Donald Trump is set to return to the White House after his emphatic victory over Kamala Harris in the November 5 US presidential elections. While the final results have not yet been declared, Trump has so far won 312 electoral votes, well past the 270 needed for victory. His Democratic rival, Harris, is lagging behind at 226.

The 78-year-old leader also sealed his sweep of all seven swing states, including Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, all of which voted Democratic in the last election. He also won the swing states of North Carolina and Nevada. 

He has now started to assemble his second administration and has named campaign manager Susie Wiles to serve as his White House chief of staff. She is the first woman to be named to the high-profile role. All eyes are now on the Republican’s other appointments for his incoming administration.

Here are live updates on Donald Trump’s return to White House:

New Delhi:

As US election counting trends pointed to a clear win for Republicans, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Donald Trump on his comeback as President. Describing Trump as “my friend”, the Prime Minister said in a post on X, “Heartiest congratulations my friend @realDonaldTrump on your historic election victory.”

“As you build on the successes of your previous term, I look forward to renewing our collaboration to further strengthen the India-US Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership. Together, let’s work for the betterment of our people and to promote global peace, stability and prosperity,” he added.

Heartiest congratulations my friend @realDonaldTrump on your historic election victory. As you build on the successes of your previous term, I look forward to renewing our collaboration to further strengthen the India-US Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership. Together,… pic.twitter.com/u5hKPeJ3SY

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 6, 2024

Donald Trump is on the brink of a massive victory in what was predicted to be a close election. The Republicans managed to swing all seven battleground states to their advantage — a stunning feat considering the Democrats won them 6-1 in the 2020 election.

Addressing his supporters as the poll projections pointed to his victory, Trump said it was a “magnificent victory for the American people”. He also referred to the July 13 assassination attempt and said “God spared my life for a reason”.

Describing the Republican campaign as the “greatest political movement of all time”, Trump said, “We are going to help our country heal, fix our borders, we made history for a reason tonight. We have achieved the most incredible political win. I want to thank the American people. I will fight for you and your family with every breath in my body.”

Trump said the Democrats are now looking at a massive electoral votes score of 315.

What makes the Republican victory bigger is the fact that they have also taken control of the Senate and are leading in the election for the House of Representatives.

In his victory speech, Trump thanked his supporters, running mate JD Vance, wife Melanie Trump and his children for their support in what has been a challenging campaign. He also gave a shoutout to Tesla CEO and X boss Elon Musk, who has been voicing support for Trump.

New Delhi:

On the brink of a landslide win in the US election, Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump thanked his supporters today and described it as a “magnificent victory for the American people”. He also referred to the July 13 assassination attempt and said “God spared my life for a reason”. 

The 78-year-old is currently projected to win 267 electoral college votes, three short of the magic figure of 270. The opponent, incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris is trailing at 224.

Describing the Republican campaign as the “greatest political movement of all time”, Trump said, “We are going to help our country heal, fix our borders, we made history for a reason tonight. We have achieved the most incredible political win. I want to thank the American people. I will fight for you and your family with every breath in my body.”

Trump said the Democrats are now looking at a massive electoral votes score of 315.

A massive factor in Trump’s victory was the Republican sweep in seven swing or battleground states. From a 6-1 score in favour of Democrats in the 2020 polls, these seven states swung to a 7-0 advantage for Trump. The Republican leader has already won three swing states — Georgia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina — and is leading in Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan and Nevada.

What makes the Republican victory bigger is the fact that they have also taken control of the Senate and are leading in the election for the House of Representatives.

In his victory speech, Trump thanked his supporters, running mate JD Vance, wife Melanie Trump and his children for their support in what has been a challenging campaign. He also gave a shoutout to Tesla CEO and X boss Elon Musk, who has been voicing support for Trump.

Thulasenthirapuram:

The tiny village of Thulasemthirapuram in Tamil Nadu is praying for US Presidential Democratic candidate Kamala Harris’ victory, strengthening her family’s ancestral ties with the village dating back a century. Initiated by the local elected councillor Arulmozhi, the priest of the temple of Kamala’s family deity performed a special ritual in her honour. 

“This is a powerful God. We prayed last time and she had become the Vice President. This time we are confident she’d become the President of the USA. She’s a sign of women empowerment and an inspiration for women to scale greater heights,” Arulmozhi told NDTV.

Kamala’s maternal grandfather PV Gopalan, a bureaucrat, was born and brought up here before he moved to the then-Madras where he used to take Kamala for a walk along Elliot’s Beach. Kamala has said her grandpa had made a tremendous impact on her.

Many years ago, Kamala donated Rs 5,000 for the renovation of the temple and her name remains engraved in the list of donors. 

“Kamala has to win to save democracy,” said Kamala’s friend Sharon, now based in Chennai. “She has to become the first woman President of the US. Already we are pretty late with many countries including India have had women Presidents and Prime Ministers.”

A few posters put up in the village hail Kamala as “a daughter of the soil” and wish her the best in the Presidential race. TS Anbarasan, another man from the village who now lives in the nearby Mannargudi town compared Kamala to Sunita Williams. “We are all proud of their Indian connection and their accomplishments. They are role models,” he said. 

Arulmozhi the councillor plans to serve a free meal on Wednesday if Kamala wins. “We will serve her favourite idly,” she says.

However, some in the village are also oblivious to what is happening. A man at the local tea shop near the temple added “Kamala’s grandfather lived here many decades ago. None of us know him and hence we are not following this.”

On November 5, Americans will cast their votes not only for the presidency but also for 34 Senate seats, all 435 House seats, 11 governorships and thousands of state legislative positions. Among the new contenders is Ashwin Ramaswami, a young Indian American Democrat challenging Republican Senator Shawn Still in Georgia’s Senate District 48, a traditionally conservative seat.

Who is Ashwin Ramaswami?

1. Ashwin Ramaswami was born to Indian immigrant parents from Tamil Nadu and grew up in Johns Creek. He is running for the Georgia State Senate in District 48, and just meets the minimum age requirement of 25, turning that age in May 2024.
2. Ashwin Ramaswami studied Computer Science at Stanford University and then pursued a law degree at Georgetown University, as per his election campaign website.
3. He has a strong background in cybersecurity, having worked with CISA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, where he helped secure local election systems from cyberattacks, and Schmidt Futures, where he conducted research on securing open-source software, which contributed to a bill in Congress. He decided to quit his job at CISA after three years to run for office after realising that the greater threat to democracy lies not just in cyberattacks but in political misinformation surrounding election integrity, reported NBC News.
4. During his studies, he taught classes on Hindu philosophy and raised $100,000 for Dharmic programmes at Georgetown, supporting students of various faiths, including Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist.
5. Ashwin Ramaswami’s campaign promises election security and integrity, positioning him against Shawn Still’s alleged 2020 election-related activities. Shawn Still was one of the fake electors who participated in the Donald Trump fake electors plot, which aimed to award Georgia’s electoral votes to Donald Trump despite him losing the state to Joe Biden. Mr Ramaswami’s campaign has raised more than $700,000 in funding, which is considered a significant amount for a first-time candidate.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr said on Friday he would suspend his campaign, and endorsed Republican Donald Trump. Robert, the nephew of former President John F Kennedy and the son of Senior Robert F Kennedy, projected himself as an alternative to Donald Trump for the Republican Party in the US. And despite his persistently poor polling numbers, Mr Kennedy was regularly featured in the news cycle, often for bizarre reasons.

Before suspending his White House bid and endorsing the former US President, Ms Kennedy ran a campaign filled with what many have described as outrageous moments.

Brain worm

In May, The New York Times reported that Mr Kennedy believed he had a brain tumor, which was actually the work of a hungry parasite. In a 2012 deposition during divorce proceedings from his second wife, he said that a physician thought an anomaly in his brain scans “was caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died.” He indicated that he had been suffering from extreme mental haze and memory loss, which had reduced his earning potential.

Kennedy’s response to sexual assault allegations

In July, a Vanity Fair piece claimed that Mr Kennedy sexually assaulted a former babysitter for the family. Mr Kennedy’s response to the accusations can hardly be considered an apology. During his appearance on the podcast Breaking Point, he said, “The [Vanity Fair] article is a lot of garbage. Listen, I have said this from the beginning. I am not a church boy. I am not running like that.” Later, he claimed to have texted Cooney to express regret for his actions.

Eating dogs

The same article featured a photo of Mr Kennedy grinning and pretending to bite on what looked like a grilled dog carcass. In an interview with News Nation, he said that the image was actually of a goat they were going to eat. He said, “I’m a very adventurous eater, I’ll eat virtually anything. There are two things I wouldn’t eat — well, three. I wouldn’t eat a human, I wouldn’t eat a monkey, and I wouldn’t eat a dog. I think I’d eat something else.”

Kennedy said he “won’t take sides on 9/11”

Mr Kennedy declared that should he be elected president, he “wouldn’t take sides on 9/11” and would be transparent on social media. He claimed his statement was inspired by a “60 Minutes” report on a theory that the Saudi government knew about the plot in advance. He continued, saying, “It’s hard to tell what is a conspiracy theory and what isn’t.” He has previously floated other conspiracy theories about vaccinations, AIDS, and the murder of his uncle.

My take on 9/11: It’s hard to tell what is a conspiracy theory and what isn’t. But conspiracy theories flourish when the government routinely lies to the public. As President I won’t take sides on 9/11 or any of the other debates. But I can promise is that I will open the files…

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) July 5, 2024

The bear cub

In August, The New Yorker magazine got hold of a story about Mr Kennedy’s adventures with a dead bear cub, 10 years ago. To get ahead of the New Yorker’s scoop, Mr Kennedy shared the story on Twitter. The tale revealed that Kennedy had discovered a dead bear cub by the side of the road, he then loaded it into the back of his car, snapped a picture with the body, went to do some falconry and had dinner of steak. However, before leaving for the airport, he used the bear’s body to stage a death resembling a bicycle hit-and-run incident in NYC’s Central Park.

Hillary Clinton, who became the first woman to secure a major US party’s presidential nomination, addressed the Democratic convention in Chicago today and praised her party’s new presidential nominee Kamala Harris, and attacked Republican candidate Donald Trump.

Thousands have gathered in Chicago for the Democratic Convention to show their support for Kamala Harris as officially nominated democratic party candidate against Donald Trump in the 2024 US presidential elections.

“As president, she (Kamala Harris) will always have our backs and she will be a fighter for us. She will fight to lower costs for hard-working families, open the doors wide for good paying jobs and, yes, she will restore abortion rights nationwide,” Clinton said.

Attacking Trump, who she lost in the 2016 US elections, Clinton said he “only thinks about himself”.

“Donald Trump fell asleep at his own trial, and when he woke up, he made his own kind of history, the first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions,” she said.

.@HillaryClinton: Kamala will never rest in defense of our freedom and safety. Donald Trump fell asleep at his own trial pic.twitter.com/30gaMgk7n3

— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 20, 2024

Clinton, who lost the party’s nomination to Barrack Obama in 2008, also praised US President Joe Biden, saying he has been the “champion of Democracy, at home and abroad.”

“And now, we are writing a new chapter in America’s story,” Clinton said, adding Kamala has the “character, experience and vision to lead us forward.”

Kamala Harris’ Surprise Appearance

Kamala Harris also made a surprise appearance at the party’s national convention and vowed to defeat her Republican rival Donald Trump in the November election.

“Let us fight for the ideals we hold dear and let us always remember, when we fight we win!” she said in brief remarks.

She also praised Biden and said, “Joe, thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation.”

“We are forever grateful,” she told Biden.

Many Democratic leaders have backed Kamala Harris as the party’s new US Presidential candidate, but ex-president Barack Obama has held off so far.

According to the New York Post, Obama hasn’t endorsed Harris – who US President Joe Biden supported after he dropped out of the race on Sunday, as he doesn’t think she can beat Republican candidate Donald Trump.

“Obama is very upset because he knows she can’t win,” a Biden family source told The New York Post.

“Obama knows she’s just incompetent – the border czar who never visited the border, saying that all migrants should have health insurance. She cannot navigate the landmines that are ahead of her,” the source said. “When you are running for president there are things you can and can’t say.”

The source said that Obama’s hope was to get Biden out of the way and an article written by actor George Clooney, asking him to step aside, was a part of that plan.

Obama wanted Arizona Senator Mark Kelly “at the top of the ticket” when the Democratic National Convention is held next month, the source told The New York Post.

“Obama is furious, things haven’t gone his way, which is why he is not joining in the Democratic Party’s support of Harris,” the source added.

However, NBC News reported on Thursday that Barack Obama plans to endorse Kamala Harris soon.

Obama privately has fully supported Harris’ candidacy and has been in regular contact with her, the report said, citing people familiar with the discussions.

“Aides to Obama and Harris also have discussed arranging for the two of them to appear together on the campaign trail, though no date has been set,” the report said.

Michelle Obama To Replace Joe Biden?

Earlier last month, before Joe Biden bowed out, US Senator Ted Cruz predicted that former First Lady Michelle Obama would replace him.

His prediction came after Biden’s presidential debate against Donald Trump, which was widely criticised by political analysts.

“The odds are north of 80% that the Democratic Party will remove Joe Biden from the ticket and replace him with Michelle Obama because Biden did so disastrously badly (in the debate) that Democrats across the country are in utter freefall and complete panic,” he said.

Michelle Obama has so far not expressed any interest in joining the race to the White House.

Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, speaks during Faith & Freedom Coalition’s God & Country Breakfast on July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee.
| Photo Credit: AP

J.D. Vance, the Republican candidate for U.S. Vice President, weaved the story of his childhood struggle in a decrepit white working class community in Ohio into America First politics, vowing to regenerate manufacturing jobs in the country and avoid U.S. entanglement in global conflicts. “Our jobs were sent overseas and our children were sent to war,” Mr. Vance, 39, who has emerged as the poster boy of the American working class, told the Republican National Convention on Wednesday.

Also Read | U.K. Deputy PM dismisses ‘Islamist’ nuclear state jibe by Trump VP pick Vance

His Indian-origin wife Usha introduced the VP candidate — U.S. Senator from Ohio — at the convention as someone who realised the American dream. “He has the same ambition for all Americans,” she said recalling how Mr. Vance learnt to cook Indian vegetarian food and embraced her family of Indian immigrant parents and sister. “That JD and I could meet and fall in love is testament to this great country,” she said.

The couple met as classmates at Yale Law School. Mr. Vance blamed illegal inflow of people into the U.S. for a runaway crisis in housing and inflation even as he made it clear that immigration was integral to being American. “We are a people with a shared history and a shared future. In short, we are a nation… As part of that tradition, we welcome newcomers. When we allow newcomers into our American family, we allow them on our terms — that is the way we preserve the continuity of this project,” Mr. Vance said, pointing out that his wife’s family “genuinely enriched” the U.S.

Mr. Vance was raised by his grandmother who he said loved God and the F word. His single mother had fallen to addiction even as jobs and factories disappeared from the community to global trade. In his acceptance speech, Mr. Vance linked the decline of his family and the community directly to U.S. President Joe Biden.

Forgotten by rulers

“It was also a place that had been cast aside and forgotten by America’s ruling class in Washington. When I was in grade four, a career politician by the name of Joe Biden supported NAFTA — a bad trade deal that sent countless good jobs to Mexico. When I was a sophomore in high school that same career politician named Joe Biden gave China a sweetheart trade deal that destroyed even more good American middle class manufacturing jobs; when I was a senior in high school that same Joe Biden supported the disastrous invasion of Iraq and at each step of the way in small towns like mine and Ohio or next door in Pennsylvania or Michigan in States all across our country, jobs were sent overseas and our children were sent to war,” Mr. Vance said, as the crowd chanted “Joe must go.” The America First nationalism mobilised by Mr. Trump has found a perfect champion in Mr. Vance, who dialled up the anger against trade and war with his personal tales of struggle and survival. Mr. Vance’s 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy was a bestselling book and later a film.

Also Read | J.D. Vance introduces himself as Trump’s running mate and makes direct appeal to his native Rust Belt

Mr. Vance, who served as a marine in Iraq, said American soldiers would be sent to war only when they must. Allies will have to pay a fair share for joint defence, and there will be “no more free rides for nations that betray the generosity of the American tax payer”. The VP candidate has been a strong opponent of U.S. aid to Ukraine, and Mr. Trump has said Taiwan will have to pay the U.S. for its defence. “From Iraq to Afghanistan… America’s ruling class wrote the cheque and communities like mine paid the price,” said Mr. Vance, adding that a new Trump presidency will be focused on the welfare of the American working class.

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley has scored a surprise victory on Super Tuesday, upsetting Donald Trump to win Vermont.

That victory will do little to dent Mr. Trump’s primary dominance, however. The former President won 11 other states on Super Tuesday.

Ms. Haley is the last major rival to Mr. Trump standing in a once-crowded primary field. She has increasingly stepped up her attacks on the former President, arguing that he will lose in November to President Joe Biden if he clinches the party’s nomination.

On the Democratic side, Mr. Biden also ran up the score with wins all around the country against only token primary opposition — all but cementing the long-expected November rematch between him and Mr. Trump.