Donald Trump claimed a “magnificent” victory over Kamala Harris in the fight for the presidency on Wednesday as results put him on the verge of one of the most stunning comebacks in US political history.
The Republican former president’s address to a crowd of jubilant supporters came despite the fact that only Fox News had so far declared him the winner of the presidential election.
“This is a magnificent victory for the American people that will allow us to make America great again,” the 78-year-old told cheering supporters at his campaign headquarters in Florida.
World leaders rushed to congratulate him before the final results were in, with Ukraine’s president in particular urging Trump to help achieve a “just peace” against Russia.
Trump has previously called for US military aid to Kyiv to be cut, part of his nationalist “America First” policy that unsettled US allies in his first term.
US networks called the swing states of Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina for Trump, and he led the Democratic vice president in the others although they have not been called yet.
Gloom swiftly descended on Harris’s camp as she canceled a watch party for supporters who dreamed of seeing her elected as America’s first woman president.
“You won’t hear from the vice president tonight but you will hear from her tomorrow,” Cedric Richmond, Harris campaign co-chair, told a watch party in Washington as supporters left.
In a further blow to Democrats, Trump’s Republican Party also seized control of the Senate, flipping two seats to overturn a narrow Democratic majority.
– ‘We made history’ –
As Trump’s jubilant supporters cheered and chanted “USA,” Trump took to the stage along with his wife Melania and several of his children as he neared the cusp of victory.
“We made history,” he said, speaking against a backdrop of Stars and Stripes flags, adding that “we are going to help our country heal.”
He also referenced the two assassination attempts he escaped during the campaign, adding: “Many people have told me that God has spared my life for a reason.”
Trump was joined at his watch party by key supporters including tech tycoon Elon Musk, the world’s richest man. He called the X and Tesla boss a “new star” in a shout-out from the podium.
Polls for weeks had shown a knife-edge race between Harris and the twice-impeached Trump, who would be the oldest ever president at the time of inauguration, the first felon president and only the second in history to serve non-consecutive terms.
Trump also faces sentencing in a criminal case over hush money payments on November 26, while the controversy over his unprecedented attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat by Joe Biden still persists.
But in the end, the night was over surprisingly soon.
Trump even appeared to be nearing victory in the popular vote — something he never achieved in his 2016 victory or in 2020.
Harris appeared to have underperformed in key areas, with Trump winning support among Latinos and Black men.
Trump’s promises of economic bounty and his dark rhetoric on migrants also appear to have resonated with voters who were tired of Biden and Harris’s administration.
US stock futures and US dollar surged and bitcoin hit a record high while most equity markets advanced as traders bet on a victory for Trump.
– ‘Scared’ –
The mood shifted sharply at Harris’s watch party in Howard University — her former college and a historically Black university in Washington — as the results came in.
“I am scared,” said Charlyn Anderson. “I am anxious now. I am leaving, my legs can barely move.”
Millions of Americans had lined up throughout Election Day — and millions more voted early — in a race with momentous consequences for the United States and the world.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — whose relations with Biden have been deeply strained by Israel’s war in Gaza — was the first to congratulate Trump on “history’s greatest comeback”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was also quick to hail his “incredible victory.” Trump has indicated he will push through a peace deal that would force Kyiv cede land to Russia’s invading forces.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron led a series of European leaders and the head of NATO as they also sought to court a leader who regularly strained transatlantic ties in his first term.
For the Democrats, the soul-searching will begin.
Harris made a dramatic entrance into the race when Biden dropped out in July and hammered home her message that Trump was a threat to democracy and her opposition to Trump-backed abortion bans.
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