'We are looking really good': Trump remaining confident of victory

US President Donald Trump has declared his bid for re-election is looking "really good" across the country.

Mr Trump has maintained his upbeat tone despite national polling that showed him trailing in key states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The president tweeted "We are looking really good all over the country. Thank you!" to his voters.

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Earlier, the US president said while he is confident of being re-election, he has conceded "losing is never easy" — at least not for him.

A somewhat tired and hoarse-sounding President arrived at his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia this morning where he thanked the dozens of staffers who have worked with him throughout the campaign.

"I think we're going to have a great night, but it's politics and it's elections and you never know," Mr Trump said.

He said his campaign was doing well in states like Florida, Arizona and Texas. He noted the importance of winning Pennsylvania.

"Winning is easy. Losing is never easy," he said. "Not for me it's not."

Read more: US election 2020: How does it work, and when will we know the results?

The president went to the Republican National Committee's annex in Arlington, just outside Washington, after days of gruelling campaigning on the road.

"After doing that many rallies, the voice gets a little choppy," Mr Trump said with his now-gravelly delivery.

He said success will bring unity, while listing what he believes are his accomplishments with the coronavirus and the economy.

More than 100 staffers, almost all wearing masks, lined up against the back wall of the operations centre to hear from their candidate. Some masks were emblazoned with "Trump" and "MAGA" for Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan.

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Speaking on Fox News earlier on Tuesday as millions of Americans headed to the polls, Mr Trump appeared extremely confident of an outcome in his favour.

"We feel very good ... we have crowds we've never seen before," he said.

"Nobody's ever had it before so I think that translates into a lot of votes."

9News US correspondent Alexis Daish noted Mr Trump sounded croaky and tired, perhaps unsurprising given a marathon campaign and a sprint to the finish in recent days, with five rallies on Monday alone.

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Many across the country are bracing for social unrest, one expert telling nine.com.au that a deep divide in the country means violence is not just likely, but almost inevitable.

"If the President claims he's won on election night, then votes come in later that say he could lose, they could say the election has been stolen," Professor Joseph Siracusa of Curtin University said. "Violence could follow."

But on Election Day morning, Mr Trump laid the blame for potential violence on a "radicalised" left and on the Democrats.

"I think it's very sad and part of the reason is it'll all be in Democrat cities, Democrat-run cities," he said, pointing to cities including Chicago, New York City, and Baltimore. "And that's because of weak leadership."

Mr Trump was confident of a victory greater than in 2016, when he won 306 electoral college votes.

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Due in part to a record number of early voters and mail ballots in this year's election — which may take days or even weeks more to be processed and counted — there have been concerns that the election result may not be known immediately, and that the president, if he chose to announce victory based on election night counts, might therefore be declaring prematurely.

"I think we'll have victory, but only when we have victory," Mr Trump told Fox News.

"There's no reason to play games."

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