If you’re still scratching your head over the election dust, you aren't alone. Honestly, it was a wild ride that felt like three different movies playing at once. But let's get right to the point: Donald J. Trump is the man who won the 2024 presidential election.
He didn't just win; he pulled off something only one other person in American history has ever done. He’s now the 47th President of the United States, following in the footsteps of Grover Cleveland by winning two non-consecutive terms. Basically, he lost in 2020, went home to Florida, and then came back to take the whole thing in 2024.
Who is the new president of 2024 and how did he pull it off?
Most people expected a nail-biter that would take weeks to count. It didn't. By the morning of November 6, 2024, the map was looking very red. Trump secured 312 electoral votes, leaving Kamala Harris with 226. To put that in perspective, you only need 270 to win.
He swept all seven of the major swing states. Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin—the "blue wall"—all crumbled. He even took Nevada, which hadn't gone for a Republican since 2004.
The numbers that actually mattered
Numbers can be boring, but these are kinda shocking. For the first time in twenty years, a Republican won the popular vote. Trump brought in about 77.3 million votes compared to Harris’s 75 million.
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Why? Because the "Trump coalition" changed. He didn't just rely on the usual suspects. He made massive gains with Hispanic men and even doubled his support among Black voters compared to 2020. Pew Research found that 55% of men voted for him this time around. That’s a huge jump.
The JD Vance Factor
You can't talk about the new president without mentioning his right-hand man. JD Vance, the Senator from Ohio, is the new Vice President. It's a bit of a "started from the bottom" story. He went from being a critic of Trump years ago to being his most loyal defender on the campaign trail.
At 40 years old, Vance is one of the youngest VPs we've ever had. He was chosen to lean into that "America First" vibe, focusing heavily on the working class in the Rust Belt. It clearly worked.
What happened to Kamala Harris?
It was a strange year for the Democrats. Remember, Joe Biden was actually the nominee for most of the year. After a rough debate in June, he stepped aside in July 2024 and handed the reins to Harris.
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She had about 100 days to build a campaign from scratch.
While she raised a ton of money and had a lot of momentum in August, it wasn't enough to overcome the "incumbency fatigue." Voters were frustrated with inflation and the cost of living. Even though the economy was technically recovering, people felt the pinch at the grocery store, and they blamed the current administration.
The "Day One" Agenda in 2025 and 2026
Since taking office on January 20, 2025, Trump hasn't exactly been quiet. He’s been moving fast. He brought in names like Marco Rubio as Secretary of State and Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense.
The strategy has been pretty clear:
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- Massive deregulation: Slashing federal workforce numbers.
- Border security: A huge push for deportations and tighter controls.
- Tariffs: Using trade taxes as a tool to negotiate with countries like China and even the EU.
It hasn't all been smooth sailing. We’ve seen the longest government shutdown in history in late 2025, and the courts are constantly busy with challenges to his executive orders. But for his supporters, this is exactly what they voted for—a total disruption of how Washington works.
Actionable insights for the current climate
Knowing who the president is is just the start. The 2024 election changed the landscape of American politics for the foreseeable future.
- Watch the markets: Trump’s tariff policies often cause immediate swings in the stock market. If you have investments, staying tuned to trade news is more important now than it was two years ago.
- Follow local elections: Since Republicans also took control of the Senate in 2024, federal policy is moving fast, but many of the "resistance" efforts are happening at the state level.
- Verify your news: With so much noise, check official government sites like WhiteHouse.gov or the Federal Register to see what orders have actually been signed versus what is just "talk" on social media.
The 2024 election proved that the old rules of politics—where certain groups always vote one way—are basically dead. We’re in a new era now.