Everyone will be watching Trump post-election, German Marshall Fund expert says

It may be several days before we know the result of the US presidential election, predicts German Marshall Fund's Dr Ian Lesser.

"There could be many legal challenges, even legitimate legal challenges, if it's very close," Lesser, a distinguished fellow and an adviser to the German Marshall Fund's president, told the Europe Conversation on Euronews.

"It's quite conceivable that even a few days afterwards, you really won't know who won," he explained.

One of the biggest fears among many is a repeat of attempts made in 2020 by the Republican party under Donald Trump to overturn the election result or sow enough doubt about the validity of the poll.

Lesser said there’s been a "growing risk" of this reoccurring, but the vigilance surrounding this issue has intensified, and "everyone is watching".

"There's always a risk of this. And of course, the concern about this has been growing over the last years. On the other hand, everyone is watching", he added.

In January 2021 Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn incumbent President Joe Biden’s victory there.

In a phone call published by the Washington Post, Trump said, “so look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”

On EU-US relations, Lesser warns that Trump’s preponderance towards slapping tariffs against countries he sees as having an unfair competition towards America is a real risk for the European economy.

"What Donald Trump has been talking about takes us into different territory. If he does what he says, this would be a tremendous structural change in economies."

"Also how money is raised in the US is even talking possibly about using tariffs