Republican former president Donald Trump has won the White House, securing more than the 270 electoral votes needed to defeat Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, US networks projected early Wednesday.
US media have declared Trump the winner in more than half of the 50 US states, including four key battlegrounds Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, three of which voted Democratic in the last election.
Joyful supporters waited for the 78-year-old to speak at a watch party in Florida - while gloom descended in Harris' camp as aides said she would no longer speak as expected.
In a further blow to Democrats, Trump's Republican Party also seized control of the Senate, flipping two seats to overturn a narrow Democratic majority.
World leaders rushed to congratulate Trump. But there are concerns his victory threatens to cause shockwaves around the world, as US allies in Europe and Asia fear a return of his nationalist policies and his praise of autocrats like Russia's Vladimir Putin.