On Politics

Mon Dec 9 2024

Rebecca Morin | Senior National News Reporter

@RebeccaMorin_

Happy Monday! It's Rebecca Morin, senior national news reporter at USA TODAY. Solidcore, my favorite workout class, is having a holiday challenge right now, and I'm struggling to keep up!

Top takeaways from Trump's interview with NBC's 'Meet the Press'

President-elect Donald Trump isn't in office just yet. But he's laying out his plans for his new term once it comes around. Trump sat for his first network news interview since winning the election where he said he "can't guarantee" tariffs won't raise prices. He also laid out two big things he wants to do on day one: pardon Jan. 6 rioters and try to ban birthright citizenship. Read more.

•	More on what Trump said about pardoning rioters from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.
•	What is birthright citizenship and the 14th amendment? Explaining Trump's desired changes

From eye doctor to brutal dictator: The rise (and fall) of Syria's Bashar Assad

Bashar Assad rose from unintended beginnings as the leader of Syria, a strategically important Middle Eastern nation, to the iron-fisted strongman whose abdication was cheered Saturday by nearly everyone in Syria − and around the world. Read more.

•	The world won't wait: Trump's foreign policy takeover begins, from Syria to Ukraine
•	A Syrian dictator's toppling raises new hopes for missing American journalist Austin Tice

An evening at the Kennedy Center

President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff attend the 47th Kennedy Center Honors gala at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Dec. 8, 2024.

Ken Cedeno/REUTERS

A politics pit stop

•	Nancy Pelosi shares 'Deadhead' past at Joe Biden's final Kennedy Center Honors
•	Biden pardoned his son. Should he also forgive more student debt?
•	Watch: How diverse is Trump's proposed cabinet?
•	Supreme Court won't review admissions policy challenged as unfair to whites, Asian Americans
•	Tick-tock. Social Security Fairness Act's nearing death without Senate vote scheduled

How Harris campaign spent $1 billion

Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign raked in tons of money during her 107 day candidacy for president – raising $1 billion dollars. In the final weeks of the campaign, Harris' campaign spent a quarter billion dollars alone on advertising, travel, canvassing, and of course, rallies with big-name celebrities like Ricky Martin, Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey, according to new federal records. Read more.

•	Campaign finance records show Harris' $1 million payment to Oprah's production company

In Miami, grocery and housing prices are soaring. It made Trump more popular.

The shift in Miami-Dade County, a longtime Democratic stronghold, was years in the making. After New Yorkers and Californians flocked to Miami during the COVID-19, prices on food and housing skyrocketed. Many residents are still feeling the pain in their pocketbooks. And that led to Donald Trump being the first Republican to win the area in 36 years. Read my final dispatch from my post-election trip to Florida.

Got a burning question, or comment, for On Politics? You can submit them here or send me an email at rdmorin@usatoday.com.