World

Wednesday

Matthew Parris Matthew Parris

Can we trust the people? After Trump, I’m no longer sure

This piece is from the new issue of The Spectator, out tomorrow. This week's cover: Planet Trump, with @Freddygray31, Rod Liddle, @MatthewParris3, @DouglasKMurray, @anneapplebaum and many more pic.twitter.com/jXXxHkjuOA — The Spectator (@spectator) November 9, 2016 The election of Donald Trump as president of the United States may have signalled the death of the closest thing we have to a religion in politics. On both sides of the Atlantic, democracy risks being knocked from the high altar as an unmitigated and unquestioned good. The man’s obviously a fool and a nasty fool too. The contest should have been a walkover for Hillary Clinton. But it wasn’t. What happened? Can we be

Paul Wood

Donald Trump proved most people wrong

Washington D.C. So, Trump was right, and everyone else was wrong. Most of all the pollsters – my advice to them: McDonalds and Starbucks are hiring, $9.00 an hour; that might be your best option for a while. A period of humility might be required from a few pundits and journalists, too. No one, it seemed, understood what kind of country America has become. Hillary Clinton had been measuring the drapes for the White House. In the final days of the race, her staff privately predicted she would get 315 votes in the electoral college. ‘We’d like 340,’ a member of her staff said smugly. David Plouffe – President Obama’s

Melanie McDonagh Melanie McDonagh

Cheer up! Donald Trump’s victory isn’t all doom and gloom

Well, it’s just like Brexit, isn’t it? The appalled tone of the BBC six o’clock news, my daughter’s refusal – she’s nine – even to get out of bed, my nice colleagues declaring that they cried, simply cried, at the result. It was everyone’s opening gambit: Can you believe it? Yes, personally, I could. After the last election, after Brexit, I wasn’t surprised that the pollsters called it wrong and I’m looking forward to hearing them wriggle out of this one, like they tried to last time. This time, unlike Brexit, there was the feeling that any woman who was indifferent to Hillary Clinton becoming leader of the free world was letting

Helen Nugent

Trump win, Tesco Bank, RBS and payday loans

There’s really only one story this morning – and the markets agree. After Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton to become the next President of the US, global markets are in chaos, the dollar has plummeted and, as widely predicted in the event of a Trump win, gold prices have soared. UK stocks mirrored their US counterparts and the FTSE 100 index was down about 0.5 per cent to 6,812 in the first hour of opening. Other major European stock markets are also lower. However, according to the BBC, neither markets nor currencies have swung as wildly as they did after June’s Brexit vote. The pound has strengthened against the dollar, rising 0.3 per cent

The Spectator

Hillary Clinton concedes to Donald Trump – ‘he must be given a chance to lead’

Donald Trump has been elected president of the United States. Hillary Clinton conceded defeat, telling supporters that Trump must be given a ‘chance to lead’ Barack Obama urged Americans to remember that ‘ultimately we are all on the same team’ Theresa May congratulated Donald Trump and said she looked forward to working with him. Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country was willing to ‘do everything to return Russian and American relations to a stable path of development’. A different tone was struck by German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who reminded Trump of the country’s shared values of ‘democracy, freedom and respect for the law’. Chinese President Xi Jinping said he placed ‘great importance

Tuesday

Jonathan Owen

Will millennials forgive Hillary Clinton for Bernie Sanders’ defeat?

In recent rallies for Hillary Clinton, Jay-Z, Beyonce and Lady Gaga have all lent their celebrity clout to the embattled Secretary of State. As a candidate somewhat lacking in the charisma of her predecessor Barack Obama, she needs all the help she can get. She hasn’t just courted female and minority voters; she has focused on offering a message empowerment to millennials, who feel left out of an American economy they believe only caters to the top 1 per cent.  Clinton understood that reaching more young voters would be a key to her victory. This younger subset is comprised of people born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s, but neither candidate has

Steerpike Steerpike

Caption contest: Who’s ‘X’?

Spare a thought for Donald Trump. For weeks now, the Republican candidate has been suggesting the US voting system is rigged. Now it seems his trust issues have spread to those closest to him. In a photo from Trump’s visit to the polling station today, the presidential hopeful appears to be taking a peek at his wife Melania’s ballot slip. Given that Melania has been accused of plagiarising Michelle Obama’s speeches in the course of the campaign, could Trump be worried she is a secret Democrat? Mr S welcomes your caption suggestions — the winner will be revealed on Thursday. Update: The winner is ‘DaHitman’ with the caption ‘Who’s “X”?’

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Why do the polls make anyone confident that Donald Trump will lose?

Today’s reports about the confident noises coming from Hillary Clinton’s camp made me think about the reports I picked up about how confident David Cameron was about the EU referendum on voting day. We later found out, his pollster Andrew Cooper had research from his firm, Populus, predicting a ten-point victory. The MPs I spoke to, who had been out campaigning in the field, seemed to agree: after all this fuss, Brexit would all blow over. By lunchtime on polling day, the bookmakers put the odds of Leave at 15pc; they would later sink to 7pc. The noises that I picked up – that noises pretty much everyone in my trade

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Has Hillary Clinton already got it in the bag?

Washington, DC Unless something crazy is happening — and of course, 2016 is the year of crazy — Hillary Clinton is going to win tonight. ‘Hillary’s got this,’ I heard a former White House staffer say this morning, with breezy confidence. ‘We had a fright last week, but it’s better now.’ That is the shared view of experts and the pollsters here in Washington DC and abroad. From Washington, Freddy Gray and Marcus Roberts discuss whether Clinton has it in the bag The level of early voting, the huge surge in Hispanic turnout, and a late uptick in black voters all seem like good news for the Democrats. In nearby

Steerpike Steerpike

George Osborne turns his attention to the special relationship

Although George Osborne is now a backbencher, the former Chancellor still harbours leadership ambitions. On that note, it’s not gone unnoticed that since his sacking, Osborne has been doing his bit to keep close ties with America — joining Tina Brown for a Manhattan soiree to show that — despite the Leave vote — there was still hope for Britain and the US. Now he’s back again. Steerpike has been passed a photo of Osborne strolling in San Francisco. When asked what he was doing across the pond, he said he was there for the election. Given that Osborne has pledged his support for Hillary Clinton — suggesting Trump was ‘odd’

Harry Wallop

The change to Toblerone bars is an act of desecration

When the history of capitalism is written, November 8 2016 will deserve a footnote. No, not the date the 45th president of the United States was elected, but the day Mondelez, the giant US confectionery company, changed the shape of the Toblerone bar. This may sound hyperbolic. But the altering of Toblerone’s distinctive silhouette is the latest act of vandalism perpetrated by Mondelez on its stable of chocolate bars, and symptomatic of a wider malaise within some of the great consumer companies operating within Britain, many of which seem hell-bent on destroying the very foundations of what made them such enviable profit-making machines in the first place. First, Toblerone. It

Steerpike Steerpike

Jeremy Corbyn’s brother gets behind Tommy Robinson and Donald Trump

With the US presidential result now less than 24 hours away, tensions are high both across the pond and in the UK. So, perhaps that’s why Jeremy Corbyn’s brother Piers has stepped his campaign against Hillary Clinton up a notch this morning. Although Piers has previously insisted he is not endorsing Donald Trump despite his condemnation of Clinton, his Twitter feed this morning suggests otherwise. In one entry, Corbyn has retweeted none other than Tommy Robinson — the former English Defence League leader and former BNP member: Alas Mr S suspects Pier’s brother won’t be so impressed at his antics — with Jezza previously not taking Robinson up on an offer to

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

‘Vote for the one you dislike least’: What the US papers are saying on election day

Americans will finally head to the polls today after one of the most fractious Presidential contests in the country’s history. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have been criss-crossing the US overnight in a final dash for votes. But how has their last-ditch campaigning gone down with the American press? Here’s what the US newspapers are saying about the election: Hillary Clinton stuck with her message of sunny optimism while Donald Trump opted for a dose of darkness on the final leg of their campaigns, the New York Times said. But the paper said that while the candidates were largely trying to repeat the messages they’ve parroted all along, Trump sounded uncharacteristically

Rob Crilly

Trump vs Clinton: What to watch out for on election night

The most divisive American election in living memory is almost over. By the end of the day an estimated 130 million people will have cast their ballots and we will be well on the way to knowing which candidate has done enough to win the necessary 270 electoral college votes. Here are the key things to watch today and through the night: Polling conduct – the first test will be whether or not voting is trouble free. It might be tempting to assume American democracy is the sort of well-developed exercise that has banished fraud. Not so. Democrats have complained of intimidation during early polling, both sides have filed complaints

Mathieu Vaillancourt

Would Donald Trump build a wall along the Canadian border?

We’ve heard a lot about what a Trump victory tomorrow night means for Mexico, little of which seems good. He’s accused Mexicans of bringing ‘drugs, crime and rapists’ to the US, and the less said about his famous wall, the better. Yet for all the fighting talk aimed at Mexico, it’s not so clear what President Trump would do about America’s neighbours to the north. With Trump and Clinton now almost neck-and-neck in the polls, many Canadians are waking up to the thought of a Trump win. And people in Canada are starting to think – and panic – about how the Donald’s presidency would shape relations. It’s fair to

Ed West Ed West

Liberal ideology created Donald Trump

Dear Democrat voters, You are probably the most influential and powerful segment of the human race today. In terms of cultural reach, you are supreme; politically you are masters of the universe; you have the ability to shape our world for good or evil, and for most of the past century you and your forebears have done a pretty good job of it. I’m addressing this to Democrats in particular because in the US, as in Britain, liberalism is the prestige faith; the ratio of Democrats to Republicans in American academia is now five to one, and up to forty to one in some social sciences. Eight of the ten richest

Monday

Nick Hilton Nick Hilton

Will the immigrant vote risk everything to take on Donald Trump?

Since 1996, federal law has prevented non-citizen US residents, like myself, from voting in elections. We pay taxes, hold down jobs and own property, but don’t get a say in the leadership of the nation. This isn’t uncommon: in the UK, only Irish and Commonwealth citizens get to vote in the general election, on top of those already qualifying as British. But in the US, the discourse is polarised between citizens and illegal immigrants, with little discussion spared for the people caught somewhere in the middle. And with just a day left in the race, President Obama has created another small furore – in certain circles – with his ambiguous

Alex Massie Alex Massie

America, what has become of you?

And so, at long, long last, the end approaches. In fact, as millions of Americans have voted before election day, the end has begun already. Thank heavens for that. Like Paradise Lost, no-one ever wished this election longer. It has been a gruelling time, in which patience has been of the essence. For months, members of the reality-based community – in the United States and across the world – have waited and waited and waited for Donald Trump’s campaign to fizzle into deserved nothingness. That patience has been tested time and time again; with luck and the good conscience of America it will finally be rewarded tomorrow. But to think it came

Rob Crilly

Donald Trump has trashed his brand. Will it pay off?

The finger pointers began coming to Trump Tower in 2004. Donald Trump was making the transition from property mogul to TV celebrity in The Apprentice, and fans would head to his iconic skyscraper on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue. There they would point an index finger at the 58-storey tower (where the top floor is labelled 68) and shout his catchphrase, ‘You’re fired.’ Fast forward twelve years to America’s most polarising and bitter election and the pointers are still coming. It’s just that the proffered finger is no longer the index and the sentiment is rather less good-natured. Stand on the pavement outside the golden entrance to 725 Fifth Avenue – where protesters and supporters

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Ten handy phrases for bluffing your way through US election night

What can you say about Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton that hasn’t been said a million times? The 2016 election has been more discussed than perhaps any other, and people are disturbingly well-informed, so bluffers might regard Tuesday night with apprehension. Never fear, though, America is still the land of opportunity as far as blagging is concerned, and American politics lends itself to BS like nothing else. So here, to get you started, are ten handy phrases for bluffing your way through election night 1. I’m sorry, but Trump isn’t Brexit and Brexit isn’t Trump. At some point in a conversation about Trumpism, somebody is bound to make the Brexit comparison,