Donald Trump on Wednesday promised to bring a “golden age” for America, as he appeared poised to win the presidential election with a mandate he called “unprecedented and powerful”.
According to races called by the Associated Press up to 2 pm (IST), 267 electoral votes had gone to Republican candidate Trump and 224 to Democratic Party's Kamala Harris. Trump is just three votes short of a victory.
Trump's victory was sealed after the networks declared that he has won the battleground state of Pennsylvania which had 19 electoral college votes. Fox News was the first major American media outlet to declare Trump the winner, which was soon followed by many other media outlets.
“This will truly be a golden age for America. This is a magnificent victory that will also help us to make America great again," Trump, 78, told his supporters in the wee hours of Wednesday at Palm Beach Convention Centre in Palm Beach, Florida. He was accompanied by most members of his family, including his wife Melania Trump.
Vice President-elect J D Vance and his Indian American wife Usha Vance were also present on the podium. Trump praised both his running mate and Usha for their support throughout the process.
"This was a movement like nobody's ever seen before, and frankly, this was, I believe, the greatest political movement of all time. There's never been anything like this in this country and maybe beyond, and now it's going to reach a new level of importance because we're going to help our country heal," said the president-elect. The inauguration is scheduled for January 20.
Harris, 60, had not conceded defeat at the time of filing of this report. A senior campaign official told supporters at Howard University that she will speak later on Wednesday.
“You won't hear from the vice president tonight, but you will hear from her tomorrow," Harris campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond said.
In his speech, Trump also spoke about stopping illegal immigration.
“America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate. We have taken back control of the Senate," he said, adding that possibly that the Republicans would retain a majority in the US House of Representatives.
In his brief speech, Vance described Trump's victory as one of the greatest political comebacks.
“After the greatest political comeback in American history, we're going to lead the greatest economic comeback in American history under Donald Trump's leadership," he said.
Arriving at the Palm Beach Convention Center in Palm Beach, Florida, some 10-minute drive from his Mar-a-Lago residence, Trump thanked his fellow countrymen for electing him as the 47th president of the United States.
“I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honour of being elected your 47th president, and your 45th president,” Trump said.
The election result makes him the only US president after Grover Cleveland to serve non-consecutive terms. Cleveland was both the 22nd and 24th president, serving from 1885 to 1889 and then again from 1893 to 1897.
He told his supporters that the county has delivered a powerful and unprecedented mandate.
“This is a moment like nobody's ever seen before. Frankly, this was, I believe, the greatest political movement of all time. There's never been anything like this in this country,” he said.
“We have a country that needs help, and it needs help very badly. We're going to fix our borders, we're going to fix everything about our country. We made history for a reason tonight,” he added.
"Every citizen, I will fight for you, for your family and your future. Every single day, I will be fighting for you. And with every breath in my body, I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve. This will truly be the golden age of America," he said.
WATCH: Trump's full victory speech
"That's what we have to have. This is a magnificent victory for the American people that will allow us to make America great again," Trump said in his maiden address to the nation after his electoral victory.
"We will make America safe, strong, prosperous, powerful and free again. And I'm asking every citizen all across our land to join me in this noble and righteous endeavour," Trump said as he specifically mentioned the battleground States in his speech.
"In addition to having won the battleground states of North Carolina, and I love these places, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. We are now winning in Michigan, Arizona, Nevada and Alaska, which would result in us carrying at least 315 electoral votes. We also have won the popular vote," he said.
This campaign, he said, has been historic in many ways.
“We've built the biggest, the broadest, the most unified coalition. They've never seen anything like it in all of American history. They've never seen it. Young and old, men and women, rural and urban. We had them all helping us tonight. They came from all corners, union, non-union, African-American, Hispanic-American, Asian-American, Arab-American, Muslim American. We had everybody, and it was beautiful,” he said.
“It was a historic realignment, uniting citizens of all backgrounds around a common core of common sense. We are the party of common sense. We want to have borders. We want to have security. We want to have things be good and safe. We want a great education. We want a strong and powerful military, and ideally, we don't have to use it. We had no wars. For four years, we had no wars, except we defeated ISIS. We defeated ISIS in record time, but we had no wars. They said he would start a war. I'm not going to start a war. I'm going to stop wars,” he said.
Trump described it as a massive victory for democracy and for freedom.
“Together, we're going to unlock America's glorious destiny, and we're going to achieve the most incredible future for our people,” he asserted. Trump said he did about 900 rallies in his election campaign.
“Now we're going on to something that's far more important because the rallies were used for us to be put in this position where we can really help our country. That's what we're going to do. We're going to make our country better than it ever has been...Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason,” Trump said referring to the assassination attempts on him during the election campaign this year.
“And that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness, and now we are going to fulfil that mission together. We're going to fulfil that mission. The task before us will not be easy, but I will bring every ounce of energy, spirit, and fight that I have in my soul to the job that you've entrusted to me. This is a great job. There's no job like this. This is the most important job in the world,” he said.
“Just as I did in my first term, .. I will govern by a simple motto, promises made, promises kept. We're going to keep our promises. Nothing will stop me from keeping my word to you, the people. We will make America safe, strong, prosperous, powerful, and free again. I'm asking every citizen all across our land to join me in this noble and righteous endeavour. That's what it is. It's time to put the divisions of the past four years behind us. It's time to unite. And we're going to try. We're going to try. We have to try. And it's going to happen,” he said.
