Election 2024 live updates: Kamala Harris ends campaign with a message to young voters during concession speech
Kamala Harris delivers concession speech as Donald Trump secures second term in the White House as America’s 47th president
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has won a historic second term in the White House in a shocking political comeback four years after leaving office.
Trump surpassed the magic number of 270 Electoral College votes early on Wednesday after winning key battleground states and also claiming a majority of 51 percent in the popular vote.
Counting is still underway in Arizona and Nevada but those results will not now alter the outcome.
The president-elect 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 the minority there since 2021.
Harris called Trump to congratulate him on his victory on Wednesday. She also mentioned the importance of a peaceful transfer of power and being a president for the whole of the US.
In her concession speech at Howard University, the vice president said that while she concedes the election, she does not concede the fight that fueled her campaign.
“The fight for freedom, opportunity, fairness, and dignity of all people, and ideals at the heart of this nation… that is a fight I will never give up.”
Watch live: View of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home after winning 47th presidential election
Watch a live view of Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida, after he won a historic second term in the White House.
The 45th and now 47th president swept four of the key battleground states hours after the polls closed on Election Day.
As of Wednesday morning, Kamala Harris has not commented on her defeat.
Mr 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 alter the outcome.
Mr Trump 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.
Watch: Jon Stewart criticises pollsters after Trump declares victory
The Daily Show host offered this reaction as the results began to wash in last night, making a nonsense of polling experts insisting for weeks that the race was neck-and-neck.
Liz Cheney appeals to Americans to respect the election results
We have still yet to hear anything from Kamala Harris, Tim Walz or other senior Democrats today but here’s Harris’s surrogate – once considered an arch-Republican before she was drummed out of her party by its Trump wing – doing the decent thing in calling on her fellow citizens to respect the outcome, no matter how much it might appal them.
Marco Rubio: ‘I am always interested in serving’
As we’ve just seen with Elon, thoughts are already turning to who might play a role in Trump’s next Cabinet, with the man himself once more hinting at a role for Robert F Kennedy Jr in his victory speech.
Since then, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a one-time enemy of Trump who was a serious contender to be his running mate, has been politely declining to rule anything out.
Republican Tim Sheehy, accused of lying about his time in Afghanistan, clinches victory in Montana Senate race
Tim Sheehy, the wealthy businessman whose campaign was plagued by controversies, is projected to defeat incumbent Jon Tester to represent Montana in the Senate.
A shift toward conservative ideology in the state benefitted Sheehy, 38, despite allegations that he lied about obtaining a bullet wound injury in Afghanistan and injuring himself during a trip to Glacier National Park.
The battle over Montana’s Senate seat became one of the most-watched in the nation.
John Bowden and Ariana Baio have this one.
Republican Tim Sheehy clinches victory in Montana Senate race
Sheehy, whose story about obtaining a bullet wound in Afghanistan has been subject to questions, won Montana’s Senate seat
Trudeau offers congratulations to Trump
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered his congratulations to Donald Trump upon his re-election to the White House.
Mr Trudeau and Mr Trump experienced their share of run-ins during the Republican leader’s first term as president, with a tariff dispute and the export of protective masks previously coming between the pair.
Mr Trudeau posted to X on Wednesday: “Congratulations to Donald Trump on being elected President of the United States.
“The friendship between Canada and the U.S. is the envy of the world. I know President Trump and I will work together to create more opportunity, prosperity, and security for both of our nations.”
Second Trump administration ‘represents a clear and present danger to our democratic norms’, ACLU says
This is what Anthony D Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), has to say about Trump’s election win:
“While Donald Trump may have been democratically re-elected, a second Trump administration represents a clear and present danger to our democratic norms, processes, and institutions. Fortunately, our nation is stronger than one man or political party — no matter how determined they may be to upend our democracy.
“At the ACLU, we’re clear-eyed about the chaos and destruction a second Trump administration will cause for our nation. That’s why we’re done with handwringing, admiring the problem, or waiting anxiously to see which unlawful actions President-elect Trump will take on day one. We are ready to take action the minute Trump takes the oath of office.
“We know President-elect Trump will keep his promise to target the ‘enemy within’ — which, for Trump, means anyone who disagrees with him. He is dead serious about seeking retribution against his political nemeses and deploying federal government law enforcement to shut down protests and muzzle dissent. However, as the premier defender of freedom of speech and freedom of association, the ACLU has a 105-year track record of fighting such abuses of power.
“President-elect Trump has also been crystal clear about his plans to deport one million immigrants every year. Yet, we know past attempts at mass immigration raids have shown there is no way to deport one million immigrants without rampant mass due process violations and race discrimination.
“Earlier this year, the ACLU developed a blueprint and roadmap to defend our rights beginning on Inauguration Day. So, when President-elect Trump targets immigrants, dissidents, and his political opponents, we will challenge him in the courts, in state legislatures, and in the streets.”
Will Elon Musk join Donald Trump’s new administration?
Elon Musk’s transformation of X, formerly Twitter, into a political machine supporting Donald Trump could see the billionaire rewarded with a place in the president-elect’s new administration.
The SpaceX boss has become Trump’s most vocal fan and one of his biggest financial backers during the US election, which has seen X become an unofficial Republican Party campaign tool.
Musk’s influence has been so stark that, in his speech to supporters on election night in the US after he declared victory, Trump paid a lengthy tribute to Musk, calling him a “star” of the Republican Party and a “wonderful” guy.
Trump has also suggested the tech boss could be given a role in his new cabinet around cost-cutting or government efficiency – a role Musk had previously called to be created to help reduce government spending.
Musk’s management of X has been highly controversial, ever since he tool control of the platform in late 2022.
As well as changing its name, he dismissed more than half the platform’s staff and dismantled its content moderation team.
Trump has won, again: Watch how it happened
Here’s a complete roundup of Election Night from our tireless video team.
Trump has won, again: Watch how it happened
Donald Trump has become the 47th president of the United States defeating Kamala Harris and securing a historic second term in the White House. Trump, publically endorsed by the likes of Elon Musk and Robert JF Kennedy, is only the second president in history to serve as president in two non-consecutive terms. The path to power however has not been straightforward for the former US president, who has survived two attempted assassination attempts. The Independent takes a closer look at how Donald Trump won the 2024 US presidential election.
Starmer seeks ‘strong, special relationship’ with US after Trump election win
The UK will work with Donald Trump on economic and security issues, Sir Keir Starmer said as he insisted the “special relationship” will prosper with the new president-elect.
The Prime Minister congratulated Mr Trump on a “historic election victory” after American voters returned him to the White House.
Sir Keir was among the first world leaders to congratulate Mr Trump as the Government sought to build bridges with the president-elect after the Republican politician’s campaign filed a legal complaint about Labour activists supporting rival Kamala Harris.
Senior Labour figures, including Foreign Secretary David Lammy, have also been strident in their criticism of Mr Trump in the past.
But the Prime Minister said: “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.”
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