Where do we go from here?

Sitting on the couch, stress eating, drinking, periodically screaming and crying at the TV, opening and closing TikTok every two minutes, was a common theme that many Americans including NIS student Cole Winston (22) felt throughout the election day on November 5th.

For others, such as American student Kaya Solod (25), opposing feelings were felt while watching the events unfold,

“I was on the video call with my family, we were all just going crazy over this, I mean we kind of felt that Trump would win, it's not like it was a surprise for us… But I was mostly excited.”

In this past U.S. presidential election, Republican Donald Trump won the battle for the presidency against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. The polls opened throughout the country on November 5th around 7 am, and by 1:22 am the next day, the votes had been counted and Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States. 

President-elect Donald Trump won in a landslide against Vice President Kamala Harris, winning the popular vote, Electoral College, House of Representatives, and Senate.

A wide range of feelings and emotions have come up from the election this year, with Donald Trump’s extremely conservative policies frightening many people.

“I went to bed around 1:30 in the morning, and I was thinking ‘Ah she got this’, and then I woke up at 7 am, for class the next day, ‘She did not get it. I voted for Kamala Harris, not because I’m coo-coo crazy for her policies, but more so as an opposition to Trump," Winston says.

Solod has a different stance on the matter,

“I voted for Trump and the reason being is that, first of all, there are only two options, so sometimes it's all about choosing the lesser evil, or choosing the least worst option. So I’m not agreeing with Trump on everything but I felt like he was way more professional in terms of presidency than Kamala Harris. I was hoping the country would go in that direction, of more traditional values, conservatism, because that's how I live my life. So I’m just really happy with the election results, I’m happy that's the direction the country has chosen.”

According to Politico, the policies and plans Trump expressed he would put into place when he goes into office include having mass-scale deportation of illegal immigrants, setting up detention camps to implement mass deportation, imposing a 10 to 20 percent tariff on all US goods and a 60 percent tariff on products from China, repealing the affordable care act, defunding the Department of Education, getting out of all the climate agreements, along with many other plans.

Winston explained he was disappointed in how the election turned out, and believes there were things Trump said and did that should have disqualified him from ever taking office “but in fact he did and he’s holding it again.”

“In terms of him as a person he is sexist, racist, homophobic, any type of phobic, you could possibly think of… He is very very cocky and prideful, and I believe he is quite stupid if you watched this election. He didn’t have any policy plans besides the tariff deal and deporting the immigrants, which I don’t know if any of those two things would be that positive at all.”

As January 20th, Inauguration Day, of President-elect Donald Trump, steadily approaches, Solod explains how going forward with the results doesn’t change her way of living or thoughts. As this was the outcome she was hoping for.

“I am just happy that you know, seeing the country for what it should be. Like a strong America, that has certain values, conservative values. I think that it's really a beautiful thing, I think that we are moving towards putting effort into the nation instead of really just worrying about other countries,” Solod said. “I think we should just focus more on the values that were when the country was created, that was when the country was the strongest, and then when we started straining away from those values the country started falling apart. So hopefully now there is going to be less polarization and a more healthy society.”

Although there is much divide between the country among Democrats and Republicans, is it possible to live harmoniously and be civil together?

Solod says,

“I never felt any adversity with people with a liberal mindset. For example, I have liberal friends, conservative friends, I have family members that are liberal. It does not matter, I think it should not matter. I think that we as a society polarize ourselves, we decide ourselves if we cut someone off or not based on their views, and I think that's the unhealthy part.”

Winston's stance differs on the issue,

“Civility died in 2016—political civility. Go back and watch a debate with Romney and Obama in 2012, it’s like we’re a different planet… But yah if you have a friend or family member who is genuinely voting for Trump because they're a racist piece of sh*t, which I imagine a lot of them are, then yah know, I wouldn’t advise hanging around them.”

With the victory of Trump's Presidency lingering, many people feel hopeful for the future, and others are frightened. Both Winston and Solod give tips to Americans, going forward into a second Trump presidency.

“A lot of fear is coming from the media, so a lot of those videos, the fear-mongering videos. I feel like its all just pressuring, the voters, especially the voters, making them think that Trump ‘he’s going to be the end all,’ all of their rights will be taken away from them, especially women, and I think they should just probably read more, read different types of newspapers, watch different types of media, make up their own minds," encourages Solod.

Winston says “I strongly encourage if you're a part of any minority group or women to form a community and support each other. There are no stronger bonds than times of crisis. You can always petition your local legislators, or in the next 2 years you could even run for state or local positions. Make a difference in your community… For people outside the U.S. and not U.S. citizens, good luck, I guess. I can’t give you direct action… but I’ll keep you in my thoughts if things are to go south, [from] whichever respected nation your from if some trump policy f*cks you over," says Winston.