*By Carlo Versano*
There is an unspoken tradition in Washington that the president faces the press a day after a midterm election that revokes power from his party in Congress. When Democrats gained control of both houses in 2006, a humbled President George W. Bush called it a "thumping." In 2010, an equally-chastened President Barack Obama admitted his party took a "shellacking."
No such thing happened on Wednesday.
President Trump vacillated between subdued and combative as he called Tuesday's election ー in which Democrats took control of the House and several pivotal governorships ー a "very close-to-complete victory."
Trump took credit for the GOP's ability to maintain control of the Senate and blamed certain losses of House Republican candidates on their disloyalty. He praised Rep. Nancy Pelosi, calling her "very smart," but then warned House Democrats that he would have Senate Republicans probe their conduct, should they use their newfound subpoena power to investigate him.
In a nearly two-hour-long press conference from the East Room of the White House that began with a low-key statement but quickly deteriorated into a rollicking Q&A, the president ratcheted up his antagonism of the gathered press corps. He called CNN's Jim Acosta a "rude, terrible person" and excoriated PBS' Yamiche Alcindor for asking "a racist question" when she attempted to probe him on whether his rhetoric was emboldening white nationalists.
As the president spoke, the AP called the contested Montana Senate race for Jon Tester, one of the Democrats that Trump was reportedly most hoping to defeat.
Amplify Energy’s emergency response plan for a major oil spill like the one unfolding in coastal Southern California depended heavily on a quick shutdown of its pipeline if sensors pick up a sudden loss of pressure.
New York's new Cannabis Control Board met Tuesday for its inaugural meeting to expand the Empire State's medical cannabis program effective immediately and appoint key staffers following months of delays.
Calling opponents “complicit in America’s decline,” President Joe Biden is making the case for his ambitious social spending and building plans by framing them as as key to America’s global competitiveness and future success.
A former Facebook data scientist has told Congress that the social network giant’s products harm children and fuel polarization in the U.S. while its executives refuse to change because they elevate profits over safety.
A Russian actor and a film director have rocketed into space to make the world’s first movie in orbit.
A new report sheds light on how world leaders, powerful politicians, billionaires and others have used offshore accounts to shield assets collectively worth trillions of dollars over the past quarter-century.
Senators have fired a barrage of criticism at a Facebook executive over the social-networking giant’s handling of internal research on how its Instagram photo-sharing platform can harm teens
Congress took a big step toward avoiding a partial federal shutdown on Thursday when the Senate passed a bill to keep the government funded through Dec. 3.
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose for the third straight week, a sign that the highly contagious delta variant may be slowing the job market’s recovery.
Despite China's cryptocurrency crackdown, many in the industry are making the case that crypto's demise is not yet a done deal in the world's second-largest economy.
