"This is the win I wanted, it's what I preferred. So I'm very happy about that," Alex Sundstrom, from Republican Overseas told Sputnik.
Trump's presidential win was confirmed after news broke that he had won Florida. He managed to get 276 electoral votes, whilst Hillary Clinton came in with 218.
Mr. Sundstrom supported Trump and is clearly happy with the result of the US election, however even he recognizes why others may not be so pleased, especially fellow US expats living in the UK.
"It's very funny being a Trump supporter in an expat community; I guess it's like being a Brexit supporter in London.
"If you are a wealthy US expat living in an expensive part of London and you get into the US Embassy presidential event, you have to be very wealthy to get in. The thing is the people who attend these events, they have a very hard time understanding what people's lives are like outside of that. I'm from the Tennessee, a southern state that has a lot of poverty, and when I go back there I see the ravages of industrialization and the elite have ignored those problems," Mr. Sundstrom said.
It could be said that it is a rarity to find a Republican who understands the divide between the rich and the poor in the US, however given that Mr. Sundstrom sees the difference, one would have thought he would vote for the Democrats and not a capitalist such as Trump.
"That's the classic critique of Donald Trump, but Trump can afford to give back, he is a guy who likes power and he is able to serve the American people because he has the money to do so," Mr. Sundstrom told Sputnik.
This was certainly a result nobody expected, given early indications that suggested Clinton would claim victory. Trump is now in a position of power and prestige, a role model to his country and the world.
Such a beautiful and important evening! The forgotten man and woman will never be forgotten again. We will all come together as never before
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 9 November 2016
I would like to congratulate Donald Trump on being elected the next President of the United States. Full statement: https://t.co/7W2feuodUE
— Theresa May (@theresa_may) November 9, 2016
Congratulations to Donald Trump and much looking forward to working with his administration on global stability and prosperity
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) November 9, 2016
Media coverage towards Trump in the lead up to the election held nothing back — he was extensively portrayed as the loser.
Mr. Sundstrom said that the media was definitely biased against Trump, with constant messages of pending doom appearing on TV screens worldwide.
"Look at the media narrative that said Trump supporters were violent. It was well-known that Clinton's people were apparently paying people to turn up at Trump rallies and start fights," Mr. Sundstrom told Sputnik.
"Like Brexit, this vote for Trump should be seen as the vote of the people," he added.
Mr. Sundstrom is also optimistic now that Trump is in power that relations between the US and Russia will no doubt improve. This concerns the UK as well.
"I think Trump is a pragmatic guy and he is not interested in persecuting Russia and he doesn't have these globalist ambitions, he is more likely to compromise with Russia. Clinton was pushing us to intervene in Libya and also a no-fly zone over Syria, which would no doubt lead to conflict with Russia. As I am not a fan of war, I'm happy that Clinton's foreign policy will not be the deciding factor in the US," Mr. Sundstrom told Sputnik.
Vladimir Putin congratulated Donald Trump on his victory in the US presidential election https://t.co/JgNJ6DYVLs
— President of Russia (@KremlinRussia_E) 9 November 2016
"[Trump] will do an excellent job with UK relations. Obama said that the UK would have to go to the back of the queue when it comes to US-UK trade agreements. It was like Obama was punishing the UK for wanting to leave the EU. Trump doesn't have that view, especially in light of Brexit. What we are seeing now is two great powers stepping away from the norm," he added.
For the Democrats, the election results meant lost opportunity to make history by electing the first female president. But also the choice to vote for Trump over Clinton was for some US expats just a little too much.
"I'm heartbroken, absolutely heartbroken that people felt that this was an answer, that this was an alternative, that racism, misogyny could win, over a campaign that talked about helping people. Clinton has been a politician for over 40 years and at the heart of everything she did, it was always to help others," Kari, a Democrat voter told Sputnik.
Kari, a Clinton supporter, raised a Republican who later switched to the Democrats, has lived in the UK for over 13 years, but nothing had prepared her for a Trump win.
"Well we have to go forward, even though that seems ironic, we have to move forward and the people that voted for Hilary we have to keep fighting and ultimately, at the end of the day we have to fight at a grassroots level," Kari told Sputnik.
For Mr. Sundstrom the most "under-represented" piece of the puzzle, that some news outlets are neglecting, is the number of Hispanics who voted for Trump. Despite his vision to build a wall to keep the Mexicans out of the US, Hispanics in Florida saw pass this.
"I think it's unlikely he will build the wall. But for Trump, the biggest vote came from the Hispanics and I think it's an under-represented story that Hispanics are looking towards Trump's policies, ignoring the negative narrative," Mr. Sundstrom said.
With Brexit in the UK, changes in Europe and now this latest development in the US, it's safe to say — as Bob Dylan put it — "the times they are a-changing'."
