It is still night when Donald Trump begins to emerge as the favorite in the race for the White House and it is 7 in the morning when Fox News attributes him the victory in Pennsylvania, the second swing state that he has snatched from the Dems after Wisconsin. In the Italian morning it is now official: Donald Trump surpasses 270 electors and becomes the 47th president of the United States of America, also winning the popular vote, something that has not happened for a Republican presidential candidate since 2004 with George W. Bush.

Taking to the stage at the Palm Beach Convention Center with his entire family, amid chants from the audience of "USA USA", the tycoon claimed the presidency, stressing that "tonight we made history" . This "is a magnificent victory that will allow us to make America great again. This is a movement never seen before, this is the greatest movement in history", he added, promising to bring a new "golden age" to the United States.

Trump will be the first president to serve two non-consecutive terms since Democrat Stephen Grover Cleveland (in the late 1800s), the first with a criminal conviction and the oldest president to take office, at 78 years old. His is considered a truly unprecedented feat, because he managed to return to the White House defying every rule of political correctness, surviving two impeachments, various trials, two criminal convictions and various scandals. After the assault on the Capitol, he seemed like a finished political leader, abandoned even by his own party, which instead he managed to win back.

Hours after the official victory of The Donald, the tycoon received phone calls from both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. A ritual call to offer their "congratulations" to the new president-elect.

Harris remained silent for a long time after the defeat. Then from Washington he finally released his comment at a press conference: "I accept defeat, because we are in a democracy. But I will not stop fighting for the rights and freedoms of all."

The outgoing president, instead, invited Trump to the White House for a meeting and will speak to the country, a speech on the election results and the transition.

The reactions

Abroad, where the race for the White House was followed with bated breath due to the repercussions on major international dossiers, Paris was among the first capitals to react, with the French government spokesman stressing that Europe must now "take its destiny into its own hands" in a certain number of key sectors, from defense to reindustrialization and decarbonization. Macron said he was "ready to work together" with "respect and ambition". But in the meantime, he announced together with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz a "close coordination" between Paris and Berlin, precisely following the US vote. In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni congratulated "the President-elect of the United States" on X "on behalf of myself and the Italian Government: Italy and the United States are "sister" nations, linked by an unshakable alliance, common values and a historic friendship. It is a strategic bond, which I am sure we will now strengthen even more. Good work, President". And Matteo Salvini welcomed the victory of tycoon Trump in a message on Instagram : "Fight against illegal immigration and tax cuts, Christian roots and a return to peace, freedom of thought and no to political trials. Common sense, passion and the future win in the US too! Good work, President Donald Trump".

From Budapest, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban - the only European leader to explicitly support the tycoon - celebrated "the greatest comeback in the political history of the United States" and "a necessary victory for the world." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Trump on "the greatest comeback in history."

While European sovereignists are rejoicing - with the president of the Rassemblement National Marine Le Pen speaking of a "new political era that is opening" - the EU socialists are speaking of a "dark day", highlighting "Trump's project: authoritarianism, xenophobia and lack of opportunities", underlines the president of the group at the European Parliament Iratxe Garcia Perez. And there are those who are already thinking about the future, with Berlin asking Europe to take on "greater responsibility" in terms of security after the tycoon's victory.

While the president of the EU commission von der Leyen spoke of "a true partnership between our peoples, which unites 800 million citizens", hoping to "work together on a strong transatlantic agenda that continues to deliver results for them". But it is clear that reflections are already being made on the possible repercussions of Trump's return to the White House on trade relations between Europe and the US, the balances in NATO and international crises.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated Trump on his "impressive" victory, hoping that it "will help Ukraine achieve a just peace." But during the election campaign, the tycoon threatened several times to end American aid to Ukraine, promising to end the war in 24 hours. Words that Moscow is watching carefully: "The United States is capable of contributing to the end of the conflict" in Ukraine, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. "Since the United States is the country that constantly pours fuel on the fire," it is capable of "changing the trajectory of its policy," "but whether this will be done and how, we will know only after January."

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has no plans to congratulate Trump: the US remains "a hostile country" and Moscow will judge the next administration based on "concrete steps". Trump has also received congratulations from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Turkish President Erdogan, as well as other heads of state and government around the world, while Iran is sending the message that "it doesn't matter who becomes president of the United States, because our plans have already been made", said government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani.

The conquest of the Senate

Even the 19th century dome of Capitol Hill is tinged with red. The Republicans conquer the US Senate and are on their way to maintaining control of the House, paving the way for Donald Trump to have a downward spiral of a presidency and a more than free hand on laws and appointments, as happened at the beginning of his first term in 2017. Not to mention the control of the Supreme Court, which has been under a conservative majority for years now. In the end, the Grand Old Party rose to 52 seats, 50 are enough to have a majority, with a good chance of increasing the advantage in the coming hours. The only consolation for the Democrats is the election in Delaware of the first African American, Lisa Blunt Rochester.

As for the House, the situation is not yet defined but the Republicans are ahead. In the Grand Old Party, Speaker Mike Johnson, elected in Louisiana and thanked by the president-elect as the architect of this extraordinary success on Capitol Hill, and the controversial Trumpian Matt Gaetz have retained their seats; among the Dems, for now, Nancy Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The next few hours will be crucial, with both parties able to overturn a handful of seats, making the battle for control of the House a real gamble. On the one hand, the Democrats are on the right track to conquer several positions in New York, on the other, the Republicans are on the way to snatching some in the Blue Wall states of Pennsylvania and Michigan. In these dramatic hours for the Dems, the party is clinging to the House as a last bastion, the thin blue line against a red tsunami.

The analysis of the vote

Men, Latinos and young people formed Donald Trump's red avalanche, while Kamala Harris held up among women and girls, but less than Joe Biden in 2020 and still not enough to secure victory. And if rural America pushed the tycoon's victory with greater force than expected on the eve, conversely the support for the Democrat in suburban areas turned out to be lower than necessary to keep the White House. Especially in the so-called "rust belt", the key states of the Midwest that saw the blue wall crumble (Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin all turned red). The demographic analysis of the vote confirms the battle of the sexes: 54% of female voters voted for Harris against 45% for Trump, but the realignment to the right in some key states of Hispanic voters and, to a lesser extent, African-American males - until now Dem bastions - catapulted the Republican to victory.

Trump won among whites: 55 to 43, while 85% of African-American voters sided with the Dems. On paper, Harris also won the Hispanic vote, with 53% of voters in favor of her versus 45% for Trump, but the numbers hide a dramatic change in trend for the party of the donkey: four years ago, Biden's margin of victory in this ethnic group had been a whopping 33%.

Among young people - for a total of 16% of the electorate - the Generation Z males who went to the polls (it was not at all a given) indicated the tycoon's name on the ballot, confirming themselves as new players in the electoral dynamics. In 2020, Biden had won by 24 points among those born after 1995, while Harris stopped at only +10%. Paradoxically, the Democratic candidate, compared to Biden four years ago, did better among the "gray panthers": Trump in 2020 had won among the over-65s with a margin of five points, this time the vote of pensioners was 50 to 50.

Educational attainment—or the lack thereof—accelerated the shifts: In 2024, young African-Americans with only a high school diploma moved 20 points toward Trump compared to four years ago, tripling the president-elect’s approval ratings among that demographic. Support among older African-Americans with the same level of education, on the other hand, remained unchanged: they were at 95% for Biden and remained at 95% with Harris. College was a watershed: Harris won among college graduates 57 to 41, but among those without a college degree, Trump dominated, 54 to 44. Compared to Biden, Kamala made progress only among women with college degrees, the same women who had boosted the Democrats’ performance in the 2022 midterm elections. There has also been a shift in terms of religion: in 2020, the Catholic vote - a quarter of the total electorate - had gone to co-religionist Biden, the second head of the White House after JFK to be baptized in the faith of Rome: Trump won him yesterday 56 to 41.

Tesla Leap and Truth

Elon Musk's Tesla celebrates Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential elections . Tesla soars 13% in the US pre-market, while at Piazza Affari it is the best stock on the list with a +15% to 266.15 euros. The owner of Tesla was Trump's main supporter for his second election to the White House, with around 130 million dollars in support of the Republican candidate's campaign and with much-discussed initiatives , starting with the three-hour interview that Musk did with Trump on his social network X, and ending with the 1 million dollar daily lottery. US index futures are running, with those on the DJ up 2.9% and those on the Nasdaq up 1.8%.

Unprecedented leap on Wall Street for the stock of Trump Media & Technology Group . The shares of the group, which owns the social Truth and in which the magnate has a 57% stake, have gained just under 50% in the pre-market on Wall Street, a record daily increase, to $49.81 per share and are currently up 40% . In the last five days of trading, the shares had fallen by 34%, in step with doubts about the real chances of victory of the Republican. But already yesterday, when the counting of votes began, the stock began to rise.

(Unioneonline/D)

© Riproduzione riservata