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Donald Trump declared victory in the race for the White House early on Wednesday after capturing critical swing states to leave Vice President Kamala Harris staring at defeat.
Mr Trump hailed a "magnificent victory for the American people" as he addressed cheering Republican supporters in Florida, vowing his administration-in-waiting is "going to help our country heal". He promised he would “not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America.”
Victories for Mr Trump in the battlegrounds of Pennsylvania and Georgia, which supported President Joe Biden in 2020, and North Carolina took him to 267 electoral votes as counts around the country showed a swing to the right. Ms Harris had 214, with 270 needed for victory.
Partial results showed the Trump campaign leading in all the remaining swing states, giving Ms Harris little hope of a comeback. Mr Trump is set to be the second president in American history, after Grover Cleveland in the 19th century, to serve two non-consecutive terms.
Mr Trump posted gains among Hispanic voters and touted support from Arab Americans and Muslims, while Democrats pinned their fading hopes on three Midwest battlegrounds before Pennsylvania was called for Mr Trump at about 2am local time. Ms Harris failed to appear at an election night event in Washington.
Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance declared it the "greatest political comeback in American history" by Mr Trump, whose first term ended in disgrace after his supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to overturn a lost election. During his 2024 campaign he survived an assassination attempt and was convicted by a court in Manhattan over a hush-money scheme.
The Republicans also won control of the US Senate by taking previously Democratic-held seats in West Virginia and Ohio, ensuring a conservative sway over the next president's cabinet, policies and potential Supreme Court nominations. The battle for the House of Representatives remained undecided.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was among the first foreign leaders to hail a Trump victory, saying a second term would be a "powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America". Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, another right-wing ally of Mr Trump, called it a "much-needed victory for the world", while French President Emmanuel Macron said he was "ready to work together".
Among those celebrating in Florida were Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X who vowed to cut the size of the US government if he is given a role in a Trump administration, and former independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Mr Musk welcomed the results as a "crystal clear mandate for change".
A second Trump term raises the prospect of renewed tensions between the US and traditional allies in Europe and Nato, as Mr Trump proposes tariffs and demands greater defence spending. During his first term he withdrew the US from the Paris climate agreement and a nuclear deal with Iran.
Mr Trump touted support from Muslim voters and Arab Americans during his victory speech, after signs of the voter base abandoning Democrats over the Israel-Gaza war. He hailed his voter coalition as coming from "all corners".
"We’ve built the biggest, the broadest, the most unified coalition. Young and old, men and women, rural and urban. We had them all helping us tonight," he said. "Union, non-union, African American, Hispanic American, Asian American, Arab American, Muslim American. We had everybody and it was beautiful, it was a historic realignment, uniting citizens of all backgrounds around a common core of common sense."
Setting out his immigration policy, Mr Trump said America will "seal up" its borders but let people enter legally. "We want people to come back in, but we have to, we have to let them come back in. But they have to come in legally,” he said.
Exit polls suggested huge gains for Mr Trump among Latino voters since 2020. The traditionally Democratic voting bloc favoured Ms Harris by a margin of only 53 per cent to 45 per cent, according to an CNN survey, narrower than in recent elections. Mr Trump was polling at only 32 per cent among Latinos in 2020.
Latino men favoured Mr Trump by 54 per cent to 44 per cent, according to the exit poll, while women supported Ms Harris by 61 per cent to 37 per cent, a smaller margin than in 2020. Hopes of a push for abortion rights powering a huge female turnout for Democrats failed to materialise.
Mr Trump was on track to win the nationwide popular vote for the first time, having trailed Hillary Clinton in raw votes in 2016 even as he triumphed in the electoral college. Results from most completed counts showed a swing from Democrats to Republicans since 2020.
The CNN poll, which included early and in-person voters, showed that 72 per cent of the electorate were angry or dissatisfied, while 58 per cent disapproved of Mr Biden's presidency. Only 26 per cent of respondents said they were satisfied or enthusiastic about the way things are going in the US.
An exit poll by NBC showed that 35 per cent of voters said the state of democracy mattered most to their vote, followed by the economy at 31 per cent. Safeguarding America's institutions was a key message of Mr Biden's presidency and of the Democratic campaign.
The returns fuelled optimism among Republicans in Congress. Senator John Cornyn said he looked forward to "working with our new conservative majority to make America great again".
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Donald Trump with former first lady Melania Trump during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Centre. AFP -
From left, Eric Trump, Lara Trump, JD Vance, Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump on stage. AP -
Dana White, president of Ultimate Fighting Championship, addresses the crowd during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Centre in West Palm Beach, Florida. Bloomberg -
Supporters of Mr Trump embrace after his speech at the Palm Beach County Convention Centre in West Palm Beach, Florida. Reuters -
Supporters of Donald Trump react to election results at the New York Young Republican Club watch party in Manhattan. Reuters -
Dave McCormick, US Republican Senate candidate for Pennsylvania, left, and his wife Dina Powell during an election night watch party at the Fairmont Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Bloomberg -
Supporters cheer as Republican Pennsylvania Senate candidate David McCormick addresses the crowd during an election night watch party in Pittsburgh. AP -
Supporters of Kamala Harris, react as results are displayed during a 'Democrats Abroad' election party in London. Getty Images -
Pro-Palestine activists demonstrate in front of screens displaying preliminary US presidential elections results, at Times Square in New York. AFP -
Receipts from early voting are collated in Fairburn, Georgia. AFP -
Elections director Mary Beth Tipton holds USB drives with election information at the Yancey County Board of Elections as ballots are reported and voting equipment is returned. AFP -
Supporters watch as poll results are announced, during an election night event for Kamala Harris at Howard University in Washington. AFP -
Senator Mark Kelly and his wife former US representative Gabby Giffords speak at the Arizona Democratic Party election night watch party, in Phoenix. EPA -
Democrat Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, centre right, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul arrive for an event in New York. AP -
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump after casting their votes at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Centre in Palm Beach, Florida. AFP -
Astronauts Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, Nick Hague and Don Pettit show their US flag socks aboard the International Space Station on election day. AP -
Department of Elections workers gather ballots at City Hall in San Francisco. AP -
Republican nominee for vice president JD Vance voting in Cincinnati, Ohio. AFP -
A person arrives to cast their vote at Dr Martin Luther King Jr School, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Reuters -
A woman checks in to vote at a polling station at Colebrook Academy and Elementary School in Colebrook, New Hampshire. AFP -
Voters queue in Scranton, Pennsylvania. AP
Millions of voters had headed to polling stations on election day, some waiting in long queues while others went through quickly. About 82 million people voted early. Mr Trump cast his ballot in Palm Beach, Florida, saying in a post on his Truth Social network that election day “will be the most important day in American history”.
While there was a general sense of calm in most places, law enforcement officials were on high alert for interference. The FBI warned of bomb threats at polling stations in “multiple” US states, saying none were credible but that many appeared to originate in Russia. The agency urged the public to “remain vigilant”.
Voting was extended at some Georgia polling stations after fake bomb threats. Republican leaders have fuelled alarm over the possibility of vote fraud and concern over potential civil unrest is high, following the US Capitol riot in early 2021.
Ms Harris, meanwhile, said on Monday she had already mailed her ballot to California. She helped at a phone bank hosted by the Democratic National Committee in Washington, where she thanked volunteers for their work on the campaign. "This truly represents the best of who we are,” Ms Harris told the supporters making calls.
Her Republican rival, meanwhile, urged voters in a video posted to social media to "stay on line". "Vote – we're going to win it big," he said in the video, posted on X.
Mr Trump, who claimed for years that the 2020 election was stolen from him and has said the only way Ms Harris will win is if Democrats “cheat”, posted an unsubstantiated claim on his Truth Social platform that there was “massive CHEATING in Philadelphia”. City leadership said in response that there is “no truth to this allegation”.
He also said that there was “law enforcement coming” to address the alleged voter fraud, but the Philadelphia Police Department told CNN that it was not aware of what Mr Trump was referring to.
