EST – Melania Trump skipping meeting with Jill Biden: Sources
Melania Trump is not expected to travel to Washington with President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday, two sources told ABC News.
First lady Jill Biden had extended an invite to Melania Trump for a meeting, according to the sources. In 2016, Michelle Obama had hosted Melania Trump at the White House.
The Trump campaign declined to comment. The first lady’s office confirmed to ABC News that a joint invitation was extended to the Trumps to meet at the White House though declined to comment beyond that.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott, John Santucci and Molly Nagle
November 11, 2024, 4:26 PM EST – RFK Jr. advising Trump transition on health decisions: Sources
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has continued to broadly advise Trump and the transition team on health-related appointments and has been in discussions to possibly fill a major role in the next administration, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
While sources caution that a role has not been finalized, RFK Jr. has been discussed as a potential candidate for the next secretary of Health and Human Services. But other roles are also on the table, including a broad “czar”-like position that would advise on policy and personnel decisions in other health arenas, the sources said.
RFK Jr. has been in active discussions with the transition team since Trump’s election victory last week. He’s been spotted at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club multiple times and has been engaging in presentations which include candidates for specific Cabinet and health-related jobs, sources said.
He has spent hours with the co-heads of Trump’s transition team — billionaire Howard Lutnick and Linda McMahon — in addition to others at Mar-a-Lago such as Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr.; investor and donor Omeed Malik; Tucker Carlson; and Del Bigtree, RFK Jr.’s former campaign spokesperson who produced a documentary called “Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe.”
-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders, Olivia Rubin and Will McDuffie
November 11, 2024, 3:30 PM EST – Lee Zeldin named to be EPA administrator
President-elect Donald Trump has tapped former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
“Lee, with a very strong legal background, has been a true fighter for America First policies,” Trump said in a statement. “He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet. He will set new standards on environmental review and maintenance, that will allow the United States to grow in a healthy and well-structured way.
Zeldin, who also ran for New York governor against Andrew Cuomo in 2022, confirmed he had been offered the job via a post on X.
“It is an honor to join President Trump’s Cabinet as EPA Administrator,” he wrote. “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water.”
-ABC News’ John Santucci, Rachel Scott and Katherine Faulders
November 11, 2024, 3:06 PM EST -RFK Jr. suggests he’ll gut NIH, replace 600 employees
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. indicated over the weekend that he would fire 600 employees at the National Institutes of Health, replacing them with a new cohort of workers as he seeks to dramatically reshape America’s health agencies.
Speaking at the Genius Network Annual Event in Scottsdale, Arizona, Kennedy described his role vetting people for Donald Trump’s new administration.
“We need to act fast, and we want to have those people in place on Jan. 20, so that on Jan. 21, 600 people are going to walk into offices at NIH and 600 people are going to leave,” Kennedy said, according to a video of his remarks posted on YouTube.
November 11, 2024, 3:06 PM EST- Trump expected to announce Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to announce Stephen Miller, an immigration hard-liner and one of his senior advisers, will become his deputy chief of staff for policy, multiple sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
It’s not clear when Trump plans to formally announce the job, the sources said.
Miller worked in the first Trump administration and played a key role in crafting immigration policies — including those that resulted in thousands of families being separated at the border.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott, John Santucci and Katherine Faulders
November 11, 2024, 3:00 PM EST – Trump picks Elise Stefanik as UN ambassador
President-elect Donald Trump selected Rep. Elise Stefanik to be his U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, multiple Trump officials told ABC News.
“I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter,” Trump said in a statement to ABC News.
Stefanik, a Republican congresswoman from New York’s 21st District, was elected last week to her sixth term in the House. She will inherit a role Nikki Haley held for two years in the first Trump administration.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Katherine Faulders and John Santucci
Former President Donald Trump speaks to attendees during a campaign rally at the Johnny Mercer Theatre in Savannah, Ga., Sept. 24, 2024. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump called several hard-line House Republicans in recent days trying to secure a last-minute change to Speaker Mike Johnson’s short-term government funding plan but failed to sway them, according to multiple House sources.
Trump floated the idea of including undisclosed so-called “election integrity” measures into the legislation — a request House Republican leaders did not accommodate.
The House passed a measure to avert a shutdown and keep the government funded through Dec. 20, on Wednesday afternoon. All Democrats voted for the bill while 82 Republicans opposed it.
Trump’s attempt to change the bill stands in direct contradiction to Johnson’s comment to ABC News on Tuesday that there was “no daylight” between him and Trump on the issue.
“Look, President Trump fully understands the situation, he understands our margins and he’s frustrated as I am that we couldn’t get that done in the original play, but we go back to the play,” Johnson had said.
He went on to say he was “not defying President Trump.”
The story was first reported by The Hill.
Trump had previously called on congressional Republicans to let government funding expire and force a shutdown if they did not get the voting requirements passed as well.
The SAVE Act, a measure that creates voter ID requirements for federal elections, was previously included in Johnson’s government funding plan. The bill failed last week because it did not receive enough support from hardline Republicans and Democrats.
After that defeat, Johnson repeatedly said his current funding plan (which excludes the SAVE Act) was the best option to secure the votes needed to avert a government shutdown by the end of the month.
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told ABC News he has spoken with Trump in recent days but wouldn’t discuss the nature of the calls.
Multiple other Republicans told ABC News they have receive similar calls from Trump. And one House leadership source said they were aware Trump was making the rounds to change the legislation.
“[Trump] asked for language that would allow election integrity to be immediately implemented,” Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., told reporters.
“I think [Trump] believes that we ought to be fighting on the SAVE Act,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told ABC News ahead of the vote.
(NEW YORK) — Republicans in North Carolina and nationally are assessing the potential fallout for former President Donald Trump from a bombshell report alleging that Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the party’s gubernatorial nominee, posted disturbing and inflammatory statements on a forum of a pornographic website.
CNN reported Thursday that Robinson, behind an anonymous username he allegedly used elsewhere, made the comments more than a decade ago, including supporting slavery, calling himself a “black NAZI” and recalling memories of him “peeping” on women in the shower as a 14-year-old.
ABC News has not independently verified the comments were made by Robinson, and he insisted in a video posted to X prior to the story’s publication that “those are not the words of Mark Robinson.”
But Robinson, a Donald Trump ally, already has a history of incendiary remarks about Jews, gay people and others, and elections in North Carolina, one of the nation’s marquee swing states, rest on a knife’s edge, raising questions of how much the latest news will impact his race and other Republicans on the ballot with him — including the former president.
“I think this only heightens the level of toxicity that the Robinson campaign has, and the real question becomes, what’s the radioactive fallout at the top of the ticket along with down the ballot for Republicans here in North Carolina” asked Michael Bitzer, the Politics Department chair at Catawba College.
“This cannot be something that the voters aren’t going to recognize and probably play more into softening the Republican support. Is it isolated only to Robinson’s campaign, or does it start to impact Trump? Does it impact other statewide executive Republicans as well? We’ll just have to wait and see, but this feels like a pretty significant event in North Carolina politics.”
Robinson, who casts himself as a conservative family man and is running for North Carolina’s open governorship against Democratic state Attorney General Josh Stein, is already behind in the polls.
While he holds statewide office and has broad name recognition, Robinson boasts a highly controversial record, including calling the Holocaust “hogwash” and homosexuality “filth,” and he drew claims of hypocrisy when he admitted this year that he had paid for his wife to get an abortion, seemingly in contrast with his stated opposition to the procedure, which he’d previously likened to “murder” and “genocide.”
North Carolina’s gubernatorial race is still considered competitive given the state’s tight partisan divide, but Republicans in the state told ABC News they had already viewed him as trailing, and that Thursday’s report won’t help.
“He’s already got a lengthy history of publishing comments like that on the internet. These are perhaps a little more graphic. In terms of does this by itself serve as a guillotine, I don’t know. But it feels like the cumulative weight is starting to add up now,” said one North Carolina GOP strategist. “It flies in the face of everything he presents of himself publicly. So, cumulatively plus the hypocrisy of this, it’s obviously hurtful to him.”
Republicans were more divided on what it means beyond Robinson’s own candidacy.
North Carolina is a must-win state for Trump, and losing it would impose significant pressure on him to perform in other swing states.
Trump is already running ahead of Robinson — while polls show Robinson trailing, they also show a neck-and-neck race in the state between the former president and Vice President Kamala Harris. The main question now is whether the news depresses Republican turnout in a state where even a small nudge in turnout one way or the other can make decide the victor.
“[Robinson] was already toast. The question is if it hurts Trump, something the campaign is very worried about,” said Doug Heye, a veteran GOP strategist with experience working in North Carolina. “It doesn’t directly cost him voters, but his endorsed pick continues to be a big distraction and has no money to drive out the vote.”
“He’s a baby blue anchor around Trump’s chances in the Tar Heel State,” added Trump donor Dan Eberhart. “This is not good news for Trump’s campaign at all.”
Democrats are already seizing on the news to try to connect Robinson to Trump, who has repeatedly praised him, even calling him at one point “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
Kamala HQ, an X page that serves as one of the Harris campaign’s rapid response tools, posted a slate of videos featuring Trump speaking positively about Robinson.
“His campaign was toast before this story, so the real impact is on all of the Republicans who have endorsed and campaigned alongside him,” said Bruce Thompson, a North Carolina Democratic fundraiser.
However, Trump has been able to navigate his own headwinds, including felony convictions in New York, questioning Harris’ race and more to remain the leader of his party and a viable presidential candidate, leading some Republicans to doubt that Robinson’s struggles will impact the presidential campaign.
“Doubt it impacts at all down-ballot,” said Dave Carney, a GOP strategist who chairs a pro-Trump super PAC.
“I don’t think it helps, but it won’t hurt,” added Sean Spicer, Trump’s first White House press secretary.
Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt sounded a confident note, saying in a statement that the former president’s team would “not take our eye off the ball.”
“President Trump’s campaign is focused on winning the White House and saving this country. North Carolina is a vital part of that plan. We are confident that as voters compare the Trump record of a strong economy, low inflation, a secure border, and safe streets, with the failures of Biden-Harris, then President Trump will win the Tarheel State once again,” she said.”
Still, sources familiar with the matter said the Trump campaign was bracing for a story to come out about Robinson and is planning on putting more distance between the former president and the embattled nominee Robinson — but initially did not have plans to call on him to drop out.
“He seems to not be impacted by what’s going on down-ballot underneath him,” the North Carolina Republican strategist said of Trump. “There’s no way it helps him. But does it hurt him? I don’t know, I think that’s an open question.”
