Good morning. I’m Samantha Edwards, The Globe’s online culture reporter, filling in for Danielle Groen. We’re watching the fallout of Donald Trump’s decisive victory and what it means for Canada and the world.
Today’s headlines
- Ottawa refers three new cases of alleged contracting ‘time theft’ to RCMP
- Germany’s coalition collapses and Chancellor Scholz will face a confidence vote
- How a Newfoundland scientist solved the mystery of the white blobs washing ashore
Supporters of Donald Trump celebrate near his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP/Getty Images
U.S. POLITICS
Trump’s decisive victory
For the weeks to come, analysts, policy wonks and commentators will dissect exactly how Donald Trump won his decisive victory on Tuesday, sweeping the southern swing states and the Blue Wall of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
As the dust begins to settle, however, a few things are becoming clear. Trump won over large swaths of men – young, old, working-class, middle-class, Black and Latino – while Harris, who campaigned on abortion rights, failed to convince enough women that she was their best choice.
Surveys of voters conducted by the Associated Press showed Trump improved on his results nearly across the board from his 2020 election loss against Joe Biden. He won over more young people (46 per cent of under 30-year-olds compared to 36 per cent in 2020), made gains in the suburbs (46 per cent from 44 per cent), and broke through to more Latino men (42 per cent from 35 per cent), a demographic that has been leaning right since 2016.
In a bid to court male voters, Trump tapped into the “manosphere”, a collection of online spaces with a devoted following of young men, many of whom are disaffected and anti-establishment. The president-elect spent hours speaking with Joe Rogan, Theo Von and other influencers to reach young men, a move that could’ve been seen as risky. After all, young men are considered low-propensity voters, meaning they have voted infrequently in the past, or not at all. But the strategy worked. Across every swing state, more male voters aged 18 to 29 voted for Trump in 2024 compared to 2020.
To win, Harris needed women to come out in droves and she specifically invited conservative women turned off by Trump’s hateful rhetoric to come on board. In an ad for the Harris ticket, an older white woman, donning a bedazzled American flag baseball cap, secretly casts a vote for Harris, lying to her Republican husband about how she voted. “What happens in the booth, stays in the booth,” cooed Julia Roberts in the voiceover. But it looks like this woman was a democratic fantasy. For the third time in a row now, the majority of white women voted for Trump.
Read here for a deeper demographic breakdown of the election.
The view from Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated Trump on his victory and pledged to work with the president-elect on economic issues. Canada’s economy could face major headwinds from a Trump presidency: the threat of trade wars, tariffs and dampening business investment on this side of the border. If you want to get a sneak peek of sweeping tariffs, look no further than the Canada-U.S. softwood dispute. Quebec Premier François Legault and Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet have both raised fears about an influx of U.S. migrants streaming across the border, as Trump pledged major deportations if he returned to the White House.
The view from the rest of the world
Trump’s return to office will have ripple effects around the world. His victory is seen as a major gain for Russia and could be disastrous for Ukraine, as he has hinted at ending the massive U.S. military aid to the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was among the European leaders rushing to congratulate Trump, even though the president-elect has vowed to hit imports from the European Union with blanket tariffs up to 20 per cent. Authoritarian regimes in Zimbabwe, Uganda and Sudan also celebrated his win, seeing it as the potential ending of U.S. sanctions against them. But it’s also likely he’ll impose cuts to health aid that benefit millions across the continent.
Fresh takes
Andrew Coyne says Trump’s election is “a crisis like no other in our lifetimes,” while Robyn Urback says Trump is “Mr. Invincible.” Adrian Lee argues that Taylor Swift’s endorsement might have actually hurt Kamala Harris more than it helped.
The Shot
“It’s difficult to comprehend what it means to be alone until you are truly alone”
Camping in the Quilcayhuanca Valley, one of the many easily accessed valleys that can be explored around Huaraz.Josh Laskin/The Globe and Mail
For an U.S. election cleanser, try astral projecting to Huascarán National Park, eight hours north of Lima, in the heart of the Peruvian Andes. Travel writer Josh Laskin says the solitude of hiking in the region “was unlike anything I had experienced – I wouldn’t encounter another human until the third and final day.”
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: Quebec says it will use the notwithstanding clause to force doctors trained in Quebec universities to begin their careers in the province’s public system.
Abroad: The United Nations says it has no responsibility, nor the capacity, to replace the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA after Israel ended its ties with the agency.
On screen: Canada ordered TikTok to wind up its business here, citing national-security risks, but added the government was not blocking access to the app.
In the kitchen: A long-time staple in South Asian households, ghee – a shelf-stable butter-derived cooking fat – is making a splash on social media.