Election live updates: Harris to deliver concession speech today after Trump victory

For months, Florida's Republican Gov. Rick DeSantis railed against ballot measures that would have amended the state's constitution to legalize marijuana and protect the right to an abortion up to viability — usually considered sometime after 21 weeks. He said they were poorly worded, confusing and would be impossible to repeal if written into the state's constitution.

But a majority of voters cast ballots in support of them. So why didn't they pass?

Two decades ago, Republican Gov. Jeb Bush successfully lobbied to make it harder for voters to amend the constitution by requiring them to earn 60% support on ballot measures. Both measures garnered over 50% of the vote, but fell shy of the required threshold.

The results indicate the issues are not cleanly partisan.

Trump won 56 percent of the vote , suggesting that his backers included voters who disagree with the GOP on abortion rights and those who support marijuana legalization.

Trump, perhaps the state's most famous resident, also had a chance to weigh in. He said he voted against the measure expanding abortion rights. He did not say how he voted on the marijuana measure but has in the past said he supports legalization.

With Donald Trump's victory in Michigan, he completes a sweep of the Great Lakes "Blue Wall" states that Kamala Harris had considered her smoothest path to victory.

Trump managed the same sweep of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania in 2016, when he defeated Hillary Clinton. President Joe Biden outpaced Trump in those states in 2020.

Unlike Clinton's campaign in 2016, Harris campaigned heavily across the region through September and October. The vice president spent all day Sunday in Michigan, but she was unable to match Biden's level of support, most notably in Wayne County, where Detroit offers a trove of Democratic votes.

Trump was active in the region, as well, and he improved on his 2020 margins across the three key states.

Former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, who became one of Trump's more vocal challengers in the 2024 Republican primary before eventually endorsing him, said on her radio show Wednesday that he "defied gravity" with his win.

"He got through two assassination attempts. He got through two impeachments, he got through numerous indictments, and America still elected him because, at the end of the day, they knew what they were getting with Donald Trump. And that's what they wanted to see," she said.

Haley called it "a great moment for democracy."

Voters in Amarillo, Texas, overwhelmingly rejected a sweeping anti-abortion proposal that would have essentially imposed a travel ban on those seeking abortions out of state by allowing civil lawsuits against anyone who assists them, even if it's in another state.

Dubbed the "Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn" ordinance, the 18-page proposition was rejected by nearly 60% of voters.

Lindsay London, a local nurse who helped found a volunteer group opposing the effort, described the vote as a "defining win."

"Amarillo is the first city in the nation to reject an abortion ban," London said. "We hope to set the tone for not only the state but the nation, that we will not penalize anyone for seeking health care when they're facing an extreme travel ban in their own state."

The vote was the culmination of a yearlong effort by abortion opponents who tried unsuccessfully to get city leaders to approve the ordinance.

"The conversation was warm and cordial," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement. "The Prime Minister congratulated Trump on his election victory, and the two agreed to work together for Israel's security. The two also discussed the Iranian threat."

Netanyahu's office said he was among the first world leaders to call Trump after his victory.

Trump has vowed to bring peace to the Middle East at a time when Israel is at war with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and has recently traded fire with Iran. The president-elect, who was a staunch supporter of Israel during his previous term, has not said how he will do it.

A contingent of U.S. voters signaled they want the government to be less involved in vaccinating children for diseases, according to AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide.

In the final weeks of the campaign, President-elect Donald Trump had stepped up appearances with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., promising the vaccine skeptic free reign in his administration to investigate childhood diseases like obesity and autism. Kennedy has urged his followers to flout the U.S. government's current vaccine recommendations for their children.

About 2 in 10 voters said they want less government involvement in childhood vaccinations. Of those voters, roughly 8 in 10 voted for Trump.

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye added that he was committed to strengthening the cooperation between the United States and Senegal and to working together for peace, prosperity and respect for the values shared by the two countries.

Senegal is one of the main countries of origin of African migrants crossing the Mexico-U.S. border, with a growing number of young Senegalese choosing to migrate to the U.S. rather than face more dangerous routes to Europe via the Mediterranean Sea or the Atlantic Ocean.

U.S. authorities arrested 20,231 Senegalese migrants for crossing the border illegally from July to December last year, a 10-fold increase compared to the same period in 2022, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

For all of the heady talk of democracy and the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next, a presidential transition also involves things that are less conceptual — and more mundane.

That includes construction of all the temporary structures for the presidential inauguration.

In front of the White House, workers had fenced a section of Pennsylvania Avenue and Lafayette Park as they constructed the Presidential Inaugural Parade Reviewing Stands. The temporary pavilion is where Trump and his family will take in the parade as it winds in front of the White House on Jan. 20.

On the National Mall, work has also begun on the inauguration platform , from where Trump will be sworn into office and address the nation. Nearly four years ago, on Jan. 6, Trump supporters rushed the Capitol and used pieces of the half-built structure to attack police officers. Workers on the site had to flee.

This year, members of Congress from both sides of the aisle gathered in September to drive the first nails for the structures, symbolizing the unity they aspired to forge amidst a divisive presidential campaign.

In Melania Trump's hometown in Slovenia, locals are proud that one of their own will once again become the U.S. first lady.

Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election has been followed closely in Sevnica, a town nestled in a valley by the Sava river where Melania Trump grew up under Communism as Melanija Knavs.

"We are very proud that Mrs. Melanija has become the first lady again, that she will perform her role with honor and dignity, just like in the previous mandate," Sevnica mayor Srecko Cvirk said.

Sevnica previously — and proudly — advertised itself as Melania Trump's hometown, so much so that a local party shop created a cake in her name eight years ago.

The "Melanija" is made of green nuts, caramel, almond cream and white chocolate mousse.

"It is white because of the White House," said the shop's manager, Franja Kranjc.

In a statement, former President George W. Bush said he and his wife, Laura, "join our fellow citizens in praying for the success of our new leaders at all levels of government."

Some top former Republican officials, including Bush's vice president, Dick Cheney, had endorsed Harris. But Bush remained neutral.

Bush also thanked "President Biden and Vice President Harris for their service to our country."

"The strong turnout in this election is a sign of the health of our republic and the strength of our democratic institutions," said Bush, who called the election a "free, fair, safe, and secure election."

Donald Trump 's impending return to the White House means he'll want to stand up an entirely new administration from the one that served under President Joe Biden . His team is also pledging that the second won't look much like the first one Trump established after his 2016 victory.

The president-elect now has a 75-day transition period to build out his team before Inauguration Day arrives on Jan. 20. One top item on the to-do list: filling around 4,000 government positions with political appointees, people specifically tapped for their jobs by Trump's team.

That includes everyone from the secretary of state and other heads of Cabinet departments to those selected to serve part-time on boards and commissions. Around 1,200 of those presidential appointments require Senate confirmation, which should be easier with the Senate now shifting to Republican control .

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Morocco's King Mohammed VI on Wednesday expressed "sincere congratulations" and "best wishes" to President-elect Donald Trump, referencing the latter's 2020 decision to back Morocco's stance in the disputed Western Sahara.

"Mr. Trump's resounding success in these elections is a tribute to his patriotism and rewards his commitment to upholding the best interests of the United States," the king wrote in a letter published by the state press agency, MAP.

The 61-year-old monarch said Moroccans were grateful for Trump's move to shift the United States' longstanding position in the Western Sahara, a disputed territory that Morocco considers its southern provinces and the United Nations considers "non-self-governing."

He added that Morocco — which normalized relations with Israel as part of the 2020 Abraham Accords — was committed to allying with the United States to address "increasingly complex regional and global challenges."

Morocco hopes Trump follows through on the State Department's yet-to-be-fulfilled 2020 commitment to build a consulate in the disputed territory.

Norwegian Bellona environmental group said that "with the election of Donald Trump, the United States will no longer be a driving force globally to reach the 1.5 Celsius target," referencing the international goal of trying to limit future warming since preindustrial times.

The outcome means the European Union "must take the global leadership role in the climate fight, and to a significantly greater extent ensure the defense of Europe's strategic interests," the group said.

"The EU will now become significantly more important for climate, technology development and restructuring in the next four years," Frederic Hauge, founder of the Oslo-based organization, said in a statement.

Soldiers in a Ukrainian artillery battery on the front lines of the country's east were only vaguely aware of American election results pointing to Donald Trump's victory Wednesday — but firm in their hopes for the next president of the United States.

Their entrenched artillery battery fires on Russian forces daily — and takes fire nearly as often. Just the other day, one of their overhead nets snared a Russian drone.

"I hope that the quantity of weapons, the quantity of guns for our victory will increase," the unit's 39-year-old commander, who goes by the name Mozart, said in the hours before Trump's win was confirmed . "We don't care who is the president, as long as they don't cut us off from help, because we need it."

Though Trump's election throws into doubt American support for Ukraine — and ultimately whether Kyiv can beat back Russia's invasion — the soldiers who use their Starlink connection to the internet sparingly learned of the results from Associated Press journalists.

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated Trump in a post on the social platform X and included a picture of the two of them in the White House during the president-elect's first term.

"The friendship between Canada and the U.S. is the envy of the world. I know President Trump and I will work together to create more opportunity, prosperity, and security for both of our nations," Trudeau posted.

Trump as president called Trudeau "weak" and "dishonest" and attacked Canada's vital trade. He threatened tariffs on cars and imposed them on steel. The unprecedented tone against one of Washington's closest allies left a bitter taste, and most Canadians were relieved that Trump was defeated in 2020.

"We respect the choice of American people," Prime Minister Robert Fico said at a news conference on Wednesday.

Fico, who is known for pro-Russian views, said the result of the election is "certainly a defeat of liberal and progressivist ideas because the new American President is a conservative. We think he'll focus on the economy issues in the United States."

Fico said what's of importance is that "everybody is waiting for the first steps in regards of the war in Ukraine."

Fico added that Trump might reduce or halt the military aid for Ukraine or propose an immediate cease-fire to open the way for negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.

Fico ended his state's military aid for Ukraine.

Futures markets in the U.S. surged early Wednesday, with the Dow climbing 2.85% and the S&P 500 rising nearly 2%.

Bitcoin, which many see as a winner under a Trump presidency, hit all-time highs above $75,000.

Tesla, the company run by Trump surrogate Elon Musk, spiked 12% before the opening bell while other electric vehicle makers slumped.

Banking stocks also moved solidly higher, with expectations of a pullback by regulators overseeing markets under Trump.

The International Rescue Committee, a large humanitarian aid organization, urged the Trump administration to "continue America's traditions of humanitarian leadership and care of the most vulnerable."

The New York-based nonprofit also urged the new administration and Congress to "reject policies that demonize immigrants and asylum seekers," and noted that the U.S. program to resettle refugees has saved lives and strengthened the fabric of the United States.

IRC is led by Britain's former top diplomat, David Miliband, and says it provides relief services to people affected by crises in more than 40 countries.

Bitcoin jumped nearly 8% to a record $75,345.00 in early trading on Wednesday, before falling back and was recently trading at around $73,700.00.

Trump was previously a crypto skeptic but changed his mind and embraced cryptocurrencies ahead of the election.

He pledged to make America "the crypto capital of the planet" and create a "strategic reserve" of bitcoin. His campaign accepted donations in cryptocurrency and he courted crypto fans at a bitcoin conference in July.

He also launched World Liberty Financial, a new venture with family members to trade cryptocurrencies.

Despite major losses for Democrats in the Senate and White House, the party's central campaign issue surrounding protecting reproductive rights fared much better across the country as abortion rights advocates won on measures in seven states.

The last state to pass such a measure by early Wednesday was Montana, where abortion rights advocates pushed to enshrine abortion rights until fetal viability into the state constitution as a safeguard against future rollbacks. Though there's no defined time frame, doctors say viability is sometime after 21 weeks.

In three others — Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota — voters rejected measures that would have created a constitutional right to abortion.