As Trump wins the 2024 presidential election with an expected 312 electoral votes against Kamala Harris’ 226, a deeper look into his campaign strategy and plan is needed. Trump took many battleground states by appealing to their future hopes and adjusting his strategy to match.
From the start, President Trump has always stressed his plans to limit immigration and improve the United States’s economy. These plans, which include mass deportation from day one, are extremely controversial and widely considered a major risk. Not only did Trump lose most immigrant voters, but he also lost many other supporters who did not quite match this radical opinion.
The United States’ economics have been a major concern over recent years as inflation has risen to new heights. “Trump is going to put in tax reductions and tariffs on other countries to make our economy better,” said Sophomore Ian Robison. Tariffs are where the government requires the other country to pay an extra fine to sell in the U.S. These plans are expected to create an immediate but short-term economic benefit.
While everything may seem good, the plans for immigrants and the economy have also raised major concerns. Combined, these are expected to have long-term effects, including a workforce decrease, higher inflation, and larger budget deficits. Budget deficits are where the government’s expenses exceed the income, so loads of debt are taken out, and the government doesn’t have the money to pay it off in the future.
Along with these plans for the future, another strategy of Trump’s was to get the endorsement of many celebrities and significant figures. Elon Musk as well as many others endorsed Trump before the election, possibly swaying voters. Robison commented, “Kamala didn’t get enough voters in the population. She targeted specific areas while President Trump spread out to the entire United States.” The final plan of Trump was to fight the votes of other Democrat voters. Throughout the weeks before the election, many mail ballots were fought by Republicans due to minor issues, some cases ending with the rejection of the votes in question. It has been shown that Democrats are more likely to vote by mail than Republicans, so more votes from Democrats were discounted. Trump had also encouraged people to stand by poll stations and watch for any disturbances. Historically, this action has stopped certain people from voting due to their feelings of security or safety.
Another main concern of Harris supporters is Trump’s stand on women’s rights and global politics. During the presidential debate on September 10th, Trump did not stress any protection of the rights to abortions for pregnant women. Also, Trump repeatedly neglected to answer whether he supported Ukraine or Russia in the war, choosing instead to simply state that he would end it before he was put in office. These unstable grounds have created tensions that have rarely been seen before in an election.
To set more records, Trump is the first convicted felon to ever be elected president. He was impeached twice the last time he was in office. Finally, he is the second president in U.S. history to be elected twice, not back to back. Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th president was the first.
As the elections start to finish off, there is another rarity. Already, Trump has won the election and Republicans hold the Senate. The House of Representatives is expected to be led by Republicans too, and with Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito expected to retire President Trump will bring two more in, leading to five appointed by Trump. Robison remarked, “Many bills will be passed to propel America into the future.”
