By Gideon Rachman
This time last year, I wrote that “I have a nightmare vision for 2017: President Trump, President Le Pen, President Putin.” So, after Donald Trump’s victory, the next question is whether Marine Le Pen can indeed capture the French presidency?
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Plan B. That was the recurring theme in Latin America this week as Mexico tries to prepare for whatever a Donald Trump presidency will bring; China tries to recalibrate Asia-Pacific trade; and Colombia and Farc rebels try another stab at peace. Read more
Donald Trump and Europe: friend or foe?
Does the election victory of Donald Trump represent an opportunity or a threat to Europe? Gideon Rachman discusses the mixed reaction across the continent with George Parker, the FT’s political editor in London, and diplomatic correspondent Arthur Beesley in Brussels.
By Gideon Rachman
What is going on between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump? That question hung over the US election. Now that Mr Trump has won the presidency, the question of his relationship with the Russian leader assumes global significance.
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The Mexican peso crumpled, the Cuban army began military maneuvers, Colombia’s “No” vote campaigners cheered, Peru’s president probably wished he had not joked about cutting ties with Washington if Donald Trump won, while the rest of the region congratulated the US president-elect through gritted teeth. “Here’s to @realDonaldTrump’s victory,” Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia, tweeted sarcastically. “We hope to work against racism, machismo and anti-immigration for the sovereignty of our peoples.” Brazil’s Foreign Ministry sent a curiously unsigned message, with bland bromides about “working together” and “new opportunities”. Read more
The transition to the Donald Trump presidency has begun, after the businessman travelled to the White House to meet Barack Obama today, with the possibility that the president-elect could undo huge swathes of the president’s legacy is in the air.
The pair struck a conciliatory tone. But the image of the first black president preparing to hand over power to the man who had led a racist crusade to delegitimise him as un-American was striking, writes Jelani Cobb. Read more
Donald Trump became US president-elect after winning one of the most divisive elections in US history, and US markets responded positively after the stunning result had initially hit markets in Europe and Asia, while peaceful protests were sparked in urban centres around America
Key points
Republican Donald Trump surged past the required 270 votes needed to win. Read our coverage of how it happened here.
Trump: “Now it’s time for America to bind the wounds of division.”
US stock market forges ahead and Asian markets bounce back on Day 2 after an initial sharp sell-off
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note jumped by the most in more than three years
Mexican President Peña Nieto joins world leaders in taking a conciliatory tone
President Barack Obama promises a “smooth transition”
Hillary Clinton congratulates her rival and “offers to work with him”
Trump win stuns America’s allies
Donald Trump’s momentous victory has stunned America’s allies but also delighted populists and strongmen leaders around the world, notably Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Ben Hall discusses the world response with Gideon Rachman and Guy Chazan.
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He called himself “Mr Brexit”. He promised a “Brexit times ten”. Uncharacteristically for Donald Trump, he may have undersold it.
Trump has upended not just the political world, but the polling industry, the media, prediction markets, the GOP and Democratic establishments and the entire geopolitical order by pulling off the most improbable win in US history. Read more
One of the most divisive presidential contests in US history ended dramatically on Wednesday morning with Donald Trump winning the White House.
Key points
Donald Trump surged past the required 270 votes needed to win by 2:33AM EST.
Hillary Clinton called Mr Trump to congratulate him on his victory, but did not make an appearance at her campaign event in New York City.
Mr Trump addressed supporters at his own campaign event in New York City, with an appeal to unity, saying it is “time for America to bind the wounds of division”.
Voting is underway in one of the most divisive US presidential elections in history that will see either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump win the White House.
Key points
Polls close from 6pm EST (11pm GMT) through to 1am ET across the country
The FT’s poll of polls gives Clinton a 3.3 point lead nationally
Focus is on a handful of battleground states where candidates are 5 points or less apart.
Our results coverage starts at 6pm EST; bookmark our live results page for later
Read our live coverage as the results come in
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Well, this is it. Americans are at the polls. Results will start rolling in in a few hours, so keep our live results page open to get a real-time sense of whether Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump comes out on top in one of the most dramatic and divisive campaigns in US history.
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In just over 24 hours, our long national nightmare will be over.
I kid. It probably won’t be over for a handful of hours after that, when the first returns start trickling in. Or maybe days after that if there’s a recount in any of the many toss-up states or if the losing candidate decides to contest the results.
Labeling a politician a fascist is not usually helpful. The word is chucked around so much that it has lost most of its explanatory force. As long ago as 1944, George Orwell wrote that – “It will be seen that, as used, the word ‘Fascism’ is almost entirely meaningless …I have heard it applied to farmers, shopkeepers, Social Credit, corporal punishment, fox-hunting … Kipling, Gandhi, Chiang Kai-Shek … and I do not know what else.”
And yet, this US presidential election has seen some of America’s most prominent political commentators describe Donald Trump as a fascist. So does the Republican candidate deserve this description? Might America, indeed, be on the brink of electing a fascist as its next president? Read more
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Last night the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, fulfilling the prophecy of the 1989 classic Back to the Future II, in which the idea of the Cubs winning their first championship since 1908 was treated as a sort of preposterous joke (in 2015, as it happens in the flick). Among the other phenomena prophesied: hoverboards, self-lacing shoes, and the rise of a brash, braggadocious, bullying businessman with a straw-coloured combover and a penchant for yelling who uses the profits from his casino to take over the Republican Party. Read more
China’s return to strongman rule
Chinese president Xi Jinping was anointed as the “core” leader of the Communist party last week, paving the way for a return to strongman rule. So is China moving towards a more autocratic system? Gideon Rachman discusses the question with the FT’s Beijing correspondent Lucy Hornby, and James Kynge, former bureau chief in the capital.
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Here’s where we’re at: polls are tightening amid a flood of stories that probably would have upended most races. Read more
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Across the globe: Gideon Rachman and his FT colleagues debate international affairs.
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