Today in one sentence: America elected the first convicted felon to serve as president of the United States; Republicans gained control of the Senate, while the House is still up for grabs; Special Counsel Jack Smith is preparing to drop the two federal criminal cases against Trump to comply with long-standing Justice Department policy that a sitting president can’t be prosecuted; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defense minister while the world’s attention was focused on the U.S. election; and North Korean troops deployed to Russia have come under Ukrainian fire in Kursk.

1/ America elected the first convicted felon to serve as president of the United States. Trump – the twice-impeached, four-times indicted, once-defeated former president – overcame 34 felony convictions, 88 criminal charges, accusations of insurrection as part of his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, civil lawsuit judgments totaling more than a half-billion dollars, allegations by his entire first-term cabinet that he’s unfit to serve, his openly fascist intentions, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, his failed response to the Covid-19 pandemic that led to more than 400,000 deaths from a virus he repeatedly claimed was “going to disappear,” his repeated overt acts of racism, at least 26 public accusations of rape, kissing, and groping without consent, his promises to prosecute his political opponents, and the threats encapsulated by the Project 2025 agenda, to become the nation’s 47th president. Trump is the second president — and the first since Grover Cleveland in the 19th century — to retake the White House after a reelection defeat. And, at the age of 78, Trump is the oldest man ever elected president – breaking a record held by Biden, whose mental competence Trump repeatedly savaged. “We just witnessed the greatest political comeback in the history of the United States of America,” Trump said in his victory speech. He declared he was the leader of “the greatest political movement of all time” and that he would take office with an “unprecedented and powerful mandate” while promising “the strongest economy, the most secure borders and safest cities.” He added: “This is a magnificent victory for the American people […] This will truly be the golden age of America.” Kamala Harris, meanwhile, conceded Wednesday, telling Trump she’d ensure a peaceful transfer of power from the Biden administration to his. “While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign,” Harris said in her concession speech. “The fight, the fight for freedom, for opportunity, for fairness and the dignity of all people, a fight for the ideals at the heart of our nation, the ideals that reflect America at our best, that is a fight I will never give up.” Trump ended up with at least 292 electoral votes after clinching wins in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Wisconsin. Harris has won at least 226 votes. Alaska, Arizona, and Nevada are still counting votes. Trump is currently on pace to win the national popular vote, too. Trump defeated Kamala Harris, in part, by promising to curb inflation, crack down on undocumented immigrants, and end overseas conflicts. He achieved an electoral college majority by maintaining his majorities with men and White voters without college degrees, while over-performing with key Democratic groups, including Latinos and young voters. Although Harris won Latinos by about 14 points, it was much narrower than Biden’s 33-point margin in 2020, and Clinton’s 38-points in 2016. Latino men, in particular, have moved significantly since 2016: Clinton won their support by 31 points, Biden won by a 23-point margin in 2020, and Trump won by a 12-point margin in 2024. Harris also lost support among the youngest voters: In 2020, Biden won 18-to-29-year-olds by 24 points compared to 11 points for Harris in 2024. Among 30-44-year-olds, Biden won their support by 6 points compared to 1 point for Harris. (New York Times / Washington Post / Associated Press / NPR / CNN / NBC News / ABC News / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / Axios / Politico / CBS News)

  • Exit polls: 2024 / 2020 / 2016

  • The Trump agenda: Here’s what to expect from his second term. “Armed with a better understanding of government, Trump is expected to pursue a bigger agenda, faster than he did in his first term.” (Politico)

2/ Republicans gained control of the Senate, while the House is still up for grabs. Senate Republicans flipped seats in West Virginia, Montana, and Ohio to secure at least a 51-seat majority. To gain control of the House, Democrats need to flip four seats from Republicans, while holding all of their own. Republicans entered Election Day holding a 220-212 majority. (NBC News / Associated Press / CBS News / New York Times)

3/ Special Counsel Jack Smith is preparing to drop the two federal criminal cases against Trump to comply with long-standing Justice Department policy that a sitting president can’t be prosecuted. The department policy put in place in 2000 states: “The indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting President would unconstitutionally undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions.” Smith charged Trump with illegally trying to remain in office after the 2020 election. In a separate case, Smith charged Trump with illegally retaining classified documents and obstructing federal efforts to retrieve them after he left the White House. Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by Trump, dismissed the documents case in July on the ground that Attorney General Merrick Garland had no authority to appoint Smith in the first place. Smith has been appealing that decision. Trump recently said he’d fire Smith “within two seconds” after he returned to the White House. (NBC News / ABC News / Bloomberg / New York Times / Washington Post)

4/ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defense minister while the world’s attention was focused on the U.S. election. Yoav Gallant, one of the most vocal and prominent critics of Netanyahu’s war strategy, was pushing for a ceasefire in exchange for a hostage release deal. Gallant’s firing removed the main advocate for such a deal. Netanyahu has called for “total victory” in the war, and rejected pressure domestically and from the U.S. to accept a ceasefire deal. “In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and the minister of defense,” Netanyahu said. “Unfortunately, although in the first months of the campaign there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the minister of defense.” Harris was widely expected to continue the Biden administration’s policies toward Israel, which included supplying Israel with weapons, but periodically slowing their shipment to pressure Israel into providing more humanitarian aid to Gazans. Trump, however, is widely believed to be less critical of Netanyahu’s policies. (Wall Street Journal / NBC News / New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / ABC News)

5/ North Korean troops deployed to Russia have come under Ukrainian fire in Kursk. A U.S. official said a significant number of North Korean troops were killed in the “small engagement.” President Volodymyr Zelensky called the development a “new page of instability in the world.” North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, sent about 10,000 soldiers to Russia to bolster forces in the Kursk region, a Russian border area where Ukrainian forces seized territory in a surprise attack over the summer. Russia initially provided the North Korean troops with “training of a one-month period” with artillery and drones, but that has been shortened to one week “so that they can get engagement on the battlefield.” The Pentagon, meanwhile, said it was unable to confirm reports that North Korean troops are “gorging on pornography” with their new, expansive internet access in Russia. (New York Times / Associates Press / BBC / Reuters / The Guardian / Washington Post)

✏️ Notables.

  1. Trump won. Now what? “The United States is about to become a different kind of country.” (The Atlantic)

  2. Where to start to explain Trump’s win. “Widespread changes require a broad explanation.” (Good Authority)

  3. America, again, chooses Trump over a woman. “Vice President Kamala Harris lost the presidency to former President Donald Trump.” (The 19th)

  4. For second time in eight years, a loss for a woman presidential candidate. “Donald Trump’s win means that the tradition of electing a man to the nation’s highest office remains unbroken after more than 200 years.” (Washington Post)

  5. Liberals just lost the Supreme Court for decades to come. “There are many dire consequences of Kamala Harris’s loss to Donald Trump. This is one of the worst.” (New Republic)

  6. Here’s how badly Kamala Harris has lost Arab American voters. “Voters in Dearborn, Michigan, the largest majority Arab American city, have delivered a stunningly bad verdict on Democrats.” (New Republic)

  7. Latino men were the big defectors—but they weren’t the only story. “Here’s how Harris failed to replicate Biden’s 2020 victory over Trump.” (New Republic)

  8. Why Democrats are losing Hispanic voters. “The left has alienated America’s fastest-growing group of voters just when they were supposed to give the party a foolproof majority.” (The Atlantic)

  9. Donald Trump has won — and American democracy is now in grave danger. “Trump’s second term poses an existential threat to the republic. But there’s still good reason for hope.” (Vox)

  10. It’s not alarmist: A second Trump term really is an extinction-level threat to democracy. “Why a second Trump term is a mortal threat to democracy — though perhaps not in the way you think.” (Vox)

  11. Donald Trump, candidate of retribution, is restored to power. “So begins a dark new chapter in American history.” (Mother Jones)

  12. America hires a strongman. “This was a conquering of the nation not by force but with a permission slip. Now, America stands on the precipice of an authoritarian style of governance never before seen in its 248-year history.” (New York Times)

  13. Americans just voted to burn it all to the ground. “This is an even more decisive turning point than 2016.” (Slate)

  14. America deserves Donald Trump. The world doesn’t. “The president-elect has no philosophy or policy, and his incoherence about global relations is not feigned.” (Bloomberg)

  15. How the Democrats lost the election. “For nearly a decade, Democrats have tried to convince voters that Donald Trump is an existential threat to the country’s future. That effort has clearly failed.” (New Republic)

  16. Why Kamala Harris lost the election. “Harris refused to make a clean break from the last four years.” (Politico)

  17. Kamala’s wasted youth. “Sure, young white dudes broke for Trump. But Harris also underperformed with almost every kind of young person: young white women, young Black voters, and young Latinos.” (Puck News)

  18. This is why Trump won. “Trump’s victory amounts to a public vote of no confidence in the leaders and institutions that have shaped American life since the end of the Cold War 35 years ago.” (New York Times)

  19. What Trump understood, and Harris did not. “The former and future president got one big thing right.” (The Atlantic)

  20. Trump beat the system. “He turned the 2024 presidential election into a referendum not just on the country’s direction, but his own freedom, and that double-barreled strategy has now been vindicated. In the end, Trump got away with it.” (New York Magazine)

  21. How Donald Trump won – by being Donald Trump. “He promised to fix the economy and the border, but credit for Trump’s victory also goes to an unbroken habit of speaking whatever is on his mind.” (Wall Street Journal)

  22. Republican self-degradation continues. Democratic self-sabotage helped. “Republicans’ decline is obvious. Let’s look at how Democrats helped reinstall Trump.” (Washington Post)

  23. The law should have locked him up. “Donald Trump has spent his whole career evading the law. But the law helped him escape.” (Slate)

  24. America makes a perilous choice. “But the final responsibility for ensuring the continuity of America’s enduring values lies with its voters. Those who supported Mr. Trump in this election should closely observe his conduct in office to see if it matches their hopes and expectations, and if it does not, they should make their disappointment known and cast votes in the 2026 midterms and in 2028 to put the country back on course. Those who opposed him should not hesitate to raise alarms when he abuses his power, and if he attempts to use government power to retaliate against critics, the world will be watching.” (New York Times)

  25. Democracy is not over. “Americans who care about democracy have every right to feel appalled and frightened. But then they have work to do.” (The Atlantic)

  26. This Was the Second COVID Election. “Joe Biden won the first COVID election. Donald Trump just won the second.” (The Atlantic)