Donald Trump shattered expectations on Tuesday with an election night victory that revealed deep anti-establishment anger among American voters and set the world on a journey into the political unknown.

The Republican nominee has achieved one of the most improbable political victories in modern US history, despite a series of controversies that would easily have destroyed other candidacies, extreme policies that have drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle, a record of racist and sexist behaviour, and a lack of conventional political experience.

After surprise early victories in Florida, North Carolina and Ohio, it fell to the Rust Belt states of the industrial midwest to determine the result of his stunning upset.

Wisconsin and Michigan, two states hit hard by a decline in manufacturing jobs and lost by Hillary Clinton to Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, were led by Trump as the race headed for an early morning cliffhanger.

A 2.30am, the Associated Press projected Trump had won Wisconsin and called the overall race for Trump, who passed the 270 electoral college votes he needed to secure the presidency.

Shortly afterwards, CNN and NBC reported that Clinton had called Donald Trump to concede but would not be making a public address.

Trump left Trump Tower for the short journey to the Hilton Midtown, where the president elect then took to the stage and insisted he would "deal fairly with everyone”.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, complicated business, complicated business,” began Trump to raucous chants of "U-S-A, U-S-A” from his excited supporters.

"I have just received a call from secretary Clinton She congratulated us – it’s about us and our victory – and I congratulated her on a very hard fought campaign.

"Now it is time for Americans to bind the wounds of division,” he added. "It is time for us to become together as one united people … I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans.”

Earlier, Democratic campaign chairman John Podesta appeared before distraught supporters to announce that she would not be appearing to give a concession speech. "Everybody should head home,” he told them, "Get some sleep. We’ll have more to say tomorrow.

"It’s been a long night and a long campaign,” he added. "We can wait a little longer, can’t we? They are still counting votes and every vote counts, several states are too close to call so we are not going to have anything more to say tonight.”

"This is a historic night,” said the vice-president-elect, Mike Pence, in the first official Republican response. "The American people have spoken and the American people have elected their new champion.”

Republicans have also secured majorities in the House of Representatives, the Senate and will probably get to reappoint a fifth Republican nominee to the supreme court – potentially leaving the new president with few checks and balances.

Investors reeled from the prospect of a victory that would reverberate around the world and futures markets pointed to a fall of nearly 600 points in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

As results started to come in, two candidates with very different views of America were watching television just two minutes’ walk from each other: the Clintons at the Peninsula Hotel in midtown Manhattan and the Republican team in Trump Tower.

But the mood in the Trump camp shifted early after signs of a strong performance in Florida and Clinton supporters began contemplating the consequences of a result few thought was possible.

Agencies