2024 Election Special

Donald Trump Wins the 2024 Election

Republicans took the White House, Senate, and are on their way to majority control of the House as well.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss, as former president Donald Trump will soon become the president once again. Trump will join Grover Cleveland as the two presidents to serve two terms non-consecutively, as Cleveland lost the office between terms as well (132 years ago). 

The race was called early Wednesday morning, as Trump passed the required 270 Electoral College votes needed for victory. At the time of writing, 81% of the expected votes were tallied, and Trump led 292-224 in the electoral vote (with 22 still TBD).

Overall, Trump received 71,863, 078 votes (51%) compared to Kamala Harris’ 66,992, 525 votes (47%). About two million other votes went to other candidates, such as Jill Stein and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Trump won battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Georgia, with Michigan, Nevada and Arizona all leaning his way, as well, as of time of writing on Wednesday. This, despite all these states having been considered toss-ups in the weeks leading up to this election. 

Harris won much of the west coast and all of New England, however Trump controlled the south, as well as the aforementioned all important swing states. After losing Wisconsin to Biden in 2020, Trump won it back this year, as he is the only Republican to win the state in the last 40 years, also doing so in 2016. It was Wisconsin that did propel Trump past the 270 finish line.

In the end, what was expected to be one of the closest presidential races in this nation’s history actually turned into a pretty decisive victory for Trump, somewhat similar to when he first won in 2016, despite many believing Hillary Clinton had things in the bag. 

Instead, Trump now returns to the White House following two impeachments, two assassination attempts, and 34 felony convictions, in what is a historic triumph.

Overall, it was a good night for Republicans, as GOP candidates picked up several pivotal Senate seats across the country, including in West Virginia and Ohio, reclaiming the upper chamber..

What Did Trump Have to Say?

In the aftermath of Tuesday’s results, Trump addressed the crowd with a 25 minute victory speech.

"Look what happened, is this crazy?" Trump told a screaming crowd at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.

"Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason," Trump said at one point. "And that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness. And now we are going to fulfill that mission together."

Trump gave out plenty of shout-outs and thanks to some of his most prominent supporters and backers, such as Elon Musk, Dana White (who spoke as well, calling the victory “karma”) and RFK Jr. 

Trump said his campaign put together diverse coalitions with similar views on immigration and the economy, forming “a common core of common sense.”

“This campaign has been so historic in so many ways,” Trump added. 

The soon-to-be Vice President, JD Vance, also addressed the crowd, claiming Trump pulled off "the greatest political comeback in the history of the United States of America."

Trump forecasted that he would wind up with more than 315 electoral votes and pledged to “help our country heal,” following another divisive election. 

Meanwhile, current Vice President Kamala Harris declined to address supporters at her watch party, as originally planned, following the crushing defeat Tuesday night. She was expected to address them on Wednesday instead.

A Historic Election

This election made history for a few different reasons.

#1: He is the oldest President to be elected (78 years old). Yes, even older than President Joe Biden (who will turn 82 years old later this month). However, JD Vance will be the third-youngest Vice President we’ve ever had (40 years old). So the average of the two? Not too bad….

And to think people thought Ronald Regan was way too old to be President (he was 69 years old when first elected).

#2: It’s the second time someone has won two non-consecutive terms. Both Trump and Grover Cleveland lost their reelection campaigns, before winning again in the next election. Cleveland was elected for the second time in 1892 and won the popular vote in all three elections.

#3: Trump will become the first president elected with a felony conviction, as he was found guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to pay hush money to a porn star. Ya know, the usual..

#4: He’s become the first President elected following two impeachments. President’s Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson were previously impeached, but were never elected Presidents again afterwards. 

This would have been a historical outcome either way, as Harris was attempting to become the nation’s first female President. Something Trump has stood in the way of twice now… which is also historic too.

Looking Forward

Now that Donald Trump will be our country’s next president, what should we expect for the next four years?

During his campaigning, Trump promised the largest deportation of immigrants in American history, sweeping new tariffs on imports, a freeze on climate-related regulations, a remaking of federal health agencies, and ideological changes in the education system.

Now we’ll see how much, and what, he can/chooses to get done.

According to Trump’s advisors, he learned from his first term in office, where bureaucracy often got in the way of him being able to actually install his most ambitious policy changes. The advisor said that officials will now better understand how to navigate complex agencies and policy processes, making for a faster, and more ambitious, agenda this second time around. Which is either very exciting, or concerning, depending on which way you voted this week.

Some of his largest items include tax breaks and changes to the Affordable Care Act, which would both require congressional approval. However, that is not the case with all of his ideas. 

President Trump WILL have the ability to alter immigration enforcement, impose tariffs, change health regulations, intervene in overseas wars and shape the education system without help from Congress.

Trump has already promised to make as many as 50,000 civil servants political appointees, stripping the career protections of those currently in the roles. There have also been rumors about billionaire Trump supporter Elon Musk joining the administration as part of a new Department of Government Efficiency. Musk has already said that if this comes to fruition, he will find $2 trillion in budget cuts. Similar to how he came into Twitter at the time (now X) and slashed a lot of the budget, as well.

In regards to immigration, Trump has said he would end the “catch-and-release” program. He has also vowed to build huge detention centers, hire thousands more border agents and implement mass deportations at a scale never seen before. 

Trump has said that “tariff” is his favorite word in the dictionary and would like to impose 10-20% tariffs across the board on all goods imported, and a 60% tariff on all Chinese goods. 

When it comes to the conflicts in other countries, Trump has said that he would like both the wars in Ukraine and Gaza to end by the time he re-enters the White House in January. He had said he would begin talks on a peace deal before even retaking office.

In regards to health care, Trump had previously said he would let RFK Jr. “go wild” with it in his administration. Abortion has been a very hot button issue in this race and Trump has said he WOULD veto any ban that came across his desk and would not seek federal legislation to ban or further restrict abortions (which are currently illegal in 13 states).

Trump also vowed to cut federal funds for schools that teach the students about gender, bar transgender women from women’s sports teams and to deport international students who voiced support for Palestinians. 

Tax cuts from Trump’s first term (worth $4.6 trillion) are set to expire at the end of 2025. However, Trump pledged to make them permanent, along with wide-ranging new cuts, such as ending taxation of tips and allowing a deduction for auto-loan interest.

Meanwhile, President Biden is rushing assistance to Ukraine while he still can, as that aid will become uncertain under President Trump.