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 was 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.
