Donald Trump secures return to the White House as America’s 47th president as Democratic rival Kamala Harris defeated
Tesla CEO Elon Musk (R) jumps on stage as he joins former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally in October (AFP via Getty Images)
Donald Trump has won a historic second term in the White House after sweeping four of the key battleground states hours after the polls closed on Election Day.Kamala Harris is yet to comment on her crushing defeat as Trump secured the magic number of 270 Electoral College votes by winning Wisconsin – having already picked up North Carolina, Georgia and, crucially, Pennsylvania – and also secured the popular vote by 51 percent to 47.5 percent, claiming 77m ballots to Harris’s 66m.
Counting is still underway in Michigan, Arizona and Nevada but those results will not now alter the outcome.The 45th and now 47th president took to the stage with his family and running mate JD Vance earlier to promise a “golden age for America” and hail “the greatest political movement of all time.”
Republicans have also likely taken control of the Senate, a key victory for the party which has been in minority there since 2021.As world leaders rushed to congratulate Trump, Kamala elected not to appear at Howard University in Washington DC, where a watch party had been planned in anticipation of victory but which ultimately ended in tears with supporters leaving early.
