RECURRING NIGHTMARE

Fears over future of US under Trump | Dithering Biden blamed for shock loss

- CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN

AFTER a campaign littered with dangerous rhetoric that demonised immigrants and warnings of revenge on those he felt had wronged him, Donald Trump is now free to impose his will on the American people.

His political comeback to beat Kamala Harris means the 78-year-old becomes the 47th US President in January, leaving Democrats wondering how they allowed a divisive, macho figure with dubious views who sparked a riot after his 2020 defeat to become the first convicted felon to enter the White House.

Trump, who ran to avoid possible jail time, has vowed to swiftly enact a radical agenda that would transform nearly every aspect of the American government.

That includes plans to launch the largest deportation effort in the nation's history, to use the Justice Department to punish his enemies, to expand costly tariffs, and to reignite a foreign policy that could pull the US out of Nato.

Trump has praised dictators such as Vladimir Putin, threatened to axe military aid for Ukraine in their fight against Russia, warned he would deploy the military to target political opponents, and threatened to take action against the media over unfavourable coverage.

And there will be far fewer checks on him than last time he was in office.

His Republican critics in Congress have been mainly defeated or retired. Federal courts are now filled with judges he appointed.

But despite all that - or maybe because of it - among a large number of Americans, he soared to victory yesterday in the US election.

Trump is the first former President to return to power since Grover Cleveland regained the White House in the 1892 election.

As world leaders scrambled to congratulate Trump on his historic win last night, the blame game for defeat among Democrats licking their wounds began in earnest.