Trump's path to 270: How Donald Trump became President of the United States
Trump held every Republican-leaning state and then all-but cleared up the swing states as well
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The results are in from the US election and President-elect Donald Trump has won the race for the White House.
It wasn't long after the first polls closed that it became apparent Mr Trump had outperformed expectations.
At that stage, forecasts shifted to reflect what was poised to be a close race. In the end, the Republican beat Hillary Clinton comfortably.
Follow the latest results here live
Mr Trump held onto every state won by Mitt Romney in 2012, and then went on to claim every swing state that we identified here as being up for grabs at the half-way point.
With 93 per cent of its votes counted, the result in New Hampshire is just 0.1% in Mr Trump's favour - meaning that state's four electoral college votes could still go either way.
But not including New Hampshire, the final tallies for the two candidates look set appear to be 306 for Mr Trump and 228 for Ms Clinton.
Here's how Mr Trump got to 270 and beyond.
Florida
This was the first big result which showed Mr Trump had a realistic chance of finding a path to 270. The vote tightened right at the end but the Republican held on, taking the state by just a single percentage point.
Ohio
Ohio is famously consistent at picking the winner of the election as a whole - and so it made a splash when this result came in.
It wasn't the most surprising of Mr Trump's victories but the margin of his win here, with 52 per cent to Ms Clinton's 43 per cent, was a sign of things to come.
North Carolina
An important swing state which saw plenty of visits from both sides throughout the campaign.
It only edged Mr Trump up by four electoral votes - but he took it much more comfortably than expected, with a four-point margin.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania hasn't chosen a Republican candidate since 1988, and was polling so far in Ms Clinton's favour that it didn't even rank as a swing state among some analysts.
Yet late on in the count, Mr Trump suddenly took a lead here - and when he finally clinched it by a single percentage point, it became clear Ms Clinton was finished.
Wisconsin
A traditional blue state since 1984 that was barely even considered a battleground, yet started going very badly for the Democrats almost as soon as counting began.
Mr Trump eventually converted that lead to a three-point win in the state.
And Wisconsin will go down in history as the state that won President Trump the election. Its 10 electoral votes took him comfortably over the 270 line.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments