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First Read's Morning Clips: The Elite Got It Wrong

A roundup of the most important political news stories of the day.
Image: US-VOTE-ELECTIONS-CLINTON
Media and supporters of Clinton watch results unfold during election night at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York on Nov. 8.ANGELA WEISS / AFP - Getty Images

OFF TO THE RACES: The Elite got it wrong

Leading NBCNews.com: "America woke up Wednesday to a new and unexpected reality — Donald J. Trump will be the next president of the United States.”

From NBC’s Benjy Sarlin: "The Elite Got It Wrong. Trump's Supporters Want You to Know Why.”

Leaders around the world were stunned by the result.

Vladimir Putin has congratulated Trump on his win.

From NBC’s Perry Bacon Jr: "The Republican sweep of the House and Senate as well as the presidency gives the GOP singular power to undo President Barack Obama's signature accomplishments and enact the party's key policies. Republicans did not win 60 votes in the Senate, so Democrats could use filibusters in that chamber to limit some conservative policies. But congressional Republicans have already suggested they will use a budget process called reconciliation, by which bills in the Senate only require 51 votes, to either eliminate or dramatically overhaul the Affordable Care Act."

How much did Trump dominate among working class whites? Our exit poll desk takes a look.

The Associated Press: "Donald Trump claimed his place Wednesday as America's 45th president, an astonishing victory for the celebrity businessman and political novice who capitalized on voters' economic anxieties, took advantage of racial tensions and overcame a string of sexual assault allegations on his way to the White House."

The New York Times: "Donald John Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States on Tuesday in a stunning culmination of an explosive, populist and polarizing campaign that took relentless aim at the institutions and long-held ideals of American democracy. The surprise outcome, defying late polls that showed Hillary Clinton with a modest but persistent edge, threatened convulsions throughout the country and the world, where skeptics had watched with alarm as Mr. Trump’s unvarnished overtures to disillusioned voters took hold.”

What’s happening in the markets? The Wall Street Journal: "Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the presidential race spiraled through financial markets overnight Tuesday and into Wednesday morning, sending U.S. stock futures and the dollar sliding and havens such as gold and the Japanese yen soaring …. But after Mr. Trump’s victory speech, the dollar recovered its steep losses against European currencies, gold shed some gains, and the sharp slides that had come as his electoral-vote tally mounted overnight partly receded. U.S. stock futures, for instance, had earlier tumbled 5%, hitting a limit designed to halt further drops."

From POLITICO: "Everything that Democrats and pretty much anyone else thought they understood about politics was proven wrong this year, with a resounding exclamation mark Tuesday night. All along this looked like a hard fight, but never a fight that she seemed to be losing, even on the darkest days on a campaign that never quite felt like it was winning, either."

The Washington Post: "Donald Trump was elected the nation’s 45th president in the stunning culmination of a campaign that defied expectations and conventions at every turn and galvanized legions of aggrieved Americans in a loud repudiation of the status quo.”

Notes the New York Times: "For the first time since before World War II, Americans chose a president who promised to reverse the internationalism practiced by predecessors of both parties and to build walls both physical and metaphorical. Mr. Trump’s win foreshadowed an America more focused on its own affairs while leaving the world to take care of itself.”

It was a stunner in the Senate, too, with Republicans actually keeping their majority intact.