former President Donald Trump declared victory in the 2024 US presidential election, claiming a political win like no other, despite Fox News being the only network to officially call it in his favor so far. As results continue to come in, Trump’s speech at his campaign headquarters in Florida was filled with triumph, promising to “heal” the country and pledging to deliver a “political victory that our country has never seen before.”
Surrounded by jubilant supporters, including his wife Melania and children, Trump’s rhetoric contrasted sharply with the somber atmosphere in Vice President Kamala Harris’s camp. While Harris’s team did not concede, the mood shifted as results favored the Republican frontrunner. Cedric Richmond, Harris’s campaign co-chair, told supporters that the vice president would address them the following day.
Trump’s victory was also reflected in the Republican Party’s control of the Senate, flipping two seats to seize a narrow majority. While the Trump camp celebrated, the outcome sent shockwaves through US allies abroad, who are wary of his nationalist policies and ties with autocratic leaders like Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Nevertheless, financial markets reacted positively, with the US dollar surging and bitcoin hitting new highs, fueled by optimism surrounding a potential Trump win.
Throughout the campaign, the race had been neck-and-neck, with both candidates locked in a tight battle for key swing states. Trump, at 78, would become the oldest president to take office, and his victory would mark the first non-consecutive terms for any US president. Meanwhile, Harris, 60, had aimed to make history as the first woman and second Black person to hold the presidency, following her dramatic entry into the race after Joe Biden’s exit in July.
Election Day was marked by high turnout and tensions, including bomb threats to polling stations in key battleground states like Georgia and Pennsylvania. These threats, believed to originate from Russia, were later confirmed as hoaxes, but they disrupted the process nonetheless.