2 weeks Ago By Ben Lowry
Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Belfast News Letter, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. The shockwaves were felt here in Northern Ireland , in the rest of the UK and across the border in the Republic where many leading politicians hesitated before congratulating President elect Trump, and some even criticised him explicitly. Advertisement Advertisement The Republican Party candidate swept the board in the election against the Democratic Party contender, US Vice President Kamala Harris .
When the News Letter asked round yesterday morning to see how Stormont MLAs had reacted, most party leaders had said nothing with the notable exceptions of Gavin Robinson, the DUP leader, and Jim Allister, his TUV counterpart, who sent warm congratulations to Mr Trump. Mr Robinson said he looked forward to an NI visit. Claire Hanna, the SDLP leader, later echoed her predecessor Colum Eastwood’s scathing assessment of Mr Trump.
She wrote on the social media platform X: “Bleak morning, familiar despair.” Advertisement Advertisement In London , the Prime Minister Keir Starmer sent official congratulations to Mr Trump but his senior Labour colleague, Emily Thornberry MP, chair of Westminster’s foreign affairs committee, said she still viewed the presidential victor as a “racist and sexual predator”. With millions of votes still being counted last night, Mr Trump had more than 72 million votes to Mrs Harris’s 67m, meaning that he was set to win the US popular (overall) vote as well as the electoral college, which is decided state by state.
Mr Trump’s leadership of the free world is set to shake-up the world order. Advertisement Advertisement Unionists will hope that American pressure on London in support of Dublin on NI matters will end, although Mr Trump showed no interest in the province during his 2017-21 first term. London will be concerned at Mr Trump’s ambivalence about Nato.
And Ukraine will be nervous that the incoming president will end aid to it, thus helping Russia. Mr Trump’s victory marks an extraordinary comeback for a former president who refused to accept defeat four years ago, sparked a violent insurrection at the US Capitol, was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Mr Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency.
He then won Michigan yesterday afternoon, sweeping the ‘blue wall’ along with Pennsylvania – the one-time Democrat-leaning swing states that all went for Mr Trump in 2016 before switching to Joe Biden in 2020. Advertisement Advertisement The victory validates his bare-knuckle approach to politics. He attacked his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, in deeply personal – often sexist – terms as he pushed an apocalyptic picture of a country overrun by violent migrants.
The coarse rhetoric, paired with an image of hypermasculinity, resonated with angry voters – particularly men – in a deeply polarised nation. As president, he has vowed to pursue an agenda centred on dramatically reshaping the federal government and pursuing retribution against his perceived enemies. Speaking to his supporters early yesterday morning, Mr Trump claimed he had won “an unprecedented and powerful mandate”.
Advertisement Advertisement Ms Harris called Mr Trump later yesterday to congratulate him on his victory, in which she discussed the importance of a peaceful transfer of power. Mr Biden also called Mr Trump to congratulate him and to invite the president-elect to the White House, formally kicking off the transition ahead of Inauguration Day. The results cap a tumultuous election season that included two assassination attempts targeting Mr Trump and a shift to a new Democratic nominee just a month before the party's convention.
Mr Trump will inherit a range of challenges when he assumes office on January 20, including heightened political polarisation and global crises that are testing America's influence abroad. Advertisement Advertisement His win against Ms Harris, the first woman of colour to lead a major party ticket, marks the second time he has defeated a female rival in a presidential election. Ms Harris, the current vice president, rose to the top of the ticket after Mr Biden exited the race amid alarm about his advanced age.
Despite an initial surge of energy around her campaign, she struggled during a compressed timeline to convince disillusioned voters that she represented a break from an unpopular administration. Mr Trump is the first former president to return to power since Grover Cleveland regained the White House in the 1892 election. He is the first person convicted of a felony to be elected president and, at 78, the oldest person elected to the office.
Advertisement Advertisement His vice president, Ohio Senator JD Vance, 40, will become the highest-ranking millennial generation US official. There will be far fewer checks on Mr Trump when he returns to the White House. His Republican critics in Congress have largely been defeated or retired.
Federal courts are now filled with judges he appointed..
