Donald Trump crosses finish line in White House race

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has clobbered his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the divisive race to the White House.

The business mogul garnered more than 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency after the polls closed on Tuesday.

The 70-year-old real estate developer and former reality-TV star will become the 45th president of the United States and the first candidate to win the presidency without having previously held public office or served in the US military.

His opponent, Clinton, went into Election Day with a lead in the polls, but her hopes of becoming America's first female president were rapidly shattered as results started coming in.

The Democratic nominee called Trump early Wednesday to concede the election.

Her campaign chair, John Podesta, said earlier that Clinton would not address supporters Tuesday night, claiming the race was still too close to call.

"They're still counting votes -- every vote should count. Several states are too close to call. So we're not going to have anything more to say tonight," Podesta said, adding Clinton had "done an amazing job, and she is not done yet."

Donald Trump arrived at his campaign headquarters in New York early Wednesday to address his supporters.

“I just received a call from Secretary Clinton, she congratulated us on our victory,” Trump said.

Changing the tone of his campaign, Trump said, "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 our country." 

“I am reaching out to you for your guidance and help,” he told his supporters. 

Trump assured the nation that he wants to "be a president for all Americans" and that "nothing we want for our future is beyond our reach."

“We will begin the urgent task of rebuilding our country,” he said. “The forgotten men and women of our country will not be forgotten. …We will put millions of people to work.”

“America will no longer settle for anything less than the best,” the elected president promised.

Trump also sought to reassure people around the world that his presidency would be based on common ground not hostility.

"While we will always put America's interests first, we will deal fairly with everyone -- with everyone. We will seek common ground, not hostility," he said.

Trump's victories in the crucial battleground states of Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Wisconsin significantly narrowed her opponent's path to victory.

Clinton had been leading Trump throughout the campaign in most of the polls except for the last week when she lost ground to Trump, and in some polls she was even trailing behind the billionaire businessman. 

The Emerson College Polling predicted Monday that Clinton would win 323 electoral votes, and Trump was not set to gain more than 215.

Clinton came under attack after the FBI released new emails, saying they could be connected to a private server she used while she served as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

Trump had strongly questioned the legitimacy of the American electoral system. He called the election process rigged, and said the media had been colluding with Clinton to beat him.

The 2016 presidential race featured two of the most disliked candidates in electoral history, multiple surveys have found.

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