The US Supreme Court has struck down efforts by individual states to disqualify Donald Trump from running for president using an anti-insurrection constitutional clause.

The unanimous ruling is specific to Colorado, but it also overrides challenges brought in other states.

Colorado had barred Mr Trump from its Republican primary, arguing he incited the 2021 Capitol riot.

The court ruled that only Congress, rather than the states, has that power.

The top court's decision clears the way for Mr Trump to compete in the Colorado primary scheduled for Tuesday.

Mr Trump is the front-runner for the Republican nomination and looks likely to face a rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden in November's general election.

On Monday, the ex-president immediately claimed victory following the ruling, taking to his Truth Social media platform to claim a "big win for America". The message was followed by a fundraising email sent to supporters of his campaign.

Speaking from his estate in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, soon afterwards, he said that the decision was "very well crafted" and will "go a long way towards bringing our country together, which it needs".

"You can't take someone out of a race because an opponent would like it that way," Mr Trump added.

Colorado's Secretary of State, Jena Griswold, said that she was disappointed by the ruling and that "Colorado should be able to bar oath-breaking insurrections from our ballot".

Additionally, the watchdog group that brought the case in Colorado, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Crew), said in a statement that while the court "failed to meet the moment", it is "still a win for democracy: Trump will go down in history as an insurrectionist".