WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — In a stunning comeback, former President Donald Trump recaptured the White House, winning a second term and a “MAGA mandate” that not only followed defeat in 2020, but came after four criminal indictments, 34 felony convictions and two assassination attempts.
“We are going to help our country heal,” Mr. Trump told hundreds of supporters packed into the Palm Beach Convention Center.
“This will forever be remembered as the day the American people regained control of their country,” he added.
Mr. Trump appeared humbled by his improbable comeback, secured early Wednesday with victories in the key swing states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, putting him over the needed 270 Electoral College votes.
“Look what happened! Is this crazy?” he said with a shrug. “It’s a political victory our country has never seen before. Nothing like this.”
Mr. Trump, 78, will become the first man elected to a non-consecutive, second presidency since Grover Cleveland in 1892 and will return to Washington four years after most of the political world declared he would never win public office again.
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But on Tuesday, Mr. Trump plowed past Vice President Kamala Harris decisively in the key battleground states and his win was relatively swift.
The race was all but over by the early hours of Wednesday, much sooner than in 2020 when late tallying delayed Mr. Biden’s win for four days.
Mr. Trump’s victory appeared decisive.
He was leading in every battleground state and had secured wins in four of them: North Carolina, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia.
Those victories gave Mr. Trump 277 electoral votes and a decent shot at topping 300 with the states still outstanding. He also looked headed for a popular-vote win, which would be the first for a Republican since George W. Bush in 2004.
Ms. Harris’ path to victory became impossible by early Wednesday and her disheartened supporters left an election night party at Howard University.
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Her campaign co-chair, Cedric Richmond, told them Ms. Harris would address them on Wednesday in order to ensure all the ballots were counted.
There was no indication in Mr. Trump’s speech that Ms. Harris had called to concede. In fact, he did not mention his opponent at all, even to disparage her.
Some backers called Mr. Trump’s win a “MAGA mandate” to implement his agenda, which centered on securing the Southern border, reducing regulations, ramping up U.S. energy production and lowering taxes.
He’ll have a GOP-led Senate with at least a few votes to spare, which would let him confirm his Cabinet and judicial appointments.
The House majority remained in the balance with outstanding races, though Mr. Trump said he expected the party to keep control of the House.
Mr. Trump touted his incoming administration, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who he said would “make America healthy again,” and Elon Musk, a “genius,” who Mr. Trump planned to task with improving government efficiency.
Mr. Trump touted his wins across different voting groups, including, for Republicans, record numbers of Black, Hispanic and union voters.
“We’ve built the biggest, the broadest, the most unified coalition,” Mr. Trump said. “They’ve never seen anything like it in all of American history. Young and old, men and women, rural and urban, and we had them all helping us tonight.”
He alluded to the two unsuccessful assassination attempts against him, one of which came with a literal inch of killing him, as providential.
“God spared my life for a reason. And that reason was to save our country and restore our country to greatness,” he said.
Mr. Trump said he’s held more than 900 rallies since he began running for president in 2015.
“But now we are going on to something that’s far more important,” Mr. Trump said. “I will govern by a simple motto: promises made, promises kept.”
Mr. Trump called on the nation to put aside the divisions of the past few years and pledged it would happen.
“Success will bring us together,” he said.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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