Trump claims victory over Harris in US presidential election

FLORIDA

Donald Trump claimed victory and pledged to "heal" the country Wednesday as results put him on the verge of beating Kamala Harris in a stunning White House comeback.

The polarizing Republican's victory, following one of the most hostile campaigns in modern U.S. history, was all the more remarkable given an unprecedented criminal conviction, a near-miss assassination attempt, and warnings from a former chief of staff that he is a "fascist."

"It's a political victory that our country has never seen before," Trump told a victory party in Florida.

Trump is the first president in more than a century to win a non-consecutive second term.

He is also the only person to be elected as a convicted felon: He will face sentencing in a New York court for fraud on Nov. 26.

Already 78, Trump is on course to break another record as the oldest-ever sitting president during his four-year term. He will surpass Biden who is set to step down in January at the age of 82.

Vice President Harris, who only entered the race in July after President Joe Biden dropped out, ran a centrist campaign that highlighted Trump's inflammatory messaging and use of openly racist and sexist tropes.

But his apocalyptic warnings about immigration and championing of isolationism found their mark with voters battered by the post-COVID economy and eager for a change from the Biden years.

The campaign pointed to a nail-bitingly close contest, but the results came surprisingly fast, delivering a crushing victory that included wins in the swing states of Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Trump's victory comes with his promise of radical policy shifts, not just at home but also abroad, where his unrestrained isolationist and nationalist "America First" stance is likely to have enormous consequences.

He has repeatedly suggested he would end the conflict in Ukraine by pressuring Kiev to make territorial concessions to Russia, and his threat of mass deportations of illegal immigrants has stirred deep concern in Latin America.

He also returns to the White House as a climate change denier, poised to dismantle his predecessor Biden's green policies and jeopardize global efforts to curb human-caused warming.

For all his dark promises of political revenge against enemies at home and his criticisms of longstanding allies overseas, Trump remains famously unpredictable when it comes to matching words with actions.

His campaign rallies, filled with grievance, insults and misinformation, featured extreme rhetoric.

But he won positive coverage with viral online moments that played on his everyman appeal and his showman's instinct, like his appearance at a McDonald's drive-thru and impromptu news conference from a garbage truck.

He campaigned on tax cuts, less regulation and the most significant increase in import tariffs in nearly a century to promote growth and boost manufacturing, despite warnings of trade wars and higher prices for U.S. consumers.

Trump's more mainstream messaging often became overshadowed by his tendency to lurch into foul language and violent imagery. But that hard-charging style played well with his unfailingly loyal base, which sees him as a Washington outsider.

And he gained traction with his hard-line anti-immigration message and outreach to working-class voters hit by COVID-triggered inflation.