'With his trademark bravado, narcissism arrogance and sheer chutzpah, Trump seized the crown like a conquering medieval monarch'

TAKING the stage in West Palm Beach, Florida, in the early hours of yesterday morning, Donald Trump gave a victory speech celebrating his return to the White House after the greatest comeback in American political history - even before all the votes had been counted to confirm his election as the 47th President of the United States.

- Peter Sheridan

Displaying the bravado, arrogance, narcissism and sheer chutzpah that have become his trademarks, Trump seized the crown of victory like a conquering medieval monarch on a bloody battlefield. Which, in a way, he is.

"America's future will be bigger, better, bolder, richer, safer and stronger than it has ever been before," he promised the cheering throng with his signature grandiosity.

At the advanced age of 78, Donald J Trump has proved that he is more than a business mogul. More than a politician. He is a phenomenon.

He has defied his critics and opponents, prosecutors and courts, and legions of political pundits and pollsters who swore that the presidential election race against Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris, aged 60, was too close to call.

How wrong could they be?

Trump defied all democratic norms with crude words and illegal acts, two impeachments and 34 felony convictions that would have spelled doom for any other politician, yet were forgiven by Trump's loyal legions determined to Make America Great Again.

Only four years ago, it seemed that his political career was over when he refused to accept that he had lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden - Trump still insists he won - and provoked a bloody insurrection as supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021.

"That would have been disqualifying for any other politician," says a former White House aide. "But Trump bounced back, kept his core MAGA supporters, and slowly won over Republican senators and congressmen until he came to embody the Republican Party. He remade the party in his image."

But Trump, an accomplished former reality TV star who supposedly knows the art of the deal, proved himself a masterful magician as well.