It actually happened - Trump is president of the United States. Our readers share their increasingly anxious views as the night developed

'This is terrifying': Guardian readers on how Trump's historic night unfolded

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.



James Walsh (@jamesofwalsh) Grauniad first edition #ElectionNight pic.twitter.com/t8SIEPKRg7

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.



Guardian US (@GuardianUS) 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

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.





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.



doreen (@ourdoreen) @jamesofwalsh I Am The Atom Bomb from the sorely underrated Bon Savants: https://t.co/p2YHEKuVDw

Meanwhile, commenters are looking at the other races tonight. If Clinton wins, will her hands be tied by a hostile Senate?



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.

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.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Supporters of Trump react as the state of Texas is called in his favour. Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters

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.



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:



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.



‘Whatever happens tonight’. That doesn’t sound enormously encouraging...

Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) This team has so much to be proud of. Whatever happens tonight, thank you for everything. pic.twitter.com/x13iWOzILL

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:



Meanwhile, we still await Florida. Where Trump leads.



10:39pm: Oh.



Tim Wigmore (@timwig) That 'deplorables' comment looks pretty catastrophic just about now

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.



Here’s how the print edition is looking at 3:30am UK time:



Paul johnson (@paul__johnson) Trump defies expectations.

Guardian front page 3.30am edition pic.twitter.com/qRWvpuueKl

11:07pm: Trump has won Florida.

The Guardian (@guardian) After winning California, Hillary Clinton now has 190 electoral votes. Live coverage: https://t.co/KhmDEXyptc pic.twitter.com/qFsu9GVy68

11:23pm: Cool understatement of the evening award goes to Manley:



Facebook Twitter Pinterest The nervous night continues. Photograph: Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images

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.



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.



The Guardian (@guardian) 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

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:



Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) People in the crowd at Trump election party were just chanting "Let's get drunk"

Meanwhile an old tweet from Bernie Sanders is proving very popular again.

Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) Virtually every poll taken in the last two months has me doing better against Trump than Hillary Clinton. https://t.co/68ACwVBZ2C

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?



George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) 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.

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.



Edward Snowden (@Snowden) There may never be a safer election in which to vote for a third option. pic.twitter.com/5qqRsgCRe5

Dan Roberts (@RobertsDan) Final edition of tonight's paper pic.twitter.com/d2w6O2zNFu

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.



Thanks to everyone who followed the election with us.