*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.
NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo has disclosed that he was paid a $3.1 million advance to write his COVID-19 leadership book last year and will make another $2 million on the memoir over the next two years.
President Joe Biden says the U.S. will share an additional 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines with the world in the coming six weeks.
The Treasury Department says 39 million families are set to receive monthly child payments beginning on July 15.
China has landed a spacecraft on Mars for the first time in the latest step forward for its ambitious space program.
Gas shortages have spread from the South, almost exhausting supplies in Washington, DC. The runs on gasoline follow a ransomware cyberattack that forced a shutdown of the nation’s largest gasoline pipeline.
Cheddar explains why some European countries are building new bicycle superhighways and how it'll transform their transportation landscape.
Two men detained by British immigration officials in Glasgow have been released after a seven-hour standoff between hundreds of protesters and Scottish police.
Republicans have vaulted Rep. Elise Stefanik into the ranks of House leadership. The upstate New York Republican was elected to the party's No. 3 post on Friday.
The CDC is easing indoor mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people, allowing them to safely stop wearing masks inside in most places. The new guidance was announced Thursday at the White House.
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 473,000, the latest evidence that fewer employers are cutting jobs as consumers ramp up spending and more businesses reopen.
