File picture of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol waving a Korean flag
| Photo Credit: via Reuters

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol recently began practising golf, for the first time in eight years, in preparation for future meetings with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, Mr. Yoon’s office confirmed on Tuesday (November 12, 2024).

South Korean media said Mr. Yoon visited a golf course on Saturday (November 9, 2024) for a sport his office said he had last played in 2016.

“A lot of people close to President Trump… (told me) President Yoon and Trump will have good chemistry,” Mr. Yoon told a press conference on Thursday (November 7, 2024), after congratulating Mr. Trump by telephone on his win.

Former Trump administration officials and influential Republicans had offered to help build ties with the incoming president, he added.

Analysts said Mr. Yoon may seek to find a way to capitalise on a personal friendship with Mr. Trump to advance Seoul’s interests as Trump’s “America First” foreign policy plans and his unpredictable style play out in his second term.

South Korean companies rely heavily on trade with the United States, and during Mr. Trump’s first term, the countries clashed over cost-sharing for the roughly 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-1953 Korean War.

Officials in Seoul have been working to prepare for significant economic change, while Mr. Yoon called on Sunday for government and industry talks to prepare for Mr. Trump’s return.

The similar personalities and outsider approaches of Mr. Trump and Mr. Yoon may help them get along, said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a specialist in Korean affairs at King’s College London.

“I also think that Yoon is generally well-liked by policy-makers in the United States, which will help him, whoever advises Trump on foreign policy,” he added.

Bruce Klingner, of the Heritage Foundation in Washington, agreed that the two could develop a strong relationship but warned it might not be sufficient to spare South Korea from negative impacts.

“While many leaders will seek to replicate the friendship that Shinzo Abe had with Mr. Trump, there is no evidence that personal relationship resulted in any tangible, demonstrative benefits for Japan,” the former CIA analyst added, referring to the assassinated former Japanese prime minister.

Tokyo was treated the same as Seoul in contentious talks on military cost-sharing, he added.

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (R) speaks with restaurant owner Diana de la Rosa (2nd R) as Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (L), and US Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (2nd L), Democrat of New York, look on during a stop at Old San Juan Cafe as she campaigns in Reading, Pennsylvania, on November 4, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

New Yorkers could play an outsized role on Tuesday (November 5, 2024) in determining control of the U.S. House as Republicans cling to suburban seats they won two years ago by seizing on fears of crime, and Democrats try to claw them back by warning that a right-wing Congress might ban abortion.

If everything goes their way, Democrats hope to pick off a handful of Republican incumbents in congressional races on Long Island and in the Hudson River Valley, as well as a central New York district that state leaders recently reconfigured to make more favorable to Democrats.

But the GOP could wind up holding all of that ground and has a chance of unseating one or two incumbent Democrats.

Tightest contests

Most of the tightest contests are happening in places where voters favored President Joe Biden over former President Donald Trump in 2020, but then sent a crop of Republicans to Congress two years later.

The slew of competitive races underscore the hidden political complexity of New York, which is associated with Democrats like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez but has also given rise to Republican stars like U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, the chair of the House Republican Conference. All three were heavily favored to win reelection Tuesday.

On Long Island, Republican U.S. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito is in a tough rematch with Democrat Laura Gillen, a former town supervisor he defeated in 2022, but who might do better with Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket.

In central New York, Republican Rep. Brandon Williams is trying to hold off a challenge from Democratic state Sen. John Mannion. Williams won his seat two years ago by a margin of only around 2,600 votes and this year his district was redrawn to exclude some rural areas where he had garnered support.

In a trio of districts that include parts of the Hudson Valley, three incumbents — two freshman Republicans and a Democrat — are trying to hold on to seats they won by thin margins in the last election.

On both sides, the strategy has been to play to moderate suburban voters while casting opponents as extremists.

Republicans campaign strategy

In 2022, Republicans in New York City’s suburbs thrived with campaigns that portrayed the nearby city as having become lawless during the pandemic.

Crime rates have dropped significantly since then, but Republicans have continued to press crime as an issue while also trying to capitalize on suburban unease about immigration policy and an influx of international migrants.

Democrats have moved to mount a stronger defense to voters’ concerns about crime and immigration. They have also hammered Republicans on abortion — a tactic that didn’t produce anticipated wins for the party two years ago in a state where abortion rights are not generally seen as under threat.

Republican gains on Long Island were eroded last year when former U.S. Rep. George Santos was expelled from Congress after he was revealed to have fabricated his life story and defrauded campaign donors.

Santos was replaced in a special election by Democratic U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, who is now running for reelection against Republican Mike LiPetri, a former state lawmaker.

Further out on Long Island, Democrats have turned to former CNN anchor and author John Avlon in an effort to deny Republican U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota a second term.

Three close contests are in districts that include parts of the Hudson Valley.

Mondaire Jones

In the suburbs north of New York City, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler faces former U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones, a Democrat who previously represented part of the district before its boundaries were redrawn for the 2022 election.

Mr. Jones, one of the first two openly gay Black men to serve in the House, portrayed Lawler as someone who “masquerades as a moderate on television but votes just like an extreme MAGA Republican.”

Lawler says Mr. Jones is the one masquerading as a centrist, when he is actually liberal.

“People want reasonableness,” Lawler said in an interview before the election. “They want folks who are willing to work across the aisle to get things done.”

The race got extra attention in early October when The New York Times obtained a photo showing Lawler wearing blackface in 2006 at a college Halloween party where he dressed as Michael Jackson. Lawler said the outfit was intended to be an homage to a childhood idol.

Elsewhere in the Hudson Valley, Democratic U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan is locked in a tight race with Republican Alison Esposito, who has served in the New York Police Department and is running on a law-and-order platform. Esposito, if victorious, would be the first openly gay Republican woman to serve in Congress.

Further north, Republican U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro is trying to hold off Democrat Josh Riley in a district that sprawls from New York’s border with Massachusetts across the Catskill Mountains and all the way to the Finger Lakes.

The election is a rematch of 2022, when Molinaro narrowly defeated Riley. Molinaro has perhaps tacked harder to the right than his Republican colleagues in the state, most notably when he recently shared a social media post falsely claiming that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating house pets.

In the one New York congressional race not involving an incumbent, Democrat George Latimer is heavily favored in a race against Republican Dr. Miriam Levitt Flisser. Latimer defeated U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman in a Democratic primary in June, the first member of the progressive band of liberals known as the “Squad” to lose a reelection bid.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) speaks during a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump, at Trump’s golf resort in Doral, Florida, U.S., on July 9, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday revelled in the mounting turmoil surrounding President Joe Biden ’s campaign in the wake of their debate and teased the expected announcement of his Republican running mate with one of the top contenders, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, in attendance.

After days spent lying low, golfing and letting Democratic infighting play out in public, Mr. Trump used his return to the campaign trail in Florida to ratchet up his attacks on both Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Mr. Trump rallied his supporters at one of his Miami-area golf courses as the presumptive Republican nominee nears a deadline to announce his running mate. But he appears in no rush, as much of the political world’s attention is still centred on questions about Mr. Biden’s ability to govern for another four-year term.

Rubio to be running mate?

Mr. Trump repeatedly played into the speculation that he might elevate Mr. Rubio to his ticket.

Mr. Rubio, a Miami native and one of the contenders for the vice presidential post, was among the Florida politicians who spoke at the event.

At one point, Mr. Trump marveled at the number of reporters in attendance and said, “I think they probably think I’m going to be announcing that Marco is going to be vice president.”

Later, when he talked about his pledge to make tips tax-free, he remarked that Mr. Rubio “may or may not be there to vote for it.”

Hispanic American vote

Mr. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, is seen as a potential running mate who could help Mr. Trump as he tries to secure support from Hispanic Americans, a point the senator emphasised in his remarks as he switched several times in his remarks to Spanish.

The senator did not openly acknowledge any of the speculation about him joining Mr. Trump as a running mate. He instead skewered not only Mr. Biden, whom he called “the figurehead of a left-wing government, shadow government,” but Ms. Harris, whom he would need to debate head-on if he’s chosen for Mr. Trump’s ticket.

He notably seemed to insert himself into Mr. Trump’s signature “Make America Great Again” slogan by saying: “Together, we’re not just going to make it great again. We elect this man as president, we will make together America greater than it has ever been.”

Barron Trump makes first appearance at a rally

Mr. Trump’s youngest child who recently turned 18, Barron, also made his first-ever appearance at one of his father’s rallies. Mr. Trump implored his son to stand, with the young man pumping his fist a few times as Mr. Trump said, “Welcome to the scene, Barron.”

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump salutes at a campaign rally on March 16, 2024, in Vandalia, Ohio.
| Photo Credit: AP

Donald Trump told a rally in Ohio on Saturday that November’s presidential election will be the “most important date” in U.S. history, painting his campaign for the White House as a turning point for the country.

Days after securing his position as the presumptive Republican nominee, the former president also warned of a “bloodbath” if he is not elected — though it was not clear what he was referring to, with the remark coming in the middle of comments about threats to the U.S. auto industry.

“The date — remember this, November 5 — I believe it’s going to be the most important date in the history of our country,” the 77-year-old told rally-goers in Vandalia, Ohio, repeating well-worn criticisms that his rival, President Joe Biden, is the “worst” president.

Criticizing what he said were Chinese plans to build cars in Mexico and sell them to Americans, he stated: “They’re not .going to be able to sell those cars if I get elected.”

“Now if I don’t get elected it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole, that’s going to be the least of it, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That’ll be the least of it. But they’re not going to sell those cars.”

As Trump’s comment gained traction on social media, Biden’s campaign released a statement calling the Republican a “loser” at the ballot box in 2020 who then “doubles down on his threats of political violence.”

“He wants another January 6 but the American people are going to give him another electoral defeat this November because they continue to reject his extremism, his affection for violence, and his thirst for revenge,” the campaign said, referring to the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters in 2021.

Earlier this month Trump and Biden each won enough delegates to clinch their party nominations in the 2024 presidential race, all but assuring a rematch and setting up one of the longest election campaigns in U.S. history.

Among the issues Trump is campaigning on is sweeping reform of what he calls Biden’s “horror show” immigration policies, despite successfully pressuring Republicans to block a bill in Congress that included the toughest border security measures in decades.

On Saturday he invoked the border again as he reached out to minorities who have traditionally voted Democrat.

He said Biden had “repeatedly stabbed African-American voters in the back” by granting work permits to “millions” of immigrants, warning that they and Hispanic Americans “are going to be the ones that suffer the most.”

For decades Ohio had been seen as a bellwether battleground state, though it has trended more strongly Republican since Trump’s White House win in 2016.

The rally came a day after Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, said he would not endorse his old boss for a second White House term.