BILLIONAIRE reality TV star turned President-elect Donald Trump will meet Barack Obama today to discuss the transition of power between the two after the Republican’s astonishing victory on Tuesday night.

For Obama this is the beginning of the end of his legacy. Trump, a man who for a long time had insisted Obama was not actually American, spent much of his blisteringly furious campaign promising to roll back on much of his predecessor’s work, starting with Obamacare, the affordable healthcare act that has provided health insurance cover for around 12 million Americans.

In a speech in the White House, the outgoing President admitted he was hurting, but said he would do what he could to help Trump.

“Now, everybody is sad when their side loses an election, but the day after we have to remember that we’re actually all on one team,” he said. “This is an intramural scrimmage. We’re not Democrats first. We’re not Republicans first. We are Americans first. We’re patriots first.”

His speech followed the concession from Trump’s Democrat rival Hillary Clinton: “This is painful, and it will be for a long time,” she told tearful supporters, before insisting they treat Trump’s presidency with an “open mind and the chance to lead”.

“Our constitutional democracy demands our participation, not just every four years, but all the time,” she said, encouraging those who had voted for her not to opt out of the system.

“We have still not shattered that higher and hardest glass ceiling. But hopefully someone will, and someday sooner than we might think,” she said. “And to all the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams.”

Yesterday, as the final results were declared, it became clear how incredible the scale of Trump’s upset to the natural order of American politics was, and how badly the pollsters, and media, had got it wrong.

Late polls and early voting results had suggested an easy night for his rival Hillary Clinton, but she never had the edge over the Republican.

Traditional Democrat states, like Michigan and Wisconsin, had been taken for granted, with the Clinton campaign never assuming they would go anywhere other than for her. Both backed Trump.

Trump’s victory was a rejection of Clinton, of Obama, the establishment, globalisation and any sort of previous bipartisan consensus on trade or immigration.

“It was a vote for change against the way things are, a vote for the little guy,” said one supporter waiting outside Manhattan’s Trump Tower, the 58 storey, Fifth Avenue skyscraper where America’s new champion of the underdog lives in a marbled, penthouse suite.

For Clinton supporters, Trump’s victory was also a rejection of women’s rights, same-sex marriage and religious tolerance.

A group stood outside his building protesting, chanted: “Racist, sexist, anti-gay, Donald Trump go away.”

According to the authoritative network exit poll, Trump won white voters who don’t have a college degree by a huge margin: 67 per cent to 28 per cent. That group of voters are 40 per cent of the entire US electorate. Even those who had turned out for Obama in 2012 shifted towards Trump.

College-educated white voters also backed Trump, 49 per cent to 45 per cent.

Clinton took 88 per cent of the black vote, and 65 per cent of Latinos, not nearly as many as the Democrats had expected given Trump’s comments on Mexicans being criminals, and rapists.

Men overwhelmingly supported Trump, with 54 per cent backing him, compared to 41 per cent backing Clinton. White women without college degrees strongly backed Trump too, 62 per cent to 34.

And yet, the way in which the American system of electing a president works, where states vote in blocs, means Clinton could still win the popular vote, receiving more actual votes than her rival.

Trump has been underestimated. Firstly by the Republicans who thought him a joke when he entered the primary race, then by the Democrats who expected to see him off easily. His rise to power was missed by pollsters and pundits, with the media too focussed on the carnival of his rallies to notice the mass movement of disillusioned voters, inspired by his angry message.

During the campaign he proposed a ban on Muslims entering the United States, he threatened opponents with jail, encouraged the Russian Government to hack Clinton’s email, mocked the disabled, ridiculed women, defended comments on sexual assault as playroom banter, constantly attacked the freedom of the press, and repeatedly lied. His policies were economically illiterate, frequently incendiary.

None of this mattered to the American people who asked him to be their 45th Commander-in-Chief.

Trump’s victory also saw Republicans keep control of the Senate, losing just one seat to Democrats.

That result means the Grand Old Party is now in charge of every level of central government in America.

During the campaign there was little policy announced by Trump. Proposals would often be discarded. Policy advisers too would change, or be discarded. Mostly they were ignored, as Trump went with his gut. His children and son-in-law would often play important roles. Though it’s expected they will now look after his businesses, including his interests in Scotland.

Yesterday, he spent time with key advisers as they discussed who would fill key cabinet posts. Once selected they will be vetted by intelligence services and then start receiving high level briefings.