‘It Was Just Jubilation’: Trump Supporters Revel in His Victory
Although some people were not sure which policies Donald J. Trump would focus on first, they were relieved and elated by the win.
Mike Cordeiro, a libertarian-leaning owner of a small Florida cannabis company, woke up on Wednesday morning feeling great. He has long thought the American status quo needed a good shaking. And with the victory of Donald J. Trump, he was optimistic that big change was in the offing.
“It’s amazing,” Mr. Cordeiro, 42, said of Mr. Trump’s victory. “I think it’s a beautiful thing, the people he has with him: Elon, Tulsi, Vivek, or whatever his name is. I think it’s going to be a game changer.”
As tens of millions of Americans trudged off to start their Wednesday with hearts full of fear, anger and dread, a little more than half of the nation’s voters — over 71 million — were feeling something between cautious optimism and flat-out ebullience over Mr. Trump’s decisive victory and return to the White House.
In interviews with voters around the country, it was evident how strongly Mr. Trump’s bedrock campaign promises, like improving the economy, fixing the immigration system and avoiding major wars, had resonated. It was also clear how much faith many Americans continued to have in him, despite his extensive history of deceit, his multiple felony indictments and his blatant efforts to overturn his 2020 electoral loss.
Indeed, some supporters were hoping that with a second term for Mr. Trump on the horizon, the United States would finally have a chance to taste a straight-up slug of undiluted Trumpism, given the decisiveness of his victory; the likelihood that he will have fewer skeptical, non-MAGA voices in his cabinet; and the possibility of full Republican control of Congress. (The election results gave Mr. Trump’s Republican Party a majority in the U.S. Senate, though the battle for control of the U.S. House of Representatives remained unresolved.)
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