Hillary Clinton retweets her own message originally posted after her defeat in 2016

Normally, Republicans don't win Michigan. In fact, Trump was the first Republican presidential candidate to take Michigan -- historically one of the sturdiest bricks in the Democrats' "blue wall" -- since 1988. "Did you ever think you'd be hearing a major speech like in around close to one o'clock in the morning? Are we crazy? Is this crazy? It's crazy," he said at the time. "You'll get up after about two hours, you'll vote and you'll go to work. I know my Michigan people," he added. And his people came back Monday, hyped up by the idea of dealing the world another surprise four years on.

2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton was so sure of winning Michigan that she barely set foot in the state. She had added a last-minute rally in Grand Rapids on the last day -- prompting Trump to schedule his own. Unlike in the American South, there is no Michigan county that votes 90 per cent Trump. The electorate is more evenly divided, more moderate. Between Democratic apathy in the cities and the over-the-top enthusiasm of suburban and rural Republicans, Trump beat his opponent by 10,704 votes -- just 0.3 per cent of the state total.

Michigan is land of unions and skilled labour, where carmakers Ford, General Motors and Chrysler cemented Detroit's reputation worldwide. Grand Rapids, the second-largest city in the state, is better known for its furniture makers, and automotive suppliers specializing in plastics and air bags, whose buildings cut into the farmland that stretches to the shores of Lake Michigan, an hour to the west.

This time, however, things might turn out different for Trump in Michigan. He promised factories and automobile plants in 2016. But the Michigan manufacturing industry lost 5,000 jobs last year, plus 60,000 jobs due to the pandemic. One of the big providers of new jobs is Amazon, whose owner Jeff Bezos is much reviled by Trump.