WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on the U.S. presidential transition (all times EST):
9:45 p.m.
President-elect Donald Trump is back on Twitter, taking on the protesters who have gathered in cities across the nation since his election.
Trump tweets: “Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!”
Thousands have been gathering in cities from New York to Dallas to San Francisco to voice opposition to Trump’s election.
Trump’s complaint Thursday about the media echoes the rhetoric of his campaign, when he railed against the press as “disgusting” and “dishonest.”
A few minutes earlier, Trump was more positive about his trip to Washington, tweeting: “A fantastic day in D.C. Met with President Obama for first time. Really good meeting, great chemistry. Melania liked Mrs. O a lot!”
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9:40 p.m.
Billionaire conservative donor Charles Koch (kohk) says the election shows America is “more deeply divided than at any point in my lifetime.”
Koch and his brother, David, oversaw policy and politics groups that spent about $250 million in the two years ahead of the election, much of it on a successful drive to keep the Senate in Republican hands. However, the brothers did not support Donald Trump and withheld their money from the presidential race.
In an email Thursday to his groups’ donors and employees, obtained by AP, Koch does not specifically mention Trump but says his group would work to find common ground with any elected official.
Koch says the election “made clear that Americans are angry about a rigged economy and political system that’s driving our country toward a two-tiered society,” he wrote.
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7:37 p.m.
Donald Trump has won Arizona’s presidential contest and its 11 electoral votes.
The Republican president-elect had a solid lead over Hillary Clinton on election night, but a winner wasn’t declared because there were so many uncounted votes. The latest batch of returns tabulated Thursday made him the clear winner.
It extends a 20-year winning streak for Republican presidential candidates in Arizona. Bill Clinton was the last Democrat to take the state, winning in 1996.
Hillary Clinton was closer to gaining Arizona than Barack Obama, who lost by more than 9 percentage points during his two runs for president. She is losing by 4 points.
Arizona was one of three races that had yet to be determined from the Tuesday election. Michigan and New Hampshire remain too close to call.
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7:16 p.m.
Several hundred well-wishers and a high school band greeted Vice President-elect Mike Pence when he landed in Indiana for the first time since Tuesday’s election.
Fire trucks sprayed streams of water in the air over the Republican governor’s plane Thursday night and the marching band played, “My Indiana Home.”
Pence told the crowd he was humbled to be Donald Trump’s vice president. And he choked up when he said that his heart will always be in the state no matter where his new duties take him.
Pence also asked the crowd to support President-elect Donald Trump and to pray that the starkly divided country to be reunified.
He said he was grateful for Republican majorities in Congress and looks forward to getting the country back on track.
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6:38 p.m.
Former President Bill Clinton has spoken to President-elect Donald Trump by phone. That’s according to a spokesman for the former president and husband of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
The spokesman says the former president congratulated Trump during the brief call on Thursday and wished him well.
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6:17 p.m.
The White House says Vice President Joe Biden talked to Mike Pence Thursday about the key duties of vice president and well as specific policy portfolios he has worked on, including the NATO alliance, eastern Europe and expanding access to the middle class.
The White House says in describing the meeting that the two men spoke in the vice president’s office in the West Wing and that they reminisced about their friendship dating back to when they served in Congress.
The White House says Biden offered his full support to the vice president-elect to ensure a seamless transition to power and that he invited the Pence family to join him and his wife for dinner on the grounds of the Naval Observatory, which is where the vice president traditionally resides.
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5:13 p.m.
Donald Trump has picked a longtime friend and private equity executive to lead his inauguration efforts.
Tom Barrack, who founded California-based firm Colony Capital, has been selected to serve as chairman of the President-elect’s inaugural committee. That’s according to two sources with direct knowledge of the decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal discussions.
Barrack has been an aggressive public supporter of Trump throughout the campaign. He was among the primetime speakers at Trump’s nominating convention this summer.
The inaugural chairman is responsible for raising millions of dollars to fund the inauguration, which includes several major parties and an extensive entertainment program.
Barrack’s office declined a request for comment.
He told CBS “This Morning” on Thursday that Trump was like an ultimate fighter during the campaign who used “whatever tools necessary to convey a really disruptive message.” He said America would see “a softer, kinder” Trump now that he’s won the presidency.
— By Steve Peoples and Julie Bykowicz
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5:12 p.m.
The president of the United Auto Workers says the union’s views on trade align with Donald Trump’s, and he’d like a meeting with the president-elect to talk about it.
Dennis Williams says he agrees with Trump’s call for scrapping the North American Free Trade Agreement, which has sent auto jobs to Mexico. He also backs Trump’s proposal for a 35 percent tariff on vehicles imported from Mexico.
The UAW has historically supported Democratic candidates and endorsed Hillary Clinton this year. But Michigan, which has the most auto workers of any state, narrowly voted for Trump in unofficial results. Internal polling of union members prior to the election showed 28 percent going for Trump with 6 percent undecided. Williams says Trump’s total may actually have been slightly higher than the 31 percent who voted for Mitt Romney and 33 percent who went for John McCain.
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5 p.m.
As President-elect Donald Trump puts together his White House, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and top campaign aide Kellyanne Conway are emerging as possible picks for chief of staff.
That’s according to two people familiar with the transition planning.
Conway, a prominent Republican pollster, served as Trump’s third campaign chief of staff and developed a strong rapport with the candidate. Priebus embraced Trump after his nomination, despite concerns among other Republicans, and worked his way into his inner circle.
A third person with knowledge of the transition process says conservative media executive Steve Bannon is also in the mix for chief of staff. However, others insist Bannon would not have a White House role.
Those involved in the process insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the planning publicly. A decision on chief of staff is expected in the coming days.
- By Julie Pace, Julie Bykowicz and Steve Peoples
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3:35 p.m.
President-elect Donald Trump says his top three priorities are immigration, health care and jobs.
“Big-league jobs,” he says.
Trump spoke briefly with reporters Thursday after meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at the Capitol.
Trump is wrapping up his first trip to Washington since winning Tuesday’s election. He’s been meeting with President Barack Obama and House Speaker Paul Ryan.
When a reporter asked if he would ask Congress to ban Muslims, Trump said “Thank you everybody,” and walked away.
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2:29 p.m.
More than 100 protesters are holding a sit-in outside Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue as the president-elect meets with Republican leaders a few blocks away on Capitol Hill.
The mostly student protesters are holding signs that say #stillwithher and Love Trumps Hate, a phrase that Hillary Clinton often used during her campaign against Trump.
The demonstrators sat on the sidewalk outside Trump’s new hotel, chanting “Black Lives Matter” and “Stronger Together,” a slogan of Clinton’s campaign.
Trump met earlier with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office near the hotel.
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2:15 p.m.
House Speaker Paul Ryan says he and President-elect Donald Trump had a “fantastic, productive meeting” at the Capitol.
Trump called the meeting “an honor.” He added that, “I think we’re going to do some absolutely spectacular things for the American people.”
Trump may have signaled early agenda items where the Republicans agree. He said: “We can’t get started fast enough, whether it’s health care or immigration.”
Ryan then took Trump, Melania Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence out onto his balcony overlooking the Mall. Ryan pointed to where the inaugural platform being is built. That’s where Trump will be sworn in.
Trump at one point gestured toward the tower of his new hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the Capitol.
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2:10 p.m.
First lady Michelle Obama and incoming first lady Melania Trump have spoken about the challenges of raising children in the White House.
Mrs. Trump’s 10-year-old son Barron Trump will become a teenager during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term. White House spokesman Josh Earnest says that’s “a rather unique childhood.”
He pointed out that Mrs. Obama and President Barack Obama also had the experience of raising children in the White House.
Earnest said Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Trump spoke about the experience of being a good parent under those unique circumstances. He said the two women then walked to the Oval Office to visit with the president and the president-elect.
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2:05 p.m.
Federal officials have imposed temporary flight restrictions over Vice President-elect Mike Pence’s current home at the Indiana governor’s residence.
A Federal Aviation Administration notice dated Wednesday prohibits most aircraft from flying below 1,500 feet within a one-mile radius of the governor’s residence in Indianapolis. It says military aircraft supporting the Secret Service are exempt, along with police and emergency aircraft.
The FAA generally issues temporary restrictions when there’s a special event or hazardous condition. Similar limits have been issued for around Trump Tower in New York City.
The notice says the Indianapolis air space restrictions are needed because of “VIP movement.” They expire Jan. 21, the day after Pence becomes vice president.
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1:50 p.m.
Donald Trump’s first wife, Ivana, says she voted for her ex. She says he’ll “make big changes” in the United States.
Ivana Trump offered the comment when reached by phone by her fourth husband, Rossano Rubicondi, while he appeared on an Italian TV talk show.
Ivana Trump is the mother of the president-elect’s three oldest children. She married Rubicondi in 2008 and legally separated from him later that year.
According to a news release from the “Maurizio Costanzo Show,” Ivana Trump said: “Naturally I voted for Donald. He’s a businessman who will make big changes.”
The show is scheduled to air Sunday.
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1:10 p.m.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has spoken with Vice President-elect Mike Pence, her former House colleague.
Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said that Pelosi congratulated Pence on his win in their conversation Thursday.
Hammill said: “The two agreed on the need to find common ground and that they would meet in person in the weeks ahead.”
Pence served in the House of Representatives before becoming governor of Indiana.
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1 p.m.
President-elect Donald Trump has left the White House after his first meeting with President Barack Obama.
Trump says it was the first time the two had ever met. For almost 90 minutes, they discussed the coming changeover of government. Trump said they had planned to meet for a much shorter period of time.
While in Washington, Trump also plans to meet with House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
As Trump and Obama met in the Oval Office, first lady Michelle Obama welcomed Trump’s wife, Melania, to the White House residence.
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