The Latest: Trump putting a positive spin on the economy after voters rebuked his performance

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President Donald Trump is heading to Miami on Wednesday — the anniversary of his reelection to a second term — to speak to a forum of business leaders and global athletes about what he sees as his economic achievements. His speech comes after Democrats won resoundingly in multiple states on Tuesday, with exit polls showing economic worries were very much on the minds of voters.

Trump told GOP senators at a breakfast meeting before leaving the White House that the 36-day government shutdown, now the longest on record, was a “big factor, negative” for the Republican party in the elections, and called on the senators to end it by terminating the filibuster, the 60-vote threshold in the Senate that requires negotiations between both major parties on most legislation.

And as the shutdown disrupts the lives of millions of Americans with federal program cuts, flight delays and a denial of paychecks to federal workers nationwide, the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday over Trump’s sweeping tariffs policies that have been at the center of his economic and foreign policy agendas.

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When asked Wednesday about their combative relationship during the mayoral campaign, Mamdani said he has repeatedly expressed a willingness to help the president fulfill some of the promises Trump made during his 2024 presidential campaign.

“I have said time and again that I will work with the president if he wants to work together to deliver on his campaign promises of cheaper groceries or a lower cost of living. But for too long what New Yorkers have seen is a mayor who has been willing to work with the president at the expense of those New Yorkers,” Mamdani said on New York’s NY1 news channel.

“And I want to make it very clear that if the president looks to come after the people of this city, then I will be there standing up for them every step of the way.”

Trump has been mad about the Senate’s “blue slips” process for some time, saying it interferes with his right to appoint the federal judges and U.S. attorneys he wants.

The century-old tradition allows home-state senators to sign off — or not — on some nominees.

Trump renewed his complaints Wednesday, telling Republican senators that blue slips are a “horrible thing because I have the right to pick judges and I have the right to pick U.S. attorneys. And this takes away the right from me. And I think we’re going to go to court on it and, you know, we’ll see what happens in court.”

The Senate’s “advise and consent” powers, granted under the Constitution, allow it to approve or reject the president’s nominations for top posts, including federal judges, ambassadors and members of the Cabinet.

“New Yorkers faced a clear choice — between hope and fear — and just like we’ve seen in London — hope won,” Khan wrote on the social media platform X.

Khan became the first Muslim leader of a major Western capital city when he was elected in 2016. Like Mamdani, he has received abuse for his faith and race, as well as criticism from conservative commentators and Trump, who has called him a “nasty person” and a “terrible mayor.”

The new congressional map that California voters approved marked a victory for Democrats in the national redistricting battles ahead of the 2026 midterm election. But Republicans are still ahead in the fight.

Democrats need to gain just three seats to win the chamber and impede Trump’s agenda. So what’s the score?

If the 2026 election goes according to the redistricting projections, Democrats in California and Republicans in Texas could cancel each other’s gains. But Republicans could still be ahead by four seats in the redistricting battle.

New districts adopted in Missouri and North Carolina could help Republicans win one additional seat in each state. And a new U.S. House map approved last week in Ohio boosts Republicans’ chances to win two additional seats.

▶ Read more about redistricting in multiple states

“They say that I wasn’t on the ballot was the biggest factor. I don’t know about that, but I was honored that they said that,” Trump said while hosting Republican senators at the White House on Wednesday.

Among those noting that fact was Trump himself. He posted on Tuesday night, as votes were still being counted, that he “WASN’T ON THE BALLOT.”

The president also allowed a moment of more introspection on Wednesday. “Last night was not expected to be a victory,” he said. “I don’t think it was good for Republicans.”

The president added, “I’m not sure it was good for anybody, but we had an interesting evening” while also noting, “We learned a lot.”

The president says the government shutdown was a “big factor, negative” for the Republican party in the elections and called on the senators to bring it to an end.

“We must get the government open,” Trump said during his opening remarks at the White House.

“It’s time for Republican to do what they have to do,” he said. “Terminate the filibuster.”

GOP senators have panned that idea, saying the 60-vote threshold ensures the minority party, which is now Democrats, has a say. That’s important if power shifts in Washington.

The GOP senators’ morning huddle with the president comes at a crucial — and sensitive — moment in negotiations to end the 34-day government shutdown.

Wednesday marks the longest-ever lapse in federal funding, and the morning after Democrats won handily in elections in several states.

Trump has repeatedly demanded that Senate Republicans get rid of the filibuster rules, which would allow them to pass government funding with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes now needed to advance a bill. Democrats are also having their own intense conversations about potential off-ramps to the impasse.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced yet another deadly strike on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, coming the same day an aircraft carrier began heading to the region in a new expansion of military firepower.

The attack Tuesday killed two people aboard the vessel, Hegseth said, bringing the death toll from the Trump administration’s campaign in South American waters up to at least 66 people in at least 16 strikes.

Trump has justified the strikes by saying the United States is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels and claiming the boats are operated by foreign terror organizations. The administration has not provided evidence or more details.

Lawmakers from both parties have pressed the Trump administration for more information on who is being targeted and the legal justification for the strikes given that Congress has not authorized military action. United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk last week called for the U.S. to halt the attacks and “prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats.”

▶ Read more about the strikes

Former Vice President Dick Cheney may have been a legendary figure within the Republican Party, but for Trump, he was part of a long list of people he viewed as political opponents.

While White House flags were lowered to half-staff in remembrance of Cheney on Tuesday, there was no fanfare, and Trump made no comment about Cheney’s death on social media. His press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not mention his passing in a press briefing until she was asked by a reporter — and then made only perfunctory comments.

“I know the president is aware of the former vice president’s passing. And as you saw, flags have been lowered to half-staff in accordance with statutory law,” Leavitt said.

Trump was not so quiet about Cheney on the campaign trail last year, speaking regularly about him and his daughter, Liz Cheney, a former member of Congress who bucked most of her party to become a leading critic and examiner of Trump’s desperate attempts to retain power after he failed to win reelection in 2020. Dick Cheney backed his daughter, and in a twist the Democrats of his era could never have imagined, ultimately said he would vote for Trump’s Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris.

▶ Read more about Trump and Cheney

Trump wasn’t on the ballot in Tuesday’s elections, but many voters in key races made their choice in opposition to him or considered him to be irrelevant, according to the AP Voter Poll.

It was hardly an endorsement of his nearly 10 months back in the White House.

That theme played out in the gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia, the mayoral contest in New York City and a state proposition to redraw congressional districts in California.

The AP Voter Poll, which surveyed more than 17,000 voters in those places, found that most voters disapproved of Trump’s performance as president, and many thought his aggressive approach to immigration had “gone too far.” Republicans and those who lean toward the Republican Party were more likely to say Trump wasn’t a factor for their vote, even though most approve of his job performance.

Most presidents fare poorly in the off-cycle elections that come a year after their White House wins, and Trump fit solidly into that pattern as Democrats boasted victories in Tuesday’s key races.

▶ Read more about Tuesday’s election results

The government shutdown has entered its 36th day, breaking the record as the longest ever and disrupting the lives of millions of Americans with federal program cuts, flight delays and federal workers nationwide left without paychecks.

President Donald Trump has refused to negotiate with Democrats over their demands to salvage expiring health insurance subsidies until they agree to reopen the government. But skeptical Democrats question whether the Republican president will keep his word, particularly after the administration restricted SNAP food aid, despite court orders to ensure funds are available to prevent hunger.

Trump, whose first term at the White House set the previous government shutdown record, is set to meet early Wednesday for breakfast with GOP senators. But no talks have been scheduled with the Democrats.

With Trump largely on the sidelines, talks have intensified among a loose coalition of centrist senators trying to negotiate an end to the stalemate. Expectations are high that the logjam would break once election results were fully tallied in Tuesday’s off-year races that were widely watched as a gauge of voter sentiment over Trump’s second term in the White House.

▶ Read more about the goverment shutdown

President Donald Trump is heading to Miami on Wednesday — the anniversary of his reelection to a second term — to speak to a forum of business leaders and global athletes about what he sees as his economic achievements.

His speech to the America Business Forum will be a broad look at his economic agenda and how investments he has secured abroad help U.S. communities, according to a senior White House official. It’s a significant effort from Trump to put a positive spin on the economy at a time when Americans remain uneasy about the state of their finances and the cost of living — and when major campaigns in Tuesday’s election were centered on affordability and the economy.

The AP Voter Poll survey, which included more than 17,000 voters in New Jersey, Virginia, California and New York City, suggested the public was troubled by higher prices and fewer job opportunities despite Trump’s promises to tame inflation and unleash growth.

In his speech, Trump will touch on deregulation, energy independence and oil prices, and affordability, said the White House official, who was granted anonymity to preview the president’s address.

▶ Read more about Trump’s trip to Miami

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CORRECTS name to America Business Forum, not American Business Forum