As Donald Trump was voted last week to be President-elect of the United States, heated discussions and dialogues on social media and riots have taken place. It is clear that America was closely divided in this election. However, what about the rest of the world? What do they think?
For better or for worse, the government and policies of the United States of America affect many, if not all, nations across the globe. As a foreigner in the United States, I had my own opinions about this election, which I believe reflect the beliefs and opinions of my home country Brazil. As I spoke with other foreigners, I realized more and more how opinions differed. In this article, the New York Times asked for opinions about the President-Elect Donald Trump. I find this article fascinating and believe it is important for Americans to read and think about.
I do not believe nations should isolate themselves in any sense. We live in a globalized world, nations are constantly communicating, trading, and changing. It is fundamental that we understand each others’ views even if we do not agree with them.
Here are some different opinions:
“I am deeply concerned with president-elect Mr. Trump for obvious reasons, but I am honestly relieved that Ms. Clinton couldn’t get the job. Her foreign policy frightened me in terms of going back to the Cold War era. She is, unlike Mr. Obama, an interventionist, who would have inflamed international tensions, leaving Germany (and Europe) in an acid test between the West and East, facing armament.”
Christian Weidner, Germany
“It will be good for Europe, once President Trump is clear about his policy in fighting ISIS alongside Russia, holding a strong position in the region just like Russia, by doing the right thing, killing terrorists.”
Maria da Graça, Portugal
“It has already take down the value of our currency.”
Jose Franco, Mexico
“Trump has called Nafta a disaster, the worst trade deal ever. Presumably, he will revoke it, or try to renegotiate its terms. Trade deals don’t work as zero-sum equations. Nafta works because it has benefited all three of our North American economies. The Canadian market for consumer goods is relatively small and spread out along an east-west axis. If north-south trade is disrupted in both manufactured goods and agricultural products, the impact on the Canadian economy will be devastating.”
Wally Seccombe, Canada
Read the article here:
It is interesting to shift our US reactions to the now elect Donald J. Trump and focus more on a global scale and the reactions different world leaders are giving. I cannot agree with you more when you said that it is important to consider what other foreign leaders think due to the fact that we live in a globalized world. The different reactions to the elect president, Trump are quite interesting. The German perspective surprised me in terms of saying that Trump will be dangerous, but the fact that Hillary was not elected is even better. I also find the Portuguese perspective in the article to be quite surprising, saying that a Trump presidency will be good because we will be able to defeat Russia. I agree more with opinions like the Mexican point of view given saying that their currency has decreased in value. A Trump presidency is a scary thing in it in itself, but the fact that we are still not super clear on Trump’s foreign policy and whether what he said as he was campaigning was simply for the votes, is even scarier.
I like that this article took more of a positive spin on the issue. Before the elections I read a lot of articles about this subject and it seemed that most countries were pretty disparaging towards Trump and showed fear towards him and his policies. This article shows that at least a few countries have accepted that Trump will be the Chief Executive of the United states for the next four years and are seeking to take a more positive point of view on this. I have talked to a few friends abroad and they expressed similar opinions.
Unlike any other election in the world, the US election has responding effects on everyone in the world, directly or indirectly. My brother who is living in Barcelona told me that people would come up to him furious and ask why he did this. I know friends in Malawi who have asked me what this could mean for them, and especially my friends in Mexico, they are worried that families member living here will be killed that those legally for here will be in danger. My best friend from Tijuana is afraid that he won’t be able to come to my wedding. These are real fears and fears that are legitimized by the election results. I would go as far as to say that our single vote has an effect on far more than just ourselves.
Throughout the course of this historic election, I’ve often wondered how people in other countries must have been reacting as they watched America explode with heated political arguments, etc. I would definitely agree that this most recent election has had a larger global response than any previous election and I don’t think we’ve seen the end of it either. As Trump prepares to begin his presidency, it’ll be extremely interesting to observe the reactions of other countries, including international global players like China and Russia.
The nature of our world today makes it so that actions taking place in the United States have an effect on other countries in the world. The recent election has caused many in the international community to worry about the future of the United States based on it’s new commander in chief. I hope that our new President Elect can do much to dispel these negative feelings, and hopefully bring the world together as a whole.
I find this very interesting. One reason I voted for Hillary Clinton and not Donald Trump was because of her foreign policy. I think the reason we find Trump to be so scary is because we do not know what he will do. I liked hearing what other countries think will happen. They see differently than we do, and honestly they see things that we can not see. CNN said earlier that Trump will have basically no foreign policy regarding Africa, which is interesting because Africa has always been such a major issue. However, the Wall Street Journal mentioned that ISIS will be a main focus. It will be interesting to see what Trump really does.
This is a good gut check for us domestically, to think more critically about what Trump’s presidency really means for us. It was interesting to look at the regional comparisons, seeing the closest neighbors of the US (Canada and Mexico) having fairly strong negative reactions shows that Trumps somewhat non-interventionist policy will be very poorly received with the nation’s it has a lot of interactions with. It was also interesting to see Germany hopeful about Trump due to lack of intervention, but Portugal was very hopeful because of Trumps supposed strong arm policy intervention with ISIS.
I find this very interesting. One reason I voted for Hillary Clinton and not Donald Trump was because of her foreign policy. I think the reason we find Trump to be so scary is because we do not know what he will do. I liked hearing what other countries think will happen. They see differently than we do, and honestly they see things that we can not see. CNN said earlier that Trump will have basically no foreign policy regarding Africa, which is interesting because Africa has always been such a major issue. However, the Wall Street Journal mentioned that ISIS will be a main focus. It will be interesting to see what Trump really does