MAGA faithful as blue wall crashes and victory secure

One woman was weeping, people were hugging, some dancing to the periodic bursts of Trump’s trademark favourite by YMCA over the sound system; most were whooping and cheering.

When Donald Trump strode on to the stage at around 2.30am local time at the Palm Beach Convention centre to declare victory, the crowd was still ecstatic, even after eight hours of analysing the drip feed of electoral results across the vast US.

Victory came slowly, then suddenly: the Democrat blue wall of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania looked as though it might hold for Kamala Harris, then it burst all at once. The sombre voices of the cable news hosts and panellists at CNN And MSNBC told the story as much as the numbers did.

British MP Nigel Farage, who just happened to be standing next to me in the audience minutes before Donald Trump came upon the stage, praised Trump’s historic win as the “greatest … comeback in a long time”.

The Republican win, which appeared to include the Senate and House of Representatives too, will “mean a lot for the English-speaking world” following “four years of weakness” under Democratic leadership in the US, he told The Australian.

The Palm Beach Convention Centre became a sea of MAGA hats from around 5pm on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) as thousands of select supporters and journalists – The Australian was among only a tiny number of foreign newspapers permitted to join the event – mingled before giant television screens. It was an increasingly happy and excited MAGA jamboree as the night wore on, with perhaps 3000 guests.

It was nevertheless, as some guests complained, the ‘‘B list’’ party. Mining magnate Gina Rinehart was one of the select handful of supporters who were invited to Mr Trump’s Mar A Lago residence a few kilometres away, where the soon to be 47th president hosted his family and close friends separately from the Convention Centre.

She told The Australian Trump’s victory was the “greatest comeback since 1892”, referring to the only other time a president, Grover Cleveland, had been re-elected after losing office, and that she was “very happy for the president and for the USA”.

“He certainly gave it his all, and the people of the USA responded. When does the president sleep? I asked a security man accompanying him and he replied in the last few weeks, almost not at all,” Mrs Rinehart told The Australian.

“Assuming the president wins both houses, I’d say his presidency will bring more prosperity to the USA than before, and he’ll be able to accomplish even more than last time – including making Americans safer when he fixes the border nightmare.”

Former Liberal Party powerbroker Teena McQueen, Mrs Rinehart’s special adviser who accompanied her to the US and Mar A Lago, said it was the “best night of my life – including childbirth”.

The extent of Trump’s victory, including even the elusive ‘popular vote’, surprised many guests. “I thought it would be tighter than this,” Farage said. “He’s brought together a new coalition of Hispanics, Blacks … that is very powerful.”

Mr Trump, sporting his usual red tie and suit, appeared calm and proud when he finally addressed the crowd, a remarkable achievement given the day earlier the 78-year-old spoke for at least six hours across four different states to drum up those crucial votes to secure victory.

Mr Farage said he saw Mr Trump earlier on election day and he appeared “rock solid … calm, so calm,” he said.

Even in victory the political fundraising continued apace: wine and beer were $US13 and $US9, respectively. Organisers put on a complimentary, if unexpected dinner option: vegetarian spring rolls.

Trump himself won’t need the funds to campaign, but his growing MAGA movement, now by far the most dominant, will be grateful for them.