Trump claims victory after Fox News projects he has won U.S. presidency
Republican Donald Trump claimed victory in the 2024 presidential contest after Fox News projected that he had defeated Democrat Kamala Harris, which would cap a stunning political comeback four years after he left the White House.
"America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate," he said early on Wednesday to a roaring crowd of supporters at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.
- Read more: Election results and analysis
- IN PICTURES: World watches and reacts to U.S. election results
Other news outlets had yet to call the race for Trump, but he appeared on the verge of winning after capturing the battleground states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia and holding leads in the other four, according to Edison Research.
Harris did not speak to her supporters, who had gathered at her alma mater Howard University. Her campaign co-chair, Cedric Richmond, briefly addressed the crowd after midnight, saying Harris would speak publicly on Wednesday.
"We still have votes to count," he said.
The former U.S. president was showing strength across broad swaths of the country, improving on his 2020 performance everywhere from rural areas to urban centers.
Republicans won a U.S. Senate majority after flipping Democratic seats in West Virginia and Ohio. Neither party appeared to have an edge in the fight for control of the House of Representatives where Republicans currently hold a narrow majority.
Trump went into election day with a 50-50 chance of reclaiming the White House, a remarkable turnaround from Jan. 6, 2021, when many pundits pronounced his political career to be over. That day, a mob of his supporters stormed Congress in a violent attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Trump picked up more support from Hispanics, traditionally Democratic voters, and among lower-income households that have keenly felt the sting of price rises since the last presidential election in 2020, according to exit polls from Edison.
Trump won 45% of Hispanic voters nationwide, trailing Harris with 53% but up 13 percentage points from 2020.
About 31% of voters said the economy was their top issue, and they voted for Trump by a 79%-to-20% margin, according to exit polls. Some 45% of voters across the country said their family's financial situation was worse off today than four years ago, and they favored Trump 80% to 17%.
Global investors were increasingly pricing in a Trump win late on Tuesday. U.S. stock futures and the dollar pushed higher, while Treasury yields climbed and bitcoin rose - all flagged by analysts and investors as trades that favor a Trump victory.
At Howard University, where a large watch party was being held for Harris, supporters were leaving in droves, anticipating that the vice-president would not address the crowd on Tuesday night.
Cedric Richmond, a co-chair of the Harris campaign, briefly addressed the crowd and said Harris would not speak. "We still have votes to count," he said. "We still have states that haven't been called yet."
Trump outperforms 2020
Trump was earning a bigger share of the vote than he did four years ago in nearly every corner of the country.
By 12:30 a.m. ET, officials had nearly completed their count of ballots in more than 1,600 counties – about half the country – and Trump's share was up about 2 percentage points compared to 2020, reflecting a broad if not especially deep shift in Americans' support for the president they ousted four years ago.
He improved his numbers in suburban counties, rural regions and even some large cities that are historically bastions of Democratic support; in high-income counties and low-income ones; and in places where unemployment was comparatively high and in places where it is now at record lows.
Harris had banked on big margins among urban and suburban voters, but her support in those places was running well behind President Joe Biden's in the 2020 election.
Nearly three-quarters of voters said American democracy is under threat, according to the exit polls, underscoring the depth of polarization in a nation where divisions have only grown starker during a fiercely competitive race.
Trump employed increasingly apocalyptic rhetoric while stoking unfounded fears that the election system cannot be trusted. Harris warned that a second Trump term would threaten the underpinnings of American democracy.
Hours before polls closed, Trump claimed on his Truth Social site without evidence that there was "a lot of talk about massive CHEATING" in Philadelphia, echoing his false claims in 2020 that fraud had occurred in large, Democratic-dominated cities. In a subsequent post, he also asserted there was fraud in Detroit.
"I don't respond to nonsense," Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey told Reuters.
A Philadelphia city commissioner, Seth Bluestein, replied on X, "There is absolutely no truth to this allegation."
Dizzying campaign
Trump voted earlier near his home in Palm Beach, Florida.
"If I lose an election, if it's a fair election, I'm gonna be the first one to acknowledge it," Trump told reporters.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a prominent Trump backer, watched the results at Mar-a-Lago with Trump.
Millions of Americans waited in orderly lines to cast ballots, with only sporadic disruptions reported across a handful of states, including several non-credible bomb threats that the FBI said appeared to originate from Russian email domains.
Tuesday's vote capped a dizzying race churned by unprecedented events, including two assassination attempts against Trump, Biden's surprise withdrawal and Harris' rapid rise.
No matter who wins, history will be made.
Harris, 60, the first female vice-president, would become the first woman, Black woman and South Asian American to win the presidency. Trump, 78, the only president to be impeached twice and the first former president to be criminally convicted, would also become the first president to win non-consecutive terms in more than a century.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax, Nandita Bose and Brad Heath in Washington; Andrea Shalal in Dearborn, Michigan; Gram Slattery in Pittsburgh; Jarrett Renshaw in Philadelphia; Gabriella Borter and Alexandra Ulmer in Phoenix; Helen Coster in Raleigh, North Carolina; Stephanie Kelly in Asheville, North Carolina; Steve Holland in Palm Beach, Florida; Tim Reid, Bianca Flowers and Rich McKay in Atlanta; Brad Brooks in Las Vegas; Nathan Layne in Detroit; and Timothy Aeppel in Milwaukee; Writing by Joseph Ax and Jonathan Allen; Editing by Ross Colvin, Colleen Jenkins and Howard Goller)
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canadian among three climbers missing on New Zealand's highest peak
A Canadian is among three climbers missing after they'd planned to climb New Zealand's highest peak.
Toronto library apologizes after staff at east-end branch refuse to help lost girl
The Toronto Public Library is apologizing after staff at a branch in the city’s east end refused to provide a lost child with access to a telephone.
2 Ontario men charged after police seize US$40M in suspected cocaine from tractor-trailer in Illinois
Two Ontario men are facing charges after police in the U.S. say they seized 540 kilograms of cocaine from a tractor-trailer along Interstate 80 in Illinois.
Quebec prisons on lockdown after correctional officer severely beaten
Quebec prisons were in lockdown on Tuesday after a correction officer at the Sorel-Tracy detention centre was attacked this week.
After meeting with Trump, Trudeau to brief opposition leaders
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet with all opposition leaders today before question period to brief them about his meeting with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.
This salad brand is being recalled again. Here's why
A Taylor Farms salad kit is being recalled over concerns of a salmonella contamination, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Young Manitoba woman dies after medical emergency during dental appointment
The Manitoba Dental Association (MDA) said it is investigating a critical incident where a young woman from the Morden-Winkler area died following a dental appointment.
Here's where Canadian experts stand on fluoridating drinking water
For decades, water fluoridation has played a key role in improving the oral health of North Americans, experts say, but the practice is coming under scrutiny in some communities as opponents gain new prominence in the U.S., pointing to research that cautions about the risks of exposure to the mineral in high doses.
Residents of Alta. town vote in favour of bylaw banning rainbow flags, crosswalks
Residents of a northern Alberta town have voted in favour of a bylaw banning Pride flags and rainbow crosswalks from municipal property.
Local Spotlight
Winnipeg city councillor a seven-time provincial arm wrestling champ
A Winnipeg city councillor doesn’t just have a strong grip on municipal politics.
Watch: Noisy throng of sea lions frolic near Jericho Beach
A large swarm of California sea lions have converged in the waters near Vancouver’s Jericho and Locarno beaches.
Auburn Bay residents brave the cold to hold Parade of Lights
It was pretty cold Saturday night, but the hearts of those in a southeast Calgary neighbourhood warmed right up during a big annual celebration.
Three million grams of cereal collected to feed students in annual Cereal Box Challenge
The food collected will help support 33 breakfast and snack programs in the Greater Essex County District School Board.
Regina's LED volume wall leaving Sask. months after opening
Less than a year after an LED volume wall was introduced to the film world in Saskatchewan, the equipment is making its exit from the province.
Temperature records broken, tied following latest snowfall in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan received yet more snow as winter continues to ramp up on the prairies. With the increased precipitation, communities have recorded dipping temperatures – with a handful breaking or tying longstanding records.
'My dear Carmel': Lost letters returned to 103-year-old Guelph, Ont. woman
A young history buff was able to reunite a Guelph, Ont. woman with letters written by her husband almost 80 years ago.
'We have to do something': Homeless advocates in Moncton reaching out for help over holidays
Twice a week, Joanne and Jeff Jonah fill up their vehicle full of snacks and sandwiches and deliver them to the homeless in downtown Moncton, N.B.
100-year-old Winnipeg man walks blocks to see his wife
It's considered lucky to live to be 100, but often when you hit that milestone, you're faced with significant mobility issues. Not Winnipeg's Jack Mudry. The centenarian regularly walks five blocks to get where he wants to go, the care home where his wife Stella lives.