New Hampshire primary: Trump pledges to be 'best jobs president God created'

Riding a wave of voter anger at traditional politicians, billionaire Donald Trump won New Hampshire's Republican primary on 9 February. Trump congratulated other candidates in the race but promised to return soon to his pugnacious approach. "Tomorrow: boom, boom," he said, shadow boxing while his supporters cheered.

In his victory speech, Trump said Democrat Bernie Sanders "wants to give away our country". He pledged to have business experts negotiate better trade deals and be the "greatest jobs president that God ever created".

"Don't believe those phony numbers when you hear 4.9 and 5% unemployment," he said referring to last week's job report that showed the US unemployment rate at an eight-year low of 4.9%.

Trump's win solidifies his front-runner status in the race to be the party's White House nominee. The former reality television star has been cheered by his supporters for comments that others have derided as politically incorrect. He has campaigned to deport illegal immigrants and temporarily ban Muslims from entering the US.

Trump was in first place with 34% of the vote. Ohio Governor John Kasich, who staked the viability of his campaign on the New Hampshire outcome, was in second place with 16%, CNN said, based on an estimated 51% of returns.