Donald J. Trump will be the next president of the United States. Clear, overwhelming, total triumph of the Republican leader, who last night not only achieved a victory but also received a green light and hands-free to change the United States from top to bottom. The Republicans will not only control the White House, having also won the popular vote. They have also regained control of the Senate and are close to securing the House of Representatives, adding to a conservative majority in the Supreme Court, the same court that in July decreed that the president is immune to practically anything he does while in office. Few have had so much power and such a desire for revenge in two and a half centuries of the republic's history.
Before an exultant crowd, Trump did not hesitate to proclaim upon learning of his victory: "This is huge. This is a movement like nobody's ever seen before. The biggest political movement of all time, which will reach unprecedented levels. We are going to heal our country. I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America that our children deserve, and that you deserve. This will truly be the golden age of America."
The outcome of this November 5th is transformative for the country and American society and crucial for the rest of the planet. For China, the Middle East, for the European Union, for a trembling NATO, for Ukraine, whose future now looks much darker. For Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orban, and all the illiberal and authoritarian right on the planet, to whom this resounding victory gives wings at a time when the world is upside down. Not only has a politician prevailed, but also a worldview, a way of understanding politics and international relations as a zero-sum game; the economy as a war in which the US, like Palmerston's UK, has no allies, only permanent interests.
Americans went to the polls after an eternal and aggressive campaign, with a divided society, a polarized atmosphere, and above all, enormous tension and uncertainty. The polls predicted a perfect tie, a victory by the narrowest margin, both nationally and in the seven decisive states. A long night, a slow count, a process of days or even weeks if it ended up in court, was expected. But nothing could be further from reality. One after another, they all fell on the same side. First North Carolina, then Georgia, then Pennsylvania, and the rest. Without completed recounts, but with advantages in all.
The polls, herded, were unable to anticipate the red wave. Analysts, more wishful than level-headed, once again underestimated its impact, its hidden vote. The motivations of a country that objectively is not doing badly but has bought into the apocalyptic and defeatist message of its former president, the first in history to win by saying that the US is a great garbage can.
Before midnight, Kamala Harris's celebration in Washington DC, at her alma mater, Howard University, faded until it seemed like a funeral. Kamala Harris, like Hillary Clinton in 2016, chose not to appear and postponed the inevitable until the morning, delegating the task of informing the devastated followers to her campaign manager.
Meanwhile, at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's residence in Florida, his inner circle erupted. With him were Tucker Carlson, the former star presenter of Fox News, acting as the host. Elon Musk, the world's richest man, who has put over 120 million dollars from his own pocket to ensure the Republican victory, in addition to putting his powerful X social network at their service. And Dana White, promoter of mixed martial arts and an old friend of the billionaire. Also Rudy Giuliani, his lawyer and friend, now bankrupt after losing a defamation lawsuit that cost him a $148 million fine. His children were there, of course, as well as international figures like the British Nigel Farage or a son of former Brazilian president Bolsonaro.
Four years ago, Donald Trump lost the election and did not accept the result. His message in recent weeks has been that his victory would be overwhelming and that the only way to lose would be if the Democrats cheated, a massive fraud. He once again raised this specter during the count, without any evidence. But it didn't matter. The American public has forgotten, forgiven, or even appreciated his insults, condemnations, and threats, the constant lies and falsehoods (at a level never seen before), and that the people who know him best, those who worked with him and saw his way of governing, said he is a "fascist," a "danger," the "worst president in history."
There has been no penalty for the Capitol. Nor for his darkest side, which has marked the past weeks, talking about an "internal enemy" to purge, using the military, revoking TV licenses, imprisoning rivals, starting with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. His warnings that he will impose tariffs everywhere, deport millions of people, and appoint an anti-vaccine advocate to head the Public Health department. There is a psychological mechanism that allows his allies to overlook the abuses, such as refusing to accept defeats or inciting a march on the Capitol. And for his supporters to maintain, against all odds, that he will not do the things he says he will do despite having already done many of them. "America has given us a powerful and unprecedented mandate, with control of the Senate. We have won everything widely, the Maga movement has won," he warned. "God saved my life for a reason: to restore America's greatness, and we will fulfill that mission together."
From Party to Funeral
Harris' defeat, the vice president who took office in July after the Party forced Joe Biden to step aside, is devastating and much harsher than anyone expected. She started talking about the future, about uniting the country, about opportunities, but ended the campaign warning that the wolf was coming. And millions of Americans have told her that they already knew the wolf perfectly well. And that despite everything and everyone, they are not very afraid. That they are fed up and prefer to take their chances with someone they consider a better economic manager than to repeat four more years with the same recipes, even though the macro indicators are good, better than when Trump left.
And there will be talk about Trump and his brilliantly executed campaign; about his rhetoric and how (despite what he celebrated this Tuesday, that "golden era" he anticipates), he has convinced millions of people that the future is not bright, that what surrounds them is sinking and in decline because of the values that Harris and her party represent. Because of immigration, minorities, free trade, feminism, ecology, support for Ukraine, multilateralism, or what they call globalism. Because of a way of understanding the world that America no longer seems to embrace.