Republican Donald Trump on the campaign trail in Michigan. Photo: Donald J. Trump for President 2024
WASHINGTON, D.C —
Indian Country is waking up to new political realities with Republican Donald Trump headed to the White House after an election season that saw an unprecedented Native vote effort in support of Democrat Kamala Harris.
But in spite of the Harris campaign’s intense focus on Native voters in battleground states like Arizona, the momentum wasn’t enough to propel the sitting vice president into the Oval Office. Though the Democratic candidate had not formally conceded as of Wednesday morning, unofficial results show Trump with enough of the popular vote across the United States to win the heated race.
And as the Republican candidate’s social media channels proclaimed him as “president-elect” and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as the “vice president-elect,” Trump claimed victory from campaign headquarters in Florida. He spoke early in the morning about his historic win.
“We have a country that needs help and it needs help very badly,” Trump said as he ticked off the states that were key to his success in 2024.
Harris, meanwhile, announced that she will speak on Wednesday afternoon at Howard University, her alma mater. Her campaign held an election results watch party on Tuesday on the campus of the historically Black college in the nation’s capital but the vice president did not venture out from her official residence last night.
On behalf of the Navajo Nation, I extend congratulations to President-elect Donald J. Trump on his election victory.
Last night, President-elect Trump emphasized a vision for rebuilding and unifying the country. He shared a message of collective progress and national unity. Many… pic.twitter.com/k1O3X83xZg
— Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren (@BuuVanNygren) November 6, 2024
But amid a new era in Washington, D.C., prominent tribal leaders are acknowledging the results of the election, even if it did not go their way. Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren was among the first to publicly congratulate Trump in his victory.
“The Navajo Nation faces many challenges that require collaboration and meaningful support from our federal leadership,” Nygren said on social media on Wednesday morning. “We believe that by working together we can address these needs and uplift our communities.
“I look forward to building a constructive relationship with the incoming Trump Administration to benefit the Navajo Nation and the country as a whole,” Nygren added.
Principal Chief Chuck Hoksin Jr. of the Cherokee Nation also stressed the nation-to-nation relationship in a statement on Wednesday morning. He emphasized the need to work together on a bipartisan basis.
“During and after the transition of presidential administrations, we will continue pressing the United States to honor its treaty obligations to Native peoples, respect our sovereignty and meet obligations to provide needed resources to tribal nations,” said Hoskin.
Principal Chief @ChuckHoskin_Jr issues a statement on the results of #Election2024 pic.twitter.com/QFdIJlAgp9
— Cherokee Nation (@CherokeeNation) November 6, 2024
Together, the Navajo Nation and the Cherokee Nation account the two largest federally-recognized tribes, in terms of citizenship. Both Nygren and Hoskin had encouraged their citizens to vote in the weeks and days leading up to the November 5 election.
Nygren even appeared at a campaign rally with Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, last month. He had championed the event, which took place in Window Rock, Arizona, the capital of the Navajo Nation, as “historic” for any national political party.
And as Navajo citizens waited in line to vote on Tuesday, Nygren’s administration went to court to ensure that polling hours were extended in a crucial county on the Arizona portion of the reservation. In succeeding with the legal action, he highlighted the power of the Native vote.
“Navajo people represent a powerful voting base and we’ve demonstrated in the past that we can change the outcome of state and federal elections,” Nygren said on election night.
Today is a hard day. We may be heartbroken & discouraged, but we still have a country to care about.
I want to thank every person who worked their heart out, volunteering & fighting for our future. Take a deep breath, take care — our children & grandchildren are relying on us. pic.twitter.com/uDKWaTNKp9
— Deb Haaland (@DebHaalandNM) November 6, 2024
But with Native people representing only about 4.5 percent of the population in Arizona, their numbers couldn’t help Harris repeat the success of President Joe Biden, who won the state in 2020, defeating Trump at the time. Unofficial results as of Wednesday morning show nearly 52 percent of Arizonans voted for the Republican candidate, where he was leading the vote by more than 106,000 ballots.
Harris also fell short in key battleground states like Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all of which Biden had won in 2020. And in a repeat of his showing four years ago, Trump won North Carolina, a state where Native issues have gained attention from Republicans and Democrats alike.
“It is time that both parties uphold their promises to us, and it’s time to put action behind their words,” said Chairman John L. Lowery of the Lumbee Tribe, whose efforts to gain federal recognition remain a contentious issue due to lingering questions about the group’s legitimacy.
According to unofficial results across the nation, Trump has won enough of the popular vote to claim at least 277 Electoral College votes. To secured the presidency, a candidate must receive at least 270 Electoral College votes, out of 538, which are based on a state’s population, or representation.
In 2020, Trump lost the popular vote and the Electoral College vote, leading him to falsely claim that he had won the election. On January 6, 2021, he encouraged his supporters to go to the U.S. Capitol and interrupt the certification of the results, leading ito criminal charges against more than 1,500 people, with investigations ongoing against others who participated in a violent siege that claimed the lives of six people.
Trump himself was criminally charged for his role in the violence. But the U.S. Supreme Court on July 1 ruled that he enjoys “at least presumptive immunity” from prosecution for supposed “official acts” as president of the United States.
The outcome of Trump v. United States was decided by a vote of 6 to 3, with the six justices who were chosen for the high court by Republican presidents supporting immunity from prosecution. Trump nominated three of those justices during his first term in office, from January 2017 through January 2021.
Although the criminal case is ongoing, with a superseding indictment filed on August 27, 2024, Trump has said he will fire Special Counsel Jack Smith once he becomes president. The inauguration is set for January 20, 2025.
