Donald Trump has been elected to return to the White House as the 47th United States President, foreign news agencies reported.  Results showed Trump beating Vice President Kamala Harris in a race far less tight than expected as he triumphed in key battleground states.  

Victory in Wisconsin after earlier triumphs in Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania saw the former president clear the threshold of the 270 Electoral College votes required to clinch the White House in Tuesday’s election.  

Trump’s victory in those swing states currently sees him with 277 electoral votes against 224 for Harris. Polls had predicted a much tighter race, but it appears that anger fuelled the Republican’s remarkable comeback from defeat in 2020 and widespread condemnation of his refusal to accept the result.  

Speaking to his supporters as he declared victory, Trump claimed he had won “an unprecedented and powerful mandate”.