Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton scored huge victories Tuesday that bring them closer to a monumental duel for the White House in the fall

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton scored huge victories Tuesday that bring them closer to a monumental duel for the White House in the fall.

Trump's political strength was on display with a clean sweep of races in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Clinton delivered big wins in Maryland and Pennsylvania -- the biggest prizes of the night -- along with Delaware and Connecticut. Bernie Sanders picked up his sole victory of the night in Rhode Island, CNN reported.

The wins for Trump -- following a massive victory last week in New York -- move him significantly closer to the 1,237 delegates he needs to win the nomination outright and avoid a contested Republican convention. That historic prospect is now the only way rivals Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich could stop Trump from becoming the GOP nominee.

Clinton's big wins, meanwhile, help bolster her campaign's argument that it is time for Sanders to make a decision to stop personal and political attacks on the former secretary of state that could weaken her ahead of a showdown in November with Republicans, the report said.

She climbed on stage to cheers in her election night headquarters in Philadelphia, the city that will host the Democratic National Convention this summer.

"With your help, we are going to come back to Philadelphia for the Democratic National Convention with the most votes and the most pledged delegates," Clinton declared. "And we will unify our party to win this election and build an America where we can all rise together, an America where we lift each other up instead of tearing each other down."