Trump’s return

The 2024 US presidential elections have ended. The Republican Donald J Trump has emerged victorious with at least 295 Electoral College votes and 50.7 per cent of the popular vote. For the past several weeks, all websites, polling samples, and the electronic media kept broadcasting the fact that the Trump-Kamala contest is just too close to call. Both candidates were said to have been running close in all states, especially in the battleground ones.

The end result indicates otherwise. Trump has won and won convincingly. Therefore, the pre-poll sampling and forecasting systems somewhat failed this time around. The contest was not that close at all. My brother-in-law, an American citizen residing in Lahore, confided in me not so long ago that he expects Trump to win because of the prevalent global geo-political situation and because America is perhaps not yet ready for a female president.

Abbas R Siddiqi

Lahore

*****

On November 5, former US president Donald J Trump won the presidential elections, becoming the 47th president of the United States. It marked a historic victory for Trump, who had lost his re-election bid in 2020. Despite doubts about his political future after that defeat, Trump came back with a resounding win. The Republican Party ultimately rallied behind Trump and he campaigned tirelessly across all states, enduring tough scrutiny and media portrayal as a divisive figure. Nevertheless, he overcame the odds to defeat the Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris. Although Harris performed well, she did not secure the required 270 electoral votes.

Voters prioritised domestic issues such as high inflation, unchecked immigration, high taxes, and US involvement in overseas conflicts. Trump’s unexpected victory sent shockwaves around the world. Domestically and internationally, he faces significant challenges. For Pakistan-US relations, Trump’s win may signal improvement as Republican administrations have historically maintained positive ties with Pakistan.

Manzoor Ahmed

Kashmore