On November 8, EWI Perot Fellow and Senior Vice President David Firestein sat down with Voice of America’s (VOA) Mandarin Service to break down the results of the U.S. elections on their “Election Night Special Program”. Firestein discussed the future of American politics in the six-hour-long popular program, which concluded after Republican Donald Trump secured the Electoral College votes needed for victory.  

Firestein comments begin around the 2:15:00 mark.

On November 11, Firestein also appeared on VOA's Mandarin-language program Focus Talk to discuss the domestic and global implications of Trump’s surprising win at the ballot box. Firestein’s key message was that there will likely be a significant vector between Candidate Trump’s statements and President Trump’s actions and the likelihood of dramatic change in U.S.-China relations is relatively low not withstanding earlier campaign rhetoric. ​In evaluating whether the outcome of the U.S. presidential election signifies a ​strengthening or weakening of popular trust in the American electoral system, Firestein commented that the election has actually consolidated Americans' confidence in their own democratic system.