Former President Donald Trump has officially secured over 270 votes from the electoral college, making him the president-elect and securing him the presidency.
This win came after a defeat by Biden in the 2020 election. Many didn’t think this win was possible, especially after a 2020 defeat, showcasing a rise from the ashes win.
Trump will be the first former president in over 130 years to return to office for non-consecutive terms. Grover Cleveland was the last to win non-consecutive terms, winning in 1884 and 1892. Trump is also the oldest man elected to the role of president, beating Biden by a few months.
As of early Wednesday morning, the current electoral count is Trump at 277 and Kamala Harris at 244 electoral votes, according to the New York Times. Other networks have a slightly different count, such as BBC tallying the race with Trump at 279 and Harris at 223. No matter the tally, it is clear that Trump has won.
Certain states have not been called yet including Michigan, Nevada, Arizona and Alaska. According to polling, Trump is leading in all four by significant margins.
Major wins for the Trump last night were securing the all-important swing states of Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin. Trump also took the vital, and probably the most important state of them all, Pennsylvania.
Trump is also leading in the popular vote, with over 71 million compared to Harris’s 66 million. Although final votes have not been confirmed, the last time a Republican won a popular vote was in 1988 when George H. W. Bush defeated Michael S. Dukakis. The popular vote is not what is needed to win the presidency, however, it is notable that Trump has captured the difficult majority, something that Republicans have struggled with in the past.
Trump declared victory around 2:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time at his celebration in Florida.
“We’re going to help our country heal. We have a country that needs help, and it needs help very badly. We’re going to fix our borders, we’re going to fix everything about our country and we’ve made history for a reason tonight,” Trump said in his victory speech.
