America Decides.
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DONALD TRUMP WINS THE
PRESIDENCY
Donald John Trump will be the 45th president of the
United States, capping a historic and boisterous run
by an outsider who captured a loyal following across
a swath of America fed up with establishment
politics, the news media and elected officials.
His success was only part of a larger, crushing
victory for the Republican Party , which retained the
House and appeared poised to maintain Senate
control.
The brash New York businessman will win at least
270 electoral votes, according to NBC News
projections, and will take his Republican ticket to the
White House in January. Trump had trailed Democrat
Hillary Clinton in polling averages for nearly the entire
election cycle, but he bucked prognostications by
picking up states many pundits deemed out of his
reach.
The 70-year-old real estate mogul — who is now the
oldest person ever elected to a first presidential term
— declared victory early Wednesday , saying Clinton
had conceded the election and that it's time for the
nation "to come together as one united people."
The Republican congratulated his Democratic rival,
saying that she waged "a very very hard-fought
campaign." He also commended her for having
"worked very long and very hard" over her political
career.
"Now it's time for America to bind the wounds of
division — have to get together," he said. "To all
Republicans and Democrats and independents across
this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as
one united people."
Trump, who had been criticized by opponents for
rhetoric characterized as divisive and racist, pledged,
"I will be president for all Americans, and this is so
important to me."
Trump has never before held public office, but he
will be joined in the executive branch by Vice
President-elect Mike Pence and a host of politicians
and business executives who rallied around the GOP
nominee.
Although the vast majority of pre-election surveys
had indicated a slight advantage for Clinton, Trump's
campaign had frequently predicted that a vein of
electoral strength existed beyond the polls, pointing
to his massive crowds at his events and online
support.
Clinton — who was secretary of state under President
Barack Obama, a U.S. senator for New York from
2001 to 2009, and first lady during her husband's
presidency in the 1990s — had been painted as the
"establishment" politician, while Trump campaigned
as a political neophyte who could "drain the swamp"
of government corruption in Washington.
Trump will likely face significant Democratic
attempts at opposition after he enters the White
House in January. In fact, Trump has elicited strong
outcries from liberal and minority groups since he
first characterized many Mexican immigrants
"rapists" in his June 2015 campaign kickoff.
Trump rose to prominence in a crowded GOP
primary field by connecting with voters who felt they
had been betrayed by Washington interests. The
businessman focused his early pitch on forceful
answers to economic issues like trade and
immigration, which resonated with those Americans
who had stopped believing mainstream Republicans
cared about their communities.
Many experts in economics and policy studies have
decried Trump's prescriptions as nearly impossible
to implement and unlikely to achieve their desired
aims. But supporters, and Trump himself, have
contended that his calls for extreme tariffs and mass
deportations were opening salvos in forthcoming
negotiations.
And Trump, who has been famous for decades as a
symbol of wealth and business acumen, channeled
the image of a negotiator throughout his campaign.
The real estate developer — who co-authored
"Trump: The Art of the Deal" — has repeatedly
claimed that other countries are taking advantage of
the United States, and the White House should work
to renegotiate its existing agreements.
Clinton, meanwhile, had campaigned on a set of
policy proposals made more liberal for her primary
contest against Sen. Bernie Sanders. While
Republicans painted Clinton as too liberal — an
extension of Obama's tenure — many on the left
expressed discomfort with the former secretary of
state, jeering that she was more aligned with right-of-
center candidates.
Yet for all of those criticisms, Clinton had appeared
ahead in the race, especially after her well-received
debate performances. But that lead became more
tenuous when the FBI announced just 11 days before
the election that it was probing new evidence
regarding her use of a private email server while
secretary of state. The FBI subsequently said the
new probe did not turn up any reason to charge
Clinton with a crime, but Democrats, and even some
Trump supporters, called foul on the timing of the
original announcement: Clinton's campaign was
damaged as voters were reminded of a scandal that
had faded from the forefront.
Trump also faced several challenges on his road to
the White House, including allegations that he
sexually assaulted or harassed multiple women, and
several women making such claims came forward
after the release of a 2005 video in which he
bragged about groping women.
Still, Tuesday's election results are a strong
repudiation of the entire system of Washington
politics, not just the Democrats or Clinton. A long list
of Republican leaders and luminaries had come out
against Trump, or at least refused to endorse their
party's new, de-facto head.
The Trump victory also marks a rejection of the
mainstream news media, which extensively covered
Trump's scandals and self-contradictions. Polls
showed many of the Republican's supporters
dismissed those reports.
As recently as last week, in fact, pundits on both
sides suggested that Trump was not angling to win
the election — he was instead interested, they said,
in establishing a base of support for profitable post-
race enterprises. But after an acrimonious election,
Trump will now turn to building a team that can work
together to implement his ideas for the country.