--- title: What We Learned From An Election Post-Mortem description: Election Day was three weeks ago but emotions are still raw, which was evident when the Clinton and Trump campaign teams recently met. canonical: https://time.com/4588798/what-we-learned-from-an-election-post-mortem/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-02T18:59:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T06:55:39.776Z article:section: Politics og:title: What We Learned From An Election Post-Mortem og:description: Election Day was three weeks ago but emotions are still raw, which was evident when the Clinton and Trump campaign teams recently met. og:url: https://time.com/4588798/what-we-learned-from-an-election-post-mortem/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What We Learned From An Election Post-Mortem twitter:description: Election Day was three weeks ago but emotions are still raw, which was evident when the Clinton and Trump campaign teams recently met. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What We Learned From An Election Post-Mortem > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=2054a128-3f02-4aed-985d-1b61201ef057&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Donald Trump Warns Companies to Not Leave the United States: ‘We Can’t Let It Happen’ [Watch (HLS stream): Donald Trump Warns Companies to Not Leave the United States: ‘We Can’t Let It Happen’](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/r6A55G1O.m3u8) (1:47)  _Published 2016-12-01. Donald Trump spoke at the Carrier plant in Indianapolis on Thursday, formally announcing his agreement with the company to keep the plant open and reportedly saving some 1,000 jobs from moving to Mexico._ by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Dec 2, 2016 6:59 PM UTC Donald Trump spoke at the Carrier plant in Indianapolis on Thursday, formally announcing his agreement with the company to keep the plant open and reportedly saving some 1,000 jobs from moving to Mexico. by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Dec 2, 2016 6:59 PM UTC **_If you only read one thing:_** _Election Day may have been more than three weeks ago, but emotions were still raw as the Clinton and Trump campaign teams met in Cambridge for a two-day postmortem on the campaign. In a fitting capstone to the dispiriting cycle their meeting culminated in squabbling and even a few tears. The Harvard Campaign Managers Summit is a quadrennial gathering to draft the first history of the cycle, but the two campaigns seemed more interested in settling scores._ Trump operatives took a victory lap, touting their digital and communications strategies that exploited divisions to create a pathway to win. The Clinton campaign made clear that it won’t be putting FBI Director James Comey on its Christmas card list anytime soon. And everyone blamed the media. _Here are your must reads:_ **Must Reads** [Clinton and Trump Aides Clash at Campaign Managers Conference ](http://time.com/4588449/campaign-managers-conference-2016-election/)Deeply divided camps offered an unfiltered oral history of their campaigns at Harvard’s quadrennial postmortem. \[TIME\] [Trump’s Breezy Calls to World Leaders Leave Diplomats Aghast ](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/01/us/politics/trumps-off-the-cuff-remarks-to-world-leaders-leave-diplomats-aghast.html)Freewheeling style breaks with traditional decorum \[New York Times\] [Can Trump Clean Up His Messy World of Conflicts? ](http://time.com/4587676/can-trump-clean-up-his-messy-world-of-conflicts/)TIME’s Massimo Calabresi on the man tasked with protecting the president-elect. [See a Map That Shows Exactly How Donald Trump Won ](http://time.com/4587866/donald-trump-election-map/)TIME analysis of county-level results show his rust-belt strength [Trump Kicks Off ‘Thank You’ Tour ](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/01/us/politics/trump-kicks-off-thank-you-tour-reveling-in-crowd-and-campaign-themes.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=b-lede-package-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&%5Fr=0)Reveling in Crowd and Campaign Themes \[New York Times\] **Sound Off** “If I made one mistake it was legitimizing the way the press covered this storyline.” — Clinton campaign communications director Jen Palmieri on the emails story “They are an anti-Trump group.” — Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway on the Southern Poverty Law Center **Bits and Bites** [Here’s What You Need to Know About James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis, Trump’s Pick For Secretary of Defense](http://time.com/4588472/donald-trump-james-mattis-defense-pentagon/) \[TIME\] [Chris Christie Makes Bid for Republican National Committee Chair](http://time.com/4587937/chis-christie-republican-national-committee/) \[TIME\] [Russia Accuses Ukraine of Trying to Sabotage Donald Trump’s Campaign](http://time.com/4588665/russia-foreign-ministry-ukraine-donald-trump/) \[TIME\] [Obama Administration Announces Support For Female Military Draft Requirement](http://time.com/4588376/white-house-women-military-draft-registration/) \[Associated Press\] [You Can’t Sue Wells Fargo for Fraud—Unless This New Bill Goes Through](http://time.com/money/4588453/legislation-gives-wells-fargo-customers-chance-to-sue/) \[Money\] [Donald Trump Warns Companies to Not Leave the United States: ‘We Can’t Let It Happen’](http://time.com/4587890/donald-trump-speech-carrier-plant-indiana/) \[TIME\] [Bernie Sanders: Donald Trump Just Let Carrier Take the U.S. ‘Hostage’](http://time.com/4588027/bernie-sanders-donald-trump-carrier-corporate-tax/) \[TIME\] ## Transcript [ APPLAUSE ] We can't allow this to happen anymore with our country. So many jobs are leaving and going to other countries. Not just Mexico, many, many countries. And China is making so much of our product that would closing up A a lot of plants. And I mean I wrote down some numbers that are incredible. But the numbers of manufacturing jobs that are lost, especially in the rust belt. And the rust belt is so incredible. But we're losing companies, it's unbelievable. One after another. Companies are not going to leave the United States anymore without consequences, not gonna happen. It's not gonna happen, tell you right now. [ APPLAUSE ] We're losing so much. So One of the things we're doing to keep them is we're gonna be lowering our business tax from 35 % hopefully down to 15 %, which would take us from the highest tax nation virtually in the world, this is terrible for business, to one of the lower tax. Not the lowest yet but one of the lower tax. I just wanna let all of the other companies know Then we're gonna do great things for businesses, no reason for them to leave anymore, because you're taxes are gonna be at the very, very low end. And your unnecessary regulations are gonna be gone. We need regulations for safety and environment and things, but most of the regulations are nonsense. So many people in the other than big beautiful plant behind us, which will be even more beautiful and About seven months from now. They're so happy, they're going to have a great Christmas. 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