'Comeback King': Trump stuns US media with dramatic return

President-elect Donald Trump has been hailed as the "comeback king" in the US media after his unexpectedly large election triumph that few pundits or newspapers saw coming.

Polls had suggested a tight contest between the 78-year-old and Democratic challenger Kamala Harris, but Trump scored a clear and early victory in the electoral college on Wednesday and looked on course for a sweep of the popular vote.

Coverage in leading newspapers and television networks focused on the improbable return of the politician-showman who had been written off after losing power in 2020.

"Trump Storms Back," said a banner headline on the homepage of the New York Times, while its main analysis article said America had hired a "strongman."

"America stands on the precipice of an authoritarian style of governance never before seen in its 248-year history," it said.

Conservative tabloid the New York Post riffed on the Lazarus-like powers of the city's best-known real estate mogul with a front page headline that read "He's Don it Again."

"Trump the Colossus is the comeback king," it noted over an article inside.

'Trump Triumphs'

"Trump Wins the Election and a Second Chance," wrote the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal.

"It’s a bigger win than in 2016," it noted. "Yet Mr. Trump’s comeback wouldn’t have been possible without the policy failures of the Biden Administration and Congressional Democrats.

"He won again because President Biden failed to deliver the unity and prosperity he promised, and because over four years voters have soured on the results of his progressive policies," the paper added.

The often vicious and personal 2024 election campaign saw turmoil at two normally left-leaning newspapers, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, which did not offer endorsements for Harris, allegedly under pressure from their billionaire owners.

In its coverage of the results, the LA Times also focused on the "extraordinary comeback" of the man who is set to be the 47th president and the first person in more than 120 years to have two non-consecutive terms as president.

It noted that Trump's third tilt at the presidency had been "defined by dark, meandering speeches, promises to deport millions of people... and threats to use the US military against his domestic foes and 'radical-left lunatics'."

"Trump Triumphs" read a banner headline on the homepage of the Washington Post, while a separate analysis article said his win was "his greatest resurrection in a career of comebacks."

Analysing Trump's victory, conservative TV channel Fox News recalled how Trump had hailed his supporters during his victory speech overnight on Tuesday as "the greatest political movement of all time."

"For an undisciplined candidate known for his hyperbole, Tuesday's election results appeared to prove Trump right," the network said.