Plus: World leaders congratulate likely winner, and mood falls flat at Harris watch party. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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| Hello. Donald Trump has declared victory as all signs point to the former president clearing the bar of 270 electoral votes that would allow him to return to the White House. Gary O'Donoghue reports on the elated scenes from the Trump camp in Florida. At the time of writing, his rival Kamala Harris is yet to speak, and her dejected supporters left her Washington DC watch party as early results started to go Trump's way, Holly Honderich writes. | |
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TOP OF THE AGENDA | Trump on the brink of winning presidency |  | Donald Trump looks set to win the popular vote, something he didn't do in 2016. Credit: Reuters | Donald Trump has declared victory in front of a jubilant crowd in Florida, as the Republican candidate is on the cusp of becoming the United States' 47th president. "America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate," he said, thanking his family, billionaire backer Elon Musk, and his running mate JD Vance. The race has not been called as this newsletter hits your inbox, with Trump tallying 266 electoral votes out of the 270 needed to win. Vice-President Kamala Harris has obtained 219 votes so far. Follow our live page for more. A few battleground states are still in play, but the momentum is clearly favouring the former president over his rival. Kamala Harris has not yet addressed her supporters, with the mood at her watch party in Washington D.C. souring throughout the night. It is an extraordinary comeback, says Gary O'Donoghue from Trump's Florida party. "Here he is at 78 years old, facing multiple scandals over his career, multiple court cases, a conviction, a sentencing in three weeks' time, escaping death by a fraction from an assassin's bullet - and having persuaded what looks like a majority of the American people to send him back to Washington."
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| Mood falls flat at Harris watch party |  | The mood changed abruptly at the Democratic gathering. Credit: Reuters | Kamala Harris did not speak on election night at Howard University, her alma mater and a historically black university in Washington DC. The campus gathering became increasingly subdued as swing states were called for Donald Trump. |
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| | Holly Honderich, BBC News |
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| | When early returns showed Harris boasted modest leads in crucial states Pennsylvania and Michigan, the gathered crowd erupted in excitement, believing the night was tipping in her favour. But that cautious excitement soon gave way to anxiety, as Harris’s path to the White House looked increasingly improbable, blocked by Trump’s accumulating state victories. By the time Pennsylvania - perhaps the most crucial of all swing states - was projected for Trump, Howard's campus had all but cleared out. Kabila Magnum, 31, was one of the few supporters left. “The energy went down,” she said. But she retained some stubborn optimism: there were still votes left to be counted. |
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| | - Watch: Our correspondent Samira Hussain reports from empty bleachers as the atmosphere dampened in Washington. Take a look.
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BEYOND THE HEADLINES | World leaders congratulate Trump |
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| |  | Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu (file picture). Credit: | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hungary's Victor Orban have been among the first world leaders to congratulate Donald Trump in emphatic statements. "I appreciate President Trump’s commitment to the 'peace through strength' approach in global affairs," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X. |
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WORLD HEADLINES | - In Israel: Protests have erupted after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired the country's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
| | - 'Merchants of death': Eighteen members of a people-smuggling gang accused of arranging thousands of small boat English Channel crossings have been jailed in France.
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SOMETHING DIFFERENT | Secrets of the caves | What the deepest places on Earth can reveal about life and the universe. | |
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And finally... | A "very rare" slice of wedding cake from the marriage of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip has sold at auction for £2,200 ($2,856). You read that right. A piece of the 77-year-old fruit cake was sold to a bidder from China after it was found in a suitcase. "I don't think I'd particularly want to eat it," a royal expert for the auction house said. | |
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Six Steps to Calm | Discover a calmer future with this course of six science-backed techniques, weekly to your inbox. | |
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