US election 2024: Trump claims election victory

Wednesday 06th November 2024 05:17 AM

Donald Trump has declared himself the winner of the US presidential election. “It is a political victory the likes of which our country has never experienced,” Trump said during an appearance.06.11.2024 | 10:40 min

Donald Trump is about to return to the White House. After successes in important swing states, the ex-president declared himself the winner of the US presidential election. “It’s a political victory the likes of which our country has never experienced,” Trump said during an appearance in front of supporters in the state of Florida. “We made history.”

“I thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected the 47th President,” the 78-year-old continued. He promised voters a “golden age” of America. Trump’s running mate JD Vance said he was witnessing the greatest political comeback in US history. He and Trump would now lead the greatest economic comeback in US history.

US election: results at a glance (Electoral College + map)

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Before his appearance, the ex-president had secured the contested states of North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Kamala Harris only had a theoretical chance of winning the election.

Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin are the so-called blue wall for the Democrats, which were considered crucial to winning the presidential election. Hillary Clinton lost all three to Trump when she lost in 2016, and Joe Biden won them four years ago.

“The conclusion is that despite all the efforts that were made, the Democrats didn’t make it,” said ZDF correspondent Elmar Theveßen.06.11.2024 | 4:41 min

The results at a glance

Trump secures votes in these states:

Alabama (9 voters)
Arkansas (6 electors)
Florida (30 voters)
Georgia (16 voters)
Idaho (4 electors)
Indiana (11 electors)
Iowa (6 voters)
Kansas (6 electors)
Kentucky (8 electors)
Louisiana (8 electors)
Mississippi (6 electors)
Missouri (10 electors)
Montana (4 electors)
Nebraska (4 electors)
North Carolina (16 voters)
North Dakota (3 electors)
Ohio (17 voters)
Oklahoma (7 Voters)
Pennsylvania (19 electors)
South Carolina (9 electors)
South Dakota (3 electors)
Tennessee (11 electors)
Texas (40 voters)
Utah (6 electors)
West Virginia (4 electors)
Wyoming (3 electors)

Current status in the Electoral College with a total of 538 seats: 266 voters

Harris secures votes in these states:

Colorado (10 voters)
Connecticut (7 Wahlleute)
Delaware (3 electors)
Hawaii (4 electors)
Illinois (19 voters)
California (54 voters)
Maryland (10 electors)
Massachusetts (11 electors)
Minnesota (10 voters)
Nebraska (1 vote in the electoral college)
New Hampshire (4 electors)
New Jersey (14 electors)
New Mexico (5 electors)
New York (28 voters)
Oregon (8 electors)
Rhode Island (4 electors)
Vermont (3 electors)
Virginia (13 electors)
Washington (12 electors)
Washington DC (3 electors)

Current status in the Electoral College with a total of 538 seats: 223 voters

Scholz congratulates Trump and hopes for further cooperation with the USA

The 2024 US election was considered one of the most important elections in decades. There is discussion about what the outcome means for domestic political stability in the USA, but also for the future of Ukraine and transatlantic relations.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz offered Trump cooperation: “Together, Germany and the USA have been working together successfully for a long time to promote prosperity and freedom on both sides of the Atlantic.” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also congratulated and emphasized that the transatlantic friendship “has always not been reserved for one party”.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte emphasized that Trump’s leadership will again be crucial to maintaining the strength of the transatlantic defense alliance.

“There is now a little more jungle law, the law of the strongest and the traditions are only invoked but no longer lived,” is Claus Kleber’s conclusion.06.11.2024 | 1:33 min

These are the states that mattered in the election

Due to the peculiarities of the US electoral system, the election was primarily dependent on the results in seven so-called swing states, in which both Harris and Trump were given a chance of victory before the vote.

If you want to win the election, you have to win at least 270 of the 538 voters provided by the individual states.

These are the crucial swing states

Arizona (11 voters)
Georgia (16 voters)
Michigan (15 electors)
Nevada (6 electors)
North Carolina (16 voters)
Pennsylvania (19 electors)
Wisconsin (10 electors)

What about the congressional election?

At the same time as the decision between Trump and Harris, large parts of the US Congress, which consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate, will also be re-elected. These elections take place every two years.

What is already clear: Republicans will take over the majority in the new US Senate. This is clear after their candidates’ victories in West Virginia and Ohio. The Chamber of Congress is currently controlled by the Democrats. The situation in the House of Representatives is still unclear.

In 2024, the members of the House of Representatives (all 435 seats) and about a third of the senators (out of a total of 100) will be elected. This means that the elections also have a significant influence on the composition of the legislature and thus on the scope of action of the next president.

US election: results in the Senate and House of Representatives

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What happens after the election?

On December 16th, the Electoral College will meet and officially elect the president. The inauguration will take place on January 20, 2025.

It would be Trump’s second term in office. He was already US President from January 2017 to January 2021. Harris would have been the first woman to lead the United States of America.

US election: results in the states (map only)

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How did the US election go last time?

The last US presidential election took place on November 3, 2020. The opponents: Joe Biden versus Donald Trump. It wasn’t until four days after the election that the result was clear: Biden won with 306 electoral votes. Voter turnout was 66.7 percent – a record high.

2020 was historic: the election took place under the conditions of the corona pandemic. This led to many people voting by postal vote or before election day. After election night, Trump was initially ahead in many states, but the counting of postal votes ensured that Biden ultimately won the majority – especially in crucial states like Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Result of the 2020 US presidential election

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Trump denied his election defeat and urged his supporters to “fight like hell” on January 6, 2021. 140 police officers were injured during the storming of the Capitol. Many consider the incident to be one of the darkest chapters in the history of US democracy.

Graphics: Robert Meyer, Moritz Zajonz and Luisa Billmayer

Authors: Katharina Schuster is a reporter in the ZDF studio in Washington DC, Carsten Hauptmeier is an editor at ZDFheute in Mainz.