Former President Donald Trump is expected to win a second term in the White House, marking a historic return nearly four years after leaving under legal and political uncertainty.
Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) called the election for Trump after he won Pennsylvania and Alaska, bringing him to the required 270 electoral votes.
The victory comes in a contentious race against Vice President Kamala Harris, amid a series of unexpected events: Trump faced a criminal trial during the campaign, survived two assassination attempts, and saw a late reshuffle atop the Democratic ticket following President Biden’s decision to step down.
With this triumph, Trump becomes the first president since Grover Cleveland in 1892 to retake the White House following an electoral defeat.
His path to victory includes flipping critical states like Georgia and consolidating his hold on North Carolina, where battleground polling was razor-thin until Election Day. Trump also increased the popular vote, a record Republicans have only accomplished once since 1992.
Campaigning with Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate, Trump used broad fears about rising expenses, border security, and global upheaval to rally people behind a return to his policies.
Exit surveys showed a high turnout among Latino voters, increasing rural support, and nearly equal support with Harris among young men, a group his team intensively sought.
Trump’s program reflects a harsh approach: he has promised to expand immigration enforcement, extend his 2017 tax cuts, impose universal tariffs, roll back transgender protections, and dismantle the Department of Education.
In addition, Trump has pledged to form an administration dedicated to his ideas.
Despite a usually tough route with female voters, Trump was able to offset probable losses by focussing on abortion, which became a central theme following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Harris raised this topic throughout her campaign, but it did not sway enough voters in her favour.
As Republicans reclaimed control of the Senate, Trump’s triumph might push the Supreme Court even further right.
Trump’s return caps a time defined by his fervent, but unverified, claims of electoral fraud.
The 2023 federal indictment for his post-2020 conduct is still proceeding, but Trump has stated his intention to fire Special Counsel Jack Smith, potentially jeopardising current investigations.
NaijaNews
