Trump's win offers many lessons

Donald Trump won fairly and convincingly. His sweeping victory likely earns him the popular vote this time, part of his improvement on previous results, including large margins on Long Island, in New York City, and throughout the state. Riding along with his success was Republican control of the U.S. Senate and quite possibly the House of Representatives, all of which can make his second administration more consequential.

To half the nation, that is provoking sadness and frustration. But rather than lashing out, those who opposed Trump would be better served by listening to the echoes of his victory. His working class coalition expanded beyond its white base, as Trump made major inroads with Hispanics, young men, and first-time voters. Democrats need to understand there is something going on here. There has been a strong sense for a while now that things are not better for younger generations, that they won't enjoy the social and economic mobility of their parents.

Trump's gains seem to signal an ongoing realignment of our major parties. Republicans are consolidating the working class across all races while Democrats are becoming a party for college graduates and white-collar professionals. Whether deep inequalities are fueling this decisive shift or it is something more transient remains to be seen. For the GOP, are their voters embracing populism and national isolationism as a governing theory or simply backing someone they like?

The decline in the Democratic vote in some of the most staunchly blue states makes it clear that the Joe Biden/Kamala Harris administration was rejected. It's not so much that Trump's supporters were not worried about the strains of misogyny, racism, mendacity, and crassness in Trump's campaign. It's that they cared more about other things.

TRUMP WON ON ISSUES

Trump won on specific issues — namely, immigration and the economy — and capitalized on the unwillingness of Democrats to acknowledge the seriousness of the former problem and honestly address it, and their inability to articulate what was happening with the latter and propose realistic ways to help those who felt the brunt of higher interest rates.

The voting numbers in New York are instructive. From his win in 2016, to his loss in 2020 and resurgence in 2024, Trump garnered 2.8 million, 3.3 million and 3.4 million votes. His Democratic opponents — Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Harris — received 4.6 million, 5.2 million, and this year 4.3 million, a spectacular plunge and a warning to Democrats about the increasingly unpopular policies pursued by the extreme left flank of their party. On Long Island, Trump gave Republicans their first presidential win in three decades in Nassau County, and the largest red margin ever in Suffolk.

Will Democrats heed the alarm?

But we also must take a step back and understand that when this year's counting is done, the national popular vote likely will confirm what we have understood about our country for a while — that we are a 50-50 nation, give or take a point or two in one direction or the other. That closeness has implications for our reactions to the results.

Winners must not overreach by citing an ungranted mandate. And losers must not adopt the typical posture of reflexively trying to thwart the winner at every turn. Otherwise, we will never move forward as a country when there are so many pressing issues that need to be solved.

PREPARE TO COMPROMISE

Trump's opponents must be willing to work with him on problems that offer a possibility for compromise, like immigration and the economy, but be ready to push back on other areas where there is no room for compromise, like retribution against enemies, hollowing out the federal government, and dismantling the rules and norms that keep our democracy strong. A second Trump term could stress our system, but it is resilient.

For Trump, it means spelling out soon what his mass-deportation promises actually mean in terms of separating families. There is a desperate need for clarity on this score. Everyone here without legal status cannot realistically be repatriated, so who exactly is at risk? Those who are violent or gang members, by all means. But who else? People are justifiably terrified.

It also means abandoning the troubling toxicity of his campaign. As he again prepares to assume the mantle of the leader of all Americans, this behavior has to stop. It demeans both him and the people he targets and is an impediment to the worthy goals he expressed in claiming victory Tuesday night — uniting the country, ushering in a "golden age" for America, and fighting for Americans "every single day" and "with every breath in my body."

Many voters, including some who supported him, have deeply felt concerns about Trump's return to the White House, concerns based on Trump's own words and the turmoil that marked his first administration. We share those concerns, and worry about whom he plans to appoint to help him govern. Uncertainty is to be expected, chaos is not.

For now, the nation should offer its congratulations and prepare for his return, ready to work with him where possible. Our institutional guardrails must be primed to function effectively. Above all, Trump should ready himself to responsibly take the reins and fulfill his promise to make America heal.