Welcome to the online edition of From the Politics Desk, an evening email that provides you with the most recent coverage and commentary from the campaign trail, Capitol Hill, and the White House by the NBC News Politics team.
White House correspondent Mike Memoli reports from Rio de Janeiro on President Joe Biden’s last international conference in today’s broadcast. Additionally, Steve Kornacki, our national political correspondent, analyzes the final election outcomes from our seven “Deciders” counties.
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Biden fades into the background at his final international summits
By Mike Memoli
JANEIRO RIO If the domestic elections had gone as planned, President Joe Biden’s last international summits most likely would have gone differently. However, as he said goodbye to his colleagues here, Biden appeared to be humbled by President-elect Donald Trump.
The president made few public appearances at the APEC meeting in Peru and the G20 summit in Brazil, despite administration officials frequently citing Biden’s request to review the recording during his last months in office. He gave a brief speech before in-person meetings with leaders from China, Japan, South Korea, and Peru as well as during each gathering’s working sessions.
Biden challenged Trump not to revoke laws that aimed to hasten the transition to renewable energy sources if he intended to use the trip to convey to his predecessor-turned-successor the value of interacting with allies or to try to solidify his own legacy.
Biden’s lone stop outside of the two main events was what the White House billed as a historic trip to the Amazon, where he participated in an airborne survey of the region and then spoke to reporters for seven minutes about the significance of his climate agenda.
No one can undo the clean energy revolution that is taking place in America, he said, despite efforts by some to deny or postpone it.
Biden also cautioned that they cannot allow any of this competition to turn into a conflict in his statements to Chinese President Xi Jinping prior to the last meeting.
Trump had not been mentioned in his discussions with other international leaders, according to White House sources. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tactfully avoided a question about his apprehensions about collaborating with Trump once more, illustrating the delicate balance other leaders were maintaining at this time of change.
During a Q&A session in Lima, Trudeau stated that it is no secret that no American administration is inherently simple for a Canadian government.
Biden’s stance contrasted with his demeanor during the G20 summit in Rome three years prior. Biden boasted that his leadership set the agenda, including proposals for a broad new global minimum tax, and that his colleagues were eager to hear his opinions on a variety of topics.
I was sought after by everyone. They were curious about our opinions. At his final press conference in 2021, Biden stated, “And we helped lead what happened here.”
Biden did not have a final press conference during this trip and steered clear of the majority of the questions that traveling reporters asked him.
7 counties that told the story of the 2024 election
By Steve Kornacki
In order to identify some of the political patterns that would characterize the presidential fight, NBC News selected seven counties in the lead-up to the 2024 election.
We wanted to examine those seven Deciders counties and see what lessons could be learned from them now that the election was over. Three of them switched from the Democratic to the Republican column, and all seven ended up reflecting broader national patterns, swinging in various directions toward Donald Trump.
Maricopa County: Since Maricopa County accounts for over two-thirds of Arizona’s voting population, winning the state as a whole would be difficult without winning here. In 2020, Joe Biden became the first Democrat to win Maricopa in seventy-two years. However, Trump managed to make a strong comeback this year, gaining ground in Phoenix itself. Maryvale, a predominantly Latino area, also turned in Trump’s favor.
Miami-Dade County, Florida: Hillary Clinton won this Latino county, which has a population of approximately 70%, by nearly 30 points in 2016. Biden won it by a mere seven points in 2020. And with a double-digit victory in 2024, Trump turned the tide. From the Cuban-majority neighborhood of Hialeah to the Venezuelan-heavy neighborhood of Doral to the older neighborhood of Aventura, which has one of the densest Jewish populations, Trump was able to make progress everywhere.
Gwinnett County, Georgia: Lately, there has been a Democratic movement in the Atlanta suburbs. Clinton prevailed here by six points in 2016. Biden quadrupled that lead to 18 points four years later. It dropped by one point this year. For Trump, what stopped the bleeding? Hispanic voters’ support. In the Atlanta metro area, Gwinnett has the highest concentration of Hispanic residents. Trump made some significant progress in the precincts surrounding Norcross, which are primarily Hispanic.
Kent County, Michigan: This historically Republican region in the center of western Michigan has not been very receptive to Trump as the party’s leader. Whether Trump would continue to perform poorly here, as he has in previous elections, was one of the main concerns going into this one. It didn’t get much better for him here, but it also didn’t get much worse, was the response. In the end, Trump flipped the state after performing one point better in the county than he did in 2020.
Washoe County, Nevada: Although his margin of victory was somewhat better than in 2020, Trump lost both Washoe County and Clark County, the state’s second major population center, en route to winning the entire state. After his huge victories in the more rural counties, Trump managed to maintain his losses in the larger counties just small enough to win.
Pennsylvania’s Erie County:In 2008 and 2012, Barack Obama won this county, making it the ultimate bellwether. It went to Biden in 2020 after Trump managed to win it in 2016. Erie returns to Trump’s column in 2024. Dasha Burns of NBC News covered the economic unrest that finally resulted in Trump’s victory in March.
Dane County, Wisconsin: The majority of adults in this densely populated and expanding county hold a college degree. In recent years, Democrats have consistently gained more votes outside of this area in presidential elections. Although Kamala Harris was able to extract more from Dane once more, winning it by 188,000, it was still unable to make up for the losses she suffered in other parts of the state.
ICYMI: Read more from Steve about how Trump won a sweep of battleground states due to changes in voter preferences.
Trump transition watch
-
A handful of megadonors helped to power Trump s campaign to victory earlier this month. Now, some of them are
under consideration for major positions
as he shapes his next administration.
-
One of those donors,
Howard Lutnick
, a billionaire financial services executive and key transition adviser, is Trump s pick to lead theCommerce Department
.
-
Trump said he will nominate
Mehmet Oz
, a former Pennsylvania Senate candidate and TV doctor, to lead theCenters for Medicare and Medicaid Services
.
-
Trump also selected former Rep.
Sean Duffy
, R-Wis., now a Fox News host, to serveas his transportation secretary.
-
Trump has been heavily working the phones to bolster
his pick to lead the Justice Department
, former Rep.
Matt Gaetz
, R-Fla., who is already facing skepticism from some Republican senators. -
Gaetz
allegedly paid a woman for sex
at a small, invitation-only party in Florida in 2017, the woman s attorney told NBC News. And a hacker has gained access to a file
containing depositions from two women
who were involved in an investigation into Gaetz.
-
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
, Trump s choice for health and human services secretary, is facing criticism from his own family, Caroline Kennedy sayingher cousin s views on vaccines are dangerous.
-
Trump has started
receiving intelligence briefings
after having declined them during his campaign.
-
Vivek Ramaswamy
islooking to force federal workers to return to the office full time
, and he could have an unlikely ally in D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Today s other top stories
-
Trump on trial:
New York prosecutors told the judge who presided over Trump’s hush money trial that his sentencing should be postponed while the president-elect’s lawyers file further legal arguments asking the case be dismissed.Read more
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Bathroom bill:
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said her resolution prohibiting transgender women from using female bathrooms is absolutely aimed at Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., who will be the first openly transgender member of Congress.Read more
-
Lessons learned:
The four Senate Democratic candidates who won their races even as Trump carried their states say their party can learn some lessons from their campaigns.Read more
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Democrats next fight:
Minnesota Democratic Party Chairman Ken Martin became the second candidate to jump into the race to lead the Democratic National Committee.Read more
-
2024 postmortem:
A new analysis of precinct-level data by the NBC News Decision Desk shows the extent to which Trump s wins in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania and Harris losses were driven by weak turnout in heavily Democratic cities.Read more
-
Not done yet:
Harris has one last chance to defy Trump as she could provide tie-breaking votes for Biden s judicial appointments before leaving office.Read more
-
Next moves:
Nebraska Independent Dan Osborn is returning to work as a steamfitter, but he s also launching a new PAC and weighing another run for the Senate in 2026.Read more
-
Abortion ruling:
A Wyoming judge ruled that two laws restricting and banning abortion in the state violate its constitution, making the procedure legal up until fetal viability for the time being.Read more
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In the hot seat:
Federal Emergency Management Agency Deanne Criswell faced questions from House lawmakers about the federal government’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton.Read more
For now, that’s all from the Politics Desk. For comments, likes, or dislikes, send an email to [email protected].
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