The campaign's internal data, particularly from Tony Fabrizio, consistently showed Trump winning. This created a gap between public polling and their internal data, leading to a sense of rational confidence despite public anxiety.
By around 9:00 PM, the returns indicated that Kamala Harris was underperforming in suburban areas, leading the Trump team to correctly assume that this underperformance would likely transfer to key battleground states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Foreign leaders, such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sent congratulatory messages that emphasized Trump's historic comeback and victory, using language that mirrored Trump's own rhetoric about his win.
There could be tensions between hard-core ideologues who enable Trump's radical impulses and more conventional business-oriented figures. This could lead to interesting collisions between these different camps over policy decisions.
Trump's victory likely means that legal cases against him will be dropped or significantly altered. For instance, the Jack Smith investigation may withdraw indictments, and the New York case may see a ruling that grants broad immunity to presidential acts.
In the days since the election, Donald J. Trump has started preparing to retake the White House.
Jonathan Swan, who covered Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign for The Times, and Maggie Haberman, a senior political correspondent, take us inside the campaign’s endgame.
Guest:
Background reading:
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