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PoliticsUnited States of America

US Congress certifies Trump as 2024 election winner

January 6, 2025

Donald Trump will be inaugurated as US president on January 20. His certification is a stark contrast to the January 6 Capitol riot which followed the 2020 election.

https://p.dw.com/p/4oszW
U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives members attend a joint session of Congress to certify Donald Trump's election, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S. January 6, 2025.
Trump won 312 Electoral College votes to Harris's 226, more than the 270 votes he needs to be the next US presidentImage: Elizabeth Frantz/REUTERS

The US Congress has certified Donald Trump as the winner of last year's presidential election, clearing the way for his inauguration on January 20.

Lawmakers counted and affirmed on Monday the votes by the Electoral College.

"Donald J Trump of the state of Florida, has received 312 votes. Kamala D. Harris of the State of California has received 226 votes," Harris herself declared to assembled lawmakers after the counting was complete.

The Democratic vice president oversaw the certification as part of her duties. She said the official count "shall be deemed a sufficient declaration" for Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance to take their oaths of office on January 20.

Vice President Kamala Harris shakes hands with US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) at the U.S. Capitol on January 06, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Kamala Harris presided over the process, as part of her duties as vice presidentImage: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP

Heavy security to avoid another Jan. 6 scenario

The process came in stark contrast to the previous one in 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to protest against the vote count. It came after Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, with Trump falsely claiming that the vote had been rigged.  

The vote counting and declaration came amid heavy security, with the shadow of the January 6 riots hanging over the process.

Trump supporters gesture to U.S. Capitol Police in the hallway outside of the Senate chamber at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump has said he would forgive some of the over 1,500 people charged with taking place in the 2021 riotsImage: Manuel B. Ceneta/AP/picture alliance

Metal fences hundreds of yards from the US Capitol ringed the grounds, making them accessible only via checkpoints guarded by uniformed police officers.

New York Police Department reinforcements patrolled the area, with convoys of black police vehicles also present.

Extra teams of uniformed US Capitol Police officers were deployed inside to check IDs at the entrances.

US Capitol Police officers stand outside the US Capitol in the snow on Jan 6, 2025.
Police massively tightened security in and around the Capitol, in fear of a repeat of the January 6 riotsImage: Mark Alfred/ZUMA Press Wire/IMAGO

Trump hails 'great' election victory

The whole process, which took place inside the fenced US Capitol complex, happened quickly and with no unrest.

In a post online, Trump said that Congress was certifying a "GREAT" election victory, calling it "A BIG MOMENT IN HISTORY."

The final certification backed up preliminary findings that Trump won 312 Electoral College votes to Harris's 226.

Will Trump pardon Jan 6 rioters?

Trump has said he would pardon some of the over 1,500 people charged with taking part with the January 6 assault on the Capitol.

Pence: Harris 'admirable' for presiding over certification

Mike Pence, Trump's former vice president during his first term, was tasked with presiding over the counting of the Electoral College votes in 2021, after Trump lost to Biden. Trump had pressured Pence to send Electoral College votes back to the states, although Pence had no constitutional power to do so.  

In a post on X, Pence said the "peaceful transfer of power is the hallmark of our democracy" and it was "admirable that Vice President Harris would preside over the certification of a presidential election that she lost."   

rmt/wd (AFP, AP, Reuters)