Election Live Updates: Trump and Supporters Celebrate Landslide Victory
Where Things Stand
Americans woke up Wednesday to the news that Donald J. Trump had reclaimed the White House in a stunning political comeback, a victory that boosted investor confidence and drew congratulatory messages from around the world. His win was solidified just after 5:30 a.m. Eastern when he secured the crucial battleground state of Wisconsin, pushing him past the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency.
U.S. stocks, the dollar’s value, and Treasury bond yields all surged as Trump’s victory became clear. Major stock indexes jumped at the opening of trading, reflecting the certainty of the election result after weeks of uncertainty.
Trump’s supporters were celebrating a decisive win in what had been expected to be a tightly contested race. While a final vote count would take days, Trump appeared poised not only to win the Electoral College but also the national popular vote. His performance marked the best showing for a Republican presidential candidate since 2004.
Trump’s return to office comes four years after his loss to Joe Biden, but this time, he will enter the White House with a Republican-controlled Senate. Control of the House of Representatives was still up in the air.
Vice President Kamala Harris’s defeat marks the second time in eight years that the Democratic Party has nominated a woman for president, only for her bid to fall short of breaking the ultimate glass ceiling. Harris’s campaign announced that she would address the nation on Wednesday.
Our correspondents Jonathan Weisman and Jim Tankersley break down the historic outcome:
The Harris campaign has sent out invitations to supporters in Washington for an event at Howard University today, with doors opening at 1 p.m. The invitation concludes with a message of "deep appreciation" and gratitude to those attending what will be Harris's concession speech.
Political betting markets view Donald Trump's victory as a validation of their predictions.
In the lead-up to Election Day, the average odds from five major political betting markets indicated that Donald Trump had better-than-even odds of winning.
Supporters of platforms like Polymarket, Kalshi, and PredictIt, where bettors could wager on the election outcome, argued that these markets provided a more accurate reflection of reality than traditional opinion polls. With Trump's decisive victory, those claims appear to have been validated.
“History was made today,” Shayne Coplan, CEO of Polymarket, wrote on X, noting that "Trump campaign HQ literally found out they were winning from Polymarket."
This marks a significant moment for political betting markets, which, while not new, gained widespread attention during this election cycle. (It’s important to note that while prediction markets reflect implied odds based on bets, polls measure voter intent.)
The average odds from five major prediction platforms—Betfair, Kalshi, Polymarket, PredictIt, and Smarkets—showed Trump with better-than-even odds heading into Election Day, according to the aggregator site Election Betting Odds. By the time polls closed, the chances of a Trump victory surged.
Prediction markets had signaled a likely Trump win several weeks before Election Day, even as polls indicated a tight race. This divergence sparked some concerns about potential market manipulation, particularly when a French trader briefly cornered the pro-Trump contract on Polymarket.
"Polls 0," Tarek Mansour, CEO of Kalshi, wrote on X. "Prediction markets 1."
As the industry grows, other platforms like Interactive Brokers and Robinhood have recently launched their own political betting markets, and Wall Street is increasingly factoring in these odds into its research.
Investor interest is also on the rise, with Polymarket working to close a $50 million funding round that would value the company at $300 million. (It is already backed by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund.)
Prediction markets may play an even larger role in future elections. A federal appeals court is currently reviewing a case challenging the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's efforts to block Kalshi from offering election betting in the U.S.
I might not have the latest updates. For the most complete and up-to-date information about the U.S. Election, please visit news sources like [The Associated Press]or check with your state or local election authority.
Sharon Reed, 77, a retired teacher who lives on a farm in central Pennsylvania, remained undecided about her vote until the final moments before Election Day. She and her husband, Bob Reed, 78, also a retired teacher, were part of a group of swing voters that *The New York Times* spoke with throughout the campaign to gauge how major events were influencing their decisions.
By the eve of the election, Bob had made up his mind to vote for Donald Trump, but Sharon was still torn. She had supported Trump in the past, voting for him twice, but had grown disillusioned with him—especially due to his rhetoric, unpredictability, and disrespectful comments about people in the military.
Though open to voting for a Democrat—she had done so in previous elections—she felt little enthusiasm for Vice President Kamala Harris. Sharon criticized Harris’s shifting stances on key issues, which made her appear indecisive and weak. She didn’t find Harris’s leadership compelling enough to support the Democratic ticket, especially since she disagreed with many of the party’s policies.
At one point, Sharon considered leaving the top of the ballot blank. But in the end, she felt compelled to make a choice, even if it was out of a sense of reluctant pragmatism. “It was a vote for the lesser evil,” she said. “We’ll just have to see how it goes.”
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