Historian Allan Lichtman, who predicted nearly every election since 1984, was proved to have the wrong projection this cycle after President-elect Trump sailed to victory on Election Day.  

The Fox News Decision Desk projected Trump would win the presidency in the early hours of Wednesday, after Wisconsin’s call for the former president officially brought him above the magic number of 270 electoral votes needed to secure a win.

Lichtman, an election forecaster who had previously correctly predicted nearly every presidential race since 1984, developed a formula that is used to make predictions about presidential elections. He predicted, after the Democratic National Convention, that Vice President Kamala Harris would win the White House this cycle – but election night results show his prediction was wrong.

Lichtman’s ‘Keys to the White House’ consists of 13 true or false questions that he believes establish a strong indication of who will be named the victor on election night. Each question is asked about the two dueling nominees; if ‘true’ they are given a ‘key,’ and if ‘false,’ their competitor receives the point.

The ‘keys’ are as follows: party mandate, contest, incumbency, third party, short-term economy, long-term economy, policy change, social unrest, scandal, foreign/military failure, foreign/military success, incumbent charisma and challenger charisma.

According to Lichtman’s prediction, Harris held nine of the 13 keys before Election Day. These included no primary contest, no third party, short-term economy, long-term economy, policy change, no social unrest, no scandal, foreign/military success, and no challenger charisma.

Trump, however, defeated Harris when he secured 277 electoral votes – and counting.

‘The keys show that Kamala Harris is a predicted winner,’ Lichtman told Fox News Digital ahead of the election.

After Trump was projected to be the 47th president, Lichtman said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that he was ‘assessing last night’s results.’

In a statement shared with Fox News Digital, Lichtman said he will soon be addressing the results.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ‘was among the first’ Wednesday to call President-elect Donald Trump, the world leader’s office says.  

‘The conversation was warm and cordial. The Prime Minister congratulated Trump on his victory, and the two agreed to work together for Israel’s security,’ read a statement from the Israel Prime Minister’s Office. 

‘The two also discussed the Iranian threat,’ it added. 

The statement came hours after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas said Trump’s incoming administration in January must ‘work seriously to stop the war’ in the Gaza Strip. 

Last week, a report emerged claiming Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to wrap up the conflict by the time he gets inaugurated on Jan. 20 if he had won the election. Trump ultimately prevailed over Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Hamas said, ‘In light of the initial results showing Donald Trump winning in the U.S. presidential elections,’ they believe he is ‘required to listen to the voices that have been raised by the U.S. public for more than a year regarding the [Israeli] aggression on the Gaza Strip.’  

The incoming Trump administration must ‘work seriously to stop the war of genocide and aggression against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, stop the aggression against the brotherly Lebanese people, stop providing military support and political cover to the Zionist entity, and to recognize the legitimate rights of our people,’ Hamas added.  

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani – whose country has played a key role in cease-fire talks for Gaza – wrote on X, ‘Congratulations to President-Elect Donald Trump on winning the U.S. presidential election’ and ‘I wish you all the best during your term and look forward to working together again to strengthen our strategic relationship and partnership, and to advancing our shared efforts in promoting security and stability both in the region and globally.’

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas also said Wednesday that ‘We will remain steadfast in our commitment to peace, and we are confident that the United States will support, under [Trump’s] leadership, the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people,’ according to Middle East Eye.

A source from the Times of Israel said Trump initially gave the message to Netanyahu about ending the war when the Israeli leader visited him at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, this past July. 

Fox News’ Andrea Margolis contributed to this report. 

President-elect Trump’s historic victory over Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday has surrogates of the Democratic candidate pointing fingers and laying blame for the defeat – even before Harris officially concedes.

Harris-Walz surrogate Lyndi Li spoke to Fox News Senior White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich at Howard University, Harris’ alma mater, in Washington, D.C., saying that the Harris team wasn’t ‘expecting a blowout at all.’

‘The blame game has started,’ said Li, a member of the DNC National Finance Committee and Pennsylvania commissioner.

Li said that Harris’ pick for vice president, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, may not have been the right choice to carry the ‘blue wall’ states against the Trump-Vance ticket.

‘One of the things that are top of mind is the choice of Tim Walz as vice presidential candidate,’ Li said. ‘A lot of people are saying tonight that it should have been Josh Shapiro. Frankly, people have been saying that for months.’

‘I know a lot of people are probably wondering tonight what would have happened had Shapiro been on the ticket,’ Li continued. ‘And not only in terms of Pennsylvania. He’s famously a moderate. So that would have signaled to the American people that she is not the San Francisco liberal that Trump said she was.’

Li added that she was ‘not sure how much Tim Walz contributed to the ticket’ as the campaign was forced into ‘cleaning up’ the governor’s ‘laundry list’ of gaffes. 

‘In the eyes of the American people, he was the governor who oversaw the protests in Minnesota and probably let it go on longer than he should have. So that has been seared in the minds of American people,’ she said.

‘And also, ideally, you don’t say on national TV that you’re a knucklehead,’ Li said, referring to a moment during the Vice Presidential Debate in which Walz was forced to correct a misstatement that he had been in Hong Kong during the deadly Tiananmen Square protests in the spring of 1989. ‘I just think that’s his very baseline stuff, like politics 101.’

Li noted that Harris’ attempt to present herself as ‘a unifier’ may have ‘undermined her goal’ of getting Biden supporters ‘who were maybe still understandably upset that their leader was unceremoniously, basically pushed aside.’

Harris appearance on ABC’s ‘The View’ may also have been a missed opportunity to show how a Harris administration would not have just been a repeat of Biden’s four years, according to Li.

‘She knows a mistake was to say on ‘The View’ that she couldn’t think of a single thing that she would do differently from the Biden administration,’ Li said. ‘That was the opener for her to show Americans that she’s going to get tough on the border, that she’s going to take drastic measures to bring down inflation. That was her chance.’

Li also pointed to concerns about the leadership of Harris’ Pennsylvania team making poor staffing decisions that ultimately led to muddled campaign messaging.

‘[Harris] heard us. We raised serious concerns about the Pennsylvania campaign’s leadership,’ Li said. ‘She actually installed someone on her own people in the final weeks of the campaign, but I fear it was too late. …We should have people who deeply understand, intimately understand the contours of the state rather than out-of-state operatives who move from campaign to campaign.’

Harris did not speak to supporters who gathered at her alma mater overnight. She is expected to speak later Wednesday.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr, who served in President-elect Trump’s first administration, is calling on prosecutors at the state and federal levels to dismiss the pending legal cases against Trump before he takes office once again.

Barr told Fox News Digital that voters were well aware of all the allegations against Trump when electing him to a second term in office on Tuesday, and that it is in the country’s best interest for prosecutors to listen to them.

‘The American people have rendered their verdict on President Trump, and decisively chosen him to lead the country for the next four years,’ Barr said. ‘They did that with full knowledge of the claims against him by prosecutors around the country and I think Attorney General Garland and the state prosecutors should respect the people’s decision and dismiss the cases against President Trump now.’

Barr asserted that the legal theories in some of the cases already had been ‘greatly weakened by a series of court decisions,’ and that the matters ‘have now been extensively aired and rejected by the American people.’

Once Trump takes office in January, Barr pointed out, prosecutors will be unable to continue the cases during his term. A Trump-appointed attorney general could end the federal cases brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith; one in Washington, D.C., for alleged efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election, and another in Florida based on allegations dealing with retaining classified documents after his first term.

The Florida case was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on technical grounds involving Smith’s appointment, and the Washington case was undermined by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that presidents have immunity from prosecution for certain official actions.

‘We got immunity at the Supreme Court,’ Trump told Hugh Hewitt last month. ‘It’s so easy. I would fire [Smith] within two seconds. He’ll be one of the first things addressed.’

However, Trump would be powerless to stop state cases brought against him in New York and Georgia. One is a pending state criminal case in Georgia based on alleged efforts to overturn that state’s results in the 2020 election. He has also been convicted in a New York criminal case for falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election and has a sentencing hearing set for later this month.

Barr said the local prosecutors and judges need to move on from the spectacle of prosecuting a soon-to-be sitting president.

‘Further maneuvering on these cases in the weeks ahead would serve no legitimate purpose and only distract the country and the incoming administration from the task at hand,’ he said.

‘The public interest now demands that the country unite and focus on the challenges we face at home and abroad. Attorney General Garland and all the state prosecutors should do the right thing and help the country move forward by dismissing the cases,’ he added.

This includes the New York criminal case in which Trump was already found guilty but has yet to receive a sentence. Barr called on state prosecutors to dismiss the case, despite already securing a conviction.

‘That case is rife with legal abuse and error,’ Barr said. ‘If it were continued to be litigated it would ultimately be overturned, but we shouldn’t put up with that kind of distraction. And I think the right thing to do would be for the prosecutors to dismiss the case.’

When asked if this is likely to happen, Barr’s response was blunt:

‘We’ll see what they think of democracy.’

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is anticipating full Republican control of Washington, D.C., after the GOP swept the White House and the Senate on Tuesday night.

‘As more results come in it is clear that, as we have predicted all along, Republicans are poised to have unified government in the White House, Senate, and House,’ Johnson said in a statement Wednesday morning.

He said Republican promises of ‘secure borders, lower costs, peace through strength, and a return to common sense’ drove Americans to vote red across the country.

‘House Republicans have been successful in securing critical flips in swing states including Pennsylvania and Michigan, while our battle-tested incumbents have secured re-election from coast to coast,’ Johnson continued. ‘The latest data and trends indicate that when all the votes are tabulated, Republicans will have held our majority, even though we faced a map with 18 Biden-won seats.’

‘We will continue to monitor the results and ensure every legal ballot is counted throughout this process.’

As of late Wednesday morning, The Associated Press projected House Republicans to have won 198 seats to Democrats’ 177. Of the 435 House races across the country, the first party to win 218 will take the majority.

A significant number of outstanding races are in California, where Republicans are fighting to hold onto several seats that were critical to them winning the majority in 2022.

The GOP suffered two setbacks in New York on Tuesday night with the projected losses of Reps. Marc Molinaro and Brandon Williams, who were both expected to run in tight races.

Republicans are projected to hold onto Rep. Mike Lawler’s critical New York swing seat and the central New Jersey district represented by Rep. Tom Kean, however – both key suburban victories. They also are projected to flip Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin’s Michigan House seat, which she vacated to run for Senate.

It comes after Republicans won control of the Senate, with businessman Bernie Moreno projected to oust Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio on Tuesday and veteran Tim Sheehy on the path to defeating Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., as of Wednesday morning.

The GOP also won control of West Virginia’s Senate seat, which was expected with the retirement of Democratic-aligned Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va.

Meanwhile, President-elect Trump secured the critical swing states of North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania in the early hours of Wednesday, solidifying his path to victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas said Wednesday that the incoming administration of presidential election winner Donald Trump must ‘work seriously to stop the war’ in the Gaza Strip. 

The declaration comes after a report emerged claiming Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to wrap up the conflict by the time he gets inaugurated on Jan. 20 if he had won the election. Trump ultimately prevailed over Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Hamas said, ‘In light of the initial results showing Donald Trump winning in the U.S. presidential elections,’ they believe he is ‘required to listen to the voices that have been raised by the U.S. public for more than a year regarding the [Israeli] aggression on the Gaza Strip.’ 

The incoming Trump administration must ‘work seriously to stop the war of genocide and aggression against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, stop the aggression against the brotherly Lebanese people, stop providing military support and political cover to the Zionist entity, and to recognize the legitimate rights of our people,’ Hamas added. 

Hamas also said the ‘new US administration must realize that our Palestinian people will continue to resist the hateful [Israeli] occupation and will not accept any path that detracts from their legitimate rights to freedom, independence, self-determination, and the establishment of their independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.’ 

A source from the Times of Israel said Trump initially gave the message to Netanyahu about ending the war when the Israeli leader visited him at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, this past July. 

The Biden-Harris administration has been largely supportive of Israel, though the White House has spoken out against the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) recent military operations. In October, President Biden demanded a ceasefire shortly before Israel launched military operations in Lebanon. 

Fox News’ Yonat Friling and Andrea Margolis contributed to this report. 

The four progressive Democrat members of the ‘Squad’ and Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders cruised to re-election victories as American voters have chosen to keep familiar faces in Washington. 

For House Republicans, Speaker Mike Johnson sailed to victory in Louisiana’s 4th Congressional District, while Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Republican Conference Chairman Elise Stefanik also won in Louisiana’s 1st Congressional and New York 21st Congressional Districts, respectively. 

Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries was the winner in New York’s 8th Congressional District. In California, Nancy Pelosi won her 20th term after being voted in by the electorate of California’s 11th District. 

The ‘Squad’ also won their re-election bids: Ilhan Omar in Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York, Rashida Tlaib in Michigan and Ayanna Pressley in Massachusetts, who ran uncontested. 

In Texas’ 21st Congressional District, Rep. Chip Roy emerged as the winner there, while James Comer and Jim Jordan – the chairmen of the House Oversight and House Judiciary Committees — won their respective races in Kentucky and Ohio. 

Prominent Prominent Democrats also are heading back to Washington in the Senate. 

Elizabeth Warren was re-elected in Massachusetts, while Adam Schiff won the race in California for Dianne Feinstein’s former seat. 

In Vermont, Independent candidate Bernie Sanders secured his fourth term. 

For Republicans, Ted Cruz defeated Colin Allred in a hard-fought race in Texas, while Josh Hawley was the winner in his race in Missouri. 

All of these politicians will be gearing up for another term as Donald Trump is projected by Fox News to become the 47th President of the United States. 

First-term Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., is projected to survive his first re-election bid in his suburban 17th Congressional District.

He defeated former Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., delivering a much-needed victory for House GOP leaders as they seek to hold onto their razor-thin margin of control over half of Congress, according to The Associated Press, which called the race after 5 a.m. ET Wednesday.

Through his first term, Lawler staked out a reputation as one of House Republicans’ more moderate members, frequently working across the aisle. He was ranked the fourth-most bipartisan member in the Lugar Center and Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy’s annual index.

Before coming to Congress, he was a longtime Republican operative and served in the New York State Assembly.

New York’s 17th District is just north of New York City and is one of several areas represented by Republicans in the House that President Biden won in 2020.

But uneasiness over crime, spurred by New York City’s progressive criminal justice policies, led to a suburban backlash that was key to House Republicans securing control over one half of Congress.

Meanwhile, this latest race saw Jones’ evolution from a progressive lawmaker who once backed calls to ‘defund the police’ into a more moderate candidate calling out fellow Democrats for being critical of Israel.

Earlier this year, the New York Democrat angered his progressive allies, including the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ campaign arm, which rescinded its endorsements, when he endorsed a ‘Squad’ Democrat’s more moderate primary challenger.

Jones came out in support of George Latimer, a longtime Westchester County official, while rebuking Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., for his criticism of Israel’s response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. Latimer wound up beating Bowman in the primary for the safe blue seat.

But that was not enough to win back his old seat in the New York City suburbs.

Jones represented the 17th Congressional District under its previous boundaries from 2021 through 2023.

Redistricting then pitted him against former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., who switched from his 18th District even if it meant forcing Jones out, a controversial move given Maloney’s role at the time as chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Jones did not challenge Maloney but ran in the 2022 Democrat primary for the more urban 10th Congressional District, where he lost to Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y.

Maloney wound up narrowly losing re-election to Lawler.

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was one of the first world leaders to congratulate former President Donald Trump on his stunning political comeback victory on Wednesday.

Netanyahu, who is leading a seven-front existential war against Iran’s regime and its proxies, wrote on X, ‘Dear Donald and Melania Trump, Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback! Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America. This is a huge victory! In true friendship, yours, Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu.’

Fox News projected Trump as the winner of the presidential election in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

An array of world leaders also chimed in to congratulate Trump on X. French President Emmanuel Macron said on X, ‘Congratulations, President @realDonaldTrump . Ready to work together as we did for four years. With your convictions and mine. With respect and ambition. For more peace and prosperity.’ 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wrote,’The biggest comeback in US political history! Congratulations to President @realDonaldTrump on his enormous win. A much needed victory for the World!’ 

Orban, like Trump, is a proponent of strict border control.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stressed that the U.S. and the United Kingdom are the ‘closest of allies’ and noted that the ‘US-UK special relationship will continue to prosper on both sides of the Atlantic for years to come.’ He said ‘Congratulations President-elect @realDonaldTrump on your historic election victory. I look forward to working with you in the years ahead.’ 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who like Netanyahu, is leading his country in an existential war, stated on X, ‘Congratulations to @realDonaldTrump on his impressive election victory! I recall our great meeting with President Trump back in September, when we discussed in detail the Ukraine-U.S. strategic partnership, the Victory Plan, and ways to put an end to Russian aggression against Ukraine.’ 

He added ‘I appreciate President Trump’s commitment to the ‘peace through strength’ approach in global affairs. This is exactly the principle that can practically bring just peace in Ukraine closer. I am hopeful that we will put it into action together. We look forward to an era of a strong United States of America under President Trump’s decisive leadership. We rely on continued strong bipartisan support for Ukraine in the United States.’

Zelenskyy continued, ‘We are interested in developing mutually beneficial political and economic cooperation that will benefit both of our nations.’

The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, also took to X to give his warm regards to Trump. The leader of the world’s most populous nation stated, ‘Heartiest congratulations my friend@realDonaldTrump on your historic election victory. As you build on the successes of your previous term, I look forward to renewing our collaboration to further strengthen the India-US Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership. Together, let’s work for the betterment of our people and to promote global peace, stability and prosperity.’

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele also congratulated Trump on X, stating, ‘Congratulations to the President-Elect of the United States of America … May God bless and guide you.’

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz praised Trump on X noting, ‘I congratulate @realDonaldTrump on his election as US President. For a long time, Germany and the US have been working together successfully promoting prosperity and freedom on both sides of the Atlantic. We will continue to do so for the wellbeing of our citizens.’

‘Congratulations to President Donald Trump on his election victory. Australians and Americans are great friends and true allies. Working together, we can ensure the partnership between our nations and peoples remains strong into the future,’ wrote Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.