Donald Trump appears to have once again gained the presidency of the United States to become its 47th president, claiming in his victory speech that God had made his win possible.
The stunning win follows Trump appearing to surpass the required 270 electoral college votes required, according to various news outlets in the US, not long after midnight in the US on the night of 5 November.
Shortly before, as Trump's number of electoral college votes began to reach an unbeatable level, a spokesperson for Kamala Harris appeared at her election night watch party at Howard University, her alma mater, in Washington, DC, to announce that the Democrat presidential nominee would appear in the morning to deliver an address. Afterwards, many supporters began to leave the event.
Following projections by US media that the 270 mark had been passed, after Trump secured the key swing states of North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania, the former president – and now, apparently, once again incumbent president – appeared at the West Palm Beach Convention Center in Florida, where supporters were gathered.
“We overcame obstacles that nobody thought possible," Trump said. "It is now clear we have achieved the most incredible political thing – look what happened, is this crazy?! – but it's a political victory that our country has never seen before, there's nothing like this.
"I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honour of being elected the 47th president. And every citizen, I will fight for you, for your family and your future. Every single day. I will be fighting for you – and with every breath in my body, I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve."
He also promised “to help our country heal”, and alluded to the assassination attempt that saw a bullet clip his ear, saying he wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for God who had made his win possible.
"Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reasons," Trump said. "And that reason was to save our country and return America to greatness."
JD Vance, Trump's running mate and a Catholic convert, who is now set to become the country’s vice president, and lining him up to make a run for the presidency himself in 2028, stated: "We just witnessed the greatest political comeback in the history of the United States of America."
Already Democrats have started questioning where Harris's campaign went wrong, with Barack Obama’s former campaign manager stating “we got our butts kicked", noting that Democrats failed to communicate with young voters and Latinos, <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2024/11/06/donald-trump-us-election-white-house-kamala-harris/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">reports</mark></a> the <em>Daily Telegraph</em>.
In addition, what is not yet known is the impact that US Catholic voters had on the election result – Pennsylvania’s population is over 20 per cent Catholic, alongside other states containing significant Catholic numbers.
During the election campaign, Trump made a significant push for the Catholic vote, while Kamala Harris was criticised for not taking it seriously enough and alienating Catholic voters.
In addition to winning the electoral college, Donald Trump is projected to win the popular vote – securing the majority of votes cast nationally – a feat he did not manage in his previous election victory against Hilary Clinton in 2016, which was cited as a constant source of criticism by his opponents.
It caps what <em>Fox News</em> <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-projects-donald-trump-defeats-kamala-harris-become-47th-president-united-states"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">called</mark></a> a "historic election cycle that was filled with unprecedented twists and turns", including two attempts on Trump's life.
With his astonishing triumph that sees Trump return to the White House – along with a Catholic vice president in tow – he will become the only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms other than Grover Cleveland, who was elected in 1884 and then again in 1892.
<a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/kamala-harriss-contempt-for-catholic-voting-bloc-could-cost-her-dear-in-such-a-close-election/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"><strong><em>RELATED: Kamala Harris’s contempt for Catholic voting bloc may cost her dear in such a close election</em></strong></mark></a>
<em>Photo: Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gives a victory speech at the West Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA, 6 November 2024. (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images.)</em>
