The MAGA crowd was drunk on joy. The room hit fever pitch. But Trump was calm as a cucumber: ROB CRILLY reveals all the glittering gossip from inside Donald's watch party

The solemnisation was successful full, frenzied swing.

Concession stands were starting to tally debased connected alcoholic seltzers. In Donald Trump’s run office successful West Palm Beach, his astir ardent supporters had been drinking for hours.

As it crept past midnight, a shoeless pistillate successful a abbreviated achromatic formal emptied her guts onto the bare factual level of the normal center.

Yet, determination was 1 antheral successful this immense assemblage who had not travel to party.

Trump strode connected to the signifier astatine astir 2.30am (ET), stern-faced and somber, the value of past upon him.

In 2016, helium had greeted supporters successful disbelief. Some reports adjacent suggested his woman Melania had been brought to tears by the daze of it all.

He was a astonishment victor then. Now, helium was a conqueror — a leader returning to assertion what was his, flanked by his household and closest allies: the elusive Melania decked retired successful Dior; daughters Tiffany and Ivanka, successful bluish velvet alongside her hubby Jared Kushner; sons Barron, Eric and Don Jr; and Trump’s ebullient granddaughter Kai.

'This was, I believe, the top governmental question of each time,' Trump said, lasting successful beforehand of 47 flags to denote his caller numerical presumption successful the database of U.S. presidents.

The assemblage went wild, fists and phones raised successful the aerial arsenic chants of ‘USA! USA! USA!’ boomed to the ceiling.

But gone was Trump the brash, carnival-barker of the run trail. Nor was helium the snarling counterpuncher of his property conferences, oregon the sullen courtroom defendant.

This was different relation entirely. This was Presidential Trump.

'He's nary longer a candidate,' 1 of his cardinal allies told me. 'He's the President-elect.'

This victory, however, was hardly assured.

For weeks, Trump’s run squad had clung to interior polling that suggested triumph implicit Vice President Kamala Harris. But fewer extracurricular his ellipse shared their optimism.

After all, Trump had near the White House astir 4 years agone with historically debased support ratings, his presidency tarnished by ungraded and chaos – and, of course, the ignominy of January 6.

In contrast, Harris’s Democrats believed they had the cleanable look for success: a proven turnout instrumentality and a fired-up basal – peculiarly women, driven to the polls by the termination issue.

The race, astir analysts said, was excessively adjacent to telephone — a coin flip that could spell either way.

But, arsenic predetermination nighttime unfolded successful the blustery Floridian heat, Trump’s allies softly began to explicit cautious optimism.

Nigel Farage, the British person of the populist Reform Party, was connected his mode to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago location erstwhile helium spoke to the Mail conscionable earlier the East Coast polls closed: ‘The turnout successful agrarian and non-urban areas has been exceptionally high, and if you adhd that to the large numbers we’re seeing successful postal voting, the Trump squad is feeling precise bully astir tonight.’

At astir the clip Farage was enjoying his archetypal gin and tonic, Trump supporters began trickling into the Trump HQ normal center, conscionable crossed the h2o from the millionaires' paradise of Palm Beach.

Women successful shimmering dresses, men successful reddish MAGA hats — the assemblage began to swell, tense vigor gathering successful the air.

Trump superfan Blake Marnell, easy identifiable successful his brick-print suit designed to lucifer a borderline wall, was among the archetypal to arrive.

He was coming to the extremity of his ain run odyssey, having driven 15,000 miles successful a rental car successful caller months, pursuing Trump from rally to rally crossed America.

‘The temper is positive,’ Marnell said, his eyes gleaming with quiescent confidence. ‘We person much paths to triumph than she does.’

At 7:00 pm, the archetypal large telephone was made: Indiana, a reddish state, fell into Trump’s column. A muted cheer rippled done the crowd.

Corey Lewandowski, a elder advisor to Trump, stood adjacent the signifier and outlined the strategy: ‘Our way is 3 states,’ helium said, portion pointing to assorted cardinal battlegrounds connected a map. ‘She has to triumph them all.’

But arsenic the nighttime wore on, nerves began to fray. The stakes were high, and nary 1 could yet foretell the outcome.

Rose Rououluis, a passionate protagonist draped successful a red-sequined coat, summed up the MAGA mood: ‘If they bash thing to him, the radical volition instrumentality to the streets. We emotion him for his heart, and we won’t fto thing hap to him.’

Trump himself had spent the time dialing successful to ‘get-out-the-vote’ events, his aides noting that helium had taken ‘executive time’ to remainder earlier the agelong nighttime ahead.

Meanwhile, successful Mar-a-Lago, cardinal figures successful his run gathered. Farage and Tesla billionaire Elon Musk mingled with a fistful of nine members, awaiting the archetypal signs of victory.

A root contiguous told maine the erstwhile president had addressed astir 250 Mar-a-Lago members soon aft midnight, with his household alongside him. 'He told them it's looking good,' the insider said.

Others described Trump’s demeanor arsenic remarkably composed, sitting successful the mediate of the country watching the results rotation successful connected television, surrounded by radical frantically checking their phones.

'Trump himself was arsenic calm arsenic a cucumber,' said Farage. 'Literally, helium was sitting successful the mediate of the ballroom with radical partying each astir him, conscionable sitting there, casually chatting, eating an crystal cream. Very relaxed.’

When Florida’s results came successful astatine 8.01pm, it was the archetypal existent motion that Trump mightiness beryllium connected way to defy expectations.

Long lines astatine polling stations successful the Sunshine State had triggered fears that an amendment to overthrow Governor Ron DeSantis’s arguable six-week termination prohibition had mobilized Democrats.

But exit polls showed that not lone had Trump outperformed his 2020 numbers successful the state, helium was besides connected gait to triumph Democratic strongholds similar Miami-Dade County, an omen that his interior polling mightiness person been close each along.

A question of alleviation swept implicit the crowd.

A fewer of hours later, things were looking adjacent better. Trump had won Iowa, successful spite of an bonzer survey astatine the play by respected pollster Ann Seltzer that showed Harris up 3 points successful the reliably reddish state. In the end, his pb surged to treble digits.

‘F*** Ann Selzer,’ 1 staffer shouted.

The solemnisation was, certainly, starting to lukewarm up. The bars were heaving, the assemblage pressing person to the convention-center stage. The premix of attendees was a spectacle: the ‘Ride for 45’ biker unit successful leather vests, the high-heeled Palm Beach set, and young men dressed arsenic mini-Trumps successful acheronian suits, achromatic shirts and agelong reddish ties.

With each consequent call, the vigor successful the country reached a fever pitch. North Carolina, the archetypal plaything authorities to beryllium called, went Trump’s way.

Then Pennsylvania — with its coveted 19 electoral votes — followed suit. The assemblage erupted successful a chorus of disbelief that rapidly morphed into chaotic jubilation.

'It's a vindication, an illustration of what everybody felt and knew,' said Alexandra Preate, a salient governmental strategist, clutching a solid of reddish vino and high-fiving anyone successful sight. ‘Everyday Americans felt it. The polls didn’t amusement it, but we knew it,’ helium said.

The country swelled with the crowd’s roars – rapidly replaced by the kitschy 70s deed and classical Trump rally opus ‘YMCA’.

By the clip the antheral himself took the stage, triumph was each but assured.

But for Trump, this was much than a governmental win. It was a idiosyncratic redemption, a instrumentality to powerfulness aft a turbulent chapter. Just similar successful 2016, earlier the ineligible battles, the impeachment proceedings, and the assassination attempts that followed, his household stood arsenic one.

And arsenic the confetti rained down and cheers reverberated done the hall, Trump vowed to bring healing to a fractured America: ‘Success is going to bring america together.’