Donald Trump has won Pennsylvania North Carolina and Georgia and taken a lead over Kamala Harris in most of the other four battleground states that will decide the winner of the US presidential election the BBC's US partner CBS projects.
CBS says Wisconsin is leaning towards Trump and he is ahead in the other so-called Rust Belt state of Michigan. The results are not final.
Incomplete returns also suggest Trump has a lead in Nevada, while the race remains tight in the other sun belt battleground of Arizona.
In more good news for Trump's fellow Republicans, the party is projected to win majority control of the Senate.
As expected, Trump has swept conservative strongholds from Florida to Idaho, while Harris won liberal states from New York to California, CBS projects.
The Democrat was expected to spend election night at Howard University in Washington DC, where she was an undergraduate, but it emerged after midnight that she would not attend.
Following the announcement by campaign co-chairman Cedric Richmond, the crowd all but disappeared from Harris HQ at the historically black college.
The party-like atmosphere of a few hours earlier at Howard had already turned sour as two swing states were called for Trump.
From Harris HQ, Democratic fundraiser Lindy Li told the BBC that it is "pretty grim right now".
"People are getting increasingly anxious," she said, "but there is still a pathway. I am still holding on to that, but this is not the night we wanted."
Trump was expected to appear shortly at his campaign watch party in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the mood was celebratory.
Elon Musk, the world's richest man and Trump mega-donor, is spending election night with the Republican nominee. The billionaire posted a photo showing him locked in discussions with Trump overnight.
The result appears to be moving towards a seismic political comeback for Trump.
The Republican may also have a friendly Congress with which to push his agenda though, Congress, with both chambers also up for grabs in Tuesday's vote.
CBS projects Republicans will win control of the Senate after wresting two seats in West Virginia and Ohio from the Democrats and beating off a stiff challenge in Texas.
Neither party seemed to have an overall edge in the House, which Republicans narrowly control.
CBS exit poll data suggests Harris may have under-performed with women.
Some 54% of female voters cast their ballots for her, the numbers indicate. But Joe Biden won the support of 57% of women in 2020.
Law enforcement agencies nationwide are on high alert for potential violence.
About 30 bomb threats hoaxes targeted election-related locations nationwide on Tuesday, more than half of them in the state of Georgia alone, reports CBS.
