Donald Trump is the winner of the 60th presidential election, and will become the 47th president of the United States when he is inaugurated on January 20, 2025. Trump amassed a total of 312 electoral college votes, surpassing the needed 270 to win. Kamala Harris finished the race with 226 electoral college votes, underperforming in every major swing state. The states to watch were Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, all of which appeared to be a toss up in polls leading up to the election. Ultimately Trump won in every aforementioned state, resulting in a blowout victory against Kamala Harris, and cementing himself as the more popular candidate in the eyes of the American people. In fact, this was the first time a Republican candidate has won the popular vote in 20 years, a feat not achieved since the likes of George W. Bush in 2004. Trump outperformed the 2020 election as well, winning a total of 6 more electoral college votes than Joe Biden’s winning of 306 in 2020. Donald Trump is the second president in history to serve a non-consecutive term, joined only by Democrat Grover Cleveland who won office in 1885, lost in 1889, and won again in 1893.  

Trump’s plans for presidency rely heavily on implementing new tariffs. He has proposed a 10 to 20 percent tariff on all imports, and a 60 percent tariff on all imports from China. Tariffs are a tax paid on a class of imports or exports. They make manufacturing more expensive for foreign powers by charging them a tax to sell goods in the US, which then gets offset to consumers, resulting in more expensive goods. Economists at Yale estimate Trump’s new tariff policy alone could result in a 5.1 percent increase in consumer prices. 

A focus of Trump’s campaign was the promise of mass deportation. He has pledged to end the Temporary Protected Status that allows workers from certain countries to come to the U.S. for employment. He has also pushed for the end to birth-right citizenship, meaning children born in the US by undocumented parents will no longer receive immediate legal citizenship. His biggest promise on immigration was the immediate deportation of 11 million undocumented immigrants. Time will tell whether he plans to use the Military, National Guard, or other government agencies to try to achieve this task. 

The issue of abortion will continue to be up to the states for the foreseeable future, with Trump having stated in the past he will not enact an immediate nationwide ban if he won the presidency. In November of 2022, California voters passed Proposition 1, which modified the Constitution of California to explicitly protect the right to an abortion. States with a current total abortion ban with no expection for rape or incest include Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas. 

The American people have spoken, and the next four years will no doubt reflect that choice. With Republicans controlling the presidency and winning a majority in the House and U.S. Senate we can expect big changes to our government in the upcoming term. 

Election night brings big news. [Image Credit: Clara Watson]