Washington- Former President Donald Trumpinfo-icon has defeated  his Democratic rival Kamala Harris in the USinfo-icon presidential election, sealing an improbable comeback that is expected to pitch American democracy, US alliances and global markets into an era of upheaval.

Trump's resounding victory ends a volatile White House race that saw the billionaire Republican face two assassination attempts, a criminal conviction and the eleventh-hour change of his Democratic opponent after President Joe Biden abandoned his re-election bid.

The president-elect gained ground on the Democrats in 48 of the 50 states in the union, sweeping past Harris in the "blue wall" of Midwestern states she had thought could deliver her the White House. He was also on track to win the popular vote -- something no Republican has done since George W Bush in 2004.

"Americainfo-icon has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate,  this will be the golden age of America " , Trump declared with his family by his side amid cheers of his jubilant supporters.

"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.

"We are going to fix our borders. We are going to fix everything about our country. And we made historyinfo-icon for a reason tonight, and the reason is going to be just that we overcame obstacles that nobody thought possible, and it is now clear that we've achieved the most incredible political thing."

Trump also promised to usher in a "golden" period in the US.

"I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honour of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president," he said. "I will fight for you, for your family and your future."

"Every single day, I will be fighting for you and with every breath in my body, I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve. This will truly be the golden age of America," he added.

At 78, Trump will in January be the oldest US president to be sworn into office. His running mate, 40-year-old Ohio senator JD Vance, will be one of the country's youngest ever vice-presidents.

The victory by Trump is largely being seen as a remarkable comeback after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden which appeared to be the end of his political career.

Trump will return to the White House four years after his first tumultuous term ended with his attempt to overturn the results of an election he lost to Biden and the assault on the US Capitol by his supporters. 

He will lead a sharply divided country, but voters showed they were willing to overlook his past behaviour and incendiary campaign, instead punishing Harris for the high inflation, global conflicts and a significant rise in immigration that Republicans blamed on Biden's policies. 

In the Middle Eastinfo-icon, Trump has promised to take a tougher stance towards Iraninfo-icon than Biden and resolve the wars in Gazainfo-icon and Lebanoninfo-icon, although he has not detailed how.

In one of the earliest foreign reactions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed what he described as "history's greatest comeback" and a "huge victory" in a post on X. 

As investors bet that Trump's policies would boost both economic growth and inflation, the dollar rose 1.8 per cent against a basket of rivals in its biggest surge since the 2016 Brexit referendum.