WASHINGTON, D.C – Former President Donald Trump was elected the 47th President of the United States, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in a historic comeback after she lost four years ago.

The Associated Press projected Trump as the winner early Wednesday after declaring the flip in Wisconsin – putting him over the 270 electoral vote threshold needed to win the presidency.

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It was an extraordinary return to power for the 78-year-old Trump, who refused to accept defeat in 2020 when he lost to President Joe Biden and sparked the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, was convicted of felonies and survived two assassination attempts.

Trump, who gave a victory speech at Mar-a-Lago early Wednesdaywill begin his second term early next year.

Here are some answers to questions about the 2024 presidential election:

How did Trump win?

In state after state, Trump outperformed his performance in the 2020 election, while Harris did not perform as well as Biden did when he won the presidency four years ago.

As of early Wednesday morning, Trump won three crucial swing states — Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia — and was ahead in four of the remaining battlegrounds that were too close to call at the time.

Shortly before 6 a.m., the Associated Press also called Wisconsin for Trump, putting him at 277 electoral votes and sending him back to the White House for a second term.

He managed to win nationally and in key swing states among voters who were concerned about the economy and prioritized more aggressive enforcement of immigration laws. Fears about inflation were high nationwide, according to AP VoteCast, a comprehensive survey of more than 120,000 voters across the country.

Voters generally believed Trump was better equipped to handle the economy and jobs than Harris, Biden's current vice president. The poll found that the key swing states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan largely reflected the mood of the country.

When will Trump be sworn in?

Trump will be sworn in as US President on Monday, January 20, 2025, on the West Front of the US Capitol in Washington, DC

Who is Trump's vice president?

JD Vance, a 40-year-old Republican senator from Ohio who rose to prominence with his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” will be Trump’s vice president.

When he takes office, he will be the third-youngest vice president in history.

Vance was born and raised in Middletown, Ohio. He joined the Marines and served in Iraq. He later earned degrees from Ohio State University and Yale Law School. He also worked as a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley.

Vance made his name with the 2016 bestseller “Hillbilly Elegy,” which was published when Trump was first running for president. The book gave Vance a reputation as someone who could help explain the maverick New York businessman's appeal in middle America, particularly among the working class, white, rural voters who helped Trump win the presidency.

“Hillbilly Elegy” also introduced Vance to the Trump family. Donald Trump Jr. loved the book and knew about Vance when he launched his political career. The two got along well and remained friends.

But Vance was famously a “Never Trump” Republican in 2016, calling him “dangerous” and “unfit” for office. Vance, whose wife, lawyer Usha Chilukuri Vance, is Indian American and the mother of their three children, also criticized Trump's racist rhetoric and said he could be “America's Hitler.”

But by the time Vance met Trump in 2021, he had changed his mind, citing Trump's accomplishments as president. Both men downplayed Vance's earlier harsh criticism.

Vance won the Ohio Senate seat in 2022 that was being vacated by Republican Rob Portman, who was retiring. After his election, Vance became a fierce ally of Trump on Capitol Hill, relentlessly defending Trump's policies and behavior.

Can Trump run for president in 2028?

Trump is now expected to become both the 45th and 47th president of the United States, the first to serve non-consecutive terms since Grover Cleveland, who recaptured the White House in the 1892 election.

Securing a second term means Trump cannot run for a third time in 2028. The reason for this is the 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution, which limits a person to a maximum of two terms as US President.

Did the Republicans take the House of Representatives?

Republicans gained control of the U.S. SenateIn doing so, he recaptured the upper house for the first time in four years and gave the GOP an important center of power in Washington. It will also help provide leadership in confirming the next president's Cabinet as well as a Supreme Court justice if there is a vacancy.

However, control of the House remained open Wednesday with more than 100 races still to be contested, according to the Associated Press.

Harris had no immediate comment early Wednesday, and there was no word yet that she had made a decision to drop out of the race.

Before the Associated Press declared Trump the winner, the co-chair of Harris' campaign announced she would not be at her election night party at Howard University, noting at the time that votes still needed to be counted.