Divided US voters hold on to their seats for a second Trump presidency
On a 27-hour train from Florida a month after Donald Trump was voted back into the White House, passengers discussed their hopes and fears for the future.
The Silver Meteor is one of the longest rail routes in the US, covering 2200km on the country’s east coast. Yet despite its name, an Amtrak guard told Euronews that the train rarely runs faster than 100km/h and generally arrives at least an hour late.
Stretching from Miami at the bottom of Florida to New York City in the country’s north, its route crosses several key swing states, including Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
At the back of the train, furthest from the noisy locomotive, are private cabins and “roomettes” that cost over $2,000 (€1,900); at the front, you have your “coach class” seats at about a tenth of that. The two sections are divided by a bar, which, over the course of Euronews’ 27-hour journey, was overseen by a 60-year-old woman offering a cutting comment with every drink.
Approaching the bar from the back of the train came Linda and Paul, a couple from Melbourne, Florida, travelling to Washington, DC, for their tenth wedding anniversary. Speaking to Euronews over vodka and lemonade, Linda was curious about European perspectives on the election — her husband less so.
“Oh f***,” he laughs, “are we going to talk about politics?”
After a chiding from Linda — a firm supporter of defeated Democratic candidate Kamala Harris — Paul implied he had voted for Trump, but reluctantly, saying that “the last election was about women’s rights, this one was about money.”
Speaking as her husband went to get another drink, Linda said she wasn’t convinced by Paul’s explanation. She said that reproductive rights remained her top issue (those still matter to around an eighth of all female voters).
“Whether I accidentally conceive a baby or get raped, whatever the case may be, I want to have a choice to not have that child that I don’t want,” Linda said. “I want to be respected. I work just as hard as my husband, and I still get paid less.”
Despite the majority of women backing Harris, more than a million switched to Trump this election, which left Linda perplexed.
“It’s unbelievable. (Trump) has no backing for women’s rights. He diminishes them all the time,” she pointed out.
Paul returned from the bar, scowling over a comment from the bar manager. As the sun set and the train trundled into northern Florida, the conversation turned to democracy.
The former president, now back for his second attempt at the wheel, infamously told voters during the election that “in four years … we’ll have it fixed so good; you’re not going to have to vote.” Former advisers have compared him to a “fascist,” warning that he wants to erode democracy for his own ends.
Yet Paul was unperturbed by this and insisted his tentative support for Trump did not mean he was indifferent to the importance of democracy — far from it.
“This is not a dictatorship,” he said. “That’s not how our country was founded.”
As the train crossed into Georgia, the pair headed off for dinner in their cabin.
ADVERTISEMENT“I know she’s right,” Paul concluded. “Love you,” replied Linda.
‘Freakin Muppets’
Sat close by was Mark, a US Air Force Vietnam War veteran and construction worker on his way home to Pennsylvania, drinking a can of beer with “Support the Troops” emblazoned on the side.
“I’m gonna make one statement a lot of these people aren’t gonna like it,” he exclaimed, looking around. “F*** Trump.”
Lois, a 78-year-old former teacher and banker, looked up from a word game on her phone.
ADVERTISEMENTMark didn’t flinch. “I mean it. Mr Trump isn’t for the poor people, he’s for the rich. End of story.”
“In my area, pretty much, you know, the poor people were for Harris, the rich were for Trump,” he said.
Pennsylvania’s 19 Electoral College votes were at the centre of the 2024 election result. No candidate has won the presidency without the state since George W Bush in 2004; this time round, Trump won the state by 120,000 votes.
Mark was thankful that the election itself was peaceful but questioned whether that peace would last.
ADVERTISEMENT“He won. I have no problem with that, but I say, within 18 months, there’ll be war. Watch and see. In Korea, Ukraine, the Middle East.”
The incoming president has promised to end the war in Ukraine in “one day” and achieve “peace in the Middle East”, offering no details in either case.
Lois raised her eyebrows above her cat-eye glasses. “They remind me of little boys fighting with each other,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Then you throw in crackers Kamala. She has the goofiest laugh I ever heard.”
Lois declined to which way she voted but said her parents had worked for “the elephant” in her youth, a reference to the Republican logo.
ADVERTISEMENT“Anyway, money talks, bull**** walks,” she concluded, leaving it unclear which candidate she was referencing.
“Well, Trump’s still walking,” Mark retorted.
A very, very conservative campaign
A couple of hours later, the train pulled into Savannah on the border between Georgia and South Carolina. Joining the train were Ocean and Kobe, a young couple working for NGOs in DC, returning from visiting family down south.
“I think there’s a part of me that always feels a degree of fear in the South. I feel very on guard,” Kobe said, attributing his nervousness partly to gun culture but also his “liberal bubble”.
ADVERTISEMENTThe couple described themselves as being to the left of the Democrats and were not fans of Harris’ campaign — particularly because she declined to distance herself from the Biden administration’s policy toward Israel and its campaign in Gaza.
“Trump’s victory is going to mean that a lot of people are going to suffer more than they otherwise would have. That hurts,” said Kobe. “But I think Harris’ victory would have also meant that a lot of people are going to suffer unjustly.”
“People are going to die who should not die.”
As some passengers started to drift off to sleep, Julie and Kevin boarded the train with their daughter, followed by their friend Mike. They were heading up from the border of South and North Carolina to New York City, where their daughter would be taking part in a dance parade in Times Square.
ADVERTISEMENT“I was thrilled by the results,” Julie told Euronews. A self-proclaimed “dance mom,” she was among a majority of voters whose top priorities included the economy and immigration.
“It’s about getting the prices down, and stopping this situation with the immigrants coming in,” she explained. “They’re getting benefits, they just come in and get $4,500 a month. I really believe if you don’t have a US passport or US citizenship, you shouldn’t be able to just come in and get free money, free services, free education.”
As she was talking, a Fox News notification popped up on her phone.
Net migration rose to 1.6 million newcomers in 2023, its highest level in years, and constant coverage of the issue nudged many voters towards Trump. For their part, Democrats pointed out to no avail that the president-elect had openly blocked a bipartisan immigration bill for political gain. (The vast majority of immigrants do not automatically qualify for public benefits, if at all.)
ADVERTISEMENTMike, a hockey team mascot dressed in a Santa hat, agreed with Julie but also pointed a finger at US citizens he saw as taking advantage of the welfare system.
“I don’t want to single out single mothers, but there are people who have another baby just to get more money,” he said. A mother travelling alone with three young children looked over.
While all three were happy Trump won, none had complete faith in him or the political system in general. “They both have agendas you see, even that assassination attempt on the incoming president, I think both parties had something to do with that,” said Mike.
Julie sighed. “Well things have got to change. I really hope they do.”
ADVERTISEMENT‘I cried for days’
In the early hours of the morning, two brothers sat in the bar carriage, surreptitiously drinking cognac on the sly from a children’s SeaWorld bottle covered in dolphins. They were coming to the end of a chess game.
“He’s kicking my ass right now,” laughed Carl, a 70-year-old former engineer, as his younger brother Paris took a knight. Both queens were gone, and both kings were vulnerable.
Turning to politics, Carl’s smile dissipated. “Man, I cried for days after that election,” he told Euronews, shaking his head. “The thing that hurt most is [Trump’s] disrespect for the American flag and the American veterans.”
The Vietnam veteran noted that the incoming president’s alleged comments calling fallen soldiers “suckers and losers” were particularly “heartbreaking”.
ADVERTISEMENTCarl says he used to vote Republican in the 1980s, and called John McCain “an American hero”. Yet, he couldn’t recognise the party anymore. He also believed the assassination attempts on Trump “were staged … like WWE”.
Paris sadly packed away his chess set. The son of a poll worker, he said he always tried to persuade everyone “voting is sacred” — but he hasn’t been successful with his brother.
“No, I don’t vote,” the former marine told Euronews, his voice slightly slurred. “I believe they’re going to put in whoever the hell they want, regardless of your vote. If they put a goddamn convicted felon in the goddamn office, your vote never really counts.”
At that point, the bar manager walked up. “Is that your own alcohol in that bottle, sir?”
ADVERTISEMENTParis shook his head: “It’s juice”.
She didn’t believe him. “You’re going to need to leave the bar now, I’m shutting down anyway.”
Packing up the unfinished game and swaying with the train, Paris tutted. “What does that say for America?”
“Honestly. What does that say for America?”
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