US election live updates: Donald Trump once described rumoured Secretary of State pick as an ‘overrated politician’

Donald Trump has seemingly performed an Olympic-grade backflip after fiery comments aimed at his reported cabinet pick were unearthed.

Welcome back to our live coverage of the US election.

After last week’s convincing victory over Kamala Harris, President-elect Donald Trump is adding more names to the White House’s new inner sanctum.

Mr Trump finished with 312 Electoral College votes to Ms Harris’ 226.

As well as the presidency and the Senate, the Republicans are set to win back the House of Representatives from the Democrats. It’s still too close to call – so theoretically it is up for grabs – but the GOP are just four seats away from a majority. It will likely be a razor thin win however, if the Republicans do win control.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied he spoke to Mr Trump last week. That’s despite reports the two had a chat on Thursday.

Read on for the latest updates.

Originally published as US election live updates: Donald Trump once described rumoured Secretary of State pick as an ‘overrated politician’