Elon Musk spends election night with Donald Trump

Elon Musk, the world's richest man, planned to spend election night with Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, he said on X/Twitter.

Mr. Musk, the owner of Tesla and X, has campaigned aggressively for the Republican candidate in swing states across the country.

Trump's campaign is also hosting a watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center for thousands of supporters.

The tech billionaire has emerged as one of Trump's top supporters, donating more than $119 million (£91.6 million) this election cycle to America PAC – a political action committee he founded to support the former president .

Mr. Musk announced his support for the former president earlier this year, although he said in 2022 that “it's time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail off into the sunset.”

On Tuesday, he posted a photo of himself saying he voted in Cameron County, Texas – where some of his companies are headquartered – before heading to Florida.

Later that evening he wrote on X: “Game, set and victory”.

The campaign expressed confidence late Tuesday as supporters gathered at Trump's headquarters at the Palm Beach Convention Center to await results. At one point the crowd broke out into a dance party to the YMCA.

Huge cheers erupted from the crowd as Florida State was predicted to be a win for Trump, albeit a win that was never in doubt.

Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard arrived at the party after previously attending Trump's more exclusive watch party at Mar-a-Lago.

“There are a lot of really excited people” who are “cautiously optimistic,” she told the BBC.

Steve Witkoff, a close friend of Trump, was also with him at Mar-a-Lago. There was “a strong sense of excitement and purpose,” he said.

Among the crowd was Blake Marnell, who often wore a brick-print suit at Trump events to support Trump's as-yet-unfounded promise to build a wall along the southern border. He said he was very optimistic about his candidate's chances.

Sergio Ramirez, a businessman originally from El Salvador, claimed that Trump could only lose if Democrats “cheated… I don't understand how she can win – Kamala was not a popular candidate.”

Michael, dressed in a “Blacks for Trump 2024” t-shirt. “We outnumbered them in early voting, and we outnumber them now,” he claims.

At a formal wear event next door at the Hilton Hotel, Iowa Republican delegate Deborah Yanna said it felt like “Christmas morning.” “If President Trump takes back the White House, he will make America shine again,” she said.

Elsewhere, Trump's former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon plans to hold an election watch party tonight at the Willard Hotel – the five-star Washington DC hotel that served as a “command center” for Trump loyalists overturning 2020 wanted election results.

Bannon was released from federal prison a week ago after spending four months behind bars for contempt of Congress.

Kamala Harris will spend election night at Howard Universityher alma mater and a historically black university in Washington DC.