Donald Trump appears to have the early advantage in the race for the White House as he is projected to win the first two crucial swing states.
Kamala Harris is still in the running to be the first woman to become US president, but her path to victory seems to be narrowing.
The pair went into the election neck and neck in the opinion polls and there were no major surprises in the early projected results.
Follow live: Trump camp ‘increasingly optimistic’
Wins were predicted for Mr Trump in red states such as Florida and Texas and for Ms Harris in Democrat strongholds including New York and Massachusetts.
The election is expected to come down to the seven battleground states as Mr Trump, 78, and Ms Harris, 60, look to hit the target of 270 electoral votes to become president.
An attendee reacts to early election results at Democratic presidential nominee at Kamala Harris’s election night rally in Washington. Pic: Reuters
NBC News says Mr Trump is projected to win North Carolina and Georgia, but Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are still too close, or too early to call.
The Democrats haven’t won in North Carolina since 2008, with Mr Trump taking the state by a margin of 74,483 votes or 1.3 points in 2020.
Georgia is a typical red state, where Joe Biden became the first Democrat to win, by a small margin in 2020, since Bill Clinton in 1992.
Concerns are growing within Ms Harris’s camp, although her campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon told staff the race is “razor thin” but “exactly what we prepared for”.
Her path to victory now seems to hinge on her winning all three of the so-called blue wall states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan – but Mr Trump is currently leading in all three.
Optimism is rising among Mr Trump’s supporters and he is heading to Palm Beach, in Florida, to address some of them, while Ms Harris’s aides say she won’t speak tonight.
With votes still being counted, Mr Trump is currently projected to win 246 electoral votes and Ms Harris 194, while he is currently ahead 51.6% to 46.9% on the national popular vote, which he lost in both 2020 and 2016.
NBC also projects the Republicans will take control of the Senate from the Democrats with a forecast of 51 seats to 40, while the House, which is currently held by the Republicans is still up in the air.
