GOP’s Ayotte ousted
He’s vowed to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and temporarily ban immigration from nations with terror ties.
It’s unclear whether Trump, a highly unusual candidate, will embrace many of the traditions of the presidency. He’ll enter the White House owning his own private jet as well as a hotel just blocks away on Pennsylvania Avenue. He never allowed journalists to fly on his plane during the campaign, as is customary for White House nominees.
Issues of transparency bubbled up right from the start. On Wednesday evening, Trump aides said they would not bring the press corps to Washington with the president-elect for his meeting with Obama, breaking long-standing protocol.
Global stock markets and U.S. stock futures plunged early Wednesday on word of Trump’s election, but later recovered. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.4 percent for the day in trading in New York.
World leaders congratulated Trump on his victory. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had a contentious relationship with Obama, called the Republican a “true friend of Israel.” British Prime Minister Theresa May said the U.S. and United Kingdom would remain “strong and close partners on trade, security and defense.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin was among the first to reach out to the incoming American leader. Trump praised Putin throughout the campaign and advocated a closer relationship with Russia, despite Moscow’s provocations in Ukraine and elsewhere.
U.S. intelligence agencies have accused Russia of hacking Democratic organizations during the campaign, actions Clinton’s team saw as an indication that Putin was trying to meddle in the election. Trump notably did not accept the conclusions of intelligence officials.
CONCORD, N.H. — New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat, has unseated Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican, in one of the most competitive and closely watched races of this election cycle. The race was called Wednesday afternoon.
The race cost about $120 million, an extraordinary sum for such a small state.
The main challenge for both was to keep their bases happy while appealing to the state’s large number of independents. This forced both candidates to emphasize bipartisanship and to try to keep politics out of major issues, such as the state’s crushing opioid epidemic.
Ayotte, 48, a former prosecutor, has been a rising star in Washington, where she allied herself with conservative causes, like defunding Planned Parenthood and opposing a confirmation vote on a U.S. Supreme Court nominee.
She sought to present a more moderate face at home. But her delicate dance around Donald Trump’s candidacy drew considerable negative attention. After saying she “absolutely” saw him as a role model, she said she would not vote for him.
Hassan, 58, a former state Senate majority leader who helped pass samesex marriage, allied herself with the Democrats’ biggest stars, including President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, as they flooded the state for Hillary Clinton.
But Hassan has broken with her party on other occasions, saying, for example, the federal government needed better screening of Syrian refugees before she would allow them in New Hampshire.