Republican Donald Trump won the White House elections with a series of shocking wins in battleground states such as Florida and Ohio on Tuesday. He is now the next President of United States according to reports.

Hillary Clinton has also reportedly called him to congratulate him on the victory. 

Trump surged to wins in Florida, Ohio, Iowa and North Carolina, and Fox News projected a win for him in Wisconsin. 

With voting completed in 49 of the 50 U.S. states, he also narrowly led in Michigan and New Hampshire, edging him closer to 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the state-by-state fight for the White House.

Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta told supporters at Clinton’s election rally in New York to go home. “Several states are too close to call so we’re not going to have anything more to say tonight,” he said.

Clinton still had a narrow path to the White House, although she would have to sweep every remaining battleground state.

The US dollar sank and stock markets slammed into reverse in wild Asian trade on Wednesday as early results pointed to a nail-biter and investors stampeded to safe-haven assets.

Investors worry a victory by the New York businessman could cause economic and global uncertainty.

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.

b’Will this go down to the wire | Source; AFP’

Shortly after networks called Wisconsin for Trump on Tuesday evening, celebrating supporters at his election night rally in New York began to chant “lock her up” – a common refrain on the campaign trail for the former U.S. secretary of state repeatedly branded “Crooked Hillary” by the volatile Trump.

A packed crowd in the lobby of Trump’s new hotel in Washington, D.C., also broke into chants of “lock her up” and “USA, USA, USA” as state after state was called for Trump.

As of 2:03 a.m. EST (0703 GMT on Wednesday), Trump had 244 electoral votes to Clinton’s 218, with U.S. television networks projecting the winner in 42 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Clinton had earlier acknowledged a battle that was unexpectedly tight given her edge in opinion polls going into Election Day.

She tweeted: “This team has so much to be proud of. Whatever happens tonight, thank you for everything.”

With 95 percent of the vote counted in Florida, Trump led Clinton by about 130,000 votes out of 9 million cast. In North Carolina, Trump led by about 100,00 votes out of 3.9 million cast.

As of 10:35 p.m. EST (0335 GMT on Wednesday), Trump had 167 electoral votes to Clinton’s 131, with U.S. television networks projecting the winner in 31 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

b’Trump has won key states | Source : AFP’

Before Tuesday’s election, Clinton led Trump, 44 percent to 39 percent in the last Reuters/Ipsos national tracking poll. A Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation poll gave her a 90 percent chance of defeating Trump and becoming the first woman elected U.S. president.

Trump survived a series of seemingly crippling blows, many of them self-inflicted, including the emergence in October of a 2005 video in which he boasted about making unwanted sexual advances on women. He apologized but within days, several women emerged to say he had groped them, allegations he denied.

He was judged the loser of all three presidential debates with Clinton and she led him by varying margins for months in opinion polls.

Trump won avid support among a core base of white non-college educated workers with his promise to be the “greatest jobs president that God ever created.” He has vowed to impose a 35 percent tariff on goods exported to the United States by U.S. companies that went abroad.

His unpredictable nature, frequent insults and unorthodox proposals led to campaign feuds with a long list of people, including Muslims, the disabled, Republican U.S. Senator John McCain, Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, the family of a slain Muslim-American soldier, a Miss Universe winner and a federal judge of Mexican heritage.