Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign
American political campaign From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States (2017–2021), successfully contested the 2024 U.S. presidential election. He announced his campaign on November 15, 2022, initially battling for the Republican Party's nomination. After winning a landslide victory in the 2024 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, the former President was generally considered to be the Republican Party's presumptive nominee. Trump was officially nominated on July 15, 2024, at the Republican National Convention, where he also announced JD Vance, a junior U.S. Senator from Ohio, as the nominee for vice president. The two initially faced off against the presumptive Democratic Party ticket of incumbent President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. However, on July 21, 2024, Biden withdrew from the race, and Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee, with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.
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| Donald Trump for President 2024 | |
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| Campaign | 2024 U.S. presidential election 2024 Republican primaries |
| Candidate | Donald Trump 45th President of the United States (2017–2021) JD Vance U.S. Senator from Ohio (2023–2025) |
| Affiliation | Republican Party |
| Status |
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| Headquarters | Palm Beach, Florida[1] |
| Key people |
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| Receipts | US$448,966,052 (final)[7] (July 21, 2024) |
| Slogan |
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| Theme song | "God Bless the U.S.A." by Lee Greenwood[12] "Hold On, I'm Comin'" by Sam & Dave[12] "America First" by Merle Haggard[12] "Y.M.C.A." by Village People[13] |
| Chant | |
| Website | |
| www | |
Trump's campaign issues included: initiating a mass deportation of illegal immigrants;[16][a] pursuing an isolationist "America First" foreign policy agenda;[19][20] repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act;[21][22] pursuing an anti-clean energy platform;[23][24][25] shutting down multiple departments for "bureaucratic waste",[26][24] implementing anti-transgender policies;[27][28][24] and pursuing what has been described as a neomercantilist trade agenda.[29][30] His campaign proposed expanding the authority of the executive branch over the federal government,[31] which would be accomplished through the imposition of a spoils system via Schedule F,[32][33] and directing the U.S. Department of Justice to go after political enemies.[34] It also received significant media attention for its close connections to The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, a playbook criticized for recommending an authoritarian state. Nonetheless, Trump distanced himself from Project 2025.
Throughout his campaign, Trump made numerous false and misleading statements,[35][36] used anti-immigrant,[37][38] incendiary rhetoric and promoted conspiracy theories.[39][40] Several of his attacks against his opponent, Harris, were considered a breaking of political norms.[41][42][38][43] He predominantly promoted election denialism, especially with regards to the previous presidential election that he had lost.[44] Beginning as early as Veterans Day in November 2023, Trump espoused authoritarian rhetoric.[45][46][47][48] He used insulting language against his political opponents,[45][49][50] and his 2024 campaign regularly espoused anti-immigrant nativism[51][52] and anti-transgender[53] fearmongering.[b] Trump's policy proposals and rhetoric were described by historians and scholars as populist, authoritarian,[c] and unlike anything a political candidate had ever said in American history.[54][16] Some sources also accused him of fascism.[62]
The campaign unfolded as Trump faced the legal consequences of four criminal indictments filed against him in 2023, as well as a civil investigation of the Trump Organization in New York. In May 2024, a jury in New York found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, making him the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a crime. Trump survived two assassination attempts during the campaign, one in July 2024, and a second the following September.
On November 5, 2024, Trump and Vance were elected president and vice president of the United States, winning all seven swing states for a total of 312 electoral votes to Harris' 226. Trump is the oldest person to be elected to the presidency. He also became the second president to serve a non-consecutive term after Grover Cleveland.
Origins
Summarize
Perspective
Background
Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign is his fourth, following a brief one in 2000 for the Reform Party's nomination, and two as the Republican Party's candidate, in 2016 and, subsequently, 2020.[63][64]
As president, Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Democratic nominee Joe Biden.[65] He and his allies in seven key states denied the results. They allegedly went on to devise a plot to create and submit fraudulent certificates of ascertainment falsely asserting that Trump had won the electoral college vote in those states.[66] In the event that the plot failed to "work out," Trump would plan another presidential run in 2024.[67][68][69] On January 6, 2021, a mob of Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol building to prevent the true election results from being certified.[70][71] The former President was thereafter impeached for incitement of insurrection, but was acquitted.[72]
By July 2022, amid the public hearings of the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, Trump was reportedly considering making an early announcement of his 2024 candidacy.[73][74] A contemporary Intelligencer interview with Trump affirmed that he had already made up his mind.[75] Following the August 2022 FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, many of his allies urged that he initiate his campaign even sooner, perhaps prior to that year's midterm elections.[76]
Announcement
Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president on November 15, 2022, in an hour-long address from Mar-a-Lago. It came one week after the midterm elections.[77][78][79][80] Those in attendance included consultant Roger Stone, businessman Mike Lindell, political adviser Jason Miller, attorney Kash Patel,[81][82] as well as numerous members of the Trump family: Melania, Barron, Eric, Lara, and Jared Kushner.[81] Notably, many of Trump's close relatives did not oversee the announcement, including Ivanka, Tiffany, and Donald Jr. Hannah Getahun added that "many members of Congress were not in attendance".[81]
Trump's announcement was met with a mixed response from both Democrats and Republicans. He was perceived by many as a weak, beatable candidate, owing to his loss in 2020 and the failure of an expected Republican "red wave" in the 2022 midterms to materialize.[d] This led several Republican officials to oppose his campaign,[84][85][86] and several Democrats to warily welcome it.[87][88] The conservative New York Post mocked Trump's announcement by relegating it to page 26 and noting it on the cover with a banner reading "Florida Man Makes Announcement".[89] On the other hand, many Trump-aligned Republicans embraced the campaign,[90] and many Democrats deemed it a threat to American democracy.[91][92]
Trump was the first one-term president to campaign for a second non-consecutive term since Herbert Hoover (1929–1933), who, after losing in 1932, made unsuccessful runs in 1936 and 1940.[93]
Fundraising
At its inception, Trump's campaign had over $100 million in funding.[94] Its numerous vehicle for fundraising was Save America, a leadership political action committee (PAC), joined by the MAGA PAC and Super PAC.[95][96] However, his legal expenses from his court cases would absorb much of that funding. In fact, from January 2021 to March 2024, he spent more than $100 million in legal fees from campaign accounts.[96] In 2023, the year of Trump's four criminal indictments, over half of his financial donations were allocated to paying off legal bills.[96]
While running against Joe Biden, Trump overwhelmingly lagged behind his opponent in fundraising. His legal expenses combined with Biden's plentiful financial hauls laid at the heart of this problem.[97][95] At the start of March 2024, Trump's campaign had $50 million in cash on hand and Trump-aligned Super PACs had $52 million, while Biden's campaign had $155 million in cash on hand and Biden-aligned Super PACs had $64 million.[98] However, Trump's fundraising eventually took a turn for the better. By May 21, Trump reported a total April fundraising haul of $76.2 million, beating Biden's reported $51 million and beating Biden's total fundraising for the first time.[99] Trump and the Republican National Committee entered June with $235 million on hand compared to Biden's $212 million.[100] Things again turned sour for Trump's campaign after Biden withdrew from the race. The new Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, brought in $200 million during the first week of her presidential campaign.[101] In July, Trump's campaign and assorted committees reporting taking in $138.7 million compared to Harris and Democratic committees' $310 million.[102] All in all, throughout their campaigns (specifically, since January 2023), the Trump committee raised $388 billion, while that Biden–Harris raised nearly $1 billion.[103]
According to OpenSecrets, Trump's greatest donors were hedge fund manager and self-described "Reagan Republican" Ken Griffin (who donated $100 million), pro-Israel activist Miriam Adelson ($132 million), railroad magnate Timothy Mellon ($197 million), and, most notably, businessman Elon Musk ($277 million[e]).[108] Musk was not only the largest individual political donor of the 2024 election, but also the largest individual political donor since at least 2010, excluding candidates funding their own campaigns. He also launched a $1 million a day giveaway for swing state voters.[109] OpenSecrets additionally found that the top seven donors of the 2024 campaign were "solidly Republican/Conservative".[106]
Trump was noted for an "unprecedented" mixing of personal business and political fundraising.[110] He promoted $59.99 bibles, $399 sneakers, $99 "Victory47" cologne, and $99 Trump-branded NFT digital trading cards for his personal, non-campaign accounts.[111] Many campaign funds were also funneled into Trump-owned businesses, in particular his Mar-a-Lago resort and the Trump National Doral Miami.[112]
Eligibility
Case dismissed by state supreme court
Case dismissed by lower court
Decision ruled that Trump is ineligible; stayed, pending appeal
Lawsuit filed
Trump's eligibility to run for president was challenged from 2023 to 2024. The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, Section 3, prohibits current and former federal, state and military officials who have "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" from holding office again, which is especially pertinent in Trump's case considering his role in inciting the January 6 attack on the Capitol.[113][114] By 2023, the non-profit group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and other advocacy groups and individuals were planning state-by-state efforts to keep Trump off state ballots.[115][116] Court cases sprung up in several states.[117][118][119]
In December 2023, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump was ineligible from holding office and that his name must be removed from the Colorado Republican primary ballot.[120] Trump's campaign said that he would appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.[121] The ruling marked the first time a court has ever determined that a presidential candidate is disqualified due to section three of the 14th Amendment.[122] On December 28, 2023, Maine's Secretary of State banned Trump from Maine's Republican primary ballot. The Trump campaign said that they would appeal the decision in Maine state courts, and the secretary of state suspended the ruling until the court's decision.[123] In March 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Colorado's Supreme Court ruling, saying that states do not have the authority to disqualify Trump or other candidates from federal elections under the 14th Amendment's insurrection clause.[124][125][126]
Agenda and political positions
Summarize
Perspective
Donald Trump's formal campaign manifesto was Agenda 47. It took the form of a series of videos on his official website outlining his proposals one by one.[127] Seeing that the series was cut short in December 2023, Agenda 47 was primarily targeted to Republican voters during the 2024 primary season.[128][129] His website's homepage contained a list of 20 campaign proposals.[128]
President Trump’s 20 CORE PROMISES
TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN![130]
- Seal the border and stop the migrant invasion
- Carry out the largest deportation operation in American history
- End inflation, and make America affordable again
- Make America the dominant energy producer in the world, by far
- Stop outsourcing, and turn the United States into a manufacturing superpower
- Large tax cuts for workers, and no tax on tips
- Defend our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, and our fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to keep and bear arms
- Prevent World War Three, restore peace in Europe and in the Middle East, and build a great iron dome missile defense shield over our entire country—all made in America
- End the weaponization of government against the American people
- Stop the migrant crime epidemic, demolish the foreign drug cartels, crush gang violence, and lock up violent offenders
- Rebuild our cities, including Washington, D.C., making them safe, clean, and beautiful again
- Strengthen and modernize our military, making it, without question, the strongest and most powerful in the world
- Keep the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency
- Fight for and protect Social Security and Medicare with no cuts, including no changes to the retirement age
- Cancel the electric vehicle mandate and cut costly and burdensome regulations
- Cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, radical gender ideology, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children
- Keep men out of women's sports
- Deport pro-Hamas radicals and make our college campuses safe and patriotic again
- Secure our elections, including same day voting, voter identification, paper ballots, and proof of citizenship
- Unite our country by bringing it to new and record levels of success
According to Philip Bump, Agenda 47 was rarely discussed by Trump as well as the media. He notes that it was overshadowed by another presidential transition plan closely tied to—and, in fact, designed for—the Trump campaign, The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025.[129][131][34][48] It planned for massive overhauls to American government, relegating much authority to the executive branch. As such, Project 2025 was widely condemned for encouraging authoritarianism and moving to turn Trump into a dictator. Legal experts claimed that some of its proposed policies would be unconstitutional, undermining the rule of law and separation of powers.[34][48][132] Trump's campaign officials repeatedly distanced themselves from the plan, stressing that all outside efforts influencing a future presidential transition were "unofficial".[127] Trump himself denied knowing of Project 2025. He went as far as to call some of its proposals "absolutely ridiculous" and "seriously extreme".[133][134][135]
Besides The Heritage Foundation, other think-tanks and policy groups aligned with Trump included the Center for Renewing America, the America First Policy Institute, and America First Legal. Trump's preeminent public policy advisers were Steve Bannon, David Bernhardt, Kellyanne Conway, Richard Grenell, Tom Homan, Sean Hannity, Kevin Hassett, Brandon Judd, Kieth Kellog, Larry Kudlow, Robert Lighthizer, Stephen Miller, Stephen Moore, John Ratcliffe, Russel Vought, and Matt Whitaker, though none of them were formally part of the campaign itself.[136][137][138][139] Vince Haley was officially responsible for overseeing the team developing the campaign’s policy proposals.[139] Trump's official senior advisers and co-campaign managers were Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita. His top aides included Alex Bruesewitz, Taylor Budowich, Steven Cheung, Corey Lewandowski, Tim Murtaugh, Jason Miller, Alex Pfeiffer and Dan Scavino.[140][141][142]
Abortion and contraception
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Trump struck a middle ground and often vacillated on abortion. This was done in an attempt to put the issue to rest, having greatly cost Republicans in the 2022 midterms in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overruled that June.[143][144][145] He generally called for abortion's legal status to be left up to the individual states.[145] Trump initially did not state whether or not he supported a national 15-week abortion ban,[146] then leaned in favor of it,[147] and then pledged to veto any federal abortion ban.[148] When asked on how he would vote on Florida's abortion referendum, he deflected.[149] Trump labelled Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' six-week abortion ban as "terrible",[144][150] and criticized Arizona's near total ban on abortion.[151] On the other hand, he stated that he would allow Republican-controlled states to monitor women's pregnancies.[152][153] Trump's stance on abortion pleased neither progressives nor conservatives, according to political commentators.[143][144][145]
In spite of his equivocation throughout the campaign, Trump had previously called himself "the most pro-life president ever",[144] and took credit for overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide.[154][f] He was the first sitting president to speak in person at the annual anti-abortion March for Life rally.[156] In April 2024, Trump reiterated that he was "proudly responsible" for reversing Roe v. Wade.[145]
Trump's ambiguous comments on contraception received extensive attention from the media. Asked twice during a television interview about whether he supported restrictions on contraception, Trump stated that he was "looking at that" and suggested that "some states are going to have different policies than others." Following criticism, Trump assured voters that he would not restrict birth control.[157][158] At one point in the campaign, Trump pledged to make a statement on the Comstock Act of 1873 that prohibits the mailing of birth control medications.[159] He eventually ruled out enforcing the law.[160]
Economy and trade
Trump's economic agenda featured protective tariffs, lower taxation, and reduced regulations. He sought an economic nationalist system, with the income tax largely, if not completely, replaced by tariffs to defend local manufacturing.[161][162][163] Protectionism had been a priority in his first presidency.[164] In 2024, he vowed to enact even higher tariffs, including a 10% to 20% universal baseline tariff, 60% on China, 100% on Mexico, and 100% on all cars made outside the United States.[29][161][165] Analysts noted that the proposed tariffs were especially targeted against China, seeing that, among other things, he proposed a four-year plan to phase out Chinese imports of essential goods such as electronics, steel, and pharmaceuticals.[24][166] Overall, Trump's protectionist program intended to transform the United States into a self-sufficient economy.[162] Nonetheless, many economists warned of its potential dire consequences on the economy and global trade. 23 Nobel Prize-winning economists signed a letter warning that high tariffs, would "lead to higher prices, larger deficits, and greater inequality".[167][168] One nonpartisan analysis estimated the proposed tariffs would cost $1,700 per year for the average household.[169] A global trade war was also identified as a major risk.[29][166]
One of Trump's key pledges was extending and expanding his 2017 tax cuts. These would further slash all individual and corporate tax rates, which he argued would stimulate America's energy industry and reduce inflation. Companies that made their products in the U.S. would see a reduced corporate rate from 21% to 15%. Furthermore, he intended to cut back on regulations he believes stifle job creation.[170][171] A 50% reduction in energy prices was also in order.[172] By October 2024, Reuters reported that Trump was "rolling out a new tax-cut proposal about once a week in an unusual rush in the final stretch of the campaign to sway voters".[173] He suggested ending federal taxes on tips.[174] Throughout October, Trump stated that he would eliminate federal income tax on social security income for seniors,[175] end double taxation on U.S. citizens living abroad,[176] and make car loan interest fully tax deductible.[177]
In light of the post-COVID inflation surge, Trump campaigned on ending the "inflation nightmare".[178] However, as was the case with Harris' economic proposals, economists criticized his plan for potentially leading to an increase in inflation.[178][179][180][181] In the final analysis, the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget found that Trump's plans could add as much as $15 trillion to the nation's debt over a decade, nearly twice as much as those proposed by Harris.[182] Politico reported that advisors close to Trump drafted plans to devalue the U.S. dollar if elected.[183]
Education
Trump campaigned on largely expanding federal management of education,[184] although with exceptions. On the one hand, he pledged to terminate the Department of Education.[24][185] On the other, he suggested giving funding preference to certain schools and universities. Schools with a mask or vaccine mandate, for instance, would not be federally funded.[24][186] Education programs that, in Trump's words, that include "critical race theory, gender ideology, or other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content" would receive reduced funding.[185] Such proposals formed part of the former President's plan to fight for "patriotic education." This, according to him, "teach[es] students to love their country, not to hate their country like they're taught right now," "defend[s] American tradition and Western civilization" and promotes "the nuclear family".[24][171] Furthermore, Trump's campaign advocated universal school choice, arguing that parents should be empowered to choose the best education option for their children.[187][188] In late 2023, Trump proposed an "American Academy," a free online university open to all Americans that would counter private institutions that "[turn] our students into Communists and terrorists". This would be funded by extracting finances from the endowments of private universities.[189][184]
Energy, environment, and climate change
Trump's energy proposals heavily favored fossil fuel production and consumption. He summarized them as the mantra "drill, baby, drill",[190] or "drill, drill, drill",[191][192] and promised to increase oil drilling on public lands and offer tax breaks to oil, gas, and coal producers. Trump has stated his goal for the U.S. to have the lowest cost of electricity and energy of any country in the world.[24] His proposals aligned with the increase in gasoline prices since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.[193]
Trump repeatedly denied the extent of global warming, or denied the phenomenon altogether.[23][194] In a 2022 Fox News interview, Trump stated that climate change was a hoax, and that the climate naturally fluctuated.[195] In November, 2022, Trump repeated claims on the campaign trail ridiculing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Green New Deal, and incorrectly stated that the effects of global warming would not happen for another 200 to 300 years.[196] Trump did officially state how he would deal with climate change if elected.[197]
Trump promised to slash environmental regulations, much in line with what he had done during his first term.[25] He would rollback electric vehicle initiatives and rescind proposed EPA tailpipe emission limits that would require 54% of new vehicles to be electric by 2030. Trump has proposed leaving the Paris Climate Accords, ending wind subsidies, and eliminating regulations targeting incandescent lightbulbs, gas stoves, dishwashers and shower heads.[24] Trump has draft executive orders to pull the United States out of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.[198] Trump has said he will end all federal policies that support electric vehicles and add a 100% tariff on electric vehicles imported from Mexico,[194] and will halt all offshore wind energy projects "on day one" of his presidency.[199] Campaign spokespersons stated that Trump would repeal a climate disclosure rule approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission during the Biden administration requiring disclosure of climate risks, climate risk management policies, and carbon footprint accounting by public companies.[200]
Foreign policy
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In September 2024, Trump said that America's allies "treat us actually worse than our so-called enemies". He added, "We protect them and then they screw us on trade. We're not going to let it happen anymore". He vowed to impose tariffs on trade partners, which economists said could spark trade wars.[201]
Trump promised to "fundamentally reevaluate" NATO's purpose and mission.[24] During his first term as president, Trump repeatedly denigrated NATO, and suggested withdrawing the US from the alliance.[202] Trump had said that defending an ally would depend on whether they "fulfilled their obligations to us", called the European Union a "foe" because of "what they do to us in trade", and questioned the value of alliances.[19] Thierry Breton claimed that in January 2020 during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump told Ursula von der Leyen that "if Europe is under attack, we will never come to help you," and that "NATO is dead, and we will leave," along with claims that Germany owed America $400 billion for defense.[203] On January 10, 2024, Trump said that "NATO has taken advantage of our country" and he would only support allies "if they treat us properly".[204] Trump tried to withdraw troops from Germany at the end of his presidency due to his anger at then-Chancellor Angela Merkel, but the order was rescinded by President Biden.[20] Trump suggested withdrawing troops from South Korea if it does not pay more to support U.S. troops there.[152]
NATO members are obliged to defend any other member who is attacked, under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. It has only been invoked once, in response to the September 11 attacks against the US. During a February 2024 rally, Trump said he would not defend a NATO ally if they did not meet the alliance's target of spending 2% of GDP on defense, and instead he would "encourage" Russia to "do whatever the hell they want".[20][205] NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg responded: "Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the U.S., and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk".[206] Trump reiterated his stance a few days later, saying "if they're not going to pay, we're not going to protect".[207] NATO estimated that 23 of its 32 members would meet its spending target by the end of 2024.[208]
On the Russo-Ukrainian War, Trump vowed that even before he is inaugurated,[24] he will negotiate an end to the war in a day,[19] stop the "endless flow of American treasure to Ukraine", and make Europeans reimburse the U.S. the cost of rebuilding its old stockpiles.[24] In June 2024, Trump described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as "maybe the greatest salesman of any politician that's ever lived ... Every time he comes to our country, he walks away with $60 billion ... It never ends ... I will have that settled prior to taking the White House as president-elect".[209][210] However, it was pointed out that most of the money for Ukraine actually goes to American factories and workers who make weapons and military equipment.[211][212][213] Trump previously said he might recognize Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea,[202] and suggested the 2022 invasion could have been prevented by Ukraine giving up parts of its own country to Russia.[19]
Retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg and Frederick H. Fleitz, who both served in Trump's National Security Council staff, presented Trump with a detailed peace plan to end Russia's war in Ukraine. The plan aims to force the two sides into peace talks and a ceasefire based on the current frontlines. If Ukraine refused to enter peace talks, weapons supplies would be stopped; if Russia refused peace talks, weapons supplies to Ukraine would be increased.[214] Fleitz said Trump responded favorably to the plan. Kellogg told Reuters: "Our concern is that this has become a war of attrition that's going to kill a whole generation of young men."[215]
Trump brought in more pro-Israel policies than any president before. He presented himself as a stronger defender of Israel, and is seen as less sympathetic to Palestine than Biden or Harris.[216] He vowed to continue supporting Israel in the Israel–Hamas war, and said that Israel must "finish the problem".[217] Trump is expected to continue arming Israel, likely with "no strings attached" for humanitarian concerns.[218] He promised to ban Gaza residents from entering the US.[219] Trump said his government would "crush" pro-Palestinian protests, deport pro-Palestinian demonstrators, and "set the movement back 25 or 30 years".[220] At times, he has also been critical of Israel's war in Gaza, saying Israel should "get it over with ... get back to peace and stop killing people".[221][222]
Trump promised a tougher stance against China than Biden,[223] but has also questioned whether the U.S. should defend ally Taiwan.[224]
Trump suggested sending armed forces into Mexico to battle drug cartels.[171]
In the last days of his presidential campaign, Trump voiced support in favor of the restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, amid the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.[225] Trump also blamed Harris, and more generally the Biden administration, for "inaction" during the 2023 Azerbaijani invasion of Nagorno Karabakh that led to a massive ethnic cleansing of ethnic Armenians in the region.[226]
Government
Expansion of executive power
Trump's platform calls for the vast expansion of presidential powers and the executive branch.[31] In campaign speeches, Trump stated that he would centralize government power under his authority, replace career federal civil service employees with political loyalists, and use the military for domestic law enforcement and the deportation of immigrants.[227] In Trump v. United States, Trump has argued that the Constitution allows for absolute immunity for all presidential actions taken—even if criminal—unless the Senate successfully votes to impeach.[31]
Trump has called to bring independent agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission under direct presidential control. Trump's allies have drafted an executive order requiring all independent agencies to submit actions to the White House for review. Trump has called for presidential authority to 'impound' funds for Congressionally appropriated programs, a practice which was outlawed under President Richard Nixon. Trump promised to order the Justice Department to investigate political rivals and Joe Biden, and fire Attorneys General who disobeyed him.[152] According to the New York Times, Trump has called for stripping employment protections for thousands of career civil service employees and replacing them with political loyalists if deemed an 'obstacle to his agenda' within federal agencies, the United States Intelligence Community, State Department, and Department of Defense.[131] Trump has proposed instituting a new civil service test of his own creation to test the loyalty of federal workers. Trump has promised to crack down on whistleblowers who are shielded by law and create an independent body to "monitor" intelligence agencies.[171]
Trump's plan to expand presidential powers is based largely on a controversial and not widely-held interpretation of the constitution known as the unitary executive theory.[228][229][230] The theory rejects the notion of the separation of powers and that the government is composed of three separate branches but that Article Two of the United States Constitution gives the President absolute authority. The theory is noted to be in line with Trump's thinking owing to comments made in 2019, where he stated "I have an Article 2, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president."[131] Such proposals would be carried out via the reintroduction of Schedule F that was originally introduced at the end of Trump's former presidency, which would strip civil service protections of tens of thousands of civil servants to be at-will appointments filled with Trump loyalists identified by Project 2025 of The Heritage Foundation.[231] The reforms have been described as a reimposition of the Jacksonian spoils system.[32][33] Trump has stated his intention to see these reforms completed in order to root out the "deep state", stating: "We will expel the warmongers from our government. We will drive out the globalists. We will cast out the communists, Marxists and fascists. And we will throw off the sick political class that hates our country."[131] His proposal has been widely criticized as dangerous for democracy and likely to result in dysfunction through more bad hiring decisions, with his first administration setting the record for the highest turnover rate in any administration.[232][233][234]
Trump and his allies have reportedly drafted executive orders to invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act on the first day of his presidency to allow the military to shut down civil demonstrations against him.[34] Campaigning in Iowa, Trump stated he would deploy the military in Democratic cities and states.[235] The Insurrection Act would be used to allow the military to detain migrants at the southern border.[16] Trump has suggested overriding the Posse Comitatus Act.[152]
On April 26, 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported Trump allies plan on greatly limiting the independence of the Federal Reserve should Trump win the election. Of particular note were plans to allow the president to directly set interest rates, remove Chair Jerome Powell before his term expires in 2026, and subject the Fed to oversight from the OMB.[236][237] Trump stated in a press conference in August 2024 at Mar-a-Lago that he "[feels] the president should have at least [a] say in there" with respect to Federal Reserve interest rate decisions.[238][239]
Efficiency
Trump pledged to appoint Elon Musk to chair Federal Efficiency Commission. Trump said the commission would audit the entire federal government and propose "dramatic reforms".[240] Musk has also officially announced that he will accept the appointment if Trump is elected.[241] Everett Kelley, president of a union representing federal government workers, criticized the proposal, saying "There's nothing efficient about that".[242] Trump vowed to achieve his long-held goal of drastic reform by minimizing government and cutting red tape government regulations, which he says are the bureaucracies that are holding back American prosperity.[243][244][245]
Healthcare and social services
Trump has promised to replace the Affordable Care Act if elected as president.[21] Some Republican senators have signaled openness to unwind and replace the ACA. No specifics on a replacement plan have yet been revealed. Trump previously attempted to repeal the ACA in 2017[22][246][247] in addition to a number of other actions taken throughout his administration to undermine the Affordable Care Act.[248][249][250]
Trump pledged not to cut Medicare or Social Security benefits or raise the eligibility age.[171] However, in a March 2024, he alluded to cutting "entitlements," which he later clarified did not include Medicare or Social Security.[251][252]
Trump has stated his intention to force the homeless to accept drug treatment or face arrest. Trump has stated he intends to move the homeless out of cities to "open large parcels of inexpensive land" to seek treatment.[171] On appointees Trump has stated he intends Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to have a major role in regulation of food and drugs, claimed during the 2024 Trump rally at Madison Square Garden. According to RFK, Trump has promised him control over the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).[253][254][255][256]
Immigration
The New York Times reported that Trump planned "an extreme expansion of his first-term crackdown on immigration", including "preparing to round up undocumented people already in the United States on a vast scale and detain them in sprawling camps while they wait to be expelled", and that it "amounts to an assault on immigration on a scale unseen in modern American history".[16]
The New York Times also reported that Trump's advisors are preparing a 'blitz' strategy designed to overwhelm immigrant-rights lawyers, and that his plans would rely on existing statutes without the need for new legislation, although such legislation would also likely be attempted. Trump's plans are expected to encounter significant Supreme Court challenges, and engender social and economic toil, especially within the housing, agriculture, and service sectors.[16]
During rallies, Trump has blurred the distinction between legal and illegal immigrants, and has promised to deport both.[17][18] Trump has stated he will deport between 15 and 20 million people, although the estimated number of undocumented immigrants is only 11 million.[257] The American Immigration Council says that a "highly conservative" estimate Trump's plan would cost at least $315 billion, or $967.9 billion over a decade and be unworkable without massive outdoor detention camps. Economic reports from the Brookings Institution and Peterson Institute for International Economics have found that Trump's plans would result in a decrease in employment for American-born workers and result in "no economic growth over the second Trump administration from this policy alone"[258] while other estimates have it shrinking GDP by 4.2-6.8 percent.[259] Trump has also not ruled out separating families with mixed citizenship status.[260] This could affect millions of families, with most undocumented immigrants having lived in the US for more than 16 years.[261]
Trump has stated that his plan would follow the 'Eisenhower model,' a reference to the 1954 campaign Operation Wetback, stating to a crowd in Iowa: "Following the Eisenhower model, we will carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history." To achieve the goal of deporting millions per year, Trump has stated his intent to expand a form of deportation that does not require due process hearings which would be accomplished by the expedited removal authorities of 8 U.S. Code § 1225; invoking the Alien Enemies Act within the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798; and invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807 to allow the military to apprehend migrants and thus bypass the Posse Comitatus Act.[16]
Trump would reassign federal agents to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and deputize local police officers and sheriffs, agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and National Guard soldiers volunteered by Republican states which would be sent to blue states.[262][16] Individuals would be placed in massive camps constructed with funds redirected from the military budget in case of any refusal by Congress to appropriate funding. ICE raids would be expanded to include workplace raids and sweeps in public places. Following arrest, Stephen Miller has stated that immigrants would be taken to "large-scale staging grounds near the border, most likely in Texas" to be held in internment camps prior to deportation. Trump told a rally audience in September 2024 that the deportation effort "will be a bloody story." He has also spoken of rounding up homeless people in blue cities and detaining them in camps.[262][263] The Trump team will also attempt to overturn the Flores settlement that prevents the indefinite holding of children.[16]
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Trump has promised to reinstate his ban on entry to individuals from certain Muslim-majority nations, and having the Centers for Disease Control reimpose COVID-era restrictions on asylum claims by asserting migrants carry infectious diseases such as the flu, tuberculosis, and scabies.[16] Trump has said he would build more of the border wall, and move thousands of troops currently stationed overseas to the southern border.[24]
Other proposals include: banning visas of foreign students who participated in anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian protests; suspending the U.S. refugee program; directing U.S. consular officials to expand ideological screening of applicants deemed to have undesirable attitudes; revoking temporary protected status to individuals living in the United States, including Afghans who moved to America following the 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, while those who helped U.S. forces would be 're-vetted' to see if they really did; ending birthright citizenship for babies born in the United States to undocumented parents; using coercive diplomacy by making immigration cooperation a condition for any bilateral engagement; reinstating 'Remain in Mexico'; and reviving 'safe third country' status with several nations in Central America, and expanding them to Africa, Asia, and South America.[16][171]
Trump's campaign has stated his intention to expel DACA recipients after his previous attempt failed in 2020 by a 5–4 vote in the Supreme Court in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California. Trump's campaign has not stated whether they will reinstate Trump's former child separation policies.[16]
Throughout January and early February 2024, Trump successfully called on House and Senate Republicans to kill a bipartisan immigration deal to address the Mexico–United States border crisis that included several sought-after conservative proposals. THe admitted that he did not want a deal to pass as it would be "another gift to the Radical Left Democrats" who "need it politically" and would impact a key plank of his reelection campaign.[264][265][266][267]
Trump's campaign has argued that immigration depresses American's wages, contributes to unemployment, and increases home prices.[257] Research has repeatedly shown that immigration does not negatively impact American prosperity and enhances the welfare of native-born Americans.[268][269][270][271][272][273][274][275]
In October 2024, Trump proposed a plan for recruiting and retaining U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents; his plan included a 10 percent wage increase for the agents, $10,000 retention and signing bonuses, and hiring 10,000 new agents.[276]
Law enforcement
Trump has made conflicting statements regarding his support for law enforcement during his 2024 campaign. Trump has run on pro-police 'law and order' platform while also attacking state and federal law enforcement that is viewed as unfriendly to himself or in relation to his multiple criminal incitements.[277] Trump has painted America as violent and crime-ridden on the campaign trail. Trump has stated that FBI statistics showing that homicides have dropped by 6% in 2022 and 13% in 2023 are "a lie".[152] Trump has made false claims of a "migrant crime wave" that are not supported by national data.[278]
Trump has previously called for defunding the FBI and Justice Department in response to their investigations into his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents.[279] Trump-aligned Project 2025 has called for terminating the FBI and slashing funding for the DOJ.[48] Trump has repeatedly stated his intention to have the Department of Justice investigate his domestic political rivals, judges, prosecutors, and witnesses involved in his criminal trials.[280][281] The Washington Post previously reported Trump's plans to use the Justice Department to prosecute critics of the former president including former attorney general Bill Barr and former chief of staff John F. Kelly.[34]
Trump has frequently criticized of what he sees as perceived restrictions on police use of force, advocating for a tougher stance on local governments that receive federal grants by pushing for the reinstatement of stop-and-frisk policies. He has also voiced support for shooting suspected shoplifters, having police carry out "one really violent day" against those committing property crimes, the extrajudicial killing of minor offenders, and the implementation of death penalty for smugglers.[277][24][282] Trump has called for the death penalty for migrants who kill American citizens and law enforcement officers.[283][284][285] Trump has also advocated for the implementation of qualified immunity and full indemnification for law enforcement officers, a move that experts believe is largely superfluous and would simply serve to strengthen current police protocols.[277]
Policing political speech
Trump has called for fining or jailing those who criticize judges.[286] Trump has repeatedly called his political rivals and critics criminals and has supported outlawing political dissent and criticism he considers misleading or challenges his claims to power.[287]
LGBTQ rights and civil rights
Trump's campaign has stated its intention to reinterpret existing Civil Rights-era protections for minorities to counter "anti-white racism". According to Axios, Trump's Justice Department would "push to eliminate or upend programs in government and corporate America that are designed to counter racism that has favored whites".[288] Trump has stated that there is a "definite anti-white feeling in the country". Trump's advisors have stated Trump will rescind Biden's Executive Orders designed to boost diversity and racial equity.[152]
Trump promised a rollback on trans rights.[28] Trump stated he will rescind Biden's Title IX protections "on day one" for transgender students using bathrooms, locker rooms, and pronouns that align with their gender identities.[289] Trump has stated that he will ask Congress to pass a bill stating that the United States will only recognize two genders as determined at birth, and has promised to crackdown on gender-affirming care. Trump has stated that hospitals and health care providers that provide transitional hormones or surgery will no longer qualify for federal funding, including Medicare and Medicaid funding. Trump has stated he will push to prohibit hormonal and surgical intervention for minors in all 50 states.[24]
Trump's campaign has been more accepting on lesbian, gay, and bisexual rights. During the drafting of the Republican Party's 2024 presidential platform, he advocated for a more tolerant position on same-sex marriage and successfully removed language that supported conversion therapy.[290][291][292]
Rhetoric
Summarize
Perspective
As with his previous presidential runs,[294][295][296] Trump's campaign has used fearmongering[b] against immigrants and apocalyptic rhetoric by forecasting imminent doom should he lose the election.[306][307][308][305] Trump has repeatedly promoted conspiracy theories and QAnon.[39] According to The New York Times, a computer analysis found that since 2015, Trump's speeches had grown "darker, harsher, longer, angrier, less focused, more profane and increasingly fixated on the past" and were described as "rambling" and tangential. It highlighted an average rally length of 82 minutes compared with 45 minutes in 2016, and a 13% increase in use of all-or-nothing terms like "always" and "never". It also found 32% more negative words than positive words compared with 21% in 2016, and a 69% increase in swearwords. The Times reported that several experts have considered the increase in tangential speech and disinhibition as signs of advancing age and potential cognitive decline.[309]
Trump uses social media to spread his campaign positions and messaging. According to his former senior counselor, Kellyanne Conway, Trump understands the reach of these platforms and uses them as "an opportunity to communicate right to people by cutting through the noise or the silence".[310] In the 2016 election, Trump's Twitter account, which he used as an extension of his campaign website, garnered him a mass amount of public attention.[311] During the 2024 election, he primarily uses his own social media platform, Truth Social.[312] Research has shown that regardless of the platform used, Trump's use of social media has served as an effective agenda-building strategy due to journalists' growing reliance on digital media.[313]
Trump made numerous false and misleading statements.[36][35][314] The large amount of lies and false statements have been attributed to Trump's rhetorical style described as using the big lie and firehose of falsehood propaganda technique.[315][316] During a 64-minute news conference on August 8, 2024, NPR counted Trump making over 162 "misstatements, exaggerations and outright lies" averaging more than two per minute. They described the amount of Trump's lies as "stunning" and "beyond the bounds of what most politicians would do".[317] CNN has called Trump's claims a "bombardment of dishonesty" and a "campaign of relentless lying".[318][319]
A central motif of Trump's campaign was retribution. According to him, "America [had] been wronged and Trump [would] make America great.".[320][321] Trump framed the 2024 election as "the final battle," and openly promised to leverage the power of the presidency for political reprisals.[322]
Authoritarian and antidemocratic statements
Trump has employed harsher rhetoric compared to that used during his previous presidential campaign in 2020. Trump's violent rhetoric against his political enemies has been described by historians and scholars as populist, authoritarian, fascist,[56][57][58][59][60][61][37] and unlike anything a political candidate has ever said in American history.[54][16] Following the Republican primaries, Trump "doubled down" on incendiary rhetoric rather than moderating it to appeal to swing voters.[40]
Despite Trump's former attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election[323][324] and its culmination in the January 6 United States Capitol attack,[325][326] widely described as an attempted coup d'état[327][328][329] or self-coup;[330][331] Trump has claimed Biden is the "destroyer"[44] and real threat to democracy,[332] and repeated baseless claims the 2020 election was stolen from him.[44] Trump has stated he has the power to "terminate" the Constitution to reverse his election loss.[333][334] Trump allies have reportedly drafted plans to use the Insurrection Act of 1807 to deploy the military to shut down civil demonstrations against him on his first day in office.[34]
Trump has repeatedly claimed that he won the 2020 election as part of the election denial movement conspiracy theory,[335] and has stated during a rally that he "shouldn't have left" the White House at the end of 2021.[336] In the lead up to the 2024 election, the Republican Party has made false claims of massive "noncitizen voting" by immigrants in an attempt to delegitimize the election if Trump loses.[337][338][339] Trump and several Republicans have stated they will not accept the results of the 2024 election if they believe they are "unfair".[340]
During a rally in December 2023, Trump quoted Vladimir Putin condemning American democracy, stating that the criminal charges against him "shows the rottenness of the American political system, which cannot pretend to teach others about democracy", and praised Viktor Orbán and Kim Jong Un.[341][342] Trump has been noted to praise despots in public and in private during his 2024 campaign.[343][344] During a July 2024 rally in Michigan, Trump praised Xi Jinping as a "brilliant man" for ruling "with an iron fist" and praised Orbán and Putin as "tough" and "smart" leaders.[345]
Handling ballots
Politico reported in June 2022 that the RNC sought to deploy an "army" of poll workers and attorneys in swing states who could refer what they deemed questionable ballots in Democratic voting precincts to a network of friendly district attorneys to challenge. In April 2024, RNC co-chair Lara Trump said the party had the ability to install poll workers who could handle ballots, rather than merely observe polling places. She also said that the 2018 expiration of the 1982 consent decree prohibiting the RNC from intimidation of minority voters "gives us a great ability" in the election. Trump's political operation said in April 2024 that it planned to deploy more than 100,000 attorneys and volunteers to polling places across battleground states, with an "election integrity hotline" for poll watchers and voters to report alleged voting irregularities. Trump told a rally audience in December 2023 that they needed to "guard the vote" in Democratic-run cities. He had complained that his 2020 campaign was not adequately prepared to challenge his loss in courts; some critics said his 2024 election integrity effort is actually intended to gather allegations to overwhelm the election resolution process should he challenge the 2024 election results. Marc Elias, a Democratic election lawyer who defeated every Trump court challenge after the 2020 election, remarked, "I think they are going to have a massive voter suppression operation and it is going to involve very, very large numbers of people and very, very large numbers of lawyers."[346]
Denying the election's legitimacy
During the campaign, Trump and MAGA Republicans often referred to "election integrity" to allude to their continuing lie that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen, as well as baseless predictions of future mass election fraud. As he did during the 2020 election cycle, without evidence Trump told supporters that Democrats might try to rig the 2024 election.[347] In actuality, voter fraud is extremely rare. By 2022, Republican politicians, conservative cable news outlets and talk radio echoed a narrative of former Trump advisor Steve Bannon that "if Democrats don't cheat, they don't win." Appearing with Trump in April 2024, House Speaker Mike Johnson baselessly suggested "potentially hundreds of thousands of votes" might be cast by undocumented migrants.[346] The statements are part of a broader trend of election denial within the Republican party regarding the integrity of elections in the United States.[348]
Future elections
During his 2024 campaign, Trump suggested seeking a third term in office.[349] During an April interview with Time magazine, Trump stated he would not be in favor of challenging the 22nd Amendment which prohibits a third term in office. He later suggested he could be a three term president.[349]
Speaking at a July 2024 faith-themed Turning Point Action conference, Trump urged Christians:
get out and vote! Just this time. You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years. You know what? It'll be fixed! It'll be fine! You won't have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I'm a Christian. I love you. Get out – you gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don't have to vote again. We'll have it fixed so good, you're not going to have to vote.
The comment was criticized by several journalists and experts on authoritarianism as continuing Trump's trend of authoritarian rhetoric.[345][350][351][352]
Trump's call for investigation and arrest of political rivals
Trump has repeatedly stated his intention to have the Justice Department investigate and arrest his domestic political rivals, judges, prosecutors, and witnesses involved in his criminal trials.[353][281][54] Trump has promised to fire U.S. Attorneys that disobey his orders to prosecute someone, which has drawn comparisons to Nixon's Saturday Night Massacre.[152] Trump has promised to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Joe Biden. Trump has promised to direct the Justice Department to investigate district attorneys on novel civil rights grounds by arguing some are engaging in selective enforcement.[171] Trump has called for the indictment of members of the January 6 Committee.[354] Trump has called for "televised military tribunals" against current and former Democratic and Republican officials for treason.[355] Trump has stated multiple times that if reelected to the presidency, he will order the Justice Department to investigate and arrest political rivals for the sole purpose of preventing them from winning an election.[54][281] He has called for jailing people whose actions he objects to, including Supreme Court critics, flag burners, and the U.S. Capitol Police who acted during the January 6 attack on the capitol.[356]
Trump's dictator comment
In a December 2023 interview with Sean Hannity, Trump said he would only be a dictator on "day one" of his presidency and not after,[357][358][359] and did not answer Hannity's question if he would not "abuse power, to break the law, to use the government to go after people".[360] Trump campaign aides later stated that Trump was merely attempting to "trigger the left" and media with his dictator comment.[361] Nonetheless, his comment sparked widespread discussion.[46][362][363] Peter Baker reported that after the statement, "talk about the possible authoritarian quality of a new Trump presidency has suffused the political conversation in the nation's capital", and stated that the Trump campaign was not doing enough to ease worries and seemed to be 'leaning in' to the media's autocratic predictions.[46] On the other hand, Bernard Goldberg refuted accusations of authoritarianism, citing previous Trump rhetoric that was labelled as authoritarian but amounted to nothing.[362]
Trump v. United States
In Trump v. United States, Trump has argued that the Constitution allows for absolute immunity for all presidential actions taken—even if criminal—unless the Senate successfully votes to impeach.[31] During oral arguments on April 25, 2024, Trump attorney D. John Sauer argued that if structured as an official act, the president could not be charged for selling nuclear secrets to a foreign adversary, accepting a bribe, ordering the military to stage a coup to retain power, or ordering a political assassination. Sauer argued that owing to absolute immunity, the president must be successfully impeached and removed from Congress first.[364]
Trump's claims for "absolute immunity" have been rejected by most political commentators and two lower courts. In a unanimous ruling by the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the court stated that if Trump's theory of constitutional authority were accepted, it would "collapse our system of separated powers" and put a president above the law.[365] Charlie Savage of The New York Times wrote that "rather than a presidency at least theoretically checked by law, the country would be ruled by presidents who could openly commit official crimes with impunity, so long as enough allied lawmakers remained sufficiently loyal to block any impeachment".[31]
On July 1, 2024, in a 6–3 decision along ideological lines, the Supreme Court determined that the Constitution affords the President with absolute immunity for acts within his constitutional purview and presumptive immunity for official acts, but provides no immunity for unofficial acts.[366] The decision was widely criticized by legal experts and historians.[367]
January 6th United States Capitol attack
Trump has embraced and celebrated the January 6 Capitol attack and has promoted a revisionist history of the event.[368] Trump has continually brought up the events of the January 6 attack on the Capitol during rallies and speeches for his 2024 campaign and has made it a political rallying cry.[369][370] Trump has repeatedly called those charged for their actions on that day "warriors", "hostages" and "great, great patriots" and has promised to pardon them if reelected to the presidency.[369][371] Trump has noticeably downplayed the events of that day.[372][373][374][375] Trump has spread baseless conspiracy theories at his rallies that "there was Antifa and there was FBI" at the riot.[376] The New York Times stated that Trump's comments "risked radicalizing his most die-hard supporters even further, encouraging them to repeat events like those that unfolded on Jan. 6". Robert Pape, a political scientist at the University of Chicago stated that Trump's comments on the attack "normalizes violence as a legitimate solution to political grievances".[368] Trump has played down but not ruled out violence after the 2024 election if he does not win, stating, "it depends".[377]
Personal attacks against Harris
Following the withdrawal of Biden as the presumptive Democratic nominee and the launch of the Kamala Harris 2024 presidential campaign, Trump has made many personal attacks against Kamala Harris, many of which have been described as racially-charged and misogynistic.[38][42] Trump stated that he was "entitled" to make such personal attacks.[378] In a July 31, 2024 interview, Trump repeatedly questioned Harris' racial identity and falsely claimed that she "happened to turn black" a few years ago.[43][379] After the interview, Trump doubled down on his false assertion that Harris was not previously and may not currently be black. Trump's false claims drew comparisons to Trump's previous false "birther" conspiracy theories he has used against his political rivals such as Barack Obama and Nikki Haley.[380] Trump has suggested Kamala Harris would be "like a play toy" to world leaders who would "walk all over her" due to her appearance and later stated "I don't want to say as to why, but a lot of people understand it." The statement was criticized for sexist undertones, although the Trump campaign denied he was talking about her race or gender.[381] Trump has attacked Harris' previous relationship with former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, and has criticized her for her laugh by calling her a derisive nickname, "Laffin' Kamala Harris".[382] Throughout the campaign, Trump called Harris "dumb", "low IQ", "mentally disabled",[305] and lacking "mental capacity" which Politico noted was "reminiscent of the rhetoric he used against Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign".[383] Starting on August 5, 2024, Trump occasionally called Harris by the nickname "Kamabla".[384] On August 28, 2024, Trump reposted an image featuring Harris and Hillary Clinton on Truth Social with the text "Funny how blowjobs impacted both their careers differently". The New York Times reported it was "the second time in 10 days that the former president shared content from his personal account making sexually oriented attacks on Ms. Harris" and showed Trump's "willingness to continue to shatter longstanding norms of political speech".[41]
Statements against the media
Trump suggested investigating MSNBC and NBC's parent corporation Comcast if he returns to office, calling their news coverage of him "treason".[280] In 2020, Trump signed an Executive Order prohibiting U.S. companies to do business with ByteDance, the Chinese company owning TikTok, and said that he would ban TikTok.[385] In March 2024, he said he now opposed a ban because it would help Facebook, and that he considered "Facebook to be an enemy of the people, along with a lot of the media".[385][386][387] Trump stated he will prosecute Google once he is reelected, claiming they only display "bad stories" about him.[388] Trump has repeatedly voiced support for outlawing political dissent and criticism he considers misleading or challenges his claims to power.[286][287] He has stated that ABC and CBS should lose their broadcast licenses and that journalists, editors, and publishers should face time in jail if they refuse to name confidential sources.[389] Several news outlets have been accused of self-censorship in their withholding of editorial endorsements of presidential candidates, documentaries, and articles due to fear of antagonizing Trump.[390] During a rally in Pennsylvania two days before Election Day, Trump stated that "I don't mind" if reporters are shot at.[336]
Violent and dehumanizing statements
Trump's campaign was noted for using increasingly dehumanizing and violent rhetoric against his political opponents.[391][392][52][393][49]
Violent statements against political opponents and elected officials
In public remarks in September 2023, Trump used violent rhetoric, calling for shoplifters to be shot and for Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff appointed by him, to be executed for treason; he also mocked the hammer attack that critically injured Paul Pelosi, the husband of the then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.[392] As early as 2023, Trump began stating that his political opponents are a greater threat to the United States than countries such as Russia, China, and North Korea,[393][394] and urged deploying the military on American soil to fight "the enemy from within" which he describes as "radical left lunatics" and Democratic politicians such as Adam Schiff.[395][396] Trump was criticized for saying his political opponent Liz Cheney should have guns "trained on her face".[397] Trump drew criticism for calling Democrats "so evil" and "dangerous",[398] and that they are "demonic".[336]
In advance of the 2024 election, Trump reposted QAnon content on his social media, has encouraged QAnon chants, and plays a song associated with QAnon to close out his rallies. The posts were regarded by experts as a "tacit endorsement of a dangerous movement that has been linked to criminal acts ranging from the Jan. 6 Capitol riot to isolated cases of violence and even murder".[399]
While discussing the U.S. economy and its auto industry in a rally on March 16, 2024, Trump promised to place tariffs on cars manufactured abroad if he won the election, adding "Now, if I don't get elected, it's going to be a ... bloodbath for the country."[400][401] On March 30, 2024, Trump was criticized for posting a video on his social media showing a hog-tied Joe Biden.[402][403][404]
Trump was known to send out false, inflammatory fundraising emails in an attempt to generate attention and cash which have been described by The Washington Post as aggressive even by standards of "Trump's frequently hyperbolic and inflammatory language". Trump has suggested his opponents seek to give him the death sentence via guillotine, and has suggested that his political opponents are coming after his supporters. Trump's comment stating, "1 MONTH UNTIL ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE! THEY WANT TO SENTENCE ME TO DEATH" was especially criticized for resembling a tweet he gave out before the events of the January 6 attack stating, "Be there, will be wild!" and Steve Bannon's tweet that "all hell is going to break loose tomorrow" before violent extremist groups assaulted the US Capitol.[405][406]
Violent statements against individuals within the legal system
Trump attacked the witnesses, judges, juries, and families of individuals involved in his criminal trials.[407][408][409] Trump repeatedly attacked law enforcement in relation to their criminal investigations into his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents,[277] calling them "political monsters", telling people to "go after" New York attorney general Letitia James, and warning that an indictment against him by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg would bring "potential death and destruction", among other comments,[280] which raised concerns over officers' physical safety.[410]
During and after his criminal conviction of 34 felonies in The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump, Trump and his Republican allies made numerous false and misleading statements and attacked the judge and jury involved in the trial. Trump called Judge Juan Merchan "a devil", claimed the trial was "rigged" and falsely accused Joe Biden and the Democratic Party of orchestrating his criminal trials to prevent him from returning to the White House, of which there is no evidence.[411][412] The false statements were met with calls for violent retribution, execution of the judge, civil war, armed insurrection and rioting by pro-Trump supporters online.[413]
During his 2024 campaign, Trump continued portraying himself as a victim of a "Deep State" of elites who are attempting to undermine him and America.[414] Trump has said his criminal trials make him a "political prisoner" and compared himself to the late Russian dissident Alexei Navalny.[415][416] On May 21, 2024, Trump falsely claimed Joe Biden was ready to kill him during the August 8, 2022 FBI search of Mar-a-Lago by misrepresenting standard Justice Department policy on use of force.[417] The accusation was noted to be without precedent in modern U.S. history.[418] The New York Times reported the accusation was an escalation in rhetoric and portrayed himself as a "political martyr whose very life could be in danger".[414]
Violent and dehumanizing statements against undocumented immigrants
As with his previous presidential campaigns,[294][295][296] Trump's 2024 campaign regularly espoused racist,[37] anti-immigrant nativist[51] fearmongering,[b] racial stereotypes,[51] and dehumanized immigrants.[45][49][50][391][392][52] In his rhetoric, Trump has blurred the distinction between legal and illegal immigrants, and has promised to deport both.[17][18] Trump has repeatedly claimed that undocumented immigrants are subhuman,[419] stating they are "not people",[420] "not humans",[419] and "animals".[401] At rallies, Trump has stated that undocumented immigrants will "rape, pillage, thieve, plunder and kill" American citizens,[17] that they are "stone-cold killers", "monsters", "vile animals", "savages", and "predators" that will "walk into your kitchen, they'll cut your throat"[304][305][17][421] and "grab young girls and slice them up right in front of their parents".[17] Trump's dehumanizing anti-immigrant rhetoric regularly features details of young women allegedly killed by Hispanic male assailants while ignoring male victims. Studies find no evidence that immigrants commit crimes at higher rates than native-born Americans, and Trump has not provided any evidence to back up his claims.[421]
Other rhetoric includes false statements that foreign leaders are deliberately emptying insane asylums to send "prisoners, murderers, drug dealers, mental patients, terrorists"[422] across America's southern border as migrants, and comparing migrants to the fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter.[16][423][424] Trump stated the removal of immigrants "will be a bloody story."[263] Trump claimed without evidence that undocumented immigrants from Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere are "building an army" of "fighting age" men to attack Americans "from within".[425] Trump has suggested that migrants should be put in special fighting leagues to fight for sport.[426] Trump spread the false conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating people's pets.[17] Trump described immigrants as deadly snakes during a rally, repurposing lyrics from the 1968 song "The Snake".[427]
Since autumn of 2023,[50] Trump repeatedly used racial hygiene rhetoric by stating that undocumented immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country", which has been compared to language echoing that of white supremacists and Adolf Hitler.[52][428][429][427] He also falsely claimed that immigrants are genetically predisposed to commit crimes and have "bad genes",[430][37] and that they are the "enemy from within" who are ruining the "fabric" of the country.[37]
Trump's anti-immigration tone was noted to have grown harsher from his previous time as president, where, as reported in The New York Times, he "privately mused about developing a militarized border like Israel's, asked whether migrants crossing the border could be shot in the legs and wanted a proposed border wall topped with flesh-piercing spikes and painted black to burn migrants' skin".[16]
Trump's "bloodbath" comment
Trump received significant media attention over a March 16, 2024 rally, where in a section of a speech talking about the American automobile industry, Trump stated that "Now, if I don't get elected, it's going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that's going to be the least of it. It's going to be a bloodbath for the country."[401] Many commentators saw the use of the term "bloodbath" as a call to political violence and congruent with the larger pattern of violent rhetoric that Trump has used during his 2024 campaign,[431][432][433][434] or that it was a call for another January 6-style attack.[435]
Trump later said that the quote was taken out of context and that he was referring to the American automobile industry, calling the controversy the result of the "Fake News".[436][437][438] Others said it was unclear exactly what Trump meant within the context of the speech.[438][439]
Lisa Friedman of The New York Times stated that even if Trump's comment referred to automobiles, it fit a pattern of increasingly brutal language Trump uses towards electric vehicles, and that some experts believe Trump is "normalizing violence by peppering a screed against electric vehicles with promises of a "bloodbath" if he loses the election"[440] and that supporters of Trump have responded violently even when his language is ambiguous.[436]
White supremacist, Nazi, far right, and antisemitic statement allegations
Trump's embrace of far-right extremism[441][442] and several statements and actions were accused of echoing Nazi rhetoric, far-right ideology, antisemitism, and white supremacy.[443][444][37]
Starting in autumn of 2023,[50] Trump repeatedly stated that undocumented immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country", which has been compared to racial hygiene rhetoric language echoing that of white supremacists and Adolf Hitler.[52][428] Trump's "poisoning the blood" comments resulted in greater media attention to Trump's past statements. Trump has repeatedly talked about "good genes" and previously mentioned "racehorse theory" during a campaign rally in 2020 which was used to justify selective breeding of humans and was criticized for connections to eugenics and Nazism during World War II.[445] In October 2024, Trump falsely stated that immigrants were genetically predisposed to commit crimes and had "bad genes",[430] which drew comparisons to Nazi ideology.[37]
On October 22, 2024, Trump's former Chief of Staff John F. Kelly went public with accusations that Trump had expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler while in office, stating that Trump had said "You know, Hitler did some good things, too" to him during a meeting, and that he "rebuilt the economy".[446] Kelly went on to say that he believed Trump met the definition of a fascist, would rule like a dictator, and had no concept of the Constitution or the rule of law.[447] The same day, The Atlantic reported that Trump had previously stated that "I need the kind of generals that Hitler had" during a meeting in the White House with Kelly and two other military advisors. After being corrected that Hitler's generals had attempted to kill Hitler multiple times, Trump responded "No, no, no, they were totally loyal to him" and stated he was unfamiliar with Erwin Rommel.[446]
Trump also drew criticism for past statements during the white supremacist and antisemitic Unite the Right rally in 2017, where he stated there were "very fine people on both sides".[443][444][448] In May 2024, Trump claimed Biden was running a "Gestapo administration" which was criticized for its comparisons to Nazi Germany's secret police.[449] On August 1, 2023, the Trump campaign compared Trump's criminal trials to "Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes". The statement was criticized by the Anti-Defamation League, which stated that the comparison "to Nazi Germany in the 1930s is factually incorrect, completely inappropriate and flat out offensive".[450]
In November 2022, Trump was widely criticized[451][452][453] after eating dinner at his Mar-a-Lago home with guests including African-American rapper Kanye West, who had recently posted antisemitic statements on social media, and Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist and Holocaust denier.[454] Trump responded that West "unexpectedly showed up with three of his friends, whom I knew nothing about".[455][444]
In a campaign speech and a post on his social media site on Veterans Day, November 11, 2023, Trump called some of his political opponents "vermin", promising to "root out" the "communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections". Trump's use of the term "vermin" was criticized for echoing the fascist rhetoric of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler.[393][394][456] Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung responded to criticism by saying:
Those who try to make that ridiculous assertion are clearly snowflakes grasping for anything because they are suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, and their sad, miserable existence will be crushed when President Trump returns to the White House.[394]
According to The New York Times, scholars are undecided about whether Trump's "rhetorical turn into more fascist-sounding territory is just his latest public provocation of the left, an evolution in his beliefs, or the dropping of a veil".[45]
On February 23, 2024, Trump was criticized for comments during a campaign speech for saying his four criminal indictments and mug shot boosted his appeal among black voters and for comparing his legal jeopardy to historical anti-black discrimination.[457][458][459]
On March 18, 2024, Trump was criticized for claiming "any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion," and that "they hate everything about Israel, and they should be ashamed of themselves because Israel will be destroyed." Following mounting criticism from Jewish groups, Trump's campaign responded that "Trump is right," and that the Democratic Party "has turned into a full-blown anti-Israel, antisemitic, pro-terrorist cabal". The Anti-Defamation League called Trump's comments "defamatory and patently false". The Jewish Council for Public Affairs claimed Trump was "further normalizing dangerous antisemites". Trump's comments were accused of evoking an antisemitic trope that Jews have a 'dual loyalty' and are more loyal to Israel than their own countries.[460] Trump has since repeated that Jews who vote for Biden are betraying their religious and cultural identities multiple times during his campaign.[461] The Harris campaign and several non-partisan Jewish organizations criticized Trump's comments during an antisemitism conference on September 19 where he stated that "if I don't win this election" then "the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss" and continued criticizing liberal Jews for "voting for the enemy" by claiming the Democratic party had a "hold, or curse" on Jewish Americans.[462][463]
Trump was criticized for elevating and inviting far-right conspiracy theorist, white nationalist and "proud Islamophobe" Laura Loomer to the 2024 9/11 ceremony in New York City. Trump was criticized by Democrats and some Republicans for his increasingly close connections to the influencer.[464][465]
Several researchers criticized Trump's use of the word "remigration" when referring to the deportation of immigrants due to its association and use with the international far-right Generation Identity and Identitarian movement.[466]
"Unified Reich" social media video post
In May 2024, Trump's campaign posted a video on his Truth Social account, which showed hypothetical newspaper headlines in the event of a Trump victory.[467][468] Under one headline titled "What's next for America?" was a subtitle that read: "German industrial strength significantly increased after 1871, driven by the creation of a unified Reich".[469][470] Facing intense bipartisan criticism, the Trump campaign deleted the video the next day. Media outlets noted that the phrase "the creation of a unified Reich" harkened back to Nazi Germany.[468][471] In response, the Trump campaign stated that the video was not made by a Trump supporter, not the campaign itself.[472]
Use of artificial intelligence
Trump and his allies extensively used artificial intelligence throughout the campaign.[473][474][475] In June 2024, Trump remarked that AI was "really powerful stuff," suggesting that he would deliver a speech written entirely by AI: "[My staffer] goes click click click, and like 15 seconds later he shows me my speech, written so beautifully, I said, ‘I’m gonna use this sucker'".[476] As with the Harris campaign, Trump's team shared many feigned images and memes on social media.[475] These, for instance, present him astride a lion, or otherwise depict his opponents unfavorably, such as one of Harris addressing a Soviet-style rally.[473] He embraced these deepfakes, and,[476] in fact, some showing fans of Taylor Swift falsely endorsing his election bid.[477] Trump's campaign also used AI software to enhance efficiency—automating repetitive tasks and creating targeted advertisements. One such software, Campaign Nucleus, received more than $2.2 million in funding from his associates.[475][478]
Campaign
Summarize
Perspective
Campaign style
Trump's campaign events were often described as "freewheeling", like a "rock show", and "filled with lies and mistruths". Events frequently included claims of election denialism over the results of the 2020 presidential election, claims of victimization and persecution, anti-immigrant rhetoric, the retelling of unverified stories that showcase Trump's negotiating skills, and dark and apocalyptic messaging about the future if Trump did not win.[308] The Associated Press noted that "Trump's rallies take on the symbols, rhetoric and agenda of Christian nationalism."[479] To this end, he described his presidential campaign as a "righteous crusade" against "atheists, globalists and the Marxists".[480] Trump's rallies sometimes ended with an instrumental song appropriated by the QAnon movement called "Mirrors".[54]
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Trump's rallies repeatedly featured music for which the artists and owners of copyrights were not compensated.[481] After one of their songs was used, a band spokesperson told Billboard, "Foo Fighters were not asked permission, and if they were, they would not have granted it," and "appropriate actions are being taken," against the campaign and that any royalties received as a result of the usage of the song will be donated to the Harris/Walz campaign.[482] Other artists and their agents have made similar complaints and/or demanded payment of royalties and/or the cessation of unauthorized use and lack of compensation including Beyonce, Celine Dion, Kendrick Lamar, Johnny Marr, Tom Petty, Rihanna, The Rolling Stones, The Village People, Aerosmith, Bruce Springsteen, Phil Collins, and the band Journey.[483] The estate of Isaac Hayes, along with David Porter, co-writer of the song "Hold On, I'm Comin'," brought suit against the campaign which had allegedly used the song 134 times without permission of the copyright owners, or of the payment of royalties.[484] Federal judge Thomas Thrash in Atlanta, Georgia, issued an injunction against further use of the song.[484]
Rallies
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For the Republican nomination (December 2022–March 2024)
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On January 28, 2023, Trump held his first campaign events in South Carolina and New Hampshire.[485][486]
On March 4, 2023, Trump delivered a lengthy keynote speech at the CPAC convention, also attended by Nikki Haley, but not by other prospective Republican candidates. In his speech, Trump promised to serve as the retribution for those who were wronged, and stated that he was the only candidate who could prevent World War III.[487][unreliable source?]
On March 25, Trump staged a rally in Waco, Texas during the 30th anniversary of the Waco siege,[488][489][490][491] and opened with a rendition of the song "Justice for All" featuring a choir of about 20 men imprisoned for their role in the January 6 Capitol attack.[492]
In late April, Trump suggested he was not interested in debating other Republican contenders, at least not until later in the year.[493]
On May 10, 2023, Trump appeared one-on-one with news host Kaitlan Collins on CNN Republican Town Hall with Donald Trump at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, with an audience of Republican and undecided voters.[494][495]
Return to Twitter
On November 19, 2022, Elon Musk, four weeks after taking ownership of Twitter, reinstated both Trump's personal account and Trump's campaign account, nearly two years after Trump was permanently banned from the platform by previous Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, due to Twitter's Glorification of Violence and Civic Integrity policies, following the January 6 United States Capitol attack.[496] On December 3, 2022, following the publication of the "Twitter Files" by Elon Musk, Trump complained of election fraud and posted to Truth Social, calling for "the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution".[497][498][499]
Dinner with Kanye West and Nick Fuentes
In November 2022, Kanye West, then a candidate for the 2024 election, dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, alongside white nationalist Nick Fuentes.[454][455][500] Trump claimed that this meeting was unexpected.[455] At one point during the dinner, West asked Trump to be his running mate, after which the former President "started basically screaming at [West] at the table telling [him] [he] was going to lose".[501] Trump advised West to drop out of the race.[502] Republican candidates Asa Hutchinson and Mike Pence openly rebuked Fuentes' presence in Trump's campaign.[451][452] Mitch McConnell went as far as to suggest that he would not win the election because of the dinner.[453]
Voting methods
After several years of vilifying mail-in voting and early voting as rife with fraud and a contributor to supposed 2020 election fraud, by April 2024 Trump was advising supporters to use those voting methods in the coming election. The RNC was also encouraging Republican voters to use those methods, as well as promoting ballot harvesting, which they called "ballot chasing". Ballot harvesting was the subject of the 2022 Dinesh D'Souza film 2000 Mules, which falsely alleged an organized scheme by Democrats to commit fraud by the method.[503][504][505][506][507]
Court cases
Three days after Trump announced his candidacy, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith to serve as special counsel for the investigations regarding Trump's role in the January 6 attack and into mishandling of government records.[508][509]
From 2023 up until the 2024 presidential election, Trump was engulfed in legal battles. In March 2023, he was indicted for 34 felony counts of fraud stemming from his role in falsifying business records concerning hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, done in an attempt to influence the 2016 presidential election.[510][511] This marked his first indictment of four.[512][513] His second came in June, when a federal grand jury indicted the former President for improperly retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence and destroying evidence related to the government probe.[514] In August, Trump was indicted for his illegal attempts to remain in power following the 2020 election.[515] Finally, two weeks later, the federal government and Georgia separately indicted him for criminal conspiracy and fraud vis-à-vis his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.[516][517] Trump denied wrongdoing in all four cases.[512] Besides these indictments, he was found liable in a civil lawsuit for sexual abuse and defamation against journalist E. Jean Carroll.[518] In May 2024, Trump was convicted of felonies regarding the Stormy Daniels case. This made him the first former U.S. president ever to be convicted of a crime.[519][520]
Primaries
In February 2023, Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the flagship of Charles Koch's network of donors and activist groups, announced it would fund a primary challenge to Trump.[521]
Besides the opposition to Trump's candidacy declared by Republican former executive branch officials, senators and representatives, statewide officials, public figures and organizations, Trump was challenged in the primaries by Nikki Haley (February 14, 2023, to March 6, 2024), Vivek Ramaswamy (February 21, 2023, to January 15, 2024), Asa Hutchinson (April 6, 2023, to January 16, 2024), and Ron DeSantis (May 24, 2023, to January 21, 2024).
Other challengers, who withdrew before the primaries, were Perry Johnson (March 2, 2023, to October 20, 2023), Larry Elder (April 20, 2023, to October 26, 2023), Tim Scott (May 19, 2023, to November 12, 2023), Mike Pence (June 5, 2023, to October 28, 2023), Chris Christie (June 6, 2023, to January 10, 2024), Doug Burgum (June 7, 2023, to December 4, 2023), Francis Suarez (June 14, 2023, to August 29, 2023), and Will Hurd (June 22, 2023, to October 9, 2023).
When Nikki Haley announced her 2024 presidential campaign,[522] one of her first statements as a candidate was to call for candidates over the age of 75—which would include both Trump and Biden—to be required to take a competency test.[523] She made the age issue a main campaign point during the rest of 2023 and the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries.[524][525][526] On November 28, 2023, AFP endorsed Nikki Haley.[527]
From August 23 to January 10, 2024, there were five debates among the candidates in the campaign for the Republican Party's nomination for president of the United States in the 2024 United States presidential election. Trump was absent from all of them, and was not planning to attend the debates scheduled for January 18 and 21, 2024.[528] On January 16, when she and Ron DeSantis were the last challengers left, Nikki Haley announced she would not attend the January 18 debate unless Donald Trump took part in it. ABC News canceled that debate,[529] and CNN canceled the January 21 one.[530]
Responding to Haley's challenge, Trump stated that he had successfully taken two cognitive tests,[531][532] said that anyone who donated to Haley's campaign would be "permanently barred" from the "MAGA camp".[533][534][535]
On February 25, 2024, when she lost the election in her home state, Americans for Prosperity cut funding to Nikki Haley's campaign.[536][537] After winning the primaries in Washington, D.C. (March 3) and Vermont (March 5), Haley suspended her presidential campaign the day after Super Tuesday.[538][539]
National primary polling showed Trump leading by 50 points over other candidates during the Republican primaries.[540] After he won a landslide victory in the 2024 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, Trump was generally described as being the Republican Party's presumptive nominee for president.[541][542][543] On March 12, 2024, Trump officially became the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party.[544]
Opposition to Trump's nomination
Notable Republican politicians who either opposed or declined to announce their support publicly include former president George W. Bush,[545] former vice presidents Dan Quayle,[546] Mike Pence,[547] and Dick Cheney,[548] former House Speakers John Boehner[549] and Paul Ryan,[550] as well as former representatives Liz Cheney[551] and Adam Kinzinger.[552] Some of Trump's 2016 and 2024 primary opponents such as Jeb Bush,[553] John Kasich,[554] Carly Fiorina,[555] Chris Christie,[556] Asa Hutchinson,[557] and Will Hurd[558] also declined to endorse or openly opposed the campaign. Republican organizations such as 43 Alumni for America, Haley Voters for Harris, and The Lincoln Project all endorsed Harris.[559][560][561] Half of the members of Trump's cabinet did not support his run for president.[562][563]
Vice-presidential choice
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Mike Pence served as Trump's vice president from 2017 to 2021, as well as his running mate in 2020. However, the pair had a dramatic falling out on January 6, 2021, when Pence refused to follow Trump's orders to deny the certification of the 2020 election results. The President thereafter tweeted that Pence "didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country and our constitution".[564][565] As early as March 2021, Bloomberg News reported that Trump had largely ruled out sharing a ticket with Pence in 2024.[566] Names raised as possible candidates for the position included:
- Doug Burgum, Governor of North Dakota (2016–2024) and former 2024 presidential candidate[567][568][569]
- Tucker Carlson, political commentator[570]
- Ben Carson, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (2017–2021) and former 2016 presidential candidate[567][568][569][571]
- Tom Cotton,Senator from Arkansas (2015–present)[569]
- Byron Donalds, U.S. Representative from Florida's 19th district (2021–present)[569][571][572]
- Tulsi Gabbard, former Democratic U.S. representative from HI-2 (2013–2021) and also sought the party's nomination in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries.[572]
- Nikki Haley, former Governor of South Carolina and former 2024 presidential candidate[571]
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr., environmental lawyer and independent 2024 presidential candidate[573][g]
- Kari Lake, former news anchor and 2024 candidate for U.S. Senator from Arizona[571]
- Kristi Noem, Governor of South Dakota (2019–present)[566][567][568][571][572]
- Vivek Ramaswamy, businessman and former 2024 presidential candidate[567][568][569][571][572]
- Marco Rubio, U.S. Senator from Florida (2011–present) and former 2016 presidential candidate[569][577]
- Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Governor of Arkansas (2023–present) and White House Press Secretary (2017–2019)[567][568]
- Tim Scott, U.S. Senator from South Carolina (2013–present) and former 2024 presidential candidate[566][568][571][572]
- Elise Stefanik, U.S. Representative from NY-21 (2015–present)[567][568][569][571]
- JD Vance, U.S. Senator from Ohio (2023–2025)[567][568][569][571]
By June, it was reported that the Trump campaign had delivered vetting paperwork to Burgum, Carson, Cotton, Donalds, Rubio, Scott, Stefanik, and Vance.[569] Ultimately, JD Vance was chosen to be Trump's running mate.[578] Vance was the first Ohioan to appear on a major party presidential ticket since John Bricker, Thomas Dewey's running mate in 1944, and the first veteran since John McCain in 2008.[579][580] He was also the first millennial, Marine veteran, and veteran of the Iraq War and the wider War on Terror on a presidential ticket.[581][582]
National Convention
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On July 18, 2024, Trump formally accepted the GOP nomination for the presidency in a one-and-a-half-hour speech on the final day of the Republican National Convention.[583]
For president (March 2024–November 2024)
At the Libertarian National Convention
On May 26, 2024, Trump spoke at the 2024 Libertarian National Convention.[584] During his speech, Trump made a play for the Libertarian Party's nomination and vowed to appoint a Libertarian to his cabinet.[585] Trump was eliminated during balloting, with Chase Oliver being selected as the Libertarian nominee.
Milwaukee comments
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In June 2024, Trump reportedly described Milwaukee, the hosting city for the July 2024 Republican National Convention, as "a horrible city"; later, Trump responded to the reporting, stating to the media: "I love Milwaukee, I have great friends in Milwaukee, but it's as you know, the crime numbers are terrible. We have to be very careful. But I was referring to also the election, the the ballots, the, the way it went down, it was very bad in Milwaukee."[586][587] One month later, at the Republican National Convention, Trump said: "Wisconsin, we are spending over $250 million here, creating jobs and other economic development all over the place, so I hope you will remember this in November and give us your vote ... I am trying to buy your vote, I'll be honest about that".[588][589]
Interview at National Association of Black Journalists convention
On July 31, 2024, Trump was interviewed by journalists Rachel Scott, Kadia Goba, and Harris Faulkner during a question-and-answer session at the National Association of Black Journalists's annual convention.[590][591] Trump questioned the racial identity of Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee following the withdrawal of President Joe Biden from the 2024 election. Trump said that she had claimed Indian heritage "until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black". When Scott said that Harris had "always been Black", Trump responded that "she was Indian all the way and all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person".[592] Afterward, Harris' campaign director Michael Tyler wrote, "Today's tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump's MAGA rallies this entire campaign."[593]
Attempted assassinations
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In the span of three months, Trump faced two assassination attempts. On July 13, 2024, during a rally near Butler, Pennsylvania, he was shot and wounded in the upper right ear. He was escorted out of the venue by United States Secret Service.[594] The Secret Service swiftly killed the identified shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks.[595][596][597][598] During the attempt, Crooks also shot three other spectators, including 50-year-old firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was killed instantly.[599] Later, on September 15, 2024, Trump became the target of a second assassination attempt at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.[600] The secret service agent walking the course before Trump's golf party arrived at the hole and saw a rifle barrel protruding from the bushes which opened fire in that direction. The perpetrator, Ryan Wesley Routh, fled the scene but was quickly apprehended.[601][602] Routh was eventually charged with attempted first-degree murder and terrorism.[603][604]
Biden withdraws
On July 21, 2024, Joe Biden, the incumbent Democratic president of the United States, announced his withdrawal from the 2024 United States presidential election,[605] and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement.[606][607] By August 5, Harris had officially secured the nomination via a virtual roll call of delegates.[608] The next day, she announced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her vice presidential running mate.[609]
Biden's withdrawal reportedly caused problems within the Trump campaign.[610] In an article published on August 10, The New York Times characterized the situation in the Republican camp as "the worst three weeks of Donald Trump's 2024 campaign".[611]
Fuentes' "digital war"
In August 2024, Nick Fuentes began a "digital war" against the Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign, which he dubbed "Groyper War 2"[612] aimed at pressuring the Trump campaign to adopt further-right positions on race and immigration and fire Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles.[613][better source needed] In addition to directing his followers to make their demands trend on Twitter and Truth Social, Fuentes threatened to "escalate pressure in the real world", urging followers to withhold their votes and protest Trump rallies in battleground states.[612] By mid-August, Fuentes took credit for Trump's rehiring of Corey Lewandowski as a senior campaign advisor.[612]
Kennedy endorses Trump
In August 2024, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his independent presidential campaign and endorsed Trump.[614][615]
Iranian interference
On August 10, 2024, Politico revealed that it had been receiving internal Trump campaign documents from an anonymous source since July 22, including a 271-page vetting report on vice presidential candidate JD Vance's potential vulnerabilities.[616] The Trump campaign confirmed that it had been hacked and blamed "foreign sources hostile to the United States"; it suggested that Iran was responsible, citing a Microsoft report the previous day that an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence unit was responsible for a spear phishing attack on a former senior official with a presidential campaign.[616][617][618] The Washington Post and The New York Times also reported having received the hacked materials.[619][620] Although the Trump campaign became aware of the hack earlier in the summer, it did not report the hack to law enforcement at the time.[619] The account that sent the documents to the news organizations identified itself as "Robert" and communicated with them via email. Robert claimed to have access to a "variety of documents, from [Trump's] legal and court documents to internal campaign discussions".[616][619]
Arlington National Cemetery incident
In August 2024, Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, to honor the U.S. service members killed in the 2021 Kabul airport attack. During the visit, Trump's entourage brought in a photographer and videographer to Section 60, to capture promotional content for his campaign. However, such content is not permitted in Section 60. When a cemetery official attempted to stop them, two campaign staffers, Justin Caporale and Michel Picard, allegedly pushed and verbally abused him.[621][622] Arlington National Cemetery confirmed the incident.[621][623] Later in August, Trump's campaign released a TikTok video of Trump's Section 60 visit, as well as photos of the former President standing next to graves while smiling and giving a thumbs up.[624][625] Facing criticism,[626][627] the campaign denied all wrongdoing; family members accompanying Trump during the visit had accepted to be "respectfully captured".[628][629] Vance criticized the media and Democratic party for "[making] a scandal out of something where there really is none",[630] adding that "[Harris] wants to yell at Donald Trump because he showed up … She can go to hell." In fact, Harris had not yet commented on the incident.[631] On August 29, the U.S. Army issued a statement rebuking the Trump campaign, followed by a similar one from the Defense Department, the Green Beret Foundation, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and VoteVets.org.[632]
Madison Square Garden rally
Trump held his last major campaign event at Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, one week before the election.[633][634][635] Among its featured speakers were comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who prominently called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage," suggested that Harris had worked as a prostitute, and stated that he and one of his black friends had "carved watermelons" together, as well as Trump's friend David Rem, who referred to Harris as "the antichrist". The rally was noted for its vicious rhetoric; Democrats tied it to a Nazi rally held at the same venue in 1939.[635][636][637] The New York Times labelled Trump's rally as a "Closing Carnival of Grievances, Misogyny and Racism".[638] Hinchcliffe's comments, particularly the "floating island of garbage" remark, proved especially controversial.[633] He responded to Democratic outcry on Twitter, stating they "have no sense of humor" and that he was merely calling out Puerto Rico's landfill problem.[637][639] Several Republicans also expressed their disgust with Hinchcliffe's joke, including Cuban American Representatives María Elvira Salazar and Carlos A. Giménez, and Puerto Rican-born Congressman Anthony D'Esposito.[640] Puerto Rican musical artists Ricky Martin, Bad Bunny, and Jennifer Lopez endorsed Harris on social media shortly after Hinchcliffe's comments went viral.[641]
Support
Politico noted in December 2020 that many Republican figures were expressing support for a Trump 2024 run.[642][643] Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that he would "absolutely" support Trump if the latter were nominated again.[644] A number of Republican officials at both federal and state levels were quick to endorse Trump's candidacy, while others were noted for being silent on the question, with a few stating opposition, including Senator Bill Cassidy and Senator Mitt Romney.[645][646][647][648][649]
Bloomberg noted in January 2025 how a number of highly influential podcasters, including Joe Rogan, Theo Von and Logan Paul, amplified Trump's messages to their audiences, relying on overlapping guests and conservative talking points. A third of the analyzed videos called for voting, inserted among popular non-political topics, and appealed to a generation of male viewers with low levels of social support and negative views of their future.[650]
Polling
General election
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Primaries
Results
Summarize
Perspective
As the results came in on election night, November 5, 2024, Trump won in multiple swing states. In the early morning hours of November 6, media sources declared Trump the winner of the presidency, crediting him with 276 electoral college votes where 270 were needed to win.[citation needed] Harris then phoned Trump to concede and to congratulate him on his victory, whereupon Trump gave a victory speech.[citation needed]
As of November 9, Trump is credited with 312 electoral votes compared to 226 for Harris.[citation needed] In the nationwide popular vote, Trump received over 2.2 million (1.5%) more votes than Harris.[citation needed] Trump is the first Republican presidential candidate since George W. Bush in 2004 to win the national popular vote.[citation needed] Trump is also the first non-incumbent Republican presidential candidate since George H. W. Bush in 1988 to win the national popular vote.[citation needed]
Vance became the first Ohio native to be elected to the vice presidency since Charles Dawes in 1924, the first veteran since Al Gore in 1992, as well as the first to have facial hair since Charles Curtis in 1928.[579][580]
See also
_Dec_2024.jpg){kind=icon}
- Republican Party efforts to disrupt the 2024 United States presidential election
- Project 2025
- Kamala Harris 2024 presidential campaign
- Joe Biden 2024 presidential campaign
- Nikki Haley 2024 presidential campaign
- Ron DeSantis 2024 presidential campaign
- Donald Trump 2000 presidential campaign
- Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign
- Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign
Notes
- In fact, the Republican candidates Trump endorsed for the 2022 midterms generally underperformed those that he did not.[83]
- In fact, all three Supreme Court justices Trump appointed: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, voted to reverse Roe v. Wade.[155]
- In January 2024, Kennedy claimed that Trump had approached him to be his running mate and that he had refused the offer.[574] Trump campaign advisor Chris LaCivita denied that the Trump campaign had ever approached Kennedy to be Trump's running mate, however, and added that they had no plans on ever doing so.[575] In April, however, multiple sources close to Trump once again reported that he was considering Kennedy.[576]
References
External links
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