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(NOTE: Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to address the nation Wednesday in what will likely be her official concession in the 2024 presidential election. Watch live here.)
During the overnight hours Wednesday, former President Donald Trump was projected as the winner of the 2024 election after clinching the electoral college votes needed to secure a victory, but what happened with the popular vote?
As things stood Wednesday morning, Trump was also leading the popular vote in the U.S.
As of 9 a.m., Vice President Kamala Harris had 66.5 million votes to Trump's 71.56 million.
With votes still being counted, Trump could become the first Republican in two decades to win the popular vote.
See the latest results here:
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Trump's victory was already largely secured as he was projected win the electoral votes in nearly every key swing state.
Both campaigns believed the race was extremely close across the seven swing states that were expected to decide the election, barring a major surprise. Those states included Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
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Trump clinched Pennsylvania, in a major blow to Harris. By Wednesday morning, it all came down to Wisconsin, which saw Trump win 49.7% to 48.7%, according to NBC News, putting him over the edge to secure enough Electoral College votes.
As of 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, votes were still being counted in Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Alaska and Maine, with races too close to call in those states.
Trump was leading in Nevada, Arizona and Michigan. Harris was leading in Maine.
"Well, you look at Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and a couple of blue collar economies really jump out at you," Political strategist Pete Giangreco told NBC Chicago Wednesday morning. "If you look at Kenosha County just over the line, Trump won that by three points against Biden in 2020."
In 2024, Trump won it by six, Giangreco said.
MORE: How Donald Trump won, according to the NBC News Exit Poll
"You look at Lackawanna County, Scranton -- Joe from Scranton -- Joe Biden won that by 6.4 years ago. Kamala Harris only won it by three. You look at Macomb County, Michigan, blue collar north of Detroit, Trump owned by eight. Four years ago, Biden won it by 16 this time. So you saw those blue collar counties really where Trump built out a margin where Kamala Harris was not able to meet it."
Giangreco went on to say that Trump overperformed with Latino men, Black men and young men.
Illinois' presidential vote likely the closest in decades
"All Donald Trump had to say was, were things better off?", Giangreco said. "Were you better off four years ago? And he drove that message. The question in our party is, were we better off if Joe Biden had stepped out earlier? Could Kamala Harris have defined herself a little better if she had more time?"
The president-elect will also have at least Republican control of the Senate as well. Previously, Democrats held a narrow majority in the senate.
In Ohio, Republican Bernie Moreno projected to beat Sen. Sherrod Brown. And West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice captured that state’s seat.
When he takes the oath of office, Trump will become just the second person in history to serve two non-consecutive terms in the White House, joining Grover Cleveland in that group.
