Breaking: Donald Trump becomes 45th US president

Donald Trump has been elected the 45th president of the United States, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Projections early on Wednesday showed that Trump clinched victory over Hillary Clinton to become the 45th US president-elect after securing the 270 electoral votes needed to win.

Billionaire Trump had 276 electoral votes compared to 218 electoral votes for Clinton.

Trump, who entered election night as an underdog, gained an advantage over Clinton after winning the swing states of Ohio, Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Both candidates scored victories in states where they were expected to win. Trump captured conservative states in the South and Midwest, while Clinton swept several states on the East Coast and Illinois in the Midwest.

Trump was seen as the least likely candidate to win in what was an extremely a tight race.

He, a former reality TV star, announced his candidacy in June 2015.

Since then, the billionaire businessman from New York has consistently alienated minority groups, refused to release his tax returns, and remained seemingly unapologetic for leaked tapes in which he brags about sexually assaulting women, al Jazeera reported.

Clinton had a slim lead in the polls but no one was ruling out a Trump victory. A polling average by tracker site RealClearPolitics gave Clinton a 3.3-percentage point national lead.

The 69-year-old former first lady, senator, and secretary of state - who was backed by incumbent President Barack Obama - on Monday urged the country to unite and vote for “a hopeful, inclusive, big-hearted America” in her last effort to woo voters.

rump, meanwhile, pressed his message with voters who feel left behind by globalisation and social change, wrapping up with a flourish on his protectionist slogan of “America first”.

Promising to end “years of betrayal,” tear up free trade deals, seal the border, halt the drug trade and subject Syrian refugees to “extreme vetting”, Trump told his supporters in New Hampshire: “I am with you and I will fight for you and we will win.”

Clinton has pushed a more optimistic vision, despite a wobble in the final weeks of her campaign when the FBI re-opened an investigation into whether she had put US secrets at risk by using a private email server - only to close the probe again on Sunday. The email investigation allowed Trump to recover ground lost in a series of recent scandals.

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