Trump wins the White House
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak to the National Fraternal Order of Police fall meeting, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States on Wednesday.
With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency.
As president, he’s vowed to pursue an agenda centered on dramatically reshaping the federal government. Speaking to his supporters Wednesday morning, Trump claimed he had won “an unprecedented and powerful mandate.”
The results cap a historically tumultuous and competitive election season that included two assassination attempts targeting Trump and a shift to a new Democratic nominee just a month before the party’s convention. Trump will inherit a range of challenges when he assumes office on Jan. 20, including heightened political polarization and global crises that are testing America’s influence abroad.
His win against Harris, the current vice president, who rose to the top of the ticket after President Joe Biden exited the race amid alarm about his advanced age. Despite an initial surge of energy around her campaign, she struggled during a compressed timeline to convince disillusioned voters that she represented a break from an unpopular administration.
Trump is the first former president to return to power since Grover Cleveland regained the White House in the 1892 election. At 78, is the oldest person elected to the office. His vice president, 40-year-old Ohio Sen. JD Vance, will become the highest-ranking member of the millennial generation in the U.S. government.