The FBI said it is looking into reports of racist text messages sent across the country to Black Americans, including children.
“The FBI is aware of the offensive and racist text messages sent to individuals around the country and is in contact with the Justice Department and other federal authorities on the matter,” the bureau said in a statement.
“As always, we encourage members of the public to report threats of physical violence to local law enforcement authorities,” it added.
According to the Associated Press, the texts were sent to Black people in Alabama, California, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and Tennessee. They were sent to women and children. CNN said that other people in South Carolina, New Jersey, and Maryland also said they got texts.
The AP says that both the Federal Communications Commission and the Ohio Attorney General’s office said they were looking into the situation.
Dozens of Black people across the country told NBC News that they got the texts, which were sent soon after Donald Trump beat Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
NBC says that the text messages sent to Black people used racial slurs and talked about slavery, picking cotton, and farms. No information from the FBI has been made public about who sent the texts, and it is not clear where they came from.
The news came around the same time as several world leaders contacted President-elect Trump on Wednesday to congratulate him on his history-making comeback and victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Dear Donald and Melania Trump, Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback!” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on the X platform.
“Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America. This is a huge victory!” he added with a photo of himself, wife Sara, and Trump.
In Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had his own contentious involvement in the U.S. election campaign, expressed a tone of hopeful unity regarding Trump’s potential assistance in addressing the Russian invasion of his country.
“I recall our great meeting with President Trump back in September, when we discussed in detail the Ukraine-U.S. strategic partnership, the Victory Plan, and ways to put an end to Russian aggression against Ukraine,” he wrote in a lengthy X post.
“I appreciate President Trump’s commitment to the ‘peace through strength’ approach in global affairs. This is exactly the principle that can practically bring just peace in Ukraine closer. I am hopeful that we will put it into action together,” he added. “We look forward to an era of a strong United States of America under President Trump’s decisive leadership. We rely on continued strong bipartisan support for Ukraine in the United States.
“We are interested in developing mutually beneficial political and economic cooperation that will benefit both of our nations. Ukraine, as one of Europe’s strongest military powers, is committed to ensuring long-term peace and security in Europe and the Transatlantic community with the support of our allies,” Zelenskyy wrote, adding he was looking forward to seeing Trump in person again.
According to Fox News, other leaders congratulating Trump included El Salvador’s President, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In Beijing, the leaders of the Chinese dictatorship were fairly quiet.
“We will continue to approach and handle China-US relations based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said, according to Fortune. “We respect the choice of the American people,” she added.
Stock markets in the U.S. shot skyward immediately following news that now-President-elect Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris Tuesday night, winning back many of the so-called “blue wall” states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
Dow futures surged more than 1,000 points on Wednesday morning after Trump took the stage at his headquarters in Florida, expressing gratitude to his supporters and vowing to restore the country, Fox Business reported.
“We’re going to pay you back. We are going to do the best job. We’re going to turn it around. It’s got to be turned around, and it’s got to be turned around fast. And we’re going to turn it around,” said Trump.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures also jumped over 1% in the early morning, the outlet added.
Vice President-elect JD Vance also discussed the importance of revitalizing the U.S. economy, a key issue in the election. “We’re going to lead the greatest economic comeback in American history under Donald Trump’s leadership,” Vance told an election night crowd.
