By JILL COLVIN

NEW YORK (AP) — A number of President-elect Donald Trump ‘s most prominent Cabinet picks and appointees have been targeted by bomb threats and “swatting attacks,” Trump’s transition team said Wednesday. The FBI said it was investigating.

“Last night and this morning, several of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees and Administration appointees were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them,” Trump transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

She said the attacks ranged from bomb threats to swatting, in which attackers initiate an emergency law enforcement response against a target victim under false pretenses. The tactic has become a popular one in recent years.

“In response, law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted. President Trump and the entire Transition team are grateful for their swift action,” Leavitt said.

Among those targeted were New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump’s pick to serve as the next ambassador to the United Nations, Matt Gaetz, Trump’s initial pick to serve as attorney general, and former New York congressman Lee Zeldin, who has been tapped to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

Susie Wiles, Trump’s incoming chief of staff, and Pam Bondi, the former Florida Attorney General whom Trump has chosen as Gaetz’s replacement, were also targeted, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity amid the ongoing investigation. Wiles and Bondi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The FBI said in a statement that it was “aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees” and was “working with our law enforcement partners. We take all potential threats seriously, and as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement.”

Stefanik’s office said that, on Wednesday morning, she, her husband, and their 3-year-old son were driving home from Washington for Thanksgiving when they were informed of a bomb threat to their residence in Saratoga County.

“New York State, County law enforcement, and U.S. Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism,” her office said in a statement. “We are incredibly appreciative of the extraordinary dedication of law enforcement officers who keep our communities safe 24/7.”

The New York State Police said a team was dispatched to sweep Stefanik’s home on Wednesday morning in response to the bomb threat but did not locate any explosive devices. A spokesman for the agency directed further questions to the FBI.

Zeldin said in a social media post that he and his family had been threatened.

“A pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home today was sent in with a pro-Palestinian themed message,” he wrote on X. “My family and I were not home at the time and are safe. We are working with law enforcement to learn more as this situation develops.”

Police in Suffolk County, Long Island said emergency officers responded to a bomb threat Wednesday morning at an address listed in public records as Zeldin’s home and were checking the property.

In Florida, meanwhile, the Okaloosa County sheriff’s office said in an advisory posted on Facebook that it “received notification of a bomb threat referencing former Congressman Matt Gaetz’s supposed mailbox at a home in the Niceville area around 9 a.m. this morning.”

While a family member resides at the address, they said “former Congressman Gaetz is NOT a resident. The mailbox however was cleared and no devices were located. The immediate area was also searched with negative results.”

Gaetz was Trump’s initial pick to serve as attorney general, but he withdrew from consideration amid allegations that he paid women for sex and slept with underage women. Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and said last year that a Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls had ended with no federal charges against him.

The threats follow a political campaign marked by disturbing and unprecedented violence. In July, a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing the then-candidate in the ear with a bullet and killing one of his supporters. The U.S. Secret Service later thwarted a subsequent assassination attempt at Trump’s West Palm Beach, Florida, golf course when an agent spotted the barrel of a gun poking through a perimeter fence while Trump was golfing.

Public figures across the political spectrum have been targeted in recent years by hoax bomb threats and false reports of shootings at their homes.

The judges overseeing the civil fraud case against Trump in New York and the criminal election interference case against him in Washington, D.C. were both targeted earlier this year. Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, who recently abandoned the two criminal cases he brought against Trump, was also the subject of a fake emergency call on Christmas Day last year.

Earlier this year, schools, government buildings and the homes of city officials in Springfield, Ohio received a string of hoax bomb threats after Trump falsely accused members of Springfield’s Haitian community of abducting and eating cats and dogs.

And in 2022, a slew of historically Black colleges and universities nationwide were targeted with dozens of bomb threats with the vast majority arriving during the celebration of Black History Month.

The U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement Wednesday that, “Anytime a Member of Congress is the victim of a ‘swatting’ incident, we work closely with our local and federal law enforcement partners. To protect ongoing investigations and to minimize the risk of copy-cats, we cannot provide more details at this time.”

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson called the threats “dangerous and unhinged.”

“This year, there was not just one but TWO assassination attempts on President Trump. Now some of his Cabinet nominees and their families are facing bomb threats,” he wrote on X. “It is not who we are in America.”

Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer, Colleen Long and Eric Tucker in Washington and Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, New York contributed to this report.

By CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY

The states that saw the most active attacks against election certification two years ago certified the results of this year’s races without controversy this week, prompting the Arizona secretary of state to proclaim that “election denialism” is a thing of the past.

Others said they weren’t so sure. Certification proceeded normally this year in part because Donald Trump won the presidential race, quieting his supporters after he had spent the campaign making unsubstantiated claims that he could lose only through widespread cheating.

The statewide certification votes Tuesday in Nevada and New Mexico follow a vote Monday to certify the results in Arizona. In all three states, the certification process was tumultuous during the 2022 midterms when Democrats won most statewide offices.

Those controversies followed attempts by Trump and his allies to halt or challenge certification in Michigan, Georgia and other battleground states in 2020, disrupting what until then had been a routine administrative process. This year, some who have been the most vocal in questioning the integrity of elections have instead been celebrating Trump’s victory.

“The results are being accepted in the manner that they are, in part, because those who have been eroding trust or casting doubt on the integrity of U.S. elections have a result they feel good about,” said David Levine, a former local election official in Idaho who now advises on election administration issues. “Hopefully we can get back to a place where Americans can feel confident in the results even if it’s one they disagree with.”

On Tuesday, Nevada and New Mexico certified their statewide results with little discussion. During Monday’s certification in Arizona, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes reflected on the lack of controversy this year.

“I think the age of election denialism, for all intents and purposes, is dead,” he said.

Sitting next to Fontes, state Attorney General Kris Mayes, a fellow Democrat, said she was more skeptical. Her Republican opponent in 2022 spent two years challenging his loss.

“Do I think election denialism is dead? No, I don’t,” she said. “We’ll see over the next couple of election cycles what happens, but I don’t think we’re there yet.”

Public confidence in elections has dropped since Trump challenged his loss in 2020 and made false claims of widespread fraud, particularly among Republicans. Some Republicans began targeting the certification process, when local and state boards certify the results after local election officials provide them with the final tally of votes. A firestorm erupted in Georgia over the summer when the state election board, with a new pro-Trump majority, attempted to politicize the certification process with changes later blocked by the courts.

While certification battles did not surface after the Nov. 5 election, a vocal segment within the Republican Party remains deeply skeptical of election processes, particularly of the availability of mail ballots and the use of ballot scanners to tally votes.

During a forum Monday on the social platform X led by the group Cause of America, the group’s director expressed doubt about voting equipment. Shawn Smith, who also is a retired Air Force colonel, argued the certification process suppresses legitimate concerns and goes against “the sovereignty of the people.”

Although not as widespread as four years ago, this sentiment did surface sporadically at the local level this month. In Washoe County, Nevada, which includes Reno and voted narrowly for Vice President Kamala Harris, the vote to certify the results was 3-1 with one abstention. Commissioner Jeanne Herman has consistently voted against certification and did not make a public comment about her vote this year.

Commissioner Mike Clark, a staunch Trump supporter who had also previously voted against certification, said he would abstain and left before the vote.

“I am not an election denier and clearly the person I wanted to win, won this state,” Clark said before leaving the meeting. “However, that does not mean that all the protocols were followed and that we can truly certify the election.”

Such skepticism, whether in Nevada or elsewhere, leaves the door open to certification disputes during future elections.

The questioning of election results isn’t limited to Republicans. Even though Harris quickly conceded after losing all seven presidential battleground states, online posts among her supporters continue to raise concerns about her loss.

One Reddit community that has amassed 23,000 members features a steady drumbeat of Democrats scrutinizing a result they can’t believe is real. Some posting in the group have issued calls to contact Harris and her running mate to ask them to demand a recount or otherwise object to the outcome.

Among the battlegrounds, Michigan was among those where Trump and his allies pressed to halt certification of the 2020 election for Democrat Joe Biden amid false claims of fraud and manipulation. Two Republican members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers who initially opposed certification eventually relented. The state board of canvassers eventually voted to certify, even after one Republican member abstained.

This year, the state board voted unanimously on Nov. 22 in favor of certifying and praised the state’s election workers.

In Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger certified his state’s results on Nov. 22. Four years ago, the Republican state official was facing immense pressure from Trump and his allies to investigate their unsubstantiated claims of fraud.

Also certifying results Tuesday, and doing so unanimously, was the state Board of Elections in North Carolina. It was the only presidential battleground state won by Trump in 2020 — and the only one where he and his allies didn’t make claims of fraud.

Cassidy reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Ken Ritter in Las Vegas, Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada, and Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report.

By FATIMA HUSSEIN and JOSH BOAK

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is turning to two officials with experience navigating not only Washington but the key issues of income taxes and tariffs as he fills out his economic team.

Trump on Tuesday announced he has chosen international trade attorney Jamieson Greer to be his U.S. trade representative and Kevin Hassett as director of the White House National Economic Council.

While Trump has in several cases nominated outsiders to key posts, these picks reflect a recognition that his reputation will likely hinge on restoring the public’s confidence in the economy.

The president-elect also announced a number of other key personnel choices, including Vince Haley, who led Trump’s speechwriting department in his first term, as director of the Domestic Policy Council.

Trump said in a statement that Greer was instrumental in his first term in imposing tariffs on China and others and replacing the trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, “therefore making it much better for American Workers.”

Greer previously served as chief of staff to Robert Lighthizer, Trump’s former trade representative who is deeply skeptical of free trade. Greer is currently a partner at the King & Spalding law firm in Washington. He was not immediately available for comment.

If confirmed as trade representative, Greer would be responsible for negotiating directly with foreign governments on trade deals and disputes, as well as memberships in international trade bodies such as the World Trade Organization.

He told The New York Times in June that the view of Trump officials was that tariffs “can help support U.S. manufacturing jobs in particular, especially to the extent that they’re remediating an unfair trade practice.”

His nomination comes a day after Trump promised to slap huge new tariffs on foreign goods entering the United States — including a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China — as one of his first executive orders.

As director of the White House National Economic Council, Hassett brings into Trump’s administration a major advocate for tax cuts.

Trump said Hassett “will play an important role in helping American families recover from the inflation that was unleashed by the Biden Administration” and that together they would “renew and improve” the 2017 tax cuts, many of which are set to expire after 2025.

Hassett, 62, served in the first Trump term as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. He has a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and worked at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute before joining the Trump White House in 2017.

As part of Hassett’s farewell announcement in 2019, Trump called him a “true friend” who did a “great job.” Hassett became a fellow at the Hoover Institution, which is located at Stanford University. He later returned to the administration to help deal with the pandemic.

In Trump’s second term, Hassett would join a White House seeking to preserve and expand its 2017 tax cuts at a time when deficit pressures are weighing on federal borrowing costs.

He has argued that the tax cuts helped to meaningfully boost household incomes. Inflation-adjusted median household incomes jumped more than $5,400 in 2019 to $81,210. But the tax cuts also came with higher budget deficits as any economic gains failed to offset lost revenues, setting up a challenge for the incoming Trump administration to manage the debt even as it cuts taxes and seeks to hold down inflation.

Also included in Tuesday’s nomination announcements was private investor, campaign donor and art collector John Phelan, chosen to serve as Navy secretary. Phelan co-founded MSD Capital, the private investment firm for Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell Technologies. It is unclear whether Phelan served in the Navy or military.

Boak reported from Nantucket, Massachusetts. Associated Press writer Paul Wiseman in Washington contributed to this report.

The post Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire appears to hold as Lebanese stream south to their homes appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

Israel approved a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting linked to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

In the hours leading up to the Cabinet meeting, Israel carried out its most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs and issued a record number of evacuation warnings. At least 24 people were killed in strikes across the country, according to local authorities, as Israel signaled it aims to keep pummeling Hezbollah in the final hours before any ceasefire takes hold.

Israel's security Cabinet approved the ceasefire agreement late Tuesday after it was presented by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his office said. U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking in Washington, called the agreement good news and said his administration would make a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza.

An Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire would mark the first major step toward ending the regionwide unrest triggered by Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. But it does not address the devastating war in Gaza.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to bring peace to the Middle East, but neither he nor Netanyahu have proposed a postwar solution for the Palestinian territory, where Hamas is still holding dozens of hostages and the conflict is more intractable.

Still, any halt to the fighting in Lebanon is expected to reduce the likelihood of war between Israel and Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas and exchanged direct fire with Israel on two occasions earlier this year.

Israel says it will attack with might if Hezbollah breaks truce

Netanyahu presented the ceasefire proposal to Cabinet ministers after a televised address in which he listed a series of accomplishments against Israels enemies across the region. He said a ceasefire with Hezbollah would further isolate Hamas in Gaza and allow Israel to focus on its main enemy, Iran, which backs both groups.

If Hezbollah breaks the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack, he said. For every violation, we will attack with might.

Netanyahu's office later said Israel appreciated the U.S. efforts in securing the deal but "reserves the right to act against every threat to its security.

It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released.

The deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of additional Lebanese troopsand U.N. peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides compliance.

But implementation remains a major question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal.

Biden said Israel reserved the right to quickly resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah breaks the terms of the truce, but that the deal "was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities.

Hezbollah has said it accepts the proposal, but a senior official with the group said Tuesday that it had not seen the agreement in its final form.

After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials, Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollahs political council, told the Al Jazeera news network.

We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state. of Lebanon, he said. Any violation of sovereignty is refused.

Warplanes bombard Beirut and its southern suburbs

Even as Israeli, U.S, Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing optimism over a ceasefire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, which it says aims to cripple Hezbollahs military capabilities.

An Israeli strike on Tuesday leveled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the citys downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs killed at least one person and wounded 13, it said.

Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said another 10 people were killed in the eastern Baalbek province. Israel says it targets Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure.

Israel also struck a building in Beirut's bustling commercial district of Hamra for the first time, hitting a site that is around 400 meters (yards) from Lebanons Central Bank. There were no reports of casualties.

The Israeli military said it struck targets in Beirut and other areas linked to Hezbollah's financial arm.

The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously have not been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks before a ceasefire, sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, and some cars had mattresses tied to them. Dozens of people, some wearing their pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, kept up its rocket fire, triggering air raid sirens across northern Israel.

Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a major presence, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where the U.N. peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, is headquartered.

UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that peacekeepers will not evacuate.

Israeli forces reach Litani River in southern Lebanon

The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few kilometers (miles) from the Israeli border.

Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border.

Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging barrages ever since.

Israel escalated its campaign of bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes.

More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members.

Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the countrys north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon.

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Chehayeb and Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press reporters Lujain Jo and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed.

By KENYA HUNTER, Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — As she checked into a recent flight to Mexico for vacation, Teja Smith chuckled at the idea of joining another Women’s March on Washington.

As a Black woman, she just couldn’t see herself helping to replicate the largest act of resistance against then-President Donald Trump’s first term in January 2017. Even in an election this year where Trump questioned his opponent’s race, held rallies featuring racist insults and falsely claimed Black migrants in Ohio were eating residents’ pets, he didn’t just win a second term. He became the first Republican in two decades to clinch the popular vote, although by a small margin.

“It’s like the people have spoken and this is what America looks like,” said Smith, the Los Angeles-based founder of the advocacy social media agency, Get Social. “And there’s not too much more fighting that you’re going to be able to do without losing your own sanity.”

After Trump was declared the winner over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, many politically engaged Black women said they were so dismayed by the outcome that they were reassessing — but not completely abandoning — their enthusiasm for electoral politics and movement organizing.

Black women often carry much of the work of getting out the vote in their communities. They had vigorously supported the historic candidacy of Harris, who would have been the first woman of Black and South Asian descent to win the presidency.

Harris’ loss spurred a wave of Black women across social media resolving to prioritize themselves, before giving so much to a country that over and over has shown its indifference to their concerns.

AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters, found that 6 in 10 Black women said the future of democracy in the United States was the single most important factor for their vote this year, a higher share than for other demographic groups. But now, with Trump set to return to office in two months, some Black women are renewing calls to emphasize rest, focus on mental health and become more selective about what fight they lend their organizing power to.

“America is going to have to save herself,” said LaTosha Brown, the co-founder of the national voting rights group Black Voters Matter.

She compared Black women’s presence in social justice movements as “core strategists and core organizers” to the North Star, known as the most consistent and dependable star in the galaxy because of its seemingly fixed position in the sky. People can rely on Black women to lead change, Brown said, but the next four years will look different.

“That’s not a herculean task that’s for us. We don’t want that title. … I have no goals to be a martyr for a nation that cares nothing about me,” she said.

AP VoteCast paints a clear picture of Black women’s concerns.

Black female voters were most likely to say that democracy was the single most important factor for their vote, compared to other motivators such as high prices or abortion. More than 7 in 10 Black female voters said they were “very concerned” that electing Trump would lead the nation toward authoritarianism, while only about 2 in 10 said this about Harris.

About 9 in 10 Black female voters supported Harris in 2024, according to AP VoteCast, similar to the share that backed Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. Trump received support from more than half of white voters, who made up the vast majority of his coalition in both years.

Like voters overall, Black women were most likely to say the economy and jobs were the most important issues facing the country, with about one-third saying that. But they were more likely than many other groups to say that abortion and racism were the top issues, and much less likely than other groups to say immigration was the top issue.

Despite those concerns, which were well-voiced by Black women throughout the campaign, increased support from young men of color and white women helped expand Trump’s lead and secured his victory.

Politically engaged Black women said they don’t plan to continue positioning themselves in the vertebrae of the “backbone” of America’s democracy. The growing movement prompting Black women to withdraw is a shift from history, where they are often present and at the forefront of political and social change.

One of the earliest examples is the women’s suffrage movement that led to ratification in 1920 of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which gave women the right to vote. Black women, however, were prevented from voting for decades afterward because of Jim Crow-era literacy tests, poll taxes and laws that blocked the grandchildren of slaves from voting. Most Black women couldn’t vote until the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Black women were among the organizers and counted among the marchers brutalized on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama, during the historic march in 1965 from Selma to Montgomery that preceded federal legislation. Decades later, Black women were prominent organizers of the Black Lives Matter movement in response to the deaths of Black Americans at the hands of police and vigilantes.

In his 2024 campaign, Trump called for leveraging federal money to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs in government programs and discussions of race, gender or sexual orientation in schools. His rhetoric on immigration, including false claims that Black Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating cats and dogs, drove support for his plan to deport millions of people.

Tenita Taylor, a Black resident of Atlanta who supported Trump this year, said she was initially excited about Harris’ candidacy. But after thinking about how high her grocery bills have been, she feels that voting for Trump in hopes of finally getting lower prices was a form of self-prioritization.

“People say, ‘Well, that’s selfish, it was gonna be better for the greater good,”’ she said. “I’m a mother of five kids. … The things that (Democrats) do either affect the rich or the poor.”

Some of Trump’s plans affect people in Olivia Gordon’s immediate community, which is why she struggled to get behind the “Black women rest” wave. Gordon, a New York-based lawyer who supported the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s presidential nominee, Claudia de la Cruz, worries about who may be left behind if the 92% of Black women voters who backed Harris simply stopped advocating.

“We’re talking millions of Black women here. If millions of Black women take a step back, it absolutely leaves holes, but for other Black women,” she said. “I think we sometimes are in the bubble of if it’s not in your immediate circle, maybe it doesn’t apply to you. And I truly implore people to understand that it does.”

Nicole Lewis, an Alabama-based therapist who specializes in treating Black women’s stress, said she’s aware that Black women withdrawing from social impact movements could have a fallout. But she also hopes that it forces a reckoning for the nation to understand the consequences of not standing in solidarity with Black women.

“It could impact things negatively because there isn’t that voice from the most empathetic group,” she said. “I also think it’s going to give other groups an opportunity to step up. … My hope is that they do show up for themselves and everyone else.”

Brown said a reckoning might be exactly what the country needs, but it’s a reckoning for everyone else. Black women, she said, did their job when they supported Harris in droves in hopes they could thwart the massive changes expected under Trump.

“This ain’t our reckoning,” she said. “I don’t feel no guilt.”

AP polling editor Amelia Thomson DeVeaux and Associated Press writer Linley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By JONEL ALECCIA

Ready or not, the holidays are here. It’s a time when many Americans accustomed to preparing simple meals find themselves responsible for safely serving multi-dish feasts.

It’s no easy task. Outbreaks of some types of food poisoning tend to rise in November and December, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tainted turkey, undercooked stuffing and germ-laced gravy from holiday buffets have all led to past illnesses — and even deaths — CDC investigators have found.

It can be tricky for occasional cooks to prepare big meals in a way that avoids the common hazards that can make people sick, said Donald Schaffner, a food science expert at Rutgers University.

“Cooking takes longer with big masses of food. Cooling takes longer with big masses of food,” said Schaffner, who co-hosts the food-safety podcast “Risky or Not?”

Together with podcast co-host Benjamin Chapman, a food scientist at North Carolina State University, Schaffner outlined common ways to keep holiday meals both festive and safe.

Prepare the turkey

Nearly 90% of U.S. hosts plan to serve turkey on Thanksgiving this year, according to the turkey producer Butterball.

But raw turkey can harbor illness-causing bacteria such as salmonella, campylobacter and other germs. It must be handled safely to prevent those bugs from contaminating refrigerator surfaces, sinks and kitchen counters.

A frozen bird must be thawed first. There are several accepted methods, including in the refrigerator, in the microwave or in cold running water, Schaffner said.

“All of these methods pose risks,” he cautioned.

A frozen turkey needs about 24 hours for every 4 to 5 pounds of weight to thaw in a refrigerator, according to the Agriculture Department. If you use a microwave or the cold water method, the bird must be cooked immediately. For details about safe turkey handling, check out the thawing and cooking calculators created by the USDA.

And don’t wash the turkey. It’s a bad idea to rinse it in the sink, even though many cooks still insist on the practice, often out of habit, said Chapman.

“Anything that hits that surface and generates spray is going to basically spread contamination around your kitchen,” he said.

Instead, pat the turkey dry with paper towels and toss them, or use a kitchen towel and disinfect it in the laundry.

What about roasting?

Turkey needs to reach a cooked temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit before serving. The best way to tell if it’s cooked is to use a tip-sensitive digital thermometer inserted in the innermost section of the thigh, not touching the bone.

Don’t rely on the plastic pop-up thermometers stuck in some commercial turkeys. Chapman’s past research shows that those buttons can activate well before the bird is actually done.

At the same time, don’t determine doneness by relying on signs such as golden-brown skin, whether the meat is no longer pink or whether the juices run clear.

“None of those are great indicators of temperature,” Chapman said.

Side dishes and leftovers

How you handle the rest of the meal — mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans or yams — is just as important as the main dish. It’s crucial to avoid the so-called danger zone of temperatures between 40 degrees and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, where bacteria can easily grow.

The key is to keep hot foods piping hot and cold foods cold — and to refrigerate everything promptly, Schaffner said.

“The recommendation is that you get those leftovers into the refrigerator within two hours of when they came off of the stove,” he said.

Make sure to refrigerate dense foods like sliced turkey, cooked sweet potatoes or gravy in shallow containers to help them cool down fast. Schaffner’s recent research showed that foods cooled in containers at a depth of no more than 2 inches posed little risk of growing dangerous germs.

Keep it clean

One key way to avoid food poisoning is through scrupulous cleaning in the kitchen.

Wash your hands before preparing food and after touching raw poultry. Use separate cutting boards, knives and other utensils when handling raw meat and fresh foods such as vegetables and salads.

Pay close attention to any surface that may be contaminated. It’s important to clean first with soap and water and then sanitize with a disinfectant — a two-step process.

 

Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 Michigan loss were part of the election interference case a special prosecutor brought against him.

By EDITH M. LEDERER

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The deadliest place for women is at home and 140 women and girls on average were killed by an intimate partner or family member per day last year, two U.N. agencies reported Monday.

Globally, an intimate partner or family member was responsible for the deaths of approximately 51,100 women and girls during 2023, an increase from an estimated 48,800 victims in 2022, UN Women and the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime said.

The report released on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women said the increase was largely the result of more data being available from countries and not more killings.

But the two agencies stressed that “Women and girls everywhere continue to be affected by this extreme form of gender-based violence and no region is excluded.” And they said, “the home is the most dangerous place for women and girls.”

The highest number of intimate partner and family killings was in Africa – with an estimated 21,700 victims in 2023, the report said. Africa also had the highest number of victims relative to the size of its population — 2.9 victims per 100,000 people.

There were also high rates last year in the Americas with 1.6 female victims per 100,000 and in Oceania with 1.5 per 100,000, it said. Rates were significantly lower in Asia at 0.8 victims per 100,000 and Europe at 0.6 per 100,000.

According to the report, the intentional killing of women in the private sphere in Europe and the Americas is largely by intimate partners.

By contrast, the vast majority of male homicides take place outside homes and families, it said.

“Even though men and boys account for the vast majority of homicide victims, women and girls continue to be disproportionately affected by lethal violence in the private sphere,” the report said.

“An estimated 80% of all homicide victims in 2023 were men while 20% were women, but lethal violence within the family takes a much higher toll on women than men, with almost 60% of all women who were intentionally killed in 2023 being victims of intimate partner/family member homicide,” it said.

The report said that despite efforts to prevent the killing of women and girls by countries, their killings “remain at alarmingly high levels.”

“They are often the culmination of repeated episodes of gender-based violence, which means they are preventable through timely and effective interventions,” the two agencies said.

By CURT ANDERSON

A white Florida woman who fatally shot a Black neighbor through her front door during an ongoing dispute over the neighbor’s boisterous children faces sentencing Monday for her manslaughter conviction.

Susan Lorincz, 60, was convicted in August of killing 35-year-old Ajike “A.J.” Owens by firing a single shot from her .380-caliber handgun in June 2023. Lorincz faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in state prison because a firearm was used.

The shooting was the culmination of a long-running argument between the two neighbors over Owens’ children playing in a grassy area at both of their houses in Ocala, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of Orlando.

Prosecutors said Owens had come to Lorincz’s home after her children complained that she had thrown roller skates and an umbrella at them, which Lorincz denied. Trial testimony showed Owens, a mother of four young children, was pounding on Lorincz’s door and yelling, leading Lorincz to claim self-defense in shooting her neighbor.

Lorincz told detectives in a videotaped interview that she feared for her life. She also said she had been harassed for most of the three years she lived in the neighborhood.

“I thought I was in imminent danger,” she said.

But jurors did not agree with her self-defense claim.

Owens’ family pushed for the maximum prison sentence after Lorincz was convicted by an all-white jury.

“While the pain of losing Ajike, we are hopeful that justice will prevail and that the court will give Susan Lorincz the maximum penalty for her actions,” said Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, in an email statement before Monday’s sentencing. “Ajike’s legacy will live on through her children, and we will continue to fight for justice.”

Lorincz’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Amanda Sizemore, sought a more lenient sentence, an unspecified term below the 11.5 years in prison that is the lowest for her crime under state guidelines. Sizemore said in court documents that there are several reasons to justify a downward departure, including a mental disorder and claims that Owens was the aggressor and under “extreme durses” during the confrontation.

There were protests in the Black community in Ocala when prosecutors took weeks to charge Lorincz with manslaughter, a lesser count than second-degree murder, which carries a potential life prison sentence. Marion County, which includes Ocala, has a Black population of about 12%, according to census figures.

Kansas remained solidly entrenched at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll Monday ahead of its showdown with No. 11 Duke in Las Vegas, while a pair of schools from the Magnolia State elbowed their way back into the rankings.

Ole Miss returned to the poll at No. 23 while Mississippi State made its season debut at No. 25.

The Jayhawks received 51 of 62 first-place votes from the national panel of media, putting them well ahead of two-time reigning national champion UConn, which was second with six first-place votes. Gonzaga was third with two first-place votes, Auburn was next with three, and Iowa State rounded out a top five that was unchanged from the previous week.

There’s a good chance for movement next week, though, with a host of high-profile matchups in holiday tournaments, and that matchup between the Jayhawks and Duke on Tuesday night in the Vegas Showdown.

“Oh yeah, I’ve watched them,” said Kansas coach Bill Self, who picked up his 800th career win by beating UNC Wilmington last week. “They’re talented across the board. They’re starting three freshmen, and everybody’s going to talk about the one (Cooper Flagg), but the other two are potential lottery picks, if not lottery picks too.”

So do the Jayhawks, who have already beaten No. 12 North Carolina and Michigan State this season.

Tennessee climbed four spots to No. 7 in this week’s poll, followed by SEC rivals Kentucky and Alabama. Marquette was 10th after beating then-No. 6 Purdue and Georgia last week to reach 6-0 for the first time since the 2011-12 season.

The Blue Devils and Tar Heels were followed by Purdue, which fell seven spots in the poll. Indiana and Wisconsin made it three straight Big Ten schools, while Cincinnati, Baylor, Florida, Arkansas and Texas A&M rounded out the top 20.

The last five were Creighton, Ole Miss, Arizona, Mississippi State and BYU. The Wildcats narrowly extended their run in the AP Top 25 to 61 weeks — the fourth-longest active streak in the nation — after back-to-back losses to Wisconsin and Duke.

“We didn’t play great,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said after the loss to the Blue Devils, “so now we need to take a step back and figure out why. Are there some schematic problems? Are there some problems with how our personnel is kind of put together? And those are the things we’re going to take a look at. I love the guys. I mean, I like the plan. But obviously when it’s not going as well as you would like, you have to be honest with yourself and try to figure it out.”

In and out

Xavier returned to the poll for the first time since the final poll of the 2022-23 season ahead of its trip to the Fort Myers Tip-Off beginning Monday night. Ole Miss is back in the Top 25 after briefly dropping out, while Mississippi State is back after spending two weeks in the poll last November but just six weeks total over the past six years.

Those three entered at the expense of Illinois, St. John’s and Rutgers. The Illini lost to Alabama last week, while St. John’s fell to Baylor and Georgia. Rutgers lost 79-77 at Kennesaw State, which beat a ranked team for the first time in school history.

Rising and falling

Marquette made the biggest climb this week, moving up five spots to No. 10. The Golden Eagles catch a breather this week with Stonehill and Western Carolina before back-to-back showdowns with No. 5 Iowa State and No. 15 Wisconsin.

Purdue, Creighton and Arizona all dropped seven spots but remained in the poll. The Boilermakers lost to Marquette while the Bluejays lost to in-state rival Nebraska. The Wildcats dropped to 2-2, the first time they have been .500 at any point in a season since they were 3-3 to start the 2017-18 season.

Conference watch

The SEC leads the way with nine of the Top 25 teams this week, including four in the top 10: Auburn, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama. The Big 12 is next with six, including three of the first six in top-ranked Kansas, Iowa State and Houston. The Big East had four in the poll, the Big Ten three and the ACC two.

— By DAVE SKRETTA, Associated Press

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors moved Monday to abandon the classified documents case against President-elect Donald Trump in light of longstanding Justice Department policy that says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution.

The announcement in an appeals court filing in Florida came shortly after a similar filing was made by prosecutors in Washington, D.C., where they asked to dismiss the case accusing Trump of plotting to overturn the 2020 election.

The move amounts to a predictable but nonetheless stunning conclusion to a criminal case that just one year ago had been seen as the most perilous legal threat that he faced. It reflects the practical consequences of Trump’s victory, ensuring he enters office free from scrutiny over his hoarding of top secret documents and conduct that prosecutors said had jeopardized national scrutiny.

The dismissal had been foreshadowed in recent weeks by the revelation that special counsel Jack Smith was evaluating how to wind down both that case and a separate pending prosecution he brought charging Trump with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Justice Department legal opinions dating back decades say sitting presidents cannot be indicted or prosecuted while in office.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith asked a federal judge on Monday to dismiss the case accusing President-elect Donald Trump of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, citing longstanding Justice Department policy shielding presidents from prosecution while in office.

The move announced in court papers marks the end of the Justice Department’s landmark effort to hold Trump accountable for what prosecutors called a criminal conspiracy to cling to power in the run-up to his supporters’ attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Justice Department prosecutors, citing longstanding department guidance that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted, said the department’s position is that “the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated.”

“That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind,” the prosecutors wrote in Monday’s court filing.

The decision was expected after Smith’s team began assessing how to wind down both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case in the wake of Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. The Justice Department believes Trump can no longer be tried in accordance with longstanding policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.

Trump has cast both cases as politically motivated, and had vowed to fire Smith as soon as he takes office in January.

The 2020 election case brought last year was once seen as one of the most serious legal threats facing the Republican as he vied to reclaim the White House. But it quickly stalled amid legal fighting over Trump’s sweeping claims of immunity from prosecution for acts he took while in the White House.

The U.S. Supreme Court in July ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, and sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine which allegations in the indictment, if any, could proceed to trial.

The case was just beginning to pick up steam again in the trial court in the weeks leading up to this year’s election. Smith’s team in October filed a lengthy brief laying out new evidence they planned to use against him at trial, accusing him of using “resorting to crimes” in an increasingly desperate effort to overturn the will of voters after he lost to President Joe Biden.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California could offer rebates for electric vehicle purchases if the incoming Trump administration eliminates a federal tax credit for people who buy electric cars, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday.

Newsom, a Democrat, will propose creating a new version of the state’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program, which was phased out in 2023 after funding 594,000 cars and saving 456 million gallons of fuel, Newsom’s office said.

“Consumers continue to prove the skeptics wrong – zero-emission vehicles are here to stay,” Newsom said in a statement. “We’re not turning back on a clean transportation future — we’re going to make it more affordable for people to drive vehicles that don’t pollute.”

Newsom’s proposal is part of his plan to protect California’s progressive policies ahead of Republican President-elect Donald Trump’s second term. He called the state Legislature to convene in a special session to help “Trump-proof” state laws by giving the attorney general’s office more funding to fight federal challenges.

But a budget shortfall could complicate California’s resistance efforts. Early budget projections show the state could face a $2 billion deficit next year, according to a report released last week by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office. That’s an improvement from an estimated $46.8 billion deficit the state faced last year, but the shortfall could still curtail the state’s ability to expand new programs and fight federal legal challenges. Legislative leaders in both chambers have said the state needs to stay prudent in anticipation of future budget deficits.

Money for the new rebate system could come from the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which is funded by polluters under the state’s cap-and-trade program, the governor’s office said.

Officials didn’t say how much the program would cost or how the rebates would work. Newsom is expected to offer more details of the possible rebate program during an appearance in Kern County later Monday.

California has surpassed 2 million zero-emission vehicles sold, according to Newsom’s office. The state has passed policies in recent years to transition away from fossil fuel-powered, cars, trucks, trains and lawn mowers.

Trump previously vowed to end federal electric vehicle tax credits, which are worth up to $7,500 for new zero-emission vehicles. There’s also a $4,000 credit for used ones. But Trump later softened his stance as Tesla CEO Elon Musk became a supporter and adviser.

Newsom said at a news conference last week that he called Trump after the election and the incoming president hasn’t returned his call.

California’s defunct Clean Vehicle Rebate Program offered rebates on electric cars as high as $2,500.

Any new rebate program “would include changes to promote innovation and competition” in the zero-emission vehicles market, the statement said.

By MICHELLE L. PRICE

NEW YORK (AP) — When Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. circled up aboard the president-elect’s plane over some McDonalds burgers and fries recently, Donald Trump Jr. was seated in the center of that power foursome.

The central spot occupied by Trump’s eldest son, as captured in a photo widely shared online, reflects how Trump Jr. has become a prominent player in his father’s political orbit and a potential heir to his Make America Great Again movement.

For the son of a president-elect, Trump has already had an outsized impact on the next White House. He lobbied hard for the former president to choose his good friend, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, to be his running mate.

“I exerted 10,000% of my political capital,” Trump Jr. said of his effort in an interview with Tucker Carlson on the night of the election. “I may get a favor from my father in like, 2076. I used it all.”

As an honorary chair of the Republican president-elect’s transition team, Trump Jr. is part of a core group of people deciding who will fill top jobs in the next White House, and his imprint is clear.

Trump Jr. pushed in particular for roles for former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, whom the president-elect has chosen to be director of national intelligence, and Kennedy, who is in line to lead Health and Human Services.

Another close ally, Sergio Gor, will be running the personnel office. He and Trump Jr. run a publishing company, Winning Team Publishing, which has published two of the former president’s books.

The younger Trump has said he has no plans to join his father’s administration in the way his younger sister Ivanka Trump did during the first Trump term. His brother Eric is also an honorary chair of the transition but hasn’t been as much of a political player. Eric’s wife Lara has been more involved, serving as co-chair of the Republican National Committee.

Trump Jr. is expected to continue to be a vocal supporter of his father and his agenda and has made it clear he wants to be an influential voice from the outside, according to a person familiar with his thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning.

The president-elect’s style — brash, indelicate and pugilistic — is distilled in his son. Donald Trump Jr. often takes a more aggressive tack than his father, in his calls for disrupting government as usual, in the way he dives into the culture wars with gusto and in his enthusiasm for trolling.

“He’s probably the best embodiment of the take-no-crap attitude of the Republican Party,” said Scott Jennings, a Republican political strategist.

Trump Jr.’s attitude and the way he communicates don’t make him sound like a regular political figure, Jennings said, and that’s part of the appeal.

“I think that’s one thing about the Trumps that is probably broadly true but certainly for him: They just don’t participate in the normal political pablum that sort of pre-Trump politicians were schooled in or trained to do.”

The 46-year-old is fluent in the online world of conservative politics and attuned to cultural issues that catch on with the MAGA faithful.

The posts on Trump’s X account, where he has more than 13 million followers, are often peppered with exclamation points and emojis. On Instagram, he is a prolific poster of conservative memes.

He flexes between interviews on established media outlets like Fox News and an array of podcasts influential among young conservatives, and he hosts his own twice a week, “Triggered With Don Jr.” During the campaign, he pushed for the former president to make appearances on podcasts as part of an effort to reach young men, including the popular Joe Rogan podcast.

Trump Jr.’s aggressive style has particular appeal with younger men.

“I think that’s one of the reasons a lot of these young men like it because that’s how they talk,” Jennings said.

Trump Jr. has said he has no plans to run for office himself, but he’s been working to cultivate the next generation of his father’s movement, boosting like-minded, communication-savvy Republicans.

Beyond his political activity, the father of five also serves as executive vice president at the Trump organization’s main family business, has launched a new crypto platform and recently announced he’s joining a venture capital firm that invests in conservative-focused businesses.

In an earlier time, Trump Jr. appeared with his father on “The Apprentice,” the reality show that helped propel the billionaire’s first presidential campaign. When Donald Trump launched his White House bid in 2015 and faced skepticism from swaths of the Republican Party, Trump Jr.’s outreach helped his father win more support, especially among conservatives who saw someone who espoused their views and as an avid hunter and fisherman who is a staunch supporter of the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms.

He’s been increasingly visible in Republican politics since then, campaigning not just for his father but for like-minded candidates. He was a backer of Vance in his 2022 Ohio Senate race, nudging his father to do the same, and this year threw his support heavily behind successful Republican Senate candidates Jim Banks in Indiana, Bernie Moreno in Ohio and Tim Sheehy in Montana.

Trump Jr. helped broker a relationship with Kennedy as the Democrat-turned-independent suspended his presidential campaign, working to bring him into the MAGA fold and endorse his father. He floated the idea of Kennedy joining the administration early, saying in an interview with conservative host Glenn Beck that “I loved the idea,” of Kennedy joining a Trump White House.

“I love the idea of giving him some sort of role in some sort of major three-letter entity or whatever it may be and let him blow it up,” Trump Jr. said, a reference to the many initials for government agencies.

The two hit it off, and Trump Jr., an avid outdoorsman, shared images on social media in October of a day he spent with Kennedy enjoying the latter’s favored hobby: falconry.

The choice of anti-vaccine activist Kennedy to run the nation’s public health agencies is sure to draw tough scrutiny during confirmation proceedings in the Senate, even with a Republican majority,

Trump Jr., in a recent interview on Fox News, acknowledged some of his father’s choices will face pushback.

“They are going to be actual disrupters,” he said. “That’s what the American people want.”

By JOSH BOAK and FATIMA HUSSEIN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has big plans for the economy — and a big debt problem that will be a hurdle to delivering on them.

Trump has bold ideas on tax cuts, tariffs and other programs, but high interest rates and the price of repaying the federal government’s existing debt could limit what he’s able to do.

Not only is the federal debt at roughly $36 trillion, but the spike in inflation after the coronavirus pandemic has pushed up the government’s borrowing costs such that debt service next year will easily exceed spending on national security.

The higher cost of servicing the debt gives Trump less room to maneuver with the federal budget as he seeks income tax cuts. It’s also a political challenge because higher interest rates have made it costlier for many Americans to buy a home or new automobile. And the issue of high costs helped Trump reclaim the presidency in November’s election.

“It’s clear the current amount of debt is putting upward pressure on interest rates, including mortgage rates for instance,” said Shai Akabas, executive director of the economic policy program at the Bipartisan Policy Center. “The cost of housing and groceries is going to be increasingly felt by households in a way that are going to adversely affect our economic prospects in the future.”

Akabas stressed that the debt service is already starting to crowd out government spending on basic needs such as infrastructure and education. About 1 in 5 dollars spent by the government are now repaying investors for borrowed money, instead of enabling investments in future economic growth.

It’s an issue on Trump’s radar. In his statement on choosing billionaire investor Scott Bessent to be his treasury secretary, the Republican president-elect said Bessent would “help curb the unsustainable path of Federal Debt.”

The debt service costs along with the higher total debt complicate Trump’s efforts to renew his 2017 tax cuts, much of which are set to expire after next year. The higher debt from those tax cuts could push interest rates higher, making debt service even costlier and minimizing any benefits the tax cuts could produce for growth.

“Clearly, it’s irresponsible to run back the same tax cuts after the deficit has tripled,” said Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a former Republican congressional aide. “Even congressional Republicans behind the scenes are looking for ways to scale down the president’s ambitions.”

Democrats and many economists say Trump’s income tax cuts disproportionately benefit the wealthy, which deprives the government of revenues needed for programs for the middle class and poor.

“The president-elect’s tax policy ideas will increase the deficit because they will decrease taxes for those with the highest ability to pay, such as the corporations whose tax rate he’s proposed reducing even further to 15%,” said Jessica Fulton, vice president of policy at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington-based think tank that deals with issues facing communities of color.

Trump’s team insists he can make the math work.

“The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail, including lowering prices. He will deliver,” said Karoline Leavitt, the Trump transition spokeswoman.

When Trump was last in the White House in 2020, the federal government was spending $345 billion annually to service the national debt. It was possible to run up the national debt with tax cuts and pandemic aid because the average interest rate was low, such that repayment costs were manageable even as debt levels climbed.

Congressional Budget Office projections indicate that debt service costs next year could exceed $1 trillion. That’s more than projected spending on defense. The total is also greater than nondefense spending on infrastructure, food aid and other programs under the direction of Congress.

What fueled the increased cost of servicing the debt has been higher interest rates. In April 2020, when the government was borrowing trillions of dollars to address the pandemic, the yield on 10-year Treasury notes fell as low as 0.6%. They’re now 4.4%, having increasing since September as investors expect Trump to add several trillions of dollars onto projected deficits with his income tax cuts.

Democratic President Joe Biden can point to strong economic growth and successfully avoiding a recession as the Federal Reserve sought to bring down inflation. Still, deficits ran at unusually high levels during his term. That’s due in part to his own initiatives to boost manufacturing and address climate change, and to the legacy of Trump’s previous tax cuts.

People in Trump’s orbit, as well as Republican lawmakers, are already scouting out ways to reduce government spending in order to minimize the debt and bring down interest rates. They have attacked Biden for the deficits and inflation, setting the stage for whether they can persuade Trump to take action.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the wealthy businessmen leading Trump’s efforts to cut government costs, have proposed that the incoming administration should simply refuse to spend some of the money approved by Congress. It’s an idea that Trump has also backed, but one that would likely provoke challenges in court as it would undermine congressional authority.

Russell Vought, the White House budget director during Trump’s first term and Trump’s choice to lead it again, put out an alternative proposed budget for 2023 with more than $11 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years in order to potentially generate a surplus.

Michael Faulkender, a finance professor who served in Trump’s Treasury Department, told a congressional committee in March that all the energy and environmental components of Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act from 2022 should be repealed to reduce deficits.

Trump has also talked up tariffs on imports to generate revenues and reduce deficits, while some Republican lawmakers such as House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, have discussed adding work requirements to trim Medicaid expenses.

The White House was last pressured by high rates to address debt service costs roughly three decades ago during the start of Democrat Bill Clinton’s presidency. Higher yields on the 10-year Treasury notes led Clinton and Congress to reach an agreement on deficit reduction, ultimately producing a budget surplus starting in 1998.

Clinton political adviser James Carville joked at the time about how bond investors pushing up borrowing rates for the U.S. government could humble the commander in chief.

“I used to think that if there was reincarnation, I wanted to come back as the president or the pope or as a .400 baseball hitter,” Carville said. “But now I would like to come back as the bond market. You can intimidate everybody.”

By BILL BARROW and ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has selected former White House aide Brooke Rollins to lead the Department of Agriculture in his second administration.

Here are some things to know about Trump’s choice and the agency that Rollins would lead if she is confirmed by the Senate.

She is a lawyer with agriculture ties — and a strong relationship with Trump

Rollins, 52, graduated from Texas A&M University with an undergraduate degree in agricultural development before completing law school at the University of Texas. She served as domestic policy chief during Trump’s first term, a portfolio that included agricultural policy. After leaving the White House, she became president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration.

Over the years, Rollins has forged a strong enough relationship with Trump, who has prized proven loyalty in his Cabinet and top adviser picks, that she was among the people floated as a potential White House chief of staff. That job went to Susie Wiles, Trump’s co-campaign manager.

Rollins, in an interview earlier this year, called Trump an “amazing boss.”

USDA is about more than farms

President Abraham Lincoln founded the USDA in 1862, when about half of all Americans lived on farms. The sprawling department now reaches into every American neighborhood, grocery store and school cafeteria.

The USDA is the primary agency overseeing the nation’s farming, forestry, ranching, food quality and nutrition. The agency has a dual purpose of promoting and regulating agriculture practice and products. The agency oversees multiple support programs for farmers; animal and plant health; and the safety of meat, poultry and eggs that anchor the nation’s food supply. Its federal nutrition programs provide food to low-income people, pregnant women and young children. And the department sets standards for school meals.

The next USDA chief could figure prominently in Trump 2.0

Trump did not offer many specifics about his agriculture policies during the campaign. But if he keeps his pledge to impose sweeping tariffs, farmers could be affected quickly — and potentially harshly. During the first Trump administration, countries like China responded to Trump’s tariffs by imposing retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports like the corn and soybeans routinely sold overseas. Trump countered by offering massive multibillion-dollar aid to farmers to help them weather the trade war.

The ripple effects could extend to consumers’ grocery bills, as well. When things are going smoothly, agriculture secretaries are not usually prominent faces of an administration. But when the nation’s food supply is at issue, it could be another story.

Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for two scores and David Montgomery added a third touchdown run Sunday, leading the Detroit Lions to a 24-6 victory at the Indianapolis Colts.

Gibbs finished with 21 carries for 90 yards as the Lions (10-1) extended their league-high winning streak to nine straight. Detroit has its been 11-game record since the franchise’s inaugural season in 1934.

Jared Goff continued his sensational season, too, completing 26 of 36 throws for 269 yards.

The Colts (5-7) lost their second straight home game and for the fourth time in their past five games. Anthony Richardson was 11 of 28 with 172 yards while rushing 10 times for 61 yards.

While Indy managed to hold the NFL’s highest-scoring offense largely in check Sunday, it was doomed by its inability to finish drives with touchdowns.

That problem happened right from the start when Richardson took the Colts inside the Lions 5-yard line on the game’s first series before settling for a short field goal.

Detroit answered on its second series, getting a 1-yard TD run from Gibbs to take a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter. Then, after Indy settled for another short field goal, Montgomery spun his way across the goal line for a 6-yard scoring run and a 14-6 lead.

The Lions extended the margin with Gibbs’ 5-yard TD run late in the third quarter and sealed it with a 56-yard field goal midway through the fourth.

Detroit improved to 6-0 on the road as Amon-Ra St. Brown caught six passes for 62 yards.

Michael Pittman Jr. had six catches for 96 yards for the Colts despite leaving briefly in the first half with a injured shoulder.

Milestones

Gibbs’ first score extended Detroit’s league record to 25 consecutive games with a TD run, including the playoffs. He’s also the third Lions player with 1,000 scrimmage yards and 10 TDs in each of his first two pro seasons with Detroit, joining Billy Sims and Barry Sanders. Gibbs and Montgomery have each scored at least one TD in the same game nine times.

Photo gallery from the Lions’ 24-6 road win over the Colts

Injuries

Lions: Things got ugly during a third-quarter flurry. Receiver-punt returner Kalif Raymond (foot), left tackle Taylor Decker (right leg) and Montgomery (shoulder) all left in quick succession. Raymond and Montgomery did not return. Decker did. CB Carlton Davis II left early in the fourth with what appeared to be a left knee injury.

Colts: Indy deactivated left tackle Bernhard Raimann (knee), forcing the Colts to again use three rookie linemen. Receivers Ashton Dulin (ankle) and Josh Downs (shoulder) both left in the second half. Downs returned, Dulin did not.

Takeaways as Lions cruise past Colts, 24-6, despite injuries piling up

Up next

Lions: Host Chicago in its traditional Thanksgiving Day game.

Colts: Visit New England next Sunday.

— By MICHAEL MAROT, Associated Press

 

Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for two scores and David Montgomery added a third touchdown run Sunday, leading the Detroit Lions to a 24-6 victory at the Indianapolis Colts.

Gibbs finished with 21 carries for 90 yards as the Lions (10-1) extended their league-high winning streak to nine straight. Detroit has its been 11-game record since the franchise's inaugural season in 1934.

Jared Goff continued his sensational season, too, completing 26 of 36 throws for 269 yards.

The Colts (5-7) lost their second straight home game and for the fourth time in their past five games. Anthony Richardson was 11 of 28 with 172 yards while rushing 10 times for 61 yards.

While Indy managed to hold the NFL's highest-scoring offense largely in check Sunday, it was doomed by its inability to finish drives with touchdowns.

That problem happened right from the start when Richardson took the Colts inside the Lions 5-yard line on the game's first series before settling for a short field goal.

Detroit answered on its second series, getting a 1-yard TD run from Gibbs to take a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter. Then, after Indy settled for another short field goal, Montgomery spun his way across the goal line for a 6-yard scoring run and a 14-6 lead.

The Lions extended the margin with Gibbs' 5-yard TD run late in the third quarter and sealed it with a 56-yard field goal midway through the fourth.

Detroit improved to 6-0 on the road as Amon-Ra St. Brown caught six passes for 62 yards.

Michael Pittman Jr. had six catches for 96 yards for the Colts despite leaving briefly in the first half with a injured shoulder.

Milestones

Gibbs' first score extended Detroit's league record to 25 consecutive games with a TD run, including the playoffs. He's also the third Lions player with 1,000 scrimmage yards and 10 TDs in each of his first two pro seasons with Detroit, joining Billy Sims and Barry Sanders. Gibbs and Montgomery have each scored at least one TD in the same game nine times.

Injuries

Lions: Things got ugly during a third-quarter flurry. Receiver-punt returner Kalif Raymond (foot), left tackle Taylor Decker (right leg) and Montgomery (shoulder) all left in quick succession. Raymond and Montgomery did not return. Decker did. CB Carlton Davis II left early in the fourth with what appeared to be a left knee injury.

Colts: Indy deactivated left tackle Bernhard Raimann (knee), forcing the Colts to again use three rookie linemen. Receivers Ashton Dulin (ankle) and Josh Downs (shoulder) both left in the second half. Downs returned, Dulin did not.

The Detroit Lions went for their ninth straight win on Sunday, and were able — despite more injuries — to do just enough for a 24-6 win, and stay on top of the NFC standings.

Takeaways as Lions cruise past Colts, 24-6, despite injuries piling up