DONALD Trump will be President of the United States once again — with a Republican-controlled Senate, and a Supreme Court whose majority supports him, indeed, protects him. (And the Republicans may even end up controlling the House).
And the whole world is waiting with bated breath to see how he will shake up the whole world order – from the United Nations and NATO to dealings with Russia, China and North Korea, beside the international economic system.
Expect Trump to demand that the United Nations and NATO follow the dictates of the U.S.
India and other countries that hoped to be included as permanent members of the Security Council with the power to veto any substantive Security Council resolution can forget about it. That is because Trump will not tolerate any more checks on U.S. power.
Will there be resentment within the U.S. armed forces regarding some of the major decisions he will make, though constitutionally they have to follow his orders?
How will he solve the Ukraine conflict – and the Middle East hostilities?
How will he deal with China’s threat to Taiwan and North Korea’s threat to South Korea, as well as the new Russia-North Korea alignment?
Trump has threatened to impose high tariffs on exports. Will that lead to a spike in prices in U.S. and cause resentment among the middle class – beside international resentment and retaliation?
So, fasten your seat belts and prepare for what is expected to be a wild ride!
Photo: Trudeau’s X
PRIME Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday said: “On behalf of the Government of Canada, I congratulate Donald Trump on being elected as President of the United States of America for a second term, and Senator JD Vance for his election as Vice-President of the United States (U.S.).
“Canada and the U.S. have the world’s most successful partnership. We are neighbours and friends, united by a shared history, common values, and steadfast ties between our peoples. We are also each other’s largest trade partners and our economies are deeply intertwined.
“During President Trump’s first term, we successfully renegotiated the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which has created thousands of good-paying jobs and has brought investment and opportunity to our communities. In 2023, trade between Canada and the U.S. amounted to over $1.3 trillion, which means over $3.5 billion worth of goods and services crossed the Canada-U.S. border every single day. Building on Team Canada’s work to deepen this relationship since 2015, bilateral trade between our two countries has increased by over $400 billion.
“We look forward to working with President-elect Trump and his administration, including on issues such as trade, investment, and continental peace and security.”
B.C. Premier David Eby said on X: “Congratulations to President-elect Trump. Americans have sent you to do a critically important job for them. British Columbians are close neighbours with family, relationships and businesses on both sides. Looking forward to working collaboratively on our shared priorities.”
ONTARIO Premier Doug Ford said in a statement posted on X: “I want to offer my congratulations to Donald Trump and JD Vance on their election as the next President and Vice President of the United States of America.
“Ontario and the United States share one of the most important and enduring friendships in the world, built on strong economic ties, shared values, national security interests and integrated supply chains. Millions of workers on both sides of the border are counting on our governments to maintain and build our economic partnership, pursuing shared opportunities in manufacturing, energy and critical mineral development.
“I also want to congratulate all the governors, senators, representatives and state representatives who were elected. Ontario is the number one export destination for 17 U.S. states and the number two export destination for another 11. I look forward to working with U.S. leaders at the federal, state and local levels to strengthen our trade and economic growth.
“I am optimistic about the opportunities that lie ahead for more trade and co-operation between Ontario and the United States. We have enormous potential to provide the critical minerals needed for electric vehicle batteries and other new technologies and as a safe and secure source for the clean and reliable nuclear energy needed to power America’s economic growth. That’s why we must adopt a “Buy Can-Am” mindset that creates new jobs and opportunities for workers and businesses on both sides of the border.
“Now is the time to bet big on the U.S.-Ontario relationship. I look forward to working with President-elect Trump, Vice President-elect Vance, their administration and leaders across the United States as we continue to build and grow together.”
DONALD Trump, addressing his supporters after it became quite clear that he had defeated Kamala Harris, said: “It’s a political victory that our country has never seen before, nothing like this. I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honour of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president. And every citizen, I will fight for you, for your family and your future, every single day I will be fighting for you with every breath in my body, I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve. This will truly be the golden age of America, that’s what we have to have.”
He added: “America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate. We have taken back control of the Senate. Wow. That’s great.”
Trump said: “I want to be the first to congratulate our great, now I can say, Vice-President-elect of the United States JD Vance, and his absolutely remarkable and beautiful wife, Usha Vance. And he is a feisty guy, isn’t he?”
The President-elect said: “We’re going to be paying down debt. We’re going to be reducing taxes. We have, we can do things that nobody else can do. Nobody else is going to be able to do it. China doesn’t have what we have. Nobody has what we have. But we have the greatest people also, maybe that’s the most important thing this campaign in this campaign has been so historic in so many ways.”
He added: “We’ve built the biggest, the broadest, the most unified coalition. They’ve never seen anything like it in all of American history.”
He said: “We want to have borders, we want to have security, we want to have things be good, safe. We want great education, we want a strong and powerful military and ideally, we don’t have to use it. You know, we had no wars for years. We had no wars, except when we defeated ISIS. We defeated ISIS in record time. But we had no wars.”
Trump said: “It’s time to put the divisions of the past four years behind us. It’s time to unite, and we’re going to try. We’re going to try. We have to try. And it’s going to happen. Success will bring us together, I’ve seen that, I’ve seen that. I saw that in the first term when we became more and more successful, people started coming together. Success is going to bring us together, and we are going to start by putting America first.”
KAMALA Harris on Wednesday afternoon, delivered her concession speech at Howard University, her alma mater. Earlier Wednesday, she congratulated Trump over the phone.
The Vice President said: “The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for. But hear me when I say: The light of America’s promise will always burn bright.”
She said: “A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results. That principle, as much as any other, distinguishes democracy from monarchy or tyranny. And anyone who seeks the public trust must honor it. At the same time, in our nation, we owe loyalty not to a president or to a party, but to the Constitution of the United States. And loyalty to our conscience and to our God.”
Harris said: “I will never give up the fight for a future where Americans can pursue their dreams, ambitions and aspirations, where the women of America have the freedom to make decisions about their own body and not have their government telling them what to do. We will never give up the fight to protect our schools and our streets from gun violence.”
She declared: “We will continue to wage this fight in the voting booth, in the courts and in the public square. And we will also wage it in quieter ways — in how we live our lives, by treating one another with kindness and respect; by looking in the face of a stranger and seeing a neighbor; by always using our strength to lift people up, to fight for the dignity that all people deserve.”
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