REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
Donald Trump.
The Associated Press forecast on Wednesday that the Republican presidential nominee will surpass the 270 electoral vote threshold needed to win the White House. In doing so, he completed the most massive upset in modern political history, beating Democratic challenger and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as one of the most promising fields of Republican candidates in a generation.
Almost every major forecasting aggregator, including FiveThirtyEight, RealClearPolitics, the New York Times, and HuffPost Pollster all heavily favored a Clinton victory in the lead-up to Tuesday's race.
The insurgent Republican businessman's candidacy was greeted as a sideshow by many media outlets and even other candidates when he declared on June 16, 2015. But Trump quickly gained popularity among Republican party voters, many of whom were drawn to his populist message on issues like international trade and immigration, inflammatory rhetoric about identity-politics issues, and promises to restore the US to previous points of perceived national glory.
Trump's victory Tuesday came amid a wave of support among working-class and blue-collar white voters in a number of key battleground states, including Florida, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and New Hampshire. The New York businessman long claimed his nationalist pitch to voters could spur high levels of voter turnout that would help propel him to the White House.
The mood at Trump headquarters in Manhattan was joyous, as guests drank and shouted when Trump appeared to win Rust Belt states like Wisconsin and Michigan, formerly reliably Democratic states. Attendees, sporting suits and red "Make America Great Again" hats, appeared equally shocked at Trump's massive upset.
"We're actually going to do it," an attendee remarked as Trump appeared to pull ahead in key states.
Just a mile away on Manhattan's west side, the mood at Clinton's election night party was one of equal shock and disbelief.
Dead silence at Hillary Clinton Javitz Center event in New York as key battleground state of North Carolina called for Trump. #2016election
- Molly O'Toole (@mollymotoole) November 9, 2016Just seen a woman leave Clinton rally at Javits Center in tears. #USADecides #HillaryClinton
- Olivia Feld (@oliviafeld) November 9, 2016In the women's restroom at the Javits Center complete strangers are asking each other how they're holding up
- Ashley Fetters (@AshleyFetters) November 9, 2016The Republican presidential nominee will take the oath of office in January with a mandate to fulfill a slate of lofty campaign promises. Trump has pledged a number of government actions that will certainly rock the US economy, including a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, a massive federal infrastructure plan, a moratorium on increasing regulations, and deportation of millions of immigrants illegally living in the US.
He has also promised national-security overhauls, including a potential return to enhanced-interrogation techniques, increasing bombing of ISIS, reevaluating the US relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, loosening background checks for purchasing firearms, and forcing Mexico to pay for a Southern border wall.
Trump will inherit a Congress that has remained plagued by gridlock throughout President Barack Obama's tenure.
Trump is slated to speak early Wednesday in New York. Clinton cancelled a Tuesday campaign appearance just a few miles away.
David Anderson and Josh Barro contributed reporting.