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President-elect Donald Trump, with his family, addresses supporters at an election night event at the New York Hilton Midtown November 8, 2016 in New York. (Washington Post)
Donald Trump won the American presidency with a hard-charging anti-establishment message, promising to build a wall between the United States and Mexico, to temporarily ban Muslims from the United States and to repeal Obamacare, among other things.
Trump, a Republican, defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton after a months-long battle that centered on both candidates’ fitness for the presidency. Clinton contended that Trump lacked the temperament and experience for the presidency, while Trump called Clinton corrupt and accused her of self-dealing through her family’s charitable foundation.
In his acceptance speech, Trump called for national unity.
"I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans, and this is so important to me," he said. "For those who have chosen not to support me in the past, of which there were a few people, I'm reaching out to you for your guidance and your help so that we can work together and unify our great country."
He also praised Clinton for a hard-fought campaign. "Hillary has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time, and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country," Trump said.
Clinton delivered a concession speech before noon Nov. 9 in New York, thanking her family, running mate Tim Kaine and President Barack Obama and wife Michelle, as well as the supporters on her side for the long campaign.
Clinton, who had hammered Trump over his divisive and insulting remarks, said she hoped Trump would be "a successful president for all Americans."
"We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead," she said.
Trump notched a resounding victory through the electoral college system, though Clinton might ultimately win the popular vote.
PolitiFact has been fact-checking Trump’s statements since 2011, when he briefly considered a White House bid. Since then, we’ve fact-checked Trump more than 300 times, finding 70 percent of his claims Mostly False, False or Pants on Fire. About 15 percent of his statements are Half True, while 15 percent rated Mostly True and True.
PolitiFact will continue fact-checking Trump during the transition and his presidency. We will also launch a promise meter in the months ahead to track Trump’s campaign pledges. (Currently, we track President Barack Obama’s campaign promises on our Obameter, and Obama is the most fact-checked political figure on the PolitiFact website.)
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