Good Morning America

Well America. That was interesting. How are you feeling this morning? The ‘surely it’ll never happen,’ just happened. President-elect Donald Trump. That wasn’t like watching a slow-motion car wreck, we were transported into the passenger seat, as full pace, ironically on 9/11 (the way we write the date in this part of the world).

It just goes to show how people really play their cards close to their chest. Either all the pollsters and commentators were way off the mark, or the voters weren’t comfortable with saying the supported Trump, until they were protected by the anonymity of the polling booth.

Black men and women voted for Clinton, (80% men, 94% women), latino men and women voted for Clinton in lower numbers (62% and 68%), but of the white men and women, 63% and 53% respectively voted for Trump.

By age group, 52% of 18-44 year olds voted for Hillary Clinton and 53% of those over 45 voted for Trump (statistics courtesy of CNN exit polls). There are also reports that up to 47% of eligible voters did not vote.

It is potentially alarming to have such an under qualified person as the leader of the free world. While clearly a large part of the US population thought a fresh approach would be best, it is a big risk from where we sit, particularly given his track record, in business and as a person.

It seems that despite numerous glowing recommendations from the current president for Ms Clinton, Democrats were prepared to change their allegiance entirely rather than support the party. What does this say about the Democrats connection with their supporters?

So now we wait, to see where to from here? It will be interesting to see if President Trump follows through with some of his campaign promises – the wall for example. Let’s hope that he pleasantly surprises us all – that acceptance speech of his was certainly a huge departure from his usual style. The soft-focus, quietly spoken Donald was almost more disturbing, rather than less.

We have become accustomed to the classy and composed style of Barack Obama and his speech this morning was a further example of that – urging professionalism and cooperation. His approach is going to be sorely missed, from the point of view of the international community.