WILMINGTON, Delaware: Joe Biden declared victory on Saturday (Nov 7) as the 46th president of the United States after voters narrowly rebuffed Republican incumbent Donald Trump's tumultuous leadership in favour of the former Democratic vice president.
"The people of this nation have spoken. They've delivered us a clear victory, a convincing victory," Biden said in Wilmington, Delaware after he was declared the winner by all major US TV networks after four days of nail-biting suspense following Tuesday's election.
"I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but to unify," he said, then addressed Trump's supporters directly.
Acknowledging the disappointment of Trump supporters, Biden said of them: "They are not our enemies. They are Americans."
"Let this era of demonisation in America begin to end here," Biden said.
"I sought this office to restore the soul of America, to rebuild the backbone of this nation, the middle class, and to make America respected around the world again," Biden said.
"Now, let's give each other a chance. It's time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again," he said. "This is the time to heal in America."
He said his first act as president-elect would be to name scientific advisers and experts to lead the coronavirus response.
"On Monday I will name a group of leading scientists and experts as transition advisers to help take the Biden-Harris plan and convert it into an actual blueprint that will start on Jan 20, 2021," he told supporters.
Democratic 2020 US presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks during his election rally, after news media announced that he has won the 2020 US presidential election, in Wilmington, Delaware, US, Nov 7, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
Barack Obama's vice president paid particular tribute to the African-American community, pointing to its role in selecting him as the Democratic nominee to challenge Trump.
Biden was introduced by his running mate, US Senator Kamala Harris, who will be the first woman, the first black American and the first American of Asian descent to serve as vice president, the country's number two office.
"What a testament it is to Joe's character that he had the audacity to break one of the most substantial barriers that exists in our country, and select a woman as his vice president," Harris said.
Harris said voters had brought a "new day for America" as she opened the victory speech on Saturday.
Harris took the stage in Wilmington, Delaware in a white suit in honour of the women's suffragist movement to the sounds of Mary J Blige.
"When our very democracy was on the ballot in this election, with the very soul of America at stake and the world watching, you ushered in a new day for America," Harris said to cheers from the socially distanced outdoor crowd.
Congratulations poured in from abroad, including from conservative British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, making it hard for Trump to push his repeated claims, without evidence, that the election was rigged against him.
Trump, who was golfing when the major television networks projected his rival had won, immediately accused Biden of "rushing to falsely pose as the winner".
"This election is far from over," he said in a statement.
Trump has filed a raft of lawsuits to challenge the results but elections officials in states across the country say there has been no evidence of significant fraud, and legal experts say Trump's efforts are unlikely to succeed.
LONDON: Joe Biden has promised to put an end to Donald Trump’s isolationist, disruptive approach to global relations.
But a Biden administration bid to restore American leadership will require time and political capital at a time when the superpower’s global role stands in doubt at home and abroad.
While diplomats are not likely to hear the phrase “America First” for a while, Mr Biden will face challenges including countering China, re-entering the nuclear deal with Iran, resetting relations with Europe and dealing with the fallout of Brexit on the relationship with the UK.
One Biden adviser described the president-elect’s foreign policy priorities as “China. China. China. Russia”.
Team Biden will inherit a US foreign policy establishment that views Beijing with far more concern than it did during the Obama era. However it remains unclear what combination of cooperation, competition and confrontation Mr Biden will use to engage with the US’ rising power rival.
While he will probably refuse to endorse a new Cold War that could put America’s leading global role under threat, he will seek to push back on conventions governing technology and investment. He will also maintain a robust US military presence on China’s doorstep.
Hopes for a trade war breakthrough when Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meet this week have helped fuel a rally on global markets AFP/Nicolas ASFOURI
Mr Biden will seek to strengthen co-ordination with partners on investment screening, intelligence sharing and emerging technologies in a bid “to get on the same page with our allies regarding China,” a Biden official said.
He will also try to strengthen regional partnerships with allies given short shrift under the Trump administration, such as South Korea.
Some experts think China will breathe a sigh of relief with Mr Biden at the helm. Many are hoping for less aggressive public rhetoric than during the Trump years, but officials expect little let-up in private pressure by the US.
Some Democrats say Mr Biden underestimates the threat posed by China’s military, economic and diplomatic ambitions. Many officials in other countries insist they don’t see themselves as equidistant between Washington and Beijing — but they are also eager to preserve economic relationships with China and the potential for partnerships in other areas such as climate change.
EUROPE: THE MOST ALTANTICIST US PRESIDENT IN A GENERATION
Keen to rebuild the European alliances that Mr Trump has repeatedly snubbed, Mr Biden is likely to be the most Atlanticist US president in a generation.
He prides himself on his Irish heritage and will move away from Mr Trump’s overt hostility to the EU. Mr Biden will also be a strong backer of the NATO military alliance.
France's President Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, who have both butted heads with US President Donald Trump, watch him walk past as they pose for a photo at a NATO summit in Watford, England in December 2019 AFP/CHRISTIAN HARTMANN
The president-elect is opposed to Brexit, though has accepted it as a fait accompli. However he will find it easier to work with the UK if it can avoid a no-deal divorce from Europe that respects Irish border agreements.
Mr Biden has also promised to harden the US line on Russia and “impose real costs” on the country for violations of international norms.
His support for a strong NATO is explicitly aimed at countering Russian aggression, and he has vowed to stand with Russian civil society against what he calls president Vladimir Putin’s “kleptocratic authoritarian system”.
However he will have to quickly open negotiations with Moscow to extend the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty before it expires on Feb 5, 2021.
While many European officials accepted that Trump was a blunt messenger for structural change — including more defence spending from NATO allies and a withdrawal of US troops from Germany, they still see the US military might that underpins NATO as essential to Europe’s security.
They would also like Washington to engage more in dealing with regional crises from Belarus to the Eastern Mediterranean.
Europe can expect 18 months of happy hand-holding events that put the postwar alliance system back at the heart of US relations with the rest of the world, starting with efforts to lead a global response to coronavirus.
US President Donald Trump's manner with Russian leader Vladimir Putin was in contrast to the anger he flashed at NATO allies last week AFP/Brendan Smialowski
MIDDLE EAST: REJOINING THE IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL AND RESETTING RELATIONS WITH SAUDI ARABIA
The US president-elect has promised to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal Mr Trump withdrew from, if Tehran comes back into compliance with the multilateral accord designed to curb its atomic ambitions. He has also vowed to reset relations with Saudi Arabia which he has called a “pariah” state.
But like Donald Trump, Mr Biden wants to end America’s forever wars and plans a shift in US loyalties in the Middle East.
The Democrat will not move the US embassy from Jerusalem, where Mr Trump relocated it from Tel Aviv in 2018. He has no plans to push for a two-state solution. Mr Biden’s top advisers have also made clear his foreign policy priorities lie elsewhere.
But the crunch could come over China, Brexit and trade.
However, Iran wants compensation for its treatment at the hands of the Trump administration and all sanctions lifted as the price for its return to the nuclear deal. At present, it is still developing its missile programme.
Saudi Arabia meanwhile is concerned a Biden administration could halt arms sales and impose a renewed chill on relations.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during family photo session with other leaders and attendees at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 28, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
The UAE would like to see the US take a harder line against Turkey, and, if Mr Biden agrees to re-enter the Iran deal, to ensure Iran’s missile programme and support for militias in the region are also addressed. It also wants a seat at the negotiating table with regional powers on any Iran discussions.
There is likely to be a timing crunch because of Iran’s presidential elections in June, which could hand power to hardliners who would be more difficult to negotiate with.
A new Biden administration will have to work fast to agree a new approach to Iran with the accord’s European signatories — the UK, France and Germany.
GLOBAL TRADE: LOWER TENSIONS, WITH MAJOR ISSUES TO BE RESOLVED
Mr Biden has some of the same protectionist tendencies as Mr Trump. He proposes making federal agencies procure only US services and goods, and has floated a tax to penalise US companies for moving jobs and manufacturing overseas.
Like Mr Trump, he has argued that the World Trade Organization needs to be reformed and better able to deal with non-market economies like China.
However, although Mr Biden has signalled he will continue to be tough on China on the trade front, he is unlikely to replicate the confrontational tariff regime fostered by Mr Trump. But the extent to which he will remove or lower tariffs — or apply further tariffs — is unclear.
In line with his broader foreign policy, Mr Biden wants to lower trade tensions with regions including Europe. But this means resolving some major disagreements, including the decades-long row over airline subsidies and the debate over how to fairly tax big tech companies.
The immediate hope for foreign democracies will be that a Biden administration will join with the consensus of other member states in backing Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the new director-general of the World Trade Organization. The current administration is blocking the appointment of a new leader.
Europe and the UK are also seeking progress in talks about aircraft subsidies and the end of related US tariffs on European goods including cheese, wine and olives.
The US has proposed tariffs on a range of European products, including cheeses, over EU subsidies for commercial aircraft. (Photo: AFP/Koen van Weel)
Those same countries will also aim to sort their disagreement with Washington over digital taxation, and will work to have tariffs on European steel and aluminium lifted.
The UK, which is leaving the EU single market in January, will try to close a trade deal with the US once Biden takes office, but the Biden campaign has said this will not be at the top of the new president’s priorities.
Substantial issues remain with Europe. Trade tensions with Beijing, too, are likely to continue. Experts expect trade wars to continue — but ones that will be waged in back rooms and not over Twitter.
CLIMATE POLICY: GREATER PRESSURE EVEN IF US REJOINS PARIS AGREEMENT
Mr Biden has pledged to rejoin the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which the US withdrew from on Wednesday.
He plans to integrate climate change targets across every aspect of US foreign policy, national security and trade. He has set a target of net-zero emissions by 2050 for the US and has vowed to entirely rely on and even export clean energy.
He has also said he would lead a global effort to ensure every significant carbon-emitting country raises its own ambitions for domestic climate targets, with transparent, enforceable goals — with China particularly in mind.
Countries need the US to come back into the international coalition to fight climate change. The UK, which is hosting COP26 in November 2021, hopes to use the UN climate summit to reduce tension over Brexit between Mr Biden and prime minister Boris Johnson.
China and Japan both recently laid out hefty new targets for themselves to go carbon neutral by 2060 and, in Tokyo’s case, by 2050.
That puts the pressure on Mr Biden to improve America’s goals and to find a bright spot in US-China relations even as Mr Biden will seek to reclaim the leadership mantle in global climate diplomacy.
STERLING, United States: US president Donald Trump, who has refused to concede defeat in a bitterly-contested election called in Democrat Joe Biden's favour, has remained defiant hours after US networks announced Biden's win.
"I won the election ... bad things happened," he erupted in a lengthy all-caps tweet after returning to the White house on Saturday (Nov 7) afternoon after a session of golf, the first time he had left the White House since Election Day.
The claim was once again flagged by Twitter for containing disputed information.
In a statement issued earlier from the golf course, he also claimed that Biden and the media - which Trump has spent his presidency casting as an "enemy of the people" - were inventing the results.
"We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don't want the truth to be exposed," Trump said.
"The simple fact is this election is far from over."
The president left the White House on Saturday morning as the last crucial vote counts were about to come in from Pennsylvania and a few other battleground states.
Already trailing Democrat Joe Biden in the all-important, state-by-state Electoral College vote tally - the handwriting on the wall was becoming impossible to ignore.
So Trump, who is known for regularly hitting the links, headed across the Potomac River to the Trump National Golf Course in Sterling, Virginia.
Trump was there when the major US television networks - first CNN then NBC, CBS, ABC and finally Fox - declared that new results from Pennsylvania had pushed Biden over the top - and into the White House, come January.
He seemed determined to project a sense of serene unflappability when he finished his round in the afternoon.
President Donald Trump returns to the White House after a round of golf in Sterling, Virginia on November 7, 2020 -- the day US TV networks declared him the loser in the presidential elections AFP/ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS
Seeing a wedding couple posing for photos outside the clubhouse, the president offered to join them, videos posted on social media show.
Wearing dark gray slacks, a gray jacket and a white "Make America Great Again" basehall hat, he engaged in what seemed to be lighthearted banter.
As he stepped away, several people shouted after him: "We love you! We love you!"
Afterward, as thousands of exultant Biden supporters celebrated raucously in front of the White House and elsewhere in the US capital, the Trump motorcade made its way back to the White House.
The president had nothing else on his schedule for Saturday.
WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) - President Donald Trump’s aides described a leadership vacuum in the White House on Saturday (Nov 7) after he lost re-election and internal finger-pointing began, even as his associates wondered how he would grapple with defeat.
The race was called while Trump was at his golf course in northern Virginia. Many of his exhausted aides had headed home for the weekend, to rest and to escape the latest coronavirus outbreak sweeping the West Wing.
There was no all-hands staff meeting or memo on how officials should react. It was a marked contrast from the scene four years ago, when, after Trump won election, President Barack Obama gathered his own despondent staff in the Oval Office for a pep talk.
The void has left staffers unsure what’s next. Trump’s advisers are split on how far to take various legal fights, delaying consideration of strategy both politically and in the courts. And the campaign has offered little additional clarity to surrogates, even as they gird them to contest an election that appears beyond the president’s reach.
Hands Out
Most of the people interviewed for this story asked not to be identified discussing internal conversations.
Dan Eberhart, a donor who gave the president at least US$100,000 (S$130,000) towards his re-election effort, said the mood among Republicans is one of “despair.“
The Trump campaign held a call with donors on Saturday morning and asked for contributions to fund the president’s post-election legal fights. Eberhart said that he couldn’t immediately remember a time when fund-raising, in particular, was the subject of a surrogate call.
“The message was just, they will keep fighting,“ Eberhart said.
One close outside adviser to the president said Trump had erred by not simplifying his legal argument: request recounts, as well as review and adjudication of any irregularities or allegations of criminal behaviour. That would have put the onus on Democrats to defend any opposition to recounts and ballot-count observers, the adviser said.
Instead, the president’s effort to contest the election outcome is haphazard and appears unlikely to change the final results.
No Concrete Examples
Minutes after networks called the race for Biden, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani appeared outside a Philadelphia landscaping company, nestled between a crematorium and an adult film store, to declare that the president wouldn’t concede. He and a Trump adviser, Corey Lewandowksi, insisted the Pennsylvania election had been riddled with irregularities, if not outright fraud, but provided no concrete examples.
Rudy Giuliani speaks in Philadelphia after the media said Biden had won the US election. PHOTO: AFP
In Nevada earlier in the week, two Trump allies – former acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell and American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp – refused during an impromptu news conference to tell local reporters their names, much less field questions about their claims of voter fraud in the state.
And in Wisconsin, the state has requested US$3 million from Trump’s campaign to pay for a recount – a sizable financial commitment for an organisation that’s using some of the donations to its legal effort to pay off unspecified debts.
Another person close to the president predicted that the blame game will soon begin in earnest.
Pointing at Meadows
Some finger-pointing will undoubtedly be reserved for Trump’s fourth chief of staff, Mark Meadows. He regularly downplayed dire warnings from members of the president’s coronavirus task force, instead encouraging the president to push the nation to reopen – despite polls showing deep voter concern over the pandemic.
Meadows was absent from the West Wing on Saturday, having been diagnosed himself this week with coronavirus. At least four other White House aides and one campaign staffer also tested positive in the second major White House-linked outbreak in less than a month.
The infections sent a new ripple of anxiety through Trump’s world, with public videos emerging of Meadows, maskless, interacting with nearly every major campaign and White House official in the days before his diagnosis.
Among those potentially exposed was presidential son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, who’s fruitlessly attempted to salvage a campaign he largely dictated – particularly after the president demoted campaign manager Brad Parscale and replaced him with former White House political aide Bill Stepien in July.
‘Like a Gladiator’
People around the president believe Trump will concede defeat in some form, at some point.
THE OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED INTO THE COUNTING ROOMS. I WON THE ELECTION, GOT 71,000,000 LEGAL VOTES. BAD THINGS HAPPENED WHICH OUR OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE. NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS WERE SENT TO PEOPLE WHO NEVER ASKED FOR THEM!
Mick Mulvaney, the president’s former acting chief of staff, said he expected Trump to “fight like a gladiator until the election is conclusively determined,” but to ultimately respect the results.
“The US needs to know that the winner is actually the winner,” Mulvaney wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. “And once Americans know that, I have every expectation that Mr. Trump will be, act and speak like a great president should – win or lose.”
Others said that what the president most desires to avoid is the perception of failure. In a national address Thursday night, Trump touted his party’s Senate victories and gains in the House, his success adding non-white voters to his column since 2016, and the record-setting number of female Republican candidates elected to office on Tuesday – an effort to burnish his political standing even in defeat.
And at least one ally predicted Trump might declare that he will run again in 2024 even before his term concludes in January.
“Let Biden have it,” the person said. “We’ll take it back in four years.”
WASHINGTON: Political leaders from around the world were quick to congratulate Joe Biden after US networks declared him the winner of the bitter White House race over President Donald Trump.
As crowds poured onto the streets of Washington and other cities in exuberant celebration and former US president Barack Obama hailed Biden's win as "decisive" and "historic", here are some of the first reactions from political figures across the globe:
IRELAND
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin was one of the first to take to Twitter and hail the Irish-American Joe Biden as "president-elect".
"I want to congratulate the new President Elect of the USA @JoeBiden," the Irish leader tweeted.
"Joe Biden has been a true friend of this nation throughout his life and I look forward to working with him in the years ahead. I also look forward to welcoming him back home when the circumstances allow!" Martin added.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was also quick off the mark.
"I look forward to working with President-elect Biden, Vice President-elect (Kamala) Harris, their administration, and the United States Congress as we tackle the world's greatest challenges together," Trudeau said in a statement.
BRITAIN
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson congratulated Biden "on his election as President of the United States and Kamala Harris on her historic achievement".
"The US is our most important ally and I look forward to working closely together on our shared priorities, from climate change to trade and security."
FRANCE
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: "The Americans have chosen their President. Congratulations @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris! We have a lot to do to overcome today's challenges. Let's work together!"
“Welcome back America !” tweeted the mayor of Paris. Referencing the Paris climate accord that Trump pulled out of, Anne Hidalgo called Biden's victory “a beautiful symbol to act more than ever together against the climate emergency".
German Chancellor Angela Merkel congratulated Biden, saying Germany's trans-atlantic ties with the US were "irreplaceable".
And her Foreign Minister Heiko Maas hailed Biden's election as a "new start" for trans-atlantic relations.
"We want to invest in our cooperation (with the new president) for a new start in transatlantic relations, a 'new deal'," he tweeted, as Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz hailed the opening of a "new chapter".
EUROPEAN UNION
In a joint statement, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, president of the European Council, which represents the leaders of EU member states, said: "We take note of the latest development in the electoral process.
"On this basis the EU congratulates President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on reaching enough Electoral Votes."
Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis tweeted: "Congratulations to US President-Elect @JoeBiden. Joe Biden has been a true friend of Greece and I'm certain that under his presidency the relationship between our countries will grow even stronger."
BELGIUM
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo tweeted: "Congratulations @JoeBiden with your election as 46th President of the United States. A record number of people have cast their vote in this election. This illustrates the vibrancy of the American political life and its democracy."
SPAIN
"The American people have chosen the 46th President of the United States. Congratulations @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris. We wish you good luck and all the best. We are looking forward to cooperating with you to tackle the challenges ahead of us," said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
INDIA
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated Biden and Harris on the victory.
"As the VP, your contribution to strengthening Indo-US relations was critical and invaluable. I look forward to working closely together once again to take India-US relations to greater heights," he said on Twitter.
To Harris, who is the first woman with Indian heritage to be elected as vice president of the United States, he congratulated her "pathbreaking" success, calling it a matter of immense pride for all Indian-Americans.
ITALY
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte tweeted: "Congratulations to the American people and institutions for an outstanding turnout of democratic vitality. We are ready to work with the President-elect @JoeBiden to make the transatlantic relationship stronger. The US can count on Italy as a solid Ally and a strategic partner."
NATO
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg described Biden as a "strong supporter of our Alliance".
Stoltenberg, who often had to adapt to President Donald Trump making unexpected announcements about US troop drawdowns from NATO deployments, said in a tweet he looked forward to working with Biden.
"A strong NATO is good for both North America and Europe," he said.
IRAQ
"Joe Biden (is) a friend and trusted partner in the cause of building a better Iraq. We look forward to working to achieve our common goals and strengthening peace and stability in the entire Middle East," Iraq's president Barham Salih tweeted on Saturday.
WASHINGTON: Democrat Joe Biden captured the US presidency on Saturday (Nov 7) as voters narrowly rebuffed Republican incumbent Donald Trump's tumultuous leadership and embraced Biden's promise to fight the coronavirus pandemic and fix the economy in a divided nation.
Winning the battleground state of Pennsylvania's 20 Electoral College votes gave the former vice president more than the 270 he needed to triumph, prompting all major TV networks to declare him victor came after four days of nail-biting suspense following Tuesday's election.
"I am honoured and humbled by the trust the American people have placed in me and in Vice President-elect (Kamala) Harris. In the face of unprecedented obstacles, a record number of Americans voted," Biden said on Twitter.
"With the campaign over, it's time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation. It's time for America to unite. And to heal."
Trump, who has made repeated claims of electoral fraud without providing proof, immediately accused Biden of "rushing to falsely pose as the winner".
"This election is far from over," he said in a statement.
State elections officials across the country say there has been no evidence of significant fraud.
Following the capture of Pennsylvania, US media projected that Biden also won the contested state of Nevada, adding six votes to his Electoral College victory.
Trump had made a strong play in Nevada, holding several rallies there in the final stretch of the campaign. Democrat Hillary Clinton narrowly won Nevada in 2016, and Republicans saw an opening to expand their electoral map.
The pandemic has pummelled Nevada’s tourism-dependent economy, especially, hampering Trump’s ability to make inroads in the state.
Nevada is also home to a large Hispanic population, a voting bloc that typically leans Democratic.
The last Republican presidential candidate to win Nevada was George W Bush in 2004.
As the news broke, loud cheers erupted in the halls of the hotel where Biden aides were staying and around the country.
"Worth every minute" of the wait, a Biden aide said, as campaign staff exchanged elbow bumps and air hugs in the lobby.
Cheers and applause was heard in neighbourhoods in Washington, DC. In one community, people emerged onto balconies, yelling, waving and banging pots. The wave of noise built as more people learned of the news. Some were in tears. Music began to play, "We are the Champions" blared.
In the Brooklyn neighbourhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, people clapped, honked car horns and erupted in screams of joy as the news spread of Biden's victory. Some residents danced on a building's fire escape, cheering while others screamed "yes!" as they passed by.
Supporters of President-elect Joe Biden wave signs at the entrance to Trump National golf club as a truck flying Trump flags passes by in Sterling, Saturday Nov 7, 2020. Trupm was at the facility. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
In a reminder of the divided state of the country, however, about 200 Trump supporters gathered near the state capitol building in Lansing, Michigan, to demand a recount.
The networks' declaration that Biden had won came amid internal concerns within Trump's team about the strategy going forward and pressure on him to pick a more professional legal team to outline where they believe voter fraud took place and show evidence pointing toward it.
One Trump loyalist said Trump simply was not ready to admit defeat even though there would not be enough ballots thrown out in a recount to change the outcome. "There's a mathematical certainty that he's going to lose," the loyalist said.
When Biden enters the White House on Jan 20, the oldest person to assume the office at age 78, he likely will face a difficult task governing in a deeply polarised Washington, underscored by a record nationwide voter turnout in a fight to the finish.
Both sides characterised the 2020 election as one of the most crucial in US history, as important as votes during the 1860s Civil War and the 1930s Great Depression.
For months, officials on both sides raised the spectre of the United States not being able to pull off a fair vote. In the end, however, voting at the polls proceeded with limited disruption as millions lined up patiently to vote. Thousands of election monitors from both parties worked for four days to ensure the votes were being counted.
Biden's victory was driven by strong support from groups including women, African Americans, white voters with college degrees and city-dwellers. He was more than 4 million votes ahead of Trump in the nationwide popular vote count.
Biden, who has spent half a century in public life as a US senator and then vice president under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, will inherit a nation in turmoil over the coronavirus pandemic and the related economic slowdown as well as disruptive protests against racism and police brutality.
Biden has said his first priority will be developing a plan to contain and recover from the pandemic, promising to improve access to testing and, unlike Trump, to heed the advice of leading public health officials and scientists.
Biden also has pledged to restore a sense of normalcy to the White House after a presidency in which Trump praised authoritarian foreign leaders, disdained longstanding global alliances, refused to disavow white supremacists and cast doubt on the legitimacy of the US election system.
Despite his victory, Biden will have failed to deliver the sweeping repudiation to Trump that Democrats had hoped for, reflecting the deep support the president enjoys despite his tumultuous four years in office.
This could complicate Biden's campaign promises to reverse key parts of Trump's legacy. These include deep Trump tax cuts that especially benefited corporations and the wealthy, hardline immigration policies, efforts to dismantle the 2010 Obamacare healthcare law and Trump's abandonment of such international agreements as the Paris climate accord and Iran nuclear deal.
Should Republicans keep control of the US Senate, they would likely block large parts of his legislative agenda, including expanding healthcare and fighting climate change. That prospect could depend on the outcome of four undecided Senate races, including two in Georgia.
Biden, set to become the 46th US president, mounted unsuccessful bids for the presidency in 1988 and 2008. His running mate, US Senator Kamala Harris, will become the first woman, the first black American and the first American of Asian descent to serve as vice president, the country's No 2 office.
"TRYING TO STEAL AN ELECTION"
For Trump, it was an unsettling end after an astonishing political rise. The real estate developer who established a nationwide brand as a reality TV personality upset Democrat Hillary Clinton to win the presidency in 2016 in his first run for elected office. Four years later, he becomes the first US president to lose a re-election bid since Republican George HW Bush in 1992.
Despite his draconian immigration curbs, Trump made surprising inroads with Latino voters. He also won battleground states such as Florida, where his pledge to prioritise the economy even if it increased the threat of the coronavirus appeared to have resonated.
In the end, though, Trump failed to significantly widen his appeal beyond a committed core of rural and working-class white voters who embraced his right-wing populism and "America First" nationalism.
Prior to the election, Trump had refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he lost to Biden - and he stuck to that approach. He falsely declared victory long before counting was complete.
Before Biden's victory projection and with Trump's re-election chances fading as more votes were counted, the president launched an extraordinary assault on the country's democratic process from the White House on Thursday, falsely claiming the election was being stolen from him.
Offering no evidence, Trump assailed election workers and alleged fraud in the states where results from a dwindling set of uncounted votes pushed Biden nearer to victory.
"This is a case where they're trying to steal an election," Trump said on Thursday.
Urging patience as votes were counted, Biden responded on Twitter: "No one is going to take our democracy away from us. Not now, not ever."
WASHINGTON - Democratic candidate Joe Biden has been elected as the next President of the United States, according to calls from US media outlets on Saturday (Nov 7).
California senator Kamala Harris will be the next Vice-President, making history as the first Black woman and the first person of South Asian descent to hold the nation’s second-highest office.
“I am honoured and humbled by the trust the American people have placed in me and in Vice-President-elect Harris,” Mr Biden, who served as senator for Delaware from 1973 to 2009 and as vice-president from 2009 to 2016 under president Barack Obama, said in a statement on Saturday.
“In the face of unprecedented obstacles, a record number of Americans voted. Proving once again, that democracy beats deep in the heart of America,” he said.
The Associated Press, CNN, MSNBC and other networks made the call just before 11.30am Eastern Standard Time on Saturday morning, after Mr Biden’s lead in Pennsylvania grew to 30,000.
The former vice-president’s victory in Pennsylvania closes off incumbent President Donald Trump’s path to victory. Mr Trump currently has 214 electoral votes and cannot win the election without the 20 votes from Pennsylvania. His loss makes him the first incumbent President not to win reelection since Republican president George H.W. Bush’s defeat in 1992.
The win in Pennsylvania came on the fourth morning after Election Day. Mr Trump initially had the lead in Pennsylvania, Georgia and other states where counting was still ongoing, but that lead narrowed then vanished as mail-in ballots and votes from urban centres, which heavily favored Mr Biden, were counted.
Mr Biden, who will be America’s 46th president, will also be its oldest when he is sworn in in January. He turns 78 in two weeks and had made two unsuccessful runs for the presidency previously.
The Trump campaign has mounted a campaign of lawsuits to stop or challenge the counts in battleground states, which the Biden campaign has criticised as meritless and distracting.
But the election, which came amid a pandemic that has killed nearly 240,000 Americans so far and after a summer of racial justice protests, revealed a deeply divided America.
People react as the media announces Biden's win outside the State Capitol building, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. PHOTO: REUTERS
Mr Biden has also won the popular vote, netting a record of 74.8 million votes in total and counting - more than 4.3 million votes more than Mr Trump, whose tally stands at 70.6 million so far.
Mr Biden’s victory was made possible by his rebuilding of the “blue wall” as he flipped states in the upper Midwest which Mr Trump had himself in 2016: Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
He is also ahead in Georgia, where he would be the first Democrat to win the state since 1992, and in Arizona, which no Democrat has won since 1996.
The election saw Democrats win control of the House but with a smaller majority. Control of the Senate is still up in the air and may come down to run-off races in January in the state of Georgia.
Should the Democrats fail to retake the Senate, Mr Biden will enter the White House without control of both branches of Congress, likely limiting the sweeping reforms the party had hoped he could achieve.
Mr Biden, who ran during a particularly rancorous election on a message of uniting a fractured and divided America, called for Americans to come together and start the process of healing.
America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country.
The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not.
“With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation,” he said on Saturday.
He added on Twitter: The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not.”
Biden supporters celebrate near the site of his planned election victory celebration in Wilmington, Delaware. PHOTO: REUTERS
Ms Harris echoed him on Twitter, writing: “This election is about so much more than Joe Biden or me. It’s about the soul of America and our willingness to fight for it. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Let’s get started.”
