All eyes are on the results of the presidential elections in the United States as it is currently taking center stage, with the media buzzing about the surprising outcome. Contrary to the results of public opinion polls and expert forecasts, Republican candidate Donald Trump was elected to be the 45th President of the United States. The eccentric billionaire was seen at first as a political outsider, but managed to get ahead in the presidential race against rival Democrat, ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. At the end of vote count in more than 40 states, Donald Trump secured his presidential victory by surpassing the threshold of 270 electoral votes. Trump’s victory has been dominating Russian news headlines all Wednesday morning.

According to experts, interviewed by Kommersant, the astonishing election results was in part due to extreme social pressure placed on voters, many were hassled about admitting support for Trump.

In an interview with Kommersant, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina Stephen Green stated that although the majority of polls pointed to a victory for Clinton, who was the media’s darling, Trump outshined the predictions.

According to him, Donald Trump was able to win in several key states that had previously supported the Democrats. "Until now, you would expect that the Democrats strike back once again by taking control of the Senate, but it is now clear that this will not happen. We are going to have a Republican government, Donald Trump as the President and a divided country," the expert told the newspaper.

According to RBC, "Electoral Geography in 2016 presented several surprises to the Democrats. Their opponents managed not only to win Florida, but also Ohio and New Carolina. By far the larger part of the country was colored red - the color of the Republican Party."

Some experts were reserved towards the results of the elections. For instance, President of the Center on Global Interests Nikolai Zlobin told Izvestia, that the presidential race was typical, although many have talked about how "dirty" the campaign was. "Negative competition is one of the features of the US political culture," Zlobin told the newspaper.

According to him, the current race is special since a newcomer, who for the first time had thrown his hat into the political ring, turned into a prime candidate. "This, of course, goes against the grain. And I personally did not even put my money down on Trump, just like everyone else. Turns out, the combination of his charisma and populism, and he is an absolutely brilliant and stunning populist, played their role against Clinton," the expert added.

US-Russian relations was a key topic of discussion throughout the Russian media. Russian Member of Parliament from United Russia Sergei Zheleznyak told Vedomosti, he hopes that Washington would finally abandon anti-Russian rhetoric. "We are ready to cooperate with the new US administration on all current challenges. The outcome of US presidential elections virtually proves that people are tired of artificial confrontation and imposed globalization. The course and the result of the election campaign demonstrates that Americans were fed up with aggressive and inefficient policies of the previous US administration, which held Americans hostage to their reckless and destructive actions," Zheleznyak stated.

According to Zlobin, Trump might take some demonstrative steps, but they would be superficial and would not fundamentally affect the US-Russia relationship.

"I do not think that Trump needs to do these things or that it is his goal. His rhetoric perhaps includes a general improvement, though not anything fundamental. The relationship is so broken that it will take years to recover," he told Izvestia.

Some experts have taken a very upbeat view of Trump’s promise to "get along with all other nations".

"Russia had such a significant place in the election campaign that I would say President Putin would have become the second winner, regardless of who becomes the next President of the United States," CEO of Minchenko Consulting holding Evgeny Minchenko, who watched the vote count in Washington, joked in an interview with Kommersant. "In the meantime, it would be advisable for Moscow to strike while the iron is hot - develop connection with the new team, do business and move towards normalizing relations," he added.

Chatham House Member and Valdai Discussion Club Expert, Richard Sakwa, revealed his view to RBC that Trump’s victory means the end of the recent Cold War. The expert explained that global community would benefit from Trump’s revolutionary idea on improving US-Russian relations.

When it comes to the market consequences of Trump's win, Kommersant writes that his victory sparked anxiety on the markets due to a high degree of uncertainty. Many investors expect the Federal Reserve System to alter its political line in connection with a possible change in its leadership in 2018.

 

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