Harris set to concede as Trump elected US president

Donald Trump has been elected president of the United States, broadcasters have projected, capping a remarkable comeback four years after he was voted out of the White House.

Trump, 78, recaptured the White House comfortably after a polarising campaign, prevailing after two attempts on his life and a late decision by Democrats to run Kamala Harris after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race in July.

Harris, the US vice president, will concede the election to Trump about 4pm on Wednesday (8am on Thursday AEDT), a source told Reuters.

Sources had earlier said her speech would happen about 6pm.

US networks Fox News, CNN and NBC declared Trump the incoming president after projecting that he had secured enough Electoral College votes - more than 270 - following wins over Harris in hard-fought battleground states including Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Edison Research projected that Trump's victory in the swing state of Wisconsin pushed him over the threshold.

As of midday on Wednesday, Trump had won 292 electoral votes to Harris' 224 with several states yet to be counted according to the Associated Press.

He also led Harris by more than five million votes in the popular count.

"America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate," Trump said early on Wednesday to a roaring crowd of supporters at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in Florida.

"This will be the golden age of America," he said.

"We're going to help our country heal."

Trump's political career had appeared to be over after his unsubstantiated claims of election fraud led a mob of supporters to storm the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 in a failed bid to overturn his 2020 defeat.

But he swept away challengers inside his Republican Party and then beat Democratic candidate Kamala Harris by capitalising on voter concerns about high prices and what Trump claimed was a rise in crime due to illegal immigration.

Harris did not speak to 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 later on Wednesday.

"We still have votes to count," he said.

Republicans won a US Senate majority but neither party appeared to have an edge in the fight for control of the House of Representatives where Republicans currently hold a narrow majority.

Major stock markets around the world rallied following Trump's victory, and the US dollar was set for its biggest one-day jump since 2020.

Voters identified jobs and the economy as the country's most pressing problem, according to Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls.

Many voters remained frustrated by higher prices even amid record-high stock markets, fast-growing wages and low unemployment.

With the administration of President Joe Biden taking much of the blame, a majority of voters said they trusted Trump more than Harris to address the issue.

Hispanics, traditionally Democratic voters, and lower-income households hit hardest by inflation helped fuel Trump's election victory.

His loyal base of rural, white and non-college educated voters again showed up in force.

Trump prevailed despite persistently low approval ratings.

Impeached twice, he has been criminally indicted four times and found civilly liable for sexual abuse and defamation.

In May, Trump was convicted by a New York jury of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to a porn star.

His victory is expected to have major implications for US trade and climate change policies, taxes and immigration as well as the war in Ukraine.

Trump has promised to launch a mass deportation campaign targeting immigrants in the country illegally.

From all of us at Kamala HQ:Thank you for following along ? pic.twitter.com/pm74H9hInb? Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) November 5, 2024

Harris fell short in her 15-week sprint as a candidate, failing to galvanise enough support to defeat Trump, who occupied the White House from 2017-2021, or to allay voters' concerns about the economy and immigration.

Harris had warned that Trump wanted unchecked presidential power and posed a danger to democracy.

Nearly three-quarters of voters say US democracy is under threat, according to Edison Research exit polls, underscoring the polarisation in a country where divisions have only grown starker during a fiercely competitive race.

Despite legal woes and controversies, Trump is only the second former president to win a second term after leaving the White House.

The first was Grover Cleveland, who served two four-year terms starting in 1885 and 1893.

Two months after Trump's conviction in the hush money case, a would-be assassin's bullet grazed his right ear during a July campaign rally in Pennsylvania, exacerbating fears about political violence.

Another assassination attempt was thwarted in September at his Florida golf course.

Trump blamed both attempts on what he claimed was the heated rhetoric of Democrats including Harris.

Once the 2024 vote is certified by Congress on January 6, 2025, Trump and his incoming vice president, US Senator JD Vance, are due to take office on inauguration day January 20.

He promised roles in his administration to Tesla boss Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr, both avid supporters.

with DPA