Former President Trump is projected to win the presidency, securing a second term nearly four years after he left Washington under a cloud of ignominy and with an uncertain political future, according to Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ).
DDHQ made the call after declaring Trump the projected winner of Pennsylvania and Alaska, which got him to exactly 270 electoral votes.
Trump defeated Vice President Harris in an election that saw a number of unexpected developments: A criminal trial involving Trump during the campaign, two assassination attempts against the former president and a change atop the Democratic ticket after President Biden dropped out of the race.
He becomes the first president in more than 120 years to lose the White House, and then to come back and win it again, after President Grover Cleveland in 1892.
Trump secured the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House following a roughly 100-day sprint of a campaign between him and Harris, with polling in seven key battleground states showing very little separation between the two candidates right up until Election Day.
The former president ultimately won a convincing victory, flipping Georgia back into his column, holding North Carolina and shattering the “blue wall.” He was projected to narrowly win the popular vote, something he failed to do in 2016 and that Republicans have only done once since 1992.
The former president and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), capitalized on voter discontent with higher costs, a surge in migration at the southern border and instability abroad during the Biden administration to pitch voters on a return to his policies.
Exit polls showed Trump making huge gains with Latino voters, bolstering his margins in rural areas and running nearly even with Harris among young men, a demographic Trump’s campaign aggressively courted.
Trump has pledged to carry out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history, to extend the tax cuts he signed into law in 2017, to impose universal tariffs on foreign imports, to roll back protections for transgender youth, to shut down the Education Department and to curb environmental regulations. He has also signaled he will seek to stock his administration with loyalists.
Trump overcame what was expected to be a huge deficit with female voters. Harris leaned into the issue of abortion rights after three of Trump’s picks for the Supreme Court joined other conservatives in overturning the Roe v. Wade decision in 2022. This was the first presidential election to take place since the end of Roe.
The election of Trump could give the GOP president a chance to strengthen the conservative grip on the high court, as Republicans regained the majority in the Senate.
Trump narrowly won the White House in 2016, but lost his reelection bid in 2020. He spent the weeks after that election pushing unproven claims of widespread fraud, culminating in a violent attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, where his supporters tried to stop the certification of Biden’s victory.
He was indicted on federal charges in Washington, D.C., in 2023 over his efforts to remain in power after losing the 2020 election. But Trump has signaled he will swiftly move to fire special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the matter, kneecapping a major legal case against him.
Trump’s rhetoric and conduct during his first term has drawn scrutiny from several former Cabinet officials and top aides, including some who compared him to an authoritarian. He was indicted in four separate jurisdictions in 2023 and was convicted in New York City on 34 felony counts in May. He was impeached twice during his first term and left office with a favorability rating below 40 percent. And he left Washington in 2021 without attending his successor’s inauguration.
A number of politicians and pundits all but declared him politically dead, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) lashing out at Trump in a February 2021 speech from the Senate floor. McConnell did not vote to convict Trump in his impeachment trial over the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, however.
If Trump had been convicted, it could have ended his political career and prevented him from running for the White House again. Instead, he now stands to further shift the GOP in his image, while McConnell’s position as Senate leader will end in January.
In a sign of how wrong some were in predicting Trump’s political demise, he coasted to the GOP nomination thanks to a loyal base of supporters, and he appeared to be on a glide path to the presidency in July, when he survived an assassination attempt, rallied the full force of the party behind him at the GOP convention and led Biden in the polls.
But Biden dropped out later that month and was replaced by Harris, who galvanized Democratic voters and raised record sums of money. Trump struggled initially to respond to the change in opponent, and his rocky performance at a September debate further frustrated Republicans as the race tightened.
Trump gained in the polls in the closing weeks of the campaign, however, showing strength with Black and Latino voters. Both are key voting blocs that helped propel him to victory.
His campaign relied on a previously untested strategy of partnering with outside groups to reach voters in battleground states, a method that managed to overcome the stronger infrastructure of the Harris campaign.
At 78, Trump is the oldest person in the country’s history to be elected president, slightly older than Biden was in 2020. He has declined to release detailed medical records despite previously saying he would have no problem doing so.
Trump will become just the second president in the nation’s history to serve two nonconsecutive terms, but will be term limited by the 22nd Amendment, meaning he cannot seek reelection in 2028.
Former lawmaker, Dino Melaye Esq, has raised concerns over the Senate’s reported rejection of the electronic transmission of election results.
The move, according to Melaye, is a clear endorsement of election rigging and an indication of a sinister plan to rig the 2027 elections.
In a statement on Friday, the former lawmaker criticized the Senate’s decision, stating that it undermines the credibility of the electoral process.
The African Democratic Congress, ADC chieftain, also stated that the move opens the door for electoral manipulation and fraud.
He further warned that the rejection of electronic transmission of results is a step backwards for democracy in Nigeria.
Melaye called on lawmakers and citizens to stand up against “this blatant attempt to undermine the will of the people and ensure that future elections are free, fair, and transparent”.
Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has said Nigerians have every reason to be mad at the Senate over the ongoing debate on e-transmission of election results.
Ezekwesili made this known on Friday when she featured in an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Morning Show’ monitored by DAILY POST.
DAILY POST reports that the Senate on Wednesday turned down a proposed change to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the Electoral Amendment Bill that aimed to compel the electronic transmission of election results.
Reacting to the matter, Ezekwesili said, “The fundamental issue with the review of the Electoral Act is that the Senate retained the INEC 2022 Act, Section 60 Sub 5.
“This section became infamous for the loophole it provided INEC, causing Nigerians to lose trust. Since the law established that it wasn’t mandatory for INEC to transmit electoral results in real-time, there wasn’t much anyone could say.
“Citizens embraced the opportunity to reform the INEC Act, aiming to address ambiguity and discretionary opportunities for INEC. Yet, the Senate handled it with a “let sleeping dogs lie” approach. The citizens have every reason to be as outraged as they currently are.”
Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has condemned the Senate’s refusal to make electronic transmission of election results mandatory, saying the move further exposes Nigeria as a fantastically corrupt and disgraced country.
Obi expressed his views in a statement shared on X on Friday, where he accused lawmakers of deliberately weakening Nigeria’s democratic process ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He explained that his reaction came after a brief pause to mourn victims of a deadly tragedy in Kwara State, where over 150 people reportedly lost their lives.
“Let us first pray for the souls of the innocent Nigerians lost in Kwara. That painful incident is why I delayed responding to the shameful development surrounding our electoral system,” he wrote.
Describing the Senate’s decision as intentional and dangerous, Obi said rejecting mandatory electronic transmission was not a simple oversight but a calculated attempt to block transparency.
“The Senate’s open rejection of electronic transmission of results is an unforgivable act of electoral manipulation ahead of 2027,” he said.
According to him, the action strikes at the heart of democracy and raises serious questions about the true purpose of governance in Nigeria.
“This failure to pass a clear safeguard is a direct attack on our democracy. By refusing these transparency measures, the foundation of credible elections is being destroyed. One must ask whether government exists to ensure justice and order or to deliberately create chaos for the benefit of a few.”
The former Anambra State governor linked the post-election controversies of the 2023 general elections to the failure to fully deploy electronic transmission of results, insisting that Nigerians were misled with claims of technical failures.
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The confusion, disputes and manipulation that followed the 2023 elections were largely due to the refusal to fully implement electronic transmission,” he said.
He added that the so-called system glitch never truly existed.
Obi compared Nigeria’s electoral process with those of other African countries that have embraced technology to improve credibility, lamenting that Nigeria continues to fall behind.
“Many African nations now use electronic transmission to strengthen their democracy. Yet Nigeria, which calls itself the giant of Africa, is moving backwards and dragging the continent along.”
He criticised Nigeria’s leadership class, saying the country’s problems persist not because of a lack of ideas but because of deliberate resistance to meaningful reform.
“We keep organising conferences and writing policy papers about Nigeria’s challenges. But the truth is that the leaders and elite are the real problem. Our refusal to change is pushing the nation backwards into a primitive system of governance.”
Warning of the dangers ahead, Obi said rejecting electronic transmission creates room for confusion and disorder that only serves the interests of a small group.
He also recalled past remarks by foreign leaders who described Nigeria as corrupt, arguing that actions like this continue to justify those statements.
“When a former UK Prime Minister described Nigeria as ‘fantastically corrupt,’ we were offended. When former US President Donald Trump called us a ‘disgraced nation,’ we were angry. But our continued resistance to transparency keeps proving them right.”
Obi warned that Nigerians should not accept a repeat of the electoral irregularities witnessed in 2023.
“Let there be no mistake. The criminality seen in 2023 must not be tolerated in 2027.”
He urged citizens to be ready to defend democracy through lawful and decisive means, while also calling on the international community to closely monitor developments in Nigeria’s electoral process.
“The international community must pay attention to the groundwork being laid for future electoral manipulation, which threatens our democracy and development,” Obi stated.
He concluded by expressing hope that change is still possible if Nigerians take collective responsibility.
“A new Nigeria is possible but only if we all rise and fight for it.”
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GOVERNOR FUBARA APPOINTS COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR KEN SARO-WIWA POLYTECHNIC BORI
