Donald Trump’s crushing presidential victory heralded a new era of upheaval for the United States and the world Wednesday, as defeated Democrat Kamala Harris gave a defiant concession speech, while promising to help his transition.
An emotional vice president Harris told cheering supporters in Washington “do not despair” and she urged them to “keep fighting.”
But her pledge to ensure a peaceful handover of power stood in stark contrast with Trump’s unprecedented refusal four years ago to concede defeat to Joe Biden, culminating with the violent attack by his supporters on the US Capitol.
“While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign,” Harris said in her short, powerful speech at Howard University, her former college.
“I know many people feel like we are entering a dark time,” she said, her voice hoarse as she made her first public remarks since Trump’s surprisingly heavy victory. “But for the benefit of us all, I hope that’s not the case.”
Harris — who had blasted Trump as a threat to democracy during her failed tilt to become America’s first woman president — earlier called him to concede and offer her congratulations, a senior aide said.
Trump sealed his historic comeback to the White House overnight, cementing what is set to be more than a decade of US politics overshadowed by his hardline, disruptive right-wing politics.
The 78-year-old won wider margins than before, despite a criminal conviction, two impeachments while in office and warnings from his former chief of staff that he is a “fascist.”
Exit polls showed that voters’ top concern remained the economy and inflation that spiked under Biden in the wake of the Covid pandemic.
Biden, who dropped out of the race in July over concerns about his ability to continue at the age of 81, called Trump to congratulate him and invited him to the White House at a date to be fixed, officials said.
The Democratic president will address the nation on Thursday.
Both Wall Street and the dollar soared on Trump’s victory and his clear electoral mandate, with expectations that he will move aggressively to ramp up economic growth.
Trump, who will be the oldest person ever to take the presidential oath when inaugurated on January 20, vowed to fulfill his slogan to “make America great again” in a speech in the early hours of Wednesday in Florida, while supporters chanted “USA!”
“It’s a political victory that our country has never seen before,” Trump said.
In Phoenix, Arizona, Jimmy Archuleta, a 47-year-old auto worker, hailed Trump as “a genius businessman.”
“So I’m hoping that he’ll improve the economy,” Archuleta told AFP. “I just hope he’ll make the price of groceries and gas more reasonable.”
Global leaders swiftly pledged to work with Trump, despite concerns in much of the world about his nationalist-minded “America First” approach.
Among the most worried countries will be Ukraine, which Russia invaded in 2022.
Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance have scoffed at the billions of dollars in US assistance to Kyiv under Biden and they are expected to force Ukraine into making concessions to Moscow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped the new US leader would help find a “just peace.”
One leader certain to be pleased was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a Trump ally who could now get freer rein to execute his war against Hamas in Gaza.
Harris ran a centrist campaign that highlighted Trump’s inflammatory messaging and constant use of racist and sexist tropes in his speeches.
But Trump’s often apocalyptic warnings about illegal immigration found their mark with voters battered by the post-Covid economy and eager for change after the Biden years.
Hispanic and Black Americans, seen as crucial Democratic voting blocs, moved in greater numbers toward Trump, who won a majority of Latino men, exit polls showed.
Opinion polls had predicted a nail-bitingly close contest — yet the results came surprisingly quickly, including Trump’s flipping of the swing states Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan that Biden won four years ago.
Trump appeared on track to win the popular vote for the first time, and the Republican Party also won the Senate from the Democrats, boosting his ability to enact his agenda.
Trump is the first president in more than a century to win a non-consecutive second term, and the only person to be elected president as a convicted felon — he is scheduled to face sentencing in a New York court for fraud on November 26.
His campaign pledges, if carried out, could cause turmoil, especially his vow to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.
Trump is also a longtime skeptic of climate change who is expected again to reduce US global commitments, although one of his top campaign surrogates was fellow brash billionaire Elon Musk, owner of electric vehicle maker Tesla.