US election: The Arab-Americans turning to ‘wild card’ Trump in Michigan

Published

2 weeks ago

October 22, 2024

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America is full of contradictions. This is the story of one of them: the Arab-Americans who will vote for Donald Trump.

He’s the man who says immigrants are “poisoning the blood of the country”, who calls them “terrorists”, and who wants a “Muslim ban”.

And yet, in a journey through Michigan, I’ve found they are swinging to him.

It’s not just a story about the war in the Middle East. It goes beyond the desire to punish Biden and now Harris. It is about much more than the war.

In places like Dearborn or Hamtramck, it doesn’t take long to discover that a dynamic shift in views is taking place and that – as is so often the case – is about a perceived sense of abandonment but here with a particular twist.

My journey began at a local high school. Picture the place you’d imagine in the movies and that’s it.

Red brick outside, rows of lockers inside. The yellow buses, the Stars and Stripes and the pledge of allegiance.

It is the perfect reflection of America but with a diversity that defies the stereotypes, and views that may do too.

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The Frontier International Academy is in the heart of Hamtramck, the only Muslim-majority city in America and the students reflect the demographic.

In between the “recess” game of American Football, the first-time voters and second-generation immigrants talk politics.

“We don’t know what she is going to provide, we don’t know what she is going to do. So I think it’s just a safer bet to go for Donald Trump,” 18-year-old Jubran Ali tells me.

“I’m actually asking people around me to see what they’re voting, and most people are voting for Donald Trump,” Edris Alhady, also 18, says.

Michigan is one of the seven swing states in this country where the White House will be won or lost.

Shifts to the left or the right among small margins of voters will determine which way the country goes.

In 2016, Trump was the first Republican to win Michigan since 1988. He beat Hillary Clinton by fewer than 11,000 votes.

Four years later, in 2020, Joe Biden won the state by only 154,188 votes out of more than 5.5 million cast – a 2.8% margin of victory.

Michigan has the highest number of Arab-Americans in America. They represent a key voting bloc – one which the Democratic Party may have taken for granted.

Amer Ghalib is a member of the Democratic Party and his office is a reflection of his political roots – a photo of him with President Joe Biden.

But something profound has happened since that snap was taken.

On Friday Mayor Ghalib welcomed Donald Trump to the city – a visit which came weeks after he endorsed the former president.

“Why Trump?” I asked.

“Well… it’s a combination of two things. Disappointment and hope. Disappointment that the current administration and how they are handling things locally or internationally, and hope that the new administration, led by Trump, will do something different.”

Our conversation was revealing in many ways. I’d come to this city expecting to hear anger about American policy in the Middle East. After all, the people here have deep existing ties to the region.

But only now was it obvious that the Arab-American shift right is also a consequence of the gradual leftward drift by the Democrats.

It’s about the real war in the Middle East, but it’s about culture wars too.

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Last year an attempt to fly a pride flag on city property was blocked by the mayor and his team.

“There is so much aggression and attempts to enforce certain values on the majority of this community,” Mayor Ghalib said, “…on schools, on public properties, city hall and the Democratic Party is not doing anything to prevent that shift in dynamics.”

I asked if anyone from Kamala Harris’s team had been in touch about his concerns before or since his endorsement of Trump.”No. No,” he said.

“Does that surprise you?”

“They think I’m a fake Democrat. All my life here I voted Democrat.”

Trump’s visit to the city is the culmination of groundwork by members of Team Trump for months, an indication of how important they see this state and this demographic.

So what about Trump’s pro-Israel stance? As he arrived in Detroit last week he praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Well, I don’t think there’s anything worse than what’s happening now,” the mayor said.

It’s a sentiment echoed here. The idea that no one can be worse than the Democrats on Israel-Gaza, and that domestically – on social issues and the economy – Trump would be better for this community.

Drive west out of Hamtramck through the Detroit suburbs and you reach Dearborn.

About half the population here is Arab-American, most from Lebanon. Over coffee with local environmental activist Samraa Luqman, a conversation that should alarm the Harris campaign.

She tells me that she voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, she wrote Bernie Sanders’s name onto the ballot in 2020. And this year?

“I’m voting for Trump,” Samraa says. “Why?” I ask.

“The genocide. Policy-wise, I don’t like any of the Republican policies, to be frank, at all… I will still vote for him because one thing I hate more than all those other policies is genocide… And that’s the sentiment of an entire community.”

I asked what made her think Trump would be any better for the Arab cause.

“Trump is a wild card… will he do exactly what Kamala does or worse or better? But I know for sure what the Democrats are doing and they’re intending to continue it.”

This journey through communities that feel now forgotten and unheard ends for me where it started for them – at Detroit’s old Ford factory which drew so many Middle Eastern immigrants here generations ago.

There I met the local Yemeni-American Democratic Party caucus leader with a startling conclusion.

“I think the damage is great. I assure you that it’s not just about Michigan. This is a nationwide phenomena,” he said.

“I am very worried,” Abdulhakim Alsadeh said.

I ask him if he thinks the Democratic Party has messed up this campaign.

“Yes, I believe so. I really do,” he said. “The Republican nominee, former president Donald Trump, reached out to the Yemeni-American community. They sat with him. They talked with him.”

“Everybody is concerned,” he said.

It won’t take many to swing this state and streamline the path to the White House.

Here, through all the contradictions, many are swinging to Trump.

US

Donald Trump wins US election in monumental political comeback

Published

7 hours ago

November 6, 2024

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Donald Trump wins US election in monumental political comeback

Donald Trump will return to the White House after claiming a stunning US election victory over Democrat opponent Kamala Harris.

Mr Trump, who previously served as president between 2017 and 2021, picked up his first swing state after he was declared the winner of North Carolina.

Around an hour later he was declared the winner of Georgia – taking back the state he narrowly lost to Joe Biden in 2020.

He was projected as the winner of Pennsylvania shortly afterwards – touted as the most pivotal of the seven battleground states.

Mr Trump’s victory was confirmed when he surpassed 270 electoral college votes by winning the state of Wisconsin, and he remains on course to claim all seven swing states.

Follow live updates: Trump wins US election

Ms Harris’ aides had earlier said she wouldn’t speak until later on Wednesday as her path to victory narrowed and defeat seemed certain.

The lectern where her supporters hoped she would be delivering a historic victory speech at Howard University in Washington DC was instead seen protected with rain covers.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump headed to Palm Beach in Florida to declare victory to a crowd of his supporters hours before the election result was confirmed.

Mr Trump told his supporters: “We’re going to help our country heal.

“We have a country that needs help, and it needs help very badly. We’re going to fix our borders. We’re going to fix everything about our country and we’ve made history for a reason tonight.”

During a speech where he doubled down on his promise to crack down on illegal immigration, Mr Trump promised those who gathered a “golden age of America”.

He added: “This is a magnificent victory for the American people that will allow us to ‘make America great again’.”

The president-elect briefly paused his speech as the crowd chanted “USA, USA, USA!”.

Mr Trump continued: “America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate. We have taken back control of the Senate. Wow.

“Wow. That’s great.”

He added that the Senate races in Montana, Nevada, Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania were “all won by the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement”.

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Mr Trump then invited his running mate JD Vance to speak, with the incoming vice president saying: “I think that we just witnessed the greatest political comeback in the history of the United States of America.

“And under President Trump’s leadership, we’re never going to stop fighting for you, for your dreams, for the future of your children.

“And after the greatest political comeback in American history, we’re going to lead the greatest economic comeback in American history.”

Once the vote counting was under way, three Trump campaign officials told Sky News’ US partner network NBC News that the mood at his Mar-a-Lago resort was moving away from “cautious optimism” towards “optimism”.

Republicans have also taken control of the Senate from the Democrats.

Zelenskyy and Netanyahu congratulate Trump

World leaders began to congratulate Mr Trump before his victory had even been confirmed, with the election result set to have a sweeping impact on global politics.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “Congratulations President-elect Trump on your historic election victory. I look forward to working with you in the years ahead… I know that the UK-US special relationship will continue to prosper on both sides of the Atlantic for years to come.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he looked forward to an “era of a strong United States of America under President Trump’s decisive leadership”.

He added: “I appreciate President Trump’s commitment to the ‘peace through strength’ approach in global affairs. This is exactly the principle that can practically bring just peace in Ukraine closer.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Mr Trump on “history’s greatest comeback!”, while senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said that the incoming president will be tested on his statements that he can stop the war in Gaza within hours.

It came as European Commission Ursula von der Leyen says she “warmly” congratulated Mr Trump, while NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said he is looking forward to working with him to “advance peace through strength”.

Disappointment for Harris

The race initially appeared neck and neck as Americans went to the polls, but Mr Trump pulled ahead as result predictions came in from solidly red states including Florida, Texas and Alabama throughout the night.

Ms Harris’s support came from her party’s strongholds on the east and west coasts in states like New York, Delaware, and California.

While Mr Trump prepared to address his supporters in Palm Beach, the crowd at Ms Harris’s watch party at Howard University in Washington DC began to file out after midnight on Wednesday.

Ms Harris did not speak at the party. Cedric Richmond, co-chairman of the Harris campaign, spoke instead, telling the crowd there were still votes to count and states to be called.

“We will continue overnight to fight to make sure that every vote is counted. That every voice has spoken,” he said. “So you won’t hear from the vice president tonight, but you will hear from her tomorrow. She will be back here tomorrow.”

US

What a Trump presidency means for global wars and European security

Published

7 hours ago

November 6, 2024

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What a Trump presidency would mean for global wars and European security

Donald Trump said he would end Russia’s war in Ukraine if he returned to the White House – but any rushed deal will likely leave Kyiv much weaker and European security in even greater peril.

Another major flashpoint a Trump presidency will immediately seek to influence is the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel.

Mr Trump came close to direct war with Tehran during his first term in office and prior restraint could well give way to direct confrontation this time around.

US election latest: World leaders congratulate Trump after historic win

Then there is the overwhelming longer-term challenge posed by China, with North Korea another growing headache especially after Mr Trump tried but failed to woo the leader of the hermit state during his first stint as commander-in-chief.

Prior to the Republican’s win, hostile and friendly capitals around the world were gaming what a second Trump White House might mean for their respective national interests and for the most pressing global security threats.

Mr Trump’s track record of unpredictability is a challenge for traditional foes – but also for Washington’s closest allies, in particular fellow members of the NATO alliance.

The president-elect has made no secret of his frustration at how the US has for decades bankrolled the security blanket that protects Europe.

During his first term as president, Mr Trump threatened to withdraw the US from the alliance – a move that would almost certainly sound its death knell. His rhetoric did help to spur allies to dig deeper into their pockets and spend more on their militaries, though.

But the damage of years of underinvestment is deep and the pace of recovery is too slow for European NATO allies and Canada to credibly stand on their own as a potent military force any time soon.

In terms of immediacy when it comes to global crises, the impact of Mr Trump’s victory will be felt most acutely by Ukraine and also by Iran.

In the run-up to the election, the then-nominee repeatedly claimed he would quickly end the Ukraine war, though without explaining how or what peace would look like.

In an indication of where his priorities lie, however, he has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of being the “greatest salesman on earth” for securing tens of billions of dollars in weapons and other assistance that Washington has given to Kyiv.

Yet – coupled with Ukraine’s willingness to fight – that military aid is the biggest reason why Ukraine has managed to withstand almost 1,000 days of Vladimir Putin’s war.

Stop the flow of American weapons, and Ukrainian troops – despite their own ingenuity and the support of other allies – will simply lack the firepower to keep resisting the onslaught.

By contrast, US vice president Kamala Harris made clear that she viewed continued support to Ukraine as being as vital to US and Western interests as it is to Kyiv’s – a far more familiar stance that echoed the view of her NATO partners.

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While US support for Ukraine will undoubtedly change under a Trump administration, that is not the same as facilitating a complete surrender.

The president-elect – who portrayed himself as the ultimate dealmaker and adopted a new election slogan, “Trump will fix it” – will not want to be held responsible for the total absorption of Ukraine into Mr Putin’s orbit.

Putin and Iran

His relationship with the Russian president is a particularly interesting dynamic.

During his first term, he infamously said he trusted Mr Putin’s denials over his own intelligence agencies when it came to claims about Russian interference in the 2016 US election.

But with the right advice, might the returning President Trump be able to use his connection with Mr Putin to the West’s advantage?

At the very least, it adds a new level of unpredictability – which is perhaps the most important element when it comes to assessing the likely impact of the second Trump term.

On Iran, in stark contrast to his approach to Russia’s war in Ukraine, Mr Trump may well back much greater US military support for Israel’s conflict against Tehran and its proxies – perhaps even direct involvement by US forces in strikes on Iran.

He has an even tougher stance towards Tehran and its nuclear ambitions than Joe Biden’s administration.

His decision to rip up a major nuclear deal with Iran was one of his most significant foreign policy acts during his four years as president.

It is also personal, with Iran accused of hacking the Trump campaign in recent months – an attack that will surely only heighten tensions with Iran during the second Trump term.

US

Donald Trump declares victory in presidential election as he addresses supporters

Published

10 hours ago

November 6, 2024

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Donald Trump declares victory in presidential election as he addresses supporters

Donald Trump has declared victory in the US election as he addressed jubilant supporters in Florida – but votes in key states are still being counted.

Speaking at West Palm Beach, he told crowds: “Look what happened – is this crazy?” – adding: “I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honour of being elected your 47th president.

“I will fight for you and your family and your future, every single day I will be fighting for you with every breath in my body.”

He told the crowd it was a “magnificent victory for the American people” while claiming he had also won the popular vote, something he failed to secure during his 2016 and 2020 presidential bids.

“Winning the popular vote was very nice, it’s a great feeling of love,” he said.

The 78-year-old also told his supporters that “this will truly be the golden age of America”.

Mr Trump has won in the key battleground states of Georgia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina – and is leading in several others – narrowing Kamala Harris’s path to victory significantly.

According to Sky News’s US partner network NBC, Mr Trump, who has been bidding for a second term in the White House following his win in 2016 against Hillary Clinton, is now just four electoral votes away from a projected win.

While the Republican Party’s win of the Senate has been confirmed, the House is still up for grabs.

“We overcame obstacles that no one thought possible,” Mr Trump said as family, including “my beautiful wife Melania” and his “amazing” children, stood next to him.

“We’re going to help our country heal, we have a country that needs help and it needs help very badly,” he said while doubling down on his promise to crack down on illegal immigration.

Mr Trump then seemed to refer to an attempted assassination on him at a rally in Pennsylvania back in July as he said: “Many people have told me that god has spared my life for a reason and that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness and now we are going to fulfill that mission together.”

US election latest: Trump projected key wins

Ms Harris will now not address her supporters until later on Wednesday, her campaign chair has said.

The vice president had been scheduled to make a speech at her alma mater, Howard University, after the polls closed, but the mood grew sombre as results began to trickle in.

Cedric Richmond, co-chair of the Harris campaign, told the crowds at the university: “We will continue overnight to fight to make sure, every vote is counted, that every voice has spoken.

“So you won’t hear from the vice president tonight but you will hear from her tomorrow. She will be back here tomorrow.”

The Howard community had been preparing for a historic night – Ms Harris would become the first woman, black woman and South Asian American to assume the presidency, if elected.

But in the 21 remaining states where more than 80% of the vote has been counted, there has been a swing towards Mr Trump, NBC News reports.

In seven of them, the swing is less than one point.

The largest swings – of more than five points – are in New Jersey and Florida.

No other state has a swing higher than three points.

World reacts to looming Trump victory

World leaders have started reacting to Mr Trump’s speech, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer tweeting: “Congratulations president-elect Trump on your historic election victory.

“I look forward to working with you in the years ahead,” he said.

“As the closest of allies, we stand shoulder-to-shoulder in defence of our shared values of freedom, democracy and enterprise.

“From growth and security to innovation and tech, I know that the UK-US special relationship will continue to prosper on both sides of the Atlantic for years to come.”

Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK and a longtime supporter of Mr Trump, tweeted: “He’s done it again. The most incredible political comeback of our lifetime.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will have been closely watching the election as he seeks continued support from the US over his war against the Hamas militant group in Gaza, said on X: “Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback!”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, another leader who has been counting on renewed US support as he seeks to fend of Russia’s full-scale invasion of his country, also congratulated Mr Trump over his looming victory, which he described as “impressive”.

Mr Zelenskyy said on X he appreciated Mr Trump’s “commitment to the ‘peace through strength’ approach” to global affairs and the principle could “bring just peace in Ukraine closer”.