Trump declared president-elect

Trump to become 47th U.S. president after being 45th

Former President Donald Trump addressed a raucous crowd of his supporters in Palm Beach, Florida, early Wednesday to declare victory in both the Electoral College and the popular vote in the 2024 presidential race.

It became official later in the morning with several media outlets declaring Trump the president-elect after calling races in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin for the former president.

At 5:30 a.m., NBC News joined Fox News in calling Wisconsin for Trump, pushing his electoral vote total to 277, above the 270 needed to win the presidency. Trump joins Grover Cleveland as the only U.S. presidents to serve two non-consecutive terms.

Nearly two hours earlier, however, Trump had declared victory.

“Frankly, I believe this was the greatest political movement of all time, and maybe beyond,” Trump said to begin his remarks before going on to promise to “help our country heal.”

“I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being reelected your 47th president, and your 45th president,” Trump said.

“This will truly be the golden age of America,” he continued.

In a stunning comeback, the former president won after surviving two assassination attempts and as he faced four separate criminal prosecutions that were launched after he left the White House in 2021.

The 78-year-old Trump led the popular vote by about 5 million votes when he gave his victory speech and held that lead by 6 a.m. He becomes the first Republican to win the popular vote since George W. Bush in 2004.

Several media outlets named Trump the winner of the swing states of North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania, key states that propelled him toward victory.

As results continued to trickle in early Wednesday, Trump maintained leads in the other swing states of Michigan, Arizona and Nevada.

Fox News called the race in Wisconsin and declared Trump the winner of the race before his speech, while other outlets kept Trump just a few electoral votes short of the needed 270.

Trump also continues to hold leads in swing states Michigan, 52.5% to 45.8% with 73% of returns reported; in Arizona, 50.4% to 48.8% with 52% of votes counted; and in Nevada, 51.6% to 46.7% with 81% in.

During his victory speech, Trump called up his vice presidential pick, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, and thanked him.

“I think that we just witnessed the greatest political comeback in the history of the United States of America,” Vance told the crowd.

Cedric Richmond, co-chairman of the Harris campaign, addressed supporters earlier Wednesday, saying there were still plenty of votes to be counted. He also said Harris would not be making a statement until later in the day Wednesday.

Real Clear Politics’ polling average going into Election Day showed very narrow leads for Trump in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. However, the polling average showed Trump behind by half a point in Michigan and Wisconsin. All the swing states appeared to be going for Trump as the sun began to rise on the east coast Wednesday.

Results began to trickle in after 6 p.m. EST, picking up steam throughout the night.

Trump quickly took a lead, ahead of Harris roughly 105 to 72 votes just after 8 p.m. Eastern time.

The lead continued to grow until after 1 a.m., when media outlets began calling Pennsylvania for Trump, ending Harris’ only remaining path to the White House.

Multiple media outlets also reported Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate, but control of the House remains to be determined as the votes are counted.

“It also looks like we’ll be keeping the House of Representatives,” Trump said, referring to the latest data trending in Republicans’ favor.

Former President Barack Obama warned Americans on Tuesday the results of the election may take several days to come in, but Trump’s win was swifter than most predicted.

“Many have told me that God spared my life for a reason,” Trump said, referencing his surviving two assassination attempts, the first when he was grazed in his ear at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., the second when a would-be assassin built a sniper’s nest near one of his West Palm Beach golf course as he was playing. “And that reason was to save our country and restore our country together, and we are going to fulfill that mission.”

Several media outlets called Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming for Trump.

And several media outlets called California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington and Washington D.C. for Harris.

Casey Harper

D.C. Bureau Reporter

Related Topics:#CaseyHarper #USElection DanMcCaleb Trump47thPresident TrumpPresidentElect

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Trump victory speech: ‘Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason’

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War against the US? Chrystia Freeland says Canada, allies need to build ‘New World Order’ to combat Trump

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espionage

CNN warns angry deep state workers might sell U.S. secrets out of spite

Published on February 26, 2025

Todayville

MxM News

Quick Hit:

CNN has raised alarms about potential risks to national security if President Donald Trump moves forward with plans to reduce staffing in intelligence agencies, particularly the CIA. The report suggests that disgruntled employees could be tempted to sell state secrets if they are fired, highlighting the delicate balance between maintaining national security and trimming government bureaucracy.

Key Details:

CNN’s report warns that mass firings at the CIA could make dismissed employees prime targets for foreign intelligence recruitment.
The article relies heavily on anonymous sources, raising concerns about credibility and journalistic standards.
Critics argue that if employees are willing to sell secrets out of resentment, they shouldn’t be trusted with sensitive information in the first place.

Diving Deeper:

CNN’s recent article, “How Trump’s Government-Cutting Moves Risk Exposing the CIA’s Secrets,” suggests that reducing the workforce at the CIA could have severe national security implications. According to the report, current and former intelligence officials are concerned that dismissed employees may become vulnerable to recruitment by foreign adversaries such as China or Russia. The article implies that financially stressed or bitter former employees could sell classified information to the highest bidder, potentially jeopardizing U.S. intelligence operations.

The report, written by Katie Bo Lillis, Phil Mattingly, Natasha Bertrand, and Zachary Cohen, relies heavily on unnamed sources, citing “current and former US officials familiar with internal deliberations.” Critics have pointed out that the extensive use of anonymous sourcing raises questions about the report’s reliability and objectivity. In fact, CNN uses unnamed sources 18 times throughout the article, only once attributing a quote to a named individual, Joseph Gioeli of the Fiscal Service.

This narrative raises an uncomfortable question: If intelligence personnel are indeed likely to betray their country over job loss, why are they entrusted with national secrets in the first place? Beth Brelje, writing for The Federalist, argues that if employees have such weak loyalty, they should be removed from sensitive positions immediately. “Those with too little integrity to exit with grace should not be employed in jobs with access to sensitive information,” Brelje writes, highlighting the paradox in CNN’s portrayal of these individuals as both valuable assets and potential security threats.

Critics also suggest that CNN’s coverage reflects a broader media agenda to undermine Trump’s efforts to reform government agencies. By framing standard budget cuts and workforce reductions as national security risks, the narrative portrays Trump’s cost-cutting measures as reckless rather than fiscally responsible. This perspective aligns with concerns that the media is attempting to protect entrenched bureaucracies that have historically served as sources for politically charged leaks.

The implications of this report are significant. If CNN’s warnings are accurate, then the integrity and loyalty of the nation’s intelligence community must be questioned. On the other hand, if the article is merely speculative propaganda, it raises concerns about the media’s role in shaping public perception with anonymous claims and vague threats. As President Trump continues to implement government reforms, the question remains: Who truly poses the greater risk to national security — the whistleblowers or the bureaucrats they expose?

conflict

Europe’s Heads of State Have Learned Nothing from 170 years of history

Published on February 26, 2025

Todayville

By John Leake

With the exception of Viktor Orban, Europe’s so-called leaders have a learning disability of miraculous proportions.

While the Congress of Vienna (1815) seemed to inaugurate a new era of hope for peace in Europe, Europe’s leaders couldn’t resist the siren song of bloodyminded pigheadedness that drew them into the Crimean War (1853-1856) in which Britain and France thought it more sensible to side with the Ottoman Turks than with Russia over various religious and territorial disputes in the Black Sea that are now too tedious to recount.

The only redemptive feature of the Crimean War—at least on the British side—is that members of the ruling class that wanted the war were willing to serve on the front line of it. Lieutenant-General James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, was notorious for his aristocratic haughtiness and extravagance. He also achieved legendary status for leading the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava, immortalized in Tennyson’s poem.

Watching Cardigan charge directly into a Russian battery, the French commander, Pierre Bosquet remarked: “C’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la guerre: c’est de la folie (“It is magnificent, but it is not war: it is madness.”).

At least Lord Cardigan fought his own war.

After the British and French backed the Ottomans against the Russians in the Crimean War, they backed the Russians against the Germans, Austrians, and Ottomans during the Great War of 1914-1918. When it came to drafting the Treaty of Versailles, the Allies were more interested in ascribing blame to the Germans than in making a lasting peace. This led to World War II, when British and the French backed the Russians once again against the Germans and the Austrians—this time with the Turks joining their side.

After World War II, the Americans thought it more important to create a lasting peace than to punish Germany again, so they chose the Marshall Plan instead of the punitive Morganthau Plan.

At the war’s conclusion, erstwhile allies U.S. and Russia, became mortal enemies in a Cold War in which they threatened each other with nuclear annihilation. At the conclusion of the Cold War, Washington decided to revert to the spirit of the Treaty of Versailles to kick Russia while it was down and to maintain a state of enmity with it instead of taking pains to incorporate it into the West.

In its great sagacity, the Trump administration has recognized that there is nothing to be gained for the American people by continuing the U.S. proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. Trump and his people recognize the reality that it would be far better to have a mutually respectful and beneficial relationship with Russia than to continue threatening it and maintaining a state of enmity with it.

Trump starkly contrasts with Europe’s so-called leaders, who wish to keep the Great Game pissing contest with Russia going. Like 15-year-old female rivals on a high school cheerleading squad, they find it more important to ascribe blame in the West’s longstanding conflict with Russia than to find a peaceful solution to it. All the phony expressions of solicitude for the people of Ukraine are pure humbug. Europe’s so-called leaders are perfectly happy to continue sending young Ukrainian men to their deaths and they will work hard to undermine Trump’s efforts to end the killing.

I would wager a large sum that not a single European head of state with the exception of Viktor Orban could—without referring to an Encyclopedia—provide an account of the various disputes, touchy matters of honor, and attributions of blame that were the casus belli of the Crimean War, the Franco-Prussian War, the First World War, or the Second World War. They are ignorant, childish brats who have learned nothing from European history.

I never thought I would say that President Trump must have the patience of a saint to suffer Europe’s irritating parcel of whiny, mercenary, and malevolent wimps.

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