Once again, just like the EU referendum, the polls were proved wrong.
Despite taking a hit when the saga over her use of a private email server resurfaced, Hillary Clinton had looked on course to win – right up until yesterday afternoon.
Then state after state came in for the billionaire businessman.
He promised “Brexit plus” and that’s exactly what he’s delivered.
Nigel Farage finds himself on the winning team once again.
The key question now is how Mr Trump will play it in the the coming days and weeks as he prepares to take the oath.
In the run-up to the contest, some commentators suggested the half-Scot would seek to be less controversial should he win.
But many of the people who voted for him did so precisely because he’s so unconventional, so anti-establishment.
Over the past two weeks, Trump supporters have repeatedly highlighted that as a key ingredient of his appeal.
Of course as soon as you are elected president, you become the establishment.
So that will be a difficult line for him to walk, as Brexiteers David Davis, Boris Johnson and Liam Fox are finding out in the UK.
Unlike them, Mr Trump is in charge, however, although there are checks and balances built into the system.
And he will soon find out how much he needs Congress to get things done.
This won’t be easy.
The Democrats on Capitol Hill aren’t going to give him a break.
Crucially, he’s alienated many of the Republicans too.
It will be interesting to see whether they decide to get in line or continue to distance themselves from Mr Trump.
There’s also the question of competence, his ability to do the job.
He would never admit it, but he will have even surprised himself.
In the face of likely accusations he’s not up to it, he will be keen to put in place a suitable team and assert his authority as president elect in the coming days.
Of course during the transition period, he’s not legally empowered to affect policy.
But there’s nothing to stop him heading off to meet Vladimir Putin, for instance.
One of the most notable aspects of the campaign has been the polarisation of the two sides.
Like the UK on the morning of June 24, America is waking up a bitterly divided nation.
It’s the disunited states, a tale of two Americas.
And there will be some who won’t want to accept the result.
In the aftermath of the vote for Brexit, there were immediate calls for a re-run, calls for areas that voted Remain to be allowed to plough their own path.
Perhaps we will see the same here.