The stunning geography of Trump’s victory

In Pennsylvania, the handwringing and recriminations started almost as soon as the essential 2024 battleground state was called for Donald Trump.

How did Philadelphia, the Democratic bulwark, deliver such an anemic margin for Kamala Harris? What explains the bellwether counties that Donald Trump wrested back after Joe Biden flipped them to the Democratic Party? And what happened in rural Pennsylvania, where the Harris campaign made an effort to show the flag and yet still lost 30 of the state’s 67 counties by more than 40 points?

It was a story that repeated itself across the electoral map, in swing states and non-competitive states alike. The Democratic coalition that delivered a convincing victory to Biden just a few years earlier simply disintegrated Tuesday, leaving the party stunned and disoriented over the scope of the destruction — and the GOP suddenly invigorated.

Not all the votes are counted yet, but the architecture of Trump’s victory is clear.

He managed to squeeze even more votes out of rural America — and that includes gains with rural Black voters. He continued to make significant advances with Latino voters, from the Southwest to the Acela Corridor. In big, diverse urban places — like Houston’s Harris County or Chicago’s Cook County — he pared down traditionally large Democratic margins. Many of the populous suburbs that so thoroughly rejected him in 2020 lost their anti-Trump edge. Even the biggest college counties appeared to lose the sense of urgency and outrage that marked their 2020 results.

And so, the Blue Wall crumbled, and the Sun Belt vanished for Democrats. Trump is currently on track to sweep the seven swing states and win a victory in the popular vote.

Here are the places that explain what happened.