Alex Brandon/AP

Former President Donald Trump was set to return to the White House for a second time, ending Tuesday night on the brink of victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.

After launching a dark campaign of retaliation, Trump tried to strike a conciliatory tone in a rambling victory speech at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, where thousands of jubilant supporters had gathered for what Trump had promised to to be “the last gathering”. During his speech, which included many of the bizarre tangents for which he is known, Trump declared his intention to “help the country heal” and promised that his next administration would be “the golden age of America.” He thanked his family and thanked his campaign, and after Sen. JD Vance said a few words, Trump joked, “It turned out to be a good choice!”

Others he thanked for his victory included podcasters Joe Rogan and Theo Von, in recognition of the underappreciated role the medium played in raising awareness of the young men who helped him return to office. Trump barely mentioned his opponent and instead focused on his remarkable comeback, which he called a “triumph of democracy.”

“It is time to put the divisions of the last four years behind us,” he said.

In July, after President Joe Biden withdrew and Harris became the Democratic nominee, polls showed the race was virtually tied, with Harris and Trump within the margin of error in every key swing state . But Trump was able to break down Pennsylvania’s “blue wall,” which Harris could not afford to lose. He also won handily in North Carolina and Georgia, and seemed headed for victory in Wisconsin. By the end of the evening, it seemed almost certain that he would surpass the 270 electoral votes needed to win – he was also leading in the national popular vote.

Harris did well among female voters of all ages and regions, but that wasn’t enough to make up for the ground she lost among black men, but especially among Latino voters, who polls show exiting the polls, seemed to rally behind Trump in surprisingly large numbers. . Trump’s campaign had focused on withdrawing support from these traditionally Democratic groups, and although they still voted in force for Harris, enough voters switched sides to make a difference.

As a 2024 candidate, Trump himself was no more disciplined than he was in 2016 or 2020. But his campaign was far more professional than in his previous elections. “Donald Trump is a movement,” former Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) told me in spring. “That’s how he originally won this thing.” But it was kind of a rag. This time he has everything going for him. It has a large, disciplined ground operation, coordinated messaging operation. »

Much of that, Davis suspected, could be attributed to the campaign co-chairman. Chris La Civita. “He’s the kind of guy Trump listens to outside the family and can take control.”

In October, however, Trump appeared to return to form when he brought Robert F. Kennedy Jr. into his fold and promised to put him in charge of “making America healthy again.” Kennedy then made news with wild promises that the second Trump administration would ban childhood vaccines and get rid of them. fluoride in drinking water.

Trump also briefly brought back Corey Lewandowski, his 2016 campaign manager, who in 2021 fell out of Trump’s orbit after the wife of a big donor accused him of doing unwanted sexual advances. Despite this series of self-inflicted wounds, campaign co-chairs LaCivita and Susie Wiles ultimately let “Trump be Trump” while keeping the rest of the campaign on track and focused.

During the last days of the campaign, the Daily Beast published a story alleging that LaCivita was “double dipping” and making millions from the Trump campaign and its ad buys (he vehemently denied this claim). THE Atlantic later reported that this story had infuriated Trump, who considered firing LaCivita. In previous campaigns, Trump hired and fired a handful of campaign managers, including Paul Manafort, who ended up going to prison for money laundering, tax evasion and illegal foreign lobbying related to his years working for Ukrainian politicians. (Trump later forgave him.) But Wiles and LaCivita managed to stick around for a good ending.

Trump also solidified his support among the nation’s business leaders in a way he hadn’t in his previous two campaigns. Most notably, billionaire Elon Musk played a leading role in Trump’s campaign, spending $150 million of his own money to fund a last-minute get-out-the-vote effort by paying an army of canvassers to knock on votes. candidate’s doors. (Trump spent a few minutes of his speech praising “Elon” and his “spaceship.”) Whether Musk can actually take credit for Trump’s victory is an open question . Especially because some of these workers seemed to be doing a good job taking Musk’s money and not much else.

News reports noted that up to a quarter of voter contacts made by Musk’s canvassers in Arizona and Nevada were fake, as workers figured out how to manipulate the canvassing app to make it appear like they were beating the bushes for every last vote when in fact they were hanging out at Starbucks. But Trump’s victory will undoubtedly be seen as a victory for Musk as well, and perhaps serve as encouragement to others. oligarchs to play a more direct role in running campaigns, leaving the national party even weaker.

Trump promised that one of his first acts upon taking office would be to close the border, release some of the incarcerated January 6 rioters, fire special counsel Jack Smith (who investigated Trump for his mismanagement of classified documents and its role in fomenting the attack). riot of January 6), and launches its campaign of mass deportations.

Some time before Pennsylvania was called, Cedric Richmond, co-chairman of Vice President Harris’ campaign, informed supporters that she would not speak tonight and would address them in the morning.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.