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    Did Trump win the popular vote? His lead for victory in 2024
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    Did Trump win the popular vote? His lead for victory in 2024

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    Former President Donald Trump will return to the White House as the country's 47th commander in chief after winning a decisive victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in the Electoral College.

    After his 2020 loss to Joe Biden, two impeachments and two assassination attempts, the Republican candidate's stunning political comeback came with a large margin of victory. Projections suggest 2024 will be the first time since 2004 that a Republican wins the popular vote. Although polls predicted a close race, Trump had already captured key swing states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by the time most Americans woke up the morning after voting.

    At 78, he will be the oldest person elected to the highest office in the land and only the second president in history, after Grover Cleveland, to serve two non-consecutive terms.

    Between Trump's felony conviction in New York and Harris entering the race just 107 days before Election Day after Biden abandoned his re-election bid, both candidates waged unprecedented campaigns. Trump claimed victory around 2:30 a.m. on stage at a rally in Florida, promising to usher in a “golden age” for the country and “make America great again.”

    “This is a movement like no one has ever seen before, and frankly, in my opinion, this was the greatest political movement of all time,” Trump said. “There has never been anything like this in this country.”

    More: 2024 Election Live Updates: Early Reaction to Trump's Win; did Harris admit?

    How do the 2024 results compare to Trump's performance in 2020 and 2016?

    By Wednesday afternoon, Trump is expected to have won at least 292 votes in the Electoral College. If he wins the remaining states of Arizona and Nevada, where he is currently ahead, he will have reached 309 points. Candidates need 270 to secure the presidency. And as of Wednesday morning, Trump was ahead of Harris in the popular vote by nearly five million votes — a lead that could shrink or grow as final results come in.

    Trump's margin of victory is significant compared to his triumph in 2016, the last time he won the White House. This year, Trump secured 306 votes in the Electoral College. He lost the popular vote to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by nearly three million votes. This makes Clinton the fifth presidential candidate in history and the second in the 21st century to win the popular vote but lose the Electoral College.

    Four years later, Biden defeated Trump by also securing 306 Electoral College votes in 2020. He defeated Trump in the popular vote by a margin of more than seven million votes.

    How big was Trump's victory in 2024 compared to previous elections?

    Former President Barack Obama won the Electoral College and the popular vote when Americans elected him in 2012 and 2008. He secured 332 electoral votes in 2012, beating Sen. Mitt Romney in the popular vote by nearly five million votes. Obama received 365 electoral votes and defeated Senator John McCain in the popular vote in 2008 by around nine and a half million votes.

    Former President George W. Bush lost the popular vote when he was first elected in 2000, but won it when he secured re-election in 2004. He received 286 electoral votes and defeated former Secretary of State John Kerry in the popular vote in 2004 by around three million votes.

    George W. Bush lost the popular vote to former Vice President Al Gore in 2000 by about half a million votes. Following a Supreme Court decision on disputed results in Florida five weeks after Election Day, a ruling awarded Bush the state's electoral votes, bringing his total to 271 this year.

    Former President Bill Clinton won the Electoral College and the popular vote in 1992 and 1996. He secured 370 electoral votes and defeated former President George HW Bush in the popular vote in 1992 by nearly six million votes. Four years later, he received 379 electoral votes against Senator Robert Dole and won the popular vote by around eight million votes.

    George HW Bush defeated then-Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis in the popular vote in 1988, receiving seven million more votes. This year he secured 426 electoral votes.

    Former President Ronald Reagan was re-elected in 1984 over former Vice President Walter Mondale. He won in a landslide, receiving 525 electoral votes and beating Mondale in the popular vote by nearly 17 million votes.

    Reach Rachel Barber at [email protected] and follow her on X @rachelbarber_

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