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Donald Trump, a former president with openly authoritarian ambitions, defeated Democratic nominee Kamala Harris less than four years after sparking a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn his 2020 defeat.
Trump's 2024 victory over Harris, the U.S. vice president, was decisive: If current projections hold, Trump will sweep the seven battleground states of Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada. One outlet described the election results as "a stunning wipeout" for the Democratic Party.
In a speech in Florida, Trump said his win comes with an "unprecedented and powerful mandate"—a signal that he intends to try to follow through with his pledges to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, prosecute and deploy the military against his political opponents, gut rules constraining climate-polluting fossil fuel companies, and further slash taxes for the rich and large corporations.
"I will govern by a simple model," said Trump, whose campaign was bankrolled in part by the world's richest man. "Promises made, promises kept."
Trump's ability to implement a legislative program was bolstered by the Republican Party's capture of the U.S. Senate, with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) losing to luxury car dealer Bernie Moreno, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice easily picking up the seat left open by Sen. Joe Manchin's retirement, and Sen. Jon Tester falling to his GOP opponent in Montana.
Control of the U.S. House remains up for grabs as of this writing, according to The Associated Press, with more than 100 races yet to be called.
"Should Republicans take full control of Capitol Hill, there will be scant check on Trump's executive authority," notedFinancial Times columnist Edward Luce. "The U.S. Supreme Court already wrote Trump the equivalent of a judicial blank check when it ruled in July that he had sweeping immunity for his actions as president."
"America has turned a decisive corner," Luce added. "It would be foolhardy to suppose that Trump did not mean what he said when he vowed to come after his enemies. It would also be delusional to think that he will in any way feel constrained by his country's 50-50 split. Trump has a mandate to overhaul the U.S. in unimaginably disruptive ways. There will be no going back from the seismic outcome of America's 2024 election."
Fears about what a Trump victory could mean reached well beyond the confines of the United States, as Israel's far-right—including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—gleefully welcomed the imminent return to power of a billionaire whom leading historians have dubbed a fascist.
"Congratulations on history's greatest comeback!" wrote Netanyahu, who has spearheaded Israel's catastrophic assault on the Gaza Strip—a genocidal war that Trump backed during the 2024 campaign. "Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America."
The Peace & Justice Project, a United Kingdom-based advocacy organization, wrote Wednesday that "the world is a more dangerous place this morning."
"Trump's victory is a grave concern for the planet, marginalized communities, refugees, and Palestinians trying to survive Israel's genocide," the group continued. "We must organize globally and stand in solidarity with those targeted by the awful politics of fear and division—and build an alternative of hope and unity."
Sophie Bolt, general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, similarly warned that "the world will be far more dangerous with Trump's thumb on the nuclear button."
"The risks of nuclear flashpoints are already high—over Ukraine, across the Middle East, and in the Asia-Pacific," said Bolt. "This will only intensify under his presidency."
In a statement, Human Rights Watch said that a second Trump presidency "poses a grave threat to human rights in the United States and the world."
"Donald Trump has made no secret of his intent to violate the human rights of millions of people in the United States," said Tirana Hassan, HRW's executive director. "Independent institutions and civil society groups, including Human Rights Watch, will need to do all we can to hold him and his administration accountable for abuses."
Harris, who became the Democratic presidential nominee after Biden dropped out of the race in July, has yet to address the nation.
