Donald Trump wins: Thousands of Americans take to streets to protest against new President-elect

Anger erupts across a number of American cities after Mr Trump wins election

Thousands of people have taken to the streets across western America to protest against Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton in the US presidential election.

Cities in California, Oregon and Washington all witnessed angry demonstrations, with objects being set alight and effigies burned.

Up to 1,500 people gathered at the University of California in Los Angeles in the early hours to express their anger and sadness at the shock result.

Elsewhere in the state, tyres and rubbish trucks were reportedly set alight and windows smashed as Californians, who overwhelmingly backed Ms Clinton, reacted to the news that Mr Trump looked set to become their next president.

Some marched through the city chanting anti-Trump slogans. A crown at the University of California Santa Barbara shouted: “Not my president. Not my president.”, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Protester N.J. Omorogieva told the newspaper she was “heartbroken” by the result, saying she joined the demonstration “to give hugs to people who were overcome by devastation”.

Videos uploaded to social media showed hundreds of people in Los Angeles chanting “We will be all right.”

One person can be seen carrying a Mexico flag, an apparent protest against Mr Trump’s pledge to clamp down on Mexican immigration to the US by building a wall along the border. The new President-elect has previously said Mexican immigrants are “rapists” who are bringing “drugs and crime” into the USA.

In Oakland, just outside San Francisco, protesters reportedly smashed a window at offices of the Oakland Tribune newspaper and set fire to vehicles and tyres. Effigies of Mr Trump were also burned.

A fire burns during protests in Oakland, California (AP)

One demonstrator was taken to hospital with “major injuries” after reportedly being hit by a car.

In nearby San Diego, 500 students marched across their campus, shouting: “F*** Donald Trump”.

And in New York, singer Lady Gaga staged a protest outside Trump Towers by standing on top of a sewage truck and holding a sign reading “Love trumps hate”.

Fireworks were set off by protesters in Seattle, Washington, while demonstrations also took place in the cities of Portland and Eugene in Oregon.

In other areas, however, Trump supporters gathered to celebrate their victory. Around 30 people headed to Mr Trump’s star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, where they chanted “This is our president” as counter-protestors looked on.

A protester sets off fireworks during a protest against President-elect Donald Trump in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood (AP)

Outside the White House, too, Republican supporters gathered to rejoice at Mr Trump’s election victory.

The protests are a sign of the deep divisions that were exposed during a long and bitter election campaign that saw the electorate deeply polarised along social, ethnic and geographical lines.

Donald Trump was eventually elected as the 45th President of the United States after winning all the key battleground states, despite Hillary Clinton receiving more votes across the country.