Donald Trump wins US presidential election

Here in the Qalandiya refugee camp, just behind the main Israeli checkpoint between East Jerusalem and Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian residents have been following the US election closely, with little hope for fundamental change.

“The names of presidents change, but it will be the same US foreign policy in this region. There will be different faces, but they don’t stand with us, only the smaller countries stand with Palestinians,” Ahmad Lafi, a young painter from the camp, told DW.

Most people here are already worried about their near future after Israel banned the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which provides services to the camp’s population.

In 2018, then-President Trump cut funding to UNRWA, reversing a long-standing US policy of support at the time. “It’s only getting worse,” said Ibtisam, an elderly woman who declined to give her last name.

Nuraldin Muter, a young shopkeeper, is very concerned about what Trump’s re-election means for Palestinians.

“Israel and the US are close allies and we are very worried about what will happen. They have already banned UNRWA and we are afraid that the Israeli authorities will close down their offices and services here. The [Israeli] army is raiding the camp almost on a daily basis and we are afraid this will only get worse. There is no accountability,” Muter told DW.

He is also concerned that Donald Trump’s re-election could fuel anti-Muslim sentiment around the world.

Many here say they have lost all sense of optimism as the war in Gaza continues with no political solution in sight. “It’s going to be more of the same, although with Trump it could be even worse,” said Samer, a taxi driver who declined to give his last name. “Will I see any change in the situation for Palestinians in the region? Not in my lifetime.”

World leaders congratulated Donald Trump on Wednesday for winning the US election.

Many leaders, including India’s Narendra Modi and Hungary’s Viktor Orban hailed Trump’s return to political power, while others offered more cautious congratulations. Click here to read more about how world leaders have been responding.

The battle to reduce human-produced emissions faces a serious setback if Donald Trump‘s previous presidency is anything to go by.

During his previous term as president, Trump undid a number of major pieces of climate policy and walked out on the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming as he moved to eliminate numerous Obama-era environmental regulations.

During Trump’s campaign for the presidency he revived his “drill, baby, drill” slogan and in his victory speech he described US oil and gas reserves as “liquid gold.”

Over the years, Trump has been dismissive of climate change, even labeling it a “hoax.”

Experts have warned that a second Trump presidency would likely slam the brakes on the transition to green energy, hindering efforts to meet crucial climate targets.

Meanwhile, some climate activists have already made their feelings known.

Police in the UK arrested two men after environmental activists sprayed orange paint on part of the US Embassy in south London in protest over Trump’s victory.

Two campaigners from Just Stop Oil sprayed the embassy’s compound wall with orange paint, a video posted by the group on X showed.

“Trump’s win puts the lives of ordinary people at risk, everywhere,” the Just Stop Oil group said.

London’s Metropolitan Police arrested the men, aged 25 and 72, on suspicion of criminal damage.

“This activity is vandalism purporting as protest and we will continue to have a zero tolerance attitude to actions such as this,” Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Valentine said in a statement.

The United States is made up of 50 states, but when it comes to presidential elections, some states matter more than others.

Though “safe states” reliably vote for one party or the other, “swing states” are often a toss-up between the Democratic and Republican candidates.

Over the years, the list of swing states has changed because of population growth and shifting demographics. This year there were eight battleground states: Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Arizona.

Trump secured more than the required 270 electoral votes after winning Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin, which, combined, gave him 61 electoral votes.

As economists get to grips with what another Donald Trump presidency could look like, some are predicting a difficult time when it comes to global financial stability.

“Trump’s fiscal pledges are seriously troublesome — for the US economy and for global financial markets — as they promise to vastly expand an already excessive deficit at the same time as he threatens to undermine key institutions,” the Reuters news agency quoted Erik Nielsen, UniCredit’s Group Chief Economics Advisor as saying.

“One must conclude that Trump poses a serious — and so far vastly under-appreciated-threat to the U.S. Treasury market and thereby to global financial stability,” Nielsen said.

Import duties, including a 10% universal tariff, could be damaging for European economies while a 60% tariff on Chinese imports could have global ramifications.

During the previous Trump presidency, Chinese trade tariffs were significantly ramped up.

“Most damage would be done under a universal import tariff,” Reuters quoted ABN Amro’s Rogier Quaedvlieg as saying.

“If the ultimate implementation is non-universal, the hit to the global economy would be significantly weaker,” Quaedvlieg said.