Trump 2.0: On the precipice of power beyond his wildest imagination
They call it ‘Agenda 47’ – an eyebrow-raising blueprint for the 47th presidency.
It could be entitled ‘Back to the Future’.
Donald Trump’s base yearn for “the golden era”, an America they believe has been lost.
He’s on a mission to find it for them.
The New York tycoon stands on the precipice of power beyond his wildest imagination.
Young men, black men, Latino men have bought into Trump 2.0.
US election latest – Trump declares victory
The pollsters predicted a tight race. In the end, he’s won by something resembling a landslide – with Republicans also flipping the Senate.
If they retain the House Of Representatives too, it will be an unchecked power – Mr Trump holding the keys to the White House and Congress.
Thousands of words could be written about Project 2025 – the conservative Heritage Foundation’s plan for the radical reform of federal government.
Mr Trump with his wife Melania as the night unfolds. Pic: AP
But the pledge to ‘Make America Great Again’ again goes deeper and it is a campaign that has recruited the most unlikely of poster boys.
Elon Musk – the billionaire tech mogul and the world’s richest man – is on board and could soon take charge of the Department of Government Efficiency.
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Donald Trump appears on stage in Florida
Robert F Kennedy Jr, who is estranged from the rest of his political dynasty, suspended his own run for the White House to back Mr Trump.
“RFK” is renowned for questioning the safety of drinking water and vaccines.
Elon Musk could be set to take charge of a government department under Mr Trump’s presidency. Pic: Reuters
The president-elect has not ruled out giving him responsibility for health.
In election campaign speeches, Mr Trump has laid out his plans to invest in flying cars and build “freedom cities” – free from government regulations.
On immigration, he promised the biggest mass deportation of illegal migrants in US history, to finish building the wall and enforce strict border control.
Mr Trump has vowed to relocate rough sleepers from city centres to tented camps until their “problems can be identified”.
But it’s the culture war mongering that will cause the most alarm – no constitutional right to abortion; teachers required to “embrace patriotic values”.
Mr Trump has an isolationist policy and seeks to detangle America from global conflicts, not least in Ukraine and the Middle East.
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He has pledged to cut “hundreds of billions” of dollars in international aid, end the war in Ukraine, and potentially withdraw America from NATO.
He had already made history – the first president to become a convicted felon. Only one other has won two non-consecutive terms.
The unconventional, unfiltered 45th president of the United States will be the 47th president and the rest of the world holds its breath.
Charlie Kirk has been posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Donald Trump.
The USA’s highest civilian honour was received by the conservative activist’s widow, Erika, at the White House.
Mr Kirk, 31, was fatally shot on 10 September while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University.
He founded Turning Point USA and toured American university campuses, debating students about current affairs.
Erika Kirk at the White House. Pic: Reuters
Erika Kirk and Donald Trump. Pic: Reuters
Addressing those attending the ceremony in the White House rose garden, the US president said they were there to “honour and remember a fearless warrior for liberty” and a “beloved leader who galvanised the next generation”.
He said Mr Kirk’s name was being entered “forever into the eternal roster of true American heroes”.
Mr Trump described Charlie Kirk as an “American patriot of the deepest conviction, the finest quality and the highest calibre”.
He said his nation had been “robbed” of an “extraordinary champion”.
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Has Charlie Kirk become a MAGA ‘martyr’?
And Mr Trump said Mr Kirk was assassinated in the “prime of his life for boldly speaking the truth, for living his faith, and relentlessly fighting for a better and stronger America”.
The ceremony coincided with what would have been Mr Kirk’s 32nd birthday.
Mr Trump described Erika Kirk, now head of Turning Point USA, as someone who had “endured unspeakable hardship with unbelievable strength”.
Read more:
What do we know about Erika Kirk?
Charlie Kirk’s movement is growing in wake of his assassination
Charlie Kirk. File pic: AP
A 22-year-old man, Tyler Robinson, from the city of Washington in Utah has been charged with Mr Kirk’s murder. Prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty.
At a memorial event held at a stadium in Arizona, Erika Kirk told an enormous crowd she forgave her husband’s killer.
“The answer to hate is not hate,” she said.
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