Washington – Republican Donald Trump has claimed victory in the 2024 US presidential election, marking a stunning political comeback four years after leaving office.
In a closely watched contest, the former president defeated Democratic challenger Kamala Harris, according to a projection by Fox News. Trump’s triumph came despite predictions by many pundits that his political career was all but over following the January 6th, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
Addressing a jubilant crowd of supporters at his campaign headquarters in Florida, a triumphant Trump declared, “America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate.” He pledged to “help our country heal” and said his victory represented a political win “our country has never seen before.”
The mood outside Harris’ watch party at her alma mater Howard University was somber, with one supporter, Charlyn Anderson, saying: “I am scared. I am anxious now. I am leaving, my legs can barely move.”
In contrast, celebrations erupted at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and the nearby watch party. Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has backed Trump, posted a photo of himself with the former president on X, declaring “Game, set and match.”
Trump’s win came despite trailing Harris among Hispanic voters nationwide. However, he made significant inroads with this key demographic, winning 45% of their support compared to 53% for the Democrat – a 13 percentage point improvement from 2020.
The former president’s message also appeared to resonate with lower-income households hit hard by rising prices. Some 45% of voters said their family’s financial situation was worse off than four years ago, and they favored Trump by a margin of 80% to 17%.
Trump’s Republican Party also seized control of the Senate, flipping two seats to overturn a narrow Democratic majority. The battle for the House of Representatives remained too close to call.
Global investors had increasingly priced in a Trump victory in recent days, with US stock futures, the dollar, Treasury yields and even bitcoin all moving in a direction that analysts said favored the former president.
The 2024 election result caps a remarkable political comeback for Trump, who many had written off after the Capitol riots. But the former president has defied the odds once again, securing a stunning return to the Oval Office.
