Donald Trump will return to the White House after claiming a stunning US election victory over Democrat opponent Kamala Harris.
Mr Trump, who previously served as president between 2017 and 2021, picked up his first swing state after he was declared the winner of North Carolina.
Around an hour later he was declared the winner of Georgia – taking back the state he narrowly lost to Joe Biden in 2020.
He was projected as the winner of Pennsylvania shortly afterwards – touted as the most pivotal of the seven battleground states.
Mr Trump’s victory was confirmed when he surpassed 270 electoral college votes by winning the state of Wisconsin, and he remains on course to claim all seven swing states.
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Mr Trump headed to Palm Beach in Florida to address his supporters while Ms Harris’s aides said she wouldn’t speak until later on Wednesday.
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Trump declares victory
Mr Trump told his supporters: “We’re going to help our country heal.
“We have a country that needs help, and it needs help very badly. We’re going to fix our borders. We’re going to fix everything about our country and we’ve made history for a reason tonight.
He promised those who gathered a “golden age of America”.
He added: “This is a magnificent victory for the American people that will allow us to ‘make America great again’.”
He briefly paused his speech as the crowd chanted “USA, USA, USA!”.
Mr Trump continued: “America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate. We have taken back control of the Senate. Wow.
“Wow. That’s great.”
Mr Trump then invited his running mate JD Vance to speak, and the vice president candidate said: “I think that we just witnessed the greatest political comeback in the history of the United States of America.
“And under President Trump’s leadership, we’re never going to stop fighting for you, for your dreams, for the future of your children.
“And after the greatest political comeback in American history, we’re going to lead the greatest economic comeback in American history.”
He added that the Senate races in Montana, Nevada, Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania were “all won by the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement”.
Once the vote counting was under way, three Trump campaign officials told Sky News’ US partner network NBC News that the mood at his Mar-a-Lago resort was moving away from “cautious optimism” towards “optimism”.
Donald Trump reads over his speech ahead of addressing the crowd in Florida. Pic: Eric Trump
It came after Mr Trump’s success in Georgia meant he had won back a typical Republican state which voted for Joe Biden as a Democratic presidential candidate in 2020.
Disappointment for Harris
The race initially appeared neck and neck as Americans went to the polls, but Mr Trump pulled ahead as result predictions came in from solidly red states including Florida, Texas and Alabama throughout the night.
Ms Harris’s support came from her party’s strongholds on the east and west coasts in states like New York, Delaware, and California.
While Mr Trump prepared to address his supporters in Palm Beach, the crowd at Ms Harris’s watch party at Howard University in Washington DC began to file out after midnight on Wednesday.
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Ms Harris did not speak at the party. Cedric Richmond, co-chairman of the Harris campaign, spoke instead, telling the crowd there were still votes to count and states to be called.
“We will continue overnight to fight to make sure that every vote is counted. That every voice has spoken,” he said. “So you won’t hear from the vice president tonight, but you will hear from her tomorrow. She will be back here tomorrow.”
Mr Trump’s victory will have a sweeping impact on global politics, including in the UK where Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s government may have to grapple with upheaval in America’s security and defence approach.
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Republicans have also taken control of the Senate from the Democrats.
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