Right Now: The Electoral College has affirmed Donald J. Trump as the nation’s 45th president, pushing him past the 270-vote threshold for election, with scant evidence of the anti-Trump revolt among electors that some of his critics had hoped would occur. With nearly all votes counted, Trump had clinched 304 electoral votes to Clinton’s 224, according to an Associated Press tally of the voting by 538 electors across the country. Trump garnered more than the 270 electoral votes required to win, even as at least half a dozen U.S. electors broke with tradition to vote against their own state’s directives, the largest number of “faithless electors” seen in more than a century. Just two of the 306 GOP electors, both from Texas, cast their vote against Trump defying a Republican National Committee whip. Befitting an election filled with acrimony, thousands of protesters converged on state capitols across the country Monday, urging Republican electors to abandon their party's winning candidate. Republican electors in Texas vaulted Mr. Trump past the 270 mark, granting him all but two of their 38 ballots in a ceremony in the State Capitol in Austin. Eight Democratic electors attempted to vote against Clinton, but three of them were replaced by state election officials, raising doubts if their 'faithless' votes will count. There is no constitutional provision or federal law that requires electors to vote for the candidate who won their state — though some states require their electors to vote for the winning candidate. In the presidential election held on November 8, Trump had won 306 electoral college votes against Hillary, who got 232 votes. I threw them all away.”

A joint session of Congress is scheduled for Jan. 6 to certify the results of the Electoral College vote, with Vice President Joe Biden presiding as president of the Senate.
Amidst a concerted effort to persuade electors to choose another candidate, Donald Trump earns the required Electoral College votes to be selected as the next President of the United States.