Donald Trump has won a historic victory in the US presidential election, defeating Democrat Kamala Harris in what many polls had predicted would be a close race.
He will be the 47th president of the United States and the first former president to return to the White House in over 130 years.
At a rally in Florida on Wednesday morning, Trump declared to his supporters that he would usher in “a new golden age for America.”
With his family and vice-presidential pick, JD Vance, by his side, Trump addressed the crowd in West Palm Beach, stating, “This will truly be the golden age of America—that’s what we have to have.”
“This is a magnificent victory for the American people that will allow us to make America great again.”
Trump’s victory was further solidified by projections indicating that his party is poised to secure a majority in the Senate.
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a significant Trump donor, was with Trump as the election results came in, posting increasingly positive updates on X, his social media platform.
At 78, Trump won several key battleground states, with CBS projecting his victories in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, and North Carolina. He appears on track to sweep all seven crucial swing states.
Projections also suggest he may win the national popular vote—a milestone he did not achieve in the 2016 election.
Trump is projected to secure victories in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia and is leading in Michigan, according to CBS. Certified final results are expected in the coming days.
In Nevada, Trump has a strong lead, although the race in Arizona remains close.
As anticipated, Trump captured conservative states from Florida to Idaho, while Harris secured liberal states such as New York and California.
Harris was expected to speak to supporters at Howard University in Washington DC, her alma mater, but it was announced after midnight that she would not appear. So far, Harris has not made a statement.
Following the announcement by Democratic campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond, the crowd at Harris HQ largely dispersed.
Exit poll data from CBS suggests that Vice President Harris, who campaigned heavily on abortion rights, may not have garnered as much support from female voters as expected.
Preliminary data shows that 54% of female voters supported her, compared to 57% for Joe Biden in 2020.
Black and Latino voters also appeared slightly less likely to support Harris than they were to support Biden in the previous election, according to Associated Press data.
Trump’s success in key battleground states has positioned him to become the oldest president in US history. Notably, he has not released his medical records, despite his focus on President Biden’s age during the campaign.
Control of Congress was also at stake in this election. In a significant win for Trump, Republicans have taken control of the Senate, flipping seats in West Virginia and Ohio and defeating a competitive Democratic challenger in Texas.
Neither party holds a clear majority in the House, which Republicans narrowly controlled going into the election.
However, control of Congress would give Trump an easier path to enact major policies, including mass deportations of illegal migrants and significant tax cuts.
Approximately 86 million Americans voted early, making this one of the most intense election campaigns in recent history.
