A triumphant Donald Trump heads to the
White House Thursday for talks with President Barack Obama on securing a
smooth transition of power and steading nerves after an election that
shocked the world.
Anger over the Trump win spilled out on
the streets of cities from New York to Los Angeles late Wednesday as
chanting protesters lit bonfires and snarled traffic. In one case an
orange-headed Trump head was burned in effigy.
Forty-eight hours after Trump’s upset
win, the 70-year-old president-elect and Obama will meet in the Oval
Office for what could be an awkward meeting as the president-elect looks
ahead to the January 20 inauguration.
Trump has questioned whether Obama was
born in the United States — a suggestion laden with deep racial
overtones — and the Democratic commander-in-chief has described the
celebrity businessman as “uniquely unqualified” to be president.
But the last day has seen efforts to
bring this deeply divided country together after a brutal two-year
battle for the White House that at times appeared more tribal than
partisan.
Vanquished Democratic rival Hillary
Clinton fought back the bitter disappointment of not becoming America’s
first female president to urge Americans to give Trump a chance, at
least from the outset.
“We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead,” she said in a concession speech.
Obama, addressing disconsolate staff in
the White House Rose Garden, played down the extraordinary Trump win,
painting it as democracy being its messy self.
“Sometimes you lose an argument,” he said, adding that all Americans would now be “rooting” for Trump’s success.
“We are Americans first. We’re patriots
first. We all want what’s best for this country,” Obama said as staff
wiped away tears and pondered whether his administration’s eight years
of toil had come to naught.
In the battle for the soul of America, those who helped elect America’s first black president now appear to be in retreat.
Both Obama and Clinton issued a faint
but definite warning that Trump must respect institutions and the rule
of law if a modicum of goodwill is to hold.
In remarks that would once have seemed
unthinkable, the president of the world’s foremost democracy and
military power subtly urged his successor to respect the 240-year-old
system of governance and its institutions.
“The country,” Obama said “needs a sense
of unity, a sense of inclusion, a respect for our institutions, our way
of life, rule of law, and a respect for each other.”
White House spokesman Josh Earnest demurred when asked whether Trump would respect the rule of law.
His tone “would seem to suggest that certain basic principles of our democracy are likely to be upheld.”
– Brave new world –
“Likely” is unlikely clear enough for
Washington’s partners who see the entire global political order, which
hinges on Washington’s moral and military leadership, as cast into
doubt.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared
to take on the mantle of champion of liberal values and “leader of the
free world,” an epithet usually reserved for American presidents.
She warned that “close cooperation”
between the two countries must be based on shared democratic values, and
reminded Trump of the global responsibility he carries.
“On the basis of these values, I offer close cooperation to the future president of the United States of America, Donald Trump.”
Europe, already beset by financial and
social crises and internal divisions, now faces existential questions
about its own security. Trump has questioned the US-led NATO’s key
collective defense guarantee.
The leaders of America’s closest
hemispheric partners, Canada and Mexico, quickly made clear their
willingness to work with the new president, offering a message of
continuity and stability with their giant neighbor.
Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto reached out to the president-elect, agreeing to a meeting.
– ‘Redemption, not recrimination’ –
The Republican Party leadership, too, embraced their newfound champion.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, who had
distanced himself from Trump in the final month of the campaign, pledged
to “hit the ground running” and work with him on conservative
legislation.
But Ryan also called for healing, saying
the bitterly contested race must be followed by a period “of
redemption, not a time of recrimination.”
Likewise, Trump called for national
reconciliation after Clinton conceded defeat in a result that virtually
no poll had dreamed of predicting.
He told a crowd of jubilant supporters
early Wednesday in New York “it is time for America to bind the wounds
of division” as he pledged to work with Democrats in office.
On Wednesday Trump huddled at Trump
Tower in New York with a group of advisers, planning the transition to
running the world’s largest economy when he takes office on January 20.
During a bitter campaign that tugged at
America’s democratic fabric, the tycoon pledged to deport illegal
immigrants, ban Muslims from the country and tear up free-trade deals.
Trump’s campaign message was embraced by
a large section of America’s white majority, grown increasingly
disgruntled by the scope of social and economic change under Obama.
But it was passionately rejected by Clinton supporters.
Thousands of protesters — in New York,
Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Portland and other cities —
rallied late Wednesday to express shock and anger over Trump’s election.
They vowed to oppose divisive views they say helped the Republican
billionaire win the White House.
In Washington, several hundred gathered
in front of the White House for a candlelight vigil on a damp, chilly
evening, criticizing what they called Trump’s racism, sexism and
xenophobia, and carrying signs reading “We have a voice!” and “Education
for all!”
Some of the most enthusiastic support
for Trump came from far-right and nationalist politicians in Europe such
as French opposition figure Marine Le Pen, Matteo Salvini of Italy’s
Northern League and British euroskeptic Nigel Farage.
Russia’s autocratic leader Vladimir
Putin said he wanted to rebuild “full-fledged relations” with the United
States, as he warmly congratulated the president-elect.
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