Trump wins in stunning upset

Belying speculations, Trump to become the 45th US president; Hillary concedes, offers to work with him

Political novice and former reality TV star Donald Trump has defeated Hillary Clinton to take the US presidency, stunning America and the world in an explosive upset fueled by a wave of grassroots anger, reports AFP from New York.
The Republican mogul immediately pledged to unite a deeply divided nation. But global markets had already plunged into turmoil and the long-standing global political order, which hinges on Washington’s leadership, was cast into doubt.
Around the world, as the once feared prospect of a Trump presidency settled in as cold, hard reality, the November surprise was greeted with warnings that America has lurched into a national crisis, its leader “an unstable bigot, sexual predator and compulsive liar,” in the words of Britain’s The Guardian newspaper.
Trump called for national reconciliation in his first comments after Clinton conceded defeat in a result that virtually no poll had dreamed of predicting, her hopes of becoming the first female US president brutally dashed.
“Now it is time for America to bind the wounds of division,” Trump told a cheering crowd of jubilant supporters in the early hours of Wednesday in New York, pledging to work with Democrats in office.
“I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans,” he declared.Trump praised Clinton—in the last presidential debate,he called her a “nasty woman”—for her hard work and
years of public service. His campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said  the pair had a “very gracious, very warm conversation” by phone that lasted about a minute.

America’s first woman president were brutally dashed. In his first post-election tweet, Trump wrote: “The forgotten man and woman will never be forgotten again. We will all come together as never before.”
As day broke in Washington, the White House said President Barack Obama called Trump to congratulate him. Trump will visit him there Thursday.
During a bitter two-year campaign that tugged at America’s democratic fabric, the 70-year-old tycoon pledged to deport illegal immigrants, ban Muslims from the country and tear up free trade deals.
There was no disguising the concern of Washington’s European partners that Trump’s victory might destroy the Western alliance they still regard as a touchstone for stability and the rule of law.
Russia’s autocratic leader Vladimir Putin said he wanted to rebuild “full-fledged relations” with the United States after Trump’s victory, as he warmly congratulated the president-elect.
But EU leaders Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker invited him to an EU-US summit at his “earliest convenience” to seek reassurances about transatlantic ties.
And NATO head Jens Stoltenberg warned Trump, who spoke during the campaign of making US allies take a bigger share of the Western security burden, that “US leadership is more important than ever.”
Trump openly courted Putin during the race, called US support for NATO allies in Europe into question and suggested that South Korea and Japan should develop their own nuclear weapons.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reacted to Trump’s election by insisting that his country and the United States are “unshakeable allies.”
Some of the most enthusiastic support for Trump came from far-right and nationalist politicians in Europe such as French opposition figure Marine Le Pen, Matteo Salvini of Italy’s Northern League and British euroskeptic Nigel Farage.
Trump will become America’s 45th commander-in-chief of the world’s sole true superpower on January 20.
The results prompted a global market sell-off, with stocks plunging across Asia and Europe and billions being wiped off the value of investments. Trump’s message was embraced by a large section of America’s white majority who have grown increasingly disgruntled by the scope of social and economic change in the last eight years under Obama, their first black president.
Many Americans from minority backgrounds expressed dismay at Trump’s victory, which some observers blamed on a backlash against multicultural America.
Although he has no government experience and in recent years has been as well known for running beauty pageants and starring on his reality television series “The Apprentice” as he is for building his property empire, Trump is the oldest man ever elected president.
Yet, during his improbable political rise, Trump has constantly proved the pundits and standard political wisdom wrong.
Opposed by the senior hierarchy of his own Republican Party, he trounced more than a dozen better-funded and more experienced rivals in the party primary.
During the race, he was forced to ride out credible allegations of sexual assault from a dozen women and was embarrassed but apparently not ashamed to have been caught on tape boasting about grabbing women’s genitals. And, unique in modern US political history, he refused to release his tax returns—leaving a question mark over how much, if any, tax he has paid while running a global empire.
But the biggest upset came on Tuesday, as he swept to victory through a series of hard-fought wins in battleground states from Florida to Ohio. He amassed at least 290 electoral votes to 218 for Clinton, according to network projections.
Clinton had been widely assumed to be on course to enter the history books as the first woman to become president in America’s 240-year existence.
Americans repudiated her call for unity among Americans with their wide cultural and racial diversity, opting instead for a leader who insisted the country is broken and that “I alone can fix it.” But it will have full control of Congress and he will be able to appoint a ninth Supreme Court justice to a vacant seat on the bench, ensuring that conservatism’s long rise and predominance among the black-robed justices will not be interrupted for now.
So great was the shock of defeat that the normally robust Clinton did not come out to her supporters’ poll-watching party to concede defeat, but instead called Trump and sent her campaign chairman.
The election result was also a brutal humiliation for the White House incumbent, Obama, who for eight years has repeated the credo that there is no black or white America, only the United States of America. On the eve of the election, he told tens of thousands of people in Philadelphia that he was betting on the decency of the American people.
“I’m betting that tomorrow, most moms and dads across America won’t cast their vote for someone who denigrates their daughters,” Obama said.
“I’m betting that tomorrow, true conservatives won’t cast their vote for somebody with no regard for the Constitution.”
His bet appears to have been flat out wrong, and America’s first black president will be succeeded by a candidate who received the endorsement—albeit unsought and unacknowledged—of the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan.

Hillary offers to work with Trump

Hillary Clinton yesterday vowed to work with American President-elect Donald Trump, and urged fellow Democrats to allow him the chance to lead the deeply divided country, AFP reports.
"Last night, I congratulated Donald Trump and offered to work with him on behalf of our country," the defeated candidate told supporters, holding back tears in her first public remarks since the Republican's upset victory.
"I hope that he will be a successful president for all Americans."
"We have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought," she said. "We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead."
Clinton's bid to become America's first female president was crushed Wednesday after one of the bitterest presidential campaigns in memory.
Her unexpected defeat brought to power a candidate who disparaged her as "crooked Hillary" and whom she repeatedly denounced as unfit to lead the United States.
"This is not the outcome we wanted or we worked so hard for and I'm sorry that we did not win this election for the values we share and the vision we hold for our country," she said.
"This is painful, and it will be for a long time, but I want you to remember this: our campaign was never about one person or even one election."
She said that the constitutional democracy "enshrines the peaceful transfer of power, and we don't just respect that, we cherish it."
"It enshrines other things too," she said.
"The rule of law, the principle that we are all equal in rights and dignity, freedom of worship and expression. We respect and cherish these values, too, and we must defend them."
It appeared to be a gentle jab at Trump, who called for a ban on Muslims during the campaign, and during one presidential debate appeared to threaten Clinton herself with jail if he was president.

 

 

 

 

Trump wins in stunning upset

Belying speculations, Trump to become the 45th US president; Hillary concedes, offers to work with him

Political novice and former reality TV star Donald Trump has defeated Hillary Clinton to take the US presidency, stunning America and the world in an explosive upset fueled by a wave of grassroots anger, reports AFP from New York. The Republican mogul immediately pledged to unite a deeply divided nation. But global markets had already plunged into turmoil and the long-standing global political order, which hinges on Washingtons leadership, was cast into doubt. Around the world, as the once feared prospect of a Trump presidency settled in as cold, hard reality, the November surprise was greeted with warnings that America has lurched into a national crisis, its leader an unstable bigot, sexual predator and compulsive liar, in the words of Britains The Guardian newspaper. Trump called for national reconciliation in his first comments after Clinton conceded defeat in a result that virtually no poll had dreamed of predicting, her hopes of becoming the first female US president brutally dashed. Now it is time for America to bind the wounds of division, Trump told a cheering crowd of jubilant supporters in the early hours of Wednesday in New York, pledging to work with Democrats in office. I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans, he declared.Trump praised Clintonin the last presidential debate,he called her a nasty womanfor her hard work and years of public service. His campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said the pair had a very gracious, very warm conversation by phone that lasted about a minute. Americas first woman president were brutally dashed. In his first post-election tweet, Trump wrote: The forgotten man and woman will never be forgotten again. We will all come together as never before. As day broke in Washington, the White House said President Barack Obama called Trump to congratulate him. Trump will visit him there Thursday. During a bitter two-year campaign that tugged at Americas democratic fabric, the 70-year-old tycoon pledged to deport illegal immigrants, ban Muslims from the country and tear up free trade deals. There was no disguising the concern of Washingtons European partners that Trumps victory might destroy the Western alliance they still regard as a touchstone for stability and the rule of law. Russias autocratic leader Vladimir Putin said he wanted to rebuild full-fledged relations with the United States after Trumps victory, as he warmly congratulated the president-elect. But EU leaders Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker invited him to an EU-US summit at his earliest convenience to seek reassurances about transatlantic ties. And NATO head Jens Stoltenberg warned Trump, who spoke during the campaign of making US allies take a bigger share of the Western security burden, that US leadership is more important than ever. Trump openly courted Putin during the race, called US support for NATO allies in Europe into question and suggested that South Korea and Japan should develop their own nuclear weapons. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reacted to Trumps election by insisting that his country and the United States are unshakeable allies. Some of the most enthusiastic support for Trump came from far-right and nationalist politicians in Europe such as French opposition figure Marine Le Pen, Matteo Salvini of Italys Northern League and British euroskeptic Nigel Farage. Trump will become Americas 45th commander-in-chief of the worlds sole true superpower on January 20. The results prompted a global market sell-off, with stocks plunging across Asia and Europe and billions being wiped off the value of investments. Trumps message was embraced by a large section of Americas white majority who have grown increasingly disgruntled by the scope of social and economic change in the last eight years under Obama, their first black president. Many Americans from minority backgrounds expressed dismay at Trumps victory, which some observers blamed on a backlash against multicultural America. Although he has no government experience and in recent years has been as well known for running beauty pageants and starring on his reality television series The Apprentice as he is for building his property empire, Trump is the oldest man ever elected president. Yet, during his improbable political rise, Trump has constantly proved the pundits and standard political wisdom wrong. Opposed by the senior hierarchy of his own Republican Party, he trounced more than a dozen better-funded and more experienced rivals in the party primary. During the race, he was forced to ride out credible allegations of sexual assault from a dozen women and was embarrassed but apparently not ashamed to have been caught on tape boasting about grabbing womens genitals. And, unique in modern US political history, he refused to release his tax returnsleaving a question mark over how much, if any, tax he has paid while running a global empire. But the biggest upset came on Tuesday, as he swept to victory through a series of hard-fought wins in battleground states from Florida to Ohio. He amassed at least 290 electoral votes to 218 for Clinton, according to network projections. Clinton had been widely assumed to be on course to enter the history books as the first woman to become president in Americas 240-year existence. Americans repudiated her call for unity among Americans with their wide cultural and racial diversity, opting instead for a leader who insisted the country is broken and that I alone can fix it. But it will have full control of Congress and he will be able to appoint a ninth Supreme Court justice to a vacant seat on the bench, ensuring that conservatisms long rise and predominance among the black-robed justices will not be interrupted for now. So great was the shock of defeat that the normally robust Clinton did not come out to her supporters poll-watching party to concede defeat, but instead called Trump and sent her campaign chairman. The election result was also a brutal humiliation for the White House incumbent, Obama, who for eight years has repeated the credo that there is no black or white America, only the United States of America. On the eve of the election, he told tens of thousands of people in Philadelphia that he was betting on the decency of the American people. Im betting that tomorrow, most moms and dads across America wont cast their vote for someone who denigrates their daughters, Obama said. Im betting that tomorrow, true conservatives wont cast their vote for somebody with no regard for the Constitution. His bet appears to have been flat out wrong, and Americas first black president will be succeeded by a candidate who received the endorsementalbeit unsought and unacknowledgedof the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan. Hillary offers to work with Trump Hillary Clinton yesterday vowed to work with American President-elect Donald Trump, and urged fellow Democrats to allow him the chance to lead the deeply divided country, AFP reports. Last night, I congratulated Donald Trump and offered to work with him on behalf of our country, the defeated candidate told supporters, holding back tears in her first public remarks since the Republicans upset victory. I hope that he will be a successful president for all Americans. We have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought, she said. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead. Clintons bid to become Americas first female president was crushed Wednesday after one of the bitterest presidential campaigns in memory. Her unexpected defeat brought to power a candidate who disparaged her as crooked Hillary and whom she repeatedly denounced as unfit to lead the United States. This is not the outcome we wanted or we worked so hard for and Im sorry that we did not win this election for the values we share and the vision we hold for our country, she said. This is painful, and it will be for a long time, but I want you to remember this: our campaign was never about one person or even one election. She said that the constitutional democracy enshrines the peaceful transfer of power, and we dont just respect that, we cherish it. It enshrines other things too, she said. The rule of law, the principle that we are all equal in rights and dignity, freedom of worship and expression. We respect and cherish these values, too, and we must defend them. It appeared to be a gentle jab at Trump, who called for a ban on Muslims during the campaign, and during one presidential debate appeared to threaten Clinton herself with jail if he was president.