Donald Trump spoke with Vladimir Putin on Thursday and told the Russian president he should not escalate the war in Ukraine, according to a new report from the Washington Post.

On the campaign trail, Trump said he could end the war in Ukraine on his first day in office, though he hasn’t offered specifics on how he would accomplish that. Trump told Putin that a possible deal could allow Russia to gain some territory, the Post reported.

Days after the election, Trump said that he spoke with 70 world leaders after his victory, including Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a call that included Elon Musk.

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If you want to read more about Donald Trump’s reported phone call with Vladimir Putin, you can see our full report here.

Some companies have been moving factories from China to Southeast Asia, anticipating Donald Trump would slap high tariffs on Beijing if he regained the White House, a move set to accelerate with his election win, industrial park developers in the region say.

Trump, who won a resounding victory on Tuesday, has threatened 60% tariffs on goods coming into the US from China, much higher than the levies of 7.5% to 25% he imposed in his first term, a major risk for the world’s second-largest economy.

Southeast Asia – which has auto and electronics factories from Thailand to Vietnam and Malaysia – will likely benefit at China’s expense, said two executives, two business groups, a lawyer and an analyst in the region, speaking to Reuters.

Developers of industrial parks are adding Chinese speakers and preparing land tracts for factories, a sign of how Trump, who takes office in January, could reshuffle global supply chains.

As Trump geared up his campaign to retake the presidency earlier this year, calls from Chinese customers flooded WHA Group, one of Thailand’s largest industrial estate developers, said CEO Jareeporn Jarukornsakul.

“There was [already] a relocation to Southeast Asia, but this round is going to be more intense,” she said, referring to Trump‘s 2017-2021 first term.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and president-elect Donald Trump spoke on Sunday evening to exchange views on bilateral relations and geopolitical challenges, a German government spokesperson said.

“The chancellor emphasised the German government’s willingness to continue the decades of successful cooperation between the two countries’ governments. They also agreed to work together towards a return to peace in Europe,” he said.

Joe Biden has invited Trump to come to the Oval Office on Wednesday, the White House said earlier today. National security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday that Biden’s top message will be his commitment to ensure a peaceful transfer of power, and he will also talk to Trump about what’s happening in Europe, in Asia and the Middle East.

“President Biden will have the opportunity over the next 70 days to make the case to the Congress and to the incoming administration that the United States should not walk away from Ukraine, that walking away from Ukraine means more instability in Europe,” Sullivan told CBS.

When asked if Biden would ask Congress to pass legislation to authorise more funding for Ukraine, Sullivan deferred.

“I’m not here to put forward a specific legislative proposal. President Biden will make the case that we do need ongoing resources for Ukraine beyond the end of his term,” Sullivan said.

Trump will take office on 20 January.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry has said reports Kyiv was informed in advance of a phone call between president-elect Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin are false.

The Washington Post, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Trump and Putin spoke by phone on Thursday and discussed the war in Ukraine. It said Kyiv was informed of the call and did not object to the conversation taking place.

“Reports that the Ukrainian side was informed in advance of the alleged call are false. Subsequently, Ukraine could not have endorsed or opposed the call,” foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi told Reuters.

In an interview on Fox News, Republican Senator Rick Scott said that the Senate needs to implement real change. Scott is running to fill the influential post of Senate majority leader, after the party won control of the chamber.

We can’t keep doing what we’re doing … That’s what Donald Trump got elected to do, to be the change.”

Trump campaigned on promises, among other things, to deport immigrants who are in the United States illegally, cut taxes, impose tariffs on international trading partners and loosen fiscal policy.

Scott has the backing of several Republican senators, but it remains whether he can bring Republican moderates to his side.

Each party votes on their leader in the Senate in January, after senators have been sworn in to the new Congress. Whoever wins the Republican leadership will succeed Democrat Chuck Schumer as majority leader.

Scott has already garnered an endorsement from Elon Musk.

  • Donald Trump had a call with Vladimir Putin on Thursday, according to a report from the Washington Post, telling the Russian president that he shouldn’t escalate the war with Ukraine. Trump reportedly floated support for a deal where Russia ends its offense in exchange for territory.

  • The race for a new Senate majority leader is heating up, with three Republicans vying for the spot. Senator Rick Scott of Florida has so far won the support from Trump’s Maga camp, including from RFK Jr, Tucker Carlson and Elon Musk. Trump has yet to announce an endorsement himself, though he said on Sunday that he would want a new leader to conduct “recess appointments”, a controversial method of getting cabinet members into office quickly while temporarily sidestepping a lengthy Senate confirmation process.

  • Multiple Democrats have spent the weekend on the talk show circuit speculating on where the party went wrong this election. A vocal critic has emerged in the form of Bernie Sanders, who doubled down on his comments that Democrats lost working class voters to Trump after failing to be strong advocates against corporate power.

  • Bitcoin soared to a new record high on Sunday, as the cryptocurrency continues to rise after Trump’s presidential election win. The digital currency passed $80,000 for the first time in its history shortly after 12am GMT, according to AFP.

Yadira Caraveo, a Democrat representative for Colorado, announced she is conceding in her race against Republican Gabe Evans. The AP has yet to call the race.

The chance for Democrats to take a House majority grows slimmer with each race that is won by a Republican candidate. House Republicans have 213 seats, with Caraveo conceding her race. That means Republicans need five more seats to maintain their majority, while House Democrats need at least 15 wins – what may be hard with many closely contested races yet to be called.

The election is still tense in Arizona as the AP has yet to call a closely watched race between Democrat Ruben Gallego and Republican Kari Lake, polls for which have shown Gallego in a slight lead over Lake.

Republicans in Arizona are countering American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) efforts to extend a ballot curing deadline set for 5pm on Sunday.

Thousands of votes are still left to be verified, or “cured”, as election officials attempt to contact voters about ballots with issues, like signatures that don’t match voter records.

Harmeet Dhillon, a lawyer for the Arizona GOP, said the party filed papers in an attempt to block an extension.

On Saturday, Warren Petersen, a Republican state senator and president of the Arizona senate, said on Twitter/X that he authorized the state senate to intervene and “defend existing law so we can determine the outcome as soon as possible. It has already taken too much time!”

Seems like the term “recess appointments” is going to be heard a lot over the next few days, as Senate Republicans vote in a new majority leader this week.

Donald Trump on Sunday, while avoiding an endorsement of any of the three senators who are running to be leader – John Cornyn of Texas, Rick Scott of Florida and John Thune of South Dakota – called on the new leader to get his cabinet appointments through quickly through “recess appointments”.

“Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments,” Trump tweeted. “Without which we will not be able to get confirmed in a timely manner. Sometimes the votes can take two years, or more. This is what they did four years ago, and we cannot let it happen again.”

Recess appointments are made when the Senate is in recess and are seen as temporary appointments, but are used to quickly get nominees into office without a lengthy Senate confirmation process – which includes hearings and votes. Essentially, a recess appointment is a way Trump could quickly get his cabinet seated, while temporarily sidestepping the confirmation process.

It’s a controversial move, and the candidates for Senate majority leader are already weighing in support. Thune, in a statement, said: “We must act quickly and decisively to get the president’s cabinet and other nominees in place as soon as possible to start delivering on the mandate we’ve been sent to execute, and all options are on the table to make that happen, including recess appointments.”

Scott simply replied to Trump saying: “I will do whatever it takes to get your nominations through as quickly as possible.”

Donald Trump was declared the winner in Arizona early on Sunday, completing the Republicans’ clean sweep of the so-called swing states and rubbing salt in Democrats’ wounds as it was announced that the president-elect is scheduled to meet with Joe Biden at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the presidential handover.

In a national campaign that was projected as being extremely close but he ended up winning handily, the result in Arizona gives Trump 312 electoral college votes, compared with Kamala Harris’s 226. The state joins the other Sun belt swing states – Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina – and the three Rust belt states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in voting Republican. All were expected to be extremely competitive but all went for Trump, though by fairly close margins.

Republicans also regained control of the Senate – they hold 53 seats to the Democrats’ 46 – and look likely to keep control of the House of Representatives, where 21 races remain uncalled but Republicans currently have a 212-202 advantage, giving them a “trifecta” – both houses of Congress as well as the presidency – that will allow them to govern largely unfettered for at least the next two years.

The political realignment comes after a bruising election that has set the stage for the Democratic party to re-evaluate a platform that appeared to have been rejected by a majority of US voters. Trump also won the popular vote, the first time a Republican has done so since George W Bush in 2004 following the 9/11 attacks a few years before.

Elon Musk is weighing in on the three-way race for Senate majority leader among Republicans, endorsing Florida senator Rick Scott for the leadership position.

Scott is running against Senators John Cornyn of Texas and minority whip John Thune of South Dakota. In an earlier tweet on Sunday, Musk called Thune “the top choice of Democrats”.

Donald Trump has not weighed in on the leader race, though he said in a new statement that said the new leader should usher in his nominees as quickly as possible.

“Sometimes the votes can take two years or more,” Trump wrote. “This is what they did four years ago, and we cannot let it happen again. We need positions filled IMMEDIATELY!”

In reply, Scott said: “I will do whatever it takes to get your nominations through as quickly as possible.”

Donald Trump spoke with Vladimir Putin on Thursday and told the Russian president he should not escalate the war in Ukraine, according to a new report from the Washington Post.

On the campaign trail, Trump said he could end the war in Ukraine on his first day in office, though he hasn’t offered specifics on how he would accomplish that. Trump told Putin that a possible deal could allow Russia to gain some territory, the Post reported.

Days after the election, Trump said that he spoke with 70 world leaders after his victory, including Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a call that included Elon Musk.

US representative Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts, told MSNBC that he stands by comments he made to the New York Times about trans athletes in sports.

Moulton told the New York Times: “Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about challenges many Americans face,” he said. “I have two little girls, I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat, I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.”

On MSNBC Sunday, Moulton said he was “speaking authentically as a dad on one of many issues where I think we are out of touch with the majority of voters and I stand by my position. Maybe I didn’t get all the words right, but the point is that the backlash I received proves my point that we can’t even have these discussions as a party.”

Moulton added that the chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party “wouldn’t even return my phone call”.

Some of Moulton’s former staff and interns are circulating a letter to the congressman saying that his remarks come “at the cost of others’ safety and success”.

“The way these concerns were presented risks reinforcing a harmful narrative about trans youth, who already face disproportionate discrimination and challenges,” the letter said.

Bernie Sanders said he opposes any move to force Sonia Sotomayor, the senior liberal justice on the US supreme court, to step down so that Joe Biden could nominate a younger liberal replacement before he finishes his term as president.

Sotomayor, 70, is known to suffer from health issues, and some Democrats fear a repeat of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died during Donald Trump’s first term – giving him a third opportunity to nominate a new justice and further shore up the top court’s conservative bent.

In his first term, Trump appointed Neil Gorsuch to replace Antonin Scalia, Brett Kavanaugh to succeed Anthony Kennedy, and Amy Coney Barrett to take the place of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died less than two months before the 2020 election – leaving six largely conservative judges to just three liberals.

Trump’s first-term appointees to the court were critical to overturning abortion rights and a series of other rulings that delighted conservative activists.

In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, Sanders, a progressive senator who identifies as an independent but usually votes with Democrats, said it would not be “sensible” to ask Sotomayor to step down while Biden is still in office.

He added he had heard “a little bit” of talk from Democratic senators about asking Sotomayor, who is serving a lifetime appointment to the supreme court, to step aside.

“I don’t think it’s sensible,” Sanders said, without elaborating further.

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