Barack Obama calls Donald Trump after election win, invites president-elect to White House

President Barack Obama called Donald Trump in the early morning hours on Wednesday on his victory and invited him to the White House on Thursday to discuss the handover of power from his administration to Trump's, the White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement.

"Ensuring a smooth transition of power is one of the top priorities the president identified at the beginning of the year and a meeting with the president-elect is the next step," the statement read.

The 55-year-old commander-in-chief also called Hillary Clinton after it became clear she'd lost the race. The White House said Obama had "expressed admiration for the strong campaign she waged throughout the country."