DONALD Trump sensationally defied the odds to be re-elected as US President after a nail-biting election.
The outspoken Republican defeated his humiliated Democrat rival Kamala Harris after one of the most tense build-ups to polling day in history.
AFPTrump and his entourage on stage in Florida[/caption]
Trump prepares to go on stage after securing his victory
APKamala Harris pictured at a campaign rally a day before her crushing defeat[/caption]
AFPA Harris supporter holds his head in his hands[/caption]
APTrump supporters cheering in West Palm Beach, Florida[/caption]
ReutersA woman reacts to early election results at Trump’s election night watch party in Palm Beach County Convention Center[/caption]
But two assassination attempts and trash talk failed to dampen Trump’s parade and he has again clinched the keys to the White House.
The race to the top sat on a knife-edge for weeks, with pollsters struggling to call who would inevitably scoop the win.
Despite being built up of 50 states, the result once again came down to those all-important swing states where voters are fearlessly divided.
With more than 51 per cent of the votes, Trump, 78, has pulled off a stunning comeback that many doubted he could do.
Both Harris, 60, and Trump spent their pre-election evenings cramming in last-minute rallies on the campaign trail before heading the cast their votes on Tuesday morning.
Trump’s odds looked good early on as he secured victories in Indiana and Tennessee – plus his home state of Florida, which alone bagged him a mammoth share of 30 of the votes.
It comes as…
JD Vance said the victory is the “greatest political comeback in American history.”
Kamala Harris refused to speak to the media as Trump took the lead.
Harris’ team said the Vice President will speak on Wednesday.
Trump won battleground states Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, according to the AP.
Trump’s team started to celebrate early with a chant when he won North Carolina.
Republicans took control of the Senate after Ted Cruz was re-elected in Texas.
Firefighters were forced to help recount 30,000 votes when polls faced election night chaos.
Early counting of critical swing states showed him doing significantly better against Harris than he did when losing to Joe Biden in 2020.
A sense of jubilation started filling the air at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago by around 10pm ET (3am UK time) when he narrowed the gap in Pennsylvania.
Trump – who served as president from 2017 to 2021 – was pictured cosying up to Dana White and Elon Musk as the votes looked to be picking up his favour.
White and Musk were among the allies Trump surrounded himself with at his beloved Mar-a-Lago, with red roses seen cutting through the middle of long, set tables.
But as roars of delight echoed around the private Florida club, silence fell upon Kamala’s camp in Washington DC as hopes of victory appeared to be slowly slipping away.
Her team desperately tried to put on a brave face and focus on “bright spots” – with an email to staff saying the “closeness of the race is exactly what we prepared for”.
As the walls closed in, Harris’ camp hoped triumph would still be within reach by breaking through the blue wall.
But Republicans Abroad spokesperson Sara Elliot warned her candidate had given Harris a “shellacking”.
She told Times Radio: “This is what we would call in America a shellacking, a thumping.
“It is definitely not what we expected in some ways, being that the polls were as close as they are.”
And as the evening went on, prospects grew rosier and rosier for golf-loving Trump as he clawed in more and more votes while Harris trailed behind.
The mood at her camp was described as “pretty grim” by a Democrat strategist at Harris’ watch party.
Harris and Trump secured the states they were expected to win, so all eyes were on the swing states – Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada.
Trump came out punching by snaring the first swing state win shortly after 11pm ET (4am UK time) – the first real seismic moment of the race.
Her supporters outside her camp at Howard University looked blue as midnight struck – while Trump fans cheered as bookies slashed their odds for a landslide.
But with six swing state results still to be revealed, celebrations may have seemed a little pre-emptive.
Voters from both sides waited with bated breath for those crucial results to drop.
By 12.30am ET (5.30am UK time), Harris’ camp at her alma mater started to thin out as bleary-eyed supporters made tracks.
The White House hopeful herself was reported to go into hiding, with her team refusing to take questions from the press.
Trump then flew over yet another hurdle around 1am (6am UK time) by snapping up Georgia – making it a tall – yet not impossible – order for Harris to carve out a path to success.
AFPTrump pictured in the White House in 2018[/caption]
XTrump talking to Dana White and Elon Musk at his election watch party[/caption]
The Republican flipped the state back after Biden, 81, took it in 2020 – one of the keys to the Democratic win.
But the real crunch moment of this historic night came at 1.30am ET (6.30am UK time) when Trump took the most prized swing state Pennsylvania – all but guaranteeing his overall crushing election victory.
His win in the crucial state could well have been tipped by the “unprecedented” numbers of Amish people who are understood to have made an exception to their beliefs to vote for Trump.
As he geared up to bask in his historic glory, Trump left Mar-a-Lago and headed for the convention centre at West Palm Beach ready to address his supporters.
After overseeing a clean sweep on the final battlegrounds – including Wisconsin, the state he narrowly lost four years ago – a triumphant Trump took to the stage flanked by his wife Melania and running mate JD Vance.
He declared: “This is a magnificent victory for the American people.”
Trump vowed to “fight for every citizen” and “help heal our country” as he gave a rousing speech to a crowd chanting “USA, USA, USA”.
Speaking on stage he said: “Every single day I will be fighting for you, with every single breath in my body.
“I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America that children deserve.
“And that you deserve. This will truly be the golden age for America.
“Frankly I believe this was the greatest political movement of all time.”
Trump – who beat Hillary Clinton in 2016 before losing to Biden four years ago – is the first president in more than a century to serve nonconsecutive terms.
His presidency and ventures since have been marred by controversy, with the businessman caught up in a series of scandals and legal battles.
‘World will need to recalibrate’ after Trump’s historic election victory
Dr Alan Mendoza, executive director for the think tank Henry Jackson Society, told The Sun that the world will need to adjust after Trump’s US election win and that lesson can be learned from the ex-president’s former stint in the White House.
He said: “Donald Trump’s comprehensive victory means that US allies and enemies alike are going to have to recalibrate their positions to reflect that, it is now going to be his global agenda that the world moves to.
“It would be a mistake to assume that anything – whether the end of the war in Ukraine or the future of the Middle East – is a foregone conclusion.
“The history of the first Trump administration from 2016-20 shows that those who engage and respect the USA did well, while those who denigrated and challenged it did badly.
“Lessons can be learned from that, about how to position internationally to make sure that countries are in the driving seat of history rather than its passengers.
“Trump’s unpredictability will be as positive a factor in the world stage as it was in his first term.
“It will keep allies on their toes, working hard to maintain an alliance that requires burden sharing rather than passengers, and enemies will need to watch their step rather than assume that America is asleep at the wheel.”
Trump was twice impeached by Congress, but acquitted, and has been hauled through the courts over the January 6 Capitol riots and allegations of sexual harassment.
Earlier this year, he was convicted of falsifying business records – yet has used his controversies to round up support by claiming he’s the victim of a Democrat-lead witch hunt.
The eyes of the world will now very much be glued to the White House for the next four years as an eager Trump navigates his second term as leader.
ReutersHarris was in high spirits at a phone bank before results trickled in[/caption]
ReutersHarris voters look downcast outside her camp in Washington DC[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
