Colom makes history with Democratic Senate victory in Mississippi
Hello, and welcome to the US politics live blog.
Mississippi has elected Scott Colom, a Democrat, as its senator, adding to a wave of Democratic gains across the country in this year’s midterm elections.
Senator-elect Scott Colom raises a fist during his victory rally in Tougaloo, Mississippi on Wednesday. Photograph: Lauren Witte/Clarion Ledger/Reuters
“All I did was have the courage to imagine a night like this,” Colom said in his victory speech last night.
“I had the courage to believe in Mississippi. I had the courage to understand that we can show the country that Mississippi matters.”
Just over a week since the midterm elections, the Associated Press called the race after absentee and provisional ballots were counted.
“While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters,” Hyde-Smith said.
You can read more about Colom’s grassroots campaign, his viral advertising strategy and how he reached voters at Trump rallies despite limited early backing from national Democrats here:
In other news:
US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev walk from hotel for a scheduled meeting in Moscow, Russia. Photograph: Yulia Morozova/Reuters
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth was admonished by a military guard after he and his entourage were seen laughing and talking near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where visitors are required to remain silent. The incident came days after Republicans blocked an attempt to impeach him.
Key events
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigns following spy scandal
According to a company statement:
Jensen Huang has resigned as President, Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the Board, effective immediately.
Huang is in the middle of a major geopolitical and corporate governance scandal after he admitted to extramarital affairs with an alleged Chinese intelligence asset.
The company added that current executive vice president and chief financial officer Collette Kress has agreed to serve as the interim CEO.
Continuing his Truth Social ranting, Donald Trump said he has asked the vice-president, JD Vance, to turn his “complete and total attention” to alleged corruption in Democratic-run cities and states, while also declaring that the US no longer needs a deal with Iran.
In the latest post this morning, Trump singled out Minnesota, California and Illinois as “poorly run, corrupt disasters” and claimed that “billions of dollars is being stolen each and every month”. He argued that the federal budget “could be quickly BALANCED” if what he called large-scale criminal activity were stopped, and said corruption was “in the Democrat Leadership’s blood”.
On Iran, Trump wrote:
CORRUPTION is in the Democrat Leadership’s blood! We don’t need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed. We’ve got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we’ve got their Strait!
He wasn’t done and followed up with another pile on posts minutes later:
If the Democrats want to “root out corruption,” they should start with investigating Blue States, perhaps the most CORRUPT governmental structures and entities anywhere on Earth. Big time money is being stolen each and every hour of the day!
In a further post on Truth Social, Trump renewed his criticism of Senate Republicans, warning that the party cannot afford to let legislation stall in Congress after suffering significant losses in the midterm elections.
He urged Republican senators to take a more aggressive approach to advancing his legislative agenda, arguing that the Senate must no longer be a place “where things are sent to die”.
He singled out the failure to pass the Save America Act, which would introduce stricter voter identification requirements and require proof of US citizenship when registering to vote. He described its failure to pass as “devastating” for Republicans in the midterms.
Concluding his post, Trump wrote:
Anyway, good luck to our Republican Senators, work hard, and congratulations to John Thune for another year of leadership, Minority though it may be!”
Trump threatens to double tariffs on Mexico unless it stops migrant caravans heading to US
Trump has threatened to immediately double tariffs on Mexico unless the country stops migrant caravans travelling north towards the US.
The president issued the warning on Truth Social this morning, linking the renewed movement of people through Mexico to what he described as the Republicans’ “perceived loss” in the midterm elections.
He wrote:
Huge CARAVANS are forming and beginning their illegal march through Mexico. Many of the people in these Caravans are those that various countries don’t want – “Send them to America,” they say – But they will not be accepted! MEXICO MUST STOP THEM, NOW, and if they do not do so, the Tariffs on Mexico will be IMMEDIATELY DOUBLED. MEXICO, THE GOVERNOR OF TEXAS, THE VERY LIBERAL NEW GOVERNOR OF TEXAS, OUR GREAT BORDER PATROL, & ICE, HAVE BEEN SO INFORMED. There will be no leniency!
The threat came as approximately 1,500 people, many travelling with children, began walking north from Tapachula in southern Mexico on Tuesday following the Democrats’ midterm victory, according to Reuters.
People participate in a caravan known as ‘Dios con Nosotros’ (God with us) in Tapachula as they seek to continue their journey toward northern Mexico with the goal of reaching the US. Photograph: Damian Sanchez/Reuters
Trump attacks Democrats over ‘blue state corruption’ in Truth Social tirade
Donald Trump has been busy posting his latest commentary on Truth Social this morning, publishing a series of posts in which he takes aim at Democrats, revisits old grievances and accuses his political opponents of corruption.
In one post, the US president launched an attack on the Democratic party, describing its leadership as “one of the most corrupt and anti-American” in the country’s history. Coming just days after the Republicans suffered significant losses in the midterm elections, Trump’s latest broadside against Democrats appears to be an attempt to rally his party, as he urges Republicans to “fight hard”.
He wrote:
The Democrat Party, lead by one of the most Corrupt and anti-American groups of political leaders and hacks in the history of our Country, and even the World, is doing everything in their power to get away from MASSIVE BLUE STATE CORRUPTION by saying, over and over again, that the Trump Administration is corrupt. It is a sound bite that they viciously use, over and over again, in order to nullify the TREMENDOUS & UNPRECEDENTED theft that has taken place in our Blue States – Minnesota, California, and others, all over the U.S.A.
In a subsequent post, Trump returned to the controversy surrounding his personal tax returns during his first presidential term. He recalled what he described as a “relentless effort” by Democrats to obtain his tax records, claiming that, after the matter reached the Supreme Court, accountants spent a year examining his finances in an effort to find wrongdoing.
Unlike previous presidents in recent decades, Trump refused to voluntarily release his returns while campaigning for the White House and throughout his first term. After a lengthy legal battle, six years of Trump’s tax returns, covering 2015 to 2020, were subsequently made public by the House ways and means committee. You can read more on that here.
On Truth Social, Trump wrote:
Now, in order to deflect from MASSIVE BLUE STATE CORRUPTION & CRIME, they are at it again, illegally threatening Republicans with knowingly false accusations and charges. Other than cheating, this is how they won the Midterms – But we won’t let our Country go to hell!
Colom makes history with Democratic Senate victory in Mississippi
Hello, and welcome to the US politics live blog.
Mississippi has elected Scott Colom, a Democrat, as its senator, adding to a wave of Democratic gains across the country in this year’s midterm elections.
Senator-elect Scott Colom raises a fist during his victory rally in Tougaloo, Mississippi on Wednesday. Photograph: Lauren Witte/Clarion Ledger/Reuters
“All I did was have the courage to imagine a night like this,” Colom said in his victory speech last night.
“I had the courage to believe in Mississippi. I had the courage to understand that we can show the country that Mississippi matters.”
Just over a week since the midterm elections, the Associated Press called the race after absentee and provisional ballots were counted.
“While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters,” Hyde-Smith said.
You can read more about Colom’s grassroots campaign, his viral advertising strategy and how he reached voters at Trump rallies despite limited early backing from national Democrats here:
In other news:
US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev walk from hotel for a scheduled meeting in Moscow, Russia. Photograph: Yulia Morozova/Reuters
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth was admonished by a military guard after he and his entourage were seen laughing and talking near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where visitors are required to remain silent. The incident came days after Republicans blocked an attempt to impeach him.
