Donald Trump, a former President and Republican Party’s candidate in the November 5 United States Presidential election, has been declared winner of the election with voters overlooking his divisive speeches, felony conviction and three separate criminal indictments to send the Republican former president back to the White House.
The Associated Press reports indicated that the former President had reached the 270-electoral college vote threshold to return to office by winning Wisconsin, thus making the 78-year-old real estate magnate only the second former president in US history to win the White House after previously losing re-election.
The only other president to serve two non-consecutive terms was Democrat Grover Cleveland, who was in office from 1885 to 1889, and again from 1893 to 1897.
Similarly, Trump, now the 47th American President, also becomes the oldest person ever elected to the presidency.
Trump was first elected in 2016, but lost his re-election bid to Joe Biden in 2020. Trump then spent weeks attempting to prevent his rival from taking office, culminating in the 6 January 2021 insurrection, which saw his supporters attack the US Capitol after Trump addressed them outside the White House.
In the years that followed, prosecutors at the federal level and in the states of Georgia and New York brought felony charges against him, and earlier this year, he was convicted in Manhattan on 34 counts of business fraud, while the other cases have stalled. He was also found liable in a civil court case of sexual abuse.
The Guardian reported that before the re-election of Trump on Wednesday, Kamala Harris’ campaign manifestoes were considered by many of her supporters, and other political analysts globally, as having the potential of saving American democracy from an existential threat and a sign that US politics might be returning to a more normal state of affairs.
However, with Trump’s victory on Wednesday morning, that potential disappeared.
After the shock exit of Joe Biden following his poor debate performance raised questions about his mental acuity, Harris and her team ran a campaign that by American standards was incredibly short.
The news report indicated that despite having had support by stars like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, gathering more than a billion dollars in fundraising, and crisscrossing the country in relentless rallies, Harris’s bid to win the White House ended in defeat.
Associated Press quoted the Federation of the Jewish Communities of Ukraine as saying that they welcomed Trump’s election and are confident Trump will bring “genuine peace in Ukraine while preserving our territorial integrity and standing firmly against forces that threaten the peace of the free world.”
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has joined other global leaders to congratulate the re-elected Donald Trump.
Tinubu, whose congratulatory message on Wednesday was conveyed through a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, expressed his eagerness to strengthen Nigeria – United States bilateral relations in the face of sundry challenges and opportunities of the contemporary world.
In the statement titled ‘President Tinubu Congratulates President-elect Trump’, the Nigerian leader said: “Together, we can foster economic cooperation, promote peace, and address global challenges that affect our citizens.”
