Four years back, Donald J Trump was a sullen man after he lost the presidential race to Joe Biden. And when a violent mob, mostly his supporters, stormed the US Capitol weeks later, it appeared an end to the Republican leader’s political career.
Four years later, 78-year-old Trump made an unprecedented and forceful political comeback in American history by cruising towards a second term in the White House.
And that too, after being convicted of a felony and surviving two assassination attempts.
Though the result of the tight contest between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is not yet officially announced, it is looking almost clear that the Republican leader will return to the White House in January.
“It is one of the biggest political comebacks in American history,” said Capitol Hill veteran and communication strategist Anang Mittal.
In March, Trump received his party’s nomination and it was formalised at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in July after remaining in the political wilderness for months following several court cases.
In effect, he became the first former president to get the nomination for the top office after being convicted of a felony.
Trump still faces four criminal indictments and it is not immediately clear what will happen to the cases.
The former president also survived an impeachment trial in 2021 that concluded with his acquittal.
Trump was shot at during a rally in Pennsylvania in July, just days ahead of the Republican National Convention.
He suffered an upper ear injury. Minutes later, a bleeding Trump raised his fist in defiance, images that drew a lot of emotional support from his die-hard supporters.
“He is a survivor,” said Mittal.
As his victory appeared imminent, Trump addressed his supporters in Florida with a message: “We are going to help our country heal.”
As he eyed the White House, Trump carefully crafted his campaign messages promising to rebuild the economy and rid the US of illegal immigrants.
All along the campaign trail, Trump maintained an aggressive rhetoric against his Democratic challenger Harris that many political commentators believed found a lot of traction among middle-class voters.
The rising inflation and price rise were identified by experts as two of the key issues impacting the lives of a large number of Americans.
During the 2016 primary, Trump defeated more than a dozen rivals to win the Republican nomination.
While he lost the popular vote, Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the general election by winning a majority of Electoral College votes. His campaign slogan was “Make America Great Again”.