Obama offers congratulations as winner urges Americans to
‘bind the wounds’
Donald Trump has won a stunning victory over Hillary
Clinton, wrongfooting investors around the world and defying Republican and
Democratic political elites with his populist “Make America Great Again”
movement.
he victory by the political outsider, amplified by a
Republican sweep of the Senate and House of Representatives, marks a
repudiation of Barack Obama that was fuelled by a backlash against
globalisation in the wake of the global financial crisis.
The result, which upended the predictions of most pollsters
and investors, led to sharp swings in financial markets. The Mexican peso was
off 8.2 per cent after tumbling 12 per cent, its biggest drop since the
country’s 1994-1995 devaluation crisis.
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The US dollar fell 1.2 per cent against the yen and
recovered early losses to remain flat against the euro. After sliding 3.4 per
cent on the news, S&P 500 futures were down 1 per cent and gold gained 1.9
per cent. Meanwhile, Treasury bond yields fell as investors sought safety and
then rose sharply hours later as many bet that the new president would win
support for fresh spending, eventually stoking inflation.
Mr Obama called Mr Trump early in the morning to
congratulate him on his victory, the White House said, noting that the
president-elect had been invited to Washington on Thursday to discuss
transition planning. Mr Obama was expected to address the nation later today,
setting out “steps we can take as a country to come together after this
hard-fought election season”. Mrs Clinton was due to speak at 10:30 New York
time (3:30 GMT).
Mr Trump strode to victory with wins in battleground states,
including Ohio and Pennsylvania, propelled by white, working-class “Trump
Democrats”. These voters crossed party lines to back a billionaire who vowed to
return jobs to America — echoing Ronald Reagan’s victory over Jimmy Carter in
1980.
In his victory speech in New York, the property developer
concluded one of the most divisive campaigns in history by calling on the
country to come together, as he stressed his intention to be a president for
all Americans, whether they had supported him or not.
“Now it is time for America to bind the wounds of division.
We have to get together,” he said. “To all Republicans and Democrats and
independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as
one united people.”
After months of vicious rhetoric against his opponent, Mr
Trump congratulated Mrs Clinton, who he said had called him to concede, and
thanked the former first lady, senator and secretary of state for her years of
public service.
“Hillary has worked very long and very hard over a long
period of time and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our
country. I mean that very sincerely,” he said. Mrs Clinton’s campaign said she
would speak on Wednesday morning.
“As I’ve said from the beginning, ours was not a campaign,
but rather an incredible and great movement,” Mr Trump said. “It’s a movement
comprised of Americans from all races, religions, backgrounds and beliefs who
want and expect our government to serve the people, and serve the people it
will.”
After months of warm comments about authoritarian leaders
such as Russian president Vladimir Putin, coupled with threats to downgrade
America’s relationships with its allies, Mr Trump tried to assure the world
that he would not be the temperamentally unfit commander-in-chief that Mrs
Clinton and Mr Obama portrayed him to be.
“I want to tell the
world community that while we will always put America’s interests first, we
will deal fairly with everyone … all people and all other nations,” said Mr
Trump. “We will seek common ground, not hostility;
partnership, not conflict.”
“Today the United States, tomorrow — France,” tweeted
Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the far-right National Front. In Germany,
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the foreign minister, remarked: “We must assume that
US policy will, in the coming times, be less predictable for us.”
With results still being counted, Mrs Clinton pulled ahead
in the popular vote by just over 100,000 ballots, thanks to strong support in
California and New York. But the man who was widely dismissed as a joke when he
announced his candidacy in June 2015 won a more convincing victory than even
many supporters had believed possible.
In addition to winning Florida, Ohio, and North Carolina, Mr
Trump’s appeal to working-class voters in the Midwest won him Pennsylvania — by
67,902 votes — and Wisconsin — by 26,788. Those states that had not backed a
Republican since 1988 and 1984, respectively.
“It’s surprising, but (Mrs Clinton) winning Philadelphia and
its upscale suburbs was clearly not enough to offset the record losses among
white blue-collar voters in the rest of [Pennsylvania],” said Brendan Boyle, a
Democratic congressman. “There is no question the Democratic Party needs to do
a much better job in reaching out to these voters, who used to be reliably
Democratic.”
In Michigan, another industrial state where Democrats have
long counted on strong union support, Mr Trump won by 15,611 votes. In New
Hampshire, his margin was 307 votes.
Coupled with the Republican victories in the House and
Senate, the results provide Mr Trump with a clean slate of power that
Republicans have not enjoyed since the Reagan era.
With one position still unfilled on the nine-member Supreme
Court, and the possibility of further age-related vacancies over the next four
years, the new president is also likely to have a lasting impact on the third
branch of government.
While many conservatives worried that Mr Trump was really a
New York liberal who would not support their views, they accepted his candidacy
after he unveiled a list of possible Supreme Court justices who were considered
acceptable.
Before the Associated Press called the race at 2.30am New
York time, John Podesta, Mrs Clinton’s campaign chairman, told shell-shocked
supporters at Manhattan’s Javits Center to go home, indicating that the former
secretary of state had no plans to speak.
At Mr Trump’s election night event in the Hilton Hotel in
Manhattan, supporters became increasingly euphoric as news of his wins came
through on large screens either side of the ballroom stage. As Fox News called
Wisconsin and Iowa for Mr Trump the crowd erupted with shouts of “USA, USA”,
while images of despondent Democratic supporters at Mrs Clinton’s gathering
prompted boos and shouts of “drain the swamp”.
“Thank God for Donald Trump. This is once in 10 lifetimes
that you see something like this,” said Joe Sparacio, a New York lawyer who had
volunteered for the candidate and lived in one of Mr Trump’s father’s buildings
as a boy. “The American people are the greatest and they are a lot smarter than
all these politicians give them credit for.”
By contrast, the initially jubilant Clinton campaign party
soon turned sour as returns showed the tightening races in Virginia, Michigan,
and Pennsylvania and Mr Trump running away with Ohio and Florida.
In the VIP audience, Mrs Clinton’s friends and supporters
stood shell-shocked underneath a glass ceiling that remained decidedly
un-shattered, as people close to the campaign tried to comprehend how their
internal polling had been so wrong.
Vin Weber, a former congressman who is close to House
speaker Paul Ryan and was a vocal critic of Mr Trump, said: “Americas role in
the world is suddenly an open question. But I wouldn’t assume the worst. I’d
assume a question mark.”
Around the world, Mr Trump’s victory triggered strong
reactions from US allies and populist politicians.
Vladimir Putin, Russian president, said: “Russia is ready
and wants to restore fully fledged relations with the US. It won’t be easy, but
we’re prepared to do our part.”
Theresa May, UK prime minister, promised to work with Mr
Trump to bolster the so-called “special relationship” between Britain and
America.
“We are, and will remain, strong and close partners on
trade, security and defence. I look forward to working with President-elect
Donald Trump, building on these ties to ensure the security and prosperity of
our nations in the years ahead,” she said.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, congratulated
Mr Trump on his election as America’s 45th president.
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