Trump's comeback shakes world as Biden prepares national address

US President Joe Biden was set to address the nation on Thursday after a stinging election defeat for his Democratic Party at the hands of Republican Donald Trump, whose stunning political comeback has reverberated around the world.

Biden’s abrupt exit amid concerns about his mental acuity jolted the presidential race in July and Democrats scrambled to replace him with Vice President Kamala Harris as their candidate. He will speak at 11 am ET (16:00 GMT), the White House said.

Trump’s campaign said Biden had invited him to meet at the White House at an unspecified time. In the weeks ahead, Trump will select personnel to serve under his leadership.

Harris sought on Wednesday to console the voters who had hoped she would become the first woman to win the White House. She, like Biden, has promised to aid Trump’s transition before his inauguration on January 20 but she urged Democrats to continue to fight for what they believe in.

Some Democrats worried that the result of the Tuesday’s presidential election showed that their values – left-leaning, socially liberal – were now firmly a minority among Americans in a divisive campaign. Others were frustrated with the party’s leadership, who they said had lost touch with much of the electorate who wanted help with the rising cost of living.

Trump’s victory, surprisingly decisive after opinion polls that had showed a neck-and-neck contest, underscored how disenchanted Americans had become with the economy – in particular inflation - border security and the direction of the country and its culture.

Hispanics, traditionally Democratic voters, and lower-income households hit hardest by inflation helped fuel the victory. Harris’ campaign pressed the message that Trump was unfit to serve again as president, as a convicted felon and one whose false claims of voting fraud after his 2020 loss to Biden spurred a mob to storm the US Capitol.

The former president will face far fewer limits on his power in his second White House term, as the head of a Republican Party that he has remade in his image over the last eight years.

Republicans wrested control of the US Senate from Democrats in Tuesday’s vote, ensuring Trump will control at least one chamber of Congress next year. Republicans have added to their slim majority in the US House of Representatives, but control of the lower chamber remained unclear with dozens of races not yet called.

Trump prevailed in five of the seven battleground states to push him past the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency and was leading in the remaining two, Arizona and Nevada, where votes were still being tallied.

Trump was also on track to become the first Republican presidential candidate to win the popular vote since George W Bush two decades ago. He lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 but secured enough electoral votes to win the White House.

World stocks gained on Thursday after a record rise for US shares overnight, and US Treasuries remained under pressure as investors processed the impact of a second Trump presidency.

Wall Street executives expected smaller government, broad deregulation as well as tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy, although fresh tariffs could bring challenges in the form of a higher deficit and inflation.

Personnel picks

Among people who may figure in Trump’s leadership, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a prominent Trump donor, has been promised a role in his administration, as has former presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr.

Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson and investor Scott Bessent were seen as possible entrants to his administration, while former Trump officials Robert O’Brien and Mike Pompeo could return to office.

On trade, Trump is expected to revive policies he favored during his first term, notably tariffs that he has called the “most beautiful word.”

That could set him on a collision course with China, which has the world’s second largest economy, sow discord with allies and roil global industries from automakers to chipmakers.

Chinese President Xi Jinping sent Trump a congratulatory message and said he hopes the two powers will coexist peacefully, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was among world leaders congratulating Trump. But Trump has been critical of US assistance for Ukraine in its war with Russia. He has said he could end the war in 24 hours but has not said how.

The White House plans to rush billions of dollars in security assistance to Ukraine before Biden leaves office in January, sources said on Wednesday, hoping to shore up the government in Kyiv before Trump takes over.