Donald Trump has won all five Super Tuesday primaries, increasing his chances of not taking part in a Republican Party contested convention meets in Cleveland in July to elect its presidential nominee, Euronews has learnt.
In whats being considered as a spectacular show of strength, the billionaire left his rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich trailing in his wake.
Trump also came ahead of Cruz and Kasich in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware, with a margin of victory rivaling that in his home state of New York a week ago.
"I consider myself the presumptive nominee, absolutely…Honestly, Senator Cruz and Governor Kasich should really get out of the race," Trump said.
The Republican race will go to Indiana next week, a more conservative state than the primaries in the north-east where Cruz hopes to win more delegates than he has over the past week.
Hillary Clinton won four out of the five northeastern states, adding pressure on her rival Bernie Sanders to give up or ease criticism of her. In her victory speech Clinton referred to the need for unity.
"Whether you support Senator Sanders or you support me, there’s much more that unites us than divides us."
Although some believe Sanders has no possible chances to win, he is not showing any signs of leaving the race after taking the surprise win of Rhode Island.
Instead, he envisions a battle at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in an bid to secure the party platform and convince the constituency to embrace such policy goals as the European-style government-run healthcare system that Clinton has rejected as unfeasible.