President-elect Donald Trump kicked off 2024 with the unofficial title of “defendant of the year,” staring down criminal and civil cases from federal and state prosecutors alike. But despite the difficult start, Trump pulled off arguably the greatest political and legal comeback in modern U.S. history and will end the year on a high note.
With less than three weeks until his inauguration, Trump will likely be counting down the days until his White House return—a feat few could have predicted nearly 365 days ago.
Trump began the year like he was about to jump from the frying pan into the fire. Just two weeks into the new year, the civil trial for E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit began. Eleven days later, a Manhattan jury found that Trump had committed sexual abuse and forcible touching, awarding Carroll a total of $83.3 million in damages.
The month after, a New York judge ordered Trump to pay a $355 million penalty after finding that the former president lied about his wealth for years, a ruling expected to bankrupt the former real estate mogul.
Then, in April—a month after he clinched the Republican nomination—Trump’s criminal hush money case went to trial, forcing the presidential candidate off the campaign trail for six weeks as he was obligated to show up in court four days out of the week.
And when the jury finally reached a decision, it was not in his favor. For the first time in American history, a former president was convicted of a felony. Jurors found Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
But the summer rolled around, and when the seasons changed, so did Trump’s luck.
On June 27, he decisively won the presidential debate against one of his biggest rivals, President Joe Biden. Biden’s disastrous performance would later lead to his decision to withdraw from the race in July and end his decades-long political career.
Days after the debate, Trump was handed another major victory when the Supreme Court ruled on July 1 that he was immune from criminal charges, upending the federal cases against him.
On July 13, the nation was rocked again after Trump survived an attempted assassination at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Although the shooting could have proved fatal, it seemed to do the opposite, breathing new life not only into Trump’s campaign but the Republican Party, which all showed up in a united front for the GOP nominee at the Republican National Convention days later.
While Trump was preparing to formally accept the nomination, a Florida judge boosted Trump again, tossing out his federal classified documents case entirely after she found Special Counsel Jack Smith‘s appointment unconstitutional.
And it was only up from there.
Even though Trump found himself in a completely new race by August, when Vice President Kamala Harris rose to the top of the Democratic ticket, he continued to barrel ahead, deploying his new media strategy that month. To appeal to young male voters, Trump spent August on Adin Ross’s livestream and Theo Von’s podcast.
In October, he would sit down for podcast episodes with comedian Andrew Schultz, the Nelk Boys influencers, NFL players Will Compton and Taylor Lewan, businessman Patrick Bet-David, radio host Dan Bongino, wrestler Tyrus and Joe Rogan.
Trump would go on not just to win the election on November 5 but also young men by a whopping 13-point margin. He’d also win the popular vote, making him the first Republican to do so in two decades. The election, which was not expected to be called for days, was declared a Trump victory that night.
After winning the presidential election by margins that devastated the Democratic Party, billionaires, world leaders and culture-makers all rushed to embrace the president-elect.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau all made their way to Palm Beach to dine with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in the weeks after his victory.
Meanwhile, Trump’s dance, a meme-ified jig popularized by the president-elect, was seen on sports fields, from the NFL to the UFC to the USMNT and even golf course fairways. His popularity soared to a level not seen since he entered politics.
For the last 8 years, Trump has struggled to get his approval rating above water. Earlier this month, for the first time, more Americans had a favorable view of Trump than those who had an unfavorable view, 49 to 47 percent, RealClearPolitics’ polling average showed on December 7.
On the legal front, all of his cases were put on hold or dropped. The sentencing hearing that Americans had been anticipating since the spring was put off indefinitely.
And December ushered in yet another string of celebrations. Trump was named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” for the second time. He was invited to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange for the first time.
Undoubtedly, the president-elect has been able to flip his 2024 around.
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