US election 2024 live results: Trump declares victory after winning crucial battleground states
Donald Trump secures three key battleground states, all but ensuring a presidential election win and his return to the White House as Kamala Harris faces defeat
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump looks all but certain to have secured a belated second term in the White House after sweeping three of the key battleground states hours after the polls closed on Election Day and consigning Kamala Harris to defeat.
The Republican presidential nominee, who served as commander-in-chief from 2017 to 2021, currently stands just four Electoral College votes away from the magic 270 number after picking up projected wins in North Carolina, Georgia and, crucially, Pennsylvania.
Counting is still underway in Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada but Trump has already delivered a victory speech to his supporters in Florida.
The 45th and perhaps 47th president took to the stage with his family and running mate JD Vance to promise a “golden age for America” and hail “the greatest political movement of all time”, also pledging to “help our country heal” and “fix everything about our country”.
As world leaders rush to congratulate Trump, Harris has yet to comment on her likely defeat, having elected not to appear at Howard University in Washington DC, her alma mater, where a triumphant watch party had been planned in anticipation of victory but which ultimately ended in tears with supporters leaving early.
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It was the prize target of both campaigns, who together spent an unprecedented $1.2 billion on ads and held rallies in towns big and small across the state.
Joe Biden used stories of his difficult childhood here in Scranton to beat Trump in 2020 and clinch the presidency.
Questions were asked early on about whether Kamala Harris could win here without that personal history and connection to white working-class voters, perhaps by turning out larger numbers in the cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Pennsylvania was also the site of an assassination attempt on Trump. That near miss, at a rally in the town of Butler, reinvigorated his campaign.
But it was Trump’s message on the economy that appeared to break through.
Throughout the campaign, voters across the state expressed concern about inflation and the economy. Even young voters, traditionally a reliable voting bloc for the Democratic Party, said the same.
“I’m scared for my future. I want my future economy to thrive,” Kelsey Moyer, a 20-year-old student at Indiana University, told The Independent in September.
“Both presidents have had a four-year span and you can see the difference in the country.”
Trump made gains in rural areas across the state, but also in urban areas like Lackawanna County — home to Scranton — and in the Bellwether of Erie. He won half of independent voters, according to exit polls.
His biggest gains came with Latino voters, appearing to win close to half of them, according to NBC's exit poll.
With its 19 electoral votes, Pennsylvania is the most valuable of the swing states.
One in three people of color voted for Trump
Donald Trump picked up one in every three votes cast by people of color in the 2024 election, according to an exit poll published late on Tuesday.
The NBC News survey’s finding indicates that the the American electorate has become less politically divided along racial or ethnic lines, with particular groups less likely to behave as unified voting blocs.
This comes despite the former president’s campaign being dogged by a number of racial controversies.
Joe Sommerlad and Alicja Hagopian report.
One in three people of color voted for Trump, exit poll finds
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Bitcoin price hits new all-time high as Trump declares victory
Bitcoin has surged to a new all-time high after Donald Trump emerged as the likely winner of the US presidential election.
The price of the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency reached above $75,000 on Wednesday morning, beating its previous record of just below $74,000 set in March.
Anthony Cuthbertson reports.
Bitcoin price hits new all-time high as Trump declares victory
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Donald Trump was joined by a host of famous faces during his speech declaring victory while key states continued to be counted. The predicted winner, who will become the 47th president of the United States if he wins, told West Palm Beach crowds: "Look what happened, is this crazy?" "I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honour of being elected your 47th president." On stage alongside Trump were his key supporters including his wife Melania, his children Barron, Ivanka, Donald Trump Jnr, Eric and Tiffany. Dana White, the president of the UFC and political consultant Susie Wiles joined the Trump camp on stage, along with his vice running mate JD Vance.Kamala Harris's path to victory significantly. Trump has won in the key battleground states of Georgia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina - and is leading in several others - narrowing Kamala Harris's path to victory significantly.
How the US presidential election certification process works
Americans have now cast their votes in the 2024 election, with Donald Trump likely on the cusp of becoming the next president of the United States.
As of Wednesday morning, Trump has clinched projected victories in crucial swing states North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Georgia.
The casting of ballots across the 50 states brings an end to perhaps one of the most dramatic election campaigns in living memory, which saw a last-minute change at the top of the Democratic ticket and Trump survive two separate assassination attempts.
Here’s a look at how the presidential election certification process works:
How the US presidential election certification process works
Here’s a look at how the presidential election certification process works
What happens if a convicted felon – like Trump – wins the presidency?
Earlier this year, Donald Trump made history by becoming the first former president ever convicted of a crime.
Now, as he is on the verge of securing a second term in the White House having swept two key swing states, he appears poised to make history again: by becoming the first convicted felon elected to the nation’s highest office.
Joe Sommerlad explains what might happen next.
What happens if a convicted felon – like Trump – wins the presidency?
With Trump now on the verge of securing a second term in the White House, he could soon make history as the first president to run the country from a prison cell
On the ground in Florida as Trump claims victory
The scene outside the West Palm Beach, Florida convention center looked something like a cross between a crime scene and a carnival.
On a normally busy crossroads, not far from the bridge between the wealthy enclave of Palm Beach — the location of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence — and the more modest community of West Palm Beach, a mass of police cars, dump trucks and other heavy vehicles blocked the way to the convention hall, which was ringed by the kind of riot-proof fencing that became ubiquitous in Washington just four years ago after Trump fomented a riot after losing the last presidential election.
It was just after 1:00 am, and it was starting to look as if the most famous felon in America was on a glide path back to the White House. And while hundreds of his well-heeled supporters were packed inside the hall awaiting him, an impromptu vigil had sprung up along the road, with more supporters lining the grassy median, faces pressed against the fence, in hopes of catching a glimpse of his motorcade.
The crowd of roughly 100 people were so busy watching for the ex-president turned president-elect that they missed a bonafide MAGA celebrity as he walked towards the convention center.
It was Nigel Farage, the Member of Parliament for Clacton and the leader of the Reform UK Party. Thousands of miles from Westminster, Farage was in Florida to celebrate the return of his friend to the highest office in America.
Though he passed by the crowd of Trump supporters unnoticed, The Independent spotted him and quickly approached him to ask for his thoughts on the night’s events.
“I’m very happy — you guys got it all wrong again,” he said.
Farage wasn’t the only person to express some scorn for the press.
Although most of the reporters who’d come to Florida for election night were safely inside the convention center, the Trump campaign failed to credential foreign press outlets from a whole host of countries. As those television reporters stood on the sidewalk to broadcast, a man in a car that was stopped at the intersection began taunting them, asking if they were “crying.”
At just past 1:30am, Fox News called Pennsylvania for Trump, all but foreclosing Vice President Kamala Harris’s path to the White House.
Almost immediately, it began to rain.
World leaders congratulate Trump on victory
World leaders have begun to congratulate Donald Trump on his victory in the 2024 US presidential election — even though the race is yet to be formally called for him.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel called it “history’s greatest comeback”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called it an “impressive election victory”.
In the UK, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called the victory “historic” and said he looked forward to working with him in years ahead.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he was ready to work together “as we did for four years”.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave his “heartiest congratulations” to his friend.
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