US Elects
By Weekend Desk
Donald J Trump will be the 45th president of the United States. He will be the first person to hold the office despite having no prior political or military experience.
Its time for America to bind the wounds of division, Trump, who was flanked by his family and running mate Mike Pence, told the crowd inside a hotel in midtown Manhattan in the early hours of November 9. To all Republicans, Democrats and independents across this nation: I say it is time for us to come together as one united people. Its time.
The Republican nominees victory over Hillary Clinton marks a stunning upset that neither the polls nor the pundits saw coming. But Trump, defiant to the end, insisted he would win, despite burning bridges with key voting groups and even many Republicans.
Hillary Clinton called Trump to concede the race shortly before he took the stage.
Clinton formally and publicly conceded to Trump the morning after her upset defeat in the presidential race.
Last night, I congratulated Donald Trump and offered to work with him on behalf of our country. I hope that he will be a successful president for all Americans, she said.
This is not the outcome that we wanted ... and Im sorry that we did not win this election. This is painful, and it will be for a long time, she added.
Trump had spent the final three weeks of his once-unlikely White House bid railing against a rigged election, alleging without evidence that voter fraud was widespread. He even hinted at the idea of not conceding the race if he lost, jokingly promising to accept the results of the election if I win.
But the brash billionaire also predicted that he would shock the establishment and said his campaign would be Brexit plus plus, a reference to Britains exit from the European Union, which also was not forecast in the polls. And in the end, to borrow one of Trumps favourite expressions, he did indeed exceed expectations big league.
Polls had widely shown Trump to be an underdog against Clinton, the Democratic nominee who faced a series of questions over her use of a private email server and how her family foundation interacted with the State Department during her tenure as secretary of state. But those polls were apparently wrong.
The election results indicated that Trump outperformed expectations among working-class whites, forming a coalition of states that few thought possible when the campaign began. Meanwhile, Clinton underperformed among college-educated and young white women.
In the end, Clinton failed to overcome the showman, who gobbled up thousands of hours of free airtime on cable news by making a series of controversial and improbable promises, like a pledge to build a wall along the southern border of the US and a promise to shut down Muslim immigration.
Trumps election is already sending shock waves through the political system because it signals a repudiation of establishment politicians that, to many voters, the Clintons represent. The property magnate and former Celebrity Apprentice host, one of the most unconventional major-party candidates in US history, had vowed to drain the swamp of Washington, DC.
It remains to be seen if president-elect Trump will be able to heal the countrys sharp political divisions, some of which were sparked by his campaign.
But the Queens, New York-born Trump, 70, will have to face all of those challenges and more when he is inaugurated in January.
Working together, we will begin the urgent task of rebuilding our nation and renewing the American dream, Trump said. Ive spent my entire life and business looking at the untapped potential in projects and people all over the world. That is now what I want to do for our country. Tremendous potential Ive gotten to know our country so well tremendous potential. Its going to be a beautiful thing.
Source: ABC News
