US election results LIVE: Trump sweeps battleground states, closes in on Presidency

Apart from Florida and North Carolina, Trump also won Ohio, and took decisive leads in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Washington: Donald Trump was on the cusp of creating history as he inched closer to clinching the US presidency with a strong showing in battleground states helping him trump Hillary Clinton in the knife-edge race.

Major US news networks projected Republican candidate Trump to have won the crucial battleground states of Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Clinton, 69, who grabbed the traditional Democratic strongholds of California and Virginia, was now facing a tough challenge from the 70-year-old real estate billionaire, who joined politics only 18 months ago.

"Trump moves closer to White House," said Politico as Trump's total of Electoral College votes -- as per AP projections -- touched 232, against Clinton's 209.

To win the presidential election, a candidate needs 270 of the 538 Electoral College votes.

All the major news networks in the US are now predicting that Trump will be elected as the next president of the United States.

Here are the latest updates:

Donald Trump wins Pennsylvania and its prize of 20 electoral votes. Trump's stunning victory in the key battleground state gives him 264 electoral votes. Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton, has 215.

Pennsylvania last voted for a Republican for president in 1988. Trump repeatedly campaigned there, believing his populist message would resonate with the state's working-class voters.

Clinton long viewed the state as a key part of her "firewall" and rallied in Philadelphia with President Barack Obama on Monday night. The Democrats also held their nominating convention in the city.

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Republicans will retain control of Senate after win in Pennsylvania if they hold Louisiana, Alaska as expected.

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Republican Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania re-elected to Senate.

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Hillary Clinton wins Nevada and its six electoral votes. Her victory there in the presidential election brings Clinton's Electoral College total to 215.

Republican Donald Trump has 244 votes. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.

Clinton's win in Nevada is the first time since the 1940s that the Democrats have carried the state in three consecutive elections.

The winner of the US presidential election has failed to carry Nevada only once.

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Republican Eric Greitens elected Missouri governor.

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Democrat Jay Inslee of Washington state wins re-election as governor.

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Donald Trump wins Utah. The Republican nominee was awarded its six electoral college votes.

He now has 238 electoral votes. His Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton has 209.

Utah is normally one of the safest states on the map for Republicans. But the presence of independent Evan McMullin changed the calculation this year as polls consistently reflected a tight three-way race. Trump also had struggled with Mormons, who are normally reliably Republican voters.

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Kate Brown has been re-elected governor of Oregon over Republican newcomer Bud Pierce.

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Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Scott has won election as governor of Vermont. He defeated Democrat Sue Minter.

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Donald Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in the state of Iowa inching closer to winning the White House in a shock upset, television networks projected.

The midwestern US state has six Electoral College votes, moving the Manhattan property mogul closer to the total of 270 needed to claim the US presidency.

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Donald Trump wins Georgia. The Republican nominee was awarded its 16 electoral votes.

Trump now has 232 electoral votes while his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton has 209. The Democrats had some hopes that changing demographics in Georgia could allow then to flip the reliably Republican state but their efforts fell short.

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Indian-American Kamala Harris scripts history, wins US Senate seat from California.

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Hillary Clinton has won Washington state and its 12 electoral votes. The victory in Tuesday's elections brings the former secretary of state's electoral vote total to 209. Republican Donald Trump has 216.

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Donald Trump wins North Carolina and its 15 electoral votes.

The victory in Tuesday's elections brings the billionaire's electoral vote total to 216. Democrat Hillary Clinton has 197.

North Carolina was one of the hardest-fought contests of the election and is one of the map's newest swing states. It consistently went for Republicans until Barack Obama captured it in 2008. Republican Mitt Romney narrowly won the state in 2012.

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Hillary Clinton wins Oregon.

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Indian-American Raja Krishnamoorthi wins election to US House of Representatives from Illinois.

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Hillary Clinton wins California and Hawaii. Donald Trump wins Idaho's four electoral votes.

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Donald Trump wins Florida.

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Hillary Clinton wins Colorado.

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Hillary Clinton wins Virginia. Virginia has 13 electoral college votes and while the state's south leans Republican, its heavily-populated north -- which neighbors the capital Washington -- is staunchly Democratic, and helped put Clinton over the top.

Donald Trump won the key battleground state of Ohio, boosting his chances of pulling off an upset win in presidential election.

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Trump wins Missouri.

Hillary Clinton wins New Mexico.

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Republican Richard Burr of North Carolina re-elected to the Senate.

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Donald Trump wins Montana.

Republican Gary Herbert has been re-elected governor of Utah.

Herbert had a strong advantage in Tuesday's elections and was considered the favorite in the conservative state. But many Utah conservatives were not enthused about GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. And Herbert had vacillated on his support for the New York billionaire.

Clinton's path to the presidency looks increasingly difficult.

Donald Trump wina Louisiana and its eight electoral votes.

That extends his Electoral College total in Tuesday's elections to 137, compared with Hillary Clinton's 104.

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Clinton wins Connecticut. The result was not a surprise, as Connecticut was considered a safely Democratic state.

Clinton now has 104 electoral votes. Her Republican opponent Donald Trump has 129.

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Republican Eric Holcomb elected governor of Indiana; Democrat Jim Justice elected governor of West Virginia.

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Republican Johnny Isakson of Georgia re-elected to Senate.

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Republican Donald Trump wins Arkansas and its six electoral votes. The result was expected. Earlier polling showed Trump leading Clinton by double digits in the state where she served as first lady for 12 years while her husband was the governor.

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In Florida, which has 29 Electoral College votes, Trump has taken a lead of about 77,000.

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Hillary Clinton has won Rhode Island and its four electoral votes. That brings her total Tuesday to 48, compared with Donald Trump's 60. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.

Rhode Island has voted for Republicans for president only four times since 1928. In 2012, President Barack Obama defeated Republican Mitt Romney in the state by about 27 percent.

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Donald Trump has won Texas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Kansas and Nebraska while Hillary Clinton has won New York and Illinois.

Trump also on Tuesday won two of Nebraska's congressional districts. In the state that awards by congressional district, one remains too close to call. Trump was awarded Texas' 38 electoral votes, the second-largest prize on the map. He also won six from Kansas, four from his victories in Nebraska and three apiece from Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Clinton was awarded 20 from Illinois and 29 from New York, the state both candidates call home. Trump had declared he would try to win New York but never mounted a serious effort there.

The Republican nominee now has 123 electoral votes. Clinton has 97.

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Donald Trump has won Alabama and its nine electoral votes after Sen. Jeff Sessions endorsed the billionaire candidate. That brings Trump's total in the Electoral College to 60 votes, to Clinton's 44 votes.

It takes 270 votes to win the presidency. The results continue the state's streak of voting for Republicans every presidential election since 1980.

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Donald Trump has won Tennessee and its 11 electoral votes.

Tuesday's vote is the fifth presidential contest in a row in which the state voted for the Republican candidate. That includes the 2000 election, when native son Al Gore lost the state to Republican George W. Bush.

It takes 270 votes to win the presidency.

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Donald Trump has won South Carolina. The Republican nominee was awarded the state's nine electoral votes, giving him 40 for the night. The result was expected as the state has long been a Republican stronghold.

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Democrat Hillary Clinton has won Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware and the District of Columbia while Republican Donald Trump has captured Oklahoma.

Clinton was awarded Massachusetts' 11 electoral votes, 10 from Maryland, 14 from New Jersey and three each from Delaware and the nation's capital, giving her 44 for the night. Trump picked up seven from Oklahoma, giving him 31. The results Tuesday were not surprising. Massachusetts and the District of Columbia are two of the nation's safest Democratic strongholds.

The last time Oklahoma went for a Democrat was 1964, when it voted for Lyndon Johnson. Maryland last went for the GOP in 1988. New Jersey has been a safe Democratic state for 20 years. Its governor, Chris Christie, is a close Trump ally but is saddled with low approval numbers.

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Republican Donald Trump has won West Virginia and its five electoral votes. The Mountain State was one of the billionaire's biggest supporters in the Republican primary. He is popular for promising to bring back coal jobs. Hillary Clinton had largely been largely shunned for making comments perceived as an affront to the industry.

The dynamic has resulted in one of the few states where Republicans didn't shy from the brash businessman and instead looked to ride his coattails. Many Democrats for congressional and other races scrambled to distance themselves from Clinton and refused to endorse her.

West Virginia has voted for Republican presidential candidates in each of the last four presidential races. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.

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Republican Donald Trump has won Kentucky and Indiana while Democrat Hillary Clinton has won Vermont. Trump was awarded Kentucky's eight electoral votes and Indiana's 11. Vermont gives Clinton three. These are the first states to be decided Tuesday in the 2016 general election.

The wins were expected. Vermont has voted for a Democrat every election since 1988, while Kentucky has gone Republican every cycle since 2000. Indiana is normally a Republican stronghold but went for President Barack Obama in 2008. The Republicans captured it again in 2012 and Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, is the state's governor. The winning candidate needs 270 electoral votes.