LAST UPDATE | 7 Nov
US PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald Trump named his campaign manager, Susie Wiles, as White House chief of staff on Thursday, his first major appointment since winning this week’s election.
Trump defeated sitting Vice President Kamala Harris, clinching all the important swing states after polls closed on Tuesday night.
Trump 2.0 promises to be more untrammeled than his first chaotic presidency – and could dismantle huge chunks of sitting president Joe Biden’s legacy.
Trump’s choices for his White House team are in the spotlight, with the world’s richest man Elon Musk and vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. both believed to be in line for roles.
Naming his Chief of Staff, Trump said in a statement: “Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected.”
“Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again. It is a well deserved honor to have Susie as the first-ever female Chief of Staff in United States history.”
Meanwhile, Biden addressed the US this afternoon to vow a peaceful transfer of power.
He received a round of applause when he came out to make his address and called on the nation to “bring down the temperature”.
Biden said Kamala Harris should be “proud” of her campaign and said said “everyone got to see her character”.
“We accept the choice the country made, I have said many times, ‘you can’t love your country only when you win, you can’t love your neighbour only when you win’,” said Biden.
“On January 20, we will have a peaceful transfer of power here in America,” said Biden.
This was in stark contrast to Trump himself, who refused to accept defeat in 2020, a move that culminated in the violent 6 January 2021 assault by Trump supporters on the US Capitol.
Trump falsely claimed widespread voter fraud and refused to attend Biden’s inauguration, retreating instead to his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. He also did not allow a proper transition.
The White House said Biden spoke with Trump yesterday and “expressed his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition and emphasised the importance of working to bring the country together”.
Biden has also invited Trump to meet at the White House, despite their long history of bitter animosity. Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said Trump “looks forward to the meeting, which will take place shortly, and very much appreciated the call.”
It would be the first time they had met since the president’s disastrous debate performance against Trump in June that forced him out of the race.
Despite criminal convictions, indictments, and multiple allegations of sexual assault, US Americans wholeheartedly back Trump’s hardline right-wing policies and rejected Biden and Harris’s record.
World leaders swiftly pledged to work with Trump, despite concerns in much of the globe about his nationalist “America First” approach and pledges to slap huge tariffs on foreign imports.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said Ireland will work with the Trump administration, as it did during his previous term in office, but should prepare for the impact of his presidency on the economy and Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters in Budapest ahead of a European Council meeting, the Taoiseach said that, as far as he knows, his office has requested a phone call with US president-elect Trump.
“I hope to be in a position to speak to president-elect Trump and to congratulate him,” he said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Beijing and Washington must find a way to “get along” in a message to Trump, calling for “stable” bilateral ties.
Trump could start his presidency by halting the US’s billions of dollars in military aid for Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s 2022 invasion.
He has repeatedly suggested he would end the war by pressuring Kyiv to make territorial concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a man Trump has repeatedly praised.
Putin said today that he is “ready” to hold discussions with Donald Trump.
“I take this opportunity to congratulate him,” Putin said in remarks to the Valdai forum in Sochi.
Asked whether he was open to holding talks with Trump, the Russian leader said: “Ready.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with Trump yesterday to congratulate him and urge a “just peace.”
Trump will also return to the White House as a climate change denier, poised to take apart Biden’s green policies with his pledge to “drill, baby, drill” for oil.
Already 78, Trump is on course to break Biden’s record as the oldest-ever sitting president during his four-year term. He will surpass Biden, who is set to step down in January at the age of 82.
Harris gave a concession speech yesterday while also vowing to help the transition of power.
She told tearful supporters in a speech in Washington DC to “not despair,” urging them to “keep fighting” after her loss.
“While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fuelled this campaign,” Harris said in her short speech at Howard University, her alma mater.
“I know many people feel like we are entering a dark time,” she said, her voice hoarse as she made her first public remarks since Trump’s surprisingly heavy victory.
“But for the benefit of us all, I hope that’s not the case.”
Harris — who had blasted Trump as a threat to democracy during her failed bid to become America’s first woman president — earlier called him to offer her congratulations, an aide said.
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