PALM BEACH, Florida (Reuters) – Donald Trump has been elected president, capping a remarkable comeback four years after he left the White House.

Mr. Trump, 78, recaptured the White House on Wednesday by securing more than the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency, Edison Research projected.

The former president’s victory in the swing state of Wisconsin pushed him over the threshold. As of 5:45 a.m. ET, Mr. Trump had won 279 electoral votes to Vice President Kamala Harris’ 223 with several states yet to be counted.

He also led Ms. Harris by about 5 million votes in the popular count.

“America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate,” Mr. Trump said early on Wednesday to a roaring crowd of supporters at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in Florida.

Mr. Trump swept away challengers inside his Republican Party and then beat Ms. Harris, the Democratic candidate, by capitalizing on voter concerns about high prices and what Mr. Trump said was a rise in crime due to illegal immigration.

Ms. Harris did not speak to supporters who had gathered at her alma mater Howard University. Her campaign co-chair, Cedric Richmond, briefly addressed the crowd after midnight, saying Ms. Harris would speak publicly later on Wednesday.

“We still have votes to count,” he said.

Republicans have taken control of the U.S. Senate and are fighting to keep their majority in the U.S. House, which would produce a full sweep of GOP power in Congress.

Major stock markets around the world rallied following Mr. Trump’s victory, and the dollar was set for its biggest one-day jump since 2020.

Jobs and Economy

Voters identified jobs and the economy as the country’s most pressing problems, according to Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls. Many Americans remained frustrated by higher prices even amid record-high stock markets, fast-growing wages and low unemployment. With the administration of President Joe Biden taking much of the blame, a majority of voters said they trusted Mr. Trump more than Ms. Harris to address the issue.

Hispanics, traditionally Democratic voters, and lower-income households hit hardest by inflation helped fuel Mr. Trump’s election victory. His loyal base of rural, white and non-college educated voters again showed up in force.

Mr. Trump prevailed despite persistently low approval ratings. Impeached twice, he has been criminally indicted four times and found civilly liable for sexual abuse and defamation. In May, Mr. Trump was convicted by a New York jury of falsifying business records.

His victory will have major implications for U.S. trade and climate change policies, the war in Ukraine, Americans’ taxes and immigration.

His tariff proposals could spark a fiercer trade war with China and U.S. allies, while his pledges to reduce corporate taxes and implement a spate of new cuts could balloon U.S. debt, economists say.

Mr. Trump has promised to launch a mass deportation campaign targeting immigrants in the country illegally.

He has said he wants the authority to fire civil servants he views as disloyal. His opponents fear he will turn the Justice Department and other federal law enforcement agencies into political weapons to investigate perceived enemies.

A second Trump presidency could drive a bigger wedge between Democrats and Republicans on issues such as race, gender, what and how children are taught, and reproductive rights.

Harris Falls Short

Vice President Harris fell short in her 15-week sprint as a candidate, failing to galvanize enough support to defeat Mr. Trump, who occupied the White House from 2017-2021, or to allay voters’ concerns about the economy and immigration.

Ms. Harris had warned that Mr. Trump wanted unchecked presidential power and posed a danger to democracy.

Nearly three-quarters of voters say American democracy is under threat, according to Edison Research exit polls, underscoring the polarization in a nation where divisions have only grown starker during a fiercely competitive race.

Mr. Trump is only the second former president to win a second term after leaving the White House. The first was Grover Cleveland, who served two four-year terms starting in 1885 and 1893.

Unprecedented Campaign

Two months after Mr. Trump’s conviction in the hush money case, a would-be assassin’s bullet grazed his right ear during a July campaign rally in Pennsylvania, exacerbating fears about political violence. Another assassination attempt was thwarted in September at his Florida golf course. Mr. Trump blamed both attempts on what he claimed was the heated rhetoric of Democrats including Ms. Harris.

Barely eight days after the July shooting, Mr. Biden, 81, dropped out of the race, finally bowing to weeks of pressure from his fellow Democrats after his debate with Mr. Trump called into question his mental acuity and the viability of his reelection bid.

Mr. Biden’s decision to step aside turned the contest into a sprint, as Ms. Harris raced to mount her own campaign in a matter of weeks, rather than the typical months. Her rise to the top of the ticket reenergized despondent Democrats, and she raised more than $1 billion in less than three months while erasing what had been a solid lead by Mr. Trump in opinion polls.

Ms. Harris’ financial advantage was partly countered by the intervention of the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, who poured more than $100 million into a super PAC mobilizing Trump voters and used his social media site X to amplify pro-Trump messaging.

As the campaign drew to a close, Ms. Harris increasingly focused on warning Americans about the perils of reelecting Mr. Trump.

A Trump Second Term

Once the 2024 vote is certified by Congress on January 6, 2025, Mr. Trump and his incoming vice president, U.S. Senator JD Vance, are due to take office on Inauguration Day, January 20.

Mr. Trump has promised roles in his administration to Mr. Musk and former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., both avid supporters.