Northeast primaries: Trump, Clinton score major victories

Trump, 69, declared himself the "presumptive" Republican nominee after posting big wins in Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

In all the five states, Trump bagged more than 50 per cent of the votes. In fact, in Rhode Island and Delaware his vote percentage was more than 60 per cent. In Pennsylvania it was more than 58 per cent, in Connecticut 59 per cent and Maryland 56 per cent.

With this, his delegate count jumped to 950. "This to me was our biggest night," the real estate tycoon said in his victory speech. "I consider myself the presumptive nominee."

Though the clean sweep gave a big boost to Trump's White House ambition, he still needs over 300 delegates to reach the magical number of 1,237 delegates required to bag the Republican presidential nomination.

"As far as I am concerned, this race is over," Trump said, adding that his rival John Kasich, who has 153 delegates to his kitty, is simply wasting his time. Kasich came second in four of the five States but could earn just five delegates.

After the latest primary results, Trump's main Republican rival Ted Cruz has 569 delegates and his path to nomination before the July convention is impossible.

Cruz came last in four of the five states where primaries were held yesterday. Despite notching up more delegates and dominating the media agenda, Trump's ultimate claim on the nomination remains far from certain. The final winning margins will be crucial in deciding whether he can reach the 1,237 delegates needed before the Republican convention in July.

Trump has already criticised the system in Pennsylvania, where the Republican winner is awarded 17 delegates, but 54 other delegates will be unbound and free to vote for any candidate at the convention.

On the other hand, Clinton, 68, won in four states -- Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware and Pennsylvania while her rival Bernie Sanders secured victory in Rhode Island.

After registering four wins, she appeared to be headed to be the first ever woman to win the presidential nomination of a major political party.

The wins in the three states also takes Clinton closer to earning the Democratic presidential nomination. The former Secretary of State now has 2,026 delegates while Sanders holds 1,291.