Fox News' Decision Desk projects that former President Trump has defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in a stunning victory, giving him a second term in the White House after a historic election cycle filled with unprecedented twists and turns and two attempts on his life.
Trump will be the first president to serve two non-consecutive terms since Grover Cleveland in 1892, and only the second in history.
Trump was first elected president in 2016, defeating former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and vowing to “Make America Great Again.” He lost reelection to President Biden in 2020 during the global coronavirus pandemic, but regained the White House in 2024 after a nearly two-year campaign, vowing to “Make America Great Again.”
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Former President Trump laughs after speaking during a campaign rally on Thursday, October 24, in Las Vegas. (AP/Alex Brandon)
Trump officially announced his presidential campaign on November 15, 2022, just days after the midterm elections.
Trump campaigned for a second term at the expense of his first term and focused on the failures of the Biden-Harris administration. The former president was able to point to the reversal of some of his key policies as reasons for the rise in inflation and the worsening US border crisis.
Trump faced a crowded Republican primary, but emerged as the favorite once again, easily defeating his opponents – all of whom ultimately endorsed him to become the 47th president of the United States – and winning every primary.
Vice President Kamala Harris (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Until July, Trump was running against Biden, who was seeking re-election to a second term.
But the two debated for the first time in June, and weeks later, after a disastrous debate performance, Biden was pressured by Democratic insiders to suspend his presidential bid.
Biden ends his bid for a second term in the White House after withdrawing from his second match with Trump in 2024
Biden made the announcement in a social media post and endorsed Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee in his place, moving his running mate to the top of the ticket.
Former President Trump and President Biden debate at CNN studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Biden's decision to withdraw from the race came just days after the end of the Republican National Convention, and after Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, formally accepted the Republican nomination.
But Trump, just days before accepting the Republican nomination, survived an assassination attempt during a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. During the event, Trump was showing a graph highlighting how illegal immigration has risen under the Biden-Harris administration. As he headed toward the chart, he was shot through the top of his right ear by the now deceased would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crookes. Trump credits the chart with saving his life.
Trump says he was shot in an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally
Donald Trump shakes hands with J.D. Vance during the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 15, 2024. (Brendan Smalowski/AFP via Getty Images)
But weeks later, in September, another would-be killer hid himself in the bushes at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida. The gunman, Ryan Wesley Roth, had an AK-47 rifle pointed through a fence at Trump as he played golf. Trump was taken off the golf course by US Secret Service agents unharmed.
Trump blames Biden-Harris for 'rhetoric' in recent assassination attempt and says he will 'save the country'
Just one day later, Trump told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that the “rhetoric” of Biden, Harris and the Democrats was to blame.
Trump is surrounded by US Secret Service agents after being shot during a campaign rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it,” Trump said of the gunman. “Their rhetoric causes me to be shot, while I am the one who will save the country, and they are the ones destroying the country – from within and without.”
The general election revealed two very different visions of the future of the United States of America.
The Trump campaign promoted pro-growth and America First economic policies, securing the border, ending inflation, and restoring “peace through strength” as part of the president's plan.
The Trump campaign's closing message was: “Harris broke it. Trump will fix it.”
Secret Service agents treat a wounded Trump on stage at a rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Trump makes French fries at McDonald's in Pennsylvania: 'I've now worked 15 minutes longer than Kamala'
In the final weeks of the campaign, Trump traveled to Pennsylvania to work in a McDonald's window as a fry cook in a jab at Harris, who previously claimed to work for the fast food chain.
Meanwhile, Harris said on the campaign trail that Trump was a threat to democracy and warned her supporters that he would sign a national abortion ban — something Trump has repeatedly denied.
Trump works the ordering line during his visit to a McDonald's restaurant on October 20, 2024, in Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania. (Wayne McNamee/Getty Images)
As for eloquence, it never faded. Trump held a massive, sold-out campaign rally just a week before Election Day at New York City's traditionally blue Madison Square Garden. Later, Democrats, including Harris, likened Trump to “Hitler.”
Trump and powerful HouseGuests pack historic MSG race
Less than a week before Election Day, Biden called Trump's supporters “trash.”
Former President Trump speaks to reporters as he sits in a garbage truck Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (AP)
Trump earned key endorsements from top Republicans during his bid for the White House, but he also created unexpected allies, such as former Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Democratic Representative Tulsi Gabbard.
Trump also received support from top business leaders such as Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick. Many Wall Street leaders have privately pledged their support for Trump, Lutnick told Fox News Digital.
Trump supporters outside Madison Square Garden. (Fox News Digital)
Trump's victory comes after years of what his campaign described as the “weaponization” of the Justice Department.
Trump's post-presidential life and third presidential campaign are reminiscent of his days in the Oval Office, marred by the investigations, which the former president and his allies said were just part of an effort by his political opponents to prevent him from running for re-election. 2024.
Trump, who was the first president in US history to be impeached and acquitted twice, was also the first president to be impeached not just once, but four times.
Trump immunity case: Supreme Court rules Former presidents enjoy significant protection from prosecution
Just days after announcing his re-election bid in November 2022, Biden's Attorney General, Merrick Garland, appointed former Justice Department official Jack Smith as a special counsel. The appointment came several months after the FBI conducted an unprecedented raid at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, alleging he had improperly kept secret records from his presidency. Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges against him during this investigation.
The case was ultimately dismissed entirely by a federal judge in Florida, who ruled that Smith had been improperly and illegally appointed as special counsel.
Smith also took over the investigation into alleged interference in the 2020 election. Trump also pleaded not guilty, but his lawyers took the fight to the US Supreme Court for a defense on the grounds of presidential immunity.
Former President Trump awaits the start of proceedings in Manhattan Criminal Court on April 22, 2024 in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, Swimming Pool)
The Supreme Court ruled that Trump was immune from prosecution for official presidential acts, forcing Smith to file a new indictment. Trump has pleaded not guilty to these new charges as well. Trump's lawyers are now seeking to have election interference charges dismissed in Washington, D.C., similarly claiming that Smith's appointment was illegal.
Trump says Supreme Court ruling in Colorado case 'unifying and inspiring'
But this case was not the first Supreme Court ruling involving Trump this election cycle. Colorado, which is trying to invoke the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, sought to remove Trump from the 2024 primary, but the Supreme Court unanimously sided with the former president, affecting efforts in several other states to do the same.
In 2023, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump with falsifying business records. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges, but went through an unprecedented six-week criminal trial in New York City this spring. The jury found him guilty.
Trump appealed the ruling, and the judge presiding over the case set a date for pronouncing the ruling after the election.
Trump also sat inside a courtroom in the fall of 2023 for a civil fraud trial stemming from a lawsuit brought against him by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Judge Arthur Engoron demanded that Trump pay more than $450 million.
Trump says taking the photo 'wasn't a comfortable feeling, especially when you didn't do anything wrong'
But the New York Court of Appeals appeared open in September to overturning or reducing that ruling.
Trump also appealed an award to pay more than $80 million to E. Jean Carroll in a defamation suit. As president, Trump said Carroll was lying about the sexual assault allegations. This year, a New York jury ruled that he defamed Carroll in denying the accusations and defending himself.
Former President Trump turned himself in in August 2023 at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta. (Fulton County Sheriff's Office)
In Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fanny Willis charged Trump in the election interference case. He pleaded not guilty but was booked and had his profile picture taken — a photo his campaign used throughout the election cycle to illustrate the “legal warfare” being used against him.
A judge in Georgia threw out a number of charges against Trump, and the case was put on hold.
The future of the cases and charges hangs in limbo, as the president-elect will have the authority to pardon himself once he is sworn in.
Trump delivered the pizza to the FDNY after a day in court. (Fox News)
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But Trump, in light of all the unprecedented legal challenges, used every opportunity to campaign. After hours in court this spring, Trump delivered pizza to the New York City Fire Department.
Trump told his supporters he believed the prosecutions would have an “adverse effect” on his presidential bid — and it appears he was right.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more in the Fox News Digital Election Center.
