Good morning.
Donald Trump has been elected the 47th president of the United States in a stunning comeback that has sent shock waves around the world, after he secured his path to victory through the country’s battleground states.
Trump, who has become the first convicted criminal to be elected president, thanked his supporters. “This was a movement like nobody’s ever seen before, and frankly, this was, I believe, the greatest political movement of all time. There’s never been anything like this in this country, and maybe beyond,” he said.
Speaking to supporters in Florida in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Trump referred to the media as “the enemy camp”. The comment came less than a week after he joked at a rally he would have no problem with reporters being shot if there were another assassination attempt against him.
Voting on election day mostly went smoothly, despite more than 30 bomb threats being called into election locations, according to CBS News. Trump’s victory caused the dollar to soar.
What does this mean for Trump’s legal woes? It looks like a get-out-of-jail card as the Trump ally and South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham told special counsel Jack Smith that “it is time to look forward to a new chapter in your legal career” and to “bring these cases to an end”.
Republicans retake control of US Senate after Democrats lose majority
Republicans have regained control of the US Senate after it became clear on Wednesday morning that the Democrats had lost their one-seat majority.
Republicans gained two Senate seats, as the Trump-backed businessperson Bernie Moreno defeated the three-term Democratic senator Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and the Trump loyalist Jim Justice won the seat once held by Joe Manchin in West Virginia.
While the Republicans’ win of Congress’s upper echelon had been widely anticipated, it remains significant for the race to succeed Mitch McConnell, the GOP leader in the chamber, as well as for confirming potential new justices to the US supreme court as vacancies occur.
What about the House of Representatives? That race, where the Republicans were defending a majority, is yet to be called: only 376 of 435 seats had been announced at time of writing.
Promise turns to dread at Kamala Harris’s watch party
Kamala Harris did not take the stage at her election night watch party at the Howard University campus after it appeared that Americans were poised to return Donald Trump to power and the mood turned to despair.
Her campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond told the crowd that they would not be hearing from the vice-president, but that she would return to campus to address the nation later on Wednesday.
What about the popular vote? At time of writing, Harris had 47%, while Trump was at 51%.
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As the US looks ahead to what will follow this consequential election, you can depend on The Stakes newsletter to keep you informed. If you’re after rolling coverage, head over to our live blog.
In other election news …
The US Senate will have two Black women serving simultaneously for the first time, after the election of Lisa Blunt Rochester from Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland.
Delaware has elected the US House of Representatives’ first out transgender person, after Sarah McBride clinched the state’s only seat for the Democrats.
Trump Media revealed another large loss in a surprise election-night earnings report as the first polls closed.
Stat of the day: Six in 10 states holding abortion ballots vote to protect rights
Americans in 10 states also voted on whether to enshrine the right to abortion in their state constitutions. We’re still waiting on results from Montana, but so far, Missouri and Arizona – both states with restrictive laws after the overturning of Roe v Wade – have voted to amend their constitutions to protect abortion rights. Nevada, Colorado, New York and Maryland also all passed measures to amend their state constitutions, cementing their status as abortion havens. Voters rejected the measure in South Dakota, Florida, and Nebraska.
Don’t miss this: Americans in swing states on who they voted for – and why
After Trump passed the margin for victory in the electoral college, these interviews with voters across Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, give some insight into the issues deciding how people in the US’s crucial swing states cast their ballots.
Climate check: Nearly every US state is facing drought
An unprecedented number of US states are facing drought, according to the US Drought Monitor, with only Alaska and Kentucky remaining unaffected. It was reported last month that the world’s water cycle was out of balance “for the first time in human history”, with nearly 3 billion people experiencing water scarcity.
Last Thing: Mayhem at New York airport after raccoon falls through ceiling
A terminal at New York’s LaGuardia airport descended into chaos earlier this week after a racoon fell through a ceiling and proceeded to cause mayhem at the terminal. Yes, you read that right: a raccoon. The video, featuring a barking dog, blaring alarm and an attempt to capture it in a giant trash can, does not disappoint.
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