His campaign was vitriolic, sometimes acrimonious. He was labeled a racist, a bigot, anti-Mexican, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim. Despite this, Republican candidate Donald Trump was on Tuesday elected the 45th president of the United States, defying the polls and popular media hype that favoured his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. “Now it’s time for America to bind the wounds of division, we have to get together. To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it’s time for us to come together as one united people,” Trump said in his victory speech in the early hours of Wednesday morning. St Kitts and Nevis foreign affairs minister Mark Brantley expects the federation and the wider Caribbean Community (CARICOM) grouping actively to engage with the incoming Trump administration. “America is a country of structure; it’s a country which has within its constitution checks and balances, so my expectation would be that President-elect Trump will function as any other president will function. Ultimately, his duty is to look after the interests of the people of the United States, my concern has always been the fallout for the Caribbean and I look forward to what might happen in the weeks and months particularly as he’s sworn in next year and to see how that will look for us in the Caribbean,” Brantley said. He was asked what was the best approach for St Kitts and Nevis, and by extension CARICOM, in dealing with the new administration. “I think our approach has to be our usual one, one of open dialogue and engagement. It is no secret that the Caribbean has done well with Republican administrations so we must continue to engage. America is a critical ally to the entire region and I think that we have to engage openly and at the end of the day we have to remember that many Caribbean people live in the US and we have to engage at that level. I would encourage that we double efforts and seek with this new administration to get past some of the outstanding issues we were not able to get past with the previous administration such as deportation , loss of correspondent banking relationships, de-risking, issues in relation to aid and overseas developmental assistance,” Brantley said. Former Grenada attorney general Jimmy Bristol cited both Brexit and the just concluded US election as representing a trend towards the right that’s likely to hurt the global community. “You’ve got France blaming their plight on the immigrants from Africa; Germany blaming their plight on the refugees, England blaming their plight on the refugees and the people of colour, the US similarly. The problem is it’s not the refugees; the problem is the very countries in which their peoples are the citizens that have caused the problems. They have moved manufacturing out of their countries to China, India, Indonesia and all these places and to Mexico resulting in the loss of jobs at home so it’s the very business people who are at the root of it,” he said. There are several lessons for the Caribbean coming out of this latest US election, according to Bristol. We should take note of this trend and how elections and campaigns are conducted so that when we’re engaged In our electoral process or engaged in referendum that we do so with wisdom and we do not allow ourselves to be fooled by politicians into making decisions which are politically motivated and not in the best interest in the country. We should examine issues and vote according to issues and do so objectively,” he said. US-based attorney Gabriel Christian, who has Caribbean roots, told WINN FM that, while the results are hard to swallow, the democratic process must be respected. “I’m going to have to say that democracy works, the people have spoken and you have to respect the will of the people but we have to understand that progress is not linear, the Germans, the most educated Europeans at the time many would say, did vote and you know what happened and so we have to lead with our best hopes and not our fears. This is the eruption of anger at the de-industrialization of a country that once was a producer of many things that have gone to Mexico and China and people have reacted in a visceral way. We’re going to have some tough times, we’ve seen what happened with the markets, the whole world is shell shocked,” he said. Meanwhile, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness emphasized the intention to build on existing initiatives, to explore new opportunities, as well as the desire to strengthen US/Caribbean relations. He articulated a shared commitment to achieving and maintaining economic growth and development for the benefit of the peoples of the hemisphere. Bahamas minister of foreign affairs, Fred Mitchell, said prior to the election result that there is “no need to worry” how policies driven by the incoming American commander-in-chief could impact The Bahamas. “I have no concerns,” he said. “Both parties and the structures of the US are broadly centrist and I would expect that this country will work with whoever becomes the president of the US.” Former Trinidad and Tobago prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, said that many women around the world were looking to Clinton to join the list of female leaders in the world and make the US the 45th country to have had a female leader. “She led a dignified, positive campaign that has energised women everywhere who looked forward to the results with great anticipation that she would shatter the toughest glass ceiling to become the first female President of the United States. She has inspired and empowered millions of girls and women across our planet,” she noted. According to Peoples National Movement (PNM) vice-chair Camille Robinson-Regis, the perceived “drop” in black community support for Clinton might have been because it was measured against the huge wave of such support that came out for Barack Obama in previous elections. Opposition MP Dr Bhoe Tewarie, said, “America has become a very divided country in the face of a growing diversity in its population, so there have been cultural and ethnic tensions as well as regarding immigration. Trump capitalised on that. There’s a worrisome global breeze that’s signalled by Trump, the Brexit vote and growing emergence of nationalist fervour.” He added: “It has serious implications for the globalisation setting in for the last several decades and has serious implications for small states like ours, who have gone along with the globalisation trajectory and process and must now respond to a change of thinking in the dominant economies of the world. We have to watch and prepare for this.” Further analysis of the US results will be done on Friday, when the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies holds a panel discussion on the post-election future. Debate topics includes whether a new era in US political campaigning has begun, how US-Caribbean relations will be affected, what the results means for the US immigrant population, especially the Caribbean Diaspora and if pre-election concerns about internal unrest will materialise. Source: Caribbean New Now West Indies News Network, The Nassau Guardian, Jamaica Information Service and the Trinidad Guardian contributed to this report