Donald Trump is nearing victory in the race to the White House after taking the battleground states of Florida, Ohio and North Carolina.

With nine of the 51 results still to come, the Republican had 244 electoral votes, with his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton on 209, and 270 needed to win.

Both candidates had picked up victories in their strongholds, but the billionaire businessman's success in a tight contest in Florida, with its 29 votes, looked crucial.

The first states to be decided produced the predicted results - Kentucky, Indiana, Oklahoma, West Virginia, South Carolina and Tennessee went for Mr Trump, while Vermont, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware and the District of Columbia were claimed by Mrs Clinton.

In later waves, Mr Trump added Texas, Kansas, Georgia and more to his column while Mrs Clinton took New York and Illinois. She later added huge and reliably Democratic California.

Michigan and Wisconsin, two Midwestern powerhouses that have not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since the 1980s, took on unexpected importance.

Mrs Clinton's campaign had largely taken both for granted, but made a late push in Michigan in the race's final days.

The uncertainty sent Dow Jones futures and Asian markets tumbling, reflecting investor concern over what a Trump presidency might mean for the economy and trade.

As Mrs Clinton's team anxiously waited for results to roll in, the candidate tweeted to supporters: "Whatever happens tonight, thank you for everything."

Mrs Clinton, a fixture in American politics for decades, was hoping to become the first woman to serve as commander in chief.

Her race against Mr Trump, a celebrity businessman with no political experience, was among the nastiest in recent memory, exposing and deepening the nation's economic and racial divides.

The Republicans have also clinched continued House control for the new Congress. They will probably lose seats from their current historic high, but they won enough to extend their six-year streak of commanding the chamber.

With voting results still being counted early on Wednesday, Republicans have won at least 218 House seats. That exceeds the number needed to control the chamber.

Democrats started the year hoping Mr Trump's divisive presidential candidacy would cost Republicans large numbers of House seats.

Republicans now control 247 seats in the House. With a smaller majority, dissident hard-right conservatives could have added leverage to press House Speaker Paul Ryan and other party leaders on the budget and other issues.

The Republican Party's tortured relationship with its nominee was evident right up to the end.

Former President George W Bush and his wife Laura declined to back Mr Trump, instead selecting "none of the above" when they voted for president, according to spokesman Freddy Ford.

But Mr Trump, the New York real estate developer who lives in a gold-plated Manhattan penthouse, forged a striking connection with white, working-class Americans who feel left behind in the changing economy and diversifying country.

He cast immigration, both from Latin America and the Middle East, as the root of many problems plaguing the nation and called for building a wall along the US-Mexico border.

"I see so many hopes and so many dreams out there that didn't happen, that could have happened, with leadership, with proper leadership," he said by telephone on Fox News before casting his own ballot in Manhattan.

"And people are hurt so badly."

Mr Trump won Pennsylvania and its prize of 20 electoral votes to take him close to victory.

His stunning win in the key battleground state gives him 264 electoral votes.

Pennsylvania last voted for a Republican for president in 1988. Mr Trump repeatedly campaigned there, believing his populist message would resonate with the state's working-class voters.

Mrs Clinton long viewed the state as a key part of her "firewall" and rallied in Philadelphia with President Barack Obama on Monday night. The Democrats also held their nominating convention in the city.

Mr Trump was in the lead in tight contests in Arizona, with 11 electoral votes, and Wisconsin, with 10, and a win in either would be enough to take him over the threshold.</s>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Donald Trump’s election stunned many, including celebrities who overwhelmingly supported Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Here’s how some of them reacted on Twitter to his victory:

— “Great faith in God works. Mr @realDonaldTrump I’m proud to call you President of the United States of America. And First Lady @melaniatrump.” — actor Scott Baio.

— “Just was watching the news… maybe they’ll ask me to sing ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ at the inauguration, ha!” — rocker Mick Jagger.

— “When they go low, we go high. We regroup. We listen. We double down. We bet on us. Good night.” — actress Emmy Rossum.

— “We are staring into the face of our darkest self America. Why does it have to have a dyed combover??” — actress Connie Britton

— “I need to wake up early and buy tons of stock in a wall building company! And logs! And metal! And levelers!” — writer-director Judd Apatow.

— I can’t stop crying. I can’t even believe this. Its too clear about the consciousness of our country. I can’t. I’m so afraid of what is about to happen.” — singer-songwriter India.Arie

— “Now it is time to move forward and hope that our country can come together.” — actor Ben Stiller

— “Dear God Please let Ruth Bader Ginsburg live to be 120.” — actor-comedian Albert Brooks.

— “I still believe in us. I do. I think if anything this should motivate us. This should wake us up.” — actress Sophia Bush.

— “At least pot’s legal.” — actor-producer Seth MacFarlane, reacting to voters legalizing recreational marijuana use in California, Massachusetts and Nevada.</s>Following what many would call a contentious election campaign by both Presidential candidates, Donald Trump has defeated Hillary Clinton and emerged victorious as the 45th President of the United States.

It was a rather shocking, yet nail-biting course to the final announcement, as most people up until election day were definitely expecting a Clinton win.

Mainstream media played a key role in influencing this perspective. While a massive number of mainstream organisations kept stating that polls support Clinton, little did we know that Americans were actually favouring Trump.

The above image actually proves how much support Trump has garnered over the year. There are some states such as New York, California, Oregon and Washington that generally vote Democratic and some states such as Kansas, Montana, Louisiana etc. that always vote Republican.

Therefore, support from 10-11 key states, also known as the ‘swing states’ generally play a key role in deciding the new leader of the country. These states would include Ohio, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Virginia, Nevada, Colorado and New Hampshire.

Trump’s surprise victory in Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and North Carolina tipped the scale in his favour to a large extent.People from all over the world are even more stunned to learn that competition was neck to neck in the few ‘swing states’, which Clinton somehow managed to secure.

Following news of his triumph over these states, Clinton called Trump to concede the race. However, she won’t be presenting a concession speech tonight. Democratic Campaign Chairman John Podesta told followers, “Everybody should head home…Get some sleep. We’ll have more to say tomorrow. It’s been a long night and a long campaign… We can wait a little longer, can’t we”?

From the start of election day, mainstream media has steered its efforts on publishing and highlighting Clinton’s small victories. An accurate conjecture would suggest that it was an attempt to shift focus from Trump’s performance while creating an illusion of victory for Clinton.

As Trump’s future presidency became incontestable, mainstream media started flooding articles embedded with social media posts from despaired Clinton supporters. A lot of organisations used scare tactics by portraying Trump’s victory as a natural disaster that would lead America into a bleak and dangerous future.

While Trump has often been criticised for his abrasive comments, sexist behaviour and racial slurs, Clinton’s reputation took a lethal blow with the scandal on leaked emails, information released by Wikileaks, her alleged funding of ISIS and her actions as Secretary of State. The Guardian journalists made a salient point in their election reports when they said, “Donald Trump shattered expectations… with an election night victory that revealed deep anti-establishment anger among American voters”.

We have now witnessed the growing power of social media and alternate media in this day and age. While mainstream media defamed Trump and hardly discussed Clinton’s scandals, as they spent most of their resources rendering her as a messiah, it seems people found other sources to help justify their opinion.

This election has effectively proved how mainstream media misleads their audience in order to skew their opinions. Unfortunately, they will continue doing so instead of analysing what actually made Americans choose Trump over Clinton. In the next few months we will see the media trying to speculate the so-called ‘impending doom’. However, with the choice of candidates on hand, the ‘impending doom’ was always inevitable.</s>When Donald Trump takes the oath of office on January 20th, the fact he will be the oldest person to do so in America’s 240-year history will be something of an afterthought.

On that day a business tycoon, reality TV celebrity and architect of one of the most divisive and incendiary campaigns in memory , a campaign that has raised comparisons to Hitler and Mussolini , will become the most powerful person on the planet, his finger on the nuclear trigger.

This is no ordinary candidate in no ordinary year. Trump will be the first person in more than 60 years to enter the White House with no experience as a governor or on Capitol Hill. Many words have been used by critics to describe him: bigot, blowhard, demagogue, idiot, misogynist, narcissist, racist, sexual predator. Tony Schwartz, who ghost-wrote Trump’s bestselling book The Art of the Deal, said if he was writing it now, he would call it The Sociopath.

Trump is “the blue-collar billionaire“ who lives the high life of golf and private jets but appeals to those who feel dispossessed and believe the American dream is dead. He launched his campaign in June 2015 with a tirade against immigrants - he branded Mexicans criminals and rapists - although he himself is descended from them.

His mother, Mary MacLeod, was from Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides, once described by Trump as “serious Scotland“. His father, Fred, was the son of Friedrich Trump, who at 16 arrived on a boat in lower Manhattan in 1885, learned English and became a US citizen.

Setting up home in Queens, New York, Fred Trump built a property empire and became one of the city‘s biggest developers and landlords. Donald Trump was born there on 14 June 1946, the fourth of five children.

On Sundays the family worshipped at Marble Collegiate church in Manhattan, where the head pastor was Norman Vincent Peale, dubbed “God‘s salesman“ and author of The Power Of Positive Thinking. That book influenced the young Trump with advice such as: “Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop the picture ? Do not build up obstacles in your imagination.”

Trump had a rebellious streak and, aged 13, his parents sent him to the New York Military Academy in hope of instilling discipline. It worked. He thrived on the competition over everything from tidying his room to shining his shoes and climbed the ranks. Through five educational and medical deferments during the Vietnam war, Trump would never serve in the US military, but he claimed that the school gave him “more training militarily than a lot of the guys that go into the military”.

Trump went on to Fordham University, then the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a degree in economics in 1968. He joined his father’s business, helping manage residential housing projects for the middle class in New York boroughs Brooklyn and Queens, and became favourite to succeed him after his elder brother, a pilot, died at 43 due to alcoholism. It was a tragedy that Trump said led him to avoid alcohol, cigarettes and drugs all his life.

Trump took control of the company in 1971, renaming it the Trump Organization, and claimed his father gave him a “small loan of a million dollars” to help. The firm expanded into Manhattan, transforming the rundown Commodore Hotel into the Grand Hyatt and erecting the 58-storey Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, which serves as both his primary residence and the headquarters of the Trump Organization. In 1973 the Trumps were charged with racial bias in their rental practices before reaching a settlement with the US government.

Other properties bearing his name followed, including golf courses, the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, New York‘s venerable Plaza Hotel and casinos. Around the world there were Trump Towers in Mumbai, Istanbul and the Phiippines.

But Trump‘s business record - crucial to his election message - is chequered. Setbacks included Trump University, Trump Mortgage, Trump Airlines and Trump Vodka as well as four casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Despite piling up a vast fortune over the years, Trump has seen his companies file at least four bankruptcies.

During the second presidential debate, Trump admitted using a $916m loss claimed in 1995 to avoid paying federal income tax for many years. According to Forbes, Trump‘s net worth is $3.7bn, although he has repeatedly claimed he is worth $10bn.

Trump also moved into the entertainment industry, owning the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA beauty pageants from 1996 to 2015. In 2003, his celebrity soared with The Apprentice, the TV show in which contestants battled for a shot at a management job within his organisation and he could say with relish, “You‘re fired!“ He claimed in a financial disclosure form that he was paid a total of $213m by NBC.

But as far-fetched as it seems, Trump‘s hostile takeover of the political scene is not entirely unexpected. Once a registered Democrat and donor to the party, he reportedly expressed an interest in running for president as early as 1987 and entered the 2000 race as a Reform party candidate. He also led the “birther movement“ after repeatedly questioning the birthplace of Barack Obama.

He finally conceded this year that the US president was born in Hawaii but offered no apology, fuelling the allegation that he had run a racially charged, white nativist campaign.

Last December, in a speech following the deaths of 14 people in a terrorist shooting attack in San Bernardino, California, he said: “Donald J Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country‘s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.“ The pledge was later altered to cover people “from regions that export terrorism”.

Yet his dark vision of America, and his promise to make it “great again“, resonated with swaths of the country, especially white men who felt themselves economically and culturally in retreat. He defeated 16 rivals in the Republican primary, including Jeb Bush, the son and brother of past presidents, and arch-conservative Ted Cruz, with a record number of votes.

His rallies were like rock star events - he called his campaign a movement - even as he hurled insults and trampled over numerous political norms and values. Not even a 2005 video in which he boasted about groping women, and subsequent allegations of harassment from a dozen women, could derail him. “I have great respect for women,“ he improbably asserted. “Nobody has more respect for women than I do.“

His private life is far from conventional for a president. His first marriage to Czech athlete and model Ivana Zelnikova ended in divorce in 1990. The couple had three children, Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric, all of whom have become prominent surrogates on the trail. In a 2006 interview on The View, Trump said: “If Ivanka weren‘t my daughter, perhaps I‘d be dating her.”

He married actor Marla Maples in 1993 before they separated in 1997 and divorced in 1999; they have one daughter, Tiffany. The billionaire began dating his third wife, Slovenian-born model Melania Knauss, in 1998. The pair married in 2005 - the Clintons were among the guests - and a year later their son, Barron, was born.

Trump once said his supporters were so loyal that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue in New York and not lose a single vote. It more or less proved to be true.</s>Donald Trump has won the race for the White House after voters gambled on his promise to "Make America Great Again".

Hillary Clinton rang Mr Trump to concede defeat after the US presidential election went down to the wire.

At the end of one of the most divisive elections in modern US history, the Republican candidate sealed victory when he took key battleground states Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The Clinton camp initially refused to throw in the towel.

But TV networks reported around 7.40am UK time that Mrs Clinton had rung Mr Trump to concede defeat.

Trump's running mate Mike Pence told ecstatic Trump supporters at a rally in New York: " The American people have elected their new champion."</s>HE’S now the 45th President of the United States but four years ago Donald Trump could have been the Rangers owner.

The billionaire businessman gave serious consideration to buying the Ibrox club in 2012.

Rangers were soon to plunge into administration under Craig Whyte and then liquidation but the American with Scots heritage decided against the move as he foresaw the financial carnage.

Speaking at the time a source close to Trump said: "We looked seriously and walked away.

"It just did not make sense to us, although they are a great club.

"We hope someone steps in and builds the team again."
• Joey Barton exited Rangers with coffee machine under his arm after security frogmarched him to clear locker

Republican Trump enjoyed a stunning victory in the election on Tuesday, beating Democrat rival Hilary Clinton.

He claimed handy margins in the swing states of Ohio and North Carolina, and also took the key state of Florida.
• Riots break out across America as Donald Trump's win sparks violent protests

But his triumph has been greeted with dismay by many, with riots even breaking out across the States.

Hundreds took to the streets in California in the immediate aftermath after the result was announced with fires being set on the street, windows being smashed and protesters chanting "Not Our President".</s>Lady Gaga staged a protest against Donald Trump presidential victory outside his Trump Tower building in New York on Wednesday morning (09Nov16).

The Poker Face singer, an outspoken supporter for Hillary Clinton, had been at the Hillary for America Election Night Event at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center as the results from the polls came in on Tuesday evening (08Nov16) but as it became clear Trump would be declared U.S. President, she headed out and went to Trump Tower, which serves as his residence and headquarters for The Trump Organisation.

She posted a picture on Twitter which shows her standing on the step of a large white sanitation truck in a black strapless jumpsuit holding a sign which reads, “Love trumps hate”. The truck was parked outside the tower and the Trump Tower clocks shows the local time of almost 2.30 am.

“I want to live in a #CountryOfKindness where #LoveTrumpsHate,” she wrote in the caption with emojis of a love heart and the American flag.

Other pictures taken of Gaga at the scene after the protest show her sitting in a black Rolls-Royce Phantom and looking like she was praying, with her hands placed together and eyes closed.

She wasn’t the only one protesting – groups of people have taken to the streets to protest the next President in areas around California and Oregon.

The singer had performed for Clinton at her final rally in North Carolina on Monday night (07Nov16) and cast her ballot in patriotic gear before joining celebrities including Katy Perry, Lena Dunham and Debra Messing at the Javits Center on Tuesday (08Nov) evening.

Earlier in the evening, she shared a picture of her holding a U.S. flag while sitting with Lena Dunham and wrote, “Lovin it up with the ladies.!!! GO HILLARY #vote if your polls are still open. @lenadunham” and shared a video of supporters cheering Clinton on.

“In a room full of hope, we will be heard. @deray #blacklivesmatter Stand up for kindness, equality, and love… Nothing will stop us,” she later added.

Katy took to the stage at the convention centre in a continued show of support for Clinton. She confessed her parents had voted for Trump but they would still eat Thanksgiving dinner together later in the month (Nov16).</s>An overwhelming number of Albertans would back Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump if they could vote in the U.S. election, according to a Mainstreet/Postmedia poll released Tuesday.

The poll also found that if Trump wins, Albertans do not want the Canadian government to make it easier for bitter Americans to move here.

Mainstreet surveyed 5,066 Canadians from November 5-6 for a poll with a margin of error of +/- 1.38, 19 times out of 20. In Alberta, the poll had a sample size of 601 people creating a four per cent possible margin of error.

The poll (you can download it here) shows 62 per cent of Albertans supporting Clinton over Trump in the U.S. election with American third parties only getting thin slivers of the vote. Here's how it breaks down by province:

A Mainstreet/Postmedia poll looks at how Canadians would vote in the U.S. election But if Donald Trump wins, the poll finds little support in Alberta, or across the nation, for easing Canadian immigration rules to make it easier for Americans opposed to the new government to move here.

Related: Calgarians share their final thoughts on the election

The Mainstreet/Postmedia poll also looked at the demographic breakdown of the support in Alberta and Canada for the U.S. presidential candidates, finding three-quarters of Canadian women and almost 60 per cent of Canadian men would support Clinton.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump will enter the Oval Office with the ability to re-establish the Supreme Court’s conservative tilt and the chance to cement it for the long term.

Trump is expected to act quickly to fill one court vacancy and could choose the successor for up to three justices who will be in their 80s by the time his term ends.

The court has been short-handed since Justice Antonin Scalia died in February, and Trump has said he would seek someone in Scalia’s mold from a list of 21 people, mainly conservative state and federal judges in their 50s.

Trump’s victory was a vindication for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s strategy of refusing all year even to consider President Barack Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to take Scalia’s seat. McConnell announced on the night that Scalia died that the vacancy should be filled not by Obama, but by the next president. The Kentucky Republican was heavily criticized for his stance by Obama, other Democrats and even many legal scholars.

Now Garland’s nomination is dead, if not officially.

A fifth of voters nationwide said Supreme Court appointments were the most important factor in determining their presidential vote, and nearly 6 in 10 of them backed Trump, according to exit polls.

“The people deserved to be heard yesterday, and their voice was unmistakable,” conservative activist Carrie Severino said in a statement that praised McConnell and Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa for standing firm on the Garland nomination.

If Trump sticks to the names of potential nominees that he put out in the spring and added to in the fall, he could choose among several experienced appeals court judges, minority candidates and women. The list also is notable for its omission of some pre-eminent Republican judges and lawyers, including Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., and Paul Clement, who served as George W. Bush’s top Supreme Court lawyer.

After getting a ninth justice on the court, the next big question will be whether liberal Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, and Justice Anthony Kennedy, the pivotal vote closest to the court’s center, will retire during a Trump administration or try to stay on the bench in the hope that Trump is not re-elected in 2020. Ginsburg is 83, Kennedy is 80 and Breyer is 78.

“In the longer term, it is a question of how long Ginsburg, Kennedy, and Breyer can remain. Replacing any or all of them will tilt the Court in a much more conservative direction and can create a majority to reverse Roe v. Wade, eliminate affirmative action, strike down more campaign finance laws,” Dean Erwin Chemerinsky of the University of California at Irvine law school said in an email.

The leader of the court’s liberal bloc, Ginsburg had been confident Hillary Clinton would win the presidency, telling The Associated Press in July that the next president, “whoever she will be,” would have several Supreme Court seats to fill. She, and to a lesser extent, Breyer, had rebuffed pleas from fellow liberals, including Chemerinsky, to retire while Obama was in office and Democrats controlled the Senate, which they did until 2015.

Kennedy was appointed by Republican Ronald Reagan, but he has been the key vote in favor of gay rights and preservation of abortion rights, among issues on which he often sides with the liberals.

Recent Supreme Court history offers two examples of Republican-appointed justices, David Souter and John Paul Stevens, who appeared to wait out Bush’s presidency and then retired after Obama’s election. Stevens was 90 when he stepped down from the bench.</s>Donald Trump is the 45th president of the United States of America.

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In a stunning upset, Republican candidate Donald Trump has won the election and will be the 45th President of the United States.

Trump won a majority of electoral votes, at 276, as of 3:25 a.m. Wednesday, according to Politico.

After surpassing the critical 270 mark, Trump’s win was cemented. The Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton conceded to his victory, according to the New York Times.

In his acceptance speech at the Midtown Hilton in Manhattan, Trump appeared to a roaring crowd that chanted “USA! USA! USA!” as he made his way on the stage.

Following Trump’s rise to the “magic 270,” Trump’s running mate Mike Pence announced to the crowd at the New York Hilton, “The American people have spoken and the American people have elected a new champion.”

Trump began his speech by saying, “Sorry to keep you waiting, complicated business.”

He continued by telling the crowd that Clinton called him to concede the results.

“I just received a call from Secretary Clinton, she congratulated us on our victory and I congratulated her and her family on a very hard fought campaign,” Trump said.

In a change of tone towards Clinton, Trump granted her compliments in her presidential campaign.

“Hillary has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to this country,” Trump said.

Trump also spoke to those who didn’t support him.

“I will be president for all Americans and that is very important to me,” Trump said.

During his speech, the President-elect emphasized the themes that have dominated his campaign: reclaiming and reforming the nation.

“We must reclaim our country’s destiny,” he said. “We will seek common ground, not hostility.”

Added Trump, “We will embark upon a national project of hope and renewal.”

Trump also addressed the history taking place, but not without emphasizing having “to do a great job.”

“While the campaign is over, our work on this movement is only the beginning,” he said.

Some St. John’s students expressed their disdain for Trump’s dominance in the race.

“I am saddened that a man who has advocated for sexual assault, propelled islamophobia, made racists remarks, and with no understanding of foreign policy has made it this far. It disgusts me,” sophomore Annamaria Basile said.

Junior Joel Vazquez said, “America has let me down in the worst way possible and has shown me once and for all that my life truly does not matter.”

The Torch also reached out to several students who said they were pro-Trump, however, none wished to go on the record to talk about their views.

“I think the election being this close says so much about the country because of the willingness people have to support a person that has no experience in the government and has proved countless times that he is not suitable to lead,” sophomore Sieta Leon said. “I understand that voting on both sides can result difficult but I don’t think people are seeing the magnitude of what him being elected means.”
Some residents and business leaders in the state of California, which voted with majority support for Hillary Clinton, propose launching a secession movement from the United States after Donald Trump is elected president.