Donald Trump wins the 2024 US election for president

The Associated Press officially called the race for Trump at 5:35 a.m. Wednesday after he won Wisconsin and secured 277 electoral votes

After two impeachments during his first term, a 2020 election loss, two assassination attempts and four criminal cases, Donald Trump has won back the presidency in 2024.

The Associated Press officially called the race for Trump at 5:35 a.m. Wednesday after he won Wisconsin and secured 277 electoral votes.

Polls had shown close margins between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris for months. But hours after the polls closed, he racked up victory after victory in battleground states.

“This was a movement like nobody has ever seen before, and frankly, this was, I believe, the greatest political movement of all time,” Trump said shortly before 2:30 a.m. at his party in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The results logged by the time he spoke showed Trump on the precipice of winning all seven battleground states. Almost everywhere, Harris underperformed the marks that produced Joe Biden’s 2020 victory over Trump.

Officially, the race had not been called by The AP by 2 a.m., but Trump led in partial results. The AP called North Carolina and Georgia for Trump by 1 a.m. Fox News called Pennsylvania for Trump, and other networks and the AP followed.

By the time Trump took the stage in West Palm Beach, with his family and running mate, Sen. JD Vance, beside him, he had good reason to believe he would be declared the winner.

“We’re going to help our country heal,” Trump said. “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.”

He added, “I will fight for you, for your family and your future. Every single day, I will be fighting for you and with every breath in my body. I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America that our children deserve, and that you deserve. This will truly be the golden age of America.”

Trump win’s will likely mean the end of his federal felony criminal cases. Sentencing has been set for Nov. 26 in his Manhattan falsifying business records case. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is also prosecuting Trump, was reelected, but that case has largely been on hold amid appeals of a judge’s ruling.

The large crowd that gathered at Harris’ Howard University watch party in Washington, D.C., remained subdued after CNN called Trump’s win in North Carolina. The Harris campaign shut off CNN’s audio immediately after, replacing the TV commentary with music. The music continued as CNN called another battleground state, Georgia, for Trump.

Harris opted not to address her election night gathering at Howard, her alma mater. Instead, former Rep. Cedric Richmond, her campaign’s co-chair, addressed the crowd shortly before 1 a.m.

“We still have votes to count,” he said. “We still have states that have not been called yet. We will continue overnight to fight to make sure that every vote is counted, that every voice has spoken. So, you won’t hear from the vice president tonight, but you will hear from her tomorrow.”

Richmond said Harris would be “back here” Nov. 6 to address Howard University, her supporters and the nation. The crowds filed out after his brief remarks.

Earlier on Election Day, Trump repeated many of his campaign falsehoods as he cast his vote in Palm Beach, Florida. A few hours before the polls closed, Trump again turned to unproven claims of nefarious election activity, writing on Truth Social, “A lot of talk about massive CHEATING in Philadelphia. Law Enforcement coming!!!”

Philadelphia law enforcement and local officials said the claims were unfounded. City Commissioner Seth Bluestein, a Republican, replied on X: “There is absolutely no truth to this allegation. It is yet another example of disinformation. Voting in Philadelphia has been safe and secure.”

Leading up to Election Day, Trump and social media posts also made false claims about “cheating” in Pennsylvania, a battleground state with 19 Electoral College votes.

But Trump’s accounts went quiet as the polls closed and results started churning in his favor. He watched most of the results come in from his Mar-a-Lago resort and club with his closest allies.

Shortly after midnight, The Associated Press called the Senate for the Republicans. That was made possible after Ohio Republican Bernie Moreno defeated Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democratic survivor in an increasingly red state. Combined with the Republicans’ flip of a seat in West Virginia, which had been expected, and the win by vulnerable Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that was enough to ensure a Republican majority. If Democrats cannot defend Senate seats in Montana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and possibly Nevada, the GOP majority would grow.

As of 3 a.m., control of the House was too close to call.

States have time to finish counts

States set laws that include deadlines for when ballots must be counted, a process that can take a week or more. State laws also set deadlines to certify the official count in November or December.

It is not unusual for media outlets to need more than a few hours to project a winner. Major media outlets, including The Associated Press and the big broadcast and cable outlets, use in-house staff and consultants project winners based on the unofficial running counts announced by election officials, which are based on partial results. If the margins are too close to call, it will take more time.

As of about 2 a.m. EST, slightly more than half of Arizona’s votes had been counted. Historically, it takes Arizona 10 to 13 days to finish counting all ballots.

The federal government sets these important dates to complete the process of counting votes and certifying results:

• Dec. 11: Deadline for states to send certifications to federal officials after their state certifies election results.
• Dec. 17: The Electoral College meets. Electors cast their ballots in all 50 states and transmit these votes to the National Archivist and the President of the Senate in DC.
• Jan. 6, 2025: Electoral votes are read before a joint session of Congress.
• Jan. 20, 2025: The president is inaugurated.

This article was originally published by PolitiFact, which is part of the Poynter Institute.