US President Joe Biden has urged Americans to "bring down the temperature" following Donald Trump's presidential election win, and said that there would be a peaceful and orderly transition of power.
In his first address following the election, which was lost by the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, Mr Biden said that he had spoken with Mr Trump and assured him that his administration would work with Mr Trump's team.
Mr Biden also spoke with Ms Harris who, he said, should be proud of her election campaign.
During his address in the White House Rose Garden, Mr Biden urged Americans to lower the political temperature after the election.
"Something I hope we can do, no matter who you voted for, is see each other, not as adversaries, but as fellow Americans. Bring down the temperature," Mr Biden said.
"You can't love your country only when you win," he said.
"You can't love your neighbour only when you agree. Something to hope we can do, no matter who you voted for, is see each other not as adversaries, but as fellow Americans.
"Bring down the temperature," he said in the address.
"Setbacks are unavoidable. Giving up is unforgiveable," Mr Biden said as he addressed staff who were disappointed in Ms Harris' defeat. "A defeat does not mean we are defeated."
Mr Biden also said that the electoral system was fair and could be trusted
"I also hope we can lay to rest a question about the integrity of the American electoral system. It is honest, it is fair and it is transparent. It can be trusted, win or lose."
Some Democrats have blamed Mr Biden, 81, for Ms Harris' defeat, saying he should not have sought reelection.
Mr Biden only dropped his reelection bid in July after a disastrous television debate with Mr Trump raised alarm bells about his mental fitness.
Mr Trump's campaign said Mr Biden had invited him to meet at the White House at an unspecified time. In the weeks ahead, Mr Trump will select personnel to serve under his leadership.
Ms Harris sought to console supporters. Like Mr Biden, she promised to aid Mr Trump's transition before his inauguration on 20 January but urged Democrats to continue to fight for what they believe in.
Trump picks Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff
Mr Trump has announced that Susie Wiles, one of his two campaign managers, will be his White House chief of staff, entrusting a top position to a political operative who helped him win election.
The appointment was the first of what is expected to be a flurry of staffing announcements as Mr Trump girds for a return to the White House on 20 January.
Ms Wiles will be the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff.
"Susie Wiles just helped me achieve one of the greatest political victories in American history, and was an integral part of both my 2016 and 2020 successful campaigns," Mr Trump said in a statement.
"Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected," he said. "I have no doubt that she will make our country proud."
Mr Trump is considering a wide array of people for top jobs in his administration, many of them familiar figures from his 2017-2021 presidency, four sources told Reuters.
Mr Trump's victory, surprisingly decisive after opinion polls that had shown a neck-and-neck contest, underscored how disenchanted Americans had become with the economy - in particular inflation - along with border security and the direction of the country and its culture.
Hispanics, traditionally Democratic voters, and lower-income households hit hardest by inflation helped fuel Trump's victory.
Ms Harris' campaign pressed the message that Mr Trump was unfit to serve again as president, as a convicted felon and one whose false claims of voting fraud inspired a mob to storm the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, in a failed bid to overturn his 2020 loss to Mr Biden.
The former president will face far fewer limits on his power in his second White House term, as the head of a Republican Party that he has remade in his image over the last eight years.
Republicans wrested the US Senate from Democrats in the vote on Tuesday, ensuring Mr Trump's party will control at least one chamber of Congress next year.
Republicans also held an edge in the battle for the House of Representatives, though 38 of the 435 races still had no winner.
Mr Trump prevailed in five of the seven battleground states to give him at least 295 Electoral College votes, more than the 270 needed to win the presidency. He was leading in the remaining two, Arizona and Nevada, where votes were still being tallied.
Mr Trump was also on track to become the first Republican presidential candidate to win the popular vote since George W. Bush two decades ago. He lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 but secured enough electoral votes to win the White House.
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The United States and the world face a radically transformed political landscape after Mr Trump's overwhelming victory.
World leaders swiftly pledged to work with Mr Trump, despite concerns in much of the globe about his nationalist 'America First' approach and pledges to slap huge tariffs on foreign imports.
Armed with a sweeping mandate, the second Trump administration promises to be more untrammelled than his first chaotic presidency - and could dismantle huge chunks of Mr Biden's legacy.
Mr Trump could start by halting the incumbent's billions of dollars in military aid for Ukraine's fight against Russia's 2022 invasion.
He has repeatedly suggested he would end the war by pressuring Ukraine to make territorial concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a man Mr Trump has repeatedly praised.
(Above: People near Trump's Mar-a-Lago home react to election win)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was among world leaders congratulating Mr Trump. But Trump has been critical of US assistance for Ukraine in its war with Russia. He has said he could end the war in 24 hours but has not said how.
The White House plans to rush billions of dollars in security assistance to Ukraine before Mr Biden leaves office in January, sources have said, hoping to shore up the government in Kyiv before Mr Trump takes over.
