What role do individual states play in selecting the president of the United States?

States have electoral votes.

Explanation:

Individual states have electoral votes, which a president needs to win. Usually, the rule is as follows: the denser the population of the state, the more electoral votes that state have. States with a lot of electoral votes are California, Texas, and New York. The candidate with the most electoral votes wins the election.

To win the popular vote is to get the most votes from individual people, however, this does not determine the result of the election.

Donald Trump and George W. Bush are among the few presidents who have lost the popular vote but won the election.