Trump triumphant: Pa., Wisconsin called in the overnight hours

President-elect Donald Trump waves as he walks with former first lady Melania Trump at an election night watch party early Wednesday morning at the Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States on Wednesday, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who refused to accept defeat four years ago, sparked a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, was convicted of a felony and survived two murders. attempts.

With a victory in Wisconsin, Trump secured the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. He won Michigan on Wednesday afternoon, sweeping the “blue wall” along with Pennsylvania — the former Democratic-leaning swing states that all went for Trump in 2016 before flipping to President Joe Biden in 2020.

His Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, called Trump Wednesday afternoon to concede the race and congratulate him. A short time later, Biden also called Trump to congratulate him and invite the president-elect to the White House, formally kicking off the transition ahead of Inauguration Day, the White House said. Biden also called Harris.

The victory confirms Trump’s down-to-earth approach to politics. He had attacked Harris in deeply personal terms as he presented an apocalyptic picture of a country overrun by violent migrants. The crude rhetoric, combined with an image of hypermasculinity, resonated with angry voters — especially men — in a deeply polarized nation.

“I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th and 45th president,” Trump told the crowd of cheering supporters in Florida before his victory was certified.

State after state, Trump outperformed what he did in the 2020 election, while Harris failed to do as well as Joe Biden did in winning the presidency four years ago. Upon taking office, Trump will work with a Senate that will now be in Republican hands, while control of the House of Representatives had not yet been established.

“We have been through so much together, and today you came in record numbers to deliver a victory,” Trump said. “This was something special and we’re going to pay you back,” he said.

The US stock market, Elon Musk’s Tesla, banks and bitcoin all surged higher on Wednesday as investors looked favorably on a smooth election and Trump’s return to the White House. In his second term, Trump has pledged to pursue an agenda aimed at dramatically reforming the federal government and pursuing retaliation against his perceived enemies.

The results cap a historically tumultuous and competitive election season that included two Trump assassination attempts and a shift to a new Democratic nominee just a month before the party’s convention. Trump will inherit a series of challenges when he takes office on January 20, including increased political polarization and global crises that test America’s influence abroad.

Trump is the first former president to return to power since Grover Cleveland regained the White House in the 1892 election. He is the first person convicted of a crime to be elected president, and at 78 years old is the oldest person elected president. His vice president, 40-year-old Ohio Senator JD Vance, will become the highest-ranking member of the millennial generation in the US government.