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Something has changed. When Donald Trump won in 2016, America shocked itself.

Even those who chose him back then weren’t wholly convinced he’d do it.

The Washington establishment – Democrat and Republican – had not expected a President Trump.

And beyond that, in 2016, there was a reluctance to admit you were for Trump.

Not anymore. Beyond his base – the country-wide grassroots faithful once dismissed by Hillary Clinton as the “deplorables”, there has been a truly fascinating cultural shift in America. And it’s been quick.

The hostility to Trump’s MAGA movement has gone. Part of it is a resignation; the resistance has gone, but it’s much more than that.

From the Silicon Valley tech billionaires, to significant corners of Hollywood, and in the business community, it is no longer toxic to be associated with Donald Trump.

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And across Washington over the past 48 hours that shift has been so starkly clear.

Sections of society that wouldn’t or couldn’t put their name to Trump are now proudly hopeful of his chances to “Make America Great Again”. The MAGA cap is a red carpet fashion accessory, not a hillbilly hat.

All over town there have been glitzy inauguration parties in the city’s finest restaurants and clubs. And it’s not just West Palm Beach and Silicon Valley that’s descended on DC.

It would have been inconceivable in 2016 that I could have attended a lunch full of wealthy Arab-Americans for Trump. Yet this weekend the city’s swanky Ilili restaurant was buzzing with optimism drawn from across the country.

And that optimism was all around in spades last night for Donald Trump’s final victory rally.

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What can we expect from Trump’s first term?

In the city’s Capital One Arena on the eve of completing such a remarkable comeback, 20,000 gathered for the victory lap.

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His opening words, to roars: “We won, we won.”

Written off, prosecuted, convicted, nearly assassinated, twice. I wanted a penny for his inner thoughts at that moment.

Instead we got the familiar rhetorical bullet points.

“I will end the war in Ukraine. I will stop the chaos in the Middle East. And I will prevent World War three from happening… we will end the wokeness. We will get critical race theory and transgender insanity the hell out of our schools.”

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What has Trump done since winning?

Of course this time it may not be rhetoric. He has the presidential power now to deliver his way, and he says he will, with an unprecedented number of executive orders on day one.

“We have to set our country on the proper course by the time the sun sets tomorrow evening. The invasion of our borders will have come to a halt.”

Speaking to Sky News, senior advisor to Mr Trump Jason Miller said things would change with prescient breaking speed.

“I think he will see some immediate action there inside the Rotunda before the president heads over [to the White House]…”

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What do Texans want from Trump?

It was striking that the person invited on stage, during the victory speech, was not his vice president, but the man they are calling his “co-president”, Elon Musk.

The world’s richest man, with his son in tow, carried an awkward authenticity with him.

Mr Musk now leads a band of America’s top tech execs – from Meta, to Amazon, to TikTok – all locked in behind Trump.

Outgoing president Joe Biden says they are the billionaires who represent an oligarchy close to the heart of government. Or are they, instead, reflective of American success?

It’s always been possible to make assumptions about America: its direction, its priorities, its focus. A linear thread has run through the presidency.

It feels now that that’s been severed. It feels like we are set for profound change.

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Trump shows off his YMCA moves

The show ended with the Village People on stage with YMCA, a song that became the accidental anthem of his movement.

And yet the Village People had wanted Kamala Harris to win. That Mr Trump had them here, and that they wanted to be here, is a reflection of an upbeat unity that America will need in the days and four years ahead.

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Mexican navy training vessel hits New York’s Brooklyn Bridge – as reports say three injured

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Mexican navy training vessel hits New York's Brooklyn Bridge - as reports say three injured

A Mexican navy ship has hit the Brooklyn Bridge during a promotional tour in New York City.

The New York Fire Department said authorities were responding to injuries but had no details about how many people might have been hurt or whether they were on the vessel or on the bridge.

Sky’s US partner network NBC News reports that at least three people were seriously injured in the incident.

The Mexican navy said in a post on X that the Cuauhtemoc, an academy training vessel, was damaged in the accident, which has prevented it from continuing its voyage.

Eyewitness video of the collision posted online showed the mast of the ship, which was flying a large Mexican flag, scraping the underneath of the bridge.

Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP

The vessel then drifted toward the edge of the river as onlookers scrambled away from shore.

The Mexican navy said the status of personnel and material was under review by naval and local authorities, which were providing assistance.

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The Cuauhtemoc is about 297ft long and 40ft wide, according to the Mexican navy. It sailed for the first time in 1982.

A New York Police Department harbour unit prepares to board the Cuauhtemoc. Pic: AP
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Pic: AP

Each year, it sets out at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets’ training.

It left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on 6 April with 277 people onboard, the navy said at the time.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

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You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

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One person dead after explosion outside fertility clinic in California

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One person dead after explosion outside fertility clinic in California

One person has died in a bomb explosion near a reproductive health clinic in California, authorities have said.

The incident took place in Palm Springs, a city two hours east of Los Angeles, and is being investigated as a possible car explosion.

The city’s mayor Ron DeHarte said one person died in the blast, adding that the bomb was “either in or near” a vehicle. The deceased’s identity is not known, Palm Springs police said.

Dr Maher Abdallah, who runs the American Reproductive Centers clinic, told the Associated Press his facility was damaged but all staff were safe and accounted for.

The explosion damaged the office space where the practice conducts patient consultations, but the IVF lab and stored embryos were unharmed, he added.

“I really have no clue what happened,” he said. “Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients.”

Debris covers the ground after an explosion on Saturday, May 17, 2025 in Palm Springs, Calif.  (ABC7 Los Angeles via AP)
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Debris covers the ground after the explosion. Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP

In a statement posted on Facebook the clinic said it was “heartbroken” to learn someone died in the explosion and added: “Our deepest condolences go out to the individuals and families affected.”

It continued: “Our mission has always been to help build families, and in times like these, we are reminded of just how fragile and precious life is.

“In the face of this tragedy, we remain committed to creating hope – because we believe that healing begins with community, compassion, and care.

The clinic will be fully operational on Monday, it added.

“This moment has shaken us – but it has not stopped us. We will continue to serve with strength, love, and the hope that brings new life into the world,” the statement concluded.

Debris covers the ground after an explosion on Saturday, May 17, 2025 in Palm Springs, Calif.  (ABC7 Los Angeles via AP)
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Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP

The Palm Springs city government said in a post on Facebook that the explosion happened on North Indian Canyon Drive, near East Tachevah Drive, before 11am local time (6pm GMT).

A burned-out car can be seen in a parking lot behind the building in aerial footage.

The blast caved in the clinic’s roof and blew debris across four lanes of the road.

Another person said he was inside a cannabis dispensary nearby when he felt a massive explosion.

Nima Tabrizi said: “The building just shook, and we go outside and there’s massive cloud smoke.”

Investigators from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are travelling to the scene to help assess what happened.

California governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the explosion, his press office said.

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James Comey: Trump says ex-FBI director’s seashells post ‘meant assassination’

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James Comey: Trump says ex-FBI director's seashells post 'meant assassination'

A former FBI director has been interviewed by the US Secret Service over a social media post that Republicans say was a call for violence against President Donald Trump.

James Comey, who led the FBI from 2013 until he was fired in 2017 by Mr Trump during his first term in office, shared a photo of seashells appearing to form the numbers “86 47”.

James Comey, then the FBI Director, in July  2016. File pic: AP/J. Scott Applewhite
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James Comey later removed the Instagram post. File pic: AP

He captioned the Instagram post: “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”

Some have interpreted the post as a threat, alleging that 86 47 means to violently remove Mr Trump from office, including by assassination.

What does ’86 47′ mean?

The number 86 can be used as a verb in the US. It commonly means “to throw somebody out of a bar for being drunk or disorderly”.

One recent meaning of the term is “to kill”, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, which said it had not adopted this meaning of 86 “due to its relative recency and sparseness of use”.

The number has previously been used in a political context by Matt Gaetz, who was President Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general but withdrew from consideration following a series of sexual misconduct allegations.

Mr Gaetz wrote: “We’ve now 86’d…” and listed political opponents he had sparred with who ended up stepping down.

Meanwhile, 47 is supposedly representing Mr Trump, who is the 47th US president.

Mr Comey later removed the post, saying he thought the numbers “were a political message” and that he was not aware that the numeric arrangement could be associated with violence.

“I didn’t realise some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind, so I took the post down,” Mr Comey said.

Mr Trump rejected the former FBI director’s explanation, telling Fox News: “He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant… that meant assassination.”

Donald Trump Jr accused Mr Comey of “casually calling for my dad to be murdered”.

US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed in a post on X that Mr Comey had been interviewed as part of “an ongoing investigation” but gave no indication of whether he might face further action.

The Secret Service is part of the Department of Homeland Security.

White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich said Mr Comey had put out “what can clearly be interpreted as a hit on the sitting president of the United States”.

“This is deeply concerning to all of us and is being taken seriously,” Mr Budowich wrote on X.

Another White House official James Blair said the post was a “Clarion Call (…) to terrorists & hostile regimes to kill the President of the United States as he travels in the Middle East”.

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Mr Trump fired Mr Comey in May 2017 for botching an investigation into 2016 democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, the White House said at the time.

While Mr Comey was the director of the FBI, the agency opened an investigation into possible collusion between the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russia to help get Mr Trump elected.

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