The Latest: White House says Obama focused on national health care

Associated Press

Published Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016 | 8:26 a.m.

Updated Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016 | 11:15 a.m.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The latest on the U.S. election. (All times EST):

1:58 p.m.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest says President Barack Obama's top priority following Tuesday's election is not his legacy.

Earnest says the president is focused on the 20 million people who gained health insurance after the Affordable Care Act went into effect.

Earnest is taking questions from reporters about how the election results will affect Obama's legacy on issues such as health care and climate change.

Earnest says the president is also concerned about the prospect of protections being stripped from millions of Americans who benefit because health insurers are not allowed to discriminate based on pre-existing health conditions or impose a lifetime cap on expenses.

Earnest says the tearing away those protections would negatively affect a lot of people, and "that's something Republicans will have to consider moving forward."

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1:50 p.m.

Officials hope to unveil Donald Trump's repaired star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as soon possible now that he's been elected president.

The star along a well-traveled block of Hollywood Boulevard remains blocked off and covered in plywood two weeks after a protester took a sledgehammer to it. The man was charged with felony vandalism.

Vivian Kish with the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce says the star has been mostly repaired, but still needs to finish drying and then be polished. She said it usually takes about two weeks to complete the process.

About two dozen Trump supporters reveled at the site after the election, snapping photos until police asked them to move on.

Trump's star was dedicated in recognition of his work on NBC's "The Apprentice."

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1:45 p.m.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has spoken to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and has already received an invitation to meet.

Netanyahu said Trump invited him to meet "at the first opportunity" in a phone call Wednesday.

A statement from Netanyahu's office said the Israeli leader congratulated Trump on his win and said that "the U.S. has no better ally than Israel." It described their conversation as "warm" and said they spoke about regional issues.

Israel and the U.S. are close allies but relations were often tense between Netanyahu and President Barack Obama, mainly over Israel's policies toward the Palestinians and concerns over the U.S.-led nuclear deal with Iran.

Netanyahu and Trump are friendly and ties are expected to improve.

Netanyahu met with Trump and Hillary Clinton in September.

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1:40 p.m.

A close presidential vote pushed many people past their bedtimes, including President-elect Donald Trump's 10-year-old son, Barron.

The youngest of Trump's five children stood next to his father during his victory speech in New York early Wednesday. Television cameras caught the younger Trump fighting through heavy eyelids during his father's remarks.

The internet took notice with many posting clips of boy, noting that his appearance mirrored those of many at home struggling to stay awake.

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1:05 p.m.

Republican Donald Trump won the presidency fueled by a surge of working-class whites across a band of Midwestern states. Those are the kind of voters who had helped anchor Democratic presidential victories for a generation.

Trump won states such as Pennsylvania and Iowa that had twice backed Barack Obama.

Exit polls and unofficial returns reflect deep racial, gender, economic and cultural divides across the region and nationally.

Trump's support Tuesday skewed older, more male and overwhelmingly white. His supporters said they are deeply dissatisfied with the federal government and eager for change. That's according to the exit polls conducted by Edison Research for national media outlets.

Democrat Hillary Clinton's support was anchored in cities, but it wasn't enough to overcome Trump's advantages in small towns, rural areas and many suburbs.

11:50 a.m.

Hillary Clinton says she's "sorry" she didn't win the election, adding "this is painful, and it will be for a long time."

The Democratic presidential candidate was delivering what her campaign billed as a concession speech to Republican Donald Trump after his upset victory in Tuesday's election. She spoke at a New York hotel.

With her onstage are husband Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton.

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11:45 a.m.

Hillary Clinton is delivering what are expected to be her final remarks of the presidential election after a devastating loss to Donald Trump.

She's urging her supporters to accept the results, saying they owe Trump an "open mind" and a "chance to lead." She says American democracy depends on "peaceful transition of power."

Speaking to supporters Wednesday at a New York hotel, Clinton said the campaign has been "one of the greatest honors" of her life. She describes the outcome as "painful," but says the effort was not about her but "the country we love."

Clinton took the stage to sustained applause.

Ashen-faced aides sat in the front row as supporters in the audience sobbed at the emotional event.

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11:45 a.m.

Hillary Clinton's running mate, Tim Kaine, says the defeated Democratic candidate has made history by paving the way for women to run for president.

Speaking ahead of Clinton to a room of supporters and aides in New York Wednesday, Kaine prompted a standing ovation when he noted Clinton is leading in the popular vote in the race against Donald Trump.

He hailed Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton's loyalty to their staff, and praised their dedication.

His voice shaking, he said that Clinton "knows the system we have. She's deeply in love with it and she accepts it."

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11:40 a.m.

Top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi says America has "a responsibility to come together and find common ground" in the aftermath of the bitterly contested election.

The California Democrat noted that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is leading in the popular vote.

She said that Democrats hope to work with Trump to enact a "robust infrastructure jobs bill" and on national security issues.

Pelosi offered her congratulations to Trump and his family and added that she's praying for his success.

Pelosi did not directly indicate whether she would seek another term as minority leader for the newly elected Congress. She's considered likely to do so.

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11:30 a.m.

House Speaker Paul Ryan says Donald Trump's victory has turned politics on its head. He said he expects the new president to work hand-in-hand with the Republican-led Congress.

Speaking Wednesday in Janesville, Wisconsin, an ebullient Ryan said Trump has earned a mandate to enact his agenda.

He thanked Trump for his "coattails" during the election that bolstered the Republican majority in the House.

Ryan has said he wants to be speaker in the new Congress and has expressed confidence in doing so. But he could face resistance from the Freedom Caucus, which chased former Speaker John Boehner from Congress last year. Other Republicans are upset over Ryan's frigid treatment of Trump.

Ryan says his relationship with Trump is fine. He's urging Republicans and Democrats to focus on "redemption, not recrimination."

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11:25 a.m.

Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan is declaring victory in the New Hampshire Senate race. But incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte is not conceding.

The Associated Press has yet to call the race. Unofficial results have Hassan up by fewer than 700 votes.

In a statement Hassan says: "It's clear that we have maintained the lead and have won this race."

But Ayotte issued her own statement saying: "We look forward to results being announced by the secretary of state, and ensuring that every vote is counted in this race that has received an historic level of interest."

New Hampshire is the only Senate race where a winner has not yet been declared. Regardless of which way it goes, Republicans will retain control of the Senate. Either party could request a recount.

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11:20 a.m.

Despite losing Tuesday's presidential election, Hillary Clinton has a narrow lead in the popular vote, with several million votes still to be counted.

As more votes are counted, Clinton isn't guaranteed to keep that lead. However, most of the outstanding votes appear to be in Democratic-leaning states. The biggest chunk is in California. Washington State, New York, Oregon and Maryland also have large numbers of uncounted votes. Clinton won all those states.

With nearly 125 million votes counted, The Associated Press tally has Clinton with 47.7 percent and President-elect Donald Trump with 47.5 percent.

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11:15 a.m.

Former President George H.W. Bush is congratulating Donald Trump on winning the U.S. presidential election.

The senior Bush tweeted Wednesday that he and his wife Barbara "congratulate @realDonaldTrump, wish him well as he guides America forward."

George H.W. Bush spokesman Jim McGrath said Bush also "initiated" a "very warm and gracious call" to Trump to wish him luck. He declined to say how Bush voted.

The Bush family had a contentious relationship with Trump throughout the campaign. Bush's younger son, Jeb Bush, was among more than a dozen candidates to get stomped out by Trump for the Republican nomination.

Jeb Bush also addressed a Tweet to Trump, on Wednesday, saying, "I will pray for you in the days and months to come."

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11:10 a.m.

Hillary Clinton has won Minnesota.

The Democratic nominee captured the state's 10 electoral votes on Wednesday, giving her 228 total. President-elect Donald Trump has 276, six more than the threshold needed to win the White House.

Minnesota has been safely Democratic for years but Trump made a late play there, holding his first and only rally in the state on the campaign's penultimate day. Though he failed to capture that state, he showed impressive strength in the Rust Belt, winning Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

He's also in a close race in Michigan, which has yet to be won.

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10:35 a.m.

Facebook and Twitter are reporting massive Election Day engagement on social media.

Facebook says 115 million people worldwide generated over 716 million likes, posts, comments and shares related to the election Tuesday. Twitter says more than 75 million Election Day tweets were sent by 3 a.m. Wednesday. That's more than double the 31 million sent during the entirety of Election Day four years ago.

Google says President-elect Donald Trump also won when it comes to searches on the candidates. The search giant says more searches were performed on the Republican than those for Democrat Hillary Clinton in a majority of the country from Sunday to Tuesday.

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10:05 a.m.

One of Donald Trump's harshest Republican critics says America "demanded disruption" by electing the billionaire businessman as president.

In a statement Wednesday, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska congratulated Trump. Sasse said he and his family will pray that Trump "will lead wisely and faithfully keep his oath to a Constitution of limited government."

Sasse said he will now do everything he can to hold Trump to promises he made during the campaign. Among them are replacing President Barack Obama's health care law, nominating judges "who reject law-making by unelected courts," and fighting for ethics reform "that upends cronyism" and enacts term limits.

Sasse last month had called on Trump to abandon his presidential bid after the release of old video footage that featured Trump making vulgar sexual comments.

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8:40 a.m.

Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway says Hillary Clinton had more money and more people on the ground — but, Team Trump "outworked them, and frankly, we outsmarted and outclassed them in some cases."

Conway appeared on Fox News on Wednesday to analyze Donald Trump's stunning defeat of Clinton. Conway said the Republican billionaire "did a great job sealing the deal."

She said: "Take it to the bank — candidates matter. There's no substitute for a great candidate."

On CNN, Conway urged Trump's critics to "lay down their verbal firearms."

She said: "Give him a chance as your president-elect like we all did with President Obama and we all did with President Bill Clinton."

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8:07 a.m.

Hillary Clinton will be speaking to her supporters Wednesday morning. It will be her first public remarks since her stunning defeat to Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election.

Her campaign says she'll speak to staff and supporters at a New York hotel at 10:30 a.m.

Clinton did not give a formal concession speech. But she did call Trump early Wednesday to congratulate him on his victory in Tuesday's election.

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7:40 a.m.

Donald Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway says the president-elect had a "gracious exchange" with Hillary Clinton and a "warm conversation" with President Barack Obama.

In a pair of interviews on ABC and NBC News Wednesday, Conway said Clinton's top aide, Huma Abedin, called her late Wednesday and connected Clinton with Trump. She said Clinton "congratulated him for his victory," and he told Clinton that she is "very smart, very tough" and had "waged a tremendous campaign."

Conway said the Trump campaign isn't upset that Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton hasn't yet made a public concession speech.

Trump said during the campaign that he would assign a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton. But Conway told ABC's Good Morning America, "we have not discussed that at all."

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7:15 a.m.

President Barack Obama has invited President-elect Donald Trump to meet with him at the White House on Thursday.

The president plans to address Trump's victory in a statement from the White House on Wednesday.

The White House says Obama called Trump from his residence in the White House early Wednesday to congratulate him. White House spokesman Josh Earnest says the Thursday meeting is to discuss the presidential transition.

Obama also called Hillary Clinton. The White House says Obama conveyed admiration for the "strong campaign she waged throughout the country."

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6:45 a.m.

Becoming president-elect hasn't stopped Donald Trump from tweeting.

Trump pledged in a tweet Wednesday morning: "The forgotten man and woman will never be forgotten again. We will all come together as never before."

Trump has been an avid user of Twitter, often using it during the campaign to attack opponents and critics in harsh terms.

His account did look different Wednesday: His Twitter profile now identifies him as "president-elect of the United States."

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6:15 a.m.

President Barack Obama is congratulating Donald Trump on his victory in becoming the president-elect.

Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway says Obama called Trump early Wednesday while he was speaking to his supporters in New York, and so Trump called him back after he left the stage.

She said the two had what she described as a "very nice talk." She said they would meet possibly on Thursday.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest had told reporters traveling aboard Air Force One last week that the president was leaving his schedule open on Wednesday and Thursday for a possible meeting with the president-elect.

On Tuesday night, Trump said that he had received a call from his opponent, Hillary Clinton. In his remarks to supporters, he praised her for a hard-fought campaign and said Americans owe her a major debt of gratitude for her long service to the country.

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3:45 a.m.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is giving a thumbs-up to president-elect Donald Trump's victory.

In a brief statement Wednesday, the Kremlin said Putin has sent Trump a telegram to congratulate him on winning. Putin expressed "his hope to work together for removing Russian-American relations from their crisis state."

Putin also says he has confidence that building a constructive dialogue between Moscow and Washington — one based on principles of equality, mutual respect and a real accounting of each other's positions — is in the interest of both nations and the world.

Trump has drawn criticism for repeatedly praising Putin's leadership and advocating a closer working relationship with Russia despite its record of human rights abuses and recent military incursions in Ukraine and Syria.

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4:10 a.m.

Muslim Advocates, a national legal advocacy and educational organization based in Oakland, California, is denouncing Donald Trump's victory, saying his views violate the foundation of America's democracy.

In a statement issued after Trump appeared at a New York hotel to celebrate his victory, the group said it has repeatedly expressed concern about what it said were "undemocratic and unconstitutional policies" proposed by candidates, such as banning Muslims from the U.S. and vilifying Mexican Americans.

The group vowed to use every legal tool available to protect the country against unconstitutional and undemocratic action.

The Republican president-elect has accused Mexico of sending rapists and other criminals across the border. And he called at one point for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States."

The group says in a statement: "If President-elect Trump wants to bring America together and be a leader for all Americans, he will need to disavow these dangerous proposals and ideas."

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4:47 a.m.

Despite Donald Trump's sharp criticism of NATO during the campaign, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says he's looking forward to working with the president-elect.

Trump has questioned whether NATO, an alliance of Western nations formed to counter the former Soviet Union, is outdated.

"We face a challenging new security environment, including hybrid warfare, cyberattacks, the threat of terrorism," Stoltenberg said in a statement. "U.S. leadership is as important as ever. ... A strong NATO is good for the United States, and good for Europe."

In July, Trump said the United States might abandon its NATO military commitments, including the obligation to defend members against attacks. After that, Vice President Joe Biden said he had met with the presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to reassure them that Trump doesn't represent America.

Biden said the three presidents were "scared to death" about the prospects of a Trump presidency and whether he would maintain the country's commitments to its NATO allies if they faced aggression from Russia.