While shocking, but not entirely unpredictable, Donald J. Trump and J.D. Vance won the United States presidential election. In addition to winning the popular vote, a feat that has not been achieved by a Republican candidate since 2004, President-Elect Trump also won all of the swing states: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia, and Nevada. He will be the first felon to hold the presidential office. He is also the second person to serve two non-consecutive terms as President. The first was Grover Cleveland, who served from 1885-1889 and 1893-1897. The election ended with 312 electoral votes for President-Elect Trump and 226 electoral votes for Vice-President Kamala Harris. In addition to President-Elect Trump’s victory, Republicans won control of the Senate and the House of Representatives, where Republicans have enjoyed a majority since President-Elect Trump’s first term.
Since the election, President-Elect Trump has begun to fill out his cabinet. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has been nominated as the secretary of state. Senator Rubio will need to be confirmed by the Senate. President-Elect Trump chose Governor Kristi Noem (R-SD) as Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security. Governor Noem would also have to be confirmed by the Senate. Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense is Pete Hegseth, a host for Fox News. Mr. Hesgeth never held political office but did serve in the Army National Guard in Iraq and Afghanistan. His position will also require Senate approval. Trump has named Susie Wiles as his Chief of Staff. Ms. Wiles was President-Elect Trump’s campaign manager and will be the first woman to hold the position of Chief of Staff. President-Elect Trump has also named Tom Homan as his “border czar”, an unofficial cabinet position that does not need Senate confirmation. Mr. Homan was previously the Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He will be tasked with carrying out Trump’s stated objective of detaining and deporting millions of undocumented immigrants currently in the U.S. Stephen Miller was chosen as the deputy chief of staff for policy. Mr. Miller is a senior Trump advisor who worked on immigration policies during President-Elect Trump’s first term and spearheaded the child separation policy. He will not need Senate approval. Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY) has been chosen as the ambassador to the United Nations. Ms. Stefanik is an outspoken ally of Israel and has criticized the UN’s response to the war. She will need to be confirmed by the Senate. John Ratcliffe has been chosen as the Director of the CIA. He initially served as a Republican congressman representing Texas and formerly served as Trump’s director of national intelligence. His position will need Senate approval. Assuming Senate confirmation, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency will be Lee Zeldin. Mr. Zeldin is a former New York congressman and attorney. Mike Waltz, a former Representative of Florida, will be the national security adviser. President-Elect Trump has also chosen Tulsi Gabbard as his pick for the director of national intelligence. Ms. Gabbard is a former Democratic congresswoman, the first Samoan-American congressperson, and an Army veteran who served in Iraq. She will need to be confirmed by the Senate. Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has been selected as the Attorney General after the withdrawal of Matt Gaetz. A longtime ally of Trump’s, she represented him in his first impeachment trial and supported his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. President-Elect Trump has also chosen Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency” also known as DOGE. He has said that this will not be a governmental agency, but rather this agency will provide outside consulting to improve the efficiency of the federal government with the goal of cutting billions if not trillions of dollars in spending. Many federal workers are fearful of losing their jobs as a result.
Supporters of President-Elect Trump claim that his harsh immigration policies, high tariffs on foreign goods, and isolationist foreign policy will create a more independent and powerful United States. Opponents of President-Elect Trump fear that his plans for mass deportations of illegal immigrants will lead to racial profiling, that his economic policy will significantly drive up prices for the middle class, and that his foreign policy will lead to global instability. Vice-President Harris accepted the results of the election, and gave a speech at her alma mater, Howard University, vowing to “not concede the fight that fueled this campaign” indicating the values represented by her platform. President-Elect Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on Monday, January 20, 2025.
