Harris is expected to call Trump to concede the 2024 presidential run

Vice President Kamala Harris has called Donald Trump to congratulate him on winning the 2024 presidential election, according to a senior Harris aide.

Jen O’Malley Dillon, who chaired Harris’ campaign, said in an email to campaign staff obtained by NBC News that Harris told Trump during the call that “she would work with President Biden to ensure a peaceful transfer of power, unlike what we saw in 2020.”

“She also made it clear that she hopes he will be a president for all Americans,” she said.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement that in their call, the president-elect “recognized Vice President Harris for her strength, professionalism and tenacity throughout the campaign, and both leaders agreed on the importance of uniting the country.”

Two other Harris aides said Harris spent the morning and afternoon working on her concession speech, which she will deliver this afternoon at 16 at Howard University, her alma mater.

One of those aides said that before today, Harris’ team had spent very little time working on a concession or victory speech. Instead, the Harris team had spent most of their time crafting a speech that would tell people to “hang on” because they expected the race results to be uncertain at this point in the week.

President Joe Biden spoke by phone Wednesday with Harris and congratulated her on her campaign, the White House said. Biden also spoke to Trump and congratulated him on his victory.

“President Biden expressed his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition and emphasized the importance of working to bring the country together,” the White House said. “He also invited President-elect Trump to meet with him at the White House. Staff will coordinate a specific date in the near future.”

Biden will address the nation on Thursday to discuss the election results and the transition, the White House said.

A White House official said Biden also planned to offer to attend his inauguration, the White House official said.

NBC News called the presidential election Wednesday morning and predicted Trump won just after 5:30 a.m. ET, capturing 276 electoral votes to Harris’ 223.

For his part, Trump declared victory around 2:30 a.m. ET in remarks to his supporters at a campaign party in Florida.

While Nevada, Michigan and Arizona were too close to call Wednesday morning, Trump carried several critical battleground states where both candidates spent significant amounts of time: Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

Harris, 60, launched her presidential campaign after Biden, 81, withdrew from the race on July 21 and endorsed her as the Democratic Party nominee. Biden dropped out after his devastating performance in a presidential debate against Trump in June, after key members of the party expressed deep concerns about his age as well as his ability to win the general election and serve another four years in the White House.

While Harris had about three months to campaign, Trump launched his re-election campaign, his third presidential campaign, shortly after the 2022 midterm elections in November.

Polls in recent weeks had shown the race dead even, and Harris faced a gender gap with more men, specifically white men, supporting Trump. NBC News’ Exit Poll showed that 54% of male voters cast their ballots for the former president, while 44% went for Harris.

The vice president had repeatedly said she was the “underdog” in the 2024 race and struggled to distance herself from Biden and his administration and present herself as a candidate for change.

Her message to voters included an “opportunity economy” that would benefit the middle class and tax the wealthy; a promise to sign a bill that would codify Roe v. Wade abortion protections nationally; plans to help make rent more affordable; and help families with home care costs. Harris also attacked Trump, calling him “increasingly unstable” and “unhinged,” and warned voters that the former president was a threat to democracy, calling him a “fascist.”

Trump, 78, presented himself as the candidate who could strengthen the economy and deal with conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. The former president was re-elected despite being convicted of 34 felonies in a New York money laundering case and his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which led to the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.