Trump is the leader of a group of people who somehow feel left out by the Democratic party and who have bought into the idea that a bunch of laissez faire billionaires give a toss about them. It's sad.
As for "leader of the free world," if I've learned one thing from living outside the U.S. is that the myth of "American exceptionalism" is just that: a myth. So many other countries serve their citizens and work to achieve the best for the commonweal better than we do. It's really sad. There's a lot of arenas where the U.S. falls short: health care, education, etc. The idea that everyone should chip in to pay for transportation infrastructure, education, health, science and even space exploration, seems so alien to so many. When I was a child, there was a real "can do" attitude. It resulted in Americans walking on the moon. Now, it seems we can't manage to do much of anything as a nation. That's a real tragedy, but there you have it.