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Republican leader Donald Trump won the US presidential election for a second term, handing a shock defeat to his Democratic rival Kamala Harris, in one of the most remarkable comebacks in American electoral history, by rising from the political wilderness four years after his eviction from the White House and subsequent failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election outcome.
The 78-year-old leader's victory in a bitterly fought election came following two assassination attempts, his criminal conviction, pending criminal charges and a campaign that appeared to divide the country into two different worldviews.
Trump is the first president after Grover Cleveland 132 years ago to be evicted from the White House and return to it again four years later.
According to races called by the Associated Press up to 12:11 am (IST), 292 electoral votes had gone to Trump and 224 to Harris.
Trump, the oldest person in US history to be elected president, crossed the halfway 270 votes-mark in electoral college votes with victory in the battleground state of Wisconsin. His tally could increase as more votes are being counted.
As the results came in, there was shock and disbelief in the Harris campaign. In the run-up to the election, Trump carried out an aggressive campaign that broadly centred around the state of the economy and illegal immigrants, while Harris projected herself as an "agent of change".
Addressing his supporters at West Palm Beach in Florida, Trump declared his victory in the presidential election, calling the mandate "unprecedented and powerful".
At the same time, he added: "We're going to help our country heal".
"Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason," Trump said, referring to the two assassination attempts on his life during the election campaign this year.
Amid cheers of his jubilant supporters and his family by his side, Trump declared that this will be the 'golden age' of America.
"This is a magnificent victory for the American people. 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," Trump said.
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And now it's going to reach a new level of importance because we're going to help our country heal. We'll help our country...we have a country that needs help, and it needs help very badly," he said.
Soon after projections indicated Trump's victory, congratulatory messages started pouring in from world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, for his "historic return to the White House".
"Heartiest congratulations my friend @realDonaldTrump on your historic election victory. As you build on the successes of your previous term, I look forward to renewing our collaboration to further strengthen the India-US Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership," Modi said on 'X'.
"Together, let's work for the betterment of our people and to promote global peace, stability and prosperity," he said.
In his address, Trump vowed to fight for a better future for the country.
"We made history for a reason tonight, and the reason is going to be just that we overcame obstacles that nobody thought possible, and it is now clear that we've achieved the most incredible political thing," Trump said in his speech.
"I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honour of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president," he said. "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," said Trump, who wrapped up his speech with a playful dance to the song YMCA by the band Village People.
The victory by Trump is being seen as a remarkable comeback after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, which seemed then to be the end of his political career.
Trump challenged the election results and even indirectly urged his supporters to march on the US Capitol, reportedly triggering the violent attacks and clashes inside the seat of American democracy, sending shockwaves across the globe.
In the following months, Trump unsuccessfully challenged the results in court.
A grand jury found him guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records. The Biden-Harris campaign said at the time that no one is above the law, while Trump called the verdict the result of a "rigged" political system.
In effect, he became the first former president to get the nomination for the top office on the planet after being convicted of a felony.
Trump won the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Michigan. Counting of votes was still underway in the swing states of Arizona and Nevada.
Harris is expected to address her supporters shortly. Earlier, she cancelled an election watch party in her alma mater Howard University, after a clear trend in the counting of votes emerged.
The results are a big disappointment for Harris. She joined the race after President Biden dropped out from his reelection campaign in July, weeks after he came under severe scrutiny following his incoherent performance at a televised debate with Trump.
The nomination itself was historic as she became the first woman of colour in the US to be fielded by a major party in the presidential race.
In her address after formally accepting the nomination, Harris vowed to "chart a new way forward" far devoid of bitterness, cynicism and divisive politics.
The US has 50 states, and most of them vote for the same party in every election, except the swing states.
Generally, there is not much surprise over the candidates picking up victories in states other than the pivotal battleground ones. Overall, a total of 538 electoral college votes are up for grabs.
The swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, known as part of the Rust Belt, have been traditionally the strongholds of the Democratic Party.
An exit poll by CNN said roughly three-quarters of the electorate holds a negative view of the way things are going in the US today.
Only about one-quarter called themselves enthusiastic or satisfied with the state of the nation, with more than four in 10 dissatisfied and roughly three in 10 saying they are angry, according to the poll.
Voters remained generally optimistic, with more than 6 in 10 saying America's best days are in the future, and only about one-third that they're already in the past, the CNN poll found.