Electoral College seals Trump’s victory

Donald Trump, president-elect of the US, has secured the 270 electoral college votes needed to formalise his victory in the November 8 election.

Trump’s opponents had flooded the electors with emails and phone calls, urging them not to support the billionaire.

But the college went ahead to certify him as the 45th president in US history.

Texas ultimately put the president-elect over the 270 threshold, despite two of its electors voting against him.

According to New York Times, four Democratic electors also cast their votes for “someone other than Mrs Clinton”.

The result will be officially announced on January 6 in a special joint session of Congress.

The US electoral college has certified Donald Trump as president, despite a last-ditch effort to deny him the White House.

Reacting to his win, Trump thanked Americans for putting their trust in him, and promised to be the president of all.

“I thank the American people for their overwhelming vote to elect me as their next president of the United States,” Trump said in a statement after the result came in.

“With this historic step we can look forward to the bright future ahead. I will work hard to unite our country and be the president of all Americans.”

He also used Twitter to thank his supporters and take a swipe at the media.

Numerically, Trump’s opponents never stood much chance. To keep him out of the Oval Office, 38 Republican electors would have had to defect.

Even that would probably only have delayed the inevitable.

If no candidate reaches 270 in the electoral college, the house of representatives must vote on the next president, and the Republican-controlled chamber would most likely have chosen Trump.