Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump took a moment to embrace his wife Melania Trump and thank her for her support, while speaking at a victory rally in Florida's West Palm Beach on Wednesday morning.

"I also want to thank my beautiful wife Melania, First Lady, who has the number one bestselling book in the country, can you believe that? Come here honey," he said.

Slovenian-American former fashion model Melania served as first lady to Donald Trump during his term as president from 2017 to 2021.

"She's done a great job, works very hard, works very hard to help people. So I just want to thank her," he continued.

At the time of publication, US media reported that Trump is projected to win the election with at least 277 electoral college votes - with Harris trailing on 224. The margin of victory could be much higher, with Trump leading in many of the states still to declare.

Opponent Kamala Harris is yet to comment, while on Tuesday night her campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond announced she would speak on Wednesday as the vote count continues.

The election, held under the electoral college system, requires candidates to pick up electoral votes, with the number assigned to each state equal to the number of senators (2) and house representatives - which are based on population. All except Maine and Nebraska operate a 'winner takes all' system based on the state's popular vote, while 270 of the 538 total are needed to win.

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 34 of 100 Senate seats are also up for election, with the GOP projected to win a majority in both at the time of publication.