Trump to officially become 47th US president

Republican candidate Donald Trump has gained 276 electoral votes, and will officially become the 47th US President after his inauguration in January.

Ten additional electoral votes in Wisconsin have put Trump into the White House for a second term. Milwaukee put him over the required 270-vote threshold needed to secure the position, where the Republican National Convention was held earlier this year. It is the same state that put him over the top when he won in 2016.

He is expected to win the popular vote, a first for the businessman-turned-politician.

The Republican party also secured a majority in the Senate, managing to flip the chamber after four years of majority Democrat rule.

Control over the House of Representatives is still up for grabs, with over 100 seats yet to be called. Currently, Republicans control the chamber with a narrow margin. 

The incumbent president will take back one of the most powerful seats in the world, after he refused to accept defeat four years ago, sparked a violent insurrection at the US Capitol, was convicted of felony charges, and survived two assassination attempts.

Several other swing states have not yet completed their ballot counts- Michigan, Nevada, and Arizona. However, Trump remains in the lead. 

Trump, 78, was left at 266 electoral college votes for hours as projections stalled while several states continued counting ballots. He had gained the critical battleground states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia at that point.

He's currently projected to also win Alaska, which holds three electoral college votes. 

Democratic nominee Kamala Harris currently has 219 votes.

The vice-president has yet to concede. 

Harris cancelled her expected election night appearance at Howard University in Washington DC, after Trump gained momentum as early results began to trickle in, prompting her supporters to leave the election watch party. 

Concurrently, Trump gave a speech to his supporters declaring himself the winner of the 2024 election, saying his second term will be a "golden age for America." 

Trump's Vice President, one of the youngest to date, said: “We just witnessed the greatest political comeback in the history of the United States of America.”

Congratulatory messages poured in shortly after his declaration, including Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, French President Macron, Egyptian President al-Sisi, and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy.