As reactions to Trump’s election in the American presidential race roll in, Newstalk speaks to people from both sides.

On a special election episode of The Hard Shoulder, coming to listeners live from the Fitzpatrick Manhattan Hotel in New York City, presenter Kieran Cuddihy spoke to Newstalk reporter Josh Crosbie in Florida.

Josh said it has been one “mental” night in Florida.

“We knew pretty soon that he [Trump] had Florida in the bag,” he said.

“An hour after polls closed, the state was being called for him.

“He actually surpassed Kamala by over 1.4 million votes here, a 14-point advantage.

“When you compare this to 2020 when he faced Biden, there was only a 4-point lead, so, it was a home run for him here.”

'Ecstatic'

Josh said there were crowds with “Trump won” flags in Florida “before anything was called”.

As he was getting ready to make his trip back to Irish soil, Josh bumped into Bryan Lanza, one of the senior advisors to Mr Trump’s 2024 campaign.

Mr Lanza said the Republicans are “ecstatic”.

“We're excited to turn the page, and we're hopefully that he [Trump] can unify this country and make America great again,” he said.

“We had a good conversation last night - he's eager to get to work.

“In fact, he's working today, and we're all going to be over there in the afternoon to help with the transition.”

Trump supporters in Florida. Image: Josh Crosbie/Newstalk

Mr Lanza said he believes the “Latino vote” won the election for Trump.

“Everybody talked about how, you know, Trump didn't appeal to Latinos, how the immigration was a wedge issue, how the border was going to turn off Latinos,” he said.

“What we've learned is that Latinos, like everybody else, they want a secure border, and I think it's the border issue, and the Latinos are the ones who pushed him over the finish line.”

'Fix your sh*t'

Mr Lanza’s message to the Democratic party is to “fix your sh*t, it’s out of control”.

According to Mr Lanza Trump’s first priority will be to “shut down that border”.

“We're going to shut down legal immigration,” he said.

“We're going to work on deporting all the criminals who have committed crimes, who are here illegally.

“Donald Trump kept his promises the first four years, from 2016 to 2020 and he's going to keep his promises again.”

For any illegal, undocumented migrants, including the Irish, Mr Lanza said: “Stay home, you're not welcome here”.

'We did it'

Josh said there was a “party atmosphere” on the streets, with a watch party of thousands taking place last night.

“I met Trump fans who flew in from around the world to be here,” he said.

“At the end of the watch party, Trump took to the stage, and he declared victory - this is before anything official was confirmed.

“It was around 2am but the people there were just on a high seeing their president addressing them on the night of the election.

“When the crowds were starting to leave, all you heard were chants of ‘we did it’, and ‘the future is bright’.”

Polling station queues in Florida. Image: Josh Crosbie/Newstalk

Josh spoke to a few “ecstatic” people outside the watch party last night.

“I was cautiously optimistic, but, I mean, it was beyond my expectations, unbelievable,” one man said.

“It's a clean sweep.”

'The world needed him'

One man came from Bergen, Norway to “just be part” of the 2024 election.

He said his priorities were “for people to know that men can’t have babies”, “censorship” and “the first amendment”, also saying that “what the left have been preaching” has “turned him off big time”.

“We got a lot of work to do, but I'm sure we'll have time to have a couple of bears sit back and enjoy the day,” he said.

Other partygoers said they were “happy” and “relieved” and that “not only America but the world needed him [Trump]”.

More American Presidential Election coverage to come throughout this week.

Main image: Trump supporter in Florida. Image: Josh Crosbie/Newstalk