NEW YORK, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Republican Donald Trump defeated his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in Tuesday's presidential election, pulling a major upset after a controversial and scandalous campaign cycle.
According to projections by major TV networks, Trump has surpassed the threshold of 270 out of the total 538 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.
Clinton, a former first lady and secretary of state, has made a formal telephone call to Trump to concede the election, but will not speak until the next morning, according to media.
Trump addressed the nation at the Hilton hotel ballroom in midtown Manhattan, saying that "I'll be a president for all Americans."
In one of his more unusual or even gracious speeches, Trump commended the campaign effort of his opponent, saying "we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country."
Trump, who will serve as the country's 45th president, called on Americans to come together as a united people, and promised to reach out to voters that had not supported him "so we can work together."
The Election Day started with midnight voting as a tradition in the small town of Dixville Notch and a couple of adjacent towns in New Hampshire, and later expanded across the country. Voters lined up at polling stations around the nation to cast their ballots.
In the nail-biting contest throughout the night, Trump was able to pull a winning margin in many of the crucial swing states, including Florida, Ohio and North Carolina, and was even able to snatch previously Democratic-leaning states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
The vote count for the final few states went well into early morning Wednesday. Around 2 a.m. local time (0700 GMT), the result was finally called after procuring all of the electoral votes from Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, putting his latest vote total to 279.
Clinton was projected to get 218 electoral votes, with Michigan, Minnesota and New Hampshire still too close to call.
The victory has made Trump the first president that never held elected office since 1953.
Clinton easily grabbed many of the traditional Democratic-leaning "blue" states early in the evening, including New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and California, while Trump won the "deep red" states of Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas.
The night took an unexpected turn when Trump started a landslide winning streak in most of the swing states, while being able to keep the traditional "red" states like Arizona and Georgia that went into close contest in recent polls.
The result comes after more than a year of presidential campaigns that were widely perceived as "the most ugly and divisive" election cycle in recent decades, with both candidates embroiled in scandals while resorting to personal attacks instead of battling on policy issues.
Many voters saw this presidential race as a choice between "the lesser of two evils," with Trump constantly igniting controversies by making racist and anti-immigrant comments, while Clinton was widely criticized for the mishandling of her personal email server and perceived as untrustworthy by many Americans.
The unexpected victory kindled the passion of Trump voters and baffled Clinton supporters outside the campaign headquarters of both candidates.
"The anti-establishment movement in this country is what democracy is about," said a factory worker and Trump voter called John who was unwilling to give his last name.
"I think Donald Trump will absolutely bring changes to Washington," he added.
"This is so surreal. I don't know what the future of this country will be," said Clinton supporter Betty Emamian outside the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, where Clinton was supposed to give a speech after the election results.
"We are very, very divided right now, and there's tremendous hate and violence amongst people," Emamian said.
The decisive loss for the Democratic Party has angered liberal voters who had supported Clinton's challenger Bernie Sanders in the primaries.
"Who did we work for? Bernie! Who do we get? Trump," a group of protesters chanted outside the Trump campaign headquarters.
"This is what Democracy looks like," said a slogan.
The prospect of a Trump presidency caused panic in the global financial markets, driving most of the markets around the world into a freefall.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a loss of more than 600 points in pre-market trading, right around the time as Trump was able to secure the 270 electoral votes needed to be on top.
In the ever so polarized and divided political environment, Trump has to face the immense test of appeasing half of the country's discontent and mistrustful voters, as well as to fulfill his promise to his supporters to "make America great again." He gave few policy details during the campaign cycle, and whether he can deliver on these details remains uncertain.
Tuesday's elections also included contests for 34 Senate seats and all 435 seats of the House of Representatives in the U.S. Congress.
Republicans are projected to keep control of both the Senate and House. In addition to the loss of the White House, the election results had dealt a crushing blow to the Democratic Party.
