On stage in West Palm Beach in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Donald Trump thanked his supporters, his family and his campaign team as he declared victory in the US presidential race. One group not on the former president’s thank-you cards: the media, whom he referred to as “the enemy camp”.
Introducing his running mate, the Ohio senator JD Vance, Trump said: “I told JD to go into the enemy camp. He just goes: OK. Which one? CNN? MSNBC? He’s like the only guy who looks forward to going on, and then just absolutely obliterates them.”
Trump has had an antagonistic relationship with the US press for years, often labeling them as the “crooked media” and calling them the “enemy of the people”. But as the Republican candidate in recent weeks ramped up his rhetoric against his perceived opponents, he’s intensified his attacks on reporters as well.
The comment during Trump’s victory speech come less than a week after he joked during a campaign rally he would have no concerns about reporters being shot at if there were another assassination attempt against him.
During meandering comments at a rally in Pennsylvania last week, Trump complained about gaps in the bulletproof shields surrounding him after a gunman opened fire on him at a rally in July.
“To get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news and I don’t mind that so much,” he said.
The press, he added, were “seriously corrupt people”.
Trump’s communications director later claimed in a statement the comments were supposedly an effort to look out for the welfare of the news media.
Trump on Wednesday morning claimed victory over his Democratic opponent in the presidential race, Kamala Harris, and pledged to bring a “golden age” to the United States.
“This was a movement like nobody’s ever seen before, and frankly, this was, I believe, the greatest political movement of all time. There’s never been anything like this in this country, and maybe beyond,” Trump said.
Donald Trump has been told by some advisers that he should prematurely declare victory on election night if he’s sufficiently ahead of Kamala Harris in key battleground states like Pennsylvania, according to people close to him, though whether he will heed that advice remains unclear.
The consensus view is that Trump has nothing to lose by claiming he has won if he has a several-hundred-thousand-vote advantage in Pennsylvania or if his internal pollsters think a victory is plausible even if the results are not fully confirmed on Tuesday night.
But even Trump’s most pugnacious allies – including the former White House strategist Steven Bannon who spoke with him last week, one of the people said – have suggested he hold off making a pronouncement if the race is any closer by the time he goes to bed, lest it makes him look foolish.
In the final days of the campaign, Trump and his campaign have projected confidence. It has raised expectations among his supporters that he will win, laying the groundwork for baselessly claiming the election was stolen if he loses and Harris takes the White House. Any premature declaration of victory would also probably play into that phenomenon.
The wild-card factor in what Trump might do on election night remains Trump himself. His aides concede that if Trump decides he wants to declare, he will do as he pleases, and his travel-weary team might have little appetite and influence to dissuade him.
Trump’s team collectively shrugging at the prospect of the former president prematurely proclaiming himself the winner, as he did in the aftermath of the 2020 election, is itself notable as it underscores yet another norm of presidential politics shattered by Trump.
Trump declaring prematurely would not carry the element of surprise it had four years ago. The Harris campaign have said they are preparing for him to pull such a stunt again.
Trump has spoken less this time around about what he plans to do on election night, the people said, in contrast to his premeditation in the 2020 election when he told friends and allies of his intention to declare victory regardless of the outcome.
Trump dodged questions about his intentions as he cast his own ballot on Tuesday.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen in terms of declaring victory,” Trump said. “It looks like we have a very substantial lead. It looks like we have many more Republicans voting than Democrats. So if you have a lead and a bigger vote it means you’re doing well but they have to call a winner. And they should call a winner.”
But whether it is a product of the advisers around him tamping down on that kind of plotting that set into motion attempts to overturn the election results or the logistics of the news media being at a different venue from his private watch party, Trump has been quieter about his intentions.
Trump will watch the results come in at a private watch party at his Mar-a-Lago club for members, donors and other friends and family, while the official campaign watch party takes place a short drive away at a convention center in West Palm Beach, Florida, the people said.
The private watch party starts earlier and Trump is likely to project to members that he is winning, the people said. That event at Mar-a-Lago has also been described as a knife fight, with allies knocking off donors’ names from the list to get credentials for themselves.
Whether Trump will double down on any victory claim at the convention center party remains unclear. Trump’s aides have suggested if he does decide to announce himself as the winner, he will motorcade over from Mar-a-Lago, and if not, he might not make an appearance at all.
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THULASENDRAPURAM, India (AP) — The temple reverberated with rhythmic Sanskrit and Tamil hymns, as a Hindu priest held a flame before the god. As this tiny South Indian village gathered to pray for Kamala Harris, a gaggle of reporters jostled for space and camera angles.
There’s little to distinguish the village of Thulasendrapuram from any other rural community in Tamil Nadu, except its connection to a woman who could become America’s first leader with South Asian roots.
As millions of Americans vote, Harris has people rooting for her from thousands of miles away in a village surrounded by rice paddies and coconut trees, where her mother’s family has ancestral ties. They talk about her at the local tea shop. Banners and billboards bearing her face are seen throughout the community.
“Our deity is a very powerful God. If we pray well to him, he will make her victorious,” said M. Natarajan, the temple priest that led the prayers in front of the image of Hindu deity Ayyanar, a form of Lord Shiva.
Villagers participate in the special prayers for the victory of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, at Sri Dharmasastha Hindu temple in Thulasendrapuram, the ancestral village of Harris, in Tamil Nadu state, India, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
A villager prays in front of the idols of Hindu goddesses after special prayers for the victory of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, at Sri Dharmasastha temple in Thulasendrapuram, the ancestral village of Harris, in Tamil Nadu state, India, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Harris’ maternal grandfather was born in the village, about 350 kilometers (215 miles) from the southern coastal city of Chennai, more than 100 years ago. As an adult, he moved to Chennai, where he worked as a high-ranking government official until his retirement.
Harris has never visited Thulasendrapuram and she has no living relatives in the village, but people here still venerate the family that made it big in the U.S.
“Our village ancestors’ granddaughter is running as a U.S. presidential candidate. Her victory will be happy news for every one of us,” Natarajan said.
The village’s sudden fame has helped bring money into the village. Recently, construction began on a water storage tank with funds donated by a local bank. Village residents say it will carry a plaque with Harris’ name.
An aerial view of Thulasendrapuram, the ancestral village of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, in Tamil Nadu state, India, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Harris’ late mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was born in India. After moving to the U.S. to study, she married a Jamaican man, and they named their daughter Kamala, a Sanskrit word for “lotus flower.”
Other than trips during her childhood, Harris hasn’t visited India much — particularly not since becoming vice president — but she has often spoken emotionally about her ties to her late mother’s country of birth. On Tuesday, she released a campaign video highlighting her mother, who arrived in the U.S. at age 19 and became a cancer researcher.
Titled “Mother,” the video ends with a narrator saying: “This daughter of Shyamala, this daughter of the American story, is ready to lead us forward.”
Harris has often talked about how she was guided by the values of her Indian-born grandfather and mother. She has also spoken of her love of south Indian food, especially a type of steamed rice cake called idli.
Harris’ name is engraved in a list of donors — her aunt Sarala Gopalan gave money to the temple in her name — along with that of her grandfather. Outside, a large banner wishes “the daughter of the land” success in the election.
On Tuesday, the village temple also received rare international visitors: two American tourists and one from the U.K., all wearing black t-shirts that said “Kamala Freakin Harris.”
M. Natarajan, head priest of Sri Dharmasastha Hindu temple points out the name of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris on a plaque, displaying names of donors written in Tamil language who donated for the renovation of temple, in Thulasendrapuram, the ancestral village of Harris, in Tamil Nadu state, India, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
From left, Fiana Jones of United Kingdom, Devony Evans and Sajron Silalenka of United States wearing tees and cheer for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris outside a temple in Thulasendrapuram, the ancestral village of Harris, in Tamil Nadu state, India, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Manikandan Ganesan, a villager who runs a small store near the temple, said Harris’ bid for the presidency has made the village famous. He hopes Harris will eventually visit them.
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“Even if she mentioned that she would visit our village, it would make us very happy,” Ganesan said. “Her victory itself will be a big source of happiness for us.”
Village residents also prayed for Harris’ victory in 2020, and set off firecrackers when she became the U.S. Vice President.
For women of the village, the candidate’s journey is a source of inspiration.
Local politician Arulmozhi Sudhakar said Harris embodies a significant step toward female empowerment in places like Thulasendrapuram, where a majority of women continue to face discrimination and gender inequality.
“From the time when women were not even allowed to step out of their house, to now a woman from our village contesting in the U.S. presidential election — this brings happiness for us,” Sudhakar said. “The coming generations will see her as a role model to succeed in life.”
Former US President Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives, more than 3 hours late, to a campaign rally in Traverse City, Michigan on October 25, 2024.
Jim Watson | Afp | Getty Images
A senior official in the presidential campaign of Kamala Harris said Friday they “fully expect” Donald Trump to declare victory before all votes are counted on Election Day evening.
But “it won’t work,” the official told reporters.
“He did this before. It failed,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in a press call, according to NBC News. “If he does it again, it will fail.”
The official said Republican nominee Trump “lies all the time” and is already seeking “to sow doubt about a loss that he anticipates is coming” on Tuesday against Harris, the Democratic nominee and current vice president.
“Meanwhile, we are focused on making sure that all of our voters have the information to get out and vote, and that they feel confident doing it safely and securely, and that they know that we’re going to protect that vote and that we are going to ensure that it counts, no matter what Trump and his campaign are doing,” the campaign official said.
The call came on the heels of baseless claims by Trump that there is large-scale “cheating” going on in voting in Pennsylvania, a key swing state in the election.
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“REPORT CHEATING TO AUTHORITIES. Law Enforcement must act, NOW!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Wednesday.
Trump has falsely claimed for four years that he, not President Joe Biden, won the 2020 election.
He faces criminal prosecutions in federal court in Washington, D.C., and state court in Atlanta in connection with his attempts to overturn his loss to Biden.
