Donald Trump has defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in a historic political comeback, recapturing the White House following an election loss in 2020, CNN has projected.
Trump will return to the nation's highest office four years after inciting a violent insurrection at the US Capitol as part of an effort to hold on to power as he refused to accept the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden.
Trump's election presents an unprecedented legal situation as the president-elect was scheduled to be sentenced in New York criminal court this month after being convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records earlier this year.
Trump also faces other criminal charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith in his ongoing federal election subversion case. The former president made the multiple criminal charges against him a focal point in his 2024 campaign as he argued he was being unjustly targeted and vowed to seek "retribution".
Trump, 78, will also become the second former president in history to win back the White House after losing a reelection bid while in office - Grover Cleveland was the first. Trump is now the same age that Biden was when Biden became the oldest president in US history to be inaugurated.
Trump picked up more support from Hispanics, traditionally Democratic voters, and among lower-income households, according to exit polls.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters have both congratulated Trump on his victory.
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