The Latest: Trump promotes his economic agenda after Democratic election victories

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A day after Democrats dominated the first major Election Day since Donald Trump returned to the White House, the president is in Miami to speak at a forum of business leaders and global athletes about what he sees as his economic achievements.

While a debate about the future of the Democratic Party may have only just begun, there are signs that the economy — specifically, Trump’s inability to deliver the economic turnaround he promised last fall — may be a real problem for Trump’s GOP heading into next year’s higher-stakes midterm elections.

The Republican president’s speech to the America Business Forum will be a broad look at his economic agenda and how investments he has secured abroad help U.S. communities, according to a senior White House official.

Democratic candidates who won Tuesday in the New Jersey and Virginia governor’s races, and the New York City mayor’s contest, focused their campaigns on the public’s cost-of-living concerns.

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The nomination of Republican former Rep. Steve Pearce to lead the Bureau of Land Management must be confirmed by the Senate.

The agency oversees about 10% of the land in the U.S., giving it a central role in Republican attempts to increase fossil fuel production.

Pearce is a former fighter pilot and Vietnam War veteran who led a successful oil services company in New Mexico. He served seven terms in the House.

A longtime oil and gas industry representative who was previously nominated to lead the land agency withdrew in April. That followed revelations that nominee Kathleen Sgamma criticized Trump in 2021 for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

A coalition of doctors groups and public health organizations — who already were suing the government over vaccine policy — also are asking the court to disband and reconstitute U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vaccine advisory committee.

The plaintiffs filed the amended complaint Wednesday in a case that pits the American Academy of Pediatrics and other groups against Kennedy.

The plaintiffs sued the U.S. government in July in federal court in Boston over Kennedy’s decision to stop recommending COVID-19 vaccinations for most children and pregnant women.

The amended complaint expands the focus to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which advises the government what vaccines to recommend.

Kennedy, a leading antivaccine activist before becoming the nation’s top health official, fired the entire 17-member panel earlier this year and replaced it with a group that includes several anti-vaccine voices.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced Wednesday that it will reduce air traffic by 10% across 40 “high-volume” markets beginning Friday morning to maintain safety during the ongoing government shutdown.

The agency is confronting staffing shortages caused by air traffic controllers, who are working unpaid, with some calling out of work during the shutdown, resulting in delays across the country.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the agency is not going to wait for a problem to act, saying the shutdown is causing staffing pressures and “we can’t ignore it.”

Bedford and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said they will meet later Wednesday with airline leaders to figure out how to safely implement the reduction.

California’s new U.S. House maps are already creating turmoil for state Republicans – just as Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom intended.

One day after voters in the heavily Democratic state resoundingly endorsed Proposition 50 – which reshaped House districts to erase as many as five GOP seats – two Republican incumbents announced the start of campaigns for the same job.

GOP Reps. Young Kim and Ken Calvert are each planning to run in the newly created 40th District. It represents a rare opportunity, running through parts of Orange and Riverside counties where the Republican registration edge increased under the maps approved Tuesday by voters.

Newsom pushed the plan to counter moves by Trump to gain more GOP seats in Texas and other states in advance of the 2026 midterm elections, when control of Congress will be on the line.

The dueling announcements by Kim and Calvert highlight the diminished turf in California where Republicans can be competitive in House races under the new districts. In the state congressional delegation, the redrawn maps could boost the Democratic margin to 48 of California’s 52 seats in 2026, up from the 43 seats the party now holds.

Maine Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, who represents one of the most competitive U.S. House districts in the country, said Wednesday he will not seek reelection.

Golden was first elected to Congress in 2018 and has carved out a space as a Democrat who is willing to work with Trump’s administration. He announced his decision not to seek a new term in an opinion piece published Wednesday in the Bangor Daily News in his home state.

Golden wrote that he has “grown tired of the increasing incivility and plain nastiness that are now common from some elements of our American community.” He also said he was motivated to step down by the number of incidents of political violence in the country, including those against Trump and Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

If you’re John Mulaney, it may be because one of the attorneys is a friend, and because you’re really just into this kind of stuff.

Mulaney was on hand Wednesday as the Justice Department defended Trump’s invoking emergency to impose tariffs worldwide.

Among those arguing against the policy was Neal Katyal, a solicitor general during the Obama administration and a representative Wednesday for small businesses opposing tariffs.

Katyal is an open admirer of Mulaney’s and had him as a guest on his podcast in July 2023, when he praised the comedian as “a Constitutional Law nerd” who texts him “all sorts of questions about random Supreme Court cases. All the time. And they are damn good questions.”

Representatives for Mulaney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Los Angeles immigrant rights groups are urging the Dodgers to turn down a visit to the White House this year after winning the World Series.

A coalition of groups including the National Day Laborer Organizing Network held a press conference Wednesday urging the baseball team, whose ownership has come under fire from activists after federal immigration agents were seen in a Dodgers Stadium parking lot, to not go to the White House in a show of solidarity with the city’s immigrants.

The Dodgers visited the White House last April for a ceremony to honor the 2024 World Series Champions.

“Our community has been attacked everyday and that’s why we stand here and we’re asking our beloved Dodgers to also stand with us,” said Jose Madera, director of the Pasadena Community Job Center. “To not accept any invitation to the White House, to not shake the hand of the person who’s causing all this suffering in our community.”

A spokesperson for the Dodgers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment asking if they have invited the Dodgers to visit.

“This is a key that opens some really nice presidential library real estate,” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez told Trump as he handed over the gift during the president’s speech at a business conference in Miami.

Trump called it a “great honor” and said he would take the key to the White House before he moves it to Doral in about three and a half years when his term ends. Trump owns a golf club in nearby Doral, Florida.

But it’s not a done deal that Trump’s presidential library will be built on a parcel of prime real estate in downtown Miami.

A judge has temporarily blocked Miami Dade College from giving away the land. The school has appealed the decision.

The Pentagon announced Wednesday that it had successfully completed a regular test of a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile amid apparent signals from both Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin about restarting nuclear testing.

The test of the unarmed Minuteman III rocket was routine and scheduled years in advance, according to a U.S. Space Force statement. The launches help the military verify and demonstrate the effectiveness, readiness and accuracy of the missiles that serve as one of the three pillars of America’s nuclear deterrent.

The early Wednesday launch came hours before Putin ordered Russian officials to submit proposals for a possible resumption of nuclear tests in response to Trump’s surprise statements last week that appeared to suggest the U.S. would restart its own atomic tests.

However, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday that new tests of the U.S. nuclear weapons system ordered by Trump will not include nuclear explosions.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are meeting with top lawmakers overseeing national security in a secure facility on Capitol Hill as the Trump administration ups its threats against Venezuela.

The Trump administration has faced criticism from Democrats for holding Republicans-only briefings recently, but the briefing Wednesday included some Democratic lawmakers as well. Top congressional leaders, as well as those overseeing committees on the military, intelligence and foreign relations were invited.

A half-dozen leaders of top Swiss companies have met with Trump at the White House to push for tighter economic ties as Switzerland’s government has sought to lift the stiff 39% U.S. tariffs on goods from the rich Alpine country.

The corporate chieftains, in a joint statement released Wednesday, said they met a day earlier with Trump in the Oval Office.

The executives said their “private initiative” reaffirmed the “strong economic ties” between Switzerland and the United States and was “highly constructive” – without giving details.

The Swiss business leaders were Diego Aponte of shipping company MSC; Jean-Frederic Dufour of watchmaker Rolex; Alfred Gantner of investment firm Partners Group; Daniel Jaeggi of commodity firm Mercuria; Johann Rupert of luxury goods group Richemont and Marwan Shakarchi of gold and precious metals group MKS Pamp.

Maligning critics who have decried him using the power of his Justice Department to target his political enemies, Trump, in a mocking tone, offered, “They say, ‘He’s going after Comey.’”

He repeated his long stated contention that he was the one who was politically targeted through impeachments and criminal charges.

The comment came the same day that Comey appeared in court on charges of lying to Congress in 2020.

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered prosecutors in Comey’s case to produce to defense lawyers a trove of materials from the investigation, saying he was concerned the Justice Department’s position had been to “indict first” and investigate second.

New Jersey Democratic Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill said Wednesday in her first comments since a victory speech that she interprets her election as giving her a big mandate to deliver on promises of making the state more affordable.

Sherrill met with Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy in his statehouse office, where the pair said they discussed the transition of governments. Later, she spoke at her administration’s transition office.

Asked if her double-digit victory over Republican Jack Ciattarelli meant she had a mandate, she answered: “Yes, I do, a big one.” She didn’t directly address how she squares her win with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s democratic socialism and stuck to her core campaign message of pursuing affordability.

“I’m really focused on governing here in New Jersey,” she said. “The reason I was so focused on affordability issues is because my communities are focused on affordability issues and how they’re going to be successful.”

With a fragile ceasefire holding in Gaza, Trump repeated his hope to build on his signature first term foreign policy effort that led to the forging of diplomatic and commercial ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.

“And hopefully we get Saudi Arabia very soon,” with the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Princess Reema Bandar al-Saud, in the crowd. Trump jokingly added, “I’m not saying that. I’m not lobbying.”.

Saudi Arabia is the largest Arab economy and the birthplace of Islam.

Getting Riyadh to sign on to a normalization agreement with Israel is seen by the Republican administration as a big step in Trump’s ambitions to stabilize the Middle East.

The U.S. president, during an ostensibly economy-focused speech, said South Africa should not be a member of the Group of 20, a collection of the world’s leading rich and developing economies.

“South Africa shouldn’t even be in the Gs anymore because what’s happening there is bad,” Trump said at the America Business Forum. He reiterated that he will not attend the annual G20 summit for world leaders, to be held later this month in Johannesburg.

Trump has had a contentious relationship with South Africa and had a tense Oval Office meeting with the country’s president earlier this year.

Trump was ticking through positive economic data, including Walmart’s announcing that the price of Thanksgiving dinner staples will be down significantly, when he decided to remark on the presence of Saudi ambassador Reema Bandar al-Saud at his Miami speech.

“That’s a big deal. I don’t know if they care about that in Saudi Arabia, but here it means a lot,” Trump said of the Walmart Thanksgiving prices. “We got the princess here from Saudi Arabia. She’s got a lot of cash, serious cash. And she’s a great person. So she doesn’t care about the price of a turkey is down a little bit. You know, she doesn’t have to worry about it.”

The Trump administration will present its resolution Wednesday to members of the U.N. Security Council on an international stabilization force in Gaza, according to a U.S. official.

The proposal would provide a mandate for the force for at least two years, marking the next step in Trump’s plan to halt two years of war between Israel and Hamas.

Representatives for Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates will join the United States in a show of regional support, according to the official, spoke on condition of anonymity because the closed Security Council briefing has not been formally announced.

The draft also calls for the force to ensure “the process of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip” and “the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups.

-By Matthew Lee and Farnoush Amiri

The president bragged about the stock market rising and insisted the economy was booming, but also acknowledged that it hasn’t been great for all Americans.

“We have the greatest economy right now,” Trump said. “A lot of people don’t see that.”

He talked about job creation and said “you have to talk” about such things because “if people don’t talk about them, then you can do not so well in elections.”

His comments came after Democrats dominated Tuesday’s elections around the country and many voters cited concerns about the economy.

Trump has been quick to note he wasn’t in the ballot, but also said before going to Miami on Wednesday “ we learned a lot.” He promised during the speech to “make America affordable again.”

Trump said America “lost a little bit of our sovereignty last night” after Democrats swept key elections for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, mayor in New York City and a ballot initiative in California to redraw its congressional districts in response by efforts by Republican states to do the same.

The president noted that he was speaking in Miami on the first anniversary of his win in the 2024 election, suggesting that it was “the single most consequential election victory in American history.”

Trump said his return to the White House had allowed the American people to “reclaim our government,” implying as he often has that his Democratic opponents are outside the national identity.

Wednesday marks the last day for states to apply for federal funding through the Rural Health Transformation Program, created through Trump’s summer tax and spending cuts bill as a counterbalance to sweeping Medicaid cuts that are expected to hit rural hospitals hard.

The program is expected to distribute $50 billion in total, with half of the funds divided equally among states. The other half will be divided based on a formula developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that examines a state’s rural population and the number of low-income people it serves.

Several states have already made public their applications for the funding. The awardees will be announced by the end of the year.

Hospitals and health industry experts have warned that while the fund throws a lifeline to rural hospitals, it won’t save them all.

Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider Trump’s sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.

Conservative justices seemed skeptical of Trump’s tariffs, potentially putting at risk a key part of his agenda in the biggest legal test yet of his unprecedented presidency.

Challengers say Trump is illegally using an emergency law to claim nearly limitless tariff power and American small businesses are paying the price. Trump’s administration says the law gives the president the power to regulate importation, including tariffs.

The Republican president has said a ruling against him in the case before the court Wednesday would be catastrophic for the economy.

Many have declared Republican Curtis Sliwa the spoiler in the three-way race between him, Democrat Zohran Mamdani and former governor Andrew Cuomo.

But AP Voter Poll data suggests that it’s unlikely that Sliwa’s presence in the race changed the outcome.

When asked how they would vote if only Mamdani and Cuomo were in the race, about half of Sliwa’s supporters said they would have voted for Cuomo. In the hypothetical question, about 4 in 10 Sliwa supporters said they wouldn’t have voted. The remainder either would have moved to Mamdani, or didn’t know what they would do.

The data indicates that even half of Sliwa’s voters on Tuesday would not have been enough to make up the significant lead that Mamdani won by.

With slightly more than 90% of the estimated vote counted, the AP Decision Desk found Mamdani won with 50.4% of the vote, while Cuomo gathered 41.6% percent of the vote. Sliwa, for his part, won 7.1% percent of the vote. Those figures could change as late-arriving mail ballots are added.

Asked about his thoughts on Democrats’ resounding victories in Tuesday’s election, Pennsylvania’s Democratic senator said he didn’t think they meant much, saying Democrats were heavy favorites in both New Jersey and Virginia, as was a ballot measure in California.

“I wasn’t surprised by any of these things,” Sen. John Fetterman said.

Whether the results will have an impact on the shutdown, Fetterman said he didn’t think Democrats should be treating the shutdown “like it’s some kind of a political game.”

“If people think that we should keep it closed because of the elections that we already knew we were going to win, it’s like then that seems like it’s a game,” he added.

Reporters waiting near the South Lawn for the president to leave on a trip to Florida noticed what appeared to be a mock-up of a sign that says, “The Oval Office.”

The flowery, gold lettering appeared to be written on some type of temporary paper that was put up on the wall near the door where reporters enter for Trump’s appearances in the Oval with foreign leaders, Cabinet members or other guests.

The White House had no comment on the sign.

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