President-elect Donald Trump speaks during the presidential inaugural Chairman's Global Dinner in Washington DC
(AP)
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Donald Trump will be officially sworn in as President of the United States today, having gained nearly three million fewer votes than his opponent.
The margin of 2.86 million ballots was the biggest popular vote disparity in US history for a candidate who has gone on to become President, significantly greater than the 544,000-vote gap between George W Bush and Al Gore in 2000.
Hillary Clinton's final tally was just 72,000 shy of Barack Obama's winning margin in the 2012 election, when he beat Mitt Romney.
The Republican won the Electoral College after victory in swing states such as Florida, Ohio and North Carolina, in addition to surprise wins in previously Democrat-held states including Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence will be sworn in using the Bible that belonged to Ronald Reagan by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the first African-American person to administer the oath to a Vice President or President.
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