Shock and awe: A front-row seat to US Election outcome

Right now America is in a state of shock and bewilderment. Followed by the rest of the world. Yet again, this was not the expected outcome of the 2024 American election, which has global impact. For the most pessimistic, it represents a combination of worst case scenario and nightmare scenario.

In short: nobody saw it coming. Even if the New York property mogul played his Trump Card, in getting out the vote nationwide, against expectation.

I crissed-cross the United States to experience both political sides and their rallies in the closing 24 hours.

Being in the eye of the storm of an election event that could have a big impact around the world is both thrilling and daunting.

I wanted to be at ‘ground zero’ with the key people – and directly experience the flavour of what was happening before our eyes.

Witnessing up close both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris’s strenuous efforts to shape history was astonishing.

The ‘all or nothing’ energy from the candidates, the raw emotion of the audiences, it all felt ‘on edge’.

The passion of the rallies was on a scale we have never seen, all driven by the highest stakes possible, which was exhilarating.

Attending a Donald Trump Rally in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, in the steel town of Pittsburgh, was a surreal experience and will remain with me always. Bombastic, deafening, and more of a theatrical event in a stadium than a ‘think-in’ gave a whole new meaning to politics done American style.

In witnessing history up close, I was focused on the outcomes of what happened if these rallies’ endgame were successful. The placement of Donald Trump in the Oval Office at a time of global political peril is quite the unprecedented challenge. To say nothing of domestic policy complications.

But for us in the North, and especially Tyrone with its unique American presidential history, what matters most is how a renewed President Trump in the Oval Office will affect our coveted relationship with the United States.

We have arguably been spoiled with successive American presidential prowess and priority. It dates back to Jimmy Carter in 1977, Bill Clinton in the late 1990s and of course Joe Biden in his 2023 visit. Even Barack Obama made a substantial visit to Belfast in 2013, albeit for a day.

Will a reinvigorated President Donald Trump take seriously his Irish-American responsibilities and role, and therefore follow his predecessors? Ireland, North and South, has robust representation in Washington DC through the Irish Embassy and NI Bureau, who lobby and charm their way across the US capitol for American sponsored political and economic dividends for the old country back home.

As the electoral dust settles and the bewilderment subsides, we can be sure in the knowledge that the US regards Ireland and the North with heartfelt charm and pride on a bipartisan basis. It’s a coveted position to be in as Celtic cousins of many a transatlantic extended family. Donald Trump’s mother was a Scot from the Hebrides, a MacLeod no doubt, who passed away in 2000.

Adding into the mix, the combined golf courses in both Ireland and Scotland and an ongoing fondness for all things Celtic from political hierarchy in the US may put us in pole position to renew that lucrative bond with the Oval Office.

No matter the occupant.