What Trump’s win means for the world’s most pressing problems

Republican Donald Trump will face immediate challenges as the Israel-Gaza and Russia-Ukraine wars rage. What his election means for NATO, aid, trade and more.

10 min
(Washington Post illustration; Brendan McDermid/Reuters; iStock)
Skip to main content
By
, 
and 

Donald Trump is returning to the White House, and people across the world are trying to grapple with how a second term will once again shake up global affairs.

Trump’s supporters say his unpredictability is a feature, not a bug, of his foreign policy, to deter bad actors and make headway on the world’s most intractable problems. “Predictability is a terrible thing,” Richard Grenell, Trump’s former director of national intelligence reported to be seeking a position as secretary of state in a second term, recently told the Financial Times. “Of course the other side [America’s enemies] wants predictability. Trump is not predictable.”

Election 2024

Trump wins: Here’s the inside story of Donald Trump’s remarkable comeback to win the White House and what a second Trump presidency could mean for America and key global issues. Also, see how Project 2025 could reshape America under a Trump presidency.

Harris loses: Vice President Kamala Harris conceded the election to Trump but mentioned she does not “concede the fight that fueled this campaign.” Her loss devastated voters who hoped she could make history, and it marked yet another loss for a woman presidential candidate.

House and Senate control: Republicans are projected to take control of the House and Senate, giving the party a powerful governing trifecta.

The results: We mapped where key votes drove Trump’s victory and analyzed how counties shifted in 2024 compared with 2020. Get full presidential election results and voter turnout for 2024.