Donald Trump has officially clinched Arizona, the final state to be called in the 2024 election, handing the Republican a clean sweep of all seven swing states.
The result brings Trump’s final electoral vote total to 312, compared to Kamala Harris’s 226.
Trump earlier announced that two of his former cabinet members – former UN ambassador Nikki Haley and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo – would not be invited to serve in his administration this time around.
Trump announced the decision on Truth Social on Saturday evening, days after announcing that Susie Wiles, his campaign manager, would serve as chief of staff.
With results still coming in from the election, control of the House is still up for grabs, but Republicans already reclaimed control of the Senate.
Three Senate Republicans are vying to replace Mitch McConnell as the chamber’s leader: John Cornyn, John Thune, and Rick Scott. The election will be held November 13.
Earlier Saturday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced President Joe Biden and Trump would meet at the White House this week, setting in motion transition plans between the administrations of the two longstanding political enemies.
Key Points
- Trump wins Arizona, the final state to be called in the 2024 election
- President-elect reveals two former members of his administration will not be returning
- Republicans expected to retain House control as counting continues
- Trump and Biden to meet at White House this week
- Trump says his mass deportation plan has ‘no price tag’
- Tucker Carlson accuses Senate Republicans of staging ‘coup’ ahead of internal leadership vote
Trump wins Arizona to complete clean sweep of seven swing states
07:39
Kelly Rissman
The battleground state of Arizona was called for Donald Trump just before 9.30pm on Saturday, making it the last to be called in the 2024 election and completing a clean sweep of seven swing states for the Republican.
The projected victory is a feather in Trump’s cap as it means he won all seven swing states over Vice President Kamala Harris and flipped the state red after narrowly losing Arizona to Biden in 2020.
Read more here:
The 9/11 trial could force the CIA to disclose its Guantánamo Bay secrets
06:00
Josh Marcus
Nearly two decades after those prisoners arrived at Guantánamo, a new lawsuit could reveal more about what went on inside, and whether it was under the full “operational control” of the CIA.
Josh Marcus reports:
Texas campus in uproar after protesters hold signs declaring ‘women are property’ on quad after Trump victory
04:00
Michelle Del Rey
Hours before Vice President Kamala Harris delivered her concession speech, two Christian protestors disrupted a Texas university campus with signs that branded women “property” and used homophobic slurs.
The incident at Texas State University at San Marcos united students on both sides of the political aisle in anger as the men paraded around for an hour before being escorted off the property.
Eva De Arment, a 19-year-old sophomore, was in the university’s English building waiting for class to start when she saw Snapchat images of the signs, including one that listed “women” and “slaves” alongside cars as “property.”
Scholars say sexism, racism and misogyny helped Trump score a historic second term. The Independent has emailed the Trump campaign for comment. De Arment is now worried she’ll be exposed to more of the sexist rhetoric she heard on campus this week.
“I do believe that there is a nuance that the election made them comfortable enough to come onto a campus with signs like that,” she said. “I am afraid.”
Trump wins Arizona
03:33
Kelly Rissman
Donald Trump clinched Arizona, the final state to be called in the 2024 race, on Saturday evening, according to AP Decision Desk.
Votes are still being counted in the swing state, but 87 per cent have been tallied already, enough to make the call.
Trump won racked up 1,574,244 votes — 52.6 per cent — compared to Harris’ 1,389,309 votes — 46.4 per cent of the vote.
The president-elect’s victory in the state comes four years after he narrowly lost Arizona to Biden — and means he swept all seven swing states.
Arizona’s 11 electoral votes brings Trump to a final total to 312 electoral votes compared to Harris’ 226.
Trump announces inaugural committee co-chairs
03:00
Kelly Rissman
The president-elect announced on Saturday that his inaugural committee will be chaired by Florida real estate investor Steven Witkoff and former Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler.
He described the pair as “longtime friends and supporters.”
“On Election Night, we made history and I have the extraordinary honor of having been elected the 47th President of the United States thanks to tens millions of hardworking Americans across the nation who supported our America First agenda. The Trump Vance Inaugural Committee will honor this magnificent victory in a celebration of the American People and our nation,” Trump said in a statement.
“This will be the kick-off to my administration, which will deliver on bold promises to Make America Great Again. Together, we will celebrate this moment, steeped on history and tradition, and then get to work to achieve the most incredible future for our people, restoring strength, success, and common sense to the Oval Office.”
Voices: The best way to help women? End the male loneliness epidemic
02:00
Helen Coffey
For a 2,300-year-old theory, it’s aged remarkably well. Pretty much all modern psychotherapy is predicated on the premise that what happens in infancy and the relationship we have with our primary caregiver/s is fundamental to what we’re like (and the issues we’ll struggle with) later in life. And, arguably, his words could be just as relevant when it comes to what has been dubbed the “male loneliness epidemic”. The way we bring up boys seems to create lonely men; the negative consequences of this are being felt throughout society.
Helen Coffey writes:
Trump reveals two former senior members of his administration will not be returning for his second term
01:30
Kelly Rissman
Donald Trump has announced just one Cabinet member as his transition to the White House is underway.
He tapped Susie Wiles, his campaign manager, to serve as chief of staff, making her the first woman with the title.
But now, he has named two former Cabinet members who will not be returning to his administration.
Read the full story.
Kamala Harris’ niece posts photo of the vice president with her great nieces after election defeat
01:15
Kelly Rissman
“Back to where it all began only a few months ago. My eternal gratitude to everyone who showed up. We love her so much,” Meena Harris wrote.
The vice president is pictured laughing, with her hair pulled back into a bun wearing a Howard University-emblazoned sweatshirt, as she plays Connect Four game with her two great-nieces.
Tucker Carlson accuses Senate Republicans of staging ‘coup’ ahead of internal leadership vote
00:53
Kelly Rissman
Former Fox News host and Trump ally Tucker Carlson claimed Senate Republicans are staging “a coup” against Donald Trump as three Senators vie to replace Mitch McConnell.
Republicans reclaimed control of the Senate on Tuesday night, leaving the door open for someone to replace McConnell, the chamber’s longest-serving party leader, who plans to step down at year’s end.
At least three Republicans are vying for the top spot — John Cornyn of Texas, Rick Scott of Florida, and John Thune of South Dakota who serves as the Senate minority whip — NBC News reported, and Carlson took issue with two of them.
Read the full story.
The Trump transition has begun — and it’s off to an unorthodox start
00:00
Andrew Feinberg
One Trumpworld veteran who spoke to The Independent on condition of anonymity said the pick is an indicator of the president-elect’s respect for and trust in Wiles, who took over his political operation when he was in the veritable wilderness, reeling from the backlash to January 6th. The source described Wiles as a rare person who has the ability to say “no” to Donald Trump.
Andrew Feinberg reports:
Who could be in Trump’s attorney general?
Saturday 9 November 2024 23:00
Ariana Baio
Several people have been named as potential attorney generals for Donald Trump’s administration – a critical position that will spearhead Trump’s campaign of revenge against his political enemies.
Here are some contenders:
Ken Paxton
Former senator Paxton has been Texas attorney general since 2015.
Perhaps one of the more well-known state attorney generals, Paxon has made a name for himself fighting for Texas’s strict abortion ban, aggressive anti-immigration policies and defeating his own set of impeachment charges.
Earlier this year, Trump called Paxton “talented” and told reporters he was considering him for attorney general.
Mike Lee
Utah senator Lee is a Trump critic turned ally. He refused to endorse Trump during the 2016 Republican primaries but changed his tune in 2020 and 2024. He led the effort to acquit his impeachment charges and supported Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Having become a close confidant of Trump in recent years – even launching an X account dedicated to sharing MAGA views – Lee could also be a top contender for AG.
Mike Davis
Davis is a conservative and former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch who has made a splash within Trumpworld. He recently wrote on X that he wants to “drag their dead political bodies through the streets, burn them, and throw them off the wall” – seemingly referring to Democrats.
Trump described Davis as “tough as hell” and said he wanted him “in a very high capacity” in his administration during a rally.
Tucker Carlson back Rick Scott in Senate leadership election
Saturday 9 November 2024 22:00
Ariana Baio
Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News host and deeply loyal Trump ally, angrily ranted about upcoming Senate majority leadership elections being unfair to the president-elect and endorsed Florida Senator Rick Scott.
Carlson accused Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of engineering a “coup” by calling for the election to be held on Wednesday, November 13 – a quick turnaround from Election Day.
“What the hell is going on in the US Senate?” Carlson wrote on X. “Hours after Donald Trump wins the most conclusive mandate in 40 years, Mitch McConnell engineers a coup against his agenda by calling early leadership elections in the senate.”
Carlson claimed that two of the three candidates “hate Trump”. That includes Senator John Cornyn of Texas and Senator John Thune of South Dakota.
“[Cornyn] is an angry liberal whose politics are indistinguishable from Liz Cheney’s,” Carlson said.
He advocated for Scott to become the next leader and told followers to call their senators to “demand a public endorsement”.
What the hell is going on in the US Senate? Hours after Donald Trump wins the most conclusive mandate in 40 years, Mitch McConnell engineers a coup against his agenda by calling early leadership elections in the senate. Two of the three candidates hate Trump and what he ran on.…
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) November 9, 2024
Gavin Newsom prepares fight against Trump measures
Saturday 9 November 2024 21:30
Josh Marcus
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday called a special legislative session so the state could prepare for potential conflicts with the Trump administration.
“The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack — and we won’t sit idle,” he said in a statement. “California has faced this challenge before, and we know how to respond. We are prepared to fight in the courts, and we will do everything necessary to ensure Californians have the support and resources they need to thrive.”
The state, which frequently sued to protect various policies challenged by the Trump administration, reportedly began preparing for a potential Trump win over the summer, with the attorney general’s office pre-writing briefs and planning potential legal strategies.
Trump announces inaugural committee
Saturday 9 November 2024 21:00
Ariana Baio
Trump has tapped his longtime friend, Steve Witkoff, and Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler to co-chair his inaugural committee, a press release from the Trump–Vance campaign said.
Witkoff is a real estate investor. He spoke at the Republican National Convention before Trump.
Loeffler is a Senator from Georgia and Trump ally. She repeated Trump’s false claims of voter fraud during the 2020 election. She has repeatedly defended the former president even when confronted about the Hollywood Access tape recording.
Trump transition plan faces road block with ethics code
Saturday 9 November 2024 20:30
Ariana Baio
President-elect Donald Trump reportedly has not submitted a mandatory ethics pledge stating he will avoid conflicts of interest and other ethical concerns while in office – something that could hold up the presidential transition process.
Trump’s transition team has privately created its own ethics code but it does not contain the language necessary to address how the former president will address conflicts of interest during his term, according to The New York Times.
That code was supposed to be due October 1.
Trump’s team has also reportedly delayed signing and handing in other required documents which prevents the transition team from participating in national security briefings or gaining access to other federal resources.
Pelosi slams Bernie Sanders for comments about Democrats abandoning working class
Saturday 9 November 2024 19:50
Mike Bedigan
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she does “not respect” Bernie Sanders’ remarks that Democrats have “abandoned working-class families”.
The newly re-elected Vermont senator said in a statement after Donald Trump sailed to victory that “it should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party, which has abandoned working-class people, would find that the working-class has abandoned them.”
“While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change,” he said.
In an interview with The New York Times, Pelosi said she “completely disagreed”.
“Kamala Harris ran ahead of Bernie Sanders in Vermont,” she said, before reiterating that the purpose of the Democratic party was to go to bat for “America’s working families.”
Watch: Bill Maher tells Democrats to 'look in the mirror' after Kamala Harris lost the election
Saturday 9 November 2024 19:20
Ariana Baio
Trump suggests ‘helping’ Democrats with money after election
Saturday 9 November 2024 18:45
Ariana Baio
In what appears to be a sarcastic post, Donald Trump suggested Republicans should help bail out Democrats who he claims have no money left over from the election to pay “vendors and others.”
“Whatever we can do to help them during this difficult period, I would strongly recommend we, as a Party and for the sake of desperately needed UNITY, do. We have a lot of money left over in that our biggest asset in the campaign was ‘Earned Media,’ and that doesn’t cost very much,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.
Trump and Biden will meet this week
Saturday 9 November 2024 18:15
Mike Bedigan
Donald Trump will meet with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office this week, according to the White House.
The meeting, in which the two men are expected to discuss the transition of power in January, will be the president-elect’s first return to the White House since 2021 when he left office days after the January 6 Capitol riots and refused to attend Biden’s inauguration.
Trump was invited to the meeting, which is scheduled to take place at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, by Biden, according to press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. More details will be made available in due course, the White House said.
Despite the acrimony of the 2024 presidential race, Biden has promised a “peaceful transfer of power” on January 20 2025 – the date of Trump’s second inauguration.
Full story: Trump to meet with Biden at the White House this week
Saturday 9 November 2024 17:40
Rachel Sharp
Donald Trump will meet with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office this week, according to the White House.
The meeting, in which the two men are expected to discuss the transition of power in January, will be the president-elect’s first return to the White House since 2021 when he left office days after the January 6 Capitol riots and refused to attend Biden’s inauguration.
Trump was invited to the meeting, which is scheduled to take place at 11am on Wednesday, by Biden, according to press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. More details will be made available in due course, the White House said.
Read the full story:
Bill Maher has brutal message for Democrats after Harris’s election loss: ‘Losers look in the mirror’
Saturday 9 November 2024 17:20
Rachel Sharp
Comedian Bill Maher had some harsh words for Democrats shocked that Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
“My message to the losers: losers look in the mirror,” Maher said during Friday’s episode of Real Time with Bill Maher.
Maher’s typically laughing audience went completely silent as he said the quiet part out loud and advised Democrats to reflect on themselves.
“For months, Democrats have been saying ‘How is this even close?’ And they’re right. It wasn’t,” Maher said.
Read the full story:
Usha Vance: Who is the new Second Lady?
Saturday 9 November 2024 17:00
Rachel Sharp
‘Ice maiden’ Susie Wiles’s demands for accepting top Trump White House role revealed
Saturday 9 November 2024 16:40
Rachel Sharp
Susie Wiles, the newly appointed chief of staff to the second Trump White House, reportedly made a series of demands before she would accept the high-profile role in the president-elect’s upcoming administration.
Wiles, 66, described by Trump himself as the “ice maiden” and considered to be one of the most significant influences on his third campaign, was appointed to the top job on Thursday.
The chief of staff is, historically, the first appointee named by the president-elect and is charged with overseeing all policy and day-to-day White House affairs.
But, according to a source close to both Wiles and Trump told CNN, the former campaign manager had sought assurances from the president-elect prior to taking the role.
Mike Bedigan has the story:
Trump and Biden to meet at White House this week
Saturday 9 November 2024 16:28
Rachel Sharp
Donald Trump and President Joe Biden are set to meet in person this week at the White House.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced on Saturday that, at Biden’s invitation, the president and president-elect will meet in the Oval Office at 11am on Wednesday.
This comes as Biden has vowed a peaceful transition between the two administrations.
Walz sends message to Trump supporters in first speech since election loss
Saturday 9 November 2024 16:20
Rachel Sharp
Tim Walz offered an olive branch to Donald Trump supporters in his first comments since the Republican’s 2024 presidential election victory.
Speaking in his home state, the governor addressed the “1.5 million of our fellow Minnesotans [who] voted for the other side in this election.”
Kamala Harris’s running mate declared that he would “swallow his pride” and “look a little harder to find common ground with our neighbors who didn’t vote like we did.
“Maybe when we get a little break from this campaign that we’re in, we’ll be able to look at each other and see not enemies but neighbors.”
CNN commentator brands Elon Musk the ‘First Lady’ after Melania doesn’t appear in Trump family photo
Saturday 9 November 2024 16:00
Rachel Sharp
CNN commentator Ana Navarro suggested that Elon Musk was taking over the title of “First Lady” from Melania Trump after he appeared in a recent Trump family photo instead of her.
Speaking on a panel on Friday, Navarro referenced a picture of the Trump family following the president-elect’s sweeping victory in the 2024 race against Harris. Most family members were present, but Melania was conspicuously absent.
Musk, however, was standing at the front right of the picture.
Read the full story:
Trump won big on election night. Is his victory bad news for Biden’s legacy?
Saturday 9 November 2024 15:40
Rachel Sharp
As he became the Democratic frontrunner in 2019 and favored to defeat Donald Trump in 2020, a report claimed that Joe Biden was only going to serve one term if elected.
His campaign swiftly dismissed it.
Today, some are wondering if it would have been better if he had adhered to that report.
During the 2024 campaign season, Biden announced plans to run for reelection. That came despite concerns about his age and whether he could serve another four years. Then, Biden fumbled through his debate against Trump and Democratic panic ensued.
The 81-year-old exited the race and endorsed his VP Kamala Harris to succeed him at the top of the ticket. The rest — namely Trump’s election win — is history.
Kelly Rissman reports:
Trump bizarrely suggests he wants to 'help' Democrats with campaign debts 'during this difficult period'
Saturday 9 November 2024 15:20
Rachel Sharp
In a Truth Social post on Saturday morning, the president-elect had uncharacteristically kind words for his political rivals:
I am very surprised that the Democrats, who fought a hard and valiant fight in the 2020 Presidential Election, raising a record amount of money, didn’t have lots of $’s left over. Now they are being squeezed by vendors and others. Whatever we can do to help them during this difficult period, I would strongly recommend we, as a Party and for the sake of desperately needed UNITY, do. We have a lot of money left over in that our biggest asset in the campaign was “Earned Media,” and that doesn’t cost very much. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
‘If that dude’s mama gets deported, that’s on him’: Democrats’ reaction to Trump-voting Latinos is a problem
Saturday 9 November 2024 15:00
Eric Garcia
On Thursday evening, I went on the Roland Martin Unfiltered show to talk about why Latinos overwhelmingly shifted to the right and voted for Donald Trump. Martin, whom I’ve long respected as an analyst on politics back since I was a teenager, had the same response a lot of other people did.
“What the hell happened? Explain it to us,” he asked me.
I noted how Trump’s appeal is largely driven by polarization via education, given that people with college degrees and advanced degrees largely broke for Kamala Harris whereas those without a bachelor’s degree voted for Trump. Latinos are one of the groups least likely to have a college degree.
How shifts among key demographic voting groups sealed Trump’s 2024 election victory
Saturday 9 November 2024 14:40
Rachel Sharp
The final votes are still being counted in the presidential election, but it’s official that Republican Donald Trump cinched a victory against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
Exit polls have given us some insight into how different groups voted — and there have been some drastic shifts since 2020.
At first glance, the expected gender divide between men and women was less drastic, but strong splits emerged among Black and Latino voters. Latino men leaned Republican overall for the first time, and 1 in 5 Black men voted for Trump.
WATCH: Possible Trump attorney general threatens Letitia James
Saturday 9 November 2024 14:20
Rachel Sharp
If Republicans hold the House, Trump wins. If Democrats take the House, Trump still wins
Saturday 9 November 2024 14:00
Eric Garcia
When Donald Trump first came to the White House, he did so under rocky circumstances. Yes, he had beaten Democrats in the Blue Wall of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. But he also lost the popular vote — and Democrats had picked up Senate seats in Illinois and New Hampshire, as well as flipping a few seats in the House.
Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House at the time, would regularly say, “I haven’t seen the tweet,” when asked about Trump’s worst Twitter rants. Mitch McConnell would blow off anything Trump said as he turned the Senate into a judicial confirmation factory. John McCain famously voted down Trump’s planned repeal of Obamacare. Senate Republicans balked at his desire to get rid of the filibuster. After the January 6 riot, ten House Republicans voted to impeach Trump and seven Republican senators voted to convict him.
That won’t be the case this time. This time, Trump comes to Washington with an overwhelming mandate, having swept all seven battleground states. John McCain is dead. Mitt Romney will leave the Senate at the end of this year. Paul Ryan is out of politics and Liz Cheney is deemed a heretic. McConnell will leave his post as Republican leader at the end of this year, too.
Democrat Jacky Rosen wins reelection to US Senate from Nevada
Saturday 9 November 2024 13:40
Rachel Sharp
Democrat Jacky Rosen has held onto her US Senate seat in Nevada, beating Republican challenger Sam Brown in a tight race in the swing state.
The Associated Press called the race for Rosen moments after declaring that Donald Trump had won the presidential race in the state.
Staten Island: Trump’s New York City stronghold reacts to Republican win
Saturday 9 November 2024 13:20
Tiara Chiaramonte
Despite New York City traditionally voting Democratic, Staten Island remains a reliably red borough.
In Tuesday’s election, where the Republican party won a second term in the White House, 65% of Staten Island voters supported Trump — the largest margin he’s seen in the area.
The Independent spoke to locals to understand their support, from economic policies to foreign affairs.
In Staten Island, a city that has received some 200,000 new migrants in the last two years, Trump’s campaign promising mass deportations appears to have resonated.
Elon Musk is now king of the MAGA media universe
Saturday 9 November 2024 13:00
Io Dodds
Elon Musk is now unquestionably the king of MAGA media.
Tech journalist Charlie Warzel once named it “the new media Upside Down”, riffing on Stranger Things. Sean Illing at Vox referred to it as “the fantasy-industrial complex”. Wikipedia simply calls it the “right-wing alternative media”.
To Musk, a born-again MAGA crusader who has spent the last two years reshaping one of the world’s major social networks in his image, this parallel universe of algorithm-aided disinformation is simply “citizen journalism” — even if his description does sound a lot like traditional journalism.
‘Your body, my choice’: Women report rise in online misogyny following Donald Trump’s victory
Saturday 9 November 2024 12:40
Lydia Spencer-Elliott
Women are facing a barrage of deeply misogynistic comments online following Donald Trump’s US presidential election victory.
The Republican candidate defeated Kamala Harris following a chaotic campaign dogged by anger, insults and division, winning 51 percent of the popular vote on Wednesday, 6 November.
In the wake of the former president’s shocking political comeback, women have reported men are writing “your body, my choice” on their social media posts, among other troubling reproductive rights remarks.
The slogan “my body, my choice” was originally popularised by feminists defending reproductive choices as rights in the Sixties. However, the phrase has now been co-opted for the adverse effect.
Mapped: Here’s how the presidential election results look now
Saturday 9 November 2024 12:21
Rachel Sharp
Donald Trump wins swing state Nevada
Saturday 9 November 2024 11:55
Rachel Sharp
Donald Trump has now won the swing state of Nevada.
The GOP president-elect had 50.7 percent of votes to Kamala Harris’s 47.4 percent in the state when the race was called by the Associated Press early on Saturday morning.
In total, 96 percent of votes have been counted in the state.
With Nevada’s six electoral college votes, Trump now has a total of 301 electoral college votes.
He has now won six battleground states, with only Arizona left to be called.
Trump promised voters their incomes and net worth will soar. Economists are not convinced
Saturday 9 November 2024 11:00
Rhian Lubin
Inside a Pennsylvania arena, President-elect Donald Trump promised voters their incomes and net worth “would soar.”
The economy was among the top concerns for voters in the 2024 presidential election and the Trump campaign’s messaging cut through. As of this morning, more than 73 million Americans have voted for him to return to the White House.
They turned to him for a solution after finding themselves unable to afford the necessities for their families in a cost-of-living crisis, but concerns have already been raised the Republican billionaire won’t deliver.