Disappointment in US Neoliberal Domestic Policy Behind Trump’s Victory

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — US citizens disappointment in neoliberal domestic policies and social inequality in the country are key reasons behind Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential elections, German Die Linke Party member Andrej Hunko told Sputnik on Thursday.

"I think domestic policy was key for the choice of the electorate. A major issue has been the catastrophic results of decades of neoliberal policies that destroyed social cohesion in the US," Hunko said.

He added that this development went together with an "arrogant discourse that repelled many people from the current establishment."

"I believe that inequality is key to the understanding of phenomena like those elections," Hunko said.

Hunko also said that US foreign policy strategy under newly-elected President Donald Trump will depend on personalities of his advisers as well as on the ability of the new leader to take existing power structures under control.

“That depends on the secretaries and advisers that he will appoint – and his ability to impose his will on the existing power structures in the state apparatus,” Hunko said when asked how Trump would change the US foreign policy strategy.

The lawmaker added that in the United States there are many important players pushing for more military interventions.

"Even if Trump wanted to introduce a change in US foreign policy, he would have to hold his grounds against those warmongers," he pointed out.

Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential elections made the possibility to stop the US-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal, championed by former US President Barack Obama’s administration, more real, according to Hunko.

“The probability to stop neoliberal treaties like TTIP has risen with the Trump victory. At least during the campaign he spoke out against those treaties more clearly than [Hillary] Clinton,” Hunko said.

Trump, known for his criticism of the proposed TTIP deal with Brussels, won US presidential election despite most of the analysts and opinion polls predicting his defeat to Democratic Party nominee Clinton. During the election campaign, Trump has repeatedly expressed the desire to support US business in the United States, shifting the focus from the global trade to national economic development

The TTIP, negotiations on which have been ongoing since 2013, seeks to establish a free trade zone between the two sides of the Atlantic. Since the start of the talks, the deal has drawn severe criticism for the lack of transparency. Its opponents also express concern over the tremendous power it would potentially give to international corporations and the fact that it could seriously violate ecological standards.

Trump won the 2016 US presidential election with 290 electoral votes, while his rival Hillary Clinton received 232 votes despite winning the popular vote by a margin of over 200,000, according to CNN. The inauguration is due on January 20.