Donald Trump is elected as the 47th president of the United States

Donald J. Trump's expected victory over Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election is a historic and unlikely return for the former president, who left office in 2021 after failing to overturn the 2020 election results.

Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States on Wednesday, marking an incredible return for a former president who refused to accept loss four years ago, launched a violent insurgency at the U.S. Capitol, was convicted of felony counts, and survived two assassination attempts.

"We overcame obstacles that nobody ever thought we could," he said on election night after a bitter, bruising campaign. He vowed to fight for every family and for their futures. "This will truly be the golden age of America," he vowed.

His Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, called Trump on Wednesday afternoon to surrender the election and congratulate him. A short time later, Biden contacted Trump to congratulate him and welcome the president-elect to the White House, officially beginning off the transition ahead of Inauguration Day, the White House said. Biden also phoned Harris.

Trump is expected to have won the battleground states of North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, surpassing the electoral vote threshold of 270 by 6 votes for a total of 276. Votes were still being tabulated in the other battleground states of Michigan, Nevada, and Arizona when Trump won the presidency.

Throughout his two-year campaign, Trump pounded President Biden, and later Harris, on inflation and economic issues.

Trump also campaigned hard on immigration, as he has for nearly a decade, and promised to carry out large deportations if reelected. Exit polls revealed that respondents also thought Trump would do a better job of combating illegal immigration at the southern border.

At 78, Trump is the oldest person to be elected president, shattering the record held by Joe Biden, who withdrew from the 2024 presidential race in July because to concerns about his age and competency. Biden was likewise 78 when he took office in 2021, but on Inauguration Day, Trump will be several months older than Biden was at the time.

On his way to the president, Trump escaped two assassination attempts, one at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, when a gunman's bullet grazed his ear, and another at his West Palm Beach golf club on September 15, when a suspect fled after the Secret Service opened fire.

Trump's triumph has jolted American politics and allowed him to enter the White House in January 2025 from a position of strength. Speaking to his election night party early on Wednesday morning, Trump claimed "an unprecedented and powerful mandate."