Trump, his wife Melania, and a number of his kids took the stage at his campaign headquarters in Florida as cheering supporters chanted “USA.”
Supporters of Former US President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attend a roundtable discussion with Latino community leaders at Trump National Doral Miami resort in Miami, Florida on October 22, 2024. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP)
ElectionTrump, his wife Melania, and a number of his kids took the stage at his campaign headquarters in Florida as cheering supporters chanted “USA.”
As the results put Donald Trump on the verge of defeating Kamala Harris in a stunning White House comeback, he declared victory and promised to “heal” the nation on Wednesday.His ebullient speech was given in spite of the fact that no other US networks had yet to declare him the winner, only Fox News had done so.Trump, his wife Melania, and a number of his kids took to the stage at his campaign headquarters in Florida as cheering supporters chanted “USA.”
Donald Trump gestures after speaking during an election night event at the West Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach [Jim Watson/AFP]
The Republican former president declared, “We are going to help our country heal.””This is a political triumph that has never been witnessed in our nation.”In addition to leading the Democratic vice president in the other states, which have not yet been called, US networks have called the swing states of North Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania for the 78-year-old. The gloom quickly spread over Harris’s camp.
At a Washington watch party, Harris campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond said, “You will not hear from the vice president tonight, but you will hear from her tomorrow.” This was as supporters were departing.Trump’s Republican Party also took control of the Senate, reversing a slim Democratic majority by flipping two seats, dealing Democrats yet another setback.
People return their voting card after voting at a polling station at Historic Fifth Street School, in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Election Day, November 5, 2024. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP)
A Trump victory threatens to cause shockwaves around the world, as US allies in Europe and Asia fear a return of his nationalist policies and his praise of autocrats like Russia’s Vladimir Putin.But the US dollar surged and bitcoin hit a record high while most equity markets advanced as traders bet on a victory for Trump as the results rolled in.
Polls for weeks had shown a knife-edge race between Harris and Trump, who would be the oldest ever president at the time of inauguration, the first felon president and only the second in history to serve non-consecutive terms.
Trump also faces sentencing in a criminal case over hush money payments on November 26, while the controversy over his denial of his 2020 election defeat by Joe Biden still persists.
But in the end victory came surprisingly quickly.At Harris’s watch party at Howard University, a historically Black university in Washington and her former college, the atmosphere drastically changed as the results were announced.”I am afraid,” Charlyn Anderson declared. “I am nervous right now. I am leaving because I can hardly move my legs.
A supporter of former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a sign on Election Day, in The Villages, Florida, November 5, 2024. (Photo by Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP)
In contrast, the celebrations intensified at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and the watch party nearby.Tech tycoon Elon Musk, who has backed Trump and stands to lead a government efficiency commission under him, posted a picture of himself with the Republican.
“Game, set, and match,” Musk stated on X, the social media platform he owns alongside Space X and the Tesla electric car company.In a race that would have significant ramifications for both the US and the rest of the world, millions of Americans had waited in line throughout Election Day and millions more had cast their ballots early.
They had to choose between giving Trump a historic comeback or putting Harris in the most powerful position in the world.Numerous bomb threats were made against polling places in Georgia and Pennsylvania, serving as a clear reminder of the tension and concerns about outright violence.
A woman wears a US flag jacket as supporters of former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gather to show their support near his residence at Mar-a-Lago in West Palm Beach, Florida, on October 28, 2024. (Photo by Giorgio Viera / AFP)
The FBI said the threats appeared to originate in Russia, which is accused by Washington of trying to meddle in the election. The threats were all hoaxes but succeeded in disrupting proceedings.
Harris, 60, had aiming to be only the second Black and first person of South Asian descent to be president.She made a dramatic entrance into the race when Biden dropped out in July, while Trump — twice impeached while president — has since ridden out two assassination attempts and a criminal conviction.She hammered home her message that Trump was a threat to democracy and her opposition to Trump-backed abortion bans.
“I Voted” stickers are available to voters at a polling station at Greater Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, located within Mecklenburg County, on November 5, 2024. (Photo by Grant BALDWIN / AFP)
Trump has vowed an unprecedented deportation campaign of millions of undocumented immigrants, in a campaign full of dark rhetoric.The election is being watched closely around the world including in the war zones of Ukraine and the Middle East. Trump has indicated he will cut aid to Kyiv’s battle against the Russian invasion.