President-elect Donald Trump doesn’t have many concrete plans for what he wants to do when he gets into office. His policy list is thin, but there are two things he’s talked about a lot: deportations and tariffs. 

Trump has said he plans to deport millions of people in the U.S. who don’t have legal status. Yesterday, he said he would use the military to carry out this plan. He also wants to use tariffs to develop industry here.

But how will these policy changes affect neighboring countries like Canada and Mexico? Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens joined The Metro on Tuesday to talk about the potential impact in Canada.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Dilkens says Canada has long been impacted by U.S. immigration policy at the Mexico-U.S. border.

“The millions of people who have crossed [the U.S.-Mexico border] in the last four years, many of them have made their way up to Canada, crossed illegally into the country,” he said. “And so in my city today, I’ve got two hotels who overlook the Detroit River and stare at Detroit, full of people who have crossed into our country, waiting for their cases to be adjudicated by our immigration and refugee group in Canada.”

In 2004, the U.S. and Canada entered into a Safe Third Country Agreement, a treaty between the two governments with the goal of better managing the flow of refugees better manage the flow of refugees seeking asylum at the border.

As part of the agreement, individuals seeking asylum in Canada are required to request refugee protection in the first safe country they arrive in, unless they qualify for an exception, Dilkens said.

“If you’re entering Canada to claim refugee status from the United States, you’re now required to wait in the United States to have your case adjudicated,” he said. “We’re no longer going to put you up in hotels and have you hang out here.”

Use the media player above to listen to the full conversation.

More headlines from The Metro Nov. 19, 2024: 

• What is today known as the Knights of Columbus Hall in Clawson, used to be a raucous concert venue called The Hideout from 1966 to 1969. It was the third location in a series of teen clubs in southeast Michigan, where legendary musicians like The MC5, many of Bob Seger’s early groups, and The Subterraneans once played. Martin Hirchak, a Detroit cartoonist and graphic designer, joined the show to talk about the former venue, and an upcoming event at Knights of Columbus, “Tales from the Clawson Comic Book and Toy Show.”
• Educators at the College of Creative Studies (CCS) have made it their mission to stoke the flame of creativity already inside the students they teach. Fiber Flux, a new exhibition on view through Dec. 14 at the Valade Family Gallery on CSS’ campus, pays homage to arts educators across the Midwest through fiber art. Wayne State Associate Professor of Fashion and Fibers Heather Macali and Professor and Section Lead of Fiber and Textiles at CCS, Jeremy Noonan, joined the show to discuss the exhibition.
• Last week, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced he won’t run for another term. WDET’s Senior News Editor Quinn Kleinfelter joined the show to discuss the mayor’s legacy and what the future might hold for both the city of Detroit and Duggan’s political future.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

President-elect Donald Trump is filling key posts in his second administration, and it’s shaping up much differently than his first. He’s prioritizing loyalists for top jobs.

Trump was bruised and hampered by internal squabbles during his initial term in office. Now he appears focused on remaking the federal government in his own image. Some of his choices could face difficult confirmation battles even with Republicans in control of the U.S. Senate.

Here’s a look at whom he has selected so far.

Cabinet nominees:

SECRETARY OF STATE: Marco Rubio

Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making the critic-turned-ally his choice for top diplomat.

Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump’s running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement.

The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator once called a “con man” during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump’s plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations.

ATTORNEY GENERAL: Matt Gaetz

Trump said Wednesday he will nominate Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to serve as his attorney general, naming a loyalist in the role of the nation’s top prosecutor.

In selecting Gaetz, 42, Trump passed over some of the more established lawyers whose names had been mentioned as being contenders for the job.

“Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and Restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department,” Trump said in a statement.

Gaetz resigned from Congress Wednesday night. The House Ethics Committee has been investigating an allegation that Gaetz paid for sex with a 17-year-old, though that probe effectively ended when he resigned. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing.

DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Tulsi Gabbard

Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, another example of Trump prizing loyalty over experience.

Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party’s 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall, and she’s been accused of echoing Russian propaganda.

“I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement.

Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions.

DEFENSE SECRETARY: Pete Hegseth

Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014. He developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show.

Hegseth served in the Army National Guard from 2002 to 2021, deploying to Iraq in 2005 and Afghanistan in 2011. He has two Bronze Stars. However, Hegseth lacks senior military and national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea.

Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year.

HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Kristi Noem

Noem is a well-known conservative who used her two terms leading South Dakota to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic.

More recently, Noem faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting and killing her dog.

She is set to lead a department crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda as well as other missions. Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports.

CIA DIRECTOR: John Ratcliffe

Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump’s first term, leading the U.S. government’s spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic.

“I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation’s highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.”

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kennedy ran for president as a Democrat, then as an independent, and then endorsed Trump. He’s the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign.

The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines. For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism.

TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Sean Duffy

Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump’s most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business.

Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children.

VETERANS AFFAIRS SECRETARY: Doug Collins

Collins is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who gained recognition for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial, which centered on U.S. assistance for Ukraine. Trump was impeached for urging Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in 2019 during the Democratic presidential nomination, but he was acquitted by the Senate.

Collins has also served in the armed forces himself and is currently a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command.

“We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need,” Trump said in a statement about nominating Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs.

INTERIOR SECRETARY: Doug Burgum

The governor of North Dakota, once little-known outside his state, is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump and then spent months traveling to drum up support for Trump after dropping out of the race.

Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs.

Trump initially announced his choice of Burgum while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida on Thursday night. The president-elect’s formal announcement on Friday said he wanted Burgum to be Interior secretary and chairman of a new National Energy Council “that will oversee the path to U.S. ENERGY DOMINANCE.” As chairman of the council, Trump said Burgum will also have a seat on the National Security Council, which would be a first for the Interior secretary.

ENERGY SECRETARY: Chris Wright

A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market.

Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States.

Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ADMINISTRATOR: Lee Zeldin

Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X, “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.”

“We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added.

During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration’s promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referred to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign that his administration would “drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration.

In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.”

White House staff:

CHIEF OF STAFF: Susie Wiles

Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager.

She has a background in Florida politics, helping Ron DeSantis win his first race for Florida governor. Six years later, she was key to Trump’s defeat of him in the 2024 Republican primary.

Wiles’ hire was Trump’s first major decision as president-elect and one that could be a defining test of his incoming administration considering her close relationship with him. Wiles is said to have earned Trump’s trust in part by guiding what was the most disciplined of Trump’s three presidential campaigns.

Wiles was able to help keep Trump on track as few others have, not by criticizing his impulses, but by winning his respect by demonstrating his success after taking her advice.

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Mike Waltz

Waltz is a three-term Republican congressman from east-central Florida. A former Army Green Beret, he served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs.

He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population.

BORDER CZAR: Tom Homan

Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history.

He served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and he was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border once Trump won the election. Homan said at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to “run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.”

Democrats have criticized Homan for defending Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border.

DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOR POLICY: Stephen Miller

Miller, an immigration hardliner, was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump’s priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump’s first administration.

Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump’s policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation’s economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally.

Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security.

DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF: Dan Scavino

Scavino was an adviser to all three of the president-elect’s campaigns, and the transition team referred to him as one of “Trump’s longest serving and most trusted aides.” He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president.

He previously ran Trump’s social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF: James Blair

Blair was political director for Trump’s 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president.

Blair was key to Trump’s economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate’s “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago.

DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF: Taylor Budowich

Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump’s 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president.

Budowich had also served as a spokesman for Trump after his first presidency.

WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Karoline Leavitt

Leavitt, 27, was Trump’s campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history.

The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps.

Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, was a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas.

Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump’s first term before she became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump’s choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: William McGinley

McGinley was White House Cabinet secretary during Trump’s first administration, and was outside legal counsel for the Republican National Committee’s election integrity effort during the 2024 campaign.

In a statement, Trump called McGinley “a smart and tenacious lawyer who will help me advance our America First agenda, while fighting for election integrity and against the weaponization of law enforcement.”

Ambassadors and envoys

SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST: Steven Witkoff

The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect’s golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump’s club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination.

Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud.”

Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee.

AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL: Mike Huckabee

Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel’s interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah.

“He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.”

Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland.

Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Huckabee has rejected a Palestinian homeland in territory occupied by Israel, calling for a so-called “one-state solution.”

AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: Elise Stefanik

Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump’s staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment.

Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership.

Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile.

If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine that began in 2022.

Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri, Lolita C. Baldor, Jill Colvin, Matthew Daly, Edith M. Lederer, Adriana Gomez Licon, Lisa Mascaro, Chris Megerian, Zeke Miller, Michelle L. Price and Will Weissert contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has had few defenders in Congress as reliable as Matt Gaetz, who has thundered at one prosecutor after another for perceived bias against the president-elect and emphatically amplified the Republican’s rallying cry that the criminal investigations into him are “witch hunts.”

That kinship was rewarded Wednesday when Trump named Gaetz as his pick for attorney general, turning to a conservative loyalist in place of more established lawyers who’d been seen as contenders.

In announcing his selection of Gaetz as attorney general and John Ratcliffe a day earlier as CIA director, Trump underscored the premium he places on loyalty, citing both men’s support for him during the Russia investigation as central to their qualifications and signaling his expectation that leaders in his administration should function not only as a president’s protector but also as an instrument of retribution.

The dynamic matters at a time when Trump, who will enter office in the wake of two federal indictments expected to soon evaporate and a Supreme Court opinion blessing a president’s exclusive authority over the Justice Department, has threatened to pursue retaliation against perceived adversaries.

“Matt will root out the systemic corruption at DOJ, and return the department to its true mission of fighting Crime, and upholding our Democracy and Constitution. We must have Honesty, Integrity, and Transparency at DOJ,” Trump wrote in a social media post about Gaetz, a Florida Republican.

The rhetoric from Trump reflects an about-face in approach from President Joe Biden, who has repeatedly taken a hands-off approach from the Justice Department even while facing a special counsel investigation into his handling of classified information and as his son, Hunter, was indicted on tax and gun charges.

Democrats immediately sounded the alarm, with Sen. Dick Durbin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying Gaetz “would be a disaster” in part because of Trump’s threat to use the Justice Department “to seek revenge on his political enemies.” The president of Common Cause, a good government group, called the selection “shocking” and “a serious threat to the fair and equal enforcement of the law in our nation.” Even several Senate Republicans expressed concern about the Gaetz pick.

That Trump would openly value Gaetz’s role in “defeating the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, and exposing alarming and systemic Government Corruption and Weaponization” is not altogether surprising. In his first term, Trump fired an FBI director who refused to pledge loyalty to him at a private White House dinner and an attorney general who recused himself from the Justice Department’s investigation into potential ties between Russia and his 2016 presidential campaign.

“I think this selection indicates that President-elect Trump was looking for an attorney general whose views were closely aligned with him with respect to the appropriate role of the Department of Justice,” said former federal prosecutor Robert Mintz.

Ratcliffe, who served as Trump’s director of national intelligence in the final months of his first term, rose to prominence on Capitol Hill as a staunch defender of Trump. He was a member of Trump’s advisory team during his first impeachment in 2019 and pointedly grilled multiple witnesses about the Russia investigation — including an FBI agent who led the inquiry and also traded anti-Trump text messages with a colleague.

That work was credited by Trump in his selection announcement as he praised Ratcliffe for “exposing fake Russian collusion” and having “been a warrior for Truth and Honesty with the American Public.”

Gaetz would be the first attorney general in 20 years without prior Justice Department experience, and in recent years became embroiled himself in a federal sex trafficking investigation that ended without criminal charges.

Hours before the announcement, Gaetz said in a social media post that there needs to be a “full court press against this WEAPONIZED government that has been turned against our people.” He added: “And if that means ABOLISHING every one of the three letter agencies, from the FBI to the ATF, I’m ready to get going!” If confirmed as attorney general, he would oversee both the FBI and the ATF.

Advancing the theme of vengeance, billionaire Trump supporter Elon Musk weighed in on the Gaetz appointment with a post that said: “The Hammer of Justice is coming.”

Gaetz has used the seat in Congress he first won in 2016 to rail against the Justice Department, repeatedly decrying what he — and Trump — contends is a criminal justice system biased against conservatives. He has blasted law enforcement officials he has perceived as being either overtly anti-Trump or ineffective in protecting Trump’s interests.

When Robert Mueller visited Capitol Hill to discuss the findings of the Russia investigation, Gaetz condemned the prosecutor for leading a team that the congressman said was “so biased.” The Trump Justice Department appointed a special prosecutor, John Durham, to examine errors in the Russia investigation, but Gaetz scolded Durham too for failing to uncover enough damaging information about the FBI’s inquiry into Trump.

“For the people like the (committee) chairman who put trust in you, I think you let them down. I think you let the country down. You are one of the barriers to the true accountability that we need,” Gaetz told Durham.

He’s directed outright fury at FBI Director Christopher Wray, snapping at him last year that FBI applicants in Florida “deserve better than you” and at the current attorney general, Merrick Garland, who appointed special counsel Jack Smith to investigate Trump’s hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Both investigations ended in indictments expected to wind down before Trump takes office. Smith, too, is also likely to be gone by the time Gaetz arrives, and a new FBI director is also expected to be appointed given Trump’s lingering discontent with Wray, his own appointee.

“None of us can predict exactly what will happen there,” said Ryan Fayhee, a former Justice Department national security prosecutor.

He added: “I think it’s just more of a question of the department continuing to be independent and largely resting on the broad shoulders of the career prosecutors and agents that have held themselves to the highest standards.”

Michigan set a record in the 2024 election. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced that 79% of eligible voters in the state cast their ballots — the highest turnout in the state’s history. However, turnout in Detroit decreased — and nationwide, nearly 13 million voters stayed home.

Subscribe to Created Equal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

The efforts to expand voter rolls are working, but why aren’t they connecting in places like Detroit? Mario Marrow, political consultant and president of Mario Marrow and Associates, and Brady Baybeck, professor of political science at Wayne State University, joined Created Equal on Wednesday to unpack the story of turnout on Election Day and what it means for our elections going forward. 

Baybeck pointed out that although many people feel compelled to vote because of a sense of civic duty, voting still comes with personal cost for many people. He stressed the importance of candidates inspiring voters to participate and explained that Trump was very effective at inspiring his base to vote, noting that Democratic messaging to voters could have been more widespread. 

Marrow suggested that Harris had difficulty gaining momentum among voters because Biden dropped out late in the campaign, resulting in low turnout in some areas. He also explained that Trump was more successful connecting with his base through his use of TV and social media advertising, whereas the Harris campaign’s focus on knocking on doors and in-person organizing was inefficient at reaching out to an already fatigued voter base. 

“It doesn’t work, you have to move into an area of technology, you have to move into getting to your constituents with an emotional affect,” Marrow said. 

Use the media player above to listen to the full interview.

Guests:

• Mario Marrow is the president of Mario Marrow and Associates.
• Brady Baybeck is a professor of political science at Wayne State University

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.

One of President-elect Donald Trump’s key promises to the American public has been the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.

In Michigan, tens of thousands of migrant workers and their dependents contribute significantly to the agriculture and food processing industries each year, according to the state health department.

Advocates say the mass deportation plan threatens not only the lives these individuals have built in the U.S., but also the workforce in states like Michigan, where they play a critical role in local economies.

Susan Reed, director of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, said deportations could drive up the cost of produce.

“Employers are very likely to face employer-focused raids, and I would expect that to impact prices as businesses struggle to replace a workforce that is either no longer migrating or no longer present in the community,” Reed explained.

The logistics of Trump’s deportation plan remain unclear, although he has stated he would rely on local law enforcement and the National Guard to carry out the operations. How this will unfold is uncertain, particularly given that local law enforcement agencies operate under a separate leadership structure and do not report directly to federal authorities.

Moreover, said Reed, many local communities have implemented protections to safeguard their vulnerable residents.

“Many local communities have adopted resolutions or ordinances stating that local resources can only be used to cooperate with immigration enforcement to the minimum extent required by law,” Reed said. “I certainly expect new federal laws or proposals aimed at forcing more cooperation. But for now, many local communities already have policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.”

Despite these local protections, Reed said her office continues to field calls from concerned people in Michigan—both documented and undocumented—who worry that their lives will be upended once Trump returns to office.

“I’m hearing from my clients who are on the path to citizenship—some who have been granted asylum but don’t yet have a green card, others who have a green card but haven’t yet become citizens, and some who are citizens but are so traumatized by the process and by the rhetoric that they’re terrified of losing their status,” Reed said. “I try to reassure them, while being honest about the uncertainties ahead.”

While the future remains unclear, Reed emphasized that deportation is often described as a “civil death,” and said she advises vulnerable individuals to prepare for the worst—especially those whose children have birthright citizenship.

Reed said parents should have power of attorney, or, in Michigan, a delegation of parental authority, in place. She said this legal document can help ensure that children are not placed in the foster care system if their parents are deported.

She also recommends that parents obtain and keep updated passports for their U.S. citizen children.

Although Michigan has historically been a “blue wall” state, there were several Republican victories in Michigan in the recent election. Democrats may have won the open U.S. Senate seat and increased their majority on the state Supreme Court, but they lost a Congressional seat and control of the Michigan House of Representatives. What does it mean, politically? And what does it mean going forward, in terms of policymaking? 

Zoe Clark, Michigan Public’s Political Director, Colin Jackson, a Capitol reporter for Michigan Public Radio Network (MPRN), and Chad Livengood, a politics editor and columnist at The Detroit News, joined the show to discuss the results of Michigan election races and what they mean for the future of the state. 

Subscribe to Created Equal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Jackson explained that although Democrat Elissa Slotkin won against Mike Rogers in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race, it was a very close race and very expensive for Slotkin. He also explained that Democrats had lost Slotkin’s old position as U.S Representative for Michigan’s 7th District to Republican Tom Barrett. Jackson attributed Democratic losses in Michigan to messaging from state Republicans, framing recent reforms made by the Democrat-controlled state House as overreaches.  

Livengood explained that although Michigan has historically been a part of the “blue wall” for presidential elections, many districts are seeing changes in demographics. This combined with Trump’s focus on low-propensity voters may have given him an advantage in the state. He also discussed Michigan’s recent redistricting and how it made some formerly blue districts harder to defend. 

Clark explained that although Trump won Michigan, the former President has never gotten over 50 percent of the state’s vote. She also explained that the state had a large voter turnout this year — and while this usually translates to sweeping Democratic victories, this election was more split and had much smaller margins. She attributed this to a lack of excitement about Democratic policies across many traditionally Democratic-voting demographics.  

“Whether we’re talking about folks who are concerned about what is happening in Gaza, or whether you’re talking about folks who were pro-Israel, whether you’re talking about union voters, whether you’re talking about Latino men — these groups that used to vote for Democrats are voting for Democrats less,” Clark said. 

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Guests: 

• Zoe Clark is Michigan Public’s Political Director 
• Colin Jackson is a Capitol reporter for the Michigan Public Radio Network (MPRN) 
• Chad Livengood is a politics editor and a columnist at The Detroit News  

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.

President-elect Donald Trump won Michigan this week in what was expected to be a very close presidential election. In this episode of MichMash, Zach Gorchow of Gongwer News Service speaks with Senior Capitol Correspondent Tim Skubick about how the former President defied the experts and secured a victory in Michigan on election night.

Subscribe to MichMash on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode:

• Why Donald Trump over-performed in Michigan
• The sea change in the Michigan House of Representatives
• What’s to come in Michigan politics in 2026

Trump made a surprising comeback, handily winning 74 ​counties in Michigan despite losing the state in 2020. Skubick says this shift was largely attributed to high turnout among male voters, especially in regions outside of the typical “Trump country.”

“What ​Mr. ​Trump ​was ​able ​to ​do ​is ​he ​defied ​the ​experts ​who ​didn’t ​think ​he ​could ​get ​enough ​of ​those ​couch ​potatoes, ​men ​mostly, ​off ​of ​the ​couch ​and ​into ​the ​polls. ​And ​that’s ​exactly ​what ​he ​did,” he said. “​He ​overperformed ​by ​500,000 ​votes ​compared ​to ​what ​he ​did ​in ​2016. ​I ​mean, ​game ​over.”

Skubick also noted that Vice President Kamala Harris’ late entry into the race and her focus on critiquing Trump rather than promoting her own platform may have hurt her chances significantly.

“Ms. ​Harris, ​I ​think, ​made ​a ​huge ​mistake,” he said. ​”You ​have ​to ​give ​people ​a ​reason ​to ​vote ​for ​you ​rather ​than ​a ​reason ​not ​to ​vote ​for ​the ​other ​guy ​or ​person. ​How ​they ​missed ​that ​is ​incredible.”

More from WDET:

• MichMash: Jemele Hill on the changing dynamics of the Black vote in Michigan
• Created Equal: Examining the future of conservative politics under Trump
• The Metro: Retired UAW member shares why he proudly supported Donald Trump

A second Trump presidency was not what many conservatives, or even many Republicans, said they wanted. But voters had a different idea on Nov. 5.

What is the Republican Party now, with the many defections that have taken place in the Trump era? What about the authoritarian impulses that Trump indulges? Are they the contours around which a new Republican party is forming?

Subscribe to Created Equal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Today on Created Equal, host Stephen Henderson was joined by three guests to discuss what the future of their politics — as conservatives who opposed Trump — looks like.

Fred Upton, former U.S. Rep from Michigan and a member of the Republican party discussed how MAGA has become ingrained in the culture of the Republican Party. He described how Trump’s Republican Party is marked by an opposition to working with the other side of the political aisle and bridge-building in general, as evidenced by his lack of outreach to primary opponent Nikki Haley. He also discussed how the American primary system, where only a minority of states have ranked choice voting, leads to polarization between the eventual nominees and hurts bipartisan efforts.  

Andrea Bitely, a political and communications strategist at Bitely Communications and former spokesperson for former attorney general Bill Schuette, explained that inflation in grocery prices and other “kitchen table” issues have recently dominated the national consciousness causing longer term national issues to fall to the wayside. Trump’s focus on these issues combined with Harris’ lack of messaging regarding them may have contributed to Trump increasing his votes among blue collar workers and union members this cycle. She also discussed a possible switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party by upper-class, educated voters.   

Shikha Dalmia, president of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, discussed how the Republican Party platform has evolved from prioritizing limited government, free markets, and free trade to a form of authoritarianism under Trump. This populist authoritarianism is marked by Trump’s appeal to an “in group” through the scapegoating of an “out group” consisting of several minority groups and his carving away at the guardrails against executive authority.  

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Guests:  

• Shikha Dalmia is the president of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism. She is also the editor-in-chief of the free Substack publication, “The UnPopulist.”
• Andrea Bitely is a political and communications strategist at Bitely Communications, and a former spokesperson for former Attorney General Bill Schuette.
• Fred Upton is a former U.S. Rep from Michigan and a member of the Republican Party. 

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.

President Joe Biden is scheduled to deliver remarks to the nation in what will be his first appearance on camera in the aftermath of Donald Trump ’s decisive victory over Kamala Harris.

Control over the U.S. House of Representatives hangs in the balance, teetering between a Republican or Democratic majority with dozens of races left to be called.

The Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate early Wednesday.

Here’s the latest election news from the Associated Press:

Independent Angus King wins reelection to the US Senate from Maine

Independent Sen. Angus King won a third term in the U.S. Senate representing Maine on Thursday, turning back challenges from a former Republican state party chair and a Democratic environmental activist.

The 80-year-old former governor would be the oldest senator from Maine to serve if he completes his term, which ends in 2030, but he wasn’t dogged by questions about his age like President Joe Biden, the former Democratic presidential nominee. King caucuses with Democrats and was first elected to the Senate in 2012. The Associated Press declared King the winner at 10:14 a.m. EST.

Here’s how 5 key demographic groups voted in 2024

Donald Trump won the presidency after holding tight to his core base of voters and slightly expanding his coalition to include several groups that have traditionally been part of the Democratic base. That finding comes from AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide that shows what issues mattered to voters in this election.

Trump picked up a small but significant share of Black and Hispanic voters and made narrow gains with men and women. As Trump chipped away at parts of the Democratic coalition, Vice President Kamala Harris wasn’t able to make enough of her own gains.

Trump succeeded in locking down his traditionally older, white base of voters, and he slightly expanded his margins with other groups into a winning coalition.

Read more about how five key demographic groups voted

Many European leaders at summit stress the need for defense self-reliance in wake of Trump’s reelection

Around 50 European leaders on Thursday called for a stronger defense posture across the continent that no longer necessitates a fundamental dependence on Washington as they gave a guarded welcome to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

The European Political Community summit on Thursday in Hungary’s capital of Budapest reassessed trans-Atlantic relations in the hope that Trump’s second U.S. presidency will avoid the strife of his first administration.

“He was elected by the American people. He will defend the American interests,” French President Emmanuel Macron told the other leaders, adding that it was not the role of European Union leaders to “comment on the election … to wonder if it is good or not.”

“The question is whether we are willing to defend the European interest. It is the only question. It is our priority,” Macron said.

There are concerns, too, that the robust military aid Ukraine has enjoyed under President Joe Biden will be cut under Trump, particularly if Republicans take control of the House.

Read more about how European leaders are responding to Trump’s election

Feds set to cut interest rates again amid post-election uncertainty

Federal Reserve officials are poised Thursday to reduce their key interest rate for a second straight time, responding to a steady slowdown of inflation pressures that exasperated many Americans and contributed to Donald Trump’s presidential election victory.

Yet the Fed’s future moves are now more uncertain in the aftermath of the election, given that Trump’s economic proposals have been widely flagged as potentially inflationary. His election has also raised the specter of meddling by the White House in the Fed’s policy decisions, with Trump having proclaimed that as president he should have a voice in the central bank’s interest rate decisions.

The Fed has long guarded its status as an independent institution able to make difficult decisions about borrowing rates, free from political interference. Yet during his previous term in the White House, Trump publicly attacked Chair Jerome Powell after the Fed raised rates to fight inflation, and he may do so again.

Read more about interest rate cuts

FACT FOCUS: A multimillion-vote gap between 2020 and 2024 fuels false election narratives

Less than 24 hours after Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States, social media users began pushing two conflicting narratives to suggest election fraud, one that revived false claims by Trump that the 2020 vote was stolen from him and the other questioning how Vice President Kamala Harris could have received so many fewer votes in 2024 than President Joe Biden in 2020.

Both narratives hinge on a supposed 20 million vote gap between Harris and Biden.

Here’s a closer look at the facts.

CLAIM: President Joe Biden won approximately 20 million more votes in the 2020 election than Vice President Kamala Harris earned in the 2024 race, proving either that Trump has cheated his way to a second term or that there was widespread fraud four years ago.

THE FACTS: The claims are unfounded. Votes from Tuesday’s presidential election are still being counted, so any comparison with previous races would not be accurate. In addition, election officials and agencies monitoring the vote have reported no significant issues with Tuesday’s election. Claims of widespread fraud in 2020 have been debunked countless times.

Read more on this fact focus

Trump’s return elicits both worry and hope among Iranians

Iranians, like many around the world, are divided on what Donald Trump’s next presidency will bring: Some foresee an all-out war between Tehran and Washington, particularly as other conflicts rage in the region. Others hold out hope that America’s 47th president might engage in unexpected diplomacy as he did with North Korea.

But nearly all believe something will change in the U.S.-Iran relationship.

And while Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all matters of state, has repeatedly expressed his own disgust with Trump, Iran’s new reformist president has kept the door open to talks with Trump to seek relief from international sanctions to buoy a cratering economy. The Iranian rial, in a free fall for years, hit its lowest value against the dollar on Wednesday before slightly recovering.

Read more about the response in Iran to Trump’s election win

What could US diplomacy look like under Trump?

Trump’s second term could realign U.S. diplomacy away from traditional international alliances and more toward populist, authoritarian politicians, according to both those leaders and outside observers.

Among them are:

1. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán

2. President Vladimir Putin of Russia

3. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

4. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey

5. President Javier Milei of Argentina

6. Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico

Read more about these leaders and their diplomatic approaches

Bernie Sanders calls for reckoning in Democratic Party following election losses

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders did not mince words in a scathing statement Wednesday.

“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,” Sanders, Vermont’s senior senator, said.

“First, it was the white working class, and now it is Latino and Black workers as well,” Sanders said.

Sanders won reelection to a fourth term on Tuesday. He singled out wealth inequality, a slipping standard of living in the U.S., a lack of full health care guarantees and support for Israel’s recent military campaigns as problems Democrats need to focus on. Sanders’s 2016 presidential run was a key factor in pushing the dialogue in the Democratic party to the left. Sanders has built his political career outside — and often criticizing — the Democratic Party, but he caucuses with Democrats in the Senate.

Vatican No. 2: Holy See hopes Trump will help end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza

“At the start of his mandate, we wish him much wisdom because this is the main virtue of rulers according to the Bible,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin said, speaking on the sidelines of a Rome conference on Thursday, according to Vatican News.

While acknowledging no one had a “magic wand” to end wars in Ukraine and Gaza, Parolin said the Holy See hoped Trump “can indeed be an element of détente and pacification in the current conflicts that are bleeding the world.”

Parolin also said he hoped Trump would work to end polarization in the U.S., including over abortion. On migration, he recalled Pope Francis’ call to welcome those fleeing wars, poverty and climate change.

After visiting the U.S.-Mexico border in 2016 and asked about Trump’s call to build a wall, Francis famously said anyone who builds a wall to keep out migrants was “not Christian.”

More recently, Francis recommended U.S. voters choose the “lesser evil” when asked how a U.S. Catholic should vote given Trump’s pledge to deport migrants and Vice President Kamala Harris’ support of abortion rights.

The Dalai Lama congratulates Trump on his election win

“I have long admired the United States of America as the champion of democracy, freedom and the rule of law,” the Tibetan spiritual leader said in a message to Trump from the northern Indian town of Dharamshala where he has lived in exile since fleeing Tibet in 1959.

“The Tibetan people and I have been honored to have received the support of respective U.S. Presidents and the American people, in our endeavor to protect and preserve our ancient Buddhist culture — a culture of peace, non-violence and compassion that has the potential to benefit humanity as a whole,” he said.

Turkey’s president spoke with Trump late on Wednesday

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan conveyed his hopes in a call for strengthened cooperation between their two countries during Trump’s new term in office, according to a statement from the Turkish president’s office.

Trump’s presidential transition starts now. Here’s how it will work

Trump’s impending return to the White House means he’ll want to stand up an entirely new administration from the one that served under President Joe Biden. His team is also pledging that the second won’t look much like the first one Trump established after his 2016 victory.

The president-elect now has a 75-day transition period to build out his team before Inauguration Day arrives on Jan. 20. One top item on the to-do list: filling around 4,000 government positions with political appointees, people who are specifically tapped for their jobs by Trump’s team.

That includes everyone from the secretary of state and other heads of Cabinet departments to those selected to serve part-time on boards and commissions. Around 1,200 of those presidential appointments require Senate confirmation, which should be easier with the Senate now shifting to Republican control.

Read more about Trump’s transition

Neither party has a dominant pathway to House majority

The House contests remain a tit-for-tat fight to the finish, with no dominant pathway to the majority for either party. Rarely, if ever, have the two chambers of Congress flipped in opposite directions.

Each side is gaining and losing a few seats, including through the redistricting process, which is the routine redrawing of House seat boundary lines. The process reset seats in North Carolina, Louisiana and Alabama.

Much of the outcome hinges on the West, particularly in California, where a handful of House seats are being fiercely contested, and mail-in ballots arriving a week after the election will still be counted. Hard-fought races around the “blue dot” in Omaha, Nebraska and in far-flung Alaska are among those being watched.

Updates on the last two presidential races left to be called

With a win in Wisconsin early Wednesday, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. But his exact margin of victory is still unclear — there are two presidential races that the AP has yet to call:

Arizona: Officials in Arizona’s Maricopa County said late Wednesday they’ve got more than 700,000 ballots left to count, which means the races for president and senate were too early to call. In all, AP estimates there are at least a million ballots to be added to the results in Arizona. County election officials are expected to firm up those numbers on Thursday.

Nevada: AP estimated late Wednesday evening that there are more than 200,000 ballots left to count in Nevada — including more than 130,000 in Clark County. Given the narrow margins in the races for president and U.S. Senate, both are too early to call. The AP will further review results released by Nevada election officials on Thursday.

Decision Desk updates on key Senate races

Arizona: Officials in Arizona’s Maricopa County said late Wednesday they’ve got more than 700,000 ballots left to count, which means the races for president and senate were too early to call. In all, AP estimates there are at least a million ballots to be added to the results in Arizona. County election officials are expected to firm up those numbers on Thursday.

Nevada: AP estimated late Wednesday evening that there are more than 200,000 ballots left to count in Nevada — including more than 130,000 in Clark County. Given the narrow margins in the races for president and U.S. Senate, both are too early to call. The AP will further review results released by Nevada election officials on Thursday.

Control of the US House hangs in the balance with enormous implications for Trump’s agenda

The U.S. House majority hung in the balance Wednesday, teetering between Republican control that would usher in a new era of unified GOP governance in Washington or a flip to Democrats as a last line of resistance to a Trump second-term White House agenda.

A few individual seats, or even a single one, will determine the outcome. Final tallies will take a while, likely pushing the decision into next week — or beyond.

After Republicans swept into the majority in the U.S. Senate by picking up seats in West Virginia, Ohio and Montana, House Speaker Mike Johnson predicted his chamber would fall in line next.

“Republicans are poised to have unified government in the White House, Senate and House,” Johnson said Wednesday.

Read more about control of Congress

Biden will deliver a Rose Garden address at 11 a.m. ET

The remarks to the nation will be Biden’s first appearance on camera in the aftermath of Trump’s decisive victory over Harris.

How Trump spent his first day as president-elect

Donald Trump spent his first day as president-elect receiving congratulatory phone calls from his defeated opponent, world leaders and President Joe Biden as he began the process of turning his election victory into a government.

Trump was keeping a low profile, staying out of the public eye after addressing supporters in Florida during the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

Vice President Kamala Harris called Trump to concede the race and to congratulate him, while Biden invited the man he ousted from the White House four years ago to an Oval Office meeting to prepare to return the keys.

Biden’s chief of staff later Wednesday nudged the Trump team to sign the required federal agreements necessary to begin an orderly presidential transition, a White House official said.

It’s the day after the Election, and Donald Trump is poised to retake the presidency. What does his reelection say about voters, their preferences, and the state of the country?

Subscribe to Created Equal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Nancy Kaffer of the Detroit Free Press, former Michigan Senator Randall Richardville, and Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne join the show to discuss Donald Trump’s reelection, local races in Michigan and in Detroit, and what this election says about voters, their preferences, and the state of the country.

Dionne partially attributed Trump’s win to an increase in aggressive messaging from his campaign about economic discontent and immigration. He also discussed Kamala Harris’ attempts at building solidarity among young women voters with her focus on the right to choose. 

Richardville explained that although Harris’ focus on the right to choose resonated with young women, some men in similar demographics felt a lack of focus on issues directly affecting them. This sense of political “homelessness” among young men may have led to an increase in votes for Trump. He also discussed the significant increase in Trump support among Black and Latino voters.

Kaffer said some immigrants may have voted for Trump because of the perceived unfairness of migrants entering the country illegally while others had to use complex legal channels. She also discussed the possibility of a coalition shift in the country’s politics and stressed the uniqueness of American democracy. 

“America is unique in the world because we’re not based on a race or ethnicity or religion or tribal affiliation, we’re an idea. And the idea is democracy,” Kaffer said. 

Guests: 

• Nancy Kaffer is an editorial page editor for the Detroit Free Press. 
• Randall Richardville is the former Majority Leader of the Michigan State Senate. 
• E.J. Dionne is a professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, a political columnist for the Washington Post, and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. 

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.

President-elect Donald Trump won 42% of the vote in Dearborn, according to the city’s unofficial results.

Subscribe to the Detroit Evening Report on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

He campaigned in Dearborn last week, pledging to bring peace to the Middle East, despite his longstanding support of Israel. Vice President Kamala Harris garnered 36% of the vote among city residents.

Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who campaigned as the anti-war candidate, received 18% of the votes. Some Muslim and Arab American voters shifted toward Stein and Trump hoping one of them would end Israel’s war in Gaza.

Still, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cheered Trump’s victory, and foreign policy experts say the win could embolden Netanyahu to expand the war. Trump has urged the prime minister to do whatever it takes to win in Gaza. 

Visit wdet.org/electionresults for more general election results for the metro Detroit area.

Other headlines for Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024:

• Tickets are now on sale for the SphinxConnect 2025: Ignite “convening,” referred to by organizers as the largest and longest-standing event dedicated to excellence and inclusion in classical music. The event will take place Jan. 23-25 at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center.
• City Councilmember Coleman Young II is hosting an “I Am Thankful” dinner before an At-Large Evening Meeting next Tuesday, Nov. 12, at the Northwest Activities Center in Detroit. Attendees are asked to RSVP by calling 313-628-2766 or emailing zina.johnson@detroitmi.gov. 
• Former WDIV reporter Chauncy Glover has died. The Detroit News reports Glover, 39, had been working at KCAL in Los Angeles as a news anchor for more than a year. The circumstance of his death have not been released. 

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

Republican Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States on Wednesday, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who refused to accept defeat four years ago, sparked a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency.

Republicans reclaimed control of the Senate, picking up seats in West Virginia and Ohio. Top House races are focused in New York and California, where Democrats are trying to claw back some of the 10 or so seats where Republicans have made surprising gains in recent years.

Follow WDET’s Election 2024 coverage at wdet.org/electionresults.

Here’s the latest:

A unified Republican grip on Washington would set the course for Trump’s agenda

But if Democrats wrest control of the House, it would provide an almost certain backstop, with veto power over the White House.

Trump, speaking early Wednesday at his election night party in Florida, said the results delivered an “unprecedented and powerful mandate” for Republicans.

He called the Senate rout “incredible.” And he praised House Speaker Mike Johnson, who dashed from his own party in Louisiana to join Trump. “He’s doing a terrific job,” Trump said.

Vote counting in some races could go on for days and control of the House is too early to call.

Norwegian group: Trump’s election means US ‘will no longer be a driving force’ in climate fight

Norwegian Bellona environmental group said that “with the election of Donald Trump, the United States will no longer be a driving force globally to reach the 1.5 Celsius target,” referencing the international goal of trying to limit future warming since preindustrial times.

The outcome means the European Union “must take the global leadership role in the climate fight, and to a significantly greater extent ensure the defense of Europe’s strategic interests,” the group said.

“The EU will now become significantly more important for climate, technology development and restructuring in the next four years,” Frederic Hauge, founder of the Oslo-based organization, said in a statement.

US humanitarian group urges Trump, Congress to ‘reject policies that demonize immigrants and asylum seekers’

The International Rescue Committee, a large humanitarian aid organization, urged the Trump administration to “continue America’s traditions of humanitarian leadership and care of the most vulnerable.”

The New York-based nonprofit also urged the new administration and Congress to “reject policies that demonize immigrants and asylum seekers,” and noted that the U.S. program to resettle refugees has saved lives and strengthened the fabric of the United States.

IRC is led by Britain’s former top diplomat, David Miliband, and says it provides relief services to people affected by crises in more than 40 countries.

Barriers broken and history made in several congressional races

With their victories, several candidates are set to be firsts.

New Jersey Rep. Andy Kim, a Democrat, won his race to become the first Korean American elected to the Senate.

Delaware State Rep. Sarah McBride, a Democrat, won her race to become the first openly transgender person elected to Congress. The former Obama administration official was elected to the Delaware General Assembly in 2021.

Democrat Angela Alsobrooks won her race and is set to become Maryland’s first Black senator. Alsobrooks is currently the county executive for Maryland’s Prince George’s County, one of the most prosperous Black-majority counties in the nation.

Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, a Democrat from Delaware, broke barriers again, becoming the first woman and first Black person elected to the Senate from the state. Seven years ago, when she was elected to the House, she was the first woman and first Black person to represent Delaware in the House. It will be the first time that two Black women will serve simultaneously in the Senate.

North Dakota elected its first woman to Congress. Republican Julie Fedorchak, running for the House of Representatives, won her race handily in the deep red state. She’s currently a member of the state’s public service commission.

Bernie Moreno, a Republican from Ohio, defeated incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown to be the first Latino from the state elected to the Senate.

Abortion proposals win in 7 states

Despite major losses for Democrats in the Senate and White House, the party’s central campaign issue surrounding protecting reproductive rights fared much better across the country as abortion rights advocates won on measures in seven states.

The last state to pass such a measure by early Wednesday was Montana, where abortion rights advocates pushed to enshrine abortion rights until fetal viability into the state constitution as a safeguard against future rollbacks. Though there’s no defined time frame, doctors say viability is sometime after 21 weeks.

In three others — Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota — voters rejected measures that would have created a constitutional right to abortion.

Control of the US House is still up for grabs

Republicans have taken the White House and Senate, but the House is still very much in play.

With nearly 60 House elections still undecided, either party could gain control of the chamber. For Democrats, a House majority is the last hope of gaining a toehold in Washington and putting a check on Donald Trump’s power. Yet if Republicans win a House majority, they’ll be able to implement Trump’s agenda with more ease, including extending tax cuts, funding hardline border measures and dismantling parts of the federal government.

Still, it might take some time before House control is decided. Neither party so far has a convincing advantage in the tally of key House races. There are tight races all over the country, including many in slow-counting California.

Trump is elected the 47th president

Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States on Wednesday, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who refused to accept defeat four years ago, sparked a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts.

With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency.

The victory validates his bare-knuckle approach to politics. He attacked his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, in deeply personal — often misogynistic and racist — terms as he pushed an apocalyptic picture of a country overrun by violent migrants.

The coarse rhetoric, paired with an image of hypermasculinity, resonated with angry voters — particularly men — in a deeply polarized nation. As president, he’s vowed to pursue an agenda centered on dramatically reshaping the federal government and retribution against his perceived enemies.

Race to control the House intensifies with Michigan flip

Republicans have flipped a House seat that was previously held by Democrats, giving them a valuable pickup in a frenzied race for House control.

At this point, practically every seat matters when it comes to building a House majority. In Michigan’s 7th district, Republican Tom Barrett picked up a seat that Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin vacated to run for U.S. Senate. Barrett, a former state senator, defeated another former state lawmaker, Democrat Curtis Hertel.

On the campaign trail, Barrett didn’t back away from his record of supporting abortion restrictions in the statehouse, but he also described abortion access as a settled issue in Michigan.

Trump, a longtime source of division, calls on country to unite in election night speech

Trump, someone whose political career has been defined by division and acrimony, told the audience at his election night party early on Wednesday that it was “time to unite” as a country.

“It’s time to put the divisions of the past four years behind us,” Trump said. “It’s time to unite.”

“We have to put our country first for at least a period of time,” he added. “We have to fix it.”

Trump speaks at election party flanked by family, friends and top political supporters

Most of the important people in Trump’s personal and political life have joined him on stage in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Former first lady Melania Trump stood near her husband and was joined by Barron, the former president’s youngest son. Trump’s older children, Don Jr., Eric, Ivanka and Tiffany, all joined their father on stage, too.

Trump’s top political minds, including top campaign advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, joined Trump on stage. And his political allies were on stage, too, including House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Trump also celebrated a few celebrities in the audience and on stage. Dana White, the CEO of UFC, was on stage with Trump, and the former president called golfer Bryson DeChambeau on stage. Trump also shouted out Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, who has become one of his most high-profile supporters. “We have a new star. A star is born: Elon,” Trump said.

There are serious 2016 echoes in Harris’ 2024 election night

Forgive Democrats if they are having a bit of déjà vu.

There are noticeable similarities between then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s election night in 2016 and the one that Harris had planned for tonight at Howard University.

Neither Clinton nor Harris, appeared at their election night party, despite both heading into Election Day believing they were about to defeat Donald Trump.

Both sent top aides to inform the demoralized audience that the woman would not speak. And there were noticeable similarities between what each man said.

“We still have votes to count. We still have states that have not been called yet. We will continue overnight to fight to make sure that every vote is counted,” Cedric Richmond, Harris’ campaign co-chair, told the audience Tuesday. “So you won’t hear from the vice president tonight, but you will hear from her tomorrow.”

“We’re still counting votes,” John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman, said in 2016. “And every vote should count. Several states are too close to call. So we’re not going to have anything more to say tonight.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Even the mood of the events — and the trajectory they took over the course of the night — was similar. The vibe at Clinton’s event at Javits Center started jubilantly, with people dancing, smiling and eager to make history — the campaign had even planned to launch reflective confetti in the air when Clinton won to resemble a glass ceiling shattering. The same was true for Harris, with the event resembling a dance party on the campus of the Democrat’s alma mater.

By the time Podesta and Richmond had taken the stage, the party had stopped, people had left, and those who remained looked forlorn.

Editor’s note: This story includes a reference to sexual assault.

In a follow-up to our story about rural Democrats, we ask four Republicans in Kalamazoo what it’s like to be a red drop in a blue pond.

At the edge of a wooded lot on a busy street in Kalamazoo, there’s a collection of Republican signs. What’s unusual is that some are not on the ground.

“I put all my signs up on Howard Street, up in the trees, because I had 25 Trump signs stolen in the last election,” Ron Wiser, the owner of the signs, said.

I met Ron at his office at the financial group he founded in 1960. Wiser actually votes in South Haven, but he works and has a home in Kalamazoo. Trump supporters were relatively rare in the city in 2020; in the city’s best precinct for the then-president, just three in 10 voters cast their ballot for him. In half of city of Kalamazoo precincts, Trump got 20% or less of the vote, and in one he got just 5%.

Wiser said he supports Trump because like him, Trump’s a financial conservative and a businessman.

“I want somebody who’s actually worked and ran a business, and their livelihood depended on what they produce.”

Wiser thinks Trump would spend more prudently than his rival, Democrat Kamala Harris. His focus on government spending made him the most traditional of the Republicans I talked to. But Wiser suggested that he doesn’t think the former president is perfect.

“I would like to see Trump tone down some of his rhetoric. I hope some of the Democrats would tone down some of the rhetoric, and we could get back and — to a point where we can talk.”

And though Wiser’s a financial conservative, he doesn’t want the U.S. to pull its support for Ukraine as it fights the Russian invasion.

Trump has been less than resolute in his support of Ukraine. And while Wiser said he’s fine with nudging the country toward a negotiated peace, he would not support abandoning it to Russia.

“We did this with Hitler. We let him have one country after another and waved our finger at him. And he kept going, kept going and going and going.”

Wiser’s wife Ruth also supports Trump, and like her husband, she supports him for economic reasons, but her other core issues vary from Ron’s.

I met Ruth at the Wisers’ home south of downtown. She said people don’t always see the nuances in her views.

“I think people look at me because I’m voting for Trump, and they think that she’s against abortion or something. No, not at all.”

But Ruth said it’s okay with her that the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, allowing states to set their own abortion policies.

“That is our democracy, that we have the opportunity as citizens to vote and our representatives to represent us, to make those laws for your state.”

Trump critics say he could restrict abortion nationally by changing Food and Drug Administration rules, enforcing the Comstock Act or signing a ban. But Ruth doesn’t think he’ll go against the states.

Before she retired, Ruth was an engineer, then a business executive. Now she tutors at a dual-language school in Kalamazoo. Some of her students are from immigrant families.

Trump said if he’s reelected, he’ll mass-deport undocumented people, and end some forms of legal immigration.

Ruth said she would be heartbroken if her students or their families were deported, but she added the law must be followed.

“The idea that our border is open and people are coming across, criminals, rapists, murderers, but rapists primarily is terrifying.”

Ruth said she survived rape as a child, informing this belief.

“I heard on the news today, 420,000 criminals have come across our borders and are living around the US. Of those 13,000 have committed murders.”

There are more than 400,000 convicted criminal immigrants in the US, including 13,000 convicted of homicide, according to an NBC report. But most did not just arrive in the US. Some came as long as four decades ago. And many of them are serving jail or prison sentences, the Department of Homeland Security told NBC.

Additionally, the Department of Justice released a report last month looking at how often undocumented people are arrested in Texas.

It found that the rate was less than half that of American-born citizens for violent and drug crimes, and even lower for property crimes.

In Ruth’s view, the media gives Democrats a pass while unfairly scrutinizing Trump. She’s not the only one who thinks so.

‘They get away with it’

“The whole thing is to take him out. And it’s not working so far. And I pray to God it doesn’t work,” Patricia Melluish said.

Patricia and her husband Jim live in the Winchell neighborhood, about a five-minute drive from the Wisers.

Patricia was a stay-at-home mom; Jim is a retired ophthalmologist.

In their yard they have signs for Trump, state and local Republican candidates, and one more, which Jim reads: “Do you like law and order, secure borders, prosperity for all? Then vote Republican.”

Jim said he feels accepted by his Harris-supporting neighbors. But he recalls confronting a group of teenagers back in 2020 after they knocked down his Trump sign.

“They were very ashamed, and they were, said they wouldn’t do it again and all that. And I think they learned a little bit of a lesson, but it’s, I don’t see any Democrat signs get getting damaged.”

Patricia Melluish says that Trump says things that are true but uncomfortable.

“I think he says, a lot of times, the things that people agree with but won’t say.”

And the Melluishes said the media, government and Democrats are the ones pushing lies, not Trump.

Myriad investigations found no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election, but Patricia said that’s just another one of the lies.

“There was a lot of research done, and there was total evidence of it. But the mass media, the mainstream media, as my understanding just refused to cover it.”

In Jim’s view, Democrats are rarely checked on what they say.

“Because they’re saying it nicely and they’re happy, and they don’t throw in personal digs, they get away with it.”

And Jim thinks the media is unfair to Trump over the things he does say.

The recent baseless claims by Trump and his running mate JD Vance that Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio? Jim said he doesn’t see it as racist, or even necessarily false.

“If you go back to their island that they came from, they live in dire poverty, and they do have to sometimes resort to that sort of eating. Those people are starving, and so it’s not, it’s not putting the Haitian down,” Jim said.

“Whether it’s true or not, I don’t know. I don’t really care,” he added. “It’s a small point when I think about how many wars have started with Trump versus with Biden, the Biden-Harris administration.”

And a New York jury finding Trump guilty in May of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records? Jim said it shows the courts are corrupt.

“It tells me it’s all the more reason to elect him so he can clean at least the federal judiciary up and the prosecutors and all that.”

With people so divided on what is true and what isn’t, Jim doesn’t see the political divide healing any time soon.

“I don’t think it’ll ever happen. I don’t think we’ll get back together for a couple hundred years or whatever it is.”

Campaigning in Battle Creek

Steve Frisbie has not given up on talking across the divide. He can’t afford to.

Frisbee’s a Republican running for Michigan’s 44th house district against Democratic incumbent Jim Haadsma. It’s a seat Republicans think they can win.

I followed Frisbie as he knocked on doors in Battle Creek’s Washington Heights neighborhood.

On his front steps, Wendell LaGrand told Frisbie he’s a teacher, and a fan of his opponent. But he and Frisbie ended up talking for nearly 20 minutes.

“I can say I’ll remember you. I’ll look down that list of people, I’ll see Mr. Steve Frisbie, and Mr. Steve Frisbie might get a vote,” LaGrand said.

Frisbie said he appreciated that LaGrand was open to the idea of voting for him.

LaGrand said he liked the interaction, and Frisbie’s “boots on the ground” campaigning.

“He’s got to care about something, because go door to door in this neighborhood is, well, that’s impressive.”

Michael Symonds reports for WMUK through the Report for America national service program.

WMUK also spoke with rural Democrats. That story can be found here.

Republican former Congressman Fred Upton is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

Upton served Southwest Michigan in Congress for 36 years.

“I’ve never before voted for a Democrat for president,” Upton said. “I honestly never thought I would, but she’s a strong, committed public servant.”

Upton says he did vote for longtime Democratic U.S. Senator Carl Levin.

According to Upton, politics changed in 2016 once Trump came onto the scene.

“There have always been impassioned fights about policy, but with Trump in charge, politics was more personal, more angry and more divided than ever before,” Upton said.

Upton is unequivocal in his distaste for the former president.

“Instead of focusing on making people’s lives better, Trump is leveling personal attacks, spreading more election lies, and engaging in some of the most unstable and unhinged behavior that we’ve ever seen from a presidential candidate,” Upton said.

The former Congressman voted to impeach Trump following the attack on the U.S Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — something that drew the ire of the former President. Trump celebrated Upton’s retirement announcement in 2022.

GOP Former Michigan Congressman Dave Trott has also endorsed Harris.

As for Michigan’s tight U.S. Senate race, Upton has not made an endorsement, but did say that he donated to Republican candidate and Trump-ally Mike Rogers.

However, Upton says he considers both Rogers and Democratic Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin friends.

The general election is taking place on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. For the latest election information, visit WDET’s Voter Guide at wdet.org/voterguide.

Read more:

• Michigan Senate candidates have similar backgrounds, different agendas
• Harris, Cheney message to conservative voters in Royal Oak
• Metro Detroiters lay out the issues and candidates shaping their vote

Michigan voters are deciding who they want to be the next president of the United States.

Polls indicate immigration is a top issue among Michigan voters.

Michigan Public has been talking to voters about what kind of presidential leadership they would like to see when it comes to immigration.

Van Buren County Sheriff Daniel Abbott’s southwest Michigan county is a long way from Mexico. But he says immigrants who cross the southern border are sometimes ending up in his county jail.

Abbott said at any time there are four to nine people in his jail, accused of serious crimes, with federal immigration holds.

“The fact of the matter is on a regular basis, especially over the last couple years, we’ve seen over and over and over, not only on the roadside but in the jail, that inmates coming in and out of the jail are getting flagged on a regular basis by ICE once they’re put into the system,” said Abbott.

Abbott said he wants to see the next president do something to slow the immigrant flow across the nation’s border with Mexico, which he blames for increased crime in his rural county.

But advocates object to labeling immigrants as a criminal element.

Susan Reed is with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center in Kalamazoo.

She said the main problem with immigration is the confusing, often long process for immigrants to obtain legal status.

“I have a client who lost his work permit and has been waiting 15 months for the replacement. He can’t work without it,” said Reed. “He’s very skilled, has a great background working in a variety of settings and just can’t work ’cause he lost a document.”

Reed wants the next president to streamline the immigration and work permit system rather than imposing new obstacles.

Detroit has long been a destination for immigrants. And over time, where those immigrants have come from has changed.

“When my family moved in here, it was predominately Mexican and Puerto Rican. In the early 2000s, we started having more Central American immigrants come in,” said Adonis Flores. He helps undocumented immigrants seeking to stay in the U.S.

Flores said he’d like to see the next president change the part of immigration law which allows individuals to apply for permanent residency, but only if they’ve been in the U.S. since 1972.

Flores would like to see the date of registry updated to 2015.

“If somebody, for example, arrived in this country in the early 2000s or in the late 90s, and haven’t been able to fix their status because of that date of registry,” said Flores. “If that date gets updated, all of a sudden they have American kids and an American spouse that might be able to help their immigration status.”

Mara Cecelia Ostfeld is a U of M researcher. She said a recent University of Michigan study found the perception of whether immigrants are good or bad depends on an individual’s personal experience.

“Overall, a plurality of the residents in the communities we looked at: Flint, Grand Rapids, Ypsilanti and Detroit, did favor making it easier for foreigners to immigrate to the U.S. legally,” said Ostfeld.

However, some Michiganders are not as welcoming to their new neighbors.

“Young Black men are saying right now that they feel that people who are illegally coming into this country are getting treated better than they are,” Pastor Lorenzo Sewell told a group of Republicans gathered in Roseville back in August.

Sewell said his parishioners in Detroit, Pontiac and other Michigan cities want the immigration system changed.

“We need a president who’s willing to make a hard decision, send people back and then if they want to come in this country,” Sewell said. “They need to come the way, whatever way we feel as a country, they need to go through the process.”

Former President Donald Trump says the federal government should stop the flow of migrants across the southern border, and conduct a mass deportation effort of undocumented immigrants. Vice President Kamala Harris says she wants to fix the immigration system and create an earned pathway to citizenship.

You can learn more here about how all the presidential candidates on the Michigan ballot stand on this and other issues.

Former President Donald Trump sought to bring together various parts of his coalition during an Oakland County roundtable Friday evening.

The talk included a New York businessman, representatives of the law enforcement community and members of the United Auto Workers and Teamsters unions. Each was there to highlight a different part of the Republican candidate’s campaign messaging.

For the union workers, Trump discussed his plans for U.S. trade policy should he win back the White House.

Trump has been using promises to jack up tariffs to appeal to autoworkers in particular. He says raising taxes on imported goods would boost the auto industry.

“The higher it goes, the more likely it is that they build in this country,” Trump said.

Presidential campaigns spend a lot of time in Michigan.

Whichever candidate gets the most statewide votes wins all of Michigan’s 15 coveted electoral votes. Kamala Harris (D) and Donald Trump (R) are nearly tied in most polls of the state’s voters.

The map below shows where we know candidates (and some surrogates) have publicly appeared in Michigan since July 15, 2024.

The height of each county on the map represents the number of voters in the 2020 presidential election.

The colors of each county show which party had the lead in votes and how big the lead was. Dark red means Republicans had a big lead and dark blue means the same for Democrats. Counties that look almost white had both parties nearly tied.

Both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are campaigning in metro Detroit today.

The visits come before in-person voting begins in Detroit this weekend.

Harris joined a national radio show broadcast from Detroit earlier this week. The Democratic nominee will be stumping in Grand Rapids and Lansing on Friday, before finishing with an event in Oakland County.

She’s expected to be in Detroit on Saturday for the start of early in-person voting.

Harris needs a strong turnout from the typically Democratic stronghold, where Trump has tried to make inroads.

He’ll be in Oakland County as well on Friday for a roundtable discussion, before heading to a rally at Detroit’s Huntington Place — a convention center Trump falsely claimed was the site of massive voter fraud in 2020.

The general election is taking place on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. For the latest election information, visit WDET’s Voter Guide at wdet.org/voterguide.

Reporting by Quinn Klinefelter, WDET

More headlines for Friday, Oct. 18, 2024:

• Million Muslim Votes, Black Muslim Leadership Council and Dream of Detroit are hosting Muslim Vote Fest 2024, a get out to vote rally, from 1-3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 20, at the Jam Handy in Detroit.
• The Black Political Power Tour, hosted by Capital B, is taking place at 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, at Spot Lite Detroit, featuring vital discussions about the political landscape of Black Detroit, networking opportunities and more.
• Monster’s Ball, Detroit’s largest annual Halloween event, is coming to the Russell Industrial Center in Detroit on Saturday, Oct. 19, featuring live music, food trucks, and a variety of unique costumes.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

Tonight on the Detroit Evening Report, we cover Harris’ recent visit to Detroit to shore up support from Black male voters; the opening of the new Dr. Maya Angelou Village in northwest Detroit and more.

Subscribe to the Detroit Evening Report on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Harris joins The Breakfast Club in Detroit

Vice President Kamala Harris spent part of the day in Detroit on Tuesday to take part in an “audio town hall” moderated by Charlamagne Tha God, host of iHeartRadio’s nationally syndicated radio show “The Breakfast Club.”  Discussion topics ranged from the economy, to the use of misinformation, to the violence on Jan. 6, 2021. 

“Donald Trump incited a violent mob to try and undo the will of the people and undo the results of a free and fair election,” Harris said Tuesday. “That violent mob attacked the United States Capitol. Over 140 law enforcement officers were injured.  Some of them were killed. And he has said since then, that there will be a bloodbath after this election.”

Harris has been working to attract more Black male voters in recent weeks, making several trips to Detroit in the process.    

Harris and Trump in Detroit Friday

Both Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are scheduled to campaign in metro Detroit on Friday. The Harris campaign announced Wednesday that former President Barack Obama will come to Detroit next Tuesday. Michigan is a key battleground state in what is expected to be a very close presidential election. 

Duggan to host District 6 meeting

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is scheduled to hold a charter-mandated community meeting in District 6 Wednesday night. It’s an opportunity to hear from the mayor and his administration about important news and events in the area. Officials from the Detroit Police Department will be there to give a presentation to residents about code enforcement. The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. at the Kingdom Apostolic Ministries, 4735 W Fort St., Detroit. Interested residents can also join the meeting via Zoom. 

Maya Angelou Village opens

A new development named after renowned poet Dr. Maya Angelou has opened in northwest Detroit, Model D reports. The mixed-use permanent supportive housing development, located near Grand River and Burt Road, is a partnership between a Chicago-based developer and the Detroit-based non-profit Alternatives for Girls.   The non-profit focuses on serving at-risk girls and young women in Detroit.  

Devin Scillian retiring

Longtime Detroit television anchor Devin Scillian is retiring. He announced the move last night on WDIV.   

“I am currently in my 30th year here at WDIV. And maybe it’s the roundness of that number, but I’ve decided to move on to the next chapter of what has been a most enjoyable and gratifying book,” he said.

Scillian started at the station in 1995. In the past three decades, he has covered politics, natural disasters, court trials, the Olympics and a wide range of news stories in metro Detroit. Scillian gained national prominence shortly before coming to Detroit, when he covered the Oklahoma City bombing for a local station there. He says he has decided to retire now to devote more attention to some of his other passions, including writing children’s books and singing with his band. Scillian’s last newscast will be sometime in December. 

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.