Doanld Trump Elected US President In Voters' Revolt Against Establishment

The maverick outsider Donald Trump stunned the world by winning the US Presidency, the most powerful global job, as voters revolted against a smug, condescending establishment, rejecting Hillary Clinton - seen as the face of the status quo.

 

His victory plunged the nation and the world into an abyss of uncertainty. He quickly tried to bring calm with a radical makeover of his style, ditching his brash style for a Presidential demeanour.

 

At his victory rally Wednesday morning, Trump called for national reconciliation, saying: "It is time for us to come together as one united people." 

 

He offered his "pledge to every citizen of the country" to work for them and said he would seek from those who were critical of him their "guidance and help so we can unify our country".

 

Trump spoke of Clinton's hard work in her campaign and declared she was owed "a major debt of gratitude for her service to the nation".

 

 

"The forgotten men and women of our country will no longer be forgotten," he said to his voter base, which he described as a movement, not a campaign.

 

"No dream is too big," he said. "America will settle for nothing less than the best."

 

His message to the world was that while for him the US came first, "We will seek common ground, not hostility."

 

Earlier, Clinton phoned Trump to congratulate him and concede the Presidency to him.

 

Clinton had shut down her celebratory meeting here at 2 a.m. without making an appearance at the event where thousands of her supporters fell into a sombre mood. 

 

Her campaign chief John Podesta came on stage at the Javits Center event and thanked the supporters and asked them to go home and get a good night's sleep because at the late hour the results weren't final.

 

The Republican Party also performed well in Congress, retaining control of both Senate and House, even though the leadership has been at odds with Trump. 

 

 

This would give Trump a free rein to shape his administration and policies -- if he can reconcile with the party leadership.

 

The entire intellectual, media, cultural and entertainment elite were ranged against him as were Wall Street and Silicon Valley leaders in addition to even many of his own party which makes his victory formidable -- and to them threatening.

 

Trump's style of mocking his opponents resonated with a large swathe of voters, who shared the disregard for the establishment, even if the elite held him in contempt.

 

The US elections were in a way a mirror of the 2014 Indian election, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi confounded pollsters and pundits by defeating a political dynasty.

 

And more recently, the British voters pulled off a similar coup with Brexit that passed against all prognostications.

 

This was the second time Clinton was robbed of her chance to make history as the first woman elected President of the US. 

 

 

In 2008, President Barack Obama staged a coup derailing her all but assured claim to the Democratic Party nomination. This year, she made it past the primary but lost to Trump in an upset.

 

Indian Americans overwhelmingly support the Democratic Party and Trump made overtures to the community, even if it was focused on Hindus. 

 

He addressed a rally of Hindus, assuring them that they would have a friend in the White House and that he would come down hard on terrorism.

 

Polls showed that about 65 per cent of Indian Americans supported Clinton while only 7 per cent were for Trump.

 

Trump, a real estate developer and reality TV character with no previous political or government experience, ran on a platform of radical economic changes, of bringing jobs back to the US and reneging on trade deals. 

 

But he has yet to outline clear plans or have a line-up of people to help him implement the promises.

 

The stock markets around the world went into a swoon over the uncertainty, with the Dow Jones futures dropping nearly five per cent.

 

Trump has also said that he would dismantle the health insurance open to the uninsured introduced by President Barack Obama.

 

Another area of uncertainty is the nomination of judges to the Supreme Court, which has the potential to radically change the laws, society and politics of the nation.

 

During the campaign, his policies on immigration and terrorism and statements about Muslims were exaggerated by the media and the political opposition to an extent that they backfired.

 

 

While he said that rapists and criminals were coming over the border and needed to be stopped, it morphed in the media and political message to him saying that all immigrants were criminals - and by extension at first Mexicans and then all immigrants.

 

And his call for enforcing immigration laws on the books and extending the walls and barriers now in place along the border with a wall across the entire border was turned into a campaign of xenophobia and hate against non-whites.

 

His call for temporary suspension of immigration by Muslims while the screening process was being reviewed was turned into him wanting to deport all Muslims.

 

The Clinton campaign pursued a policy of appealing to smaller segments of the nation, tailoring messages to appeal to them. In the process, they contributed to fracturing of the nation and creating a climate of fear.

 

This in turn turned everyone else into enemies. This forgotten middle, the non-racist working class and whites bearing the brunt of globalisation and economic disruption, far larger than what the Democrats may have thought and which included women, turned against Clinton.

 

She spoke and acted as if the Presidency was hers by right, further alienating many people.

 

 

JUSTIN TRUDEAU CONGRATULATES DONALD TRUMP ON U.S. ELECTION VICTORY

 

 

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has offered his congratulations to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump and says he will work with the new administration.

 

Trudeau said Canada looks forward to working "very closely" with Trump, his administration and with the U.S. Congress in the coming years.

 

 

"Canada has no closer friend, partner, and ally than the United States," Trudeau said in a statement issued Wednesday morning.

 

The prime minister appeared later at a WE Day rally at Ottawa's Canadian Tire Centre, where he was greeted by roars from an energized crowd of young people.

 

When he acknowledged that many of them might have been up late watching the U.S. election returns, there were scattered boos from the crowd. He tried to wave off the booing and offered some encouraging words:

 

"The relationship between Canada and the United States is based on shared values and shared hopes and dreams and we will always work well together," he said. "We are strong because we listen to each other and we respect each other."

 

He said he sees a message in the election, in which Trump campaigned against perceived political elites and for ordinary folks.

 

"The fact is, we've heard clearly from Canadians and from Americans that people want a shared shot at success," Trudeau said. "People want to succeed. People want to know that themselves, that their families, that their kids, that their grandkids will be able to succeed and we need to work together to get that.

 

"We share a purpose, our two countries, where we want to build places where the middle class and those working hard to join it have a chance."

 

He said it is time to work together.

 

"We're going to keep working with people right around the world, we're going to work with our neighbours and I'm going to work with president-elect Trump's administration as we move forward in a positive way, not just for Canadians and Americans but for the whole world."

 

Trump claimed his election victory as America's 45th president early Wednesday, after beating out Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

 

After he won, Trump urged Americans to "come together as one united people" despite a deeply divisive campaign.

 

 

In Montreal, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair refused to take back his prior comments that Trump was a fascist.

 

Mulcair said in March the president-elect "is a fascist. Let's not kid ourselves, let's not beat around the bush."

 

The morning after the election, Mulcair, while refusing to use the word again, said, "I never changed my opinion on the matter and I stand by what I said."

 

He said it's time for Canadians to demand their government "stand up to Trump."

 

"I think when you see the type of racist, sexist comments that were made by Mr. Trump during the campaign those are things we don't want here in Canada," he said.

 

"And far from backing down from it I hope that Justin Trudeau will stand up for those same Canadian values."

 

 

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce urged Trudeau's government to get Canada's priority issues on Trump's agenda early, to ensure they didn't get lost in the global chatter.

 

"Measures that improve Canada-U.S. trade should be our priority with this new administration, but there is a long list of topics we will need to address, from softwood lumber to NAFTA to pipelines," said CEO Perrin Beatty. "It will be important for our government to build a solid relationship with the new administration and to demonstrate the benefits both our countries receive from our common ties."

 

 

MODI CALLS UP TO TRUMP TO CONGRATULATE HIM

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to US President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday and expressed the hope that India-US ties will be taken to new heights under the new presidency.

 

"Continuing to build on the bedrock of strong Indo-US relations. PM spoke just now to @realDonaldTrump to congratulate him on his election," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

 

"PM conveyed his best wishes & the two leaders looked forward to working closely to take the #IndiaUS strategic partnership to a new height," he said.

 

In what was seen as a surprise victory across the world, Republican Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton by a wide margin to become the 45th President of the world's oldest democracy.

 

India-US relations have been on an uptick no matter whether it is a Republican or a Democrat in the Oval Office starting from the times of Bill Clinton.

 

CLINTON SUPPORTER LADY GAGA PROTESTS OUTSIDE TRUMP TOWER

 

Lady Gaga's candidate Hillary Clinton may have lost the US presidential election, but the singer isn't about to stop fighting for love and justice.

 

Gaga was up early on Wednesday morning protesting outside Trump Tower in New York. She shared a photo of herself holding a "Love Trumps Hate" sign, perched on the side of a sanitation truck, reported MTV.com.

 

 

Gaga changed her Twitter handle to the hashtag #CountryOfKindness, which she also used to caption the photo of her protest.

 

Earlier in the evening, Gaga posted a photo taken with Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson. In that tweet, she offered some encouraging words in the face of defeat.

 

"In a room full of hope, we will be heard," she wrote. "Stand up for kindness, equality, and love. Nothing will stop us."

 

 

The market-shaking, adjective-defying prospect of a Donald Trump presidency became reality Wednesday, with a brash billionaire and reality TV star known for building skyscrapers and flinging insults suddenly poised to enter the White House.

 

It was sealed at 2:31 a.m. Wednesday by The Associated Press, followed shortly afterwards by reports that Hillary Clinton had conceded the race to her bitter rival. In a statement, President Barack Obama said he had spoken with Trump, would comment publicly Wednesday, and would meet with him the following day to prepare a smooth transition.

 

So the country's first African-American president, progressive and still relatively popular, stands to be replaced by a nationalist he deeply disdains and who rose to political prominence by insinuating Obama was born in Africa.

 

 

Trump was written off again and again, repeatedly shocking the political establishment since last year — first by running, then by becoming a contender, winning the nomination and finally by moving into the Oval Office.

 

He gave a gracious concession speech that complimented his rival, sought to reassure minorities, promised peace with other countries, and asked for help in governing even from people who opposed him.

 

''(Ours is) a movement comprised of Americans from all races, religions, backgrounds and beliefs,'' Trump said, his family and advisers by his side.

 

''We will get along with all other nations willing to get along with us...We expect to have great, great relationships.''

 

Trump vastly outperformed electoral prognostications and market forecasts that viewed a historic Clinton victory as a fait accompli, taking Florida, Ohio, and northern industrial states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that hadn't gone Republican in decades.

 

 

Clinton did not speak Wednesday — but she called the president-elect.

 

The prospect of a Trump presidency jolted the markets: at one point, Dow futures plunged more than 4 per cent and Japan's major index nosedived more than 6.1 per cent, its largest drop in years. The Mexican peso likewise tumbled and investors looking for safe assets bid up the price of gold.

 

Trump's threat to scrap trade deals and slap tariffs on foreign-made goods as punishment for job outsourcing might have dismayed many Canadians, economists, businesses and brokers. Yet it was central to his message to white working-class voters in the old industrial belt.

 

Democrats made another bet — that his comments about Mexicans, Muslims and women that made him a hero to white-supremacist groups would prove so disgusting to other voters that Clinton would be carried to the presidency on the backs of minorities, the college-educated, and females, the coalition that elected Barack Obama.

 

The first reaction from a famous foreign politician came from the leader of France's far-right National Front. Marine Le Pen tweeted: ''Congratulations to the new president of the United States, Donald Trump, and to the American people, free.''

 

Trump was considered so unpalatable a choice by so many that senior members of his party refused to endorse him or appear at election rallies with him. He was shunned by every living Republican nominee except Bob Dole.

 

The Bushes made it known they didn't vote for him, along with Mitt Romney and John McCain. A former speechwriter for George W. Bush offered an example of the fatalistic attitude permeating political circles in Washington.

 

 

''On the bright side, 227 years is a really good run for a republic,'' tweeted Canadian David Frum, referring to the number of years since George Washington became the first American president.

 

At Trump headquarters in Manhattan, people chanted, ''U-S-A!'' and, ''Lock her up!'' in reference to Hillary Clinton. People were reportedly in tears, some even leaving early at the Democratic gathering across town.

 

Democrats began the evening expecting to celebrate a different kind of history.

 

Clinton had an evening rally scheduled under a see-through roof, a symbolic nod to the prospect of the first female president smashing the ultimate glass ceiling and occupying perhaps the most powerful office in the world.

 

Her campaign was repeatedly sidetracked: by hacks of her aides' emails, conflict-of-interest allegations into her family's charitable foundation, an investigation and leaks from the FBI and voter confusion about her platform.

 

The Democrats' campaign even focused on Trump. 

 

Clinton's platform, titled "Stronger Together," was a nod to her opponent's racially tinged rhetoric. The message obscured the actual purpose of her platform — economic inequality. Some elements, like a parental-leave program, are shared by her rival — who is the least conservative Republican nominee in memory.

 

Trump's inimitable style of American populism veers from right to left; from military hawkishness to doveish language. He could have the opportunity to pass an unusually high number of bills, depending on which party agrees with his policy of the moment.

 

His North American neighbours would be watching nervously for moves on trade. He's demanded a renegotiation of NAFTA, without offering details, and promises to rip it up if unsuccessful.

 

One Canadian official expressed doubt in a recent conversation that it would get that far. Even if a president did order NAFTA scrapped, the impact of the move would be softened by several firewalls — the need for Congress to reinstate old tariffs, and potentially by the continued existence of the old 1987 Canada-U.S. agreement.

 

"I don't really think we're in danger there," said the Canadian official. "There would be a revolt by the private sector... His own party would revolt.''

 

 

If it happens, a Trump victory would also deprive the current president of a historic achievement.

 

A Democratic win would have placed Obama in the company of Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan as the only postwar presidents to have a successor extend their party's time in the White House beyond two terms.

 

Republicans roared to big victories down-ballot that allowed them to retain some control of Congress: they held the House of Representatives as expected, and narrowly retained the Senate — which would give a Republican president considerable, but not total, power.

 

Pundits struggled to process what was happening.

 

On Fox News, the moderator of the last presidential debate wondered whether, in the seat of power, he'd continue to be the erratic insult-flinger he'd been on the stump.

 

''Is he going to be different than the candidate Trump? The only answer you can really give is, 'Who the hell knows?' And I don't know that he necessarily knows,'' Chris Wallace said. 

 

''But let's face it: He's a 70-year-old billionaire who pulled off the most improbable victory in the history of our country. I'm not sure that humility and a feeling of, 'Gee, I've gotta change the way I do business,' is necessarily gonna be at the top of his agenda...

 

''He may think: 'You know what? I'm smarter than all these guys.'''

 

Others debated what caused this result — which could keep busy generations of historians and political scientists.

 

A former ambassador to Russia who'd clashed with Vladimir Putin bitterly tweeted, in reference to the Wikileaks hacks: ''Putin intervened in our election and succeeded.'' Michael McFaul added in Russian: ''Well done.''

 

He got a blunt response from an international-relations expert who'd accidentally helped coin Trump's foreign-policy slogan. Ian Bremmer had noted that it sounded like the ''American First'' isolationists during the Second World War — and Trump loved the slogan, embracing it.

 

''Disagree,'' Bremmer tweeted back. ''If Trump wins it's our fault alone.''

 

 

TRUMP VICTORY THROWS BASICS OF CANADA'S FOREIGN POLICY INTO QUESTION: EXPERTS

 

Experts say Donald Trump's stunning election win has thrown the cornerstones of Canadian foreign and defence policy into question.

 

They say Canada needs to prepare for a U.S. president who is open to dismantling the North American Free Trade Agreement, wants to throw up protectionist walls along the 49th parallel and has challenged how NATO works.

 

Trump floated all of those ideas during the campaign, but his victory speech Tuesday night sought to play them down.

 

Instead, he stressed that his administration would "deal fairly" with other countries and look for common ground rather than hostility.

 

 

Fen Hampson, the head of the global security program at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Ont., says Canada should now focus on preserving its trade agreement with Europe and expanding its reach into Asia.

 

Hampson says an end to NAFTA could eventually mean new tariffs on goods and services that the trade agreement kept at bay, as well as an end to bilateral dispute resolution.

 

"We should expect a wrecking ball on NAFTA that will also force us to renegotiate the terms of the Canada-US 1988 free trade agreement," Hampson said in an interview.

 

"It's time to double down on our own bilateral trade agreements not only with the European Union but with new markets in Asia. That will give us leverage with Washington. The more we can diversify the more leverage we will have."

 

Trade lawyer Lawrence Herman said Trump's signals that he would reopen NAFTA would force Canada to the bargaining table for some tough discussions.

 

"As a practical matter, if the Americans insist on re-negotiation, I don't see how we can refuse to sit down and talk."

 

Herman said there are serious implications for the auto industry, which has developed an intertwined supply chain that now crosses North American borders.

 

"He won Michigan and Ohio and will do what's needed to protect the auto workers in that part of the country. If that means reducing Canadian benefits, Trump won't care."

 

Hampson said Trudeau was wise to avoid criticizing Trump during the campaign and he should immediately try to meet the president-elect to forge a personal relationship with a leader driven more by personality than policy.

 

 

 

But the Trudeau government may face more calls to increase defence spending.

 

"When it comes to NATO allies and his rhetoric about free riders, he's going to be looking very hard at what we spend on defence, and he'll look very hard and what kind of fighter we're going to purchase."

 

Hampson predicted Trump will play "hardball" if the Liberals turn their backs on purchasing the F-35 stealth fighter from American firm Lockheed Martin when it finally chooses its replacement for CF-18 fleet.

 

Canada's support of the Paris climate change agreement puts the two countries on "a collision course" on climate change, he added.

 

WHAT DONALD TRUMP'S PRESIDENTIAL VICTORY COULD MEAN FOR CANADA'S ECONOMY

 

TORONTO — A Donald Trump administration, combined with a Republican-controlled Senate and House of Representatives, could have reverberations that will be felt by the Canadian economy for years.

 

Here's a look at what Trump's victory could mean for various sectors of our economy:

 

 

ENERGY:

 

Remember Keystone XL? Plans to build the 1,900-kilometre pipeline from Alberta to Nebraska were thwarted last year under U.S. President Barack Obama. But Trump's win could breathe new life into the project at a time when Canada's oilpatch needs it. Trump has said he would "absolutely approve it, 100 per cent."

 

Still, when considering Trump's propensity for categorical statements, one should keep in mind the details. He has said he wants a greater cut of the profits, but hasn't explained what that means. There is also TransCanada's outstanding request for US$15 billion in damages after Obama's rejection. Trump is also regarded as a friend of U.S. fossil fuels, on record as favouring oil and gas drilling on federal lands. That could stifle appetite for Canada's oil and gas production.

 

 

TRADE:

 

Our largest trading partner will soon be led by someone who has committed to ripping up NAFTA if it isn't renegotiated. Any country can withdraw from the free trade agreement with six months' notice. And with Republican control of both the legislative and executive branches, Trump is better positioned than past presidents who've made similar threats.

 

But some say he could face resistance from legislators in states that have reaped the benefits of the deal. As former prime minister Brian Mulroney, the architect of NAFTA, recently told CTV's Question Period, "You tear that up — my mother used to say, 'You're cutting off your nose to spite your face.'"

 

 

SOFTWOOD LUMBER:

 

One of the first trade irritants that could test U.S.-Canadian relations is softwood lumber. A 10-year-old agreement that removed U.S. duties on Canadian softwood lumber expired last month. That paved the way for the possibility of steep taxes, which could result in layoffs throughout Canada's forestry sector.

 

Trump can expect to face pressure from the U.S. lumber lobby to implement such duties. In an era of rising protectionism, he may be emboldened to oblige.