Summary

• Donald Trump is poised to win the US election after picking up three key battleground states

• “America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate,” he says to jubilant supporters in Florida as he declares a “magnificent victory”

• Just before Trump spoke, Fox News projected that he’d won the election; other US TV networks are yet to do so.

• UK PM Keir Starmer joins the leaders of Ukraine, Israel and Hungary in congratulating Trump.

• A return to the White House would be an extraordinary comeback for Trump after he lost to Joe Biden in 2020; Harris is yet to speak.

• Meanwhile, Republicans are projected to take back the Senate.

Five things Trump said in his victory speech

In the past hour, Donald Trump has declared victory in the US presidential election, delivering a wide-ranging speech to supporters at his watch party in Florida.

In case you missed it, here’s what he said:

• Trump thanked voters: “I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honour of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president”
• He said he’d won the popular vote: Votes are still being tallied, but Trump does look set to win a majority of votes at this election. “America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate,” he said.

• JD Vance “turned out to be a good choice”: Trump praised his running mate, who himself said Trump had just pulled off “the greatest political comeback in American history” during the speech
• Elon musk is a “star”: A section of Trump’s speech was dedicated to the tech billionaire, who Trump said was “an amazing guy”
• RFK Jr will “make America healthy again”: Trump appeared to suggest Robert F Kennedy Jr – the former independent presidential candidate, who has a history of supporting unfounded conspiracy theories about vaccines – will have a role relating to healthcare in his administration. Kennedy withdrew from the race in August to endorse Trump

UK prime minister says he looks forward to working with Trump

Keir Starmer has become the next world leader to congratulate Donald Trump on what he calls a “historic election victory”.

“I look forward to working with you in the years ahead,” the UK’s prime minister says, adding:

“As the closest of allies, we stand shoulder to shoulder in defence of our shared values of freedom, democracy and enterprise.

“From growth and security to innovation and tech, I know that the UK-US special relationship will continue to prosper on both sides of the Atlantic for years to come.”

Israeli PM congratulates Trump ‘on history’s greatest comeback’

Now Donald Trump has declared victory in this presidential election, some world leaders have started congratulating him. 

“Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback! Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America,” says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He adds: “This is a huge victory!”

And Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says similar: “The biggest comeback in US political history! Congratulations to President Donald Trump on his enormous win. A much needed victory for the World!”

• As a reminder: Trump has declared victory – but he’s not yet reached the required number of electoral college votes. He’s four shy of the 270 he needs. Kamala Harris is on 219.

Technically, this isn’t over. But let’s be straight: this is all over bar the shouting.

Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States. He will be only the second man in history to serve two non-consecutive terms as president.

Here he is at 78 years old, facing multiple scandals over his career, multiple court cases – criminal and civil, a conviction, a sentencing in three weeks’ time, and escaping death by a fraction from an assassin’s bullet.

And here he is, having persuaded what looks like a majority of the American people to send him back to Washington into the White House.

Postmortem begins in some Democrat circlespublished

Ione Wells
Reporting from Michigan

In some Democratic Party circles, the postmortem is already beginning despite a result not officially having been called yet. 

One Democrat political operative in DC texts to say the party “needs to flush out elitist snobs in DC for a start”.

Others have told me the same, albeit less bluntly – that while they praise the efforts of the campaign, they feel the party as a whole has an ‘image problem’ at a time when basic, everyday things like the cost of living are front of mind for most voters. 

This Democrat despair brings to mind a conversation I had with a Republican at one Trump rally who said their candidate had completely “reimagined” the Republican party from its country club voter stereotype to appealing to working class families, while the Democrats had become the “party of Hollywood”.

These are big generalisations, but ones Republicans publicly, and some Democrats privately, now share.