Donald Trump wins U.S. presidential election

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Donald Trump will reclaim the U.S. presidency after a tumultuous campaign during which he was convicted of 34 felonies, faced two different Democratic rivals and was twice targeted in assassination attempts.

The 78-year-old Republican, who played to voters’ fears about immigration and the economy, defeated his Democratic counterpart, Kamala Harris, to become only the second former president to return to power after losing office. Ms. Harris called Mr. Trump to concede on Wednesday afternoon. She is set to speak to supporters at 4 p.m. ET.

Mr. Trump flipped Wisconsin, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Michigan, won in North Carolina and was leading in the other two swing states. His Republican Party also gained three Senate seats, in Ohio, West Virginia and Montana, to win back the chamber from the Democrats.

The former president addressed supporters early Wednesday morning in West Palm Beach, Fla.

“This was I believe the greatest political movement of all time,” Mr. Trump told the cheering crowd. “And now it’s going to reach a new level of importance because we’re going to help our country heal. … It’s now clear that we’ve achieved the most incredible political thing – look what happened, isn’t this crazy?”

Unlike his victory in 2016, Mr. Trump is also set to win the national popular vote.

Exit polling showed strong concern over the state of the economy and disapproval of President Joe Biden. Although inflation is now under control, large price increases early in Mr. Biden’s term mean everything from food to housing is significantly more expensive than it was in 2020. And a spike in migration at the southern border during the middle of Mr. Biden’s administration left federal, state and local authorities struggling to manage the flow.

Along with his running mate JD Vance, Mr. Trump was able to tap into voter anxiety over cost-of-living increases and an influx of asylum seekers that many associated with Mr. Biden’s administration.

Mr. Trump will reclaim the White House with promises to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, fire swaths of civil servants and pursue a protectionist trade policy by implementing tariffs on a wide range of goods. He is also expected to pull the U.S. back from international involvement, including by stopping military aid to Ukraine, and has vowed to take revenge on perceived enemies.

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The former president characterized migrants as violent criminals, pledged to bring down consumer prices that ballooned with inflation. He also promised to implement tax cuts that economists said would mostly benefit the rich. At the centre was his largely undefined message to “Make America Great Again,” both his slogan and the name of the movement that is defining the current era of U.S. politics.

For Canada, his victory could mean a bruising trade war, which would inflict economic pain on both sides of the border, and yet another renegotiation of the deal governing North American trade. The country may also be hit by an influx of migrants attempting to flee Mr. Trump’s promised roundups. And it could entail increased pressure to step up contributions to NATO, the military alliance from which Mr. Trump might withdraw the United States.

Global stock markets and the U.S. dollar soared on news of Mr. Trump’s victory. The dollar climbed 1.5 per cent against a basket of currencies that includes the euro, the yen and the British pound. Wall Street was on course for gains Wednesday as futures on the S&P 500 index were up 2.3 per cent. London’s FTSE 100 and the STOXX 600 index of European equities were both up 1.1 per cent in early trading.

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However, the price of oil was down partly on expectations that Mr. Trump will increase U.S. oil production. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was down 1.4 per cent at US$74 a barrel.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau posted a message on X Wednesday morning after the election had been called: “Congratulations to Donald Trump on being elected President of the United States. The friendship between Canada and the U.S. is the envy of the world. I know President Trump and I will work together to create more opportunity, prosperity, and security for both of our nations.”

In a statement, Mr. Trudeau also appeared to take aim at Mr. Trump’s vow to impose steep tariffs on imported goods. The Prime Minister cited the renegotiation of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement during Mr. Trump’s first term, “which has created thousands of good-paying jobs and has brought investment and opportunity to our communities.” He also highlighted the value of Canada-U.S. trade, which amounted to more than $1.3-trillion last year. “Building on Team Canada’s work to deepen this relationship since 2015, bilateral trade between our two countries has increased by over $400-billion,” he said.

Other world leaders had begun offering their congratulations early Wednesday.

“Congratulations President-elect Trump on your historic election victory,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement. “I look forward to working with you in the years ahead.”

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared a photograph on X of him and his wife with Mr. Trump. “Dear Donald and Melania Trump, Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback! Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America. This is a huge victory!” Mr. Netanyahu said.

“Good Morning Hungary! On the road to a beautiful victory, it’s in the bag,” said Hungarian President Viktor Orban, who has been one of Mr. Trump’s biggest supporters in Europe.

French President Emmanuel Macron offered his congratulations and added on X: “Ready to work together as we did for four years. With your convictions and mine. With respect and ambition. For more peace and prosperity.”

The Republicans picked up Senate seats in Ohio, West Virginia and Montana. Bernie Moreno’s defeat of incumbent Sherrod Brown in Ohio continued the Republican ascendancy in the heart of the U.S. Midwest’s manufacturing belt.

The West Virginia seat, held by Joe Manchin, a former Democrat who left the party this term to sit as an independent and did not run for re-election in the deep-red state, was less of a surprise, as the Democrats had done little to defend it. It was won by Governor Jim Justice.

The Republicans also picked up Montana, with Tim Sheehy defeating incumbent Democrat Jon Tester.

In the presidential race, the result appeared likely to be determined by each campaign’s efforts to shift small, specific demographics of voters.

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Ms. Harris, the Democratic Vice-President, was vying to become the first woman and South Asian American elected to the White House. She ran on promises of a child tax credit, expanded subsidies for health insurance, controlling the costs of housing and prescription drugs and subsidies for manufacturing companies.

While she has accused Mr. Trump of planning an authoritarian takeover and hit him hard over his role in ending Roe v. Wade’s abortion-rights protections, Mr. Trump has made hay over inflation and the flow of migrants at the border with Mexico.

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Much of the election turned on his increasingly negative rhetoric. He has accused migrants of “poisoning the blood of the country” and vowed to take revenge against his political opponents, whom he dubs “the enemy within.”

From a global perspective, the election marks an inflection point in the battle over nationalism that is roiling the democratic world.

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The marathon contest has proved one of the most turbulent in U.S. history. Mr. Trump survived two assassination attempts, including one in which he was shot in the ear. Ms. Harris, meanwhile, ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket in July as a result of an unprecedented mid-campaign promotion after a disastrous debate performance forced Mr. Biden out of the race.

In Washington, authorities had prepared for unrest Tuesday, installing anti-riot fencing around the White House, the Capitol and the Vice-President’s official residence. Both campaigns’ election-night headquarters – Howard University in the U.S. capital for the Democrats and a convention centre in West Palm Beach, Fla., for the GOP – were similarly fortified.

Mr. Trump mounted his campaign to return to the presidency after attempting to reverse his 2020 loss to Mr. Biden, culminating in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Earlier this year, he was convicted of 34 felonies related to a hush-money payment to a porn star before the 2016 election.

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Just under 40 per cent of registered voters cast early ballots, less than during the pandemic election of 2020 but significantly higher than in most elections. Republican voters were getting in on the action, unlike in 2020, when many of them stayed away because Mr. Trump had claimed the system was rife with fraud. In that election, Democrats outnumbered them in the early vote.

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Ms. Harris was aiming to get out core Democratic constituencies, particularly Black and Latino voters, and university-educated urbanites of all races. She was also hoping to peel away suburban Republican women opposed to Mr. Trump’s anti-abortion stand and bombastic style.

Mr. Trump, meanwhile, was looking to both motivate his usual coalition – rural, small-town and suburban Republicans coupled with working-class voters who go Republican only for him – and make inroads with Black and Latino voters.

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While the Democrats relied on a classic get-out-the-vote apparatus, powered by thousands of staff members and a legion of volunteers, the Republicans outsourced theirs to third-party campaign groups, including a super PAC bankrolled by billionaire Elon Musk.

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Mr. Trump’s campaign and allied groups have already filed nearly 100 lawsuits across the country to set the stage for a possible challenge to the election results. He has also claimed without evidence that voter fraud is taking place.

The election was also the first to be conducted under new voting rules adopted by some Republican states in response to Mr. Trump’s false claims of fraud in 2020.

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In Georgia, for instance, new rules have made it harder to request a mail-in ballot and have given the state the power to take over the local boards that certify election results. The state also banned handing out food or water to people waiting in line to vote.

In Pennsylvania, meanwhile, Republican legislators have blocked efforts to have absentee ballots processed before election day, setting the stage for delays in getting the vote counted.

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For Mr. Trump, his election win could decide his legal fate. He was expected to force the Justice Department to end two prosecutions against him, one for trying to overturn the 2020 election and another for refusing to return classified documents after he left office.

On his felony convictions, he is expected to be sentenced later this month. He is also on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars related to civil court findings that he sexually abused a magazine writer and committed business fraud. Both cases are under appeal.

The former president has also listed a large number of people he has said should be prosecuted, imprisoned or, in some cases, executed, including his political rivals, prosecutors on his cases and election workers. He has also threatened to take away the broadcasting licences of CBS and ABC and prosecute Google for carrying negative stories about him.