Day 1 Of The Apocalypse: Business As Usual In The US, But Rippled Effects Elsewhere

PNUT GALLERY

Every cloud has a silver lining, right? We tried to find it in Donald Trump’s victory.

We’ll be taking off Friday to honor Veterans Day. See you Monday morning, Pnutters!

 IN A NUTSHELL: MUST READ

Day 1 Of The Apocalypse: Business As Usual

While many of us trudged through the day still reeling from a shock-induced hangover, the political system carried on as usual. Here’s what you may have missed while you were busy defending your political ideals to some distant relative on Facebook:

Hillary Clinton made her concession speech yesterday, using most of her time to thank her supporters and speak to the nation’s daughters. In a highly meme-able quote, Clinton said to a teary-eyed crowd, “to all of the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams.”

In the emotional speech, Clinton conceded that “this is painful, and it will be for a long time.” Her most candid discussion of Trump was that she hoped it would be a “President to all of America,” a sentiment that was later reiterated by President Barack “Lame Duck” Obama. In a separate news conference, Obama urged for unity in the country, asking the hurt, disappointed and even angry Democrats to come together with the rest of the nation for the sake of the republic. “The peaceful transfer of power is one of the hallmarks of our democracy,” he reminded us.

Meanwhile, the markets began to recover and Donald Trump began to think about the seating arrangements in his cabinet. It’s likely that he’ll roll out a few cabinet nominations at a time, but his aides gave the press a few names we can expect. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie unsurprisingly named, as well as former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. They also mentioned lesser-known figures who are members of Trump’s inner circle, such as Steven Mnuchin, a businessman who was Trump’s national finance chairman. Trump also selected Myron Ebell, one of the most polarizing climate skeptics from the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute, to lead the EPA transition team. Picking Ebell will no doubt anger environmentalists, but sends a signal that Trump intends to drastically reshape the climate polices that Obama’s team once shaped.

The only name we were surprised to not see was Russian President Vladimir Putin, but we get it. The leader of a foreign nation technically can’t sit in the President’s cabinet. But speaking of foreign besties, Trump has begun to receive phone calls from world leaders to extend their congratulations. French President Hollande got so warm and fuzzy he went as far as saying, “I offer my congratulations, as it is natural to do between two heads of democratic states.”

Okay, it’s not exactly a “best friends forever” speech, but not nearly as icy as German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s message. She congratulated the President-elect in a press conference but didn’t hide the fact she found his campaign to be chock full of “confrontations that were difficult to bear.” She offered her “close cooperation” if and only if he retains the values that Germany and the US share, namely, “respect for the law and for the dignity of human beings, independently of origin, skin color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or political views.” Hopefully, that’s not too tall an order.

 NUTS AND BOLTS: SHOULD READ

 From Around The World: Rippled Effects

This week, we decided to separate election coverage from world news, just to offer a breath of fresh air and some headlines to distract you from the American circus. But historically, the result of any US election can leave rippled effects elsewhere in the world, and this year was no exception.

Turkey/Syria: Turkish President Erdogan called Trump to congratulate him on the win but Turkey wasted no time in urging the president-elect to extradite Fethullah Gulen, the cleric who allegedly orchestrated the coup attempt in Turkey, a charge he denies. The future of US-Turkish relationship will no doubt be driven by America’s need for cooperation in Syria. Most recently, a US-led air strike killed at least 20 civilians in Raqqa, the last ISIS stronghold in Syria. The US has been targeting this city with the support of an Arab and Kurdish alliance of fighters, but is hoping to get Turkish backing in this operation as well.

Cuba: The country casually announced the launch of nationwide military exercises to prepare troops for worst case scenarios, or what the government calls “a range of enemy actions.” This ominous just-in-case exercise was announced nearly simultaneously with Trump’s presidential victory.

India: Though most international markets are beginning to rally after a steep drop from Trump’s win, India is about to have a new set of economic woes. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that the country will scrap 500 and 1,000-rupee banknotes in an effort to flush out tax evaders and illegal cash holdings. The news was met with shock and fear in India, since the now-illegal banknotes represent 85% of the cash in circulation in India.

 PNUTTY VIDEOS

Donald Trump: “Now it’s time for America to bind the wounds of division…It is time for us to come together as one united people.” Watch Trump’s full speech.

Hillary Clinton: “This loss hurts, but please never stop believing that fighting for what’s right is worth it.” Watch Clinton’s full speech.

Barack Obama: “The path that this country has taken has never been a straight line.” Watch Obama’s full speech.

CNN Commentator Van Jones had the most viral moment of election night as he described what happened as a “whitelash.”