Donald Trump is officially the new president-elect of the United States, meaning he will become America’s 47th president in January 2025.
For weeks, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have been battling it out to win the highly sought after seat in The Oval Office.
Trump expressed his intentions of running for president again back in November 2022 and, sticking to his word, he was named as the Republican Party’s official presidential candidate over the summer.
While President Biden had been poised to run again as the Democratic nominee, he abandoned his presidential candidacy in July.
Vice President Kamala Harris went on to be named as the new Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.
And now, Donald Trump has proven victorious and secured his spot once again at the White House, with his win coming after he secured 270 electoral votes thanks to a projected win the key battleground state of Wisconsin, according to CNN.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris were 2024’s presidential candidates (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
Why did Joe Biden drop out?
On July 21, President Biden revealed that he was officially withdrawing from the presidential race.
Members of the public had grown increasingly concerned about the 81-year-old’s health, especially as he contracted Covid-19 which ground his campaign to a halt.
Addressing his decision to step down, Biden said he thought it was in the ‘best interest’ of the Democratic Party.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” part of his statement read. “And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”
Joe Biden will step down as president in January 2025 (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
When did Kamala Harris join the presidential race?
Harris was quickly endorsed by Biden as his replacement for the Democrats in the presidential race, but she wasn’t officially named as the party’s nominee until August, and formally accepted the nomination on August 23.
In a moving speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Harris told the crowd, as per CBS News: “My entire career, I’ve only had one client: the people. And so, on behalf of the people, on behalf of every American regardless of party, race, gender or the language your grandmother speaks, on behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely journey, on behalf of Americans like the people I grew up with, people who work hard, chase their dreams, and look out for one another, on behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on earth, I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of America.”
Kamala Harris took over as candidate after Biden stepped down (Megan Varner/Getty Images)
When did Donald Trump launch his 2024 campaign?
Trump first voiced his hopes of running for president in November 2022, two years after losing the 2020 election against Biden.
Speaking at Mar-a-Lago, his waterfront estate in Florida, he said: “In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States.
“This will not be my campaign, this will be our campaign all together,” Trump added, according to CNN at the time.
Fast forward to July of this year and the businessman was formally named as the Republican presidential nominee for a third cycle in a row.
The nomination came shortly after Trump survived an assassination attempt during a rally in Pennsylvania.
Thomas Crooks, now deceased, fired in the ex-POTUS’ direction while he was on stage and grazed the 78-year-old’s ear. Had Trump not turned his head at the last second, it’s likely that he wouldn’t have survived the ordeal.
In the days that followed, Trump formally accepted the Republican Party’s nomination – and the rest was history.
