Donald Trump is renowned by his detractors for bending the truth, but when he strode on to the stage in Florida on Wednesday, he said something that didn't need fact checking.
"America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate," he told the crowd at his official election function in West Palm Beach in the early hours of the morning.
He's right.
Voters not only swept Trump into the White House for a second time, but delivered his Republican Party a likely majority in the Senate and a possible one in the house at Tuesday's election.
On top of that, he won the popular vote: something he had never done before, which — while not essential to victory — added an exclamation point to his performance.
While several swing states were still up for grabs on Wednesday as ballots continued to be counted, Trump was leading his Democratic rival, Vice-President Kamala Harris, in all of them.
His victory was delivered after flipping the crucial battlegrounds of Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which took him past the 270 electoral college votes he needed to become president under the US system.
[Overall No Map]The resounding triumph comes after he questioned — without evidence — the results of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Joe Biden.
An angry mob of his supporters subsequently stormed the Capitol building in Washington DC.
Trump and his team have two months before he is inaugurated.
While the Republicans had already won a majority in the Senate after claiming at least two seats off the Democrats, things were less certain in the House of Representatives, where multiple races were yet to be called.
Although as counting continues, a majority is possible there too.
Speaking Wednesday morning, local time, veteran Republican senator Mitch McConnell, who is the party's leader in the chamber, said the results were "a referendum" on Biden's administration.
"People were just not happy with this administration and the democratic nominee was obviously a part of it," he said.
If the Republicans control both houses of congress, it means Trump would have unfettered ability to enact his agenda, which will likely include seismic foreign policy shifts — he's promised to stop funding Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion, for instance.
McConnell said he would do "everything he can to help the new administration be successful".
"I think this is the most dangerous time since right before World War II," he said.
He said America's adversaries including North Korea, Russia, China and Iran were "all talking to each other".
"They have one thing in common, they hate us, and they want to diminish our role in the world," the 82-year-old said.
As the result continued to sink in, Republican senator, Marco Rubio, told CNN on Wednesday morning: "What I'm most impressed by is not just the size of the victory, I know the number is still growing, but the way the way DT won this election.
"He won it by fundamentally remaking the Republican Party but I hope also revealing to people for voters in the United States of America, the primary identity is not their ethnicity its not their race its what they do for a living its who they are in their daily life."
Polling ahead of the election had consistently shown voters rated Trump as a better economic manager than his rival.
Democratic nominee Harris, who did not take the stage at her official campaign event on Tuesday night, is due to speak in Washington DC on Wednesday afternoon, local time.
'We have a new star ... Elon'
Among the changes heading America's way is a shake-up of public health agencies, which Trump has been particularly scathing of.
Robert F. Kennedy Junior, who stood unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential ticket before standing as an independent and, eventually, joining team Trump, has claimed he will be put in charge of those.
Last week, he took to social media to say one of the first acts of the new administration — if elected — would advise that fluoride be removed from public water systems.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who campaigned relentlessly for Trump, also appears set to have a significant role in the new administration.
In his victory speech, Trump described the world's richest man as a "super genius".
"Let me tell you we have a new star ... a star is born, Elon," the president-elect told supporters, to loud cheers, before adding later: "We have to protect our geniuses, we don't have that many of them."
Iowa pastor Joel Tenney was inside the watch party in West Palm Beach as the result was declared.
"It's very hard to explain, because it was very surreal. It was a dream come true for me and millions of Americans, and so the celebration ... the energy in that room was incomparable to anything else I've experienced in the world," he said.
He said he wanted to be "part of history".
"I wanted to be in the room and see Trump's face and see the face of Melania and his family when they were vindicated before the entire nation. And I got to do that," Mr Tenney said.
Trump, who was the subject of two assassination attempts during his campaign, told supporters at his official event that he wanted to bring the country together.
His victory came despite numerous polls predicting a surge of support for the Democrats and Harris in the week preceding the vote.
The 78-year-old, who was twice impeached during his previous term in office, prevailed despite low approval ratings and numerous court battles.
Trump has been criminally indicted multiple times, and earlier this year, a jury found him guilty of falsifying business records. In civil trials, he has been found liable for sexual abuse and defamation.
Among all the swing states, Pennsylvania, and its 19 electoral college votes, was the juiciest prize on offer in Tuesday's vote.
In Westmoreland County, just outside Pittsburgh, Republican committee chair Bill Bretz was celebrating the result.
He said Trump had "won a mandate to bring his platform into public policy".
"I think it's very important that he tries to unify the country," he said.
"This race has got to be pretty contentious and, moving forward, that's pointless. We need to bring everybody together."
Mr Bretz said while he didn't agree with everything Trump said, he was hopeful the new president would "bring peace and prosperity to every nation that's in our umbrella".
