Trump wins Pennsylvania, putting him on cusp of presidency

While exit polls had Republican operatives privately despairing about his chances, he proved them wrong, as he long said he would.

He has taken Ohio, North Carolina, Florida and Pennsylvania, bringing his total to 264 electoral votes — just six shy of the 270 needed to win the White House.
Four battleground states remain uncalled, but the Republican appears to have a clear advantage in most, if not all of them.

If Trump wins Wisconsin and its 10 electoral votes, which appears possible, he could soon be projected to become the 45th president of the United States.

In Michigan, where Clinton campaigned furiously in the closing days of the race, Trump also has the lead.

Trump has so far been projected the winner of 25 states. Clinton has been projected to take 18 states, including the swing states of Virginia and Colorado, but has seen much of her blue-state firewall fall to pieces.

One other swing state, New Hampshire, has not been called but appears to favor Trump.

Trump's likely victory has left the political world in a state of shock, with the outcome heralding a seismic shift in the nation's politics.

Republicans are projected to hold their majorities in the House and Senate. If Trump is elected, the GOP will have unified control of Washington for the first time since 2007, freeing up Republicans to potentially roll back much of President Obama's legislative and regulatory legacy.

Trump's campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, said earlier in the evening that the campaign was feeling "really good" about where the race stood — and that turned out to be an understatement.

"The movement that Donald Trump has built has been able to grow the party in a very different way — be more pro-worker, a little less elitist," Conway said on MSNBC.

Even senior Trump aides admitted being shocked by the results, with their own internal polls showing the businessman behind in the race.

As the night has progressed, the mood has changed dramatically in the two campaigns, with a deep gloom falling over Clinton headquarters in Brooklyn and the mood rising in Trump Tower. Amid tears and silence, a reporter for The Hill spotted people leaving the Clinton event early.

Polls ahead of Tuesday had given the Clinton camp confidence, with most showing her leading the race by at least 4 points.

But those polls dramatically underestimated support for Trump, who appears to be outperforming Mitt Romney by big margins among white, working class voters, changing the electoral map in ways few thought possible.

While Trump called in for several radio and TV interviews Tuesday, Clinton mostly kept out of the spotlight, save for casting her vote in Chappaqua, N.Y., on Tuesday morning. She called the experience "humbling.”

"I know how much responsibility goes with this and so many people are counting on the outcome of this election, what it means for our country, and will do the very best if I am fortunate enough to win today,” she said.  

The public has not heard from either candidate since the first results were released at around 7 p.m.

It appears unlikely that Clinton will made public comments until Wednesday.

Her campaign chairman, John Podesta , made an appearance in New York just after 2 a.m., declaring that the race isn’t over.

"They are still counting votes and every vote should count," Podesta said at the Javitz Center, the site of the Clinton campaign election party.

"Several states are too close to call, so we are not going to have more to say tonight."