Former President Donald Trump has won the presidency once again, garnering 277 electoral votes against 224 for a Harris campaign that struggled to recapture President Biden’s 2020 margins. Five states have still not been called by the Associated Press.
Trump’s platform has mainly rested on reducing inflation, boosting the economy and limiting immigration. His inflation reduction platform proposes implementing high tariffs. PBS reports, “He has proposed a 60% tariff on goods from China — and a tariff of up to 20% on everything else the United States imports … and he threatened to hit Mexican-made goods with 100% tariffs.” Economists have warned this policy is likely to do the opposite of what Trump intends as raising the prices of imports to this extent is very likely to raise prices for consumers. He has also proposed tax cuts that are projected to benefit high earners more than low-income Americans.
Trump has promised to “carry out the largest deportation operation in American history,” which is projected to cost billions of dollars annually, according to a report from the American Immigration Council. He has plans to reinstate his “Remain in Mexico” policy that “sends asylum seekers to face risks of kidnapping, extortion, rape and other abuses in Mexico and violates their right to seek asylum in the United States,” according to Human Rights Watch. He has even threatened to end the country’s policy of “birthright citizenship.”
In regards to abortion rights, Trump said in a Truth Social post that he “would not support a federal abortion ban, under any circumstances and would, in fact, veto it,” according to the Associated Press. He has previously said he prefers the issue be left for individual states to decide which is in line with his support for the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade that removed federal protections.
Donald Trump does not have a strong record on climate change and would continue to reduce regulations and efforts to reduce carbon emissions that seek to limit the potentially disastrous consequences of climate change. He is expected to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord and promote deregulation as he did in 2016. His economic policy also heavily rests on increasing energy production “and end market-distorting restrictions on Oil, Natural Gas, and Coal,” according to the Republican National Committee Platform that is in opposition with efforts to promote renewable energy.
Republicans also won control of the Senate, and by Wednesday morning may have halted Democratic hopes for the House. Results in those house races may take a long time, especially given the number of races. It is likely Republicans will have a governing trifecta.
Inauguration Day will be held Jan. 20, 2025.
Bella Astrofsky can be reached at [email protected]. Daniel Frank can be reached at [email protected]. Eve Neumann can be reached at [email protected].
