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| Portraits of president-elect Donald J. Trump and Russian President Vladimir V. Putin. AP |
President Obama called Donald Trump to congratulate him on his win and to invite him to the White House on Thursday, according to a statement from the White House.
“Ensuring a smooth transition of power is one of the top priorities the president identified at the beginning of the year and a meeting with the president-elect is the next step,” reads the statement from the White House press secretary.
Obama also phoned Secretary Clinton to express his “admiration for the strong campaign she waged.” Obama and the First Lady were highly involved in Clinton’s campaign, hosting rallies and making speeches on her behalf for months.
President Obama will address the public today on how the country can “come together” after this bitter election.
Here’s the full statement:
Putin reacts to Trump victory as he speaks at ceremony to welcome new ambassadors (English translation from Russian transcribed from RT video here):
14:37 - "Ladies and Gentlemen: A few hours ago presidential elections have been finished in the United States of America. We have been following this campaign with attention, and I would like to congratulate the American people with the end of the electoral cycle. And I also would like to congratulate Mr. Donald Trump with his victory in this elections.
"We have heard his electoral slogans when he was still a candidate of the presidency and he spoke about reviewing and restoring relations between Russia and the United States. We understand that the way to that is difficult, taking into account the current state of degradation of relations between the US and Russia, and as I have repeatedly said, that it's not our fault that the Russian and American relations are in that poor state. But Russia is ready and want to restore the full-fledged relations with the United States.
"I repeat, we understand that this is a difficult way but we are ready to play our part in it, and do everything to return the Russian and American relations to the stable and sustainable development track.
"This would serve the well-being of both the Russian and American people, and would have a positive impact on the general climate of the global affairs, taking into account the special responsibility of Russia and the U.S. to sustain global stability and security."
Trump victory to affect climate change talks
Adam Vaughan, published in TheGuardian
Donald Trump’s victory will loom large over the UN climate talks underway in Marrakech this week.
The president elect has previously said he does not believe in climate change science, and has promised to pull the US out of the Paris climate change agreement, which came into force last Friday.
Withdrawing from Paris is something he has promised to do in his first 100 days, though experts believe it would take at least four years to unpick it because the accord is now law.
Campaigners warned that the US risked being left behind on the economic opportunities of switching to clean energy. Here’s a wrap of reaction to his win.
May Boeve, executive director of climate group 350.org, said: “Trump’s election is a disaster, but it cannot be the end of the international climate process. We’re not giving up the fight and neither should the international community. Trump will try and slam the brakes on climate action, which means we need to throw all of our weight on the accelerator.
Kelly Stone, policy analyst at development NGO ActionAid, said: “The US has joined the Paris Agreement and must continue to meet its climate obligations. Leaving this important international agreement will damage our credibility with important overseas partners and would be a major setback in the fight against climate change.”
Mohamed Adow, international climate campaigner at the UK-based Christian Aid, said: “Last year’s Paris Agreement showed the world was united in its concern about climate change and its commitment to decarbonising the global economy. The rest of the world will not risk a global climate catastrophe because of one man’s opposition.”
