US election results 2024 LIVE updates: Kamala Harris offers hope to supporters in concession speech as Trump wins White House; Republicans gain Senate control

Kamala Harris has thanked her supporters in her first public remarks since conceding the election to Donald Trump.

“Let me say my heart is full today, my heart is full today. Full of gratitude for the trust you placed in me, full of love for our country and full of resolve,” she said.

“The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for. But hear me when I say the light of America’s promise will always burn bright a sling as we never give up, and as long as we keep fighting.”

Her running mate Tim Walz is in the crowd listening to her speech.

This is the first time Harris supporters have heard from their candidate since the election was called for Donald Trump last night. Earlier this morning Harris called Trump to concede and congratulate the Republican on his victory.

Vice President Kamala Harris made her concession speech at Howard University in Washington, DC, after she was decisively defeated by Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.

Watch her address her supporters below:

Kamala Harris’ campaign manager and senior adviser David Plouffe has thanked volunteers and voters in a brief statement.

Plouffe described the last 100 days as a “privilege”.

“We dug out of a deep hole but not enough. A devastating loss,” he said.

“Thanks for being in the arena, all of you.”

We are moments away from hearing from Harris herself for the first time since the result was called for Donald Trump – we’ll be bringing that to you live at about 8am.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has defended the ability of Australian Ambassador to the United States Kevin Rudd to work with incoming US president Donald Trump.

Speaking on Nine’s Today program, Wong disputed that a second Trump term would affect the alliance.

“I’d say the alliance is bigger than any individual or any past comments. It’s based on shared interests, shared objectives and a long-standing friendship,” Wong said.

“What I’d say is Australians should be confident. We should be confident in ourselves, in our ability to work together for our interests as Australians.”

Asked about Rudd’s ability to survive as ambassador as key Republicans have called for him to be sacked, Wong defended his ability.

“Kevin’s done an outstanding job as ambassador and he’s done an outstanding job with both Republicans and Democrats,” Wong said.

In a March interview with Nigel Farage, Trump called Rudd “nasty” and “not the brightest bulb” when asked for his thoughts on Australia’s ambassador.

“If he’s at all hostile, he will not be there long,” Trump said of Rudd’s ambassadorship.

Rudd has long criticised Trump, calling him a “destructive president” and a “traitor to the West”.

They were the seven battleground states for this election, and Donald Trump is on track for a clean sweep.

Five have been called – Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Michigan – all for Trump.

Notably, that includes the entire northern “blue wall” of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, which wiped out any path Kamala Harris and the Democrats had for victory.

The votes are still being tallied in the other two – Arizona and Nevada – and Trump holds the lead in both.

Read more in our live battleground states tracker here.

Jumping back to the status of Trump’s legal battles now that he has been elected president, he faces sentencing and a possible trial in two separate state cases.

Federally, Special Counsel Jack Smith is evaluating how to wind down two cases against Trump, over attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

But state legal battles still loom. In New York, Trump is due to be sentenced on November 26 on 36 counts of falsifying business records to pay hush money to cover up a sex scandal that could have derailed his chances of becoming president in 2016.

In Georgia, he has also been indicted for trying to overthrow the 2020 election result in that state. But these cases now hang in limbo.

In terms of the New York hush money case, it would take a very brave judge to jail a president-elect.

In terms of the Georgia case, District Attorney Fani Willis has said she is determined to push ahead with the trial, but Trump and his allies are trying to disqualify her after she had a relationship with the lead prosecutor.

Wall Street marched to record highs on Wednesday local time and major stock markets around the world surged, while bitcoin hit an all-time high and the dollar was set for its biggest one-day jump in four years after Donald Trump was elected US president.

Trump’s decisive victory pummelled long-dated Treasuries and revived the “Trump trade”, as yields sank in anticipation that Trump would hike tariffs as he had promised, increasing the US deficit and inflation and causing the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by less than it otherwise would have.

Trump, 78, recaptured the White House in Tuesday’s election with resolute support despite news reports and polls that said it was a closely contested election.

“In the near term, we see US equities supported by solid economic and corporate earnings growth, political clarity and Federal Reserve rate cuts,” BlackRock Investment Institute said.

“Longer term, much depends on how much of Trump’s agenda is enacted.”

Shares in electric carmaker Tesla leapt 13.6 per cent after Elon Musk, its billionaire chief executive officer, emerged as one of Trump’s key supporters in the final leg of his 2024 campaign.

Investors appeared to bet on Tesla’s benefiting from Musk’s ties with Trump, who has said he would create a government efficiency commission headed by Musk to cut federal spending.

Bloomberg

President Joe Biden has spoken to President-elect Donald Trump on the phone, congratulating him on his election win and inviting him to the White House for a transition meeting.

A statement from the White House confirmed the call, where Biden expressed his commitment to a smooth handover while emphasising the importance of uniting the country.

The transition meeting will take place in “the near future”. Biden will address the nation on Thursday US time to discuss the result and the transition.

Biden also spoke to Kamala Harris to congratulate her on her “historic campaign”.