The Note: Trump on the Road Again
— -- NOTABLES
TRUMP MEETS WITH GORE: Former Vice President and climate advocate Al Gore met with Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York City yesterday. Gore said he had a "lengthy and very productive session" with the president-elect, who previously called climate change a "hoax." "I found it an extremely interesting conversation and to be continued and I’m just going to leave it at that," Gore told reporters of the meeting with the president-elect "It was a sincere search for areas of common ground." Gore also met with Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, writes ABC’s JORDYN PHELPS. http://abcn.ws/2haYI6s
HAPPENING TODAY: Trump heads to Fayetteville, North Carolina for an evening rally as part of his post-election “thank you” tour.
SENATE REPUBLICANS START GIVING ADVICE TO TRUMP: Republican senators have begun advising President-Elect Trump on the issues he should prioritize, starting with Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., who sent Trump what is likely the first public, detailed list of recommendations sent by a Senate Republican, according to ABC’s ALI ROGIN. In addition to popular items like approving the Keystone XL pipeline and repealing and replacing “Obamacare,” Daines’ list also includes more obscure actions by President Barack Obama that he wants Trump to do away with. He recommends Trump terminate a little-known Bureau of Land Management order that imposes a moratorium on federal coal leasing and also get rid of several National Labor Relations Board measures that Trump’s team, which prides itself on its outsider status, might not know about. “I look forward to working together closely to address the many challenges facing the United States at home and abroad,” Daines says in his letter.
WHAT TRUMP IS TWEETING: @realDonaldTrump: Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!
ANALYSIS – ABC’s RICK KLEIN: Let Joe Biden run. Let anyone who wants to run go for it, in both primaries; let a spirited, open election develop. But can’t it develop in, say, 2019? Leaving aside questions of whether Biden is Democrats’ answer – whether looking back, and looking older, and having another boldfaced name crowd out other comers is advisable – it’s hard to fathom scenarios where talking about this prospect now is good for either Biden or the Democratic Party. Democrats need to be gearing up for four years of President Donald Trump, and can fairly count on the new administration to give them no shortage of areas for principled objections and strong disagreements. If this is framed primarily by the next election, a politics-weary public is going to find another reason to go elsewhere. Biden cited running out of time in the last cycle to get going for a full-fledged campaign. The answer is not starting on the next cycle before even the inauguration.
SPEED READ with ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI and ADAM KELSEY
HOW TRUMP COULD OVERTURN THE DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE DECISION IF HE WANTED TO. Environmental activists and protesters have rejoiced the temporary halting of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, but according to some experts with whom ABC News spoke, there are several avenues for President-elect Donald Trump to overturn the decision and continue the construction of the pipeline once he assumes office in January. ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY has more. http://abcn.ws/2h1OlBu
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ELECTION RECOUNT EFFORTS. The presidential election was called for Donald Trump nearly a month ago, but that has not stopped a potential recount in four states that experts say will likely not change the outcome of the election. Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein has paid for a recount in Wisconsin, submitted a statewide recount request in Michigan and has filed a federal suit to have a statewide recount in Pennsylvania. Another third-party candidate has also filed a recount request in Nevada, a state that Clinton won. Hillary Clinton's team said it will join the recount effort, which President-elect Trump has called "sad." Stein’s campaign has cited the analysis of outside experts who suggest that the vote count could have been tampered with. There has been no evidence of foul play in any state, and no proof has emerged of tampering during the recounts so far. ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY highlights what you need to know about the various recounts: http://abcn.ws/2fYEuIZ
HUNTSMAN SAYS TRUMP 'ABSOLUTELY RIGHT' TO TAKE TAIWAN CALL. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, newly on Donald Trump’s expanded list of contenders to be his secretary of state, praised the president-elect’s decision to take a call from Taiwan’s president, which broke decades of U.S. policy. “The call came in from President Tsai Ing-wen. He made the choice to take it, which I think was absolutely right,” Huntsman told ABC News before making remarks at a conference hosted by the nonpartisan group No Labels, which Huntsman co-chairs. Huntsman’s praise is especially significant because he served as U.S. ambassador to China under Obama from 2009 to 2011. ABC’s ALI ROGIN has more: http://abcn.ws/2gdbaAY
MCCRORY CONCEDES NC GOVERNOR'S RACE TO DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGER. Weeks after Election Day and after requesting a recount, incumbent Republican Gov. Pat McCrory conceded the North Carolina gubernatorial race to his Democratic challenger, Roy Cooper, notes ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI. "Despite continued questions that should be answered regarding the voting process, I personally believe that the majority of our citizens have spoken and we now should everything we can to support the 75th governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper," Gov. McCrory said in a video released Monday by his office. http://abcn.ws/2gZv2st
WHO’S TWEETING?
@TheChrisSuprun: I owe the Founding Fathers my best with my #ElectoralCollege ballot. My @nytimes @nytopinion: http://nyti.ms/2h8magA #ElectoralCollege
@politicoalex: TAKEOVER: Trump's power is expanding far beyond DC, with his former aides launching bids up and down the ballot http://politi.co/2g5on0j
@CraigCaplan: With 3 days to go, CR extending current gov't funding past Friday's midnight deadline to April 28th is expected to be filed later today.
@AaronBlake: Pence says Michael Flynn Jr. has 'no involvement' in transition. The evidence suggests otherwise. http://wpo.st/VigJ2
@usatoday2016: A single missing ballot was enough to scuttle the recount of a Michigan precinct Monday http://usat.ly/2hdEs4a