Donald Trump was elected president of the United States of America yesterday, in a stunning comeback after four years. Tens of millions of voters have endorsed his vision of leadership that is expected to test democratic institutions at home and relations abroad.
Trump, 78, won back the White House after a campaign marked by inflammatory rhetoric that deepened polarization in the country, two assassination attempts and Democrats' late decision to nominate Kamala Harris when President Joe Biden withdrew from the race in July.
The outcome is the opposite of polls that showed an extremely tight race ahead of Tuesday's election. Trump won at least five swing states, surpassing the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidential election.
He also leads Harris by more than five million votes nationally.
"America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate," Trump told a huge crowd of supporters at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in Florida early yesterday.
Kamala Harris conceded defeat and called Trump to congratulate him. In a short conversation, she emphasized the importance of a peaceful transfer of power and being the president of all Americans.
Last night, Harris gave a speech at her former alma mater, Howard. "While I admit defeat in this election, I am not giving up the fight that launched this campaign," she said to supporters, many of whom wept.
Biden also congratulated Trump and invited him to meet at the White House.
Trump's spectacular comeback marks a new era for the US and the world, reflecting a sharp shift to the right in the American electorate, which has embraced not only his style of demagoguery, but also a nationalist "America First" agenda.
For the first time in history, Americans elected a convicted criminal as president.
British journalist and columnist Edward Luce says that, similar to Hillary Clinton's defeat in 2016, there are many factors that contributed to Kamala Harris' defeat.
However, this time it will be much more difficult to blame the malignant influence of foreign actors, Lus points out and adds that Trump is the "legitimately elected president of the USA" because "the Americans are the ones who returned him to office, without obvious outside help."
"Enough Americans want what Trump is offering: mass deportation of illegal immigrants, an end to globalization and a middle finger to the liberal elite and its often exaggerated approach to identity issues, better known as 'woke' culture," Luce writes for the Financial Times. This, in his opinion, "overcame any doubts voters had about Trump's character."
"The fact that the US elected a convicted felon, who is also accused of trying to change the results of previous elections and openly admires autocrats, can be interpreted in two ways. Either the voters do not take seriously the risk that Trump represents, or they know exactly what they are getting the country into, but they still prefer it to the usual way of conducting politics," Lus points out.
The "New York Times" writes that Trump is not a historical anomaly as some thought, but a transformative force that is reshaping modern America according to its own vision.
"The real America is becoming Trump's America," said Timothy Naftali, a historian at New York University. "Honestly, the world will say, if this man is not disqualified after January 6, who had a huge impact around the world, then this is not America as we knew it."
For Trump's allies, the outcome of the election confirms his argument that Washington has become detached from reality, that America is a country tired of wars abroad, excessive immigration and "woke" political correctness, according to the "New York Times".
Trump's political career appeared to be over after his false claims of election fraud led to mobs of supporters storming the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an unsuccessful attempt to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election.
However, he swept away opponents within his own Republican Party and then defeated Harris by capitalizing on voter concerns about high prices and what he claimed, without evidence, to be a rise in crime due to illegal immigration.
Republicans took control of the Senate from Democrats and have a chance to consolidate their narrow majority in the House of Representatives, although the outcome there will likely not be known for several days.
The world's major stock indexes rose after Trump's victory, and the dollar was on track for its biggest one-day jump since 2020.
Voters identified jobs and the economy as the country's most important issue, according to Reuters/Ipsos polls. Many Americans remained frustrated by high prices despite record stock prices, rapidly rising wages and low unemployment.
With the Biden administration shouldering much of the blame, most voters said they trusted Trump more than Harris to handle the problem.
Latinos, traditionally Democratic voters, and lower-income households hit hardest by inflation helped Trump win. His loyal base of rural, white, non-college-educated voters again turned out in large numbers.
World leaders from Europe to Asia congratulated Trump, whose victory will have significant consequences for US trade and climate policy, the war in Ukraine, American taxes and immigration.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed what he called Trump's commitment to "peace through strength," while the Kremlin said it would wait to see if his victory could help bring a faster end to the war in Ukraine. Trump said during the campaign that he could end the war in 24 hours.
Trump's victory came as a relief to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has clashed with the Biden administration over the war in Gaza and Lebanon. He said that Trump's victory was "the greatest comeback in history". Palestinian militant group Hamas has called for an end to US "blind support" for Israel.
Trump's tariff proposals could spark a tougher trade war with China and US allies, while his plans to cut corporate taxes and introduce a series of new cuts could increase the US debt, economists say.
Trump has promised to launch a massive campaign to deport immigrants who are in the country illegally.
He has announced that he will reshape the executive branch, including firing civil servants he deems disloyal and using federal law enforcement agencies to crack down on political enemies, violating a longstanding policy on the independence of those agencies.
Trump's second term could deepen the divide between Democrats and Republicans on issues such as race, gender, what and how children learn, and reproductive rights.
Vice President Harris has failed in the 15-week campaign to garner enough support to defeat Trump, who served in the White House from 2017 to 2021, or to ease voters' concerns about the economy and immigration. She warned that Trump wants unlimited presidential power and is a danger to democracy.
Nearly three-quarters of voters said American democracy is under threat, according to exit polls by Edison Research, underscoring polarization in a country where divisions have become more apparent during a heated election race.
Trump's campaign was characterized by apocalyptic rhetoric. He called the US a "trash bin" for immigrants, promised to save the economy from "destruction" and labeled some rivals as "enemies within".
His tirades were often directed at migrants, whom he said were "poisoning the blood of the country", or at Kamala Harris, whom he often derided as unintelligent.
Despite legal problems and controversies, Trump is only the second president to win a second term after leaving the White House. The first was Grover Cleveland, who served as the 22nd and 24th presidents.
At 78, Trump will become the oldest person to be inaugurated as president, surpassing the record set by Biden in 2020. Before that, this record was held by Ronald Reagan, who took office at the age of 69.
If Trump also wins a majority of the national vote, it would be the first time a Republican has won since George W. Bush in 2004, and only the second time since 1988.
Two months after he was convicted of paying a porn actress to remain silent, a would-be assassin's bullet grazed Trump's right ear during a rally in Pennsylvania in July, raising fears of political violence. A second assassination attempt was foiled in September at his golf course in Florida. Trump blamed heated rhetoric from Democrats, including Harris, for both attempts.
Just eight days after the July shooting, Biden, 81, withdrew from the race, finally bowing to pressure from Democrats after a poor performance during a debate with Trump that called into question his mental capacity and the viability of his re-election bid.
Biden's decision to retire turned the contest into a sprint race. Harris quickly launched the campaign in just weeks, instead of months. Her rise to the top has galvanized demoralized Democrats, and she has raised more than $1 billion in less than three months, erasing Trump's solid lead in the polls.
The financial advantage of Harris has been partially neutralized by the intervention of the world's richest man, Elon Musk, who has invested more than $100 million in a super TAK to mobilize Trump voters and used his social network X to amplify messages of support for Trump.
As the campaign drew to a close, Harris increasingly warned Americans about the dangers of re-electing Trump and offered an olive branch to disillusioned Republicans.
She pointed to comments by several former Trump officials, including his former chief of staff and retired Marine General John Kelly, who described Trump as a "fascist."
While Harris has moved toward the political center during the short campaign, courting anti-Trump Republicans and national security hawks by taking a pro-business approach to economic policy, that has not resonated with many voters in a country that has grown significantly more populist over the years.
Democrats will have to regroup
Democrats will now have to regroup in opposition to the new American right under Trump, which looks significantly stronger than it did after the 2016 election.
There was an atmosphere of anger and questioning in the Democratic Party yesterday after the extent of Kamala Harris's defeat caught supporters and party officials by surprise and influenced some Democrats to question the future of the party.
The harshest criticisms included accusations that the party misled supporters about Biden's mental health.
The party "needs a complete reboot," Bill Ackman, a hedge fund manager and longtime Democratic donor who backed Trump in 2024, wrote on Xx. "The party lied to the American people about the president's cognitive health and ability," he said, adding that then organized party elections to elect a new candidate.
Trump's victory will widen divisions in American society, given his false claims of election fraud, anti-immigrant rhetoric and demonization of political opponents, according to Alan Abramovich, a political science professor at Emory University.
During his first term, Trump's most extreme demands were sometimes blocked by members of his cabinet, such as when Vice President Mike Pence refused to block Congress from accepting the results of the 2020 election.
Trump and his incoming running mate, Sen. JD Vance, are scheduled to take office on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20. Trump has indicated that he will prioritize personal loyalty when choosing members of the administration. He has promised administration spots to Musk and former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaxxer and scion of a famous Massachusetts political dynasty, who campaigned for the White House before endorsing Trump.
Macron and Soltz call for EU unity
The European Union must be united and closely coordinated in light of Donald Trump's return to the White House, announced yesterday the leaders of the bloc's two main powers, Germany and France, after discussions on coordinating their response.
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz congratulated Trump on his election victory, but were also quick to highlight the challenges posed by his protectionist "America First" trade policy and isolationist rhetoric.
"The European Union must stand together and act unitedly," Scholz told reporters, adding that he and Macron were working closely with other EU heads of state and government.
Macron announced on the X network that Berlin and Paris will work for a united, stronger Europe within a "new context".
However, Reuters points out that achieving European unity will be a challenge, partly because in the past few years Paris and Berlin have often been at odds over issues such as financing increased defense spending, trade and, in particular, tariffs on Chinese electric cars.
The French and German leaders also find themselves in delicate political positions at home, with Macron having lost much of his power following his election defeat earlier this year, while Scholz is struggling to hold his coalition together.
"Contrary to claims, Europe is unprepared for the economic impact of higher tariffs, a likely U-turn on Ukraine and ultimatums on defense spending, we expect the EU to be divided much like the United States itself," Eurointelligence analysts told Reuters.
Before the US election, many European officials expressed concern about a possible Trump victory, given the strained transatlantic relations during his first term, his sharp criticism of NATO, his ambivalent attitude towards Ukraine's fight against Russian invasion, and one of Europe's main concerns are trade relations. Trump said last month that the EU will "pay a heavy price" for not buying enough American products if he wins the election.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated the former Republican president on his victory, but also pointed out that avoiding trade wars would be in the interest of both the US and Europe. "Millions of jobs and billions in trade and investment on both sides of the Atlantic depend on the dynamism and stability of our economic relationship," she said.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was among many in Europe who congratulated Trump, hoping for good cooperation, while some ministers pointed out that his return to the White House requires Europe to take greater responsibility for its security.
"Now we have to think big and make significant investments in our European security," said German Foreign Minister Analena Berbock.
Right-wing people around the world are celebrating
The main representatives of the global extreme right celebrated Trump's victory yesterday, and congratulations to the former president arrived from Rio de Janeiro to Budapest.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who promised to celebrate Trump's victory with "a few bottles of champagne," hailed what he called "a historic victory that the world desperately needs!"
Argentina's libertarian president, Javier Millay, a former television star often compared to Trump, congratulated his ally on an "impressive election victory." Millay wrote on Network X: "Now, make America great again. You know you can count on Argentina to carry out your task."
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Trump's victory represented "the triumph of the will of the people over the arrogant plans of an elite that despises our values, beliefs and traditions."
Across the Atlantic, far-right leaders enthusiastically celebrated the success of the Trump-led movement. "It's time for patriots. It's time for freedom," said Santiago Abascal, leader of Spain's far-right Vox party.
The far-right Italian prime minister, Đorđa Meloni, announced on IX: "Well done, president." She stated that Italy and the US have an "unshakable alliance". "It is a strategic partnership, which I am sure we will strengthen even more now," she said.
Her deputy Mateo Salvini enthusiastically called this moment a "historic day". "Common sense, passion and hope are winning in the USA!", announced the leader of the right-wing League.
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