Former President Donald Trump has defeated Vice President Kamala Harris to return to the White House, CNN projects, in a moment of historic consequence for American democracy.
His projected win in battleground Wisconsin put the Republican over the top with 276 electoral votes as counting continues in some key states.
Trump will return to the nation’s highest office four years after losing the 2020 election, attempting to overturn the results, facing two presidential impeachments, a criminal conviction and many other criminal charges.
He’s also projected to become only the second president to win two nonconsecutive terms.
In a speech from Florida before the race was called, Trump said he would usher in a “golden age of America.” He also celebrated Republicans’ projected control of the Senate. Harris is expected to speak later today.
‘We made history for a reason tonight, and the reason is that we overcame obstacles that nobody thought possible,’ he said.
‘And it is now clear that we’ve achieved the most incredible political thing.’
‘We made history for a reason tonight, and the reason is that we overcame obstacles that nobody thought possible,’ Trump said
It meant Trump had won three of the key states, making victory inevitable.
‘It’s real,’ screamed one young supporter, who raced to the front of the crowd as if it were a mosh pit, high-fiving friends and strangers.
Trump was joined on stage by family – including daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner who had been absent from the campaign – aides and political supporters.
He thanked his supporters and promised a golden age for the nation.
Polls in the November 5 election have closed across the country, with voting going largely smoothly. To win the presidency, a candidate needs at least 270 Electoral votes.
