Washington
Trump makes a victor's return to Washington to meet with Biden and GOP lawmakers
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is making a victor’s return to Washington.
President Joe Biden will welcome him to the White House on Wednesday for an Oval Office visit that is a traditional part of the peaceful handoff of power — a ritual that Trump himself declined to participate in four years ago.
Trump also planned to meet with Republicans from Congress as they focus on his Day 1 priorities and prepare for a potentially unified government with a GOP sweep of power in the nation’s capital. His arrival amid Republican congressional leadership elections could put his imprint on the outcome.
It’s a stunning return to the U.S. seat of government for the former president, who departed nearly four years ago a diminished, politically defeated leader after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol but is preparing to come back to power with what he and his GOP allies see as a mandate for governance.
Ahead of the visit, House Speaker Mike Johnson said that Republicans are “ready to deliver” on Trump’s “America First” agenda.
After his election win in 2016, Trump met with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office and called it “a great honor.” But he soon was back to heaping insults on Obama, including accusing his predecessor — without evidence — of having wire-tapped him during the 2016 campaign.
Four years later, Trump disputed his 2020 election loss to Biden, and he has continued to lie about widespread voter fraud that did not occur. He didn’t invite Biden, then the president-elect, to the White House and he left Washington without attending Biden’s inauguration. It was the first time that had happened since Andrew Johnson skipped Ulysses S. Grant’s swearing-in 155 years ago.
Biden insists that he’ll do everything he can to make the transition to the next Trump administration go smoothly. That’s despite having spent more than a year campaigning for reelection and decrying Trump as a threat to democracy and the nation’s core values. Biden then bowed out of the race in July and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him.
In the wake of the election, the president has abandoned his dire warnings about Trump, saying in a speech last week, “The American experiment endures. We’re going to be okay.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden is committed to “making sure that this transition is effective, efficient and he’s doing that because it is the norm, yes, but also the right thing to do for the American people.”
“We want this to go well,” Jean-Pierre added. “We want this to be a process that gets the job done.”
Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan echoed that sentiment, saying the administration will uphold the “responsible handoff from one president to the next, which is in the best tradition of our country.”
Wednesday’s visit is more than just a courtesy call.
“They will go through the top issues — both domestic and foreign policy issues — including what is happening in Europe and Asia and the Middle East,” Sullivan told CBS of Wednesday’s meeting. “And the president will have the chance to explain to President Trump how he sees things … and talk to President Trump about how President Trump is thinking about taking on these issues when he takes office.”
Traditionally, as the outgoing and incoming presidents meet in the West Wing, the first lady hosts her successor upstairs in the residence — but Melania Trump isn’t expected to attend.
After his 2016 meeting with Obama, Trump also visited lawmakers on Capitol Hill and will be doing the same Wednesday — not far from where a mob of his supporters staged a violent January 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol to try and stop the certification of Biden’s election victory.
When Trump left Washington in 2021, even some top Republicans had begun to decry him for his role in helping incite the Capitol attack. But his win in last week’s election completes a political comeback that has seen Trump once again become the unchallenged head of the GOP.
It’s not the first time Trump has returned to the Capitol area since the end of his first term, though. Congressional Republicans hosted Trump over the summer, as Trump was again solidifying his dominance over the party.
His latest visit comes as Republicans, who wrested the Senate majority from Democrats in last week’s elections and are on the cusp of keeping GOP control of the House, are in the midst of their own leadership elections happening behind closed doors Wednesday.
The president-elect’s arrival will provide another boost to Johnson, who has pulled ever-closer to Trump as he worked to keep his majority — and his own job with the gavel.
The speaker said he expects to see Trump repeatedly throughout the week, including at an event later that evening, and at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida “all weekend.”
It’s unclear whether Trump will also visit the Senate, which is entangled in a more divisive closed-door leadership election in the three-way race to replace outgoing GOP Leader Mitch McConnell.
Trump’s allies are pushing GOP senators to vote for Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who had been a longshot candidate challenging two more senior Republicans, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, for the job.
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Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.
Washington
Two Former Washington Nationals First Round Picks Opt To Become Free Agents
There is plenty of young talent within this Washington Nationals organization that should give hope for how things will look in the upcoming years.
After trading away Juan Soto in a difficult decision at the 2022 trade deadline, it looks like that deal was a home run for them with almost all of their returning pieces looking like they could become franchise cornerstones.
Beyond that, there are others in the pipeline who seem to have bright futures as well, and based on how general manager Mike Rizzo has operated recently, they will get a chance to prove they can be part of this team going forward during the upcoming 2025 season.
However, two of the Nationals past first-round picks are no longer with the team.
According to Mark Zuckerman of MASN, Carter Kieboom and Mason Denaburg have elected to become free agents, ending their tenure within Washington’s organization.
Kieboom was taken 28th overall in the 2016 draft, and early on in his career, he was thought to be their third baseman of the future.
But things didn’t quite work out that way.
He could never get things going at the plate, slashing .199/.297/.301 with 12 homers, 42 RBI and an OPS+ of 65 across his 133 Major League games from 2019-23. The Tommy John surgery he underwent that caused him to miss the entire 2022 campaign didn’t help him either.
At 27 years old, Kieboom will look for his next opportunity elsewhere, hoping he can resurrect his career and live up to the first-round projection he had almost a decade ago.
As for Denaburg, he never came close to reaching the MLB.
Despite being taken 27th overall in 2018, the right-handed pitcher hasn’t even made it to Double-A at any point of his career, having been snake bitten by injuries and poor play throughout.
While the Nationals are certainly brimming with young talent at this stage of their rebuild, the departures of Kieboom and Denaburg this offseason are reminders of how poor they have been at drafting players in the first round over the years.
Hopefully that will come to an end as the front office looks to supplement their pipeline while their star prospects get called up to The Show.
Washington
Where do the Washington Commanders Rank in the NFL After Week 10?
The Washington Commanders entered their Week 10 matchup as a dark horse Super Bowl-contending squad. They added four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore at the trade deadline, though he was dealing with a hamstring that delayed his debut with the team.
With a matchup against another dark horse Super Bowl contender and one of the hottest teams in the NFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Commanders were able to put 27 points on the board, but it wasn’t enough as they suffered a 28-27 loss.
Bleacher Report released their Week 11 power rankings roundtable from their expert analysts, and the Commanders stood pat ranked No. 7 in the NFL.
“Week 10 was a litmus test for the Washington Commanders—a matchup with one of the AFC’s hottest teams in the Pittsburgh Steelers ahead of a critical NFC East showdown with the rival Eagles in Week 11,” Bleacher Report wrote. “The 27 points Washington scored were fine, but the Commanders logged fewer than 250 yards of offense and Jayden Daniels completed just half of his 34 pass attempts for 202 yards without a touchdown.”
To this point in his young career, data certainly suggests Jayden Daniels will bounce back from his performance. The rookie quarterback was definitely humanized in the loss — as the Steelers’ pressure was too much for him and proved he’s capable of being stopped. However, the LSU product also got a look at a great defense, and hitting the film room can help him prepare for the way the next team will pressure him.
The fact that Washington still nearly came away with a victory proves that they’re a very capable contender this season and are a well-rounded team. It’d be much easier to judge their loss had they had Lattimore or star running back Brian Robinson Jr. healthy.
Stick with CommanderGameday and the Locked On Commanders podcast for more FREE coverage of the Washington Commanders throughout the 2024 season.
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Washington
Domestic assault report leads to discovery of cache of weapons; suspect sought
A domestic assault report led the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office to discover a cache of weapons last week, and authorities continue searching for the suspect.
Officers responded to the domestic assault report at 9:23 p.m. Thursday in the 2000 block of Goddard Road in Lexington Park. The suspect, 39-year-old Jerod Adam Taylor, left the scene before law enforcement arrived.
During the investigation, officers learned Taylor reportedly possessed multiple firearms, which were found in plain view in the residence, despite him being legally prohibited from owning them due to previous convictions. Taylor also is wanted on an outstanding warrant for theft.
Detectives executed search warrants for the residence and nearby vehicles Friday and found an “extensive” collection of more than 80 weapons, according to the sheriff’s office.
Items law enforcement recovered included multiple 3D-printed “ghost guns” without serial numbers, semi-automatic rifles, handguns, shotguns, an AK-47 semi-automatic rifle, 1,300 rounds of ammunition and an assortment of firearm components.
Taylor faces more than 10 charges, including second-degree assault and illegal possession of a regulated firearm.
Taylor should be considered armed and dangerous, and law enforcement urges anyone who spots him to not approach and immediately call 911, the sheriff’s office said.
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