US election results: How the night unfolded in key moments
Votes are still being counted in the US election, meaning the race is not yet won – but Donald Trump is just a handful of electoral votes from victory.
Overnight developments have thrilled Republicans, with Mr Trump going well ahead in the race for the magic number of 270 electoral college votes to win.
While the fight isn’t officially over yet for Kamala Harris – her opponent no longer needs the four remaining key battleground states to win, and he’s already claimed victory.
Here’s the story of the night…
Trump wins first three swing states
North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania – three of seven critical battleground states – have been called in favour of Donald Trump by Sky News’ US partner network NBC News.
North Carolina was the first battleground win of the election, giving Mr Trump the state’s 16 Electoral College votes, which he also narrowly won in 2020 with 49.9% of the vote, while Joe Biden garnered 48.6%.
It may not be a massive surprise, as North Carolina hasn’t swung to a Democrat for president since 2008, but it is still a significant blow for Ms Harris, who had been eyeing the state as a place to expand her path to 270.
Republican running mate JD Vance admitted before the vote it would be “very hard” for Mr Trump to win if their campaign did not hold North Carolina.
Both candidates have made frequent trips to the battleground in the final weeks of the race.
But perhaps an even bigger loss for Team Harris was Georgia, which Mr Trump was projected to win at about 5.30am UK time.
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Trump projected to win Georgia
Numbers had shown Mr Trump was well ahead earlier this morning, but Democrats were holding out hope because he had been 200,000 votes ahead at the same stage of the 2020 election and still lost.
In 2020 it had proved a false lead because votes in the state’s four largest counties – Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb and DeKalb – which normally lean Democrat – had not been counted.
Once they were, Joe Biden came from behind to win the state.
Those same counties took the longest to count this time too, but Ms Harris couldn’t make up the ground in them.
Then at around 7am NBC News projected that Mr Trump would win Pennsylvania.
The state is seen as the key to victory in the election as it holds a crucial 19 electoral college votes.
Pennsylvania has been a heavy focus of the Republican and Democrat campaigns, with both camps spending huge amounts of money and time vying to win the state.
Trump’s victory there means he only needs to win the states he’s widely expected to win – he doesn’t need any more battleground states.
Florida goes to Trump
Sky News’ US partner NBC News projected Donald Trump as the winner in Florida at 1am UK time.
The Republican-leaning state has a massive 30 electoral votes, the third largest number behind California (54) and Texas (40).
Florida, which is Mr Trump’s home state, was once considered a swing state but has been reliably Republican for over a decade.
The last time Floridians went for a Democratic presidential candidate was when Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney by less than a percentage point in 2012.
Trump supporters celebrate in Florida, where the Republican nominee is projected to win. Pic: AP
New York Times needle is back
There was talk that the popular New York Times ‘needle’ may not have been available on election night due to strike action that nearly ran into polling day.
The Tech Guild, which represents the Times’s software developers and data analysts, went on strike on Sunday over contracts, pay and in-office working policies.
But the needle was up and running on election night, predicting a comfortable win for Donald Trump.
The needle is part of the New York Times’s election coverage brought to readers by 100 journalists, engineers, statisticians, data experts and researchers.
It “estimates the final outcome based on partial election results, helping readers understand what to make of the vote that has been counted so far”, the New York Times says.
You can read exactly how the needle works, and see it for yourself, on the New York Times’ website.
Pic: NYT
Republicans projected to win the Senate
NBC News projects the Republicans will take over control of the Senate from the Democrats.
It is forecast the party will win 51 seats to the Democrats’ 40.
The House, currently held by the Republicans, is still up in the air.
If Donald Trump were to win, having control of the Senate and the House would enable him to govern more freely than if these legislatures were split.
Crowds leave Harris event
Crowds were leaving Kamala Harris’s watch party in Washington DC at around midnight local time as news of Mr Trump’s projected swing state victories came in.
Supporters had hoped she would be delivering a historic victory speech there, but she didn’t show up at all in the end.
One of the supporters who attended, Anna Aurilio, told Sky News: “I’m heading home for a stiff drink but I’m a sport fan so I know it’s not over until it’s over.”
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Crowd leaves Harris event
Another, Ellycia Smalley, said: “I’m a little down, obviously, but I’m not giving up hope, there are still big cities in swing states to be counted.
“It’s not over until the fat lady sings.”
That was before Pennsylvania was projected to go Mr Trump’s way.
One of her campaign chairs said she will be there tomorrow to “address the nation”.
Trump declares victory with 266 electoral college votes
Donald Trump took to the stage in West Palm Beach, Florida, with a huge entourage.
“I want to thank you all very much,” he said, praising the “incredible” MAGA movement.
“Frankly I believe this was the greatest political movement of all time,” he says, adding it’s now going to go to another level.
“We have a country that needs help very badly,” he adds, promising to “fix everything”.
“It’s clear that… this is a political victory,” he adds.
“I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honour of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president,” he says, effectively claiming victory.
“This is a magnificent victory for the American people that will allow us to make America great again.”
There are 161 people still missing in Texas in the aftermath of last weekend’s deadly flash floods, the state’s governor has said.
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, governor Gregg Abbot said the number of missing had risen markedly.
He said among the missing were five children and one counsellor from Camp Mystic – where at least 27 people were killed in the flash flooding.
At least 109 people are confirmed to have died in the floods, which took place on the 4 July weekend, but this figure has been steadily climbing ever since.
People comforted each other in Kerville. Pic: Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP
The bulk of deaths, and the main search for additional bodies, have been concentrated in Kerr County and the city of Kerrville.
The area was transformed into a disaster zone when torrential rains struck the region early last Friday, unleashing deadly flooding along the Guadalupe River.
Travis County, Kendall County, Burnett County, Williamson County, and Tom Green County were also hit.
Mr Abbot said many of those who were unaccounted for were in the Texas Hill Country area, but had not registered at a camp or hotel, posing further challenges for authorities.
Camp Mystic
Mr Abbot planned to make another visit to Camp Mystic.
The century-old all-girls Christian summer camp was badly hit by the flash floods, with at least 27 campers and counsellors dying.
Hanna Lawrence, left, and Rebecca Lawrence, right. Pic: John Lawrence/AP
Lila Bonner (L) and Eloise Peck both died in the flash floods at Camp Mystic, Texas. Pic: Family handout
Chloe Childress. Pic: Debra Alexander Photography via AP
Some of the victims include Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence, both eight, Chloe Childress, 19, who was among the counsellors at Camp Mystic when the flood hit, and Eloise Peck and Lila Bonner, both nine.
There were scenes of devastation at the camp as the flood water receded.
Outside the cabins where the girls had slept, mud-splattered blankets and pillows were scattered.
Also in the debris were pink, purple and light blue luggage, decorated with stickers.
A view inside a cabin at Camp Mystic after the flooding. Pic: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images
Camper’s belongings lie on the ground following flooding on the Guadalupe River, at Camp Mystic.
Pic: Reuters
‘Everything looked flooded and broken’
One of the campers, 10-year-old Lucy Kennedy, told Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, that she woke up to the sound of thunder at around midnight before the floods struck.
“I couldn’t go back to sleep,” she said. “I just had a feeling that something really bad was about to happen.”
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She said the girls at the camp were told to grab blankets, pillows and water bottles and line up single file as the floodwater rose, before getting airlifted to safety.
Wynne Kennedy, Lucy’s mother, added: “When I saw her, she was wrapped up in a blanket, had a teddy bear.
“We just held each other tight, and I held her all night.”
Their home in Kerrville was also destroyed by the flash floods.
Lucy Kennedy, 10 who was rescued from Camp Mystic, and her mother Wynne. Pic: NBC
Political row
Meanwhile, a political row has unfolded parallel to the recovery efforts, with some questioning whether local authorities sent out warnings and alerts early enough.
Similarly, Democrats have criticised Donald Trump over cuts his Elon Musk-launched Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has made to the National Weather Service – but it isn’t clear whether these actually made any difference.
Read more:
Sisters killed in Texas flooding found holding hands
Why did deadly Texas floods catch people by surprise?
Wall of water
The flash floods erupted before daybreak on Friday, after massive amounts of rainfall caused the Guadalupe River to rise by eight metres in less than an hour.
The wall of water overwhelmed cabins, tents and trails along the river’s edge.
Some survivors were found clinging to trees.
Some of the campers had to swim out of their cabin windows to get to safety, while others clung to rope to make it to higher ground.
The date for Sean “Diddy” Combs’s sentencing hearing has been confirmed.
Following his high-profile trial, the hip-hop mogul was found guilty of two counts of transportation for prostitution by jurors in Manhattan, New York, last week – but was cleared of sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
Defence lawyers argued Combs, who has been in prison in Brooklyn since his arrest in September last year, should be bailed ahead of sentencing given the not guilty verdicts for the more serious charges, but Judge Arun Subramanian denied this – citing, among other things, the rapper’s own admissions of previous violent behaviour.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in court after the verdict was delivered. Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg
The charges of sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy carried a potential life sentence. Combs still faces up to 20 years in prison for the prostitution-related offences, but is not expected to receive the maximum punishment.
After the verdict was delivered, the judge scheduled the sentencing hearing for 3 October. At a remote follow-up conference on Tuesday, with agreement from the defence and prosecution, the judge approved the date.
Combs joined the call but did not make any comment.
Any sentence will include credit for time already served – which will be just over a year by the time the hearing takes place.
During his trial, Combs was accused by prosecutors of abusing and coercing three alleged victims, including his former long-term partner, singer and model Cassie Ventura.
Jurors found the allegations did not amount to sex-trafficking or racketeering, or running a criminal enterprise – but they did find him guilty of transporting Cassie and another former girlfriend “Jane” for prostitution offences around the US, and paying male escorts to engage in sexual encounters.
Despite the guilty verdict on those charges, the 55-year-old’s team described it as “the victory of all victories”.
Read more:
How the trial unfolded
The rise and fall of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
In an interview over the weekend, defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo said Combs had received a standing ovation from fellow inmates when he returned to jail after being acquitted of the more serious charges.
“They all said, ‘We never get to see anyone who beats the government’,” he said.
Ahead of sentencing, Combs’s lawyers will file their recommendations by 19 September, with prosecutors likely to follow a week later.
Prosecutors previously said the rapper could face about four to five years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, while the defence has suggested a two-year sentence.
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