NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight’s 7 p.m. ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here.
Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 7/6C on NewsNation. Find your channel here.
Editor’s note: It’s been a week! Rachel, Dutch and I drove back from New York City this morning so welcome to an abbreviated version of War Notes – have a great weekend watching college football (Roll Tide/Go Vols!) and please spend time with people you love not talking about politics.
ALERT: The world is changing
- Qatar reportedly ordered Hamas officials to leave immediately.
- The European union will now reportedly look at buying American rather than Russian oil
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed a new ambassador to the United States.
What I am thinking: It’s stunning how quickly the world changes when it’s scared that an American president, even though he is president-elect, will stand up for America.
Telling the truth: “Charlamagne tha God” of all people called out Democrats for dropping the “fascist” accusations against Trump post elections.
- YES! It was all politics and the American people didn’t believe them – that’s why they lost.
THIS CLOSE!
📈Donald Trump’s and Republicans’ rout almost wasn’t – in fact, a change in just 225,425 votes across Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan would make Kamala Harris president.
| Wisconsin | Michigan | Pennsylvania | 2024 Blue Wall Totals | 2020 Blue Wall Vote Totals | |
| Trump | 1,699,396 | 2,798,872 | 3,488,765 | 7,987,033 | 7,637,710 |
| Harris | 1,666,346 | 2,716,634 | 3,350,378 | 7,733,358 | 7,893,135 |
| margin | 33,050 | 82,238 | 138,387 | +253,675 (Trump) | +255,425 (Biden) |
- Perspective: For those watching college football tomorrow, that’s roughly less than the combined capacity of the football stadiums at those states’ biggest schools: the University of Wisconsin, the University of Michigan and Pennsylvania State University.
- More perspective: Trump won the blue wall by less than Joe Biden did in 2020.
The math: If Harris had held the blue wall, she would have beat Trump in the electoral college 270 to 269 – and we would be having a VERY different conversation today.
- I am not sure what that means, but if the positions were reversed and Harris had won, we would have pointed that out – so fairness dictates we do here too.
Watch tonight: Famed political journalist Mark Halperin and former Trump Press Secretary Sean Spicer join us on what Trump’s mandate is and, more importantly, if he is disciplined enough to carry it out.
- Thought bubble: The anti-establishment, fed up with grocery prices, scared of an open border move by much of America is very, very real – that’s different than a mandate for MAGA!
- It’s also evidence of a deeply divided country that wants change.
Are Trump and Republicans smart enough to not screw it up and actually deliver on what the American people want?
- Will they compromise to bring immigration reform?
The Bro Vote
Yes, the “bro vote” (young men under 35) turned out for Donald Trump.
- In fact, young men shifted to the right by fifteen points.
Spiritual leader: If the bro movement had a single leader it wouldn’t be Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA, it would be Joe Rogan.
- Rogan said today that Trump’s mandate is to bring the country together: “He’s got to not attack the left and not attack everybody. Let them all talk their sh*t. But unite. Now it’s time to unite everybody.”
- Not own the libs
- Not go after his enemies
- Not to deport 15 million people as Senator-elect Jim Banks suggests
- He told CNN, “It starts with deporting violent criminals.”
- I don’t know the polling but why not just say – if an illegal immigrant commits a crime here they will be deported immediately?
- Republicans lose people when they talk about deporting hard-working people contributing to America.
- I don’t know the polling but why not just say – if an illegal immigrant commits a crime here they will be deported immediately?
- He told CNN, “It starts with deporting violent criminals.”
Bonus coverage: Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-TX, joins us on the Latino vote and to discuss whether his party will finally listen to his warnings about open borders.
Losing the Signal
For as much as Republicans are misunderstanding their mandate, Democrats want to fight against it.
- Our buddy Niall Stanage (@NiallStanage) at The Hill sent over a list of Democratic governors promising to defy Trump.
- Despite their states all moving meaningfully to Trump.
- Governor of California Gavin Newsom is calling a special session in the state to fund litigation against Trump.
- Illinois Governor JB Pritzker issued a warning for the new Republican government.
- Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey promised she would not authorize state police to help with mass deportations under Trump.
- Despite their states all moving meaningfully to Trump.
When will they learn: If there is one thing that didn’t work in this election, it was opposing Trump – but here we go again.
Finally a Little Fun!
Remember all those people who said they would move to Canada if Trump won? Canada is worried.
- From Reuters: “Canadian police and migrant aid groups are bracing for an influx of asylum-seekers fleeing President-elect Donald Trump’s United States at the same time Canada deals with record numbers of refugee claimants and is trying to bring in fewer immigrants.”
- Oh the irony – Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau loved nothing more than showing off his love of COVID lockdowns, vaccine mandates and open borders immigration policy – now he’s worried about Americans escaping Trump!
What will Canada do if Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift and Beyonce all fly their private jets to Montreal?
No, seriously – the celebrities couldn’t make Harris president – just like they couldn’t make Hillary Clinton president.
- In a few days, reporters will write the autopsy stories to show why Kamala Harris lost — they did the same thing when Hillary Clinton lost in 2016 and most of them started at the same place.
- Harris’ closing rally on Monday night — election eve in Philadelphia — with Bruce Springsteen didn’t work for her, like it didn’t work for Hillary Clinton. Clinton also rallied with Springsteen the night before the election.
But there is one person we haven’t heard from in all of this – George Clooney – who wrote the famous op-ed channeling Barack Obama that told President Biden to drop out of the race.
Maybe he’s at his villa in Italy – he basically already left America.
Reuters reports: “Google searches for ‘move to Canada’ surged 1,270% in the 24 hours after U.S. East Coast polls closed on Tuesday, company data shows. Similar searches about moving to New Zealand climbed nearly 2,000% while those for Australia jumped 820%.”
- New Zealand’s immigration site reportedly got 25,000 visits from Americans compared to 1,500 on a normal day.
Earlier we said oh the irony – of Justin Trudeau’s newfound desire to turn away refugees – perhaps we should have said “oh Canada” — that’s the name of the country’s national anthem that starts, and I quote, “O Canada! Our home and native land.”
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.