DECISION 2016: Trump claims mandate; Clinton says give him 'chance to lead'

WASHINGTON — Emboldened Republicans claimed a mandate Wednesday for President-elect Donald Trump after his astonishing election triumph, and an emotional Hillary Clinton told crestfallen supporters the GOP victor deserved a "chance to lead." President Barack Obama pledged a smooth transition of power.

DECISION 2016: CLICK HERE TO VIEW ELECTION RESULTS

"We are now all rooting for his success in uniting and leading the country," the president said of the president-elect, the man who spent years questioning Obama's birthplace and challenging the legitimacy of his presidency. Obama, who had declared Trump unfit for the presidency, invited him to the White House Thursday.

Trump was uncharacteristically quiet in the aftermath of his triumph and made no public appearances Wednesday. He huddled with jubilant, sleep-deprived advisers at his eponymous skyscraper in Manhattan, beginning the daunting task of setting up an administration that will take power in just over two months. He also met with Vice President-elect Mike Pence and took calls from supporters, family and friends, according to spokeswoman Hope Hicks.

In Washington, Trump's scant transition team sprang into action, culling through personnel lists for top jobs and working through handover plans for government agencies. A person familiar with the transition operations said the personnel process was still in its early stages, but Trump's team was putting a premium on quickly filling key national security posts.

According to an organizational chart for the transition obtained by The Associated Press, Trump was relying on experienced hands to help form his administration. National security planning was being led by former Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers, who previously worked for the FBI. Domestic issues were being handled by Ken Blackwell, a former Cincinnati mayor and Ohio secretary of state.

Trump was expected to consider several loyal supporters for top jobs, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for attorney general or national security adviser and campaign finance chairman Steve Mnuchin for Treasury secretary. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker were also expected to be under consideration for foreign policy posts.

After struggling for months with Trump's takeover of their party, Republican leaders embraced the businessman in victory. House Speaker Paul Ryan, who was lukewarm in his support throughout the campaign, praised him for pulling off "the most incredible political feat I have seen in my lifetime."

"He just earned a mandate," Ryan declared.

Indeed, Trump will take office in January with Congress fully in his party's control, giving him strength to try to pass his agenda and turn the Supreme Court in a conservative direction. Even Republicans were stunned by the scope of their electoral success, including many who had been privately predicting Trump's defeat.

Clinton's emotions were raw as she addressed a crowd of supporters, eyes wet with tears, who gathered in a New York ballroom. She said the crushing loss was "painful and it will be for a long time" and acknowledged that the nation was "more divided than we thought."

RELATED: Clinton: 'We owe him an open mind, chance to lead'

Still, Clinton was gracious in defeat, declaring that "Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead."

With several million votes still to be counted, Clinton held a narrow lead in the nationwide popular vote. Most of the outstanding votes appeared to be in Democratic-leaning states, with the biggest chunk in California, a state Clinton overwhelmingly won. With almost 125 million votes counted, The Associated Press tally had Clinton with 47.7 percent and Trump with 47.5 percent.

Trump's sweep of the battleground states that decided the election was commanding. He carried Florida, Ohio and North Carolina, three of the election's biggest prizes, and snatched reliably Democratic Pennsylvania and Wisconsin away from Clinton.

Trump's support skewed older, male and overwhelmingly white. His supporters said they were deeply dissatisfied with the federal government and eager for change, according to exit polls conducted by Edison Research for The Associated Press and television networks.

If Trump makes good on his campaign promises, the nation stands on the brink of sweeping change in domestic and foreign policy. He's pledged to repeal Obama's signature health care law and pull out of the landmark nuclear accord with Iran. He's vowed to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and temporarily ban immigration from nations with terror ties.

It's unclear whether Trump, a highly unusual candidate, will embrace many of the traditions of the presidency. He'll enter the White House owning his own private jet as well as a hotel just blocks away on Pennsylvania Avenue. He never allowed journalists to fly on his plane during the campaign, as is customary for White House nominees.

Issues of transparency bubbled up right from the start. On Wednesday evening, Trump aides said they would not bring the press corps to Washington with the president-elect for his meeting with Obama, breaking long-standing protocol.

Global stock markets and U.S. stock futures plunged early Wednesday on word of Trump's election, but later recovered. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.4 percent for the day in trading in New York.

World leaders congratulated Trump on his victory. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had a contentious relationship with Obama, called the Republican a "true friend of Israel." British Prime Minister Theresa May said the U.S. and United Kingdom would remain "strong and close partners on trade, security and defense."

Russian President Vladimir Putin was among the first to reach out to the incoming American leader. Trump praised Putin throughout the campaign and advocated a closer relationship with Russia, despite Moscow's provocations in Ukraine and elsewhere.

U.S. intelligence agencies have accused Russia of hacking Democratic organizations during the campaign, actions Clinton's team saw as an indication that Putin was trying to meddle in the election. Trump notably did not accept the conclusions of intelligence officials.

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Associated Press writers Bradley Klapper, Catherine Lucey, Jonathan Lemire, Lisa Lerer and Jill Colvin contributed to this report.

2:55 a.m. update:

Donald Trump has pledged to be a president "for all Americans."

The president-elect, addressing supporters at his victory party in New York City, asked that the nation to come together, and promised to "represent every citizen of our land."

He added that it was "time for America to bind the wounds of division" and "time for us to come together as one."

He also declared his administration will be a time of "national growth and renewal."

Trump said "America will no longer settle for anything but the best" and said that the nation will "dream big and bold and daring."

2:50 a.m. update:

President-elect Donald Trump says Hillary Clinton called him to congratulate him on his victory.

Trump, addressing supporters at his victory party in New York City, said Wednesday that he "congratulated her and her family on a very, very hard-fought campaign."

He added that "we owe her a major debt of gratitude" for her service.

The gracious sentiment was a far cry from Trump's usually heated rhetoric about Clinton. He has suggested that she should go to jail and chants of "Lock her up!" were a staple at his campaign rallies.

2:45 a.m. update:

Vice President-elect Mike Pence is declaring Donald Trump's victory "a historic night."

Pence, Indiana's governor, addressed Trump's victory party in New York City early Wednesday.

Trump's running mate said "the American people have spoken and the American people have elected their new champion."

2:43 a.m. update:

NBC News reports that Hillary Clinton called Donald Trump to concede the presidential race.

2:36 a.m. update:

Donald Trump has been elected president of the United States.

The Republican nominee won Wednesday after capturing Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes, putting him over the 270 threshold.

Voters eager to shake up the nation's political establishment picked the celebrity businessman to become the nation's 45th president.

Trump rode an astonishing wave of support from voters seeking change and willing to accept a candidate loose with facts and accused of sexual misconduct.

He upset Democrat Hillary Clinton, who would have become the first woman to serve in the Oval Office.

Trump struck a populist tone and placed a hardline immigration stance at his campaign's heart.

Trump rose to political fame after questioning whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States. He will now follow Obama into the White House.

2:30 a.m. update:

Republican Donald Trump will win Wisconsin and its 10 electoral votes, CNN and The Associated Press project.

1:59 a.m. update:

AP: Clinton wins Maine and 1 congressional district, takes 3 electoral votes; Trump wins 1 district in state, gets 1 vote.

1:45 a.m. update: 

Republican Donald Trump will win Alaska and its 3 electoral votes, CNN projects.

1:38 a.m. update: 

Republican Donald Trump has scored an important victory in the presidential battleground of Pennsylvania, capturing a state critical to Democrats' White House hopes.

Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton in Tuesday's election. No Democrat has gotten to the White House without winning Pennsylvania since Harry Truman in 1948.

Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes are tied for fifth-most in the country, and a key building block to the 270 necessary to win the Electoral College. Clinton and Trump made more than 30 visits to Pennsylvania over the last five months of the campaign, more than any other state except Florida.

Democrats hold a 4-to-3 registration advantage over Republicans, and Trump's victory breaks the Democrats' winning streak in Pennsylvania's presidential elections at six.

1:16 a.m. update: 

Pat Toomey has won re-election to the U.S. Senate, beating Democrat Katie McGinty in a down-to-the-wire Pennsylvania race that allows Republicans to maintain Senate control, according to AP.

The first-term Toomey had been one of the most vulnerable Republican senators running for re-election after compiling one of Congress' most conservative voting records.

He succeeded in winning Democratic-leaning Pennsylvania in a race that, at more than $160 million, was the U.S. Senate's most expensive ever. The 54-year-old Toomey leaned heavily on his willingness to buck the Republican Party, including on the hot-button issue of gun control and distancing himself from Trump.

He also repeatedly attacked McGinty as untrustworthy and a close ally of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

12:48 a.m. update:

The mood is dark at Hillary Clinton's election night party.

Stony-faced supporters were crying and anxiously staring at the big screens showing election results. Some began leaving as the race wore on into the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Thousands had gathered at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City for Clinton's election night party. The glass-ceilinged building was picked as a nod to what aides expected would be the historic election of the first female U.S. president.

Clinton, her family and close aides have spent hours ensconced in a suite at the Peninsula New York, a luxury hotel in midtown Manhattan.

12:45 a.m. update:

Pennsylvania Senate nominee Pat Tommey's campaign announced that he will not be coming out to speak just yet.

12:34 a.m. update:

With over 90 percent of votes counted, Pennsylvanians were supporting by a razor-thin margin an increase in the mandatory retirement age for judges.

The constitutional amendment put before voters Tuesday would allow judges to work until the age of 75, instead of 70.

Passage of the ballot measure would mean Republican Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Saylor won't have to retire next month, and Democratic Justice Max Baer won't have to step down at the end of next year.

The measure went before voters this spring, but lawmakers invalidated the results shortly before primary voters narrowly turned it down.

The wording was later changed so that the ballot wouldn't explicitly say the change would extend the age.

12:30 a.m. update:

State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale (Dee-puh-SKWAHL-ee) is being returned to the job to serve four more years as Pennsylvania's fiscal watchdog.

The Democratic incumbent bested three challengers Tuesday to head an office with more than 400 employees and a budget of more than $50 million.

The agency keeps tabs on state spending and recommends changes to how government agencies operate.

Auditor general has been a political launching pad in recent years. The last three people elected to hold the position all later ran for higher office.

12:29 a.m. update:

The Canadian immigration website appeared down for a time late Tuesday as Donald Trump's surprise performance put him on course for the White House, NBC News reported.

Americans hoping to head up to the Great North during a Trump presidency were greeted with a 505 error.

12:28 a.m. update:

Republicans have clinched continued House control for the new Congress. They'll likely lose seats from their current historic high, but they won enough seats to extend their six-year streak of commanding the chamber.

With voting results still being counted early Wednesday, Republicans have won at least 218 House seats. That exceeds the number needed to control the chamber.

Democrats started the year hoping Donald Trump's divisive presidential candidacy would cost Republicans bushels of House seats. His impact on down-ballot candidates proved spotty.

Republicans now control 247 seats in the House. With a smaller GOP majority, dissident hard-right conservatives could have added leverage to press House Speaker Paul Ryan and other party leaders on the budget and other issues.

12:22 a.m. update:

The Washington AP has projected that Hillary Clinton will win Nevada.

Pennsylvania's next attorney general will be county Commissioner Josh Shapiro, who'll take over an office wracked by turmoil over the arrest and conviction of a predecessor, according to the AP.

Voters on Tuesday chose the Democrat from the Philadelphia suburb of Montgomery County over Republican state Sen. John Rafferty.

He'll be the agency's fourth leader since August, when Democrat Kathleen Kane stepped down after being convicted of leaking secret grand jury material and lying about it.

Kane has been sentenced to 10 to 23 months in prison.

The attorney general is Pennsylvania's top-ranking law enforcement official. The agency has more than 800 employees.

12:21 a.m. update: 

Over four hours after polls closed in Pennsylvania, the races for president and U.S. Senate are too close to call.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are neck-and-neck in battleground Pennsylvania in an unexpectedly tight race for the presidency, each seeking the important electoral prize.

Polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday, but people already in line were allowed to cast their ballots.

The fiercely contested presidential race has been reflected in close contests up and down the Pennsylvania ballot.

In the night's other marquee matchup, GOP U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey battled Democratic challenger Katie McGinty, with the outcome of history's most expensive Senate race potentially deciding control of the chamber.

12:18 a.m. update: 

The AP reports that Joseph Torsella, Dem, was elected Treasurer of Pennsylvania.

12:11 a.m. update:

Republican Brian Fitzpatrick will succeed his brother in Congress, winning election to the U.S. House to keep a closely divided suburban Philadelphia seat in the GOP's column.

Fitzpatrick beat Democratic state Rep. Steve Santarsiero (san-tuh-SEE'-roh) in Tuesday's election in a hotly contested race during which Fitzpatrick had said he wouldn't vote for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

The 42-year-old Fitzpatrick, a former FBI agent and federal prosecutor, is the brother of retiring incumbent Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick. He moved from California to run.

The win by Fitzpatrick all but kills Democrats' hope of narrowing the GOP's 13-5 advantage in Pennsylvania's U.S. House delegation. Over the last four decades, the seat has changed parties five times.

The Eight District includes part of Bucks County and a sliver of Montgomery County.

Associated Press