Donald Trump to Become 45th President of the United States
Donald Trump will become the 45th President of the United States. The Republican candidate defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. While Clinton won the popular vote by a small margin, Trump received at least 290 votes in the Electoral College, more than 20 needed to win the election.
The outcome of the election was a surprise to many politicians and the media experts, who thought that Trump’s chances of winning were slim. After a fiercely fought campaign, Hillary Clinton was up front in many of the polls leading to election day, however the American public voted differently. Early on the morning of November 9th, 2016, Clinton called Donald Trump to congratulate him on his victory. In his first speech the President-elect called for the nation to unite and to leave quarrels of the past behind. He said he would be a President for all Americans and hoped to rebuild a great nation.
Trump did better than expected in the so-called battleground states of the Midwest and eastern part of the country. He won the majority of votes in Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida and Pennsylvania.
Donald Trump is a businessman and reality TV star who has no political record. He ran his campaign against what he called the Washington establishment. At 70 he is also the oldest American to start his first term as President. During the campaign Trump angered many Americans by making offensive remarks towards women , Latinos and African Americans. Not only has he been criticized by his opponents, even political friends distanced themselves from him. Some high-ranking politicians said that he was unfit to be president.
On the other side Hillary Clinton failed to become the first female to enter the White House. She was regarded by many as part of Washington’s political machine rather than a symbol for change. It was the second time Clinton had not succeeded in her bid to become president. In 2008 she lost her party’s nomination to Barack Obama.
Donald Trump's victory had an immediate impact on the world's financial markets because of the uncertainty that his presidency is connected with. Stock markets plunged by up to 5% but recovered later in the day.
In addition to Trump's victory the Republicans have also managed to stay in control of Congress, which makes it easier for the Republican president to achieve his goals. Donald Trump will take office on January 20th 2017
Related Topics
- The American President
- Donald Trump - The Key to Success
- Barack Obama
- The Electoral College
- How Government Works
- Road to the White House
Words
- achieve = reach, get
- anger = to make someone angry
- battleground = here: place where both candidates had to fight hard to get votes
- bid = here: to try to become president
- campaign = events in which candidates travel across the country and hold speeches
- candidate = person who takes part in an election and wants to have a political job
- congratulate = to tell someone you are happy for them because of what they have achieved
- defeat = win against
- distance = to say that you are not in favour of someone or something
- Electoral College = group of people chosen by the votes of the people in each state; they come together in December to officially elect the President of the United States
- establishment = here; group of people in Washington who have a lot of power; they are against changing things and don’t have any new ideas
- fail = not succeed in what you want to do
- fiercely = violent, angry
- former = in the past
- high-ranking = in a top position
- immediate = at once
- impact = effect
- majority = most of
- manage = to do something that is difficult
- margin = difference
- nomination = here: when a party chooses a candidate to run for the Presidency
- offensive remarks = to say bad and hateful things about people
- opponent = the people who are against him
- outcome = result
- plunge = to go down; decrease
- political record = here: he has never been in politics and has not held a political office
- poll = to find out who people want to vote for before the election takes place
- popular vote = here: all the votes of the people of the US put together
- President-elect = someone who has been elected President, but has not started the job yet
- public = all the people
- quarrel = argument
- receive = get
- recover = here: to rise again
- regard = to think about someone in a certain way
- slim = very low
- stock market = place where parts of a company are bought and sold
- succeed = to get what you want
- take office = become president
- term = four years as president
- uncertainty = doubt; you are not sure about what will happen
- unfit = not qualified; not good enough
- unite = bring together
- victory = win