Donald Trump is officially the winner. He broke the barrier of 270 electors and became the first president in the USA – since Grover Cleveland in the 1800s – to return to office after defeat.
Donald Trump spoke of the greatest political movement in American history. “We achieved something incredible, which our country has never seen before.”
He promised a “golden age” for the US and its people. “It’s a great American victory, it’s a victory that will allow us to make America great again.
I will fight for every citizen. My partners helped make it a wonderful trip. This group of wonderful people. The United States has given us an unexpected mandate, to control the Senate as well,” said Donald Trump in his celebratory speech.
The international media are commenting on the victory of Donald Trump, while expressing their concerns about the outcome of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
American media – “Our democracy will survive”
The Wall Street Journal tries to reassure its readers by reminding them that “America has been through a lot” and that if they think 2024 is “a time of maximum concern,” it is because they are “too young to remember 1968, with the riots and the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy.”
“Yes, the stakes are high, but our democracy will survive this election,” USA Today also believes.
Following in the footsteps of the Republican candidate, the New York Post, a perennial supporter of Donald Trump, reports that the former president has once again managed to “overcome all obstacles” to return to the White House.
The Daily Beast writes about the “thousands of people who had started the night with joy at Howard University in Washington, D.C., left in despair, without even having heard” Kamala Harris.
An atmosphere of “defeat,” reports Politico, which also speaks of “desperation” among Democrats, “as Donald Trump’s scores climb by the minute on the battlefield.”
The Washington Post wonders whether Americans will continue to “demystify neighbors with whom they disagree, dramatize the nation’s shortcomings and wait for Armageddon” or return to “business as usual, one day, one problem, one compromise on time”.
The paper points out that these divisions are “based on the gender, race and education” of voters, who are equally divided on the nature of the “issues they consider most important”: immigration and inflation for Trump supporters, rights for abortion for Harris supporters.
The New York Times also speaks of a “battle of the sexes” and a “divisive line” between male and female voters. The newspaper published a poll that clearly showed the size of the gap between the female electorate.
The New York Times focuses on the effects of the war in Gaza on this election. Above all, the conflict appears to have had a negative impact on the Democratic side. “The horror of Gaza weighs heavily on my conscience,” writes Megan K. Stack, expressing a sense of being “on the wrong side of history.”
In Detroit, Michigan, many residents in and around Dearborn, home to the largest concentration of Arabs in the United States, tell the Detroit News that the economy and the war in Gaza were among their top concerns. This is why they voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein or Donald Trump.
German press – “History repeats itself and it’s no joke”
“Trump seems to be winning the popular vote as well, which proves that his victory this time was neither ‘accidental’, nor is it some kind of ‘blunder’, as his marginal victory in 2016 was believed to be”. notes Handelsblatt.
“Eight years later things are completely different. The US has consciously decided in favor of Trump – and this much more emphatically than the Democrats expected. And Europe must also accept that a significant part of Americans do not consider Trump’s rhetoric and positions crazy, for example on immigration or the economy.”
“Trump’s looming victory brings a series of challenges for the world, that’s for sure. However, the end of the world has not yet come,” comments Tagesspiegel for its part.
According to WELT “Kamala Harris lost this election, but primarily Donald Trump won it.” “The bottom line was that American citizens feel that their lives were better under Trump compared to the last four years when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ruled the country – which was a weak candidacy, no one needs to doubt this now. The numbers speak for themselves.”
“History repeats itself and it’s no joke,” writes Deutsche Welle. “Trump secured a clean sweep, feeding a stunned planet with doubts and questions about the day ahead.”
Turkish Press – “He did it again!”
In two issues, the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet covered Donald Trump’s victory with the headlines “He did it again!” and “Cold shower for Kamala”.
The front page of Milliyet, was released with a central theme: “Trump, the 47th president of the USA: From real estate tycoon to the White House for the second time.”
The Sabah newspaper deals with the victory of Donald Trump by speaking of “Trump’s governmental victory”, while also promoting Erdogan’s phrase of “congratulations to his friend”.
French media – “Donald Trump’s victory plunges Ukraine into the unknown”
The newspaper Le Monde, with the main headline “USA: Harris-Trump, democracy in danger”, speaks of a historic election in the USA, emphasizing that what is being tested is American democracy, which three quarters of American citizens believe is under threat .
Le Monde also deals with the outcome of the war in Ukraine. The article titled: “Donald Trump’s victory plunges Ukraine into the unknown” is typical.
“During his campaign, the Republican candidate promised that he would reach an agreement with Russia and end the war in less than twenty-four hours, without elaborating.
A leap into the unknown. With the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, American voters have chosen the most unpredictable candidate to lead Ukraine’s main ally in the war against Russia.
While a victory for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris would ensure some form of continuity in Washington’s policy of support for Kiev, Donald Trump’s victory heralds a break with the past.”
Le Figaro focuses on Donald Trump’s first steps with the “economy at the center of American concerns”, but also a “renewed foreign policy”.
It also attempts to profile the voters who elected Donald Trump and led him to a second term in the White House. “Hispanic and black voters, women, young people: these voters helped Donald Trump win.”
La Croix reports: “Donald Trump’s victory will shake the world. China, Ukraine and the Europeans expect difficult days after his inauguration on January 20, 2025.”
Spanish Media – “What has conquered is the beast within us”
In Spain, the newspaper El País writes that Trump’s victory is linked to his “aggressive, gregarious and uncomplicated way in his relations with others, where crude insults and aggressive characterizations replace arguments”. “What has conquered is the beast within us.”
Trump “managed to identify the basic instincts, express them himself, fuel his thirst for revenge and set in motion the most powerful machine of beliefs, false information and emotions in an unprecedented electoral mobilization”, writes El País.
British Media – “How will we survive four more years of Donald Trump”
“How are we going to put up with four more years of Donald Trump,” asks Guardian Editor-in-chief Katharine Viner.
“We have just witnessed an extraordinary, devastating moment in the history of the United States. Throughout these tumultuous four years (during Trump’s first term) we have never downplayed or normalized the threat of Trump’s authoritarianism and have treated his lies as a real danger to democracy, a threat that found its expression on January 6 2021.
Now, with Trump just months away from taking office again—with dramatic implications for the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, the health of American democracy, reproductive rights, inequality, and, perhaps most of all, the our collective environmental future – it’s time to redouble our efforts to hold the president-elect and those around him accountable.”
The Telegraph hosts an article by Tom Harris, former Labor MP. “Trump’s win is horrible for Starmer and a nightmare for David Lammy. Labour’s hubris may have irreparably damaged our relationship with the only pro-British US president for decades.”
In the Independent, Jon Sopel writes: “The moment I realized the ‘bro’ vote was won by Trump.” Using his egotistical persona to win over the young, male (or “bro”) vote, Trump defied the laws of political gravity and won in places where Republicans typically lose, he says.
The paper has extensive reporting on what a second Trump presidency means for America.
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