Donald Trump wins Arizona, the last key state, and confirms the scale of his victory against Kamala Harris

He therefore won all the swing states. Donald Trump won against Kamala Harris in Arizona, announced the Associated Press on Saturday, November 9. This is the last state whose result had not been announced by the American press agency. The Republican candidate had already been declared the winner in the six other key states: Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Nevada.

The eleven electoral votes won in Arizona do not change the outcome of the election but confirm the scale of the victory of the Republican candidate against Democrat Kamala Harris. In total, he won by 312 voters to 226 for his opponent. He did better than in 2016, when he dominated, for his first presidential election, Hillary Clinton by 306 voters to 232. And better than Joe Biden in 2020 who, too, won by 306 voters.

Unlike in 2016, Donald Trump is also expected to win the popular vote this year. As the count draws to a close, he has gathered more than 74 million votes, compared to just under 71 million for Kamala Harris. If this trend is confirmed at the end of the count, he will be the first Republican president in twenty years – George W. Bush in 2004 against John Kerry – to achieve this.

However, it is not a tidal wave: overall, he hardly brings together more votes than in 2020. It is his opponent who loses compared to the score achieved, he four years ago, by Joe Biden who had gathered more than 81 million votes.

To govern, Donald Trump will be able to rely on the Senate, which the Republicans took back from the Democrats. The outcome of the election to the House of Representatives remains uncertain, with twenty seats still to be allocated, but the Republicans are only five seats from the majority.

The president-elect will be received by Joe Biden on Wednesday at 5 p.m. (Paris time) in the Oval Office, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre announced on Saturday. The outgoing president pledged on Thursday to ensure a transfer of powers “peaceful and orderly” with the Republican who will take office on January 20.

The two men must prepare for the arrival of the next administration, in which figures such as billionaire Elon Musk or Robert F. Kennedy Jr could play important roles.

This meeting with Joe Biden had been announced, but the date had not yet been specified. Mr. Trump, who never acknowledged his defeat in the 2020 election and who boycotted the Democratic president's inauguration ceremony, said on Thursday, “look forward to this meeting” at the White House, according to his team.

Defeated after a bitter campaign, Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris also assured that she “would help” Donald Trump in this period.

Mike Pompeo and Nikki Haley excluded from future government

The real estate tycoon – target of two assassination attempts during the campaign, charged and sentenced in criminal and civil proceedings – has seventy-four days to put his government team in place.

The Republican made his first major appointment on Thursday: Susie Wiles, architect of his campaign, will be his chief of staff, a strategic position which had never been occupied by a woman. The rest should be announced in the coming weeks.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr, nephew of the assassinated president and former independent candidate aligned with Donald Trump, could be entrusted with responsibilities in public health. He is known for his anti-vaccine positions. And billionaire Elon Musk, who campaigned very actively for Donald Trump, could be responsible for profoundly reorganizing the federal administration.

The Republican, on the other hand, made it known on Saturday on his Truth Social network that he would not recall his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, tipped to lead the Pentagon, nor the United States ambassador to the UN under his mandate, Nikki Haley, who became his rival during the Republican primaries, to be part of his government.

Promises of tax cuts and expulsion of migrants

Passing the keys of the White House to the Republican will be a humiliation for the outgoing president, Joe Biden, accused by his camp of having, out of pride, facilitated this resounding return. After weeks of campaign without progress, the latter withdrew from the race in July weighed down by his age, 81, in favor of his vice-president.

Nancy Pelosi, one of the major voices of the Democratic Party, told the New York Times what “if the president had gone out [de la course] earlier, there might have been other candidates”adding that Joe Biden's immediate support for Kamala Harris had prevented a primary from taking place. The former speaker of the American House of Representatives, however, praised “the craze” sparked by Kamala Harris during her campaign.

The latter, who described her opponent as a “fascist” and a “danger to democracy”, failed to convince Americans that she understood their economic and security concerns.

According to exit polls, voters' main concern was the economy and inflation, which had soared under Mr. Biden's mandate after the Covid-19 pandemic. Donald Trump promised Americans to make their lives better through tax cuts and customs duties. The Republican also said he would carry out evictions “massive” of irregular migrants.