The 78-year-old Republican leader, convicted of felony charges and awaiting sentencing in a hush-money case in New York, defeated his Democratic rival Kamala Harris in a bitterly fought election

According to races called by the Associated Press up to 7 pm (IST), 277 electoral votes had gone to Trump and 224 to Harris

Trump, the oldest person in US history to be elected president, crossed the halfway 270 votes-mark in electoral college votes with victory in the battleground state of Wisconsin

Addressing his supporters at West Palm Beach in Florida, Trump declared his victory in the presidential, calling the mandate "unprecedented and powerful"

"Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason," Trump said, referring to the two assassination attempts on his life during the election campaign this year

Amid cheers of his jubilant supporters and his family by his side, Trump declared that this will be the "golden age" of America

"This is a magnificent victory for the American people. This was a movement like nobody's ever seen before, and frankly, this was, I believe, the greatest political movement of all time. There's never been anything like this in this country, and maybe beyond," Trump said

"And now it's going to reach a new level of importance because we're going to help our country heal. We'll help our country...we have a country that needs help, and it needs help very badly," he said

Soon after projections indicated Trump's victory, congratulatory messages started pouring in from world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, for his "historic return to the White House"