Dismayed US expats in London compare Trump victory to Brexit

Published:  10 Nov at 6 PM
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US citizens working and living in London are horrified for the second time this year as Trump’s election follows on the Brexit vote.

As if June’s shocking vote in favour of Brexit wasn’t enough to scare US expats working in London, Trump’s unbelievable win has plunged the community into terminal depression. Many are remembering Theresa May’s cryptic comment that those who believe they’re citizens of the world are citizens of nowhere. The American expat community is at the heart of cosmopolitan London, one of the world’s premier international cities where everyday business get-togethers can involve the brightest and best citizens of many countries.

Tuesday night’s election party at the US Embassy was a representation of everything US expats have to offer London, until it all went sour in the early morning via angry debates on the theme of ‘who’s to blame?’. One US expat from Los Angeles who’s been working on internet startups in London for four years believes the outcome will be disastrous. He’s expecting Trump will gut banking regulations and cancel the US’s’ involvement in climate change agreements, adding that it’s the worst possible outcome for his country.

20-year longstayer management consultant Bill Patterson from Chicago referred to the shock result as a toxic mess caused by lower-income voters’ incorrect beliefs that globalisation is to blame, resulting in not just the Trump disaster but also Brexit. This, he added, will see the end of the neo-liberal order.

German-American Marianna Vogt works as a therapist, and expected to spend Tuesday night celebrating at the embassy party. She told the media she’d got Brexit wrong as well as believing in a Clinton presidency. She’s now thinking of moving back to the USA in order to join in the fight, rather than sitting in out as an expat and waiting to see what might happen.

Russ Shaw from Arizona works in London promoting the tech sector, and is now preparing to keep doors open to the rest of the world as an expat. Americans living abroad, he said, do not see Trump as representing their thoughts or world views, leaving high-level expats to be the country’s ambassadors and build bridges with their international business partners. The American government, he adds, is not likely to be doing that in the near future.
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