It’s a question that’s been asked around the globe. What do Americans see in Donald Trump? Now it looks like the world will be repeating that question ad nauseam for the next four years.

He babbled incoherently at many campaign stops. Hurled invective at his opponent and in one extraordinary fit of rampant rage very clearly suggested that former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney should be stood before a firing squad.

Now, four years after he lost the presidency, Trump looks about to storm back to victory, to reclaim the job he refused to acknowledge he had lost. If his supporters storm Congress once again, this time it will be to perform a victory jig.

The property dealer turned President has won almost all the key states on which election was bound to turn. To overtake him Vice President Kamala Harris will have to win three remaining swing states, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.

At present, Trump appears to be leading even in these states.

Florida, with its large population of Latinos, was an early and clear victory for him. Most amazing was the fact that he wrapped up a larger share of the vote than in both 2016 and 2020. The pollsters pointed out that many Americans have been moving to the state and they were mostly possible Trump supporters. But this was an early indication of the direction the wind was blowing.

Trump won 56 per cent of the votes compared to Kamala Harris’s 42 per cent. The state has 30 electoral college votes. The state also nixed ballots to legalise abortion.

US voters have over the last three decades become remarkably loyal to one party or the other. So it was always clear that the presidential election would hinge on the seven swing states that could go either way. The biggest of these, Pennsylvania, had still not reported its results at 11.30 IST. But two smaller swing states, North Carolina and Georgia fell into the Trump bag and made it clear that he was very close to walking away with the giant prize that he sought.

It’s an indication of how stable American voting patterns have become that, at the time of writing, the Republican states have stayed firmly with that party and it’s the same story for the Democrat states.

At the time of writing there’s still a very narrow chance that Harris could come up from behind. But for that she would have to win three crucial swing states, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Early indications are that Trump might walk away with all three.

Trump if he wins will be making history in more ways than one. He will be the first President in 127 years to return to office after a gap. The last US President to pull off such a return was Grover Cleveland.

Simultaneously, the Republicans have won control of the Senate. It’s not quite clear yet whether the Democrats will be able to wrest the House of Representatives from the Republicans.

The poll analysts are still unpicking the numbers and they’ll only start looking at the reasons behind them later in the day. Many political commentators had wondered whether a woman — and that too one who was half-Black and half-Brown — could muscle her way into the White House.

Ed Luce of the Financial Times asked a key question: “Twice America has put up a woman for president and twice (it is now highly probable) Trump has beaten them. Sobering lesson on the reality of today’s America.”

We don’t know yet whether the white, educated women stayed with Trump and weren’t convinced by Harris. Or could it have been the Black men who stuck with Trump despite the occasional racist noises he made?

But it seems a safe bet that the old Clinton line drove voters into Trump’s arms: It’s the economy stupid. Biden has done a good job on the economy according to many economists, but Americans almost certainly, are reaching into their pockets and not finding enough cash there.

Besides that, there’s almost constant insecurity about whether their jobs might suddenly vanish if there’s an economic downturn.

What’s also apparent from the numbers is that issues like abortion didn’t have the impact they were expected to have, even with women voters. As for the young, we don’t know yet if they were happy to cast their ballot for a 79-year-old man who rambles semi-clearly and then excuses himself, saying he is doing the “weave”.

One person who may be wondering if he made the right political moves today may be President Joe Biden. The New York Times reported that in 2020 Biden had fared better than Harris in many places like Detroit’s upscale suburbs. Could it be that Biden might have fared better if he had stayed in the fight? These are questions that will be seeking answers in the coming days and weeks.