WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — It was the equivalent of a political earthquake. Former President Donald Trump’s historic White House win reverberated Wednesday through Washington, D.C., and the nation after an astonishing comeback that upended political expectations, pollsters and the party elite.
One day after the election, Mr. Trump’s shocking, likely sweep of battleground states and an unexpected popular vote victory over Vice President Kamala Harris came more clearly into view. It showed his triumph rattled down the ballot, helping Republicans capture the Senate and putting them on track to hold onto the House.
The Republican Party, largely neutered the past four years, rode Mr. Trump’s popularity to a likely GOP sweep of government that will increase their prospects for implementing the president-elect’s proposals to lower taxes, reduce regulations, ramp up energy production, cut spending and reduce the size of government.
Grudging acceptance by his staunchest opponents had settled in by Wednesday, in part because Mr. Trump, now planning his second term from his Mar-a-Lago home, won much sooner and more decisively than almost anyone expected.
Ms. Harris called the former president to concede Wednesday, ahead of her speech to disappointed supporters at Howard University. She congratulated Mr. Trump.
“President Trump acknowledged Vice President Harris on her strength, professionalism and tenacity throughout the campaign, and both leaders agreed on the importance of unifying the country,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said.
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For both parties, the clear-cut results quickly reset the political landscape in Washington.
There was no counting ballots for days or lawsuits dragging out close results.
Mr. Trump had won the race by 3 a.m. Wednesday after crushing Ms. Harris in the battleground states and coming startlingly close to overtaking deep blue areas of the country. By late Wednesday, only the battlegrounds of Nevada and Arizona had yet to be called, and Mr. Trump was leading in both states.
Mr. Trump lost New Jersey by only 4 points and he flipped many blue counties, including Miami-Dade in Florida.
His wins in the swing states were substantial.
Mr. Trump surpassed Ms. Harris by nearly 140,000 votes in Pennsylvania, a state that pollsters declared deadlocked a day before the election.
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He surpassed her by nearly 120,000 votes in Georgia where, like Pennsylvania, he narrowly lost in 2020.
As of late Wednesday, Mr. Trump had secured 292 electoral votes, 22 more than the number needed to win, and he was on track to surpass 300.
It was a landslide.
Wednesday brought shock and self-reflection from stunned Democrats and euphoria for the GOP over the size and scope of Mr. Trump’s victory.
“It seemed unthinkable in March 2023,” Trump ally and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said. “Now it’s reality.”
The stock market surged, hitting an all-time high Wednesday.
The president-elect’s transition team, which has been meeting for weeks, is busy readying a second Trump administration while House and Senate Republicans plot legislation they can move through both chambers and send to his desk.
A measure to extend expiring individual tax cuts, which could include additional tax reductions, is likely to go first.
“We have saved America,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republicans, said Wednesday. “We are ready to get to work for the American people.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican and longtime Trump foe who ultimately endorsed his candidacy, congratulated the incoming president, pointing out he’s the first to win a nonconsecutive, second presidential term since 1892.
“What he’s accomplished has not been done since Grover Cleveland,” Mr. McConnell said.
He complimented Mr. Trump’s campaign “for running a sharper operation this time.”
Mr. Trump lost narrowly to Mr. Biden in 2020, sparking national unrest and the Republican’s claim that the election was rigged.
Mr. Trump would not concede the race four years ago, and critics blame his rhetoric — even though he urged demonstrators to march “peacefully and patriotically” — for inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol that led Mr. McConnell to condemn him.
Now Mr. Trump’s political resurrection is complete. And he helped his old foe, Mr. McConnell, who is stepping down from two decades of leadership, achieve his goal of handing off a GOP Senate majority to his successor.
Mr. Biden, who was forced off the 2024 ticket in favor of Ms. Harris, called Mr. Trump on Wednesday to congratulate and invite him to the White House to plan the transition.
The result was a resounding defeat of not only Mr. Biden’s vice president, but also of his policies that critics say led to near-historic levels of inflation, rising interest rates and an explosion of overseas conflicts.
“Listen, they are going to blame this on Harris,” Rasmussen Reports pollster Mark Mitchell said. “She wasn’t a perfect candidate, but let’s be honest, she probably did as well as she could. She saved Democrats from an even bigger R landslide. Biden and the Democrats made this mess.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.