Our US election live blog was deluged with thousands of comments during a historic, frantic night which ended with Donald Trump - shockingly, incredibly - becoming president elect.
Here’s how it unfolded through the increasingly wide eyes of our readers, with some of those watching from outside the States staying up all night long.
6:21pm (EST): With polls having closed in Indiana and Kentucky, our US election live blog moves from watching the voting to awaiting the early results. The mood in the live blog is one confidently predicting a Clinton victory, which is reminiscent of the early pro-Remain confidence on our EU referendum live blog. And we all know how that ended up.
Grauniad first edition #ElectionNight pic.twitter.com/t8SIEPKRg7
— James Walsh (@jamesofwalsh) November 9, 2016
7:02pm: Trump wins Kentucky and Indiana, as expected. For those of our readers who see the Republican candidate as beyond the pale, it’s a stark moment to see him actually on the board - and, at this early stage, in the lead.
Trump is officially on the board with Indiana and Kentucky – his first two wins of the night https://t.co/b78WQqbokB pic.twitter.com/VHrgP8I12k
— Guardian US (@GuardianUS) November 9, 2016
I know it's meaningless this early but it is still terrifying to see Trump in the lead. He won some states... people really voted for him. Him. I knew they would but seeing it in black and white still palls.
7:22pm: This is the part of the night when rumours fly around from assorted well-meaning ne’er-do-wells. We’ve already had commenters calling Florida for Trump based on a handful of returns.
Everyone calm down they've only counted 1% of the vote. Go and have a cup of tea and come back in an hour.
7:51pm: On Twitter, we’re determined to make this an American indie song election. One expat American, nervously staying up to see how Florida goes, suggests I Am The Atom Bomb. In a few short hours, we’ll know whose fingers (or tiny hands) will be on the nuclear button.
@jamesofwalsh I Am The Atom Bomb from the sorely underrated Bon Savants: https://t.co/p2YHEKuVDw
— doreen (@ourdoreen) November 9, 2016
Meanwhile, commenters are looking at the other races tonight. If Clinton wins, will her hands be tied by a hostile Senate?
Early days still but so far it looks like some people are voting Republican in the senate but not for Trump himself. So we may end up with Hilary as president but a Republican Senate which doesn't let her do anything.
8:14pm: Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware and the District of Columbia go to Clinton. Oklahoma is for Trump. All of this was expected. Below the line, all eyes are on Florida. No-one has mentioned the 2000 election yet, presumably in a collective attempt to avoid terrible, terrible fate. No-one wants a re-run of the 2000 election.
I think Florida will be so close someone will want a recount.
http://edition.cnn.com/election/results/states/florida
8:40pm: As Florida heads to the wire, some of our UK commenters are heading to bed - and dreading what they might wake up to.
I need to get some sleep.
I don't want to wake up in a world where the US is headed by Boris Johnson's uglier American doppelganger.
9:14pm: We’re in full panic mode now. In fact, for many, the post-mortem has already begun.
The prediction swingometers are moving in the direction of Trump.
this_is_fine_dog.jpg pic.twitter.com/PQM81F8GcC
— Tom Phillips (@flashboy) November 9, 2016
9:32pm: This election is far from over, but reasons for a Trump victory - and it’s already clear that he’s exceeded all expectations - are being broached below the line. One reader channels Michael Moore’s piece from earlier this year:
Thats what happens if you destroy manufacturing. There was a brick factory where I live and people still speak with nostalgia and emotional attachment about it. It was really the heart of the local community not just some empty slogan by today's con artists. People could buy houses and build a life despite being working class. This zero hour/ casino/ gig economy is never going to work.
10:12pm: The mood in the comments are changing. There is more Trump triumphalism, and less confidence from the Clinton camp. The mood in the UK office? At 3am, it’s full of people trying not to mention Brexit.
I don't know why commentators are finding it so shocking Trump is doing so well in the polls. People are pissed off with the establishment and it's not just the US. Brexit, the growing popularity of once 'fringe' parties among the disillusioned.
I could not believe it when Hillary started rolling out all the celebrities as a part of her campaign, did she or her advisers NOT get that that is part of her (Democrats) problem ?
‘Whatever happens tonight’. That doesn’t sound enormously encouraging...
This team has so much to be proud of. Whatever happens tonight, thank you for everything. pic.twitter.com/x13iWOzILL
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 9, 2016
10:24pm: Whoever wins tonight - and my spidey sense is tingling Trump - this has not been the comprehensive victory for Clinton some were confidently predicting. Commenters are busy arguing that the Democratic camp have lost touch with the concerns of middle America:
Trump is leading because the Left has stopped working for the rights of the working class....and instead balkanised the working class.
I am really really angry tonight. I am not a Hillary fan, I am opposed to some of her polices...but let's be fair...she was the lesser of two evils.
Well, if Trump wins....he better realize that America is not a business. America is people...and many of those people voted for him to change their lives. So he better start fixing the damage caused by years of misguided global trade agreements....and start working on preparing Americans for the future job market.
Meanwhile, we still await Florida. Where Trump leads.
#ElectionNight pic.twitter.com/VucKuAti60
— Ange (@5_minutes_late) November 9, 2016
10:39pm: Oh.
That 'deplorables' comment looks pretty catastrophic just about now
— Tim Wigmore (@timwig) November 9, 2016
10:41pm: A few hours ago, we were talking about Trump’s path to the presidency. Now, we’re looking at the permutations Clinton needs to get to 270.
If Hillary holds on to Michigan, but loses Wisconsin, she will have 271.
Here’s how the print edition is looking at 3:30am UK time:
Trump defies expectations.
— Paul johnson (@paul__johnson) November 9, 2016
Guardian front page 3.30am edition pic.twitter.com/qRWvpuueKl
11:07pm: Trump has won Florida.
Florida goes to Trump??????
...if only the DNC hadn't sabotaged Bernie Sanders.........
After winning California, Hillary Clinton now has 190 electoral votes. Live coverage: https://t.co/KhmDEXyptc pic.twitter.com/qFsu9GVy68
— The Guardian (@guardian) November 9, 2016
11:23pm: Cool understatement of the evening award goes to Manley:
11:41pm: Comments are now focusing on which of Trump’s policies are workable. Many American readers seem to be coming to terms with the news, while on the other side of the Atlantic, people are waking up to the depressing news so far.
I really don't know what to say. I am in a state of shock, and it'll be a while before I can find my bearings. I can only say I'm sorry, because what we're doing tonight us going to have repercussions for many people, in many nations, for a long time.
I can only apologize and say we really tried.
11:44pm: There has also been a great deal of schadenfreude pointed towards what some know as the “mainstream media”, for getting this election - like Brexit - so very, very wrong.
Channel 4 news, BBC News, Newsnight, The Guardian - the constant barriage of anti-Trump rhetoric has been appalling. It's looks like the American equivalent Brexit is happening, with people sick of the status quo which Hillary represents. Let's hope we see some humble pie being eaten in the morning by some of these supposedly impartial media outlets.
Waking up in Europe looking to see how the #USElection2016 is going? This is what the Clinton event crowd looks like https://t.co/KhmDEXyptc pic.twitter.com/tQoSu8VqoW
— The Guardian (@guardian) November 9, 2016
12:04am: As the New York Times goes very close to calling the election for Trump, Gary Reynolds has the question on everyone’s lips:
People in the crowd at Trump election party were just chanting "Let's get drunk"
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) November 9, 2016
Meanwhile an old tweet from Bernie Sanders is proving very popular again.
Virtually every poll taken in the last two months has me doing better against Trump than Hillary Clinton. https://t.co/68ACwVBZ2C
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 24, 2016
12:23am: Where was the election won and lost? So far, we’ve seen our commenters discuss
1) Clinton’s inability to cut through to the working class
2) Republican voters’ loyalty and ability to back a flawed candidate on the basis of ‘anyone but Hillary’
3) How crucial was the Comey intervention?
The unthinkable happened before, to my family in WWII. We got thru it. We held each other close. We kept our dignity and held to our ideals.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) November 9, 2016
12:34am: As the post-mortem continues, we’ve been hearing from commenters regretting voting for a third party candidate now that it looks like Trump is heading for the White House. At the time of writing, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson has 3 1/2 million votes.
Man. I've never voted for a democrat president, and I voted Libertarian this time. I'm going to be sick if this holds up.
There may never be a safer election in which to vote for a third option. pic.twitter.com/5qqRsgCRe5
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 21, 2016
Final edition of tonight's paper pic.twitter.com/d2w6O2zNFu
— Dan Roberts (@RobertsDan) November 9, 2016
1:35am: As people in Europe start waking up to the news that Trump is on track for victory, we’ll finish our round up with two comments that sum up the two deeply contrasting views now dominating the live blog.
America and the world stands on the edge of a precipice. We are staring into the abyss.
Thanks to everyone who followed the election with us.
Dolph is short for Dolphin. America, follow me to my underwater paradise!
— Dolph Lundgren (@Dolph_Lundgren) November 9, 2016
Proud day for the US, electing it's first female president.
Well done Clinton. Well done America.
:)