 "Stunning victory takes Trump to White House")
Republican Donald Trump stunned the world by defeating heavily favoured rival Hillary Clinton in the US presidential election, ending eight years of Democratic control of the White House and sending America on a new, uncertain path.
A wealthy real estate developer and former reality TV host, Trump rode a wave of anger toward Washington insiders to win Tuesday’s White House race against Clinton, the Democratic candidate whose gold-plated establishment resume included stints as a first lady, US senator and secretary of state. Trump’s victory marked a crushing end to Clinton’s second presidential quest. She also failed in a White House bid in 2008. “Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead,” Clinton, 69, said in her concession speech in New York on Wednesday morning, joined by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and daughter Chelsea. Speaking in front of a row of American flags, she told supporters her loss was painful “and it will be for a long time,” and that she had offered to work with Trump on behalf of the nation.
President Barack Obama, who campaigned hard against Trump, invited Trump to the White House for a meeting on Thursday. Obama is due to speak later on Wednesday about the election. “Ensuring a smooth transition of power is one of the top priorities the President identified at the beginning of the year and a meeting with the President-elect is the next step,” the White House said.
Trailing in public opinion polls for months, Trump pulled off a major surprise and collected enough of the 270 state-by-state electoral votes needed to win, taking battleground states where presidential elections are traditionally decided, US television networks projected. His four-year term begins on January 20 and he will enjoy Republican majorities in both chambers of the US Congress. Television networks projected the party would retain control of the 100-seat Senate and the House of Representatives, where all 435 seats were up for grabs. Worried that a Trump victory could cause economic and global uncertainty, investors fled risky global assets.
The US dollar, Mexican peso and world stocks fell on Wednesday but fears of the kind of shock that wiped trillions of dollars off world markets after Britain’s “Brexit” vote in June failed to materialise immediately.
Reuters
