Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

As it happenedended

As it happened: Donald Trump elected President of the United States in shock defeat of Hillary Clinton

Former outsider sweeps to decisive victory after winning key battleground states

Donald Trump's victory speech after winning US election

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Donald Trump has been elected President of the United States in the biggest shock in the country's electoral history. Here are the things you need to know:

Please allow a moment for the live blog to load

Donald Trump has been named the shock victor of the US presidential election, pledging to be a "President for all Americans".

In a victory speech in New York, the Republican candidate, vowed to unite the country following a divisive campaign littered with controversies.

“Now it’s time for America to bind the wounds of division…I say it is time for us to come together as one united people,” he said, as supporters chanted “USA! USA! USA!”.

Amid widespread concern over international tensions following Mr Trump’s comments on countries including China and Russia, he insisted he expected “great relationships” with foreign nations.

“America will no longer settle for anything less than best, - we must reclaim our country’s destiny,” he added. “I want to tell the world community that while we will always put America’s interests first, we will always deal fairly with everyone – all people and all other nations.

“We will seek common ground, not hostility. Partnership, not conflict.”

Hillary Clinton phoned Mr Trump in the early hours of Wednesday morning to concede defeat but made no immediate public comment.

As her loss looked ever more certain, she tweeted: "Whatever happens tonight, thank you for everything."

Fox News saying Clinton has lead in North Carolin based on exit polls. V good news for her.

James Moore9 November 2016 00:31

Ohio polls close, #ElectionNight

David Usborne9 November 2016 00:31

WEST VIRGINIA goes to DONALD TRUMP (says CNN). Only five votes and as expected.

Andrew Griffin9 November 2016 00:31
Justin Carissimo9 November 2016 00:31

That puts Donald Trump on 24, still compared to Hillary's three.

Andrew Griffin9 November 2016 00:32

Ladbrokes makes Rubio favourite to be next Republican nominee IF Trump loses. 6-1 if you're inclined.

James Moore9 November 2016 00:33

Donald Trump's back up in Florida. Again, it's very, very slight. And we're probably going to be saying this over and over, as more votes come out of the very disparate – and very important – state of Florida.

Andrew Griffin9 November 2016 00:33
Rachael Revesz9 November 2016 00:36

From my special election coverage in TX: Syrian family on settling in the US amid Trump anti-immigrant stance independent.co.uk/news/world/ame…

Feliks Garcia9 November 2016 00:37

#2 : Refugee families cite education for migrating to US. @AmaanahRefugeeS 's Awesome Academy gives them just that independent.co.uk/news/world/ame…

Feliks Garcia9 November 2016 00:40

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in