After Trump secured Pennsylvania and Alaska, raising his total to the required 270 electoral votes, Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) declared the election for him.
In the midst of a string of unanticipated events, including a criminal trial during the campaign, two assassination attempts, and a late shuffle at the top of the Democratic ticket after President Biden’s resignation, Trump won a tense race against Vice President Kamala Harris.With this win, Trump becomes the only president to win the presidency again after losing an election since Grover Cleveland in 1892.
Battleground polls remained extremely close until Election Day, and he was able to secure his hold on North Carolina and flip important states like Georgia on his way to victory. Trump also achieved a victory in the popular vote.
Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) was Trump’s running mate during the campaign. Trump used the instability across the world, border security, and rising expenses to mobilize Americans in favor of a return to his policies.
Exit surveys showed a high participation of Latino voters, a rise in support from rural areas, and a close tie with Harris among young men, a group his campaign had actively courted.
Trump’s program indicates a harsh stance: he has promised to dismantle the Department of Education, implement universal tariffs, extend his 2017 tax cuts, wipe down transgender protections, and enforce immigration broadly.
Trump has also pledged to put together an administration that shares his worldview.
Trump was able to counteract possible losses on the abortion issue, which became a major theme with the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade, despite a historically challenging route with female voters.
Despite bringing up this problem during her campaign, Harris was ultimately unable to win over enough people.
With Republicans regaining control of the Senate, Trump’s win might move the Supreme Court even further to the right.
After losing in 2020 and winning by a slim margin in 2016, Trump’s comeback brings an end to a time during which he made strong but unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud.
Trump has made it clear that he intends to fire Special Counsel Jack Smith, which might impede current investigations into the 2023 federal indictment for his post-2020 conduct.
