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The 78-year-old Trump was declared winner of the 2024 election against Vice President Kamala Harris just before dawn on Wednesday, Nov. 6.
Trump has been projected to win at least two of the three battleground states, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, which are known as the "blue wall." The third, Michigan, is too close to calls, but Trump holds a lead with 93 percent of votes counted and he could secure a win there soon.
But with big wins in North Carolina and Georgia, he has secured the 270 electoral votes needed to reclaim the presidency, becoming the first president who will serve non-consecutive terms since Grover Cleveland, who was 22nd president from 1885 to 1889, and the 24th chief executive from 1893 to 1897.
At daybreak on Tuesday, Trump had 276 electoral votes to 223 for Harris, with results in four states, Arizona, Maine, and Nevada -- as well as Maine -- not yet called.
Trump is leading in the popular vote 51 percent to 47.5 percent. This marks the first time a Republican has won the popular vote in 20 years, when incumbent President George W. Bush defeated John Kerry in 2004.
Trump, who will also have the distinction of being the oldest person to become president, had declared victory hours after most polls closed in a speech near his Mar-A-Lago estate in West Palm Beach, Florida.
"This is a movement like nobody has seen before," Trump said. "Frankly, this was, I believe, the greatest political movement of all time. There's never been anything like this in this country, and maybe beyond.
"Now it's going to reach a new level of importance because we are going to help our country heal. We have a country that needs help and needs help very badly.
"We're going to fix our borders. We're going to fix everything about our country. We made history tonight, and the reason is just that.
"We overcame obstacles no one thought possible. ... Look what happened. Is this crazy?"
The 45th president will become the 47th president on Monday, Jan. 20.
The 60-year-old Harris, who aimed to be the first woman elected president in US history, did not address supporters at a watch party at Howard University in Washington, DC, her alma mater. The event dispersed around 1 a.m. Wednesday.
An advisor said she plans to address the public on Wednesday.
Control of the US Senate has flipped back to Republicans, with incumbent Democrats Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and Jon Tester (Montana) losing key contests.
What party will control the House of Representatives is uncertain, with dozens of races undecided.
Exit polls by broadcast networks showed voters named the state of democracy, the economy, abortion, and immigration as the most important issues, followed by foreign policy.
The race has been filled with plot twists, including an incumbent president pulling out of a race for the first time since 1968 and two assassination attempts on a single candidate.
Trump's comeback comes after being indicted on 34 felony counts in a hush money trial in Manhattan, two assassination attempts, the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, and a campaign that took dark turns with harsh language and proven false statements, including involving immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, from Haiti.
Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who introduced the rhetoric about Springfield to the campaign, will become one of the youngest vice presidents.
In the only debate between Harris and Trump, Trump said the immigrants in Springfield "are eating cats and dogs." Those allegations were called false by the Ohio governor and Springfield mayor, who are both Republicans, as well as local authorities.
Harris is the daughter of immigrant parents (her father from Jamaica and mother from India) was raised in Oakland, California. She went on to serve as district attorney of San Francisco and Attorney General in California.
She was elected to the US Senate in 2016. After seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, the party's nominee, Joe Biden, selected her as his running mate.
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