WASHINGTON — Early Wednesday morning, the Associated Press called the 2024 presidential election for Donald Trump after projecting that the former president had won Wisconsin, the last state he needed to secure more than the 270 Electoral College votes needed to become president.
As of 6 a.m. Eastern Wednesday, the former president has 277 Electoral College votes, enough to secure the White House.
North Carolina was the first of the battleground states to be called on election night by the Associated Press, with the 16 electoral votes going to Trump.
The Associated Press projected a win for the former president in Georgia, granting him another 16 electoral votes.
A projected Pennsylvania win helped Trump get to 267 early Wednesday morning.
And finally, Wisconsin was called in Trump's favor Wednesday night, bringing him over the 270-vote line to 277.
How many electoral votes are left?
There are 37 electoral votes remaining.
What states did Trump need to win?
Early on, there were few surprises on election night with reliable states giving each candidates their expected votes. four battleground states decided the outcome of the election.
Georgia and North Carolina were the first to fall into place for the former president, netting him his first major victories and putting Harris on the defensive.
A Pennsylvania win put Trump at 267 Electoral College votes, just shy of the number needed to win. Wisconsin pushed Trump over the finish line with its 10 votes.
Trump is also likely to pick up Alaska (3), Arizona (11), Michigan (15) and Nevada (6) as votes are counted in those races.
When will we know who is president?
Despite pre-election warnings that it could take days for the U.S. to know who won the presidency, the race was called for Trump relatively quickly as early returns painted a strong picture for the former president.,
In 2020, The Associated Press declared President Joe Biden the winner on Saturday afternoon — four days after polls closed. But even then, The AP called North Carolina for Trump 10 days after Election Day and Georgia for Biden 16 days later after hand recounts.
Four years earlier, the 2016 election was decided just hours after most polls closed. The AP declared Trump the winner on election night at 2:29 a.m. (it was technically Wednesday morning on the East Coast).
The size of the map and the tightness of the race make it hard to predict when a winner could be declared.
