US election: Donald Trump speaks at campaign HQ in Palm Beach, Florida

President-elect Donald Trump has promised to “heal the US” as he praised the “greatest political movement of all time” after beating Kamala Harris to the White House in a stunning election victory.

The win means he is only the second president in history to win non-consecutive terms in office, after Grover Cleveland became the 22nd and 24th president in 1885 and 1893.

Vice President-elect JD Vance labelled the victory “the greatest political comeback in the history of the United States”.

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Mr Trump took an early lead over Ms Harris as the votes were counted, with many of the traditional Republican states on the east coast of the US turning red as expected.

But it came down to the crucial swing states in the end, and once North Carolina and Georgia fell to the Republicans, followed swiftly by all-important Pennsylvania, the result was set in stone.

Mr Trump left his Mar-a-Lago compound and headed straight to his campaign HQ in Palm Beach, Florida, to address his jubilant supporters.

While Trump supporters were celebrating, Ms Harris’ supporters were commiserating, with droves of them leaving an event at Howard University in Washington DC after the result started to become apparent.

“It’s too late,” one said as they walked out.

“She’s not going to come out. If she does I’ll watch from bed,” said another.

As the news filtered in, Ms Harris’ campaign manager sent an email to all staff explaining what would happen “over the next few days”.

“The returns are coming in slowly,” the memo said.

“We are built for this. We will see you tomorrow.”

But that message of hope proved to be overly optimistic, and Ms Harris followed suit by cancelling her appearance at the event. She did not make a speech on election day.

Mr Trump praised the “greatest political movement of all time” and promised to help the country “heal”.

“Frankly this was I believe the greatest political movement of all time, there’s never been anything like this in this country and maybe the earth.

“And now it is going to reach a new level of importance because we are going to help our country heal. We have a country that needs help and it needs help very badly.

“We’re going to fix everything, we’re going to fix our borders.

“I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honour of being elected your 47th President. And your 45th President.

“(To) every citizen I will fight for you, for your family, and your future.

“I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve.

“This is a magnificent victory for the American people that will allow us to Make America Great Again.”

He walked onstage to the sounds of God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood.

Mr Trump thanked his family and his supporters, setting aside special mention for his wife Melania, his children and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who also spent the evening with the President-elect at his Florida home.

His running mate, Vice President-elect JD Vance, praised Mr Trump for allowing him on “this incredible journey”.

“I think we just witnessed the greatest political comeback in the history of the United States of America,” he said.

Even UFC boss and Trump supporter Dana White was afforded an opportunity to speak, praising Mr Trump’s resilience and labelling the win “karma”.

“Nobody deserves this more than him and nobody deserves this more than his family does,” he said.

“This is what happens when the machine comes after you, what you have seen the last several years, this is what it looks like. (They) couldn’t stop them, he keeps going forward, he doesn’t quit, he is the most resilient hard-working man I’ve ever met in my life.”

Earlier in the night, Trump called in to US radio presenter Rich Zeoli to declare if he won Pennsylvania, he would win “the whole deal”.

It was one prediction from the newly-elected President that ultimately proved accurate.

The election result caps off a hard-fought campaign, in which Mr Trump saw off his original opponent, President Joe Biden, after a debate in which Mr Biden stumbled and fumbled his way through a number of answers.

The debate performance raised questions about Mr Biden’s age and in the days that followed, he handed over the Democratic candidacy to his Vice President.

September proved to be a momentous month for the campaign on both sides.

Mr Trump came up against a well-crafted attack from Ms Harris in their first and only debate on September 10, which appeared to put him on the back foot.

Just days later, Mr Trump was injured in a shocking assassination attempt at a rally in Butler during which the shooter was killed by Secret Service agents.

That near-miss proved to be a decisive point in his campaign after he was captured in a now-iconic moment raising his fist to the crowd while bleeding from the ear as Secret Service agents helped him off the stage.

And it was that same State, Pennsylvania, that went a long way to confirming his re-ascendancy to the White House once again on Tuesday.