American billionaire Donald Trump won the United States 2016 presidential elections held on November 8 defeating Hillary Clinton in a surprise victory.
Across the board, polls underestimated Trump’s level of support, as most national and state polling consistently projected that Hillary Clinton would defeat Donald Trump.
Donald Trump, a Republican nominee with no prior government experience, captivated American voters with his promise to “Make America Great Again” in the presidential race against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
After the November 8 vote, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote with 65,853,514 votes (48.18%) to Donald Trump’s 62,984,828 votes (46.09%), however, Trump was elected the 45th US President due to the electoral college system.
This resulted in Trump becoming the fifth person to be elected United States president while losing the popular vote after receiving nearly 2.9 million fewer votes than Clinton.
Summary of 2016 US Presidential Election Results
| Candidate name | Political party | Pledged electoral votes | Actual Electoral vote | Popular vote | States won |
| Donald Trump | Republican | 306 | 304 | 62,984,828 (46.09%) | 30 + Maine’s 2nd congressional district |
| Hillary Clinton | Democratic | 232 | 227 | 65,853,514 (48.18%) | 20 + Washington, D.C. |
