November 9, 2024, election and Trump transition news

Our live coverage of the 2024 election and Trump’s presidential transition has moved here.

Donald Trump will win in Arizona, CNN projected Saturday, completing his sweep of the seven battleground states.

The addition of Arizona’s 11 Electoral College votes brings Trump’s final electoral vote tally to 312. Kamala Harris will end the election with 226. CNN projected earlier this week that Trump will win a second term after he reached the 270 electoral votes needed to win the election.

Here’s what else we know now about the election and Trump’s presidential transition:

Where the transition of power stands:

New administration shaping up:

Trump and Biden set to meet:

Former President Donald Trump will win the key battleground state of Arizona, CNN projects.

There are 11 electoral votes at stake in Arizona. CNN projected earlier this week that Trump will win a second term after he reached the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidential election.

Who won in 2020: Arizona has become a key battleground state and helped deliver President Joe Biden his 2020 win. It then helped Democrats win control of the Senate in 2020 and maintain it in 2022. Biden’s victory in Arizona four years ago was the closest vote margin in the country – 10,457 votes.

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday his former GOP presidential rival Nikki Haley and his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would not have roles in his incoming administration.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social he “very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously” but that he would “not be inviting” them to serve.

“I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation. I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and would like to thank them for their service to our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump posted.

Some context: Haley, who served as the US Ambassador to the United Nations under the Trump administration, ran a bitter primary campaign against Trump and further became the recipient of his ire when she defied calls to drop out and rally around Trump after her primary losses in New Hampshire and her home state of South Carolina. She ultimately endorsed Trump and spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, urging voters who disagree with him on certain issues to back his candidacy.

Trump appreciated that Haley ultimately backed the former president and called for unity at the Republican National Convention in July. However, the former president still harbors animosity toward her for the attacks lobbed at him during the GOP primary, as well as her decision to remain in the race beyond what Trump believed was appropriate, one of the sources said.

Pompeo mulled a 2024 run but never mounted an official presidential bid against Trump. Many people close to Trump thought Pompeo did a great job as secretary of state during his first term, and argued he deserved a seat at the table in a second administration. However, the President-elect’s relationship with Pompeo had soured in the years since Trump left office. Pompeo appeared to jab Trump during a speech at CPAC last year when he urged Republican voters to turn away from “celebrity leaders” with “fragile egos.”

In recent days, Trump privately questioned Pompeo’s loyalty as well as whether he could be trusted to carry out his agenda, two sources familiar with the discussions told CNN.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ niece, Meena Harris, shared two photos on social media Saturday of her daughters — Harris’ grandnieces — playing Connect Four, following the vice president’s loss in the 2024 presidential election earlier this week.

The photos depict Harris along with Meena’s children, Amara and Leela, playing the game together on the floor. Harris is wearing a Howard Bison sweatshirt and one of her grandnieces is wearing a Harris-Walz shirt.

Vice President Kamala Harris plays Connect Four with her grandnieces.

“Back to where it all began only a few months ago. My eternal gratitude to everyone who showed up. We love her so much,” Meena Harris wrote on Instagram.

The caption seemed to refer to where Harris was back in July when she learned that President Joe Biden was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.

“My family was staying with us. And — including my baby nieces. And we had just had pancakes and, you know, ‘Auntie, can I have more bacon?’ ‘Yes, I’ll make you more bacon.’ And then we were gonna sit — we were sitting down to — to do a puzzle,” Harris told CNN’s Dana Bash in August.

“And the phone rang. And it was Joe Biden. And — and he told me what he had decided to do. And I asked him, ‘Are you sure?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’ And — and that’s how I learned about it,” Harris added in that interview.

Protesters rally outside the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC, on Saturday.

Protesters gathered in Washington, DC, Saturday to advocate for abortion access and gender-related resources following President-elect Donald Trump’s electoral victory.

The demonstration was held outside the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that published the policy blueprint Project 2025. It was organized by the Women’s March and marks the first major protest in the nation’s capital since Trump’s win.

The event was intended “as a chance to build community and power in the wake of the 2024 election,” a spokesperson for Women’s March told CNN.

Attendees traveled from as far as San Diego and as close as Maryland, joining in songs led by a local DC cover band and holding both homemade signs and those provided by event hosts.

“I’m so deflated from the results of the election. I just had to come here for my own good, so my anger doesn’t get directed in the wrong direction,” attendee Dan Parr said.

The event concluded after about an hour and 45 minutes. Before the group left, Middleton announced plans for another march on January 18, just two days before Inauguration Day.

The U.S. Capitol is seen on November 5, 2024.

While Republicans have clinched the White House and flipped the Senate, unified GOP control of the federal government remains in question, as votes in House races are still being counted.

There are 18 House races that have not yet been projected, and we still do not know for certain who will control the lower chamber of Congress. Republicans are five seats away from holding on to the majority, while Democrats are 14 seats away from taking the chamber.

Republicans will win the US Senate majority, a victory for the party that has been locked out of the majority in the chamber since 2021. With two races still to be declared — Arizona and Pennsylvania — Republicans will have at least 52 seats in the chamber.

Donald Trump appears at a campaign rally in Reading, Pennsylvania, on November 4.

President-elect Donald Trump has not yet submitted a series of transition agreements with President Joe Biden’s administration, in part because of concerns over the mandatory ethics pledge vowing to avoid conflicts of interest once sworn into office, CNN has learned. The pledge also applies to all members of the transition team.

As president, Trump repeatedly came under fire from ethics groups for potential conflicts of interest relating to his businesses and brands. Both Trump’s and his family’s foreign business ties have also come under intense scrutiny throughout his time in office and on the campaign trail.

A source familiar with the process acknowledged that details are still being worked out with the Biden administration regarding the ethics agreement, which is required by law under the Presidential Transition Act. Updates to that bill requiring the ethics pledge were introduced by Trump ally Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, a Republican, and signed into law by Trump himself in March 2020.

The Trump team ignored a pair of key pre-election deadlines to unlock transition activities with the Biden administration’s General Services Administration and the White House. Experts are sounding the alarms about impacts to day-one national security preparedness.

A Trump adviser told CNN that the president-elect intends to sign the ethics pledge, but said the transition team’s main priority is focused on selecting and vetting candidates for top Cabinet roles. The adviser played down the skipped deadlines, saying it is “not at all a concern.”

But nonpartisan watchdogs and Democrats have warned that the failure to sign those agreements could pose a risk to national security.

That has been a problem in the past: In 2000, as the Supreme Court awaited a recount in Florida, neither George W. Bush’s nor Al Gore’s teams were participating in a transition, something the 9/11 Commission Report found was a contributing factor to the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.

President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles and the current White House chief of staff, Jeff Zients, have been in contact this week regarding Trump’s transition, and they coordinated Wednesday’s meeting between the former president and President Joe Biden, two sources familiar with the process tell CNN.

“Conversations with the White House were straightforward and really easy,” one of the sources said.

The source added that Wiles and Zients have been in contact over the last several months, having conversations that have ranged from the assassination attempt on Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania, to larger discussions around Secret Service protection.

More on the transition: Trump has also announced the formation of his presidential inaugural committee, chaired by real estate investor Steve Witkoff and former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler. The committee will be tasked with producing Trump’s inauguration ceremony.

CNN asked readers how they were feeling about the result of the presidential election. In the more than 2,000 responses sent to CNN in the two days following the election, many of you expressed joy, excitement or sadness. Many more shared their fears, some expressed anger and others shared that they would not lose hope.

Here are a few of those responses:

Read more responses here.

Sen. Eric Schmitt speaks at the Republican National Convention on July 16 in Milwaukee.

Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt is one of the names at the top of President-elect Donald Trump’s list for attorney general, four sources familiar with the process tell CNN.

Schmitt, who served as Missouri’s attorney general when the state targeted big tech companies over alleged censorship of conservatives, is a close ally of Trump’s. He helped the former president prepare for his debates against President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, spoke at the Republican National Convention and was at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday for election night.

Inside Trump’s thinking: Trump views his attorney general as the most important role in his administration. He has said both privately and publicly that he believes the Justice Department should not operate as independently as it has traditionally, and instead wants to work closely with his attorney general to carry out his legal aims. Trump has also said he believes he is justified to seek retribution against, and potentially prosecute, his political enemies.

After Trump left the White House is 2021, he often remarked that his biggest regret while in office was who he selected to serve as his attorney general, pointing specifically to his former attorneys general Jeff Sessions and William Barr.

Whomever Trump ultimately chooses to fill the role will be someone the president-elect trusts enormously and believes will be loyal to him, the sources said.

Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

President-elect Donald Trump will meet with President Joe Biden in the White House on Wednesday, the White House announced on Saturday.

“At President Biden’s invitation, President Biden and President-elect Trump will meet in the Oval Office on Wednesday at 11:00 am,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

She added that additional details about the meeting will be released.

Incoming first lady Melania Trump has also been invited to the White House to meet with first lady Jill Biden, an official in the East Wing told CNN, though it is unclear when that might happen. The official said the Bidens had extended congratulations and a “joint invite to the Trumps to meet at the White House.”

Keep in mind: It’s tradition for the outgoing president to host the incoming one after the election, as part of a peaceful transfer of power.

Trump did not host Biden in 2020, however, as he fought the election results based on falsehoods about voter fraud. Trump also didn’t attend Biden’s inauguration in 2021.

In 2016, then-first lady Michelle Obama hosted Melania Trump for tea in the White House’s Yellow Oval Room and took her on a tour of the private residence.

This post has been updated with details about Melania Trump’s invite to the White House.

CNN’s Arlette Saenz, Betsy Klein and Alli Malloy contributed to this report.

CNN asked readers how they were feeling about the result of the presidential election. In the more than 2,000 responses sent to CNN in the two days following the election, many of you expressed joy, excitement or sadness. Many more shared their fears, some expressed anger and others shared that they would not lose hope.

Here are a few of those responses:

Read more responses here.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to members of the press in Atlanta on June 27.

Democratic governors and attorneys general are beginning to build a Resistance 2.0, talking tough and promising new laws and legal battles as they seek to insulate their states from the conservative federal policies they expect under President-elect Donald Trump.

And already, Trump is firing back — an early preview of the consequential court, regulatory and political fights that now loom in 2025 and beyond.

That’s been illustrated by California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call for a special legislative session later this year, where he’s asked state lawmakers to protect progressive policies on issues like abortion rights and climate change. The call prompted a scathing response from Trump on his Truth Social platform, where he railed against Newsom’s policies and quality of life issues in the Golden State.

In other blue states, including Massachusetts, Illinois and New York, officials are similarly vowing to mount legal and policy fights against the incoming administration on abortion rights, environmental regulations, gun control, immigration enforcement and more.

But some are taking a less combative tone: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore noted that his state, which neighbors the nation’s capital, and the federal government are “deeply intertwined” — and that the federal government is his state’s biggest employer.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement Wednesday that she hopes Trump “leads by trying to unite people, including those who did not vote for him or do not support him.”

And Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a statement that while he will “never back down from standing up for the freedoms I was elected to protect,” it is time to “work together, to compromise, and to get stuff done.”

Read more about the Democratic state leaders here.

Susie Wiles is seen at Nashville International Airport on July 27.

Susie Wiles, the understated yet formidable force behind Donald Trump’s third presidential bid, has operated in a sphere of discretion, wielding influence without the spotlight. Now, as the president-elect pivots toward his return to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Wiles finds herself in an unprecedented position: On Thursday, Trump named her his incoming White House chief of staff, a role that cements her as his most trusted adviser and makes her the first woman to ever hold the title.

For Wiles, 67, the new title is as improbable as it is historic. A strategist known more for quiet calculations than public-facing gestures, at first glance she appears a mismatch for Trump and his colossal orbit of fame-seekers, celebrities, firebrands and megalomaniacs. A grandmother and dog lover, she likes to bake and bird-watch.

In public, she hides behind a pair of polarized aviators. When people talk to her, the person they often see back is themselves.

“Susie likes to stay sort of in the back,” Trump said Wednesday as he called on her to address his West Palm Beach victory party. She declined and passed off the mic to co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita.

Yet, for many of Trump’s closest allies, it is precisely Wiles’ unassuming style that has assured her longevity. Since Trump’s turbulent departure from Washington, Wiles has deftly steered his political apparatus from Mar-a-Lago, instilling a level of discipline and order rarely associated with the former president.

She is competent, affable, respected and feared, a powerful combination in the former president’s world. Those close to her suggest that her success with Trump lies in a balanced approach: She refrains from trying to restrain him but knows when to push back.

Trump, in turn, has given her a fitting moniker: “The Ice Maiden.”

Keep reading about Trump’s pick for White House chief of staff.

Iran has “categorically dismissed” the US Justice Department’s allegation that it plotted to kill Donald Trump before the presidential election.

According to court documents released Friday, Iranian officials asked Farhad Shakeri, an Afghan national residing in Tehran, in September to focus on surveilling and ultimately assassinating Trump, who won reelection this week. Shakeri is still at large in Iran, the Justice Department said.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry described the claims as “completely baseless and rejected” in an X post on Saturday, adding that “similar accusations have been made in the past,” which Iran has “firmly denied and proven false.”

The ministry said the claims amount to a “malicious conspiracy” aimed at “further complicating the issues between the US and Iran.”

The newly disclosed alleged plot marks yet another alleged attempt on Trump’s life by the Iranian regime.

The US government has repeatedly raised concerns that Iran may try to retaliate for a 2020 US drone strike that killed Gen. Qasem Soleimani, a top general in the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps, by trying to kill Trump — who ordered the strike — or his former advisers.

Elon Musk speaks at a campaign rally for Donald Trump on October 27 in New York.

Elon Musk’s influence is on display during President-elect Donald Trump’s fast-moving transition.

When Trump was connected with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the day after he won the 2024 election, there was another voice in the room that the wartime leader is quite familiar with: Musk, whose Starlink satellite communications have been vital for his Ukrainian forces on the battlefield.

While it was notable for the world’s richest man to join one of the president-elect’s calls, several sources tell CNN that it was not the only one Musk has joined since Trump’s victory.

Musk, who has been spotted in and out of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club several times since Tuesday, has also been on other calls the president-elect has held — and has joined conversations where Trump has mulled staff decisions, showcasing how influential Musk could be during the incoming administration.

Sources have described Trump as enamored with Musk.

“We have to protect our geniuses, we don’t have that many of them,” Trump said during his victory speech early Wednesday morning.

American voters have spoken, and they decided to rehire Donald Trump as president of the United States.

But he won’t take office until January 20, 2025, and there are multiple things that will happen between now and then. Throughout November, December and January, there will be a transition between the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden and the incoming Trump administration. The transition has been complicated by Trump blowing through multiple deadlines in that process, which is laid out in law.

Read more about the timeline here.