Donald Trump was elected president of the United States again on Wednesday, making a surprising comeback four years after losing his re-election race and ushering in a new American leadership that will likely test the country’s democratic institutions and relations in the United States. exterior.
Trump, 78, won back the White House by securing more than the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the election, according to projections from Edison Research, after a campaign of dark rhetoric that deepened polarization in the country.
The former president’s victory in the State of Wisconsin confirmed his victory.
“America has given us a powerful and unprecedented mandate,” Trump said Wednesday to a crowd of supporters at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in Florida.
The Republican’s political career appeared to have come to an end after his false claims of voter fraud led a mob of supporters to storm the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a failed attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
But he swept past rivals within his Republican Party and then defeated Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, capitalizing on voters’ concerns about inflation and what Trump claimed, without evidence, was a rise in crime due to illegal immigration. .
Kamala did not speak to supporters who gathered at Howard University. Her campaign co-chair, Cedric Richmond, spoke briefly to the crowd after midnight, saying she would speak publicly Wednesday.
Republicans still won a majority in the Senate, but neither party appeared to have a clear advantage in the battle for control of the House of Representatives, where Republicans currently hold a slim majority.
For voters, emphasis on jobs and the economy
Voters identified employment and economic issues as the country’s most pressing problems, according to Reuters/Ipsos polls. Many Americans are frustrated by higher prices, even amid record highs in stock markets, fast-rising wages and low unemployment.
With President Joe Biden’s administration taking much of the blame, most voters said they trusted Trump more than Kamala to solve the problem.
Hispanics, traditionally Democratic voters, and low-income families hit hardest by inflation helped drive Trump’s electoral victory. His loyal base of rural, white, non-college-educated voters again showed up in force.
His victory will have major implications for U.S. trade and climate change policies, the war in Ukraine, American taxes and immigration.
His tariff proposals could trigger a more bitter trade war with China and allies, while his promises to cut corporate taxes and implement a series of new cuts could increase U.S. debt, according to economists.
Trump has promised to launch a mass deportation campaign targeting illegal immigrants.
A campaign like no other
In May, Trump was convicted by a New York jury of falsifying business records to cover up secret payments to a porn star.
Two months later, a bullet from a would-be assassin’s gun grazed his right ear during a rally, exacerbating fears about political violence in the country.
Another assassination attempt was foiled in September at his Florida golf resort. Trump attributed both attempts to what he claimed was heated rhetoric from Democrats, including Kamala.
Just eight days after the July incident, Biden dropped out of the race, finally bowing to weeks of pressure from his fellow Democrats after a poor performance during a debate with Trump cast doubt on his mental acuity and the viability of his re-election bid.
Biden’s decision turned the race into a sprint as Kamala rushed to mount her own campaign in a matter of weeks rather than the usual months. His rise to the top of the ticket reenergized disheartened Democrats and raised more than $1 billion in less than three months, erasing what was a solid Trump lead in the polls.
As the campaign drew to a close, Kamala increasingly focused on warning Americans about the dangers of Trump’s election.
Trump’s victory is likely to widen fissures in American society given his false claims of voter fraud, anti-immigration rhetoric and demonization of his political opponents, said Alan Abramowitz, a political science professor at Emory University who studies government behavior. voter and party politics.
Trump returns to the White House
Trump has promised to overhaul the executive branch, including firing public officials he considers disloyal and using federal law enforcement agencies to investigate his political enemies, violating what has been a long-standing policy of keeping such agencies independent.
During his first term, Trump’s most extreme demands were at times blocked by members of his own cabinet, most notably when Vice President Mike Pence refused to block Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election.
Once the 2024 vote is certified by Congress on January 6, Trump and his vice president, Senator JD Vance, will assume their positions on January 20.
