Preparations begin for the transfer of power to Trump

Trump’s election victory came surprisingly quickly and was surprisingly clear. He and his team are wasting no time in paving the way for the second term in office, which promises new extremes.

After Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, preparations for a change of power in the White House begin. The Republican accepted an invitation from Democratic incumbent Joe Biden to government headquarters. The meeting should take place “soon,” a Trump spokesman said after a phone call between the incumbent and the president-elect. Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, admitted defeat and promised to ensure an orderly transfer of power.

Behind the scenes, work is now beginning to set up Trump’s government team. Various names of strident Trump allies are already circulating who could take on important positions – including the tech billionaire Elon Musk, the controversial ex-ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, and the vaccination opponent and temporary presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy.

Trump won the presidential election surprisingly quickly and surprisingly clearly on Tuesday, handing Harris a devastating defeat. The 78-year-old won in all of the “swing states” counted so far, i.e. the particularly hotly contested states, and achieved the necessary majority of more than 270 voters much earlier than expected to secure the office of president again. In addition, Trump managed for the first time to get a clear majority of the votes cast nationwide.

The Republicans were also able to take the majority in the US Senate from the Democrats in the vote. In the other chamber of parliament, the House of Representatives, it was initially unclear whether the Republicans would be able to defend their majority there. If they succeed, Trump would be in an even more powerful position because he would then be able to “rule” virtually unhindered – without counterweight from the Democrats in the House of Representatives.

In any case, with Trump’s return to the White House, the USA is threatened with increasingly authoritarian leadership and its international allies face some foreign policy uncertainty.

The loser of the election did not appear in front of her supporters until the day after the vote. “We have to accept the result of this election,” said the 60-year-old in the capital Washington. This is a basic principle of US democracy and makes the difference to a monarchy or tyranny. She said she called Trump and congratulated him on his victory.

At the same time, Harris emphasized: “While I admit defeat in this election, I am not giving up the fight that fueled this election campaign.” She called on her followers not to despair or lose heart. “I know that many people feel that we are entering a dark time.” But stars can only be seen in the dark.

Admitting an election defeat is actually a given. But Trump has changed the standards: He ran against Biden in the 2020 election and lost, but has not accepted the defeat to this day, instead launching an unprecedented campaign against the election results, which culminated in an outbreak of violence.

At the end of his own term in office, Trump did not invite his successor Biden to the White House and he also stayed away from his inauguration. There was almost a rematch of the race between the two, but Biden withdrew from the election campaign in favor of Harris in the summer under pressure from his party.

Biden congratulated Trump on his election victory, as did other senior Democrats, including former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Biden also paid tribute to his deputy, saying in a written statement that she would remain a leader “our children will look up to for generations.” On Thursday (5 p.m. CET) he wants to address the nation about the election results.

Harris was the first woman to become vice president and then became the first black woman in the United States to be chosen as the presidential candidate of one of the two major parties. However, her message failed to penetrate many voters.

During his election campaign, Trump promised, among other things, the largest deportation operation in the country’s history, a quick end to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and high import tariffs and tax cuts. The Republican also denies the climate crisis and announced a drastic expansion of oil and natural gas production in the USA.