Latest updates: Follow our full coverage on the US election
The 2024 election results represent a sea change in America: Donald Trump won the necessary electoral votes for a second term in office, but for the first time, he also clinched the popular vote, and his Republican Party flipped the Senate from Democratic control.
It is a moment of reflection for Democratic activists, organisers and insiders like Alyssa Batchelor-Causey, who was very surprised by Tuesday night's results.
“[Kamala] Harris had the best messaging that we've had … She had policies that resonated with people. She had everything moving in the right direction that I wanted to see from the Democratic Party for a very long time,” the strategist with Hill and State Strategies told The National.
Clearly, though, the Democratic ticket did not craft a message that resonated enough to deliver victories, with losses among key constituencies the party had expected to have resounding support from: including white women and Latino men.
Many are saying the Harris campaign missed the mark and that 2024 showed Democrats have not learnt the lessons of Hillary Clinton's shock loss to Mr Trump in 2016.
Kati Durken, the vice president of Young Democrats for America, says that her party has “a messaging issue”.
“We have not connected with people, I think we've missed some key areas that young voters feel really passionate about,” she told The National.
“A lot of young people walked away with the idea that nobody was really going to fix their problems so why does it matter. That general existential dread about the world did a lot of damage.”
The Republican president-elect made gains with voters aged 18 to 29, up 7 percentage points from 2020, Reuters reported.
Young and progressive voters, in particular, feel angered, accusing the party of ignoring their policy demands and instead catering towards centrist Republicans they believed could be swayed to vote against Mr Trump.
That includes the failure to concretely demand and deliver a ceasefire in Gaza, an insistence on celebrating President Joe Biden's economy against growing financial frustration, and the embrace of figures like Republican former vice president Dick Cheney, an architect of America's war in Iraq.
Gabe Inman, a progressive in Virginia who “thought up until the last moment” that he would vote Democrat and ended up voting third party for Cornel West, seems to agree with that assessment.
“The last 12 years [Democrats have] been trying to play ball with moderate Republicans and its gone nowhere,” he told The National.
“I think the biggest takeaway is that this is America showing itself for what it is and we have hundreds of millions of people so apathetic about their futures.”
Ultimately for Mr Inman, the party “not caring at all” about Palestinians played a major role in his decision to vote third party, and he hopes 2024 represents a wake-up call for the Democrats.
But many Democrats, including pro-Israel Congressman Ritchie Torres, point their fingers at progressives, for whom he said there is “no greater friend” to Mr Trump.
Those remarks stoke the notion for progressives like Mr Inman that Democrats are not genuinely concerned about these movements.
“The people I've seen say, 'If you're a Latino and voted Trump I hope ICE gets you.' I think it's insane that we can look at someone and say I want the fascism to happen to you directly and absolve all blame from the politicians themselves in this election,” he said.
There's a balance to that for Democratic organisers in the Latin and Hispanic-American community, too, who saw increasing members of their community opt for Mr Trump.
Support for Mr Trump among Hispanic voters went up 14 percentage points from 2020, according to an Edison Research exit poll.
Bruna Sollod, an organiser with immigration advocacy group United We Dream, says moving forward, there needs to be better outreach and understanding of these voters.
“How do we show up for the people that are scared and lost and voted for Trump? Those people are still important,” she told The National.
“There's a lot of work to be done with voters in our own communities and having tough conversations with them, and I think those are lessons to be taken and to try different things.”
For Ms Batchelor-Causey, all this demonstrates the age-old Democratic Party conundrum: galvanising an enthusiastic coalition is “something very difficult to do in a big tent party”.
Democrats like Mr Torres also disagree with the notion that his party had a “messaging issue”, and instead says there's a “reality problem”.
“Inflation and immigration are not 'messaging problems.' These are realities that produced discontent widespread enough to hand Donald Trump the presidency,” he posted on X.
Ms Durken said there's truth in that assessment, but blames Mr Trump for the economic struggles facing many Americans.
“Economic impacts span years, the direct impact of the Trump economy is still being felt in our economy … I think that Democrats over the next few years are going to have the opportunity to show Donald Trump doesn't care about you, he has no interest in fixing the economy for you,” she said.
There are process concerns, too, after a historic cycle where President Joe Biden stepped aside from leading the ticket months away from the election, and the elevation of his Vice President without an open primary.
Ms Batchelor-Causey played down the notion that this had a major role in the outcome, saying that argument is “very far fetched, that is a Maga Republican mind”.
“The last thing that I wanted and knew would be a fatal nail in the coffin would be to go to some sort of open primary convention-type situation that would have been an absolute disaster,” she said.
But that did have an impact on would-be Democratic voter Mr Inman.
“To just say it's Biden but then after a disaster of a debate say, wait, never mind, trust us this time, it's Harris, was incredibly tone deaf,” he said.
In the weeks to come, Democrats settling into the reality of a swift and strong Republican mandate at the helm, say harm reduction will be the name of the game.
“Preparing, preparing, preparing – informing constituents. If you are an elected representative, state, local, federal, it doesn't matter. You need to be talking to your constituents about what is to come,” said Ms Batchelor-Causey.
There's also an urgency to “push” the lame-duck Biden administration to help immigrant communities, adds Ms Sollod, although she concedes with Mr Trump weeks away from the Oval Office, it will be difficult to ensure lasting protections.
It is also increasingly possible that Mr Trump will enter the White House with a “trifecta” government – a fully Republican Congress, in addition to a conservative-majority Supreme Court.
For Democrats, that means “there will be very little that they can do to stop” a Trump agenda, said Ms Batchelor-Causey.
Ms Durken said the party needs to ramp-up it's down-ballot investments, as it “readjusts to a chaotic political life again”.
“Supporting our local and smaller government institutions so that as they pass policies and achieve progressive goals, those can't be undone by the federal government, so that they feel safe and unthreatened in doing so. If it's not a top priority, we are going to be failing the people that are doing the work to keep us safe right now,” she said.
The hope for Ms Sollod, as an immigrant that experienced the first Trump presidency, is that she knows first-hand the grass roots mobilisation these moments can inspire.
“I came to this movement after the 2016 election. I became a member of United We Dream that very night … So, I know that those are things that are going to happen over the next few days and months, and that we're going to be seeing a lot of new membership and a lot of new leadership,” she said.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Greatest Royal Rumble results
John Cena pinned Triple H in a singles match
Cedric Alexander retained the WWE Cruiserweight title against Kalisto
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt win the Raw Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Sheamus
Jeff Hardy retained the United States title against Jinder Mahal
Bludgeon Brothers retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos
Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe
AJ Styles remains WWE World Heavyweight champion after he and Shinsuke Nakamura are both counted out
The Undertaker beats Rusev in a casket match
Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
RACECARD
4.30pm Jebel Jais – Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 (Turf) 1,000m
5pm: Jabel Faya – Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 (T) 1,000m
5.30pm: Al Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m
6pm: The President’s Cup Prep – Conditions (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club – Prestige (PA) Dh125,000 (T) 1,600m
7pm: Al Ruwais – Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 (T) 1,200m
7.30pm: Jebel Hafeet – Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m
The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont
Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950
Engine 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Napoleon
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The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Britain's travel restrictions
- A negative test 2 days before flying
- Complete passenger locator form
- Book a post-arrival PCR test
- Double-vaccinated must self-isolate
- 11 countries on red list quarantine
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
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LIVERPOOL SQUAD
Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum, James Milner, Naby Keita, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Joe Gomez, Adrian, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana, Andy Lonergan, Xherdan Shaqiri, Andy Robertson, Divock Origi, Curtis Jones, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Neco Williams
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
