Trump Declares Victory in Arizona; All Swing States Registered in His Name

With Donald Trump's victory in Arizona, he has managed to secure the electoral votes in all seven swing states of the election. Arizona, which has 11 electoral votes, was the last state to announce its results. According to the Associated Press, based on unofficial results, Donald Trump, representing the Republican Party in the presidential election, has obtained a total of 312 electoral votes, while his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris has garnered 226 votes in total. Meanwhile, Republicans are on the verge of taking control of the U.S. House of Representatives, which is crucial for advancing the agenda of the elected President, Donald Trump, upon his return to the White House in January. Trump's victory was confirmed on Wednesday, November 16, one day after the election, following his acquisition of 270 electoral votes. He was able to defeat his opponent in all seven pivotal states: Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Nevada. As the counting of votes continues, Republicans have so far secured 213 seats in the 435-member House of Representatives. According to predictions from Edison Research announced on Saturday night, Dan Newhouse, a representative in this House, has garnered enough votes to maintain Republican control over Colorado's third congressional district. Republicans need to win five more seats to maintain control of the House while also achieving enough victories to take control of the Senate from the Democrats. Edison Research reported that Democrats have so far secured 205 seats, which includes the anticipated victory of Greg Stanton, a representative from Arizona, in the re-election on Saturday. To gain control of the House, Democrats must win 13 out of the remaining 17 seats. With Trump's victory in the presidential election and the Republicans gaining control of the Senate, maintaining control of the House could give Republicans significant power to advance a broad agenda of tax cuts and spending reductions, energy deregulation, and border security controls. In the previous election cycle in 2020, Joe Biden was able to win in six swing states, narrowly losing North Carolina to Donald Trump. In that cycle, Biden secured a total of 306 electoral votes while Trump obtained 232. On the other hand, the elected President of the United States announced that Nikki Haley and Mike Pompeo, two senior officials from his previous administration, will not be part of the new government, but he intends to express gratitude for their services to the country on his social media platform, Truth, on Sunday morning, November 20. Ms. Haley served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in Trump's previous administration, and Mr. Pompeo initially served as CIA Director and then as Secretary of State; there had been speculation about the potential involvement of these two in Trump's new administration. At the same time, Steven Mnuchin, former Treasury Secretary under Trump, told Reuters that he does not intend to join the new administration of the elected President but is ready to advise his successor, including on strengthening sanctions against Iran and Russia and controlling the growth of U.S. debt. He stated that the U.S. needs to implement stronger financial sanctions and take further actions to cut off oil revenues from Iran and Russia. When Donald Trump officially begins his term in January 2025, he will inherit national security challenges, including major wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. However, there has been less discussion about the increasing nuclear threats that the United States faces, including from Russia, China, and Iran. Reuters has examined five significant nuclear weapons challenges facing Trump regarding Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and the U.S. In its report, Reuters suggested that the Islamic Republic may decide to build a nuclear weapon following recent missile attacks on its arch-enemy Israel and Biden's failure to revive negotiations with world powers to restore limits on its nuclear program. According to this analysis, next October, when the UN Security Council resolution allowing for the 'rapid return' of international sanctions against Iran expires, Washington and its European allies will lose their leverage over Tehran. While Iran has proposed to resume nuclear negotiations, Israeli attacks could compel Tehran to revive its nuclear program. In 2015, under the JCPOA agreement, some sanctions were lifted in exchange for accepting stringent limits on Iran's nuclear program, but in 2017, Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from this agreement, and Iran subsequently violated the restrictions in response. According to U.S. officials, the time it takes for Tehran to produce enough enriched uranium for a warhead has decreased from one year to a few weeks or days, although it still requires more time to build an actual bomb. However, the Iranian Foreign Minister has referred to the Islamic Republic's policy based on what he calls 'Islamic teachings and calculations' and stated that the Islamic Republic is 'not seeking nuclear weapons.' Abbas Araghchi has written on several social media platforms, including Telegram and X, that he respects the American people's right to choose their President but emphasized that the path ahead [in relations] is also a 'choice' that must be based on 'mutual respect' and trust-building. In another reaction, Mohammad Javad Zarif, the strategic vice president of Iran, stated that the elected President of the U.S. must demonstrate that he will not pursue previous policies toward Iran. His remarks came on Saturday, November 19, just hours after Washington accused Iran of participating in a plot to assassinate Donald Trump. Zarif referred to Trump's 'maximum pressure' policy during his first term, stating that this policy caused 'Iran's enrichment to increase from 3.5% to 60% and the number of centrifuges to rise.' Zarif further stated that Trump is a calculating person and 'must weigh the pros and cons of this policy and whether he still wants to continue this detrimental policy or change it.' During his first term, Trump adopted a maximum pressure policy against the Islamic Republic after withdrawing from the JCPOA.