This election will be one to be written in history books. President-Elect Donald Trump has become the second-ever president to be elected to serve two non-consecutive terms, only being preceded by Grover Cleveland in the late 1800s.
“Donald Trump will be the second president to serve non-consecutive terms after Grover Cleveland served as both the 22nd and 24th presidents. This is almost unprecedented in American history…,” Highlands High School World History teacher Isaiah Cook said.
The whole election has been a “red sweep.” Trump won 312 electoral college votes, beating out Vice President Kamala Harris’s 226. Trump won every critical swing state for this election, those being Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
The popular vote was much closer, with only a 3.2 million difference. The Republicans gained four more seats in the Senate and acquired one in the House of Representatives. For the states that hosted governor elections alongside the presidential one, three-fifths of the elected governors were Republican.
Both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have spoken, confirming that they intend to maintain a peaceful transfer of power.
Trump has promised many massive changes in his speeches, and it seems he intends to follow up on several of them.
For example, the President-elect has spoken about his desire to establish tariffs on many imported goods, with as high as a 60% tariff on Chinese products.
“Think of tariffs like a tax on imported goods. When the government puts a tariff on something, it makes that product more expensive for American consumers. This will lead to higher prices on everything from electronics to clothes,” Highlands High School Business teacher Elise Carter said.
Trump has also promised to reduce American climate regulations, which will follow his previous actions as president. During his 2016 presidency, he made America the very first country to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement.
A major feature of this election’s Republican campaign was immigration. Trump promises to deport undocumented migrants on a mass scale, claiming it will be the biggest in US history. Trump also has pledged to finish constructing the Mexican border wall that began during his first presidency.
Another promise from the former President is to pardon January 6th rioters, whom he has claimed many of which were wrongfully jailed. Trump has also spoken about wanting to sack Special Counsel Jack Smith. Smith has been leading criminal investigations into Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election and alleged mishandling of classified documents.
A recent development was the announcement of the Department of Government Efficiency, which Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead. Both are incredibly wealthy entrepreneurs, with Musk being nominated as the richest person in the world. This will be an organization outside of the government, to advise Trump on ways to cut federal spending.
Trump has begun announcing his cabinet members on X (formerly Twitter). To keep up with who will be part of his cabinet, follow his X account.
One of his picks, Governor of South Dakota Kristi Noem, gained infamy and hatred online due to executing her own dog. Noem will be the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The killing happened after her 14-month-old dog got loose and attacked some of her neighbor’s chickens. She described the execution in visceral detail in her novel No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.
In another controversial pick, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been selected as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services.
This department includes the Food and Drug Administration and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Kennedy has been famously anti-vaccine, which has raised concerns in the medical community.
Kennedy has become famous due to an interview where he discussed a brain worm that “ate a portion of [my brain]…” However, he does support popular ideas like removing food additives and curbing the power of “big pharma.” But, in contrast, he is against fluoride in water, which helps to reduce cavities.
This year has been theatrical in politics. Many fear whether or not this country will be a safe place for them in the coming years.
Trump has previously spoken about using the military to crush, “the enemy from within.”
He has been commonly associated with the much-maligned Project 2025, which aims to restrict women’s freedoms, LGBTQ+ rights, immigration rights, and racial equity. 140 former Trump staffers helped to write Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership, permanently linking him to the plan.
The project even has Trump being elected as part of its plan. Trump has stated that he does not know about Project 2025, but many of his followers and cabinet are supporters of it.
