Crowds take to the streets, Trump’s 70-plus lawsuits and new administration sticks with promise of a ‘big wall’

Sign up to receive FirstFT by email here

Thousands protested against the election of Donald Trump across major US cities on Wednesday night including, New York City, Washington DC, Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle, Boston and San Francisco. In New York, many based themselves outside Trump Tower and other properties owned by Mr Trump. The Republican’s victory also sparked rallies at college campuses in California, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

The US — and the world — was still reeling the day after the surprise victory of Mr Trump. The Federal Reserve was facing the possibility of a policy shake-up from the president-elect, who has been critical of the central bank while Hillary Clinton is likely to win the popular vote. It also looks like the new administration intends to keep its promise of constructing a wall on America’s southern border.

Meanwhile, markets reversed the panic that gripped them the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average narrowly missed a closing high while markets in Asia rebounded from their steepest decline since Britain voted to leave the EU. (FT, Guardian, NYT)

Election 2016

White won Jamelle Bouie on the message the election of Donald Trump sends to people of colour: “More than anything, Trump promises a restoration of white authority. After eight years of a black president — after eight years in which cosmopolitan America asserted its power and its influence, eight years in which women leaned in and blacks declared that their lives mattered — millions of white Americans said enough. They had their fill of this world and wanted the old one back.” (Slate)

Southeast Asia’s strongmen revel From outspoken Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to Cambodia’s Hun Sen, Donald Trump’s election win has thrilled autocratic leaders in several countries in the region. (FT)

Cabinet-in-waiting Donald Trump has selected one of the best-known climate sceptics, Myron Ebell, to lead his US EPA transition team, according to sources. Meanwhile, the US could get one of the more “eclectic and controversial presidential Cabinets” in modern history. (Scientific American, Politico)

Michael Moore The documentary film-maker predicted a Donald Trump victory with a five-point argument back in July. It ended up being incredibly prescient on just how Mrs Clinton would lose. Now Mr Moore’s “Morning After To-Do List” is going viral on social media. (michaelmoore.com, Facebook)

On the bright side Marijuana has become legal in a majority of US states following Tuesday’s election, a paradigm shift that signals how much American attitudes towards the drug have changed. (FT)

Lunch with the FT “It’s the old story. Never give up,” Donald Trump said at a lunch with the FT at Trump Tower in 2013 that attempted to get beyond the outer showman. (FT)

Elsewhere in the media Here are newspaper front pages from around the world. New Yorker editor David Remnick calls the election result a “sickening event”, the FT’s Ed Luce writes the president-elect has been given a mandate to “blow up” Washington; while Garrison Keillor in the Washington Post believes “Trumpers never expected their guy to actually win the thing, and that’s their problem now”. But Robert W Merry in the National Interest suggests that the real threat was the country’s ruling elites and they have been replaced with a “nationalist sensibility”. Finally, Brendan O’Neill says in the Spectator the “sneering response” to Trump’s win reveals why he won. (Guardian, New Yorker, FT, WaPo, National Interest, Spectator)

Trump in court Amid all the news, you may have forgotten the president-elect is due in court before he is due in the Oval Office. There are still more than 70 open lawsuits involving him and his businesses. One trial involving the now-defunct Trump University is scheduled to begin on November 28, although legal experts believe his election means he probably will not have to testify. (Reuters, USA Today, Bloomberg)

Other news

Yahoo knew Yahoo has admitted that at least some staff knew that a state-sponsored hacker had accessed its network shortly after an attack took place two years ago, adding to the uncertainty over Verizon’s $4.8bn deal to acquire the internet company’s operations. (FT)

Alibaba betting global Singles Day The ecommerce site wants November 11 to not just be Singles Day in China, but around the world, as the holiday that the ecommerce group turned into a shopping phenomenon in 2009 has become its cash cow. Separately, Alibaba is one of the Chinese internet companies with the most to lose after Donald Trump’s victory. (NAR, Bloomberg)

Warning in Europe In what could be a taste of what could come in a Trump-led US, the European Commission has downgraded its latest growth forecasts for the eurozone and the UK on the back of uncertainties generated by the Brexit vote and a wider anger against globalisation. (FT)

It’s a big day for

The world See above.

India and Japan Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Japan on Thursday and is hopeful the two nations will deepen economic ties in nuclear energy and other areas. (NAR)

Food for thought

Journalism’s day of reckoning The media’s inability to understand Donald Trump’s rise over the past year, ending in his victory on Tuesday night, stand among journalism’s great failures, certainly in a generation and probably in modern times. (Columbia Journalism Review)

China eyes chance At precisely the moment Donald Trump was giving his victory speech, Chinese TV channels were running extensive coverage of a space mission, and President Xi even chose US results day to talk to China’s astronauts by satellite link. (BBC)

Put down your phone There are a lot of reasons why you should not use electronic devices before going to sleep. Here’s another. (Guardian)

Video of the day

Trump policies that could change the US A Trump presidency could scupper some of Barack Obama’s main achievements, including on healthcare, climate change policy and the nuclear deal with Iran. (FT)