Harris campaign leadership urges staffers not to speak with reporters: Sources
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(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — During an all-staff call earlier this week, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign leadership urged staffers not to speak with reporters and addressed concerns about the future after her loss to Donald Trump in the election, two people on the call told ABC News.
Campaign Chair Jennifer O’Malley Dillon and Deputy Campaign Manager Quentin Fulks implored staffers not to speak with reporters, with Fulks saying they still needed staffers “staying in this fight.”
One source noted that the call gave the same “gaslighty” feeling they received after President Joe Biden left the race in July. In an all-staff call following Biden’s departure from the race, staffers were caught off guard and were only given a one-minute heads up that he was exiting the race before he made it public.
ABC News has reached out to the Harris campaign for comment on the matter.
During the call, O’Malley Dillon told staffers that they ran a “very close” race. She said that state teams knocked on more than 50 million doors in the final days before Election Day and their field operation helped the Senate races in those states. O’Malley Dillon teared up toward the end of the call, a source confirmed.
Harris spoke on that call, noting that this moment “sucks,” a source told ABC News.
“We all just speak truth, why don’t we, right? There’s also so much good that has come of this campaign,” Harris said, according to the source.
Harris had a hopeful tone in her message to supporters at Howard on Wednesday, too, saying “sometimes the fight takes a while. … The important thing is don’t ever give up.”
During the call, leadership spoke about the next general steps for staffers and connecting with people for their next jobs.
Last month on the show, when asked what she would have done differently than Biden over the last four years, Harris said, “there is not a thing that comes to mind,” before citing, much later in the interview, her pledge to put a Republican in her Cabinet.
(WASHINGTON) — Speaker Mike Johnson and top House Republicans took a victory lap as they returned to Washington on Tuesday on the heels of last week’s election, saying they are ready on Day 1 to work on President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda.
“It is a beautiful morning and it is a new day in America,” Johnson said from the Capitol steps surrounded by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Whip Tom Emmer and National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Rep. Richard Hudson.
Lawmakers are back for a lame-duck session that will require them to pass another government funding measure before a shutdown deadline of Dec. 20 and passing the annual defense bill, among other legislative priorities.
All eyes are also on Trump’s transition and what lies ahead with a potential Republican “trifecta” in the nation’s capital. Republicans won the White House and the Senate and are three seats away from clinching the House, according to ABC News projections, though House control has not yet been called.
Johnson said they were continuing to watch outstanding races, but expressed confidence that the chamber would remain in GOP control.
Republican leadership said their top priorities come January will be to lower costs, secure the border and project strength on the world stage in coordination with Trump.
“Last week, the American people delivered a mandate down to Washington that they want to fix the problems that have been plaguing families all across this country for the last three and a half years,” Scalise said.
Johnson argued they are better equipped to act now than they were in 2016, when Republicans similarly controlled the White House and Congress after Trump’s victory.
“We are prepared this time as we wind down the 118th Congress,” Johnson said. “We’ll be ready to take the ball and run in the 119th Congress.”
Johnson said he doesn’t anticipate more members leaving to join Trump’s team and that “every vote will count” in the new Congress.
“President Trump and I have talked about this, multiple times a day for the last several days,” Johnson said. “We have an embarrassment of riches. We have a really talented Republican Congress … Many of them can serve in a important positions in the new administration. But President Trump fully understands, appreciates the math here and it’s just a numbers game.”
Johnson also confirmed reports that he is planning to spend the weekend at Mar-a-Lago with Trump to discuss Trump’s cabinet and the upcoming House agenda.
The speaker also said Trump expressed interest in coming to speak to Republicans on Capitol Hill on Wednesday when he is in Washington to meet with President Joe Biden.
“That would be a great meeting and moment for us all,” Johnson said. “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.”
The speaker declined to back anyone in the Senate leadership race, saying all the candidates are his “favorite.” Senate Republicans are set to vote Wednesday, with three major contenders vying for the position: Sen. John Thune, Sen. John Cornyn and Sen. Rick Scott.
Trump has not endorsed a candidate, but made demands that whoever is chosen support recess appointments for federal vacancies.
(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday railed against President Joe Biden and mused on renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” among a flurry of topics in a freewheeling news conference at Mar-a-Lago less than two weeks before he takes office.
Trump began his remarks by announcing a $20 billion investment from DAMAC Properties, a Middle-East based company, to build new data centers across the United States, particularly in the Midwest and Sun Belt.
He quickly shifted focus, however, to criticizing President Biden’s final actions before leaving office and laying out his desire to acquire Greenland and the Panama Canal, not ruling out using the military to ensure what he called U.S. economic and national security.
Here are key takeaways from Trump’s press conference, his second since becoming president-elect.
Trump blasts Biden on transition
Trump took aim at Biden’s move to ban all future offshore oil and natural gas drilling off of America’s East and West coasts.
The action is one of several Biden acts to preempt Trump’s second-term goals.
“We are inheriting a difficult situation from the outgoing administration, and they’re trying everything they can to make it more difficult,” Trump said, contending they were not facilitating a “smooth transition.”
On Biden’s oil drilling ban, Trump vowed: “I will reverse it immediately. It’ll be done immediately. And we will drill baby drill,” but that could prove very difficult because the Biden ban is considered permanent under the law and Congress would need to change it.
Trump muses on creating ‘Gulf of America’ and seizing Panama Canal
As he discussed his desire for U.S. control of Greenland and the Panama Canal, Trump mused on changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.”
“What a beautiful name. And it’s appropriate. It’s appropriate,” he said.
Trump said he wanted to purchase Greenland in his first term, which the island territory flatly rejected at the time. As Trump made the push again after his election win, Greenland’s prime minister noted it is not for sale.
Asked by a reporter if he would commit to not using military force or economic coercion in his quest to acquire the territories, Trump notably did not rule it out.
“No, I can’t assure you on either of those two. But I can say this, we need them for economic security,” Trump said.
Trump also floated the possibility of imposing tariffs “at a very high level” on Denmark to acquire Greenland, claiming Denmark might not have any “legal right” to Greenland. As Trump spoke, his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., was in Greenland for what he claimed was a personal visit.
Trump also didn’t mince words in criticizing former President Jimmy Carter, who died last week at the age of 100, for overseeing the Panama Canal Treaty that gave the Central American nation eventual control of the critical waterway.
Trump called Carter a “good man” but said he believed ceding the Panama Canal is why Carter didn’t win a second term. The comments came as Carter’s remains were being transported from Georgia to Washington ahead of his state funeral.
“That was a big mistake,” Trump said of Carter’s decision on Panama.
‘All hell will break out’ if Hamas doesn’t release hostages by inauguration
Trump was joined at Mar-a-Lago by Steven Witkoff, who he has tapped as his special envoy to the Middle East. The two were asked about ongoing efforts to secure a deal to release the Israeli and other hostages still being held by Hamas.
“All hell will break out. If those hostages aren’t back … If they’re not back by the time I get into office, all hell will break out in the Middle East,” Trump said.
Asked to elaborate, Trump only said: “And it will not be good for Hamas. And it will not be good, frankly, for anyone.”
Witkoff indicated “really great progress” has been made on hostage negotiations during his brief remarks.
Ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel are “ongoing,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majid al-Ansari said Tuesday.
Not ruling out pardons for violent Jan. 6 rioters
Trump declined to commit to not pardoning Jan. 6 defendants who were charged with violent offenses, including those who attacked police officers, when asked by ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang.
“Well, you know, the only one that was killed was a beautiful young lady named Ashley Babbitt,” said Trump, again seeking to downplay the violence that occurred as thousands of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.
Approximately 140 law enforcement officers were injured during the riot, the DOJ has said.
He also again falsely claimed that no one in the crowd carried firearms.
Praises end of Facebook, Instagram fact-checkers
Trump was asked for his reaction to Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, announcing it will replace its fact-checking program with “community notes.” The move was announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday.
“I watched their news conference and I thought it was a very good news conference. I think they’ve honestly I think they’ve come a long way, Meta, Facebook. I think they’ve come a long way. I watched it. The man was very impressive,” Trump said.
Asked if he believes Zuckerberg was responding to “threats” that Trump had made to him in the past, Trump responded: “Probably.”
Meta introduced the fact-checking program after Trump’s 2016 win. Trump was banned from Facebook and Instagram after the Jan. 6 Capitol siege over concerns his posts were inciting violence.
Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Thursday that he is replacing Marco Rubio in the Senate with the state’s attorney general, Ashley Moody.
“This is a time for action and a time for Washington D.C. to deliver results to the American people,” DeSantis said at a news conference near Orlando. “There are no more excuses for Republicans.”
Rubio, who has served in the Senate since 2010, has been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to be secretary of state. Rubio was on Capitol Hill on Wednesday for his confirmation hearing, during which he was pressed on Trump’s foreign policy goals.
DeSantis’ pick will serve the remaining two years of Rubio’s term.
Moody, 49, was a federal prosecutor and circuit court judge before she was elected in 2018 to serve as Florida’s attorney general.
DeSantis praised her as someone who has “stood strong time and time again” on Republican priorities on the economy, immigration and more. He noted her actions against the Biden administration on border policy, specifically, as attorney general.
“She understands the gravity of the moment,” he said. “We may not have an opportunity like this in the near future. This is a once-in-a-decade, maybe even once-in-a-generation opportunity, and this current Congress is ultimately going to determine whether we do usher in that revival of the American experiment or is just going to be status quo, passing the buck and nothing ever changes.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
