US Election 2016 Results: Five reasons Donald Trump won

Donald Trump has defied all expectations from the very start of his presidential campaign more than a year ago.

Very few people thought he would actually run, then he did. They thought he wouldn't climb in the polls, then he did. They said he wouldn't win any primaries, then he did. They said he wouldn't win the Republican nomination, then he did.

Finally, they said there was no way he could compete for, let alone win, a general election.

Now he's President-elect Trump.

Here are five ways he pulled off what was unexpected by most and incomprehensible to many.

Trump's white wave

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Toss-ups were tossed aside. One after another, Ohio, Florida and North Carolina went to Mr Trump.

That left Mrs Clinton's blue firewall, and the firewall was eventually breached.

The Democrat's last stand largely rested on her strength in the Midwest. Those were states that had gone Democrat for decades, based in part on the support of black and working-class white voters.

Those working-class white people, particularly ones without college education - men and women - deserted the party in droves. Rural voters turned out in high numbers, as the Americans who felt overlooked by the establishment and left behind by the coastal elite made their voices heard.

While places like Virginia and Colorado held fast, Wisconsin fell - and with it Mrs Clinton's presidential hopes.

When all is said and done, Mrs Clinton may end up winning the popular vote on the back of strong support in places like California and New York and closer-than-expected losses in solid-red states like Utah.

The Trump wave hit in the places it had to, however. And it hit hard.