Vice President Kamala Harris has called Donald Trump to congratulate him on winning the 2024 presidential race, 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 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 "acknowledged Vice President Harris on her strength, professionalism, and tenacity throughout the campaign, and both leaders agreed on the importance of unifying the country.”
Two other Harris aides said Harris spent the morning and afternoon working on her concession speech that she will deliver this afternoon at 4 p.m. at Howard University, her alma mater.
One of those aides said Harris’ team before today had spent very little time working on a concession or victory speech. Instead, the Harris team had spent time the bulk of their time creating a speech that would tell people to “hold on” because they expected the race results to be uncertain at this time 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 in the White House. The 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 that Biden was also planning to offer to attend his inauguration, the White House official said.
NBC News called the presidential race Wednesday morning, projecting that 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 an election party in Florida.
While Nevada, Michigan and Arizona were too close to call on Wednesday morning, Trump carried several critical battleground states where both candidates spent a considerable amount 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's nominee. Biden dropped out after his devastating performance in a June presidential debate against Trump, after which key members of the party expressed deep concerns about his age as well as his ability to win in the general election and to serve another four years in the White House.
While Harris had about three months to campaign, Trump launched his re-election campaign, his third for president, shortly after the 2022 midterm elections that November.
Polls had shown in recent weeks that the race was dead even and Harris faced a gender gap in which more men, specifically white men, were backing Trump. NBC News' Exit Poll found that 54% of male voters cast their ballots for the former president, while 44% went for Harris.
The vice president had repeatedly said that she was the "underdog" in the 2024 contest and struggled to distance herself from Biden and his administration and present herself as a change candidate.
Her pitch to voters included an “opportunity economy” that would benefit the middle class and tax the wealthy; a promise to sign a bill into law that would codify Roe v. Wade abortion protections nationally; plans to help make rent more affordable; and help families with home health care costs. Harris also attacked Trump, calling him “increasingly unstable” and “unhinged,” and warned voters about the former president being a threat to democracy, calling him a “fascist.”
Trump, 78, presented himself as the candidate who could strengthen the economy and handle conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. The former president was re-elected despite being convicted of 34 felony counts in a New York hush money case and his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which led to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
