Donald John Trump has been elected the 45th president of the United States in a stunning election upset over Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Trump defied the polls as he captured crucial victories over Clinton in several battleground states including Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida as an ugly and divisive presidential election came to an end.
Trump surpassed the 270 electoral votes at 2:31 a.m. ET with a victory in Wisconsin, according to Associated Press.
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President-elect Donald Trump says Hillary Clinton congratulated him on his victory.
“Now it’s time for America to bind the wounds of division. We have to get together,” Trump told supporters in New York City. “To all Republicans and Democrats and Independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people. It’s time. I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans.”
Trump, 70, ran a controversial campaign that focused on strict immigration control, including his plan to build a wall along the United States border with Mexico and his controversial proposal to ban Muslims from entering the U.S.
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Hillary Clinton did not give a concession speech on election night.
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Trump – a real estate developer and reality TV star with no government experience – defeated the former secretary of state after a bitter campaign that polarized the nation. His election win was seen a powerful rejection of the establishment forces.
From the outset of the election, Trump’s campaign exploited anger towards Washington elites and secured his victory over several other high-profile Republicans during the primaries including Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush.
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His triumph over Clinton will end eight years of Democratic dominance of the White House and threatens to undo major achievements of President Barack Obama. Trump has pledged to act quickly to repeal Obama’s landmark health care law and revoke the nuclear agreement with Iran. He has also called the Trans Pacific Partnership – which involves Canada – a bad deal.
Trump’s presidency could also have further repercussions for Canada and the Trudeau government as he’s promised to rewrite NAFTA, and to pull out of the Paris climate-change agreement.
There’s also the Keystone XL pipeline, which was rejected by U.S. President Barack Obama but supported by Trump and could be revived.
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On the issue of refugees, Canada has thrown open its doors, particularly to those in war-torn countries like Syria and Iraq while Trump has called for U.S. borders to be slammed shut.
Canada’s Immigration and Citizenship website also crashed for some users Tuesday night after several news outlets reported that presidential hopeful Donald Trump was leading in election results.
READ MORE: Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration website crashes as Trump leads in election results
Throughout his campaign, the Manhattan billionaire tossed many of America’s political norms and traditions out the proverbial window.
He refused to release his tax returns, called Clinton a “nasty woman,” saying he would throw her in jail and launched his campaign by declaring that some Mexican immigrants who come to the U.S. illegally are “rapists.” Trump also denied the allegations from at least 10 women who accused him of past sexual assault or misconduct.
Voters in the U.S. also appeared to look past the release of a 2005 audio recording where he bragged about groping and kissing women without their consent.
For Clinton, 69, the former Senator fell short of becoming the first female president in U.S. history. Seen as the heir to Barack Obama she had pledged to fight for gun safety measures, to expand the Affordable Healthcare Act and fix immigration.
Her campaign had been dogged by an ongoing controversy involving her use of private email server while working as Secretary of State. The FBI investigated her handling of classified information and determined that “no reasonable prosecutor” would have filed any criminal case.
However, FBI Director James Comey dropped a bombshell just 11 days before the election after he revealed the agency had discovered new emails.
While Comey later announced the FBI had found nothing the polls between Clinton and Trump tightened significantly.
*With files from the Associated and Canadian Press
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