Donald Trump has vowed to be “president for all Americans” after pulling off an astonishing victory in the race for the White House.
He told jubilant supporters it was “now time for America to bind the wounds of division and come together”.
And he pledged to keep his promise to “make America great again” after beating Hillary Clinton in a battle which 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 Mr Trump told supporters shortly before 8am UK time: “I’ve just received a call from Secretary Clinton. She congratulated us – it’s about us – on our victory and I congratulated her and her family on a very, very hard fought campaign.”
Taking to the stage at Trump HQ in New York, he declared: “I will be president for all Americans.”
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He added: “The forgotten people of our country will be forgotten no longer.”
He said the US will have “great relations” with countries “who want to get along with us”.
Mr Trump continued: “While we will always put America first, we will deal fairly with everyone, all people and all other nations. We will seek common ground not hostility.”
He added: “We’re going to get to work for the American people.”
The result has shocked the world’s financial markets, with London’s FTSE 100 Index dropping as much as 2% or 146.8 points to 6696.3 on opening at 8am.
