Brazil's Lula congratulates Trump on US election victory

​​​​​​​By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday congratulated Donald Trump on his election victory and return to the White House.

"Democracy is the voice of the people and must always be respected. The world needs dialogue and joint work to achieve greater peace, development and prosperity," he wrote on X, wishing the new government luck and success.

Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris after winning 277 Electoral College votes in Tuesday's election, according to The Associated Press.

Trump also led Harris by about 5 million votes in the popular count, getting around 71 million votes.

He won key swing states, including North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, as well as Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Louisiana, Ohio, Texas, Missouri, Utah, Montana, Kansas, Iowa, and Idaho.

Trump thanked Americans "for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president," referring to his earlier term in office from 2017-2021, before Joe Biden won four years as the 46th US president.

"This is a magnificent victory for the American people that will allow us to make America great again," he told supporters in the state of Florida.

The win makes Trump only the second US president to serve non-consecutive terms, following Grover Cleveland, who served two separate terms in the late 1800s, with President Benjamin Harrison between those victories

Trump and his running mate JD Vance will be sworn into office in Washington D.C. on Jan. 20.