Democrats confront fact that Trump’s dark vision prevailed as result sinks in

Trump world was jubilant after his election win, while confusion and foreboding reigned on the other side of America

Millions of Americans faced a transformed country and a rattled world on Wednesday following the realisation of Donald Trump’s stunning return to power.

As the extent of Trump’s victory began to sink in – including clear dominance not only in the electoral college but also probably in the popular vote, with at least 72 million votes cast for him, as well as control of the US Senate – there were expressions of jubilation among the former president’s supporters. The House remained too close to call late on Wednesday, but Republicans projected confidence that they would maintain their narrow majority, giving Trump sweeping power to enact his legislative agenda.

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US elections 2024: control of House remains unclear

Republicans make progress as results are returned, but US may have to wait days to learn chamber’s composition

Republicans have won a majority in the US Senate but control of the US House of Representatives remains unclear on Wednesday evening, with many of the most competitive races still uncalled.

With Donald Trump having won the White House, the stakes for control of the House have grown, since it could serve as either the sole Democratic check on the upcoming Trump presidency, or as the final Republican win that delivers a united pro-Trump government.

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Sheinbaum tells Mexicans stunning Trump win is ‘nothing to worry about’

President reassures her country as threat of US tariffs and deportations looms

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has reassured her country that “there’s nothing to worry about” after Donald Trump’s stunning victory in the US presidential election.

But Trump’s extreme campaign promises have left Mexico bracing for punishing tariffs, mass migrant deportations – and even the far-fetched but alarming suggestion of US military strikes on organised crime groups in Mexican territory.

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Tracking abortion ballot measures

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Netanyahu’s sacking of defence chief ‘last thing Israel needs’, says president

Critics dismayed at timing of dismissal amid war and on day of US election – and warn more may come for PM’s political gain

Many Israelis have been left reeling by Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to dismiss his popular defence minister in the midst of a multifront war, accusing him of carrying out the move for his own political gain.

In a surprise announcement late on Tuesday, the prime minister said that he had fired Yoav Gallant over what he described a “crisis of trust” in the past few months. Gallant, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party and a senior general, has been replaced by the foreign minister, Likud lawmaker and loyalist Israel Katz, who has little military background.

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Hurricane Rafael intensifies to category 3 as battered Cuba braces for new storm

More than 70,000 people reportedly evacuated and military mobilised with hurricane close to making landfall

Hurricane Rafael has intensified into a category 3 hurricane as it nears the coast of western Cuba, which is still reeling from a recent blackout and Hurricane Oscar.

Early on Wednesday it was about 160 miles (260km) south-east of Havana and packing winds of 99mph (160km/h), making it a category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Five is the strongest.

Guardian staff contributed reporting

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US cancels $1.1bn of Somalia’s debt in ‘historic’ financial agreement

Commitment by Mogadishu’s largest single lender is latest in series of deals to forgive ‘unsustainable’ $4.5bn debt

Somalia has announced that more than $1.1bn (£860m) of outstanding loans will be cancelled by the US, a sum representing about a quarter of the country’s remaining debt.

The announcement is the latest in a series of agreements in which Somalia’s creditors have committed to forgiving its debt obligations.

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‘Time for patriots’: global far-right figures celebrate Trump’s win

Jair Bolsonaro, Javier Milei and Giorgia Meloni among those in Europe and the Americas paying tribute

Key members of the global far right have celebrated Donald Trump’s US election win, with tributes to the former president rolling in from Rio de Janeiro to Budapest.

The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán – who had vowed to toast a Trump win with “several bottles of champagne” – hailed what he called “a much-needed victory for the world!”

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Republicans outline ‘first 100 days’ of Trump presidency – as it happened

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Donald Trump has been elected the 47th president of the United States in a stunning political resurrection that sent shock waves through the country and around the world.

Trump becomes the first convicted criminal to win the White House. At 78 he is also the oldest person ever elected to the office.

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Orbán, Zelenskyy, Macron and European leaders respond to Trump’s win

Public congratulations but private foreboding as heads of state, ministers and diplomats express hopes for cooperation and peace

Western leaders raced to respond to the return of Donald Trump to the White House with a powerful mandate to put his policy of “America first” into action once again. But many of the public congratulations could do little to disguise the private foreboding of what the next four years will augur for European security, populism and the world economy.

Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister and the European leader closest to Trump, was one of the first to hail his ally’s victory. He posted on social media: “The biggest comeback in US political history! Congratulations to President @realDonaldTrump on his enormous win. A much-needed victory for the world!”

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Trump sends shock waves around world as he is elected US president | First Thing

Republican nominee told crowd ‘nothing will stop me’ after taking North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Plus, Americans explain what decided their vote

Good morning.

Donald Trump has been elected the 47th president of the United States in a stunning comeback that has sent shock waves around the world, after he secured his path to victory through the country’s battleground states.

What does this mean for Trump’s legal woes? It looks like a get-out-jail card as the Trump ally and South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham told special counsel Jack Smith that “it is time to look forward to a new chapter in your legal career” and to “bring these cases to an end”.

What about the House of Representatives? That race, where the Republicans were defending a majority, is yet to be called – only 376 of 435 seats had been announced at time of writing.

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Trump win is a victory for Netanyahu, but Israeli PM may not get it all his way

US president-elect has indicated he wants an end to war in Gaza and his position on conflict with Iran remains unclear

The US election result is highly consequential for the Middle East and is first and foremost a win for Benjamin Netanyahu, who did not try to hide his preference for a Trump victory.

The Biden administration had put off imposing any meaningful pressure on the Israeli prime minister until after the election, despite its growing frustration with him on multiple issues: the obstruction of aid into Gaza, his campaign against the UN, his obstruction of a hostage-for-peace deal, and his government’s support for violent West Bank settlers.

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Trump tariffs would halve UK growth and push up prices, says thinktank

NIESR warns British economy would be one of the worst affected by protectionist policies

UK growth is likely to be halved by Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential race if goes on to impose the swingeing new tariffs he has threatened, a leading thinktank has warned.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said the protectionist measures planned by the Republican challenger for the White House would result in weaker activity, rising inflation and higher interest rates from the Bank of England.

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Inflation pain helped secure Trump win but his policies mean higher prices

Markets expect his policy package to harm trade and growth but reduce business taxes

Higher share prices. A stronger dollar. A less rapid pace of interest rate cuts. The financial market reaction to Donald Trump’s return to the White House was swift and predictable.

The man who will become his country’s 47th president has made no secret of what he plans to do: cut taxes, impose heavy tariffs on imported goods, place curbs on migration, and slash red tape.

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Donald Trump elected US president in stunning political resurrection

Former president defeats Kamala Harris as voters send Republican back to White House for second term

Donald Trump has been elected the 47th president of the United States in a stunning political resurrection that sent shockwaves through America and around the world.

Trump becomes the first convicted criminal to win the White House. At 78 he is also the oldest person ever elected to the office.

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Wall Street and bitcoin soar to record highs as Trump wins US election

Dollar up and renewable energy stocks down, while shares in president-elect’s media business rise by more than a third

Wall Street and bitcoin rallied to fresh record highs and the dollar soared after Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, while renewable energy stocks fell.

Trump was declared the winner on Wednesday morning after securing the 270 electoral votes needed to take the presidency.

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US elections live: Harris makes unexpected stop at DNC headquarters as millions of Americans cast their votes

Harris thanks Democratic staffers in Washington DC and says ‘we have so much work to do’ during phone-banking session

Dispatch from Grand Rapids, Michigan: They just showed a video here of Donald Trump shaving the head of Vince McMahon, the former CEO of WWE, during a wrestling event. It happened in 2007.

Needless to say, Trump hasn’t arrived yet.

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Donald Trump says ‘we made history’ as he closes in on victory with win in Pennsylvania – as it happened

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The state of American democracy and the economy were the top issues on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots in the 2024 presidential election, according to an NBC News exit poll.

The poll’s preliminary results show 35% of voters said democracy mattered most to their vote, while 31% said the economy.

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A polarized America goes to the polls: ‘I’m in a house divided’

In the seven swing states that could decide whether Harris or Trump wins the election, voters feel fought over

America had previously always been “somebody else’s country,” said Christopher La Rose, a health researcher, as he waited just before 7am in Pine Lake, a village that’s too small for postal delivery just outside of Atlanta, Georgia.

But that changed recently for La Rose, who is of Guyanese descent, when he became an American citizen. He had the jitters on Monday night, before using his first-ever vote in a US election to back Kamala Harris.

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Oldest living survivor of Tulsa race massacre casts vote for Kamala Harris

Viola Ford Fletcher, 110, voted for the vice-president in Oklahoma, CNN reporter says

Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the Tulsa race massacre, cast her ballot in Oklahoma on Tuesday at 110 years old for Kamala Harris.

In a photo shared on social media, Fletcher is wearing an “I voted” sticker, and according to CNN journalist Abby Phillip, Fletcher voted for the vice-president, as she had previously said she would.

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