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Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, has become America’s 47th president after crossing the 270 electoral college-vote threshold necessary to clinch the presidential election and defeat Kamala Harris.
While a handful of states have yet to declare official winners, Trump locked down all of the states he was expected to, as well as several pivotal battleground states including North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. He also was on track to win the popular vote for the first time in his three campaigns for America's highest political office. At 11 a.m. the day after the election, the vote totals were:
Trump: 71,571,051 votes (51%).
Harris: 66,712,662 votes (47.5%).
Trump’s victory follows a bitter, hard-fought campaign in which American voters were asked to choose between sitting Vice President Kamala Harris, who focused on the dangers a Trump presidency posed to democracy and women’s reproductive rights, and former President Trump, who asked them a classic challenger’s question: “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”
After four years of a COVID epidemic, inflation spike, and an affordability crisis, America’s voters—like voters the world over—answered “no” and chose to punish the incumbent administration. A majority (52%) of respondents in an October Gallup poll said they and their family were worse off than four years before, a percentage only approached in 1992, when Bill Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush after one term.
“Almost every major election in the world this year was a change election. Incumbents lost because voters believed their country was heading in the wrong direction,” Eurasia group founder and president Ian Bremmer posted on X. “The United States is no exception.”
Americans' desire for change was intense enough that about 3 in 10 voters told AP VoteCast, a massive nationwide survey of over 120,000 voters, that they wanted a total upheaval in how the U.S. is run—and more than half said they wanted substantial change.
The economy and immigration—Trump’s two top issues—far overshadowed Harris’s priorities of democracy and abortion in the same survey, with some 9 in 10 voters saying they were very or somewhat concerned about the cost of groceries.
Before receiving the official electoral votes required to win, Trump addressed a lively crowd at his Florida campaign headquarters, using his “Make America Great Again” slogan.
Trump called the election result a “magnificent victory for the American people” and declared it the beginning of a “golden age” for the country.
He told supporters, “I hope one day you’ll look back and consider this one of the most important days of your life.” Trump also noted his party’s recapture of the Senate, saying, “America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate.”
Trump's election reverberated across world markets, as investors anticipated more market-friendly policies and economic growth.
The three main U.S: exchanges rose in premarket trading, with the Dow adding over 3%, while Trump Media—often viewed as a tracking stock for Trump’s election chances—spiked some 36% in early trading. Shares in Trump ally and funder Elon Musk’s Tesla also jumped more than 12%, while Bitcoin shot past $75,000 to a new all-time high, on Trump’s pledges of support for crypto.
Shares in China, a likely target for massive tariffs under Trump, were the exception, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng falling over 2% and Shanghai’s index slipping a marginal 0.1%. The currency in regular Trump target Iran also took a massive hit, falling to a all-time low on his election.
Fortune will have plenty of reactions, insight, analysis, and reporting in the coming hours, days, and weeks. But first, let’s take a look at how the 2024 election went down.
How did the election results break down?
Our official tally:
Kamala Harris has been declared victor in 17 states—Vermont, Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Illinois, Delaware, New York, Colorado, California, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Virginia, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Minnesota, plus the District of Columbia, Maine's 1st congressional district, and Nebraska's 2nd congressional district—capturing 223 electoral votes.
Donald Trump has been declared victor in 27 states—Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Louisiana, Wyoming, Ohio, Texas, Missouri, Utah, Montana, Iowa, Kansas, Idaho, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Maine's 2nd congressional district and Nebraska's 1st and 3rd congressional districts—capturing 279 electoral votes.
Remember, you need 270 electoral votes to win the U.S. presidential election.
What were the biggest headlines of Election Day 2024?
9:00 p.m. ET: Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, Wyoming
Of course, Trump ended up winning the election—through the popular and electoral vote—by a considerable margin. For what it's worth, the limitations of polling are fairly well-documented.
