| President-elect Donald Trump has announced a few more additions to his second administration. A few notable ones include longtime adviser Stephen Miller, an immigration hard-liner, who will be the deputy chief of policy in the new administration. Miller served as a senior adviser to Trump in his first term and was a central figure in many policy decisions — most notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families as a deterrence program in 2018. Miller formed his own nonprofit group, America First Legal Foundation, to battle the Biden administration in the courts. Trump also selected U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York to be his next ambassador of the United Nations and U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. All three are ferocious Trump allies, an indication that the president-elect plans to award his closest allies with coveted positions. The New York Times reported last night that U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, of Florida, is expected to be chosen as Trump’s Secretary of State pick.
Control of the U.S. House is still up in the air. Republicans are four seats away from claiming House control with less than 20 races left to be called. Democrats need to win 15 more seats to secure a majority. A Republican trifecta in Washington would ensure that Trump’s conservative agenda largely goes into effect.
Trump gained support among new voter groups at the polls last week. One of those groups is young Latino men . As part of MPR News' Talking Sense series, Catharine Richert spoke to 21-year-old St. Olaf college student Tomas Useche, a Venezuelan native who legally immigrated to the U.S. with his family when he was 7 years old. He says that the dual experience of immigrating legally and then watching his highly educated parents rebuild their lives here informed his decision to vote for Trump, who campaigned on blocking illegal immigration and improving the economy. “We waited our turn, we filed our papers,” Useche told MPR News. “And then obviously when you see other people just kind of skipping all those steps… It just kind of seems like a stab in the back to us.”
Gov. Tim Walz made his second public appearance yesterday since Trump’s win last week and called for the country to come together. The governor and former VP candidate spoke at a Veterans Day ceremony in Arden Hills and later visited a veterans home. Mark Zdechlik reports that Walz had a more conciliatory tone at the annual event attended by officials of all political stripes. “We had a free and fair election. We now come back together to ensure that President-elect Trump is as successful as he possibly can be, especially on the issues that we care about,” the governor said.
Trump’s election victory could help pave the way for a controversial proposed copper-nickel mine near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Plans for the mine had been thwarted by the Biden administration, which also imposed a 20 year mining ban on about a quarter-million acres of the Superior National Forest south of the Boundary Waters. But Trump has promised to open up federal land south of the wilderness to mining. At a rally in St. Cloud last summer, Trump promised to undo Biden’s actions if he was elected. Environmental groups say they will continue to fight the proposals and point out that state agencies must still play a key role in approving any potential mine. Dan Kraker reports there’s still a lot that needs to happen before any mine could open.
Yes, it’s only been a week since Election Day, but that’s not slowing down talk about 2028. Politico reports that Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss has spurred quiet talks about who could be a strong candidate four years from now. And Gov. Tim Walz’s name is reportedly on the list of Democratic officials being considered. Other Democratic Governors including Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Gavin Newsom of California, Andy Beshear of Kentucky and JB Pritzker of Illinois are also being floated to run in 2028, along with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
And coming up Tuesday morning at 9 a.m., Angela Davis will host an hourlong program exploring the role that misinformation played in the 2024 election. Have you encountered political misinformation? We’d love to hear about your experience. Call 651-227-6000 or 800-242-2828 to join the conversation. | 