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Diaspora hopes for warmer US-Indonesia ties amid election tumult
For Indonesian citizens living in the US, like other groups that have no say in the US election, one major hope was that the overall relationship between their country and the US could improve going forward.
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A man in a Trump mask dances with members of the Catawba County Republicans at a watch party in Newton, North Carolina, on Nov. 5, 2024. ( Getty Images via AFP/Melissa Sue Gerrits )
I
n the heart of Washington, DC, just a three-minute walk from the White House, an Indonesian coffee shop was among the few businesses in the area without their windows boarded up.
Two days before Tuesday’s election showdown, the shop’s neighbors had begun putting up wooden planks to shield their storefronts, anticipating potential civil unrest.
Tensions in the United States capital were palpable as the race between Republican Party nominee Donald Trump and Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris entered its final days, with numerous rallies attended by thousands unfolding around town throughout the weekend.
Images from the 2020 election, when some 2,000 people stormed the US Capitol building following Trump’s defeat, were seemingly still fresh in the city’s memory, as seen from the increased level of security ahead of Tuesday and the rows upon rows of boarded up windows.
“The city is very politically active, so people are more or less taking precautions,” Dimas Nugraha, a 20-year-old US-born Indonesian who worked at the coffee shop, told The Jakarta Post, just ahead of election day.
“Some immigrants are rightfully feeling anxious. My parents, who were born in Indonesia, feel a little anxious, but all you can do is have faith,” he said.
Read also: Trump claims victory over Harris in US presidential election
