On Wednesday, Donald Trump was elected as the 47th President of the United States, marking an extraordinary comeback for the former president who refused to concede defeat four years ago, ignited a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, was convicted on felony charges, and survived two assassination attempts.
With a decisive win in Wisconsin, Trump surpassed the 270 electoral votes required to secure the presidency. His victory reinforces his combative approach to politics, as he attacked his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, with deeply personal, often misogynistic and racially charged comments, painting an apocalyptic vision of a country overwhelmed by violent migrants. This coarse rhetoric, coupled with his image of hypermasculinity, resonated with angry voters—particularly men—in an increasingly polarized nation.
“I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president,” Trump said to a cheering crowd in Florida, even before his victory was officially confirmed.
Across state after state, Trump surpassed his 2020 election performance, while Harris fell short of the success Joe Biden achieved in securing the presidency four years prior. Upon re-entering office, Trump will also benefit from a Senate majority now in Republican hands, though control of the House remains undecided.
“We’ve been through so much together, and today you showed up in record numbers to deliver a victory,” Trump declared. “This was something special, and we’re going to pay you back,” he added.
In his second term, Trump has vowed to pursue an agenda focused on drastically restructuring the federal government and exacting retribution against his perceived adversaries.
The results conclude a historically tumultuous and highly competitive election season, marked by two assassination attempts against Trump and a shift to a new Democratic nominee just one month before the party’s convention. When Trump assumes office on January 20, he will inherit a host of challenges, including intensified political polarization and global crises that are testing America’s international influence.
Trump’s victory over Harris, the first woman of color to lead a major party ticket, marks the second time he has defeated a female candidate in a general election. Harris, currently the U.S. vice president, ascended to the top of the ticket after Biden withdrew amid concerns about his advanced age. Despite an early surge of enthusiasm for her campaign, she struggled within a compressed timeline to persuade disillusioned voters that she represented a break from an unpopular administration.
The vice president has yet to make a public statement since the race was called. Her campaign co-chair, Cedric Richmond, indicated she would speak on Wednesday, saying, “She will be back here tomorrow.”
Trump is now the first former president to regain the White House since Grover Cleveland did so in the 1892 election. He is also the first individual with a felony conviction to be elected president and, at 78, becomes the oldest person to assume the office. His vice president, 40-year-old Ohio Senator JD Vance, will become the highest-ranking member of the millennial generation in the U.S. government.
