The scale of Donald Trump’s victory was confirmed on Saturday with the capture of Arizona, giving the Republican billionaire a clean sweep of key states as he prepares for the promised transition. “peaceful” by Joe Biden. On Wednesday, the outgoing president will receive his worst political enemy in the Oval Office, who is beginning to speak out on the composition of his future government, to prepare his historic return to power.

After four days of counting, CNN and NBC declared Donald Trump the winner in Arizona, a traditionally Republican southwestern state that had narrowly swung to Joe Biden in 2020. He had already won the other six key states Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Nevada. If they do not change the outcome of the election, the 11 electoral votes won in the last “swing state in play provide further proof of Donald Trump’s unassailable victory over Kamala Harris.

Donald Trump is also now guaranteed to win the popular vote against the Democrat. He will then be the first Republican president in 20 years to achieve this feat, proving wrong those pollsters who predicted otherwise. And he’ll be able to rely on the Senate, which the Republicans took back from the Democrats, and possibly the House of Representatives, where his party is on track to retain the majority.

Humiliation

Passing the keys to the White House to the Republican will be an immense humiliation for outgoing President Joe Biden, who is accused by his camp of having facilitated this stunning comeback out of pride. After weeks of lacklustre campaigning, Biden withdrew from the race in July, weighed down by his age (81), in favor of his vice-president. Democratic front-runner Nancy Pelosi confided on Saturday to New York Times that “if the president had gotten out (of the race) earlier, there might have been other candidates.”adding that Joe Biden’s immediate support for Kamala Harris had prevented a primary.

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The former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, however, praised “the infatuation” generated by Kamala Harris during her campaign. The vice-president, who described her opponent as a “fascist”failed to convince Americans that she understood their economic and security concerns. Soundly defeated after an acerbic campaign, she assured the public that she would “help” Donald Trump in this period.

Joe Biden also pledged to ensure a calm transfer of power to his worst political enemy, hoping to “lower the temperature” in a country on edge. A very different situation from 2020, when Donald Trump refused to acknowledge his defeat and boycotted Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony. And this after his supporters stormed the Capitol, the temple of American democracy, to prevent the certification of the Democrat’s victory on January 6, 2021. Four years later, the real estate magnate, who during the campaign was the target of two assassination attempts and was indicted and convicted on both criminal and civil charges, will make an incredible return to the White House.

Neither Pompeo nor Haley

His first term was marked by a succession of disgraced ministers and advisors. The question now is what the Trump 2 administration will look like, and on Thursday he made his first major appointment: Susie Wiles, architect of his campaignwill be his Chief of Staff, an ultra-strategic position never before held by a woman.

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The rest should be announced in the coming weeks. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.nephew of the assassinated president and former independent candidate aligned with Donald Trump, could be entrusted with public health responsibilities. Another key figure is expected to be billionaire Elon Muskwho actively campaigned for Donald Trump. The president-elect could task the world’s richest man with a major overhaul of the federal administration.

The Republican, on the other hand, indicated on his Truth Social network on Saturday that he would not be recalling his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, tipped to lead the Pentagon, or the US ambassador to the UN under his tenure Nikki Haley, who became his rival in the Republican primaries, to form part of his government. Donald Trump has promised to make life better for Americans through tax cuts and tariffs. The Republican has also said that he will carry out deportations “massive” of irregular migrants.