Donald Trump declares himself the 'presumptive Republican nominee' after clean sweep

Donald Trump has declared himself the “presumptive” Republican nominee after securing a clean sweep in five crucial contests and edging ever closer to securing the party’s candidacy.

Mr Trump appeared pugnacious but reasonably restrained when he appeared before supporters after enjoying victories in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maryland and Connecticut.

“I just want to thank everyone,” he said, speaking at Trump Tower in New York. “This is a bigger win than we expected - 0-5. And not only was it 0-5, it was 60, 65, 67 [points]. When you crack 60 points when there are three people, that is a very hard thing to do.” He added: “I consider myself the presumptive nominee. We have millions more votes than Cruz. We have millions more votes than Kasich ... It’s over. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over.”

For the Democrats, Hillary Clinton claimed victory in four of the states - Delaware, Connecticut, Maryland and Pennsylvania - that voted in the so-called “Acela Primary”, named after a high speed train that cuts through the states that were voting. Her rival, Bernie Sanders, won just one state, Rhode Island, the smallest state in the union.

Mr Trump had gone into election day as the clear favourite. Yet even he may not have imagined his scale of victory he enjoyed over his rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich.

With most of the votes having been returned from the precincts, the tycoon was on 60 points in Connecticut, 61 in Delaware, 54 in Maryland, 58 in Pennsylvania and 65 points in Rhode Island.

While the division of delegates was still taking place, Mr Trump’s total was set to rise to at least 926, almost 400 points clear of Mr Cruz on 543, and with Mr Kasich trailing in a distant third with 148.

While he was less bombastic that in many of his previous appearances, Mr Trump took the opportunity to jab at both Mr Cruz and Mr Kasich, who had previously agreed on an electoral pact ahead of three upcoming contests.

“The Republican party needs something very different to that,” he said of the Kasich-Cruz alliance.

Ms Clinton had also gone into Tuesday the favourite in most of the contests and she increased her haul of delegates, pushing it closer to the 2,383 needed to secure the Democratic nomination. Her total was set to have reached at least 1,596, compared to Mr Sanders' 1,281.

Speaking to her supporters in Philadelphia, the largest city in Pennsylvania, a state that held the most delegates and which she won easily, the former secretary of state delivered a speech that many said was focussed on the general election and her likely battle against Donald Trump, rather than her race with Mr Sanders.

“Our campaign is about restoring people’s confidence in our ability to achieve results,” she said. “That is why we are setting bold, progressive goals.”

Ahead of voting, Ms Clinton had led the Vermont senator in Delaware by 21 points, in Maryland by 24 points, in Rhode Island by around 3 points, in Pennsylvania by 17 points and had an advantage in Connecticut of 6 points.

There has been mounting pressure on Mr Sanders to drop out of the race and open the way for Ms Clinton to focus on the race against the Republicans. Yet the 74-year-old made clear on Tuesday night that he continued to remain in the race, even as far as the California primary in June.

He told the Associated Press he knew he had only a “very narrow path and we’re going to have to win some big victories”.

In the Republican race, Mr Cruz and Mr Kasich were trying to stop Mr Trump securing the 1,237 delegates he needs to tie up the party’s nomination ahead of the convention in July.

Many believe no candidate will do so, opening the way for a so-called contested convention in which Mr Trump’s opponents would seek to block him.

An average of polls collated by Real Clear Politics ahead of voting had put the tycoon 25 clear in Rhode Island, 17 points clear in Maryland, 19 points clear in Pennsylvania, 26 points clear in Connecticut and as many as 37 points ahead in Delaware