Riding into the White House: How Trump made two comebacks in the presidential race.
The Republican Party candidate Donald Trump is guaranteed to receive 277 electoral votes (with 270 votes needed to win), as reported around noon Kyiv time on Wednesday, November 6, by leading American media outlets: CNN, The New York Times, Associated Press, Fox News, and others. It is noted that the final necessary votes for the Republican frontrunner came from the state of Wisconsin. The election outcome, as previously reported by Lenta.UA, depended on results from seven battleground states, where Trump found the electoral support he desired.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has already congratulated Mr. Trump on his victory and expressed hope that under his leadership, the United States will continue to provide "strong bipartisan support for Ukraine." "I congratulate Donald Trump on his remarkable electoral victory! I remember our wonderful meeting with President Trump in September, where we discussed in detail the strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United States, the Victory Plan, and ways to end Russian aggression against Ukraine. I appreciate President Trump's commitment to the 'peace through strength' approach in global affairs. This principle will truly bring us closer to a just peace in Ukraine. I hope that together we will implement it," emphasized the current occupant of Bankova Street.
Other leaders also rushed to congratulate Donald Trump on his victory, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Polish President Andrzej Duda, and other European leaders. Meanwhile, in Russia, Kremlin spokesman Peskov stated that there is currently no plan for the Kremlin dictator to congratulate Trump, as "the USA is an unfriendly country waging war against Russia."
On the night of November 6, Trump addressed his supporters at a rally in Palm Beach, where he "preemptively" declared his victory, even as the clear contours of the post-election picture were just beginning to emerge. "We are going to help our country heal. We have a country that needs help. We will protect our borders. We will fix everything in our country," Trump noted. He also thanked the American people for the "extraordinary honor of being elected the 47th president and the 45th president." "I will fight for you, for your family, and for your future. Every day I will fight for you, and with every breath, I will not rest until I build a strong, safe, and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve. This will be a true golden age for America," the Republican added.
It is worth noting that the first exit poll results, which began to appear around 7 PM Washington time (2 AM Tuesday Kyiv time), instilled hope in Trump's supporters. According to the CNN exit poll, the Democratic Party failed to mobilize its electorate effectively. On November 5, more Republicans (40%) showed up at polling stations compared to Democrats (37%). Additionally, it was revealed that 67% of those who believe the situation in the American economy is bad or very bad voted for Donald Trump. Furthermore, Kamala Harris was unable to sufficiently develop the electoral theme criticizing the federal abortion ban: white women voted more often for Trump, who supported such measures (50% versus 48%). White men also supported the former White House occupant significantly more than Kamala Harris (59% versus 39%). And, in a surprising turn, a quarter of African American men supported Donald Trump.
Before the vote counting began, bookmakers anticipated a 60% probability of Trump's victory. However, right after the polls closed and the exit polls were released, the probability of Trump's victory rose to 72%, reaching 80% by 10 PM American time, and 90% by 11 PM. The initial vote counting results began to confirm these predictions. Specifically, Donald Trump performed successfully in most of the battleground states that determined the election outcome (Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada).
According to NBC, following the first post-election "signals," a "mourning mood" settled in Kamala Harris's campaign headquarters. One Democratic supporter, commenting on the initial voting results, compared the atmosphere among Democrats to a funeral.
It should be noted that North Carolina was the first of the battleground states to be added to Trump's tally. Trump then "claimed" Georgia, followed by all the others. Immediately after this, the first congratulations began to pour in for the Republican. "The American people gave Trump a crystal clear mandate for change," wrote one of his closest supporters, billionaire Elon Musk, on social media X, who is expected to join the new administration. "Congratulations to Trump on his historic victory," wrote former independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., who dropped out of the race and supported Trump. The first world leader to congratulate the Republican was Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. "Congratulations to the elected president of the United States," he wrote, attaching joint photos with Donald Trump.
It is quite remarkable that both presidential candidates continued to actively engage with voters until the last moment. While millions of Americans across the country were standing in line at polling stations on November 5, Vice President Kamala Harris (who voted early by mail in her home state of California) visited the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in Washington. Meanwhile, Donald Trump personally voted for himself in Palm Beach, Florida, on that day with his wife. Speaking to reporters, he stated that this would likely be his last campaign, regardless of the results. At the same time, the Republican expressed concern about voting machine malfunctions detected in critical election states like Michigan, Kentucky, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. A judge in Pennsylvania even ordered a two-hour extension of voting in Cambria County due to these malfunctions.
However, despite his "concerns" about these malfunctions, Trump stated unequivocally that he does not expect protests or violence from his supporters. "My supporters are not violent people," the leading Republican dismissed fears that a repeat of the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack could occur. Meanwhile, business owners in downtown Washington boarded up their storefronts and glass doors with plywood ahead of the elections. Additionally, as reported by NBC News, about two dozen states and the American capital called in the National Guard to maintain order on election day. On the day of the election, there were also claims of "Kremlin involvement." Specifically, the FBI reported threats of bombings at polling places in several states, many of which, according to the agency, originated from "Russian postal domains." However, the agency soon reassured that all these threats turned out to be false.
Noting that the 2024 presidential race in the U.S. will be remembered as unique in the 21st century, political scientist Oleg Posternak stated: "Why did Trump win? Technologically, Harris's and Trump's campaigns were not particularly different from classic electoral campaigns that followed all the rules of political marketing in the U.S. However, this time, the scale of campaigning, record budgets, and emotional antagonism (Harris attempted to label Trump as a 'fascist,' while Trump called Harris a 'communist' with a low IQ) made the elections a potential point of transition into an unprecedented civil crisis afterward. During this campaign, standard campaign activities were visible - posters at homes, candidate rallies, debates, micro-targeted advertising, email campaigns, Hollywood star involvement, canvassing voters' premises, neighborhood tours with megaphones, etc. But at the same time, advertising on YouTube targeting non-political audiences, or what I call the 'quiet voter,' also broke records. For example, Trump held a three-hour meeting on a podcast with Joe Rogan, which was listened to by 36 million people just on YouTube. There was noticeably a lot of Trump advertising on gaming platforms, indicating a desire to gain support from young male voters. The campaign was filled with vibrant performances, engaging stand-up comedians and popular journalists in a campaign frenzy.
"To emphasize unity with the working class, Trump cooked fries at McDonald's in a suburban area of Philadelphia and sat behind a garbage truck to troll Biden, who carelessly called Trump supporters 'garbage.' The most scandalous tactic was Elon Musk's lottery, which has already led to a lawsuit against him. Musk announced that before the presidential election, he would give $1 million a day to a random person who signed the America PAC petition committing to support free speech and the right to bear arms. This allowed him to gather a massive array of personal data that could be used to target Trump's messages and advertising at the crucial moment of the final vote on November 5," emphasizes Oleg Posternak.
The expert separately highlights that these elections broke records for the mass use of generative artificial intelligence, which manifested in social media promotions, striking deepfakes, phone calls with the voices of stars and politicians, and even graphic enhancements of large crowds at rallies. In this context, it should be noted that some states have already passed laws limiting the use of AI in elections (Michigan, Washington, California, etc.), but there is currently no such federal taboo.
Sky News, citing Trump's night speech to supporters, quotes him saying: "They (presumably referring to political opponents - ed.) said: 'He will start a war.' But I do not intend to start a war; I intend to stop wars. During my previous term of four years, we had no wars. Except that we defeated ISIS in record time." Trump also recalled the assassination attempt on him in Pennsylvania in July and added, "God saved his life for a reason."
Meanwhile, according to the results of the midterm elections, the Republican Party is