A 10:44 GMT, he had a total of 276 electors against 219 for his democratic rival Kamala Harris, therefore beyond the threshold of 270 required to win this election by indirect suffrage.
The Republican’s comeback is all the more extraordinary as his third campaign was marked by two assassination attempts, four indictments and a criminal conviction.
As in 2016, his victory was clear and quick, the former president winning the two disputed states of North Carolina and Georgia in a handful of hours, before Pennsylvania served as a springboard, and Wisconsin comes to bury the last hopes of the vice-president.
Even before this outcome was official, the Republican received a shower of congratulations from foreign officials, from Emmanuel Macron to Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Kremlin indicated on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not plan to congratulate Donald Trump, specifying that the latter would be judged on his “acts”.
French Prime Minister Michel Barnier warned Europeans “against every man for himself”, facing a Donald Trump who has promised a protectionist turn and who favors bilateral confrontations over multilateral forums.
The former businessman becomes the second American president in history to win two non-consecutive terms, after Grover Cleveland, who led the country between 1885 and 1889, then between 1893 and 1897.
The markets welcomed the news, with very pronounced gains in the dollar and a clearly green opening expected on Wall Street.
After leaving the White House in chaos, the Republican tribune managed, as in 2016, to convince Americans that he understood their daily difficulties better than anyone. Or better, in any case, than Kamala Harris who led a lightning campaign after the spectacular withdrawal of Joe Biden.
The return of Donald Trump to the White House plunges millions of Americans in red caps into euphoria and as many others into fear, traumatized by his increasingly bitter rhetoric.
In his victory speech, Donald Trump, who will be sworn in on January 20, called for “unit”, urging Americans to put “the divisions of the last four years behind us”.
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During his campaign, he assailed his rival with insults and accused migrants of “poison the blood of the country”. The billionaire proposed the “biggest operation” never seen any expulsion of migrants, from day one.
Very critical of the billions of dollars released for the war in Ukraine, he promised to resolve this conflict even before taking the oath – a prospect that gives kyiv a cold sweat.
The war in the Middle East will also be resolved, assures the real estate magnate, without explaining how either.
A notorious climate skeptic, the Republican has pledged to once again slam the door on the Paris Agreement and drill for oil.everything goes”.
On the economy, Donald Trump wants “steal jobs from other countries” through tax cuts and customs duties.
He remains much more vague when it comes to the right to abortion, considerably weakened by judges on the Supreme Court whom he prides himself on having appointed. But on this issue like many others, the unpredictable character of the stormy septuagenarian fuels all the speculation.
Democrats are concerned about his growing threats against a “enemy from within” and his thirst for revenge.
The new president will be able to rely on the Senate, which the Republicans took back overnight from the Democrats. And his triumph will be complete if his party retains the House of Representatives.
Few details have filtered out about the casting of the future Trump administration. With one notable exception: the former president said he would entrust responsibility for a broad audit of the American state to billionaire Elon Musk, who spent more than $110 million of his fortune on the Republican’s campaign.
By electing Donald Trump, the Americans have decided to place a 78-year-old man at the helm of the world’s leading power, who in January will become the oldest president of the United States to take the oath of office. A repeat offender, whose sentence is due on November 26, in a case of hidden payments to a pornographic film star.
It is still too early to say what effect his election will have on his legal torments, he who risks prison in several cases.
