Donald Trump declared victory in the 2024 presidential election as he addressed supporters in Florida.

After winning the key swing state of Pennsylvania, the Republican took to the stage at his campaign’s watch party in West Palm Beach where over the cheers, he said it had been the ‘greatest’ ever political movement.

Saying they’d ‘overcome obstacles’ and promising to fix ‘everything’, Trump thanked the crowd for making him their ’47th president’ as well as the 45th US president.

Joined on stage by JD Vance, his wife Melania Trump and campaign staff, he said he’s excited to ‘make America great again’.

“We have taken back control of the senate,” Trump added. “Wow, that’s good.”

Donald Trump says he’s the new president (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The presidential race is, of course, yet to actually be called – and there could still be quite some time until it is. But Trump’s already called it a ‘political victory’ as the crowd kept chanting: “USA, USA, USA.”

“And it also looks like we’ll be keeping control of the House of Representatives,” he added.

Having not yet achieved the official required electoral college votes, Trump believes the ‘golden age’ of America is about to begin.

“This is a magnificent victory for the American people, that will allow us to make America great again,” he added.

Ahead of polling day, voters in the 2024 US presidential election faced a stark choice between two candidates who have offered hugely contrasting approaches and visions in their quest to be the so-called leader of the free world.

Tens of millions of US citizens cast their votes early; either voting by post or in person prior to 5 November.

The Republicans haven’t been announced as winners just yet but he reckons he’s in (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Those voting on polling day mostly encountered a smooth process around the country, with isolated reports of some standard hiccups that often happen. This included long lines to queue, technical issues and errors with printing ballot papers.

Harris, the Democratic vice president, had set her sights on becoming the first female president ahead of election day, promising to work directly with Republicans to tackle economic worries and other issues. It was a stance that was radically different from that taken by the outgoing president of the United States, Joe Biden.

Trump, the Republican former president who lost to Biden in 2020 after beating Hillary Clinton in 2016, promised to replace thousands of federal workers with those loyal to him and his MAGA movement.

He also said he would impose sweeping tariffs on allies and foes alike, and stage the largest deportation operation in US history.

The two candidates spent the waning hours of the campaign overlapping in Pennsylvania, the biggest battleground state.

Following on from the 2020 election, Trump launched an effort to overturn the outcome of the election that ended in the 6 January insurrection at the US Capitol in 2021.

The 2024 US presidential election has a winner, with Donald Trump claiming the keys to the Oval Office following a nail-biting campaign for both Republicans and Democrats.

It is projected he has won the swing state of Wisconsin and with that, he is now projected to have won the presidency.

Heading into polling day (5 November), nobody could call a winner with the final polls saying that the result could have gone either way with both Kamala Harris and Trump within the margins of error in the key swing states needed to win the race for the White House.

But as election night went on, it became pretty clear pretty soon that the former US president would be taking up the position once again.

Trump actually declared victory himself before it was officially called, telling supporters at his campaign’s watch party in Florida it had been the ‘greatest ever political movement’.

The 47th president of the United States (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The former 45th and now 47th US president said it’s going to be the ‘golden age’ for America while also talking about Elon Musk being a ‘new star’ and promising Americans to ‘help our country heal’.

Joined on stage by JD Vance, Dana White, his wife Melania Trump, family and campaign staff, the Republican said he’s excited to ‘make America great again’.

“We have taken back control of the Senate,” he said. “Wow, that’s good.”

Trump called being president the ‘most important job in the world’ as he said he’ll run his government on the motto: “Promises made, promises kept.”

Our prime minister, Keir Starmer, congratulated Trump on the ‘historic election victory’ as he said he looks ‘forward to working with him in the years ahead’.

“As the closest of allies, we stand shoulder to shoulder in defence of our shared values of freedom, democracy and enterprise,” he added.

“From growth and security to innovation and tech, I know that the UK-US special relationship will continue to prosper on both sides of the Atlantic for years to come.”

Millions cast their vote for this year’s 2024 presidential election (JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

Leading US polling forecaster, Nate Silver, published his final prediction heading into polling day, and out of 80,000 simulations run by him and his team, Harris won 40,012.

Both camps had been confident, with Trump’s team more vocal in the final week of campaigning while Harris’ team grew more and more optimistic as momentum seemed to grow ahead of the time to cast millions of ballots across the US.

Harris spent the final night of the campaign in Pennsylvania, a state both candidates desperately wanted to win in order to secure the presidency but was ultimately won by Trump.

But after voting closed, exit polls were released and results were verified, it was the Republican’s team that popped champagne corks as the final result looked more and more certain.

The 2024 US presidential election is finally here. But, as with every White House newcomer, whoever wins won’t enter the Oval Office for quite some time yet.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are fighting it out for the most powerful job in the world, with both of them confident of beating the other as millions of US citizens vote in the 2024 election taking place on Tuesday (5 November).

The reality of the situation is that it is a complete toss-up, with the polls too close to confidently say whether the Democrats or Republicans will definitely triumph.

Regardless of who wins out of the current vice president and former POTUS, one thing is for certain; they will not sit behind the desk of the Oval Office on Wednesday.

When will Trump or Harris be announced as the new president?

Voters in the USA will take to the polls on Tuesday to either usher Donald Trump back in to the White House or move Kamala Harris from her current vice presidential quarters in to the Oval Office.

Millions of votes have been cast early this time around, with recounts also a possibility due to how close the result could be.

There could also be legal challenges, especially if Trump loses, given that he still maintains the 2020 presidential election was ‘rigged’ and ‘fraudulent’.

In 2020, which was an incredibly close election, people voted on 3 November, with the result officially declared by US television broadcasters on 7 November, so we could see a similar timeframe again if none of the above hurdles are encountered.

And on the flip side, Obama and Trump’s victories in 2012 and 2016 were known within hours.

A lot will depend on exit polling and how accurate a picture it can portray.

Donald Trump wants to be the new POTUS (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

What happens after they’ve been announced as president?

Once the result looks confirmed, the new president will address their campaign teams and a live audience in a televised announcement.

But the work will continue in the background.

All US states must verify their results by 11 December under the Electoral Count Act. In the window up until this date, any issues or controversies can be filed – such as contesting a result, as Trump did in 2020 – before results are rubber-stamped.

On 17 December, electors from each state will meet to formally put forward their local results for president and vice president.

The vote will be incredibly close (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

So, when do they become president?

Once the votes are ratified and sent to Washington, home of the USA’s political powerhouse, movement will start to bring in the new president.

This takes place after the US Congress meets to count the electoral votes on 6 January, overseen by the current vice president, which itself might be controversial to some voters, due to that person currently being Harris herself.

It was during this meeting in 2021 that the US Capitol building – where Congress sits – was stormed by people who didn’t agree with the result showing a Biden win.

Then, on 20 January, it will be Inauguration Day, where Joe Biden will officially hand over power to either Trump or Harris, who will take the presidential oath of office alongside the same oath for the new vice president.

Well, it’s kicked off. The voting closed last night (5 November) and the counts have begun, with some states already being called.

And pretty soon, the US will have its new president. Only we don’t quite know how soon but as it stands right now, Donald Trump seems to be projected to win the 2024 election.

With a very tight race throughout the campaigns between him and current Vice President Kamala Harris, millions of American citizens cast their votes early; either voting by post or in person before yesterday.

Polls were initially neck-and-neck with some analysts reluctant to make firm predictions over who would win. But the former president, Trump, has so far been projected to win key swing states North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania, putting him right on the cusp of returning to the White House.

It’s looking like he might’ve done it again (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean the race will be called quickly and we’ll have a confirmed winner.

When will we know who the new US president is?

So, the media call the result in the days or week (sometimes weeks) after polling day but this is only ever just a projection – the election is officially certified by Congress on 6 January.

How long it takes to be called depends on two key things: how close the votes are in individual states and then the specific laws in those states around vote counts and potential recounts.

Politics professor at NYU and senior geopolitical risk advisor at financial firm Kroll, Josh Tucker told The Independent: “The way to think about this is a razor’s edge coin flip with a wide margin of error which could lead to either candidate winning.

“But it could also lead to these scenarios where we could not know for days or weeks.”

And Dr Hans Noel, associate professor of government at Georgetown, also said: “It is possible it could be really quick,” but he did add: “I think we should be prepared to sit tight.”

She would be the first female US president (JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

Of course, as things are currently going with Trump winning key swing states including Pennsylvania, there is the possibility we know the projected result today (US’ election night).

Tucker pointed out: “One option for election night is that the polling has been off in a way that favours Donald Trump and it becomes apparent that he wins enough of these states that, even on election night, we’re able to see he’s probably going to win.”

But this still could all be dragged out by a state taking longer to count votes or problems arising.

And there’s still the chance that as the polls predicted it ends up ‘a toss up’ between the pair.

“It was Saturday after the [2020] election that we knew the winner,” Tucker said, so if this year is similar, ‘it will be days’ before getting a projected result.

Noel also agreed this is possible, but if legal issues arise with counts where things are much tighter then we could be waiting for weeks.