World waits to see how Trump reshapes US approach to trade, China and security
The Republican promised his supporters a ‘golden age for America’ after securing a mandate to overturn the post-1945 Washington consensus
His victory is among the most unconventional, consequential and divisive of US election wins, giving the Republican president-elect a mandate to shape the country’s post-World War II consensus on everything from global trade and foreign affairs to democratic norms, immigration and China policy.
“This will truly be the golden age of America,” said Trump, speaking to supporters in Florida. “It’s a political victory that our country has never seen before, nothing like this.”
Defying polls that had predicted a knife-edge race potentially taking days or weeks to resolve, the 78-year-old populist was declared the winner just 90 minutes after the final polls closed in Alaska.
Vice-President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, called Trump to concede before addressing the nation Wednesday afternoon, reportedly telling him she hoped he would be “a president for all Americans”.
By securing both the popular and electoral votes – his 277 was more than the 270 required to win the White House – Trump dispelled the idea that an “exceptional” United States was somehow exempt from the anti-incumbency wave that has washed across other democracies.
