Odermatt becomes Switzerland's most successful male skier with another GS win on the Gran Risa

LA VILLA, Italy (AP) — Marco Odermatt is back to his imperious best.

Odermatt followed up his first win in Val Gardena in Saturday’s downhill by winning a World Cup giant slalom on Sunday as he continued to dominate the Gran Risa to become Switzerland's most successful male skier.

It was Odermatt’s 41st World Cup victory, putting the three-time defending overall champion one above Pirmin Zurbriggen for wins for the Swiss men's team. Vreni Schneider holds the overall record for her country with 55.

“This is crazy now,” Odermatt said. “To be here the best Swiss alpine skier ever ... Pirmin Zurbriggen is the biggest legend we have in Swiss skiing history so this is a very special moment.”

Odermatt was third fastest in a tricky first run in Alta Badia but was much more aggressive in the second to make it back-to-back GS wins after a difficult start to the season.

“I think every run is different down here,” Odermatt said. “Today, in the morning it was very difficult with the changing conditions and insane run. I felt better already after the inspection. I saw that on the ground is better, so I knew I can ski my plan, I can attack, it’s less dangerous.”

Odermatt beat Léo Anguenot by 0.85 seconds. The Frenchman also had a strong second run to rise from ninth to clinch his first World Cup podium finish. Anguenot had never placed inside the top 10 before.

Alexander Steen Olsen was third, 0.88 behind Odermatt and just ahead of first-run leader Filip Zubcic.

Olympic champion Odermatt has now won five of the past six GS races on the Gran Risa. Only Lucas Pinheiro Braathen has interrupted that streak.

However, Odermatt had appeared uncharacteristically beatable in his favorite discipline this year.

Odermatt won the first nine of 10 giant slalom races last season on his way to a third straight crystal globe in the discipline as well as a third straight overall title.

But the Swiss standout then failed to finish the final event in March and the first two races of the new season before finally picking up his first GS points with a win in Val d’Isère last weekend.

The Gran Risa is already one of the toughest courses on the circuit and it was made even more difficult by flat light, while there were also plenty of ruts and bumps on the course — although that was improved between the first and second run.

“I know that I’m strong in this condition, when it’s tough, when it’s a fight, when you have to ski smart,” Odermatt said.

Henrik Kristoffersen called it “dangerous” and “really bad” after the first run, adding: “maybe we shouldn’t have skied today, that was my feeling.”

Kristoffersen was fourth fastest after the first run but dropped to ninth.

Odermatt moved a point above Kristoffersen into top spot in the GS standings and extended his lead in the overall standings to 121 points above the Norwegian.

There is a slalom on Monday also in Alta Badia before the men's circuit moves to Bormio for speed events.

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt, center, winner of an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, celebrates with second-placed France's Leo Anguenot, left, and third-placed Norway's Alexander Steen Olsen, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt, center, winner of an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, celebrates with second-placed France's Leo Anguenot, left, and third-placed Norway's Alexander Steen Olsen, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt celebrates with the team after winning an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt celebrates on the podium after winning an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)

France's Leo Anguenot speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)

France's Leo Anguenot celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)

France's Leo Anguenot celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt checks his time at the finish area of an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

The Italian Frecce Tricolori acrobatic squad flies past ahead of an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)

Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen concentrates ahead of an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

Croatia's Filip Zubcic speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

WASHINGTON (AP) — After days of threats and demands, Donald Trump had little to show for it once lawmakers passed a budget deal in the early hours of Saturday, narrowly averting a pre-Christmas government shutdown.

The president-elect successfully pushed House Republicans to jettison some spending, but he failed to achieve his central goal of raising the debt limit. It demonstrated that despite his decisive election victory and frequent promises of retribution, many members of his party are still willing to openly defy him.

Trump’s decision to inject himself into the budget debate a month before his inauguration also showed that he remains more adept at blowing up deals than making them, and it foreshadowed that his second term will likely be marked by the same infighting, chaos and brinksmanship that characterized his first.

“Stay tuned. Buckle up. Strap in,” said Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., a senior appropriator.

A glance at Trump’s agenda shows a cascade of opportunities for similar showdowns in the years to come. He wants to extend tax cuts that he signed into law seven years ago, slash the size of government, increase tariffs on imports and crack down on illegal immigrants. Many of those efforts will need congressional buy-in.

For many of Trump’s supporters, disruption could be its own goal. Thirty-seven percent of those who voted for him this year said they wanted “complete and total upheaval,” according to AP VoteCast, a broad survey of more than 120,000 voters. An additional 56% said they wanted “substantial change.”

But the past few days made clear the difficulty Trump could face in quickly fulfilling his goals, especially with Republicans holding only thin majorities in the House and the Senate. Some lawmakers already seem weary of the apparent lack of a unified strategy.

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said the budget battle was “a valuable lesson in how to get our act together.”

“There are no layups and it gets more complicated," he said.

The trouble started when top lawmakers released a copy of the bill, known as a continuing resolution, that was required to keep the federal government functioning until March. It wasn't the president-elect but Elon Musk, the world's richest man and a Trump confidant, who first began whipping up opposition to the legislation on social media by calling it excessive spending.

Trump eventually waded into the fight. He ordered Republicans to cancel the bipartisan deal they had made with Democrats. And he demanded they increase the debt limit — the cap on how much the government can borrow — in hopes of preventing that thorny issue from coming up while he is in charge of the government.

He ratcheted up the pressure even as his demands shifted. First he wanted to eliminate the debt limit altogether. Then he wanted to suspend it until 2027. Then he floated an extension until 2029.

If there was a shutdown, Democratic President Joe Biden would take the blame, Trump insisted.

“All Republicans, and even the Democrats, should do what is best for our Country, and vote “YES” for this Bill, TONIGHT!” Trump wrote Thursday, before a vote on a version of the bill that included a higher debt limit.

Instead, 38 Republicans voted no. It was a stunning brush-off to Trump, whose power over his party has at times seemed near-absolute.

"Without this, we should never make a deal," he wrote on Truth Social, his social media site.

If he didn’t get what he wanted, Trump said, there should be a government shutdown. He also said members of his own party would face primary challenges if they refused to go along, saying “Republican obstructionists have to be done away with." He singled out Rep. Chip Roy of Texas by name and with insults.

But in the end, lawmakers left out that debt ceiling increase, and a final deal passed early Saturday.

Musk and other Trump allies tried to frame it as a win because the final legislation was significantly slimmed down and omitted unpopular items such as a pay raise for members of Congress. Charlie Kirk, the prominent conservative activist, wrote on X that Trump “is already running Congress before he takes office!”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he had been in “constant contact” with Trump, who, he added was "certainly happy about this outcome.”

If Trump agreed, he didn’t say so himself.

After days of frequent social media messages, Trump again went silent on Friday. He did not offer a reaction to the final vote or issue any statements. Instead, he went golfing at his Florida resort.

Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for Trump, said the president-elect helped prevent an original deal “full of Democrat pork and pay raises for members of Congress.”

“In January, President Trump and DOGE will continue this important mission to cut the waste out of Washington, one bill at a time,” she said. DOGE is a reference to the Department of Government Efficiency, an advisory panel that will be led by Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

The circus-like atmosphere of the funding fight was reminiscent of Trump’s first term. Back then, one budget standoff led to a government shutdown when Trump demanded money for his U.S.-Mexico border wall. After 35 days — the longest shutdown in history — he agreed to a deal without the money he wanted.

It was a political low point for Trump, and 60% of Americans blamed him for the shutdown, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll at the time.

Trump didn't stop trying to bend Republicans to his will then. He's certainly not going to do so now.

He is cranking up the pressure on his own party over his Cabinet picks, pushing reluctant Republican senators to get on board with some of his most controversial choices, such as anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary and then-Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defense secretary.

The spending debates next year seem certain to further test Trump's influence in the House. Many conservatives view the rapid growth of the federal debt as an existential threat to the country that must be addressed. But some Republicans fear a voter backlash if steep cuts are made to federal programs upon which Americans rely.

Concerns about deficit spending could intensify if Trump pushes expensive tax cuts that he promised during the campaign, such as eliminating taxes on tips, Social Security and overtime pay.

He also wants to extend the tax cuts he signed into law in 2017 that are set to expire next year. He has called for further lowering the U.S. corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%, but only for companies that produce in the United States.

Trump has said he will pay for the dips in revenue with aggressive new tariffs that economists warn will lead to higher prices for consumers.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, said reducing spending would likely continue to be a gulf between Trump and House Republicans.

“That’s never been really a campaign promise of Trump, but it’s a big priority for House Republicans,” he said.

There was no sense that the animosity was dying down on Saturday. Some Republicans faulted the House leadership for not securing Trump's “blessing" on the original deal. Democrats cast Trump as second fiddle to Musk.

While Trump stayed quiet, Biden announced that he signed the budget legislation.

"This agreement represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything it wanted," he said. “But it rejects the accelerated pathway to a tax cut for billionaires that Republicans sought, and it ensures the government can continue to operate at full capacity.”

FILE - President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, file)

The Capitol is pictured in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

FILE - Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, left, and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump attend a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE—Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., takes questions from reporters after presenting his final version of an interim pending bill to his caucus, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. President-elect Donald Trump has now abruptly rejected the bipartisan plan to prevent a Christmastime government shutdown. Instead, he's telling House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republicans to essentially renegotiate — days before a deadline when federal funding runs out. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

A Coast Guard patrol boat cruises near Mar-a-Lago, President-elect Donald Trump's Palm Beach home, in Palm Beach, Fla., Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

FILE - Elon Musk speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

FILE - President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with the House GOP conference, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (Allison Robbert/Pool Photo via AP, File)