Harris calls Trump to concede election after his historic victory

ITV News takes a look at how the election night unfolded
Kamala Harris called Donald Trump to concede the election after he won the race to become the 47th president of the United States in a historic victory.
Harris spoke to Trump on Wednesday, a senior Harris aide said.
“(Harris) called President-elect Trump to congratulate him on winning the 2024 presidential election. She discussed the importance of a peaceful transfer of power and being a president for all Americans,” they said.
Harris was set to deliver her concession speech to supporters at 4pm ET (9pm GMT) at Howard University, where she had planned to give an inauguration speech had she won.
Trump had a momentous comeback after losing to Joe Biden four years ago, and will now serve a second term.
His re-election defied two assassination attempts, two presidential impeachments, his criminal conviction and many other criminal charges. It also follows his attempt to overturn the 2020 election to stay in office.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump declared it a “magnificent victory” when addressing supporters at a watch party in Florida.
“This will truly be the golden age of America”, Donald Trump told supporters in Florida as he declared victory
He was joined by his family and JD Vance – who will become the vice president – as he thanked the crowd, describing this as “the greatest political movement in all time”.
Speaking to his supporters, he said: “This is a magnificent victory for the American people that will allow us to make America great again.”
He said he was going to “help our country heal” and “fix everything” about the United States.
The Trump administration is expected to upend most of the policies of outgoing President Biden.
The upcoming 47th president of the United States added: “We’re going to make our country better than it ever has been.
“I said that many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason.
“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.”
Trump will be sworn in at an inauguration ceremony on January 20, 2025. It will come after the new US Congress meets on January 6 to count out electoral college votes formally and confirm the new president.
Sir Keir Starmer has joined world leaders who have congratulated Trump on his victory. The prime minister also shared a phone call with president-elect later on Wednesday evening.
The British prime minister said: “We stand shoulder to shoulder in defence of our shared values of freedom, democracy and enterprise”.
He added that he looks forward to working closely together “across all areas of the special relationship” as he congratulated him on his election victory, Downing Street said.
Trump is projected to win all seven battleground swing states that essentially underpinned the entire election.
His victory has broken several records. He will become the oldest man to be elected president at age 78, breaking Biden’s record.
He is also the second president to win a non-consecutive term. Grover Cleveland was the only other president to have a four-year gap between terms; he was the 22nd president in 1884 and the 24th president after the campaign of 1892.
Trump is also the first Republican to win the popular vote since George W Bush in 2004.
The former president watched the results come in overnight from his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago. Among his guests were billionaire Elon Musk, who has been vocal in his support for Trump on X, the social media platform he owns.
In contrast, despondent supporters at a Harris watch party quickly left after they were told the vice president would not be addressing the crowd.
Addressing a crowd at Howard University in California, the vice president’s alma mater, Cedric Richmond, Co Chair Harris Campaign said: “We will continue overnight to fight to make sure that every vote is counted, that every voice has spoken. So you won’t hear from the vice president tonight, but you will hear from her tomorrow.”
There was a further blow for Democrats in the Congress elections where Republicans won a majority in the US Senate, the upper chamber, seizing control of the chamber for the first time in four years.
Voting was extended at five polling places in Georgia’s Fulton County after they were briefly closed following hoax bomb threats believed to originate from Russia.
Exit polls showed an overview view of the issues that drew US voters to the ballot box, with the economy – and reducing inflation – a key issue for Americans. Other areas of concern for voters include immigration, protecting democracy and abortion rights.
The campaigns have been running for months to convince Americans to give them their vote, using everything from celebrity endorsements and dozens of rallies, to handwritten notes and tampon packaging to attract as many people to cross their name at the ballot box.
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