Donald Trump marked his world-shaking victory over Hillary
Clinton early this morning with a dramatic peace-making
gesture, saying: 'We owe her a debt of gratitude and I mean
that very sincerely.'
After he sensationally won the White House race, Clinton
phoned him at 2:30 a.m. to concede she had lost.
She made the private call shortly after sending her campaign
chairman to give her supporters exactly the opposite
message, that it was not over – a humiliating and bizarre end
to a political career which had put her on the verge of being
the first female president.
Instead a jubilant Trump Election Night headquarters party
erupted in cheers as the news broke.
Trump accepted the mantle of leadership with uncharacteristic
humility nearly three hours after Election Day was over.
'Now it's time for America to bind the wounds of division,' he
began his victory speech just before 3am. 'I pledge to every
citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans –
and this is so important to me.
'For those who have chosen not to support me in the past -
of which there were a few people - I'm reaching out to you for
your guidance and your help, so we can work together and
unify our great country.'
'I promise you that I will not let you down,' he said.
He thanked his parents, saying they were 'wonderful in every
regard'. He thanked his sisters, his brothers, his wife and
children 'for putting up with all of those hours. ... This
political stuff was nasty and it was tough'. He even thanked
the U.S. Secret Service.
And in a twist nearly as bizarre as the sum of Campaign
2016, he thanked Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who
had called him minutes earlier to concede the presidential
race after declining to do it from the stage of what was to be
her own victory party.
Instead of bluster about her classified emails, Trump brought
a gracious acknowledgement of her decades of government
service.