Clinton and Obama pledge to unite behind Trump presidency
Republican Donald Trump put aside the celebrations and focused on November 9 on his 73-day transition to the White House as rival Hillary Clinton promised to bury the bitterness of their long presidential race and work to unify a divided country.
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After Trump's stunning upset of the heavily favored Clinton, Democratic President Barack Obama and leading figures in the Republican Party who had struggled to make peace with Trump all vowed to move past the ugliness of the campaign to seek common ground.
"Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead," Clinton, the Democratic nominee, said in a concession speech in New York, joined by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and daughter Chelsea.
With a row of American flags in the background, she told supporters her loss was painful "and it will be for a long time," and that she had offered to work with Trump as he prepares to begin his four-year term on Jan. 20.
A wealthy New York real estate developer and former reality TV host, Trump rode a wave of anger toward Washington insiders to win November 7's election against Clinton, whose establishment resume included stints as a first lady, US senator and Obama's secretary of state.
Trump's victory marked a crushing end to Clinton's second quest to be the first woman elected president. She also failed in a White House bid in 2008.
Obama, who campaigned hard against Trump, invited him to the White House for a meeting on November 10 after a brutal night for the Democratic Party, which also fell short of recapturing majorities in both chambers of Congress.
"We are now all rooting for his success in uniting and leading the country," Obama said at the White House, adding he and his staff would work with Trump to ensure a successful transition. "We are not Democrats first, we are not Republicans first, we are Americans first."
